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The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.
"Where does our sense of right and wrong come from?" David Brooks at The New York Times prefers a naturalistic explanation of moral code over a purely divine or rational one.
"It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011."
"Biofuels have always sounded better during the Iowa caucuses than they have performed in reality." The Chicago Tribune on why federal ethanol subsidies may be on the chopping block.
If people realized how different they are from their fellow citizens, the country would fall apart in a weekend. Working as a journalist taught me that. I can't help noticing, […]
Bioethicist Jacob Appel believes that Washington should fortify all of our drinking water with trace amounts of lithium, which has been show to decrease suicides.
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The conductor's mother is a violinist in the New York Philharmonic, but he says her presence has assumed it's proper proportion. "I'm lucky that she's playing really, really well, and […]
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The conductor demonstrates some of the basic hand motions involved in his craft.
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A conductor has to allow his face to show the character of the music. "Sometimes your face looks more serious, sometimes it looks more animated, sometimes it looks more pensive. […]
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An orchestra has a momentum as it plays. Its flow can be affected and redirected, but the conductor must do it in an natural way to avoid jarring turns.
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A conductor is a motivator—his main job is to "bring everybody together and to get them to cooperate."
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One of the most important skills a conductor must have is the ability to really focus. Gilbert says the confidence that comes from being well-prepared helps him get in the […]
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The conductor describes what he was thinking and feeling during his first performance with the New York Philharmonic.
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The conductor tries to make music as honest and natural as possible—but that doesn't mean he keeps himself out of it. Gilbert says composers don't necessarily know the best way […]
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The idea of showing the tempo to help musicians play together is basic—but conducting so much more than that. It's about inspiring them and making the musicians feel that there's […]
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A conversation with the music director of the New York Philharmonic.
n n If you want reliable, world-class journalism, you could do worse than The Economist. This London-based weekly magazine excels in reporting of the respectably serious kind. Serious, as in […]
. n . n American cities are gridded, and thus easily readable and navigable. Their Old World counterparts are older, messier and much more disorienting. That is the conventional wisdom. […]
n . n “No, I already understand how to copy and paste,” says the bearded man on his mobile to some kind of computer helpline. “What I want to do […]
n . n "And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him… n Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!" n (Johnny […]
n n n Every disaster is always bigger than the last one. Newspapers and tv anchors have to say that, don’t they? Otherwise it wouldn’t be news. But those slick-covered […]