bigthinkeditor
While artificial intelligence has yet to realize its often dramatic promises, the development of brain science has led thinkers to prioritize the mind over the body as the center of the self.
As diagnosis of mental illness has changed with shifting cultural attitudes, now the term “nervous breakdown” is being reevaluated. Are you on the verge of “burnout syndrome”?
New technologies are turning smart phones into credit cards and cash registers, but as usual, there are trust issues and people are nervous about abandoning their wallets all together.
Leonard Pitts takes the pulse of those affected by the Gulf Oil spill and finds that many who once opposed big government maneuvers are now begging for its assistance.
“‘Democracy’ in the abstract misleads us. Living in a democracy—and it is lived experience that must be our theme—becomes a different thing in each generation,” begins Kenneth Minogue.
P.J. O’Rourke has a clever idea for reviving newspaper sales—the pre-obituary: “official notices that certain people aren’t dead with brief summaries of their lives indicating why we wish they were.”
A new book examines the lives of the Romantic poets in their well-intentioned but ultimately ambiguous morality. It is a case of life imitating art, writes Laura Miller for Slate.
“While taking a more relaxed attitude towards the pursuit of wealth may make sense as a personal philosophy, it is an uncertain guide to public policy,” says the Financial Times.
“When will our media reflect America on abortion?” asks William McGurn at The Wall Street Journal now that a Gallup poll has reported that half of America is pro-life.
Paul Krugman’s recommendation for more public spending is at odds with his own comparison of the U.S. to Japan where aggressive fiscal policy did not stimulate growth, says The New Republic.
Should humans harmonize with nature of seek to manipulate and master it? These two polar views of man’s role on earth could determine whether we survive climate change, says Tikkun.
While Facebook’s current privacy setting have created an outcry, history is filled with examples of social norms conforming to technological developments, writes The Wall Street Journal.
Is China a friendly giant? Despite the fact that North Korea’s aggressive behavior threatens China, the Chinese are so far reluctant to support international action against its neighbor.
Only recently has vegetarianism become a diet that could survive natural selection, so could it be that vegetarians are smarter than the rest of us? Surprisingly strong evidence says yes.
Barry Estabrook says the common knowledge that locally grown food is the most sustainable form of agriculture is incomplete and should allow for regional distribution networks.
Ross Douthat asks why adoption is so difficult while going to a fertility clinic is so easy, especially when children of anonymous sperm donors often have deep psychological dilemmas.
Evolutionary biology may explain differences in mortality risks between genders, says Daniel Kruger at the University of Michigan; men take more risks to attract a mate, i.e. to have sex.
“Nowhere is it written that the United States can never decline,” says Richard Posner in his analysis of the economic problems befalling the E.U. and U.S. He and Gary Becker propose solutions.
In his new book, Clay Shirky says that what we do with our free time is changing: from passive TV watching to active online engagement, we are motivated by a desire for self-fulfillment.
When a college degree no longer guarantees a good job after leaving university, maybe it’s time to be less pragmatic about career choices and prefer a cultural education to a vocational one.
“He was almost certainly the best-known man in England in the middle of the nineteenth century, and certainly the most loved,” but was Charles Dicken’s internal life as celebratory?
A new pill which a German pharmaceutical company will soon present to the FDA for approval raises medical and safety concerns since it claims to boost women’s libidos.
“Stop focusing on trying to keep illegal immigrants out and start focusing on letting legal immigrants in,” says Steve Chapman in response to hullabaloo over Arizona’s immigration law.
“Drone strikes may not be perfect, but they’re likely the most humane option available,” writes C. Fair who calls for greater transparency in the currently classified drone program over Pakistan.
“Retirement, like other post-industrial inventions like electricity or television, has become a luxury we’ve come to expect and rely upon,” says the Economist, but it hasn’t always been this way.
“Can aquatic snails better remember lessons learned when they are hopped up on methamphetamine?” Scientific American says the answer could give insight into the nature of addiction.
“The things patients complain about, like excessive noise, may be more than a nuisance. They may actually be bad for their health,” writes Drake Bennett on noise pollution in hospitals.
The British Petroleum rig spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico pales in comparison to amount of oil spilled annually in Nigeria, a reminder of the double standard when it comes to poor countries.
Nancy Cohen at the L.A. Times says the traditional terms “pro-choice” and “pro-life” are too simplistic to have a constructive debate over abortion; she calls for more nuanced language.
Generation Y is often mocked for its narcissism and supreme self confidence, but Judith Warner writes that pumped-up egos may be just the thing for weathering our economic storm.