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"A debate on Cartesian dualism has led to radically differing approaches to the treatment of depression." A new book reveals how much is at stake in our understanding of the mind.
"Individuality, like civilization itself, is such a hard-won, fragile thing." David Rieff says comradeship, while often healthy, can have terrible moral consequences in large groups.
Jonah Lehrer at Frontal Cortex explains the most recent housing slump in terms of behavioral psychology: because humans innately fear loss, both sides of the market have stalled.
Technology Review profiles the year's top young innovators under 35—impressive inventions in the fields of computing, web, communications, biomedicine and business are on display.
What happens to a child when Atlas Shrugged becomes a bedtime story? New satire at McSweeney's: 'Our daughter isn't a selfish brat; your son just hasn't read Atlas Shrugged'.
It's not all about talent, says Jonah Lehrer at the Frontal Cortex. Log 10,000 hours of practice, get started at an early age, diversify your interests and live in a small population center.
"A study released Tuesday suggests that a new species of microbe is consuming the undersea plumes in the Gulf oil spill—perhaps more quickly than scientists anticipated."
"Scientists have reacted with anger at a court ruling that strikes down Barack Obama's decision to greatly expand medical research using stem cells taken from human embryos."
Praise for Edward Hopper at the Whitney: "Hopper, if provincial, is powerfully so. He sets today’s conventions, in art and elsewhere, into relief. He enriches the American darkness."
"Let us by all means make the 'Ground Zero' debate a test of tolerance. But this will be a one-way street unless it is to be a test of Muslim tolerance as well," Hitchens says.
WEIRD stands for western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. Though WEIRD people are a minority in global terms, they constitute the field of study for most psychological research.
How can government protect you from your own harmful desires like gambling and drinking? New 'self-exclusion' policies allow people to plan ahead for those moment of impulse.
Bill Gates says the government should do more R&D in the energy sector, that a Manhattan Project for sustainable energy won't work and that a carbon tax is necessary.
Twenty inventions will compete for a prize of $30,000 at the design competition sponsored by British inventor James Dyson. A life raft that makes saltwater potable is in the running.
The rate of change in our culture is increasing—and in order to compete, businesses need to increase their rate of change as well, says management guru John Kotter. In his […]
Amid questions over U.K. taxpayer money spent on sex services for the disabled, Naomi Jacobs rejects the "myth" that the disabled need to exploit prostitutes to have sex.
New research once again shows that the poor are not only more generous than those wealthier and they are also more charitable, trusting and helpful.
"Disney has a long history of dress policies and is within its rights in restricting where a restaurant worker can wear a hijab," says the L. A. Times in an editorial.
"There's a reason we're fighting to keep this unretouched image of Aniston on our website. And it's not just because we like her freckles." Jezebel on the impact of for retouching.
"The messages lost through faulty translation in Afghanistan are sabotaging the mission there as badly as any physical enemy ever could," warns Neil Shea.