Most Read from past 24 hours
The 'Useless' Things Make Us More Fully Human
- Culture, Featured, Philosophy, Uncategorized
- May 19, 2025
If you study the long history of science, it’s striking how the thought of each age is dominated by some-or-other ruling metaphor that eventually gives way to another. That’s especially true when it comes to explaining human intelligence. (You can learn how in this book.) Ever since computer technology took off after World War II, our ruling metaphor for the human brain is
READ MOREMy colleague, Annie Holmquist, discovered some statistics about the decline in masculinity that have troubled me since the moment I looked over them. Here’s the key part of her piece: “In recent years, a mildly trending topic of discussion has been the question, ‘Where have all the men gone?’ While there are a number of
READ MOREThe big news out this morning is the Pew Research finding that more young people ages 18 to 34 are living with their parents rather than married or cohabitating in their own households. Already, gallons of ink are being spilled by major news media about how this trend is driven by “declining employment” and a
READ MOREHenry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. The son of a pencil maker, Thoreau became one of the finest and most independent thinkers of his day (this free thinking is perhaps evidenced by his early decision to go by Henry David instead of David Henry). A brilliant poet, naturalist, and
READ MOREShakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably the greatest play ever written. It is, however, also one of the most misunderstood. One could write a book, or perhaps a whole shelf-full of books, on the way in which the play is misconstrued by critics, or the manner in which it is sacrificed to the latest literary fads. The
READ MOREIn a recent Facebook post, Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs show, shared a letter he received from an Arkansas mother. The letter ran as follows: Dear Mike My son, Spencer, decided to apply for the High Voltage Lineman program at Arkansas State University Newport. He went through the interviews just fine,
READ MORE