Feeding Mind, Pursuing Truth
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Is technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes0
- Culture
- June 27, 2016
The smartphone in your hand enables you to record a video, edit it and send it around the world. With your phone, you can navigate in cities, buy a car, track your vital signs and accomplish thousands of other tasks. And so? Each of those activities used to demand learning specific skills and acquiring the
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Home-Cooked Meals Aren’t Killing Mother Earth0
- Culture
- June 27, 2016
According to Food and Wine magazine, when I cook a big meal for my family, I’m not just offering nourishment and fostering important domestic traditions (and, according to studies on childhood obesity, improving my child’s chances of staying at a healthy weight), I’m “wasting money and destroying the environment.” That’s rather rich commentary coming from a magazine whose raison
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Historian Suggests Trump Would Suspend the Constitution0
- Education
- June 27, 2016
During election season, hyperbole becomes the norm. It doesn’t seem that unusual to see presidential hopefuls accused of fearmongering and demagoguery. Princeton historian Sean Wilentz recently dialed up the rhetoric even more. In a video that appeared on Big Think earlier this month, Wilentz implied that Donald Trump just might decide to suspend the Constitution
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Are Americans Becoming Less Patriotic?0
- Education
- June 27, 2016
In reading David Goldman’s recent column on Brexit, I was surprised to hear the following statistic: “An April 2016 survey found that two-thirds of Israeli 11th- and 12th-year students agreed with the statement, ‘It’s good to die for our country.’” ? But it’s true. The survey was commissioned by the daily newspaper Israel Hayom, and found
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10 Federal Debt Facts That Will Make You Feel Queasy0
- Economics
- June 27, 2016
It’s no secret that the U.S. government is swimming in red ink. Government statistics show federal debt currently stands at $19.3 trillion. The problem is that the human mind has trouble understanding a figure so huge. Nineteen trillion is just a number—unless it has context. Here are 10 facts that will help you understand how
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This is what debate looks like in the Age of Twitter0
- Education
- June 24, 2016
Last year, my colleague Daniel Lattier wrote an article that touched on the breakdown of rational debate in our culture. He noted that, frustratingly, the most important issues of our time are often the most difficult to discuss rationally. The reason for this is that people are often approaching topics with very different premises. The
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Many College Students are ‘Book Virgins’0
- Economics
- June 24, 2016
To gain admittance to college in the 17th century, students had to be able to read and translate various Latin authors on sight. 100 years ago, students were required to have read various classical works before being admitted. Today, however, many American students are being admitted to colleges without ever having read a book from
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Loners Are More Intellectual and Loyal Than Other People0
- Economics
- June 24, 2016
(Inspired by iHeartIntelligence) Speaking as a loner myself, I can tell you that there is a huge difference between a person who is socially rejected and a person who rejects social interaction. And even though loners often get a bad wrap (I’m assuming because people are upset that they don’t want to be a part of
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How Emotions Hijack Our Reason0
- Culture
- June 24, 2016
Most people have heard of the fight or flight response. We see a grizzly in the woods and our instinct is to run screaming. Makes total sense (though it will get you killed, so don’t do it). What many people don’t realize is that we often have this same response to intense emotional situations. Feelings
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