bigthinkeditor

The tremendous environmental disaster that has resulted from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a singular event, but Seventh Generation CEO Jeffrey Hollender thinks it’s emblematic of […]

“Human rights advocates fear that political reconciliation with the Taliban could erase the fragile progress made in improving the situation of Afghan women over the past nine years.”

“Biography may have little to tell us about why a novelist writes well, but it can sometimes be helpful in understanding why a novelist writes badly.” TNR discusses E.M. Forster’s sexual naiveté.

A bank tax on high-risk financial trading is an idea worth implementing, says Michael Scott Moore at Miller-McCune. The tax would create a fund for if and when a bank needed a bailout.

“Comments on news stories are, in a sense, our new civic space, but minus all the social rules.” The Atlantic says subscription services could clean up online comment sections.

“The country’s new wave of directors are rejecting Bollywood’s glitz for grittier, real-life themes.” The Independent looks at the new social-political consciousness in post-Bollywood films.

“China’s astonishing urbanization could bring a new era of supercities, but its cultural norms probably won’t eclipse American dominance.” The foreign minister of Singapore on the rising state.

The FCC’s infamous profanity ban has been struck down by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The L.A. Times welcomes the ruling as an important shift in priorities.

“Doing business in a way that takes environmental economics into account is a good idea; aping climate policy and its mechanisms is not.” The Economist assesses the value of nature.

Emotions spread through a social group in ways that resemble the spread of disease. According to a study performed in Massachusetts, sadness is more contagious than happiness.

After saying the Internet is a superorganism in which individuals are but single cells, Robert Wright says increasing interconnectedness brings forward wider spiritual concerns.

What makes a great software developer? Legendary programmer and designer Justin Frankel says the most productive programmers have an ability to cut through to what’s really important, focus on that, […]

“Journalism should be more like science,” says the founder of Wikileaks who has drawn the ire of many political authorities for exposing various cases of corruption and fraud.

“While I do not mean to let bad parents off the hook, the fact remains that perfectly decent parents can produce toxic children.” A psychiatry professor on why parents aren’t always to blame.

Two English health scholars have written a book called ‘The Spirit Level’ which locates the cause of social ills in income inequality. The Boston Review unpacks their arguments.

“Students are taking out loans that they may not be able to repay, and some fear massive defaults.” Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says for-profit colleges may be doing a public disservice.

“We were promised a life of leisure thanks to hard-working robots and fiendishly clever cyborgs. But the android fantasy has largely been terminated,” says The Independent.

“An online game that tasks players with reining in government spending suggests the public is more willing to make hard choices than they get credit for.” Miller-McCune on the deficit question.

“The fiscal 2010 deficit—$1 trillion and counting—is an encouraging sign,” says Daniel Gross at Slate. The business columnist says worries about a short-term American debt crisis are unfounded.

Al-Shabaab, a brutal Somalian insurgency, has attacked inside Uganda. How much should this international Islamic terrorism concern the U.S. and how can, or should, the U.S. respond?

Hendrik Hertzberg at The New Yorker looks on the bright side of life: despite unprecedented world problems, the author appreciates the good food and good cooking culture in America.

Computing speed doubles once every year and a half, and so does the electrical efficiency of processors, from laptops to servers. The pattern makes our computing lives more convenient.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist William Phillips has used lasers to make atoms nearly as cold as they can possibly be—but he says he still hasn’t gotten them cold enough. “Every process […]

“Innovation is like a bush fire that burns brightly for a short time, then dies down before flaring up somewhere else,” says Matt Ridley, whose new book chronicles the history of prosperity.

Gerald Dworkin at 3 Quarks Daily asks if three Navy Seals in Afghanistan, who were killed as a direct consequence of their decision to spare civilian life, should have acted otherwise.

“Stem cell ‘pharmacies’ that dispense tissue therapies could be as common as chemist shops in 20 years’ time, according to a top scientist.” The Independent envisions the future of medicine.

“We’re in the grip of a cultural panic and we have no idea whether we’re coming or going,” says The Guardian’s Books Blog. The rapidity of current cultural change can be baffling.

British philosopher A.C. Grayling thinks a new book on current neurological studies of wisdom fails to capture the true nature of knowledge because MRIs are too narrowly focused.

A Massachusetts judge has ruled that the federal gay marriage ban, a.k.a. The Defense of Marriage Act, violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Once known for its cool and revolutionary attitude, Apple now appears to have gone soft, using canned emotional appeals to market its iPhone, says The Atlantic’s Niraj Chokshi.