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Willpower is a limited resource easily drained by everyday activity.

So deeply rooted, says Tom Doctoroff, is the Western belief in individual freedom, that it is nearly impossible for us to accept the fact that in Chinese culture, the individual does not exist outside of her network of familial and communal obligations. 

Charles Rubin is dubious about all the enthusiasm that comes with thinking “exponentially.”  Today’s suggestion is that the coming Singularity will remove the limits placed on individual lives by biology, […]

I’m not sure any of the reader suggestions to replace the deeply unpopular term “redistribution” will quite cut it as bumper sticker slogans for the fall election.  But leaving aside proposals from […]

When I go to my favorite political websites these days I have to see “Chick Fil A” as one of the hot topics. The CEO’s against same-sex marriage, but he’s […]

If you think of all of the greatest viral campaigns in the world, you’d struggle to think of many from Asia. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t trying, and you […]

The weakness of online education, as far as I can tell, is the evaluation of student performance.

If you ask anyone who knows me, I like to think they’d tell you that I’m a generally optimistic and cheerful person. But these past few weeks, I’ve felt like […]

In this Q&A with Dr. Meg Jay, the clinical psychologist explains why the twenties matter, and how to make the most of them.

“Are You Married?” is supposed to be a YES/NO question, and not a short essay format. Still, in the exam blue book of life, some might prefer to give a […]

Ironically, America as a nation seems to have forgotten exactly what Memorial Day is about. Barbeques, all-day sales, the “official” start of summer—all of these threaten to crowd out the […]

Clothes make the man. And in the case of Mark Zuckerberg, it is the hoodie, which is part of a look that has endeared him to some as the founder […]

Every May brings with it a new crop of college graduation speeches. This spring, few (maybe none) were as though-provoking as multimedia artist Laurie Anderson’s at the School of Visual […]

Shakespeare was a ruthless thief. Some of his first plays – the three parts of Henry VI – were so similar to Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great thatmany eighteenth-century scholars […]

Big Think hit the streets (the intersection of Wall & Broad, NYC) during the AM rush hour this Friday, May 18th with a guerilla theater piece for Facebook IPO day. […]

Recently, the Catholic writer and apologist Mark Shea fielded a question from a reader who was disturbed by pro-slavery Bible verses quoted on an atheist billboard in Pennsylvania. Here’s the […]

In the search for planets beyond our solar system that could support life, scientists have drawn up a more specific list of bio-signature chemicals, including sulfur gases and ethane. 

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” asks the gospel of Mark. Verily, I know not. But in […]

On July 1, Australia will implement its carbon tax. Will other countries follow Australia’s lead? Should they? 

The atheist community is abuzz over a discussion at last month’s Women in Secularism conference, in which it inadvertently emerged that there are prominent speakers who have a reputation for […]

I don’t write fiction, at all. I can’t make stuff up. But I used to read more fiction than I do now. And occasionally I wonder why I’ve struggled to […]

As anyone who knows me is aware, I’m generally a peaceful and diplomatic fellow. I’m not one to pick fights just for the hell of it. But that said, I’m […]

For Washington, DC readers, please join us and spread the word about the presentation tomorrow (Wed. April 25) at American University by Timothy Caulfield, among Canada’s leading experts in the […]

For Washington, DC readers, please join us and spread the word about the Wed. April 25 presentation at American University by Timothy Caulfield, among Canada’s leading experts in the area […]

Internet pioneer Jaron Lanier argues that free technologies like Facebook come with a hidden and heavy cost – the livelihoods of their consumers. 

Last week, as you’ve no doubt heard, Dan Savage gave a speech to a national convention of high school journalists in which he criticized Christians’ use of the Bible to […]

Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new piece in The Atlantic about how women cannot “have it all” has provoked a wave of commentary, but none that I have seen has mentioned the article’s […]

The self-titled and legally trademarked “Painter of Light” has been extinguished. When the news spread on Saturday that painter Thomas Kinkade had suddenly passed away at the age of 54 […]

The weekend is a good time to get some culture, and since there are a lot of things lately that I’m enjoying, I figured I’d write one completely miscellaneous post […]

It must be a terribly confusing time to be a member of the Vatican hierarchy. In an effort to stem the accelerating exodus of Catholic laypeople, they’ve been cracking down […]