Words of Wisdom — January 27, 2014

Lewis Carroll on the Impossible

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”- Lewis Carroll (born on this date in 1832)

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
– Lewis Carroll (born on this date in 1832)

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

People walking on a city street with steam rising from vents create a scene reminiscent of an omics exposome research study. A woman in a white beanie looks back as buildings and traffic form the vibrant backdrop.

Health

The next omics? Tracking a lifetime of exposures to better understand disease

Of the millions of substances people encounter daily, health researchers have focused on only a few hundred. Those in the emerging field of exposomics want to change that.

A composite image featuring a classical Greco-Roman statue embodying stoicism on the left and a Buddha statue symbolizing Buddhism on the right, overlaid with beige, red, and gray geometric patterns.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Are Stoicism and Buddhism unhealthy philosophies?

People often say, “Let go,” or, “Don’t take things to heart.” But where’s the line with this philosophy?

A grayscale photo of a man is on the left page of an open book, while the right page features an illustration of a white dove with red accents on a yellow background, symbolizing freedom.

The Present

Timothy Snyder on what Americans get wrong about freedom

Historian Timothy Snyder talks with Big Think about how true liberty requires both negative and positive freedoms.

Film strip collage of abstract images—including faces with X marks, colorful patterns, and nature elements—evokes the vibrant allure of "Crazy Rich Asians.

High Culture

“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu on the American Dream and silencing your inner critic

“No matter how long you’ve been doing a job or how good people say you are, you need to care as if you’ve never done it before.”

Starts With A Bang

If the Big Bang wasn’t the first thing ever, what caused it?

Many contrarians dispute that cosmic inflation occurred. The evidence says otherwise.

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Two responses to victims of online abuse that should stop

As study after study shows, women receive an enormous amount of abuse for any online activity: whether as journalists, sex writers, performers. Just being a woman (online) is sufficient to […]