Scotty Hendricks
Contributing Writer
Scotty Hendricks is a graduate student and long-time contributor to Big Think. He resides in Chicago.
Malcolm Gladwell does a post-mortem of the U.S. presidential election, speaking to issues of sexism and moral licensing, and makes a bold prediction.
It often feels like the repercussions of climate change may not apply directly to you. But here’s something that will hit home – a somber prediction for your coffee supply, and all those workers who farm it.
Can you legislate for good human behavior, or does proposing laws to imprison those who use racial slurs distract from actual progress?
Want to improve your mood? This study recommends you get walking, even for a short time, and even if your surroundings aren’t picturesque.
How do you win a Nobel Prize in Literature? First you must get nominated, then it gets hard.
Turns out no one is immune to being prejudiced. New research suggests that people of higher and lower cognitive ability are equally inclined, but direct their prejudice towards different social groups.
As mankind raises its eyes to Mars and asks, “How do we get there?”, we might need to ask, “Should we go?”. Carl Sagan said we may not be entitled to visit a potentially inhabited planet.
Will this EU power be the first to prove that a modern, industrialized nation can make major shifts towards cleaner, greener energy without catastrophe?
Creepy clowns are everywhere, but why do we find clowns so creepy in the first place? New research into creepiness confirms what we all thought: clowns are objectively creepy.
Two powerful organizations have dedicated themselves to getting to Mars. One is SpaceX, the other is the US government. Will they both get there?
Neuroscience suggests that we have limited free will, but there is a model of freedom that even neuroscientists support; “free won’t”.
We often hear rhetoric comparing certain political leaders and moments to Fascism. But, is that accurate? Perhaps more importantly, is that a good thing?
Does baldness have an evolutionary purpose? It might rob men of their youthful look but it brings many gains.
Remember that one time when a Philosopher King ruled the whole world? Well, here is how that turned out.
When science funding goes down we have to make tough choices in deciding what gets funded, that should be easy, right? Too bad great ideas often come as a total surprise.
Does your doctor have the right to choose not to help you if they oppose the procedure you request? Several schools of thought offer differing answers.
As a society we place a high value on the practical nature of science and business degrees. But what about the practical nature of the humanities?
In a world where women are having children later in life, we are faced with new questions in reproductive ethics. Here we ask, “Do children have a right to be loved by grandparents?”
Mindfulness mediation has many benefits, but to focus on the benefits is to miss the point of mindfulness.
Which came first, monogamy or the social contract? Evolutionary psychologists and biologists think the latter.
In 1835 Alexis De Tocqueville toured the United States and recorded many elements of living in a democratic society. We can use his observations to better understand the society around us.
One graph claims to show the inverting relationship between inequality and opportunity. The Great Gatsby Curve sheds light on one of the key issues of our time.
A recent study by researchers from Oxford and Cornell University examines the relationship between trust and moral principles.
A new study reports that political language is becoming more partisan and polarized. How is this new and what effects might this have on our republic?
Americans are as divided as ever, and we may not even agree on what freedom is anymore. The ideas of Isaiah Berlin may shed some light on the subject.
Having studied the ancient philosophers and their ideas of the virtues required to be an ideal man, Benjamin Franklin created his own list of thirteen virtues.