Guest Thinkers — March 7, 2011

Saving the Egyptian Revolution

Revolutions’ final outcomes are seldom congruent with their prime movers’ intentions, says Shlomo Ben Ami. Will the relationship between Egyptian civilians and their military hold?

bigthinkeditor

Former Israeli foreign minister and current Vice President of the Toledo International Centre for Peace, Shlomo Ben Ami says reform in Egypt must face the ghosts of its authoritarian past: “The question for Egypt is whether the agenda of a truly pluralistic democracy can prevail against the resilient forces of the past. Indeed, according to a Pew Research Center poll, only 5.5% of people have access to Facebook, while 95% want Islam to play a major role in politics, 80% believe that adulterers should be stoned, 45% are practically illiterate, and 40% live on less than $2 a day.”

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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Guest Thinkers

America’s Back Door into Libya

Desperate to avoid involvement in Libya in the event of prolonged civil unrest, the U.S. have asked Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi, reports Robert Fisk.