Guest Thinkers — April 2, 2010

The Jesus Paradox

Two new books — one by a Roman Catholic journalist, the other by an atheist novelist — offer modern responses to the difficult concept that Jesus was both mortal and divine.

bigthinkeditor

Two new books offer modern responses to the Christian paradox that Jesus is thought of as both mortal and divine. Paul Johnson, a Roman Catholic journalist, focuses his biography on the earthly life of Jesus, assuming most of the stories of the bible to be true. Atheist novelist Philip Pullman takes a different tack, retelling the Gospel story with Mary having not one child, but twins — one called Jesus and the other Christ.

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

Mapping the Seas

Researchers have developed two new broadband acoustic systems that could represent a major improvement in how fish and other marine life are counted and classified.