Politics & Current Affairs — January 21, 2011

More to Life than Marriage

There is nothing better than being in a classroom with really, really brilliant students, and opening up new worlds to them in the way that a profession opened up new worlds to me.

bigthinkeditor

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Why was it so important to Piers Morgan to find out why Condoleezza Rice wasn’t married? I think she loves her single life. Maybe someday, in some interview, someone can pose that as a possibility. I think Rice is saying that no, she is not married to an NFL football player or anyone else, but she does have love in her life. She has the kind of love that is not the stuff of fairy tales or romantic lyrics. It is the kind of love that sets your heart aglow by igniting the passions and widening the worlds of other people — not just one other person — day after day after day.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Guest Thinkers

Use or Freeze By…: Expiration Dates for Marriage?

Reuters reports that “leftists” in Mexico City’s assembly are contemplating a two-year, term-limited marriage. They argue that it would spare the city’s married residents—half of whom split, and most within […]

Pixelated red human figure on a black grid background with blue symmetrical curves and white geometric shapes adjacent.

Hard Science

The Arecibo Message fifty years later

In November 1974, astronomers used the radio telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory to send a hello to the universe.

Bronze statue of a bearded man embodying stoicism, riding a horse with one arm extended forward, set against a black background.

Thinking

3 clues that Stoicism is a religion in disguise

All religions have three traits: metaphysical commitments, ethical guidance, and daily rituals or practices. So does Stoicism.

An open book with abstract designs: the left page displays a horizontal row of color blocks, while the right page features a hand touching a network of connected circles, highlighting strong connections.

Business

Why our “weak-tie” connections are actually super-strong

Sure, “who you know” matters — but your best contacts will be the ones you don’t know very well.

Starts With A Bang

Could dark matter be the same thing as dark energy?

Two parts of our Universe that seem to be unavoidable are dark matter and dark energy. Could they really be two aspects of the same thing?

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Guest Thinkers

Call to Duty: N.C. Wyeth’s Civil War Illustrations

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War. The process of looking back at that time must also include looking back at previous attempts […]