bigthinkeditor

In her new book, the contemporary philosopher writes that a person who follows “argument rather than numbers is a good person for a democracy to have,” opposing the primacy of short term economic gain.

Is American sexual apathy a medical condition or the result of an “anxious, overachieving, white upper middle class?” The New York Times ruminates on the prospect of female Viagra.

MIT researchers are advising the government to use natural gas as a low-carbon bridge to a cleaner energy society, but they warn renewables must be developed lest gas become a bridge to nowhere.

“Wearing fake goods makes you feel a fake yourself, and causes you to be more dishonest in other matters than you would otherwise be.” The Economist looks at faux fashionistas.

The New Scientist reports on one biochemist and one visual artist teamed up to investigate the ever blurring line between nature and technology—a post-humanist future, they call it.

Despite a bloated and ineffective American justice system, current state budget cuts affecting front line officers and public defenders deal a blow to due process, says Sasha Abramsky at The Guardian.

“Living in another culture and learning the practices of that culture may enhance the psychological processes that make people more creative,” says Psychology Today.

“Could natural variability be responsible for the warmer water and bigger storms, instead of greenhouse gases?” Miller-McCune looks at the scientific debate as hurricane season approaches.

“Voluntary taxes offer a politically palatable way to raise additional revenue and perhaps even to strengthen Americans’ sense of patriotism and citizenship.” Pony up, says The Boston Globe.

Though thrilling, the penalty shots that might soon decide single-elimination World Cup soccer games are decidedly unfair. More Intelligent Life Magazine considers an alternative method.

The dispute between America’s proposed deficit spending and Germany’s belt-tightening grows larger as the nations meet at the G-20 summit. The world’s economy could be at stake.

A new technique for transferring data across fiber-optic lines could increase the speed of the Internet by 100 times because information need never be converted into electrical signals.

“More women are going kid-free by choice, thanks to more accessible and better contraception and a decrease in social stigma related to non-motherhood.” Salon looks at motherhood data.

Environmental friendliness is an added bonus for consumers looking to save money by purchasing cars with smaller engines. American car companies are looking to Europe, says Wired.

By examining the brain patterns of people who demonstrate courage in the face of fear, scientists are hoping to find a way to rid people of their most irrational phobias.

Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, imagines a national clean-energy grid in the near future. Scientific American conducts an in-depth interview.

“A civilised dialogue between the arts and sciences would be a marvellous thing, a takeover would not.” The Telegraph laments the rise of Darwinian analysis in the humanities.

The G-8 should treat African development like an investment rather than a charity case, says the Christian Science Monitor. It may be an opportunity the industrialized world cannot afford to pass up.

David Brooks at the New York Times says the exposure journalism that ousted McCrystal does a disservice to everyone by creating mistrust between the government and the press.

By mid-century there will likely be 9 billion people on the planet, consuming ever more resources and leading ever more technologically complex lives.

China’s currency, the renminbi, closed Friday at its strongest level against the US dollar since China revamped its currency policies in 2005, The New York Times reported. This development comes […]

“For me, the lesson…is that obstacles can also be advantages, that who we become is deeply influenced by what we cannot do” — Jonah Lehrer on stuttering and Tourette’s.

“Next time you visit a car dealership, avoid sitting in soft chairs and you’ll negotiate a better deal.” Psychology Today on the unconscious impact of texture, hardness and weight.

“I realized they were this…enormous force of nature…who determined how the West opened.” Author S.C. Gwynne’s on what inspired his new book.rn

The L. A. Times says plastic bags are a nuisance to the land, sea and animals and calls for the Californian Senate to stand up now to the bag industry and ban them.

Spiegel considers if the rush to uncover Europe’s most pious Muslims can be explained solely by a new-found desire to protect the rights of women.

The New York Review of Books considers claims that Americans do not read enough foreign fiction and examines the cost of this alleged, “culturally catastrophic American isolationism.”

Sarah Jessica Parker’s Manolo Blahniks are out and Grandma Walton’s sensible apron is in in The Economist’s depiction of the world in the aftermath of the age of easy credit.

When you celebrate yourself online, are you part of a brave new social future, or are you just being an ass? Evan Ratliff, in Wired, says it’s the former, if you strike a balance.

Science journal Nature defends the World Health Organization’s handling of the H1N1 pandemic, amid a European council’s claims of unjustified fears and wasted spending.