Technology & Innovation — April 25, 2010

A Live Debate

The Economist is conducting a live debate on whether GDP growth is a poor measure of improving living standards; two of their columnists start the debate.

bigthinkeditor

The Economist is conducting a live debate on whether GDP growth is a poor measure of improving living standards; two of their columnists start the debate. On the one side: “GDP is too narrow a measure of the things that truly matter to humans to be viewed as a valuable indicator in developed nations like ours in 2010.” And on the other: “As a measure of standards of living—that is, a measure of the level of comfort provided by privately purchased and publicly provided goods and services—GDP is pretty good.”

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Professor Orwell

The Chronicle of Higher Education recalls George Orwell’s advice on writing in order to explain why American academic writing is so unfortunately esoteric and—poorly written.