Famed biologist EO Wilson argues that war is an unfortunate inheritance left to us by our ancestors. Science writer John Horgan replies that culture can help us overcome violence.
Search Results
You searched for: John Doe
He called her crusade an “obscenity”. “She has become a symbol of Western culture,” he said. “She was openly propagating it.” So “obscene” is her crusade he reiterated that his […]
The idea of forgery resonates more than ever today in a culture in which “the open exchange of ideas has been rebranded as piracy.”
For many Americans, burgers and fireworks may be enough of a July 4th celebration. But to appreciate the curiosities and meaning of Independence Day, you might want to sit down […]
“It’s the economy, stupid!” James Carville crowed throughout the 1992 presidential election, and has pretty much continued crowing since. What do you do when you know it’s the economy that […]
Sometime in 1952, the American experimental musician John Cage put the finishing touches on a composition that challenged the definition of music. It was a three-part movement written for any […]
It’s France, 1785. An Englishman offers a surgeon money to perform a pretty standard operation: leg amputation. However, for the surgeon, there is no good medical reason to do so, […]
This is part 3 of my review of Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature”. Read Part 1 here and part 2 here. In my previous post, I discussed […]
These specially-made relief maps showed blind children were sensitive to the geo-distributive aspect of maps
William Souder’s 2004 biography of John James Audobon, Under a Wild Sky, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His newest book, On a Farther Shore, chronicles the life and […]
I was speaking at The University of Texas — Pan American not long ago and a student asked me a question that had never been asked of me in more […]
When a German court in Cologne ruled last month that baby boys could not be circumcised for religious reasons, Jewish and Muslim groups erupted in protest while a chorus of […]
On Tuesday, Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary of clergy for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was sentenced to three to six years in prison for his role in shielding pedophile […]
Scaremail fights government surveillance with the power of nonsense.
Fresh off his potential “Colbert Bump,” conceptual artist Jeff Koons took a potential PR black eye this weekend in a New York Times Magazine piece titled “I Was Jeff Koons’s […]
Anecdotal evidence has long associated genius with mental instability but new neurological research suggests there is a solid biological reason why psychosis inspires creativity.
We don’t know what the future will bring in terms of enhancement. But to be fundamentally opposed to it is to fundamentally opposed to the future of medical science.
Back in April, after Romney had pulled ahead of his GOP presidential competitors for good, I wrote about Romney’s penchant, a la Donald Trump and other mega millionaires, to reframe […]
I am beginning to think that Republicans in the House of Representatives need to go whole hog on this Eric Holder contempt of Congress vote and have the U. S. […]
A Q&A With Dr. John L. Casti, author, X-Events: The Collapse of Everything Dr. John L. Casti is a complexity scientist. This is one of those job descriptions I would […]
If “LA MoCA” sounds to you like something you’d order from Starbucks, then you probably don’t know anything about the recent kerfuffle surrounding what is being called the murder of […]
The extramarital alliance has an interesting history of its own. It’s not all clichés from John Updike and Gay Talese. Here’s a snapshot of how various moments in history might […]
NOTE: I recommend you click “View Entire Story”, so the endnotes work. When prostitution cases are brought before a judge in Britain, a particular kind of “John” (or customer) will […]
On Mother’s Day, in a sermon to his flock at the Providence Road Baptist Church in North Carolina, Pastor Charles Worley revealed his plan to rid America of its homosexuals: […]
While scientists jump to answer this notoriously difficult question, scientific observation is not well suited to finding the cosmic will that the question implies. This stumper is better left alone.
“[T]he Author of Nature has determin’d us to receive… a Moral Sense, todirect our Actions, and to give us still nobler Pleasures.” That appeal was made in 1725 by Scottish philosopher […]
This is a lengthy post but I want to do justice to Adam Lee, Big Think and the arguments. These are my initial thoughts. Fellow Big Think blogger and friend, […]
John Gray’s review of Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind is fun because Gray is vehemently opposed to almost everything, but he clearly thinks this is a pretty good book anyway. […]
While writing this post, my mood will vary. I’ll enjoy the beginning – riffing on a new idea is always exciting – but I’ll inevitably hit difficult patches. A few […]
Back in May, I reviewed Steven Pinker’s hugely ambitious new book The Better Angels of Our Nature, about the decline of violence through history. I couldn’t do justice to all […]