Guest Thinkers — January 10, 2011

Violent Rhetoric Not to Blame

Violence in American politics tends to bubble up from a world that’s far stranger than any Glenn Beck monologue, says the conservative columnist Ross Douthat.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Chances are that Jared Lee Loughner’s motives will prove as irreducibly complex as those of most of his predecessors in assassination. Violence in American politics tends to bubble up from a world that’s far stranger than any Glenn Beck monologue—a murky landscape where worldviews get cobbled together from a host of baroque conspiracy theories, and where the line between ideological extremism and mental illness gets blurry fast. This is the world that gave us Oswald and Bremer.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Multiple country flags on poles against a clear blue sky, representing international diversity and unity.

The Present

From global to planetary: Is new governance needed in a post-Holocene world?

The nation-state had a good run, but its usefulness may have come to an end.

Portrait of a smiling man in front of a background featuring chemical structures and molecular models in green and blue hues.

The Present

Inside the battle for FDA approval of MDMA therapy

MAPS founder Rick Doblin speaks to Big Think about the FDA’s rejection of MDMA therapy and the future of psychedelic treatments.

Fifteen colorful emoji faces on a textured background, each capturing different moods like joy, anger, sadness, and surprise.

Business

Heidegger’s “mood theory” explains why you do anything at all

You’re a moody person. You have to be — because understanding moods philosophically can be crucial to your work-life.

A bear attempting to catch a jumping fish near a waterfall.

Nature’s “perfect balance” is a mystery scientists are trying to decode

“While society’s been humming along and enjoying all these advances in agriculture and medicine, in the last 50 or 60 years, ecologists have learned a lot about how nature works. I’ve codified these into a set of rules called the ‘Serengeti Rules.’”

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Could SETI detect a “twin” of Earth?

Earth is actively broadcasting and actively searching for intelligent civilizations. But could our technology even detect ourselves?

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

Is Extreme Political Rhetoric to Blame?

The Arizona shooting suspect has been called ‘unstable,’ and no motive has been identified. But did the vitriol in the debates over immigration and health care trigger the attack?