Should India Speak a Single Language?
The Indian government wants more than a billion people to embrace Hindi. One scholar thinks that would be a loss.
… Continue readingShould India Speak a Single Language?
Reckoning With Growth
Though there had been 600 years of dramatic change before 1750, these changes did not increase the standard of living of ordinary citizen of England. … Continue readingReckoning With Growth
The Specter and the Shadows
My oldest friends are from the Bronx. A half-dozen of them, and all without any parents remaining. Me, still with a mother who… … Continue readingThe Specter and the Shadows
The ‘Mad Egghead’ Who Built a Mouse Utopia
Lee Alan Dugatkin in The Guardian: Standing before the Royal Society of Medicine in London on 22 June 1972, the ecologist turned psychologist John Bumpass Calhoun, the director of the
Factory Robot Convinces 12 Other Robots to Go on Strike
A real-life sci-fi scenario unfolded in Shanghai, China, when a small AI-powered robot managed to… … Continue readingFactory Robot Convinces 12 Other Robots to Go on Strike
The Surprising Benefits of Talking Out Loud to Yourself
Why people talk out loud to themselves is to deal with “situations that are novel or highly stressful, or… … Continue readingThe Surprising Benefits of Talking Out Loud to Yourself
Ayad Akhtar Wants Writers to Reckon with AI
McNeal, the new play by Ayad Akhtar, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Disgraced, focuses on an egocentric, self-destructive… … Continue readingAyad Akhtar Wants Writers to Reckon with AI
The Nature of Natural Laws
The Sun rises every day. Water boils at 100°C. Apples fall to the ground. We live in a world in which objects behave the same given the same circumstances. … Continue readingThe Nature of Natural Laws
The Needy Genius Who Understood the Cosmos
The Science Museum in Britain holds numerous items associated with the Nobel Prize-winning mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose. … Continue readingThe Needy Genius Who Understood the Cosmos
Machiavelli and the Emergence of the Private Study
Andrew Hui tracks the rise of the private study by revisiting the bibliographic imaginations of Machiavelli… … Continue readingMachiavelli and the Emergence of the Private Study
The Culture Wars Today: Peter York On a Politics of Mass Deception
Culture wars are being waged globally, and they reflect an intractable divide in society. Is there money behind culture war? “It takes money to do culture wars”, says Peter York,
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Half of the World’s Poor Live in Just 5 Countries
From the World Bank Blogs: However, we mustn’t lose sight of the numerous other countries with high poverty rates. … Continue readingHalf of the World’s Poor Live in Just 5 Countries