Culture & Religion — March 24, 2010

Why We Drink and Drive

Why do we act irrationally? Does free will exist? These are the questions that philosopher Alfred Mele sought to answer when he sat down with Big Think.The Florida State University professor delves into what makes us make bad decisions, such as drinking and driving, and why in some cases self-deception can be dangerous. Mele talks about what drove him to ask these questions in the first place: Aristotle, who explained why we often go out and party when we know we should be studying.

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.

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