Guest Thinkers — September 26, 2010

When Does Life End?

"The process of death can damage organs, rendering them useless for others. Ethicists now debate whether transplant surgery should begin before the heart stops."

bigthinkeditor

“Death used to be a simple affair: either a person’s heart was beating, or it was not. That clarity faded years ago when heroic medical technology started to keep hearts beating in definitely. Although we have had decades to ponder the distinctions between various states of grave physiological failure, if anything our confusion has grown. When is it ethical to turn off a ventilator or remove a feeding tube? When does ‘life support’ lose its meaning? And most critically, at what point is it acceptable to cut into a body and remove the heart that could save another life?”

Hard Science

Plants perform quantum mechanics feats that scientists can only do at ultra-cold temperatures

Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.

The Past

The 1920s plan to make criminals confess to a terrifying skeleton

Would you confess your crimes to a skeleton with “an unnatural ghastly glow”? One inventor thought you would.

Smart Skills

Swamped by too much info? Here’s how to beat the “noise bottleneck”

It’s the paradoxical observation that the more we try to process, the less we actually can.

a painting of a woman shaking hands with a man.

Thinking

Philosophy obsesses about death. Instead, we need “natality” — a focus on birth

A philosophy of birth can offset the prevailing narrative around extinction and mortality.

a flock of pink birds flying through a cloudy sky.

The Well

Groupthink is for mindless pawns, but group thinking will push humanity further

“Groupthink” gets a bad rap. In reality, we need groups to focus our thinking and to build on the ideas of others.

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

Cheap Oil Costs Jobs

“New energy technologies blossom when oil gets expensive. We can raise the price of fossil fuels again without hurting consumers—if we implement a fee and rebate system.”