Clik here to view.
The Benefits of Being Wrong
President Obama recently admitted that he was wrong to rely heavily on the emergency plans of oil executives in the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It's an admission that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On Morality and Political Compromise
As this week's Middle East peace talks come to a close, many people are talking about the level of compromise necessary for the talks to have any hope of success. In politics, as in life, sometimes...
View ArticleUFO Reports Increase: Why Do So Many Believe?
"President Obama is a Muslim!" ... "The U.S. government was involved in the attacks on 9/11!" ... "Area 51 is full of little green men!"We've all heard conspiracy theories with no basis in observable...
View ArticleThe Literary Canon of The Tea Party
The world may best know Glenn Beck and Rand Paul as Tea Party leaders. But Beck and Paul also happen to be avid readers, and both have mentioned their fondness for Ayn Rand and her dystopian novel...
View ArticleFeds: Humans Worth About $8 Million a Pop
How much is a human life worth? Could you hazard a guess at the federal government's answer? Try $8 million, give or take a couple, depending on the agency that's coming up with the figure. An article...
View ArticleWhy Does the World Exist?
In his latest book, “Why Does The World Exist?,” author Jim Holt embarks on an existential journey, asking everyone from mathematicians to novelists, “Why is there something rather than nothing?”"I was...
View ArticleStriving for Justice in a Multicultural Society
As Janice Kelsey, a member of the Birmingham, Alabama Children's Crusade, tells it, the modern Civil Rights Movement tried to address one of America’s most significant challenges: creating a justice...
View ArticleThe 'New Rich' and What It Means to be Wealthy | Desperately Seeking a Cure...
What is Your Work Worth? | Long-Term Unemployment Difficult to Change | Treating The Injured in the Wake of Typhoon Haiyan | Digital Volunteers Map Destruction in the Philippines | U.S. Cuts Off...
View ArticleWhat is Your Work Worth?
Work makes up such a large part of our identity. Our work determines how we spend most of our days, the people we spend our time with, the kind of lifestyle we can afford, and it influences our...
View ArticleSo You've Hit Your Peak. Now What?
Have I peaked?It might seem like a depressing question, but Todd May, a professor of philosophy at Clemson University, believes it’s a worthy one.May cites the example of Edward Snowden, who went...
View ArticleLiving Longer Means Rethinking Social Structures
In Greek mythology, Tiresias, the blind seer of Thebes, lived beyond 600 years. In the Bible, Noah lived to be 950. And in Chinese legend, Peng Zu was believed to have lived for over 800 years during...
View ArticleThe Ethos Behind 'Cool' Inventions
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.As the Greek wheels of justice spin their way through an ancient Democratic system, the democracy of big ideas is finding a new home in the era of...
View Article'Self and Soul': Searching for Idealism in Modern Life
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.Between the hours it takes to commute, work, pay the bills, and feed a family, who has any time to ponder the deeper desires of the soul?Mark...
View ArticlePractical Advice for World-Changing
In the next installation in our School of Life's philosophical self-help series, John-Paul Flintoff, a London-based journalist who has investigated the global garment industry and resource shortages...
View ArticleIs there an Equation for Success?
Want to be sccessful at gambling? How about sports? Inventments? Michael Mauboussi is the Head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Suisse and author of a book where he outlines “The Success...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Should We Trust Science?
Cheating in science has been in the news lately. The Office of Research Integrity — which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — punishes on the order of a dozen scientists a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why We Need Philosophers Engaged In Public Life
Say "philosopher" and most people imagine a bust of Socrates, obscure texts or intellectual tête-à-têtes in the so-called Ivory Tower, away from the muddle of real-life concerns. But three issues this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Science And The Agony Of Ignorance
Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt. For billions of years, it has been out there, biding its time, orbiting 250 million miles from the sun.Now, for the first time, a robot emissary from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Art Of Knowing What You're Looking For
I have an unusual name. As I've mentioned before in this place, it is difficult or even impossible for me to tell someone my name over the phone. If they don't know it, they can't hear it. It's just...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A New Way To Look At Emotions
When I was a kid, I noticed that sometimes fear and anticipation felt the same way.I'd get butterflies, a kind of queasiness in the stomach. To figure out what I was feeling, I came to realize, what...
View Article
