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How “faith” in the Universe destroyed two brilliant men of genius. “I don’t like it, and I’m sorry I ever had anything to do with it.” –Schrödinger The idea that […]

More than 1 billion people volunteer around the world annually but because they do not receive taxed income for their efforts, the economic effect of volunteering is often excluded from GDP calculations.

In the ancient world, creativity belonged to the divine realm: when a human exhibited creative genius, he or she was seen as favored by the Gods.

Left-handedness is all the rage in the United States and UK. We’ve cast of our Medieval notions of lefties being of the devil and now see them as predisposed to genius. But this new notion may also be a myth, according to a recent study.

Biographer Walter Isaacson discusses the contributions of both Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace to modern computer philosophy.

A great number of stories in the Western “literary” canon were not written to be read at all, but rather to be seen on stage in the purview of the live theatre. 

If Mona Lisa is the smile, Madame Cézanne is the scowl. Hortense Fiquet, Paul Cézanne’s model turned mistress turned mother of his child turned metaphorical millstone around his neck, endures as a standard art history punch line—the muse whose misery won immortality through the many masterpiece portraits done of her. Or at least that’s how the joke usually goes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s current exhibition Madame Cézanne, which gathers together 24 of the 29 known portraits Cézanne painted of Hortense over a period of more than 20 years, tries to rewrite that joke as it hopes to solve the riddle of Madame Cézanne, aka, The Case of the Miserable Muse.

What is Punk? Punk isn’t about mohawks or studded leather, says Henry Rollins – it’s about resistance to tyranny in any form. How Art Can Change Society, with Sarah Lewis Sarah […]

Biographer Walter Isaacson discusses his new book The Innovators and why Steve Jobs was a prickly teambuilder. 

Bill Nye (The Science Guy!) opines on the pros and cons of NASA and SpaceX manufacturing. In a congressional move of either genius or ignorance, the decentralization of NASA facilities […]

While looking at Jean-Antoine Houdon’s portrait bust of Voltaire in the Louvre, sculptor Auguste Rodin remarked, “To tell the truth, there is no artistic work that requires as much penetrating insight as the bust and the portrait. … Such a work is the equivalent of a biography.” On a separate occasion, Rodin stated, “The resemblance that [the artist] should achieve is that of the soul. Only this matters.” A new, full-scale reinstallation at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focuses on Rodin putting those words into practice in his own portrait busts. Known for his large-scale, full-bodied works such as The Kiss, Rodin imbued an equal amount of passion into his symbolic, soulful portraits of friends, lovers, and the famous.

Wise Women Rise to the Top There’s a big difference between being smart and being wise, and also being intelligent, frankly, says futurist Edie Weiner. Why We Need More Women […]

George Washington Carver (1861 or 1864-1943), who most people know for discovering 100 different uses for the peanut, was an American scientist and inventor. Born into slavery during the Civil […]

Having a creative mind may correlate with both sanity and madness, debunking the popular notions that creative people tend toward having a mental illness.

This weekend, the Geminids arrive, and promise to be the best meteor shower of the entire year! “Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing […]

The Nantucket Project sees art + commerce as “the new convergence” that defines our world today.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

There’s nothing like signing up for a random chat… and winding up with an improv serenade! “I created this project for fun. Initially, I had no business goals with it. […]

Imagine standing in a bare room in which a small, 4-billion-year-old rock hangs from the ceiling by a thin wire as three vocalists whistle and breathe on it to make it swing. For some people, such a scenario might be the nightmare version of contemporary art run amok, so far “out there” that it’s never coming back. 

As a leader, your words and actions have a major impact on office culture. If you want your office to run well, you have to be prepared to lead by example.

Are champions born or are they made? Science still cannot settle that debate. But one thing is clear: Certain brain injuries can produce super geniuses. This is not an invitation […]

Ai Weiwei. Kara Walker. Pussy Riot. Guerrilla Girls. Orwell. Art has long been an empowering outlet for speaking out against injustices. Politics aside, just the simple act of enjoying another […]

Of all the standard myths and accepted truths of the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven, the idea of the “Romantic” Beethoven—the embodiment of Germanic sturm und drang and […]

Sam Harris: The Self is an Illusion Sam Harris describes the properties of consciousness and how mindfulness practices of all stripes can be used to transcend one’s ego. Ray Kurzweil: […]

The surge in devices marketed towards children is creating a corresponding demand for testers in target age ranges. One enterprising 11-year-old even heads a startup that charges companies for access to his groups of young consultants.

Michio Kaku on what makes a supergenius.

In an earlier article, I talked about the fact that we learn much better when we learn with our entire body – all of our senses. I called this “embodied […]

Crowdfunding has been a tool used to introduce new inventions and prototypes. Tech products specifically have benefitted by presenting a seemingly genius, fail-proof idea and crafting an all-or-nothing message: support […]

Philosopher Roberto Unger outlines the problem with illusion of false necessity.

The East Japan Railway Company hasn’t forgotten customer service.  Foot baths and sake are an available courtesy to customers traveling on their new bullet train two-hour service between Shinjo and […]