"If all you do is mock the people who disagree with you, you miss your chance to honestly engage with them, learn about where they come from, and — just maybe — teach them a little piece of something that they might not have known before."

It’s one of the most bragged-about vehicle specs of any racing enthusiast. But what, exactly, does it mean? “Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car.Oversteer […]

Ethan Nadelmann describes the War on Drugs as a prime example of the risk perception gap becoming a risk in and of itself.

Inevitably drug laws will be disproportionately enforced against the poor, younger and darker-skinned members of society.

Gurbaksh Chahal: At 16, the first person I hired was my older brother. I knew I could trust him implicitly and he’d already been my confidante and helper. 

We cannot and we must not become Chinese, and at heart we don’t want to either. We must not seek ideal or higher meaning of life in China or in […]

The International Criminal Court might indict a sitting president in Africa, but what is the likelihood that it will indict Putin?

It makes sense for us to be taught how to learn before we are taught any specific subject matter. But rarely, if ever, does that happen. 

How the second most common element in the Universe is being lost from Earth, most of it for good. “I have this one little saying, when things get too heavy just […]

No snark, no sarcasm, no judgement, just the genuine, honest answers to 22 creationist messages. “In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; […]

(Or at least fairly acceptable excuses.)

We’re letting unnatural laws unduly influence us. A fuss about “simple economics” can remind us that markets aren’t like gravity, and their so-called laws are neither laws of nature nor […]

Miya Tokumitsu writes with incisive elegance about our altogether elitist and self-indulgent view that our experts have these days about the relationship between love and work.  That view, of course, […]

The next generation will have plenty of gadgets when it grows up, but will it be happier? We need to measure that more carefully. 

"The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you." - Brendan Behan (born on this date in 1923)

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."- James Dean 

Plus a bonus: perhaps the single most important achievement to all of humanity. “What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that men set foot on the Moon, […]

"An absolutely new idea is one of the rarest things known to man."- Sir Thomas More (born on this date in 1478)  

"Accursed be he that first invented war." - Christopher Marlowe (born on this date in 1564)

"I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance."- Adlai Stevenson (born on this date in 1900)