Words of Wisdom — December 21, 2014

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Explains NATO’s Position on ISIS

In case you missed it from earlier this week, former NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Big Think to discuss how NATO deals with terrorist threats and what the international community must do to combat ISIS. Rasmussen believes a ground invasion will be necessary to achieve victory but stresses that it should be the the armies of the region that lead the charge.

“The Islamic State [is] neither Islamic nor a state. It is a pure terrorist organization and I consider it an obligation for the whole of the international community to fight that terrible terrorist organization.”

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.

▸

7 min

—

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

Technology & Innovation

Facebook Experiences Slight Decline in Popularity Among U.S. Teens

A new study shows that while the vast majority of American teens are using Facebook, less than 10% of them trust the social media site to protect their personal information.