Category: ideas

Human evolution is grinding to a halt because of a shortage of older fathers in the West, according to a leading genetics expert. “Quite unexpectedly, we have dropped the human mutation rate because of a change in reproductive patterns.”

“This is an era of what could be called the ‘visual intellectual.’ Students on college campuses and members of the general public flock to hear – and see – addresses by filmmakers, artists, and performers. But although artists and performers are highly prized as visitors to colleges and universities, the kind of work they do has not reached a comparable importance in the curriculum.”

“Can machines think? That was the question posed by the great mathematician Alan Turing. Half a century later six computers are about to converse with human interrogators in an experiment that will attempt to prove that the answer is yes.”

“An eclectic group of artists, architects, scientists and writers have gathered at the Nevada Museum of Art to explore how nature and culture intersect in their chosen fields at a conference on art and environment. Programs at the three-day conference that began Thursday include the lessons of environmental stewardship taught by tribes who have lived in the region for thousands of years as well as the experiences of artists and scientists who have spent significant time working in extreme desert and polar regions.”

According to new research, “[a] perfectly healthy human mind can trick itself into seeing things that are not there… It turns out that the less control a person feels, the more likely they are to see patterns or make connections that don’t exist.”

Linguists tell us that languages are dying by the hundreds these days, and most of us couldn’t care less. After all, do we really need 7,000 languages in an increasingly global world? But, the producers of a new documentary would ask, what happens when you need a word for the act of bringing something from an inaccessible place with the help of a long stick?

Scottish composer James MacMillan is warning that “atheist liberals” are driving religion out of everyday life and culture. “A true sense of difference, in which a genuine pluralism could thrive, is under threat of being reduced to a lowest common denominator of uniformity and conformity, where any non-secular contribution will automatically be regarded as socially divisive by definition.”

Think you’re good at multitasking? Think again. Scientists say that the trend towards doing several things at once usually means just flitting between tasks quickly, and doing none of them particularly well. “Studies show that we frequently overestimate our ability to handle multiple tasks.”

“[Researchers] enrolled volunteers in a series of simulated silent ‘auctions’ (bidding against a person they had met) and ‘lotteries’ (deciding repeatedly whether or not to bid against a computer). All while lying in functional MRI machines that scanned their brains… Overbidding was highest when the auction emphasized loss.”

“The fashion industry, not to be confused with the garment trade, is in the unfortunate position of manufacturing merchandise that many would argue is wholly unnecessary and, when a $10,000 blazer is strutted down a runway by a teenager, is morally offensive… There is a level of cynicism surrounding the fashion industry that has reached unprecedented levels.”