bigthinkeditor
“U.S. Energy Secretary Chu encourages the peaceful use of nuclear power at this year’s International Atomic Energy Agency gathering in Vienna.”
“Times are tough, but women’s intuition can serve as a tool for sustainability. Relying on it will help you rethink your current business.”
Today’s customers expect more from leading companies and brands than they ever have before. As enlightened consumers empowered by the Internet, they have the power to propel brands to tremendous […]
“The main way in which honor matters for what I’m calling ‘moral revolution,’ which are big changes in moral life over a relatively short period, is by mobilizing people through […]
In September 1940, a Polish army captain crept into the one place everyone wanted out: Auschwitz. His missions was to file intelligence reports on methods used at the camp.
“The result of the death of God was the divinization of Man. But having witnessed the atrocities committed in the name of such anthropocentrism, midcentury theorists sought to displace humanism.”
“Jonathan Franzen’s juvenile prose creates a world in which nothing important can happen.” The Atlantic’s B.R. Myers says contemporary language robs language of its import.
“Easy money from the Bank of England is setting up Britain’s economy for another bust.” The Adam Smith Institute says government monetary policies feed boom and bust economic cycles.
“Troops, money and a plan were long lacking in the battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In a SPIEGEL interview, Commander David Petraeus, discusses these failures with unusual frankness.”
“The Estate of Sir Winston Churchill has launched its own iPhone app and will use social media to bring the former Prime Minister’s ‘wit and wisdom’ to a wider audience.”
“A surprising number of high-profile economists, on both the left and the right, think it’s time for the Fed to try one more measure: injecting the economy with a healthy dose of inflation.”
“For these middle-class wives, theirs is an existential crisis borne out of over-high expectations and, frankly, emotional greed, consumerism of the heart.” Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is the anti-guru’s guru.
“Malicious activities like virus writing and hacking cost businesses globally more than a trillion dollars per year.” Al Jazeera asks who benefits from such crimes at a hacking conference in Hungary.
“Where does the overlap occur between desirable and investible?” The Wall Street Journal asks if investing in your passion—be it wine or art—creates financial and emotional returns.
I.B.M. announces its new contract to “supply the computing technology and services for an upgraded cellphone network across 16 nations in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The Christian Science Monitor compiles of list of tablet computers being talked about right now, from tablets that have an impending release date to those still under development.
“Comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert inspired to hold rally for sanity in Washington DC after Reddit online campaign.” The Guardian reveals the source of the comedians’ fountain.
“The religious sect that rejects modern life is spreading from its traditional heartlands, but scandals are damaging its benign image.” The Independent profiles the Amish.
“Nick Cave’s most recent band has just released a second record strong enough to make ‘side project’ seem like an inaccurate description.” The New Yorker reviews the album and the man.
“A new report argues that the world has plenty of uranium but needs to make wise choices about what to do with it once its been depleted in a nuclear reactor.”
“Even within the seemingly homogeneous sphere of the university English department, a schism has opened up between literary scholarship and creative writing.”
“People vary in their locations in social networks in part, we think, because there is no one location that is best, for us as individuals or for us as a species.”
“A Wall Street Journal investigation has found that popular children’s websites install more tracking technologies on personal computers than do the top websites aimed at adults.”
“People consider work of just about any kind to be better than no work at all, and it improves their mental health in most cases, several studies have found.” The L.A. Times reports.
Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah stopped by the Big Think offices this past week to talk how the concept of “honor” can be mobilized as a force for change. […]
After successfully employing Islamic law in the U.S. court system, a writer at Guernica realizes that Sharia and feminism aren’t always mutually exclusive.
“How do we use the technologies of computation, statistics and networking to shed light—without killing the magic?” Jaron Lanier asks if digital classrooms are good for education.
How does the brain figure out what it doesn’t know? Scientists say introspection, the process of the brain cross-examining itself, requires more gray matter and more neural connections.
“The Obama administration has been tardy to tackle economic misery, but looks set to lose to a GOP that would do even less.” Who will tackle America’s poverty problem?
A small dose of Prozac has been found effective at treating the physical and mental pains of premenstrual syndrome and could be widely available within two years, The Independent reports.