Search Results

The FIRE movement believes frugality is key to retiring in your 30s; others think the movement is about privilege more than prudence.

Philosophers can be pretty eccentric. Here we list seven of the most out there. Yes, Diogenes is included.

A new study shows that oxytocin plays a similar role in dogs’ emotions as it does in humans.

“The starting point for understanding inequality in the context of human progress is to recognize that income inequality is not a fundamental component of well-being.”

Scientists in Japan have discovered why yawning is so contagious.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,Courage to change the things I can,And wisdom to know the difference.

An expert explains.

A new study shows that people who avoid negative emotion tend to be worse off psychologically, while those who accept bad feelings report higher well-being.

Americans are, often with justification, regarded as not being versed in philosophy. This is a shame, as the United States and the colonies that proceeded it have produced many great thinkers

Funnily enough, some humans carry one of the very same genes.   

A new study finds LSD — a Schedule I drug with “no medical value” — to be therapeutically beneficial. 

Psychologists sort human personalities into five traits, each of which you can score high or low on.

The arctic research ship that captured the heart of the internet will NOT be named Boaty McBoatface. And the public is not happy about it.

Most of us are reasonable, thoughtful people. Why can’t we stop texting, emailing, and posting status updates while driving?

Developers out of New Zealand are working on a system that will mimic angry customers in order to train telemarketers in real conflict management.

Older people, 65 and older, are the most likely to reap the benefits of smartphone technology. 

For today’s UN International Day of Happiness, NPR traveled to the struggling country of Nepal in order to learn what makes its citizens happy. For many, it’s the little things in life that bring them the most joy.

The ability to send an emotion — a feeling — to someone a world away may not be a thing of the future anymore. Researchers have found they can stimulate different emotions by blowing air onto certain parts of your hand. 

You’re worth sticking up for.

One of the world’s foremost psychiatrists specializing in PTSD recently visited Big Think to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic disorders. 

The important thing to remember is that maintaining your brand and reputation does not involve blasting customers online.

Neuroscientist and best-selling author Sam Harris advocates for a secular form of meditation as a method for making fundamental discoveries about the nature of the mind.

Facing several controversies involving scientific complexity, the European government created a Chief Science Adviser to provide independent objective expertise and input into policy making. when some groups didn’t like what the science said about genetically modified food, they objected to the whole idea of independent science advice to government. The EU government has caved to public pressure and abandoned the Chief Science Adviser function. We should ALL be scared by a move away from evidence-based policy making, toward a solely values-based approach.

Favorite sports teams become outlets for fans’ personal frustration. Sometimes this can be seen as a healthy way to channel dissatisfaction. Too often though, this channeling gets ugly.

In one of the more interesting experiments that have been conducted, Richard J. Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, wanted to find out whether facial expressions […]

Review of Leta Hong Fincher’s Leftover Women – The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, Zed Books, April 10, 2014 – 5/5 stars BEIJING – I remember I read a The […]

Your first philosophers: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, and one strange new face. Why the first books people read about Stoicism should be by one of these guys. On Stoicism Graduation season […]

Is the pursuit of happiness, which we Americans will celebrate later this week, a worthy goal? Many have said no, on the grounds that happiness comes only to those who […]

So BIG THINK published a sensible little essay by the distinguished public intellectual John Gray.  He says don’t think about immortality as something you can achieve through your own efforts. […]

Over the past two weeks on BigThink, I’ve shared the first two of a three-part dialogue between myself and the Danish psychotherapist Ole Vadum Dahl (read part 1 and part […]