The human capacity for reason may be fragile and partial but it is not belied by studies in which large percentages of subjects answer a few tricky questions incorrectly.
Irony lurks in the surge of interest in cognitive psychologists’ research on human reasoning: we seem to be desperately interested in reading about how poorly we think.
It’s been a rather somber summer for anyone who reads the news, but in recent months few tunes have penetrated listeners’ hearts quite the way Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” has. The […]
This afternoon, at 1:57 pm, inmate Joseph Wood was injected with lethal drugs by the state of Arizona, a cocktail it had never tried out before today. Mr. Wood faced […]
“Slacktivism” online is exactly as deep as the paper-thin knowledge and commitment that fuels it.
We’ve come a long way from the days when women were relegated to the home and when Supreme Court decisions turned on the “obvious” observation that “woman’s physical structure and the performance […]
Are you a PATRIOT or an IGNORAMUS? Test your July 4th knowledge.
The marketplace of ideas would be a lot stodgier and less fluid—and more dangerously larded with lies—if it weren’t for humor. As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert show night after […]
This post is not a scam, I assure you. You’ll find three (very different) paths to riches outlined below. But to appreciate my advice, I need to depress you a […]
“All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation.” – W. H. Auden Auden, the great English poet who spent part of his twenties in the […]
Maybe so, but everything depends on what your faith is grounded on. Begin by recalling the thought experiment English theologian William Paley proposed in 1802: while traipsing across a field, […]
“The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude.” ― William Jamesrn
Religious freedom is a crucial right, but it can go too far.
It's no mean task to admit we're wrong or to pinpoint the cause of our intellectual errors. But we can try. Darwin is proof that it can be done.
With opposition to Obamacare waning, Republicans need a new issue to propel them toward November and beyond.
Is a surprise trip to Disney World the best gift you could give your kids? Um, no.
The joys of childhood take a backseat to "preparation for college and career."
The risk of huge news stories like the Bundy report or the comments and subsequent punishment of the Clippers' owner, Donald Sterling, is that we outsource all of our racism on a few caricatures of prejudice.
Tales of hidden research, perverse incentives and profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies should give you pause before filling that prescription.
Want to tell which of your Facebook friends are brightening your day, and which are bringing you down? There's an app for that.