In the privacy of our minds, we all talk to ourselves — an inner monologue that might seem rather pointless. As one scientific paper on self-talk asks: “What can we tell ourselves that we don’t already know?” But as that study and others go on to show, the act of giving ourselves mental messages can [...]
Two years ago, LeBron James split the nation with his public announcement that he would be taking his services to Miami. His hometown city of Cleveland became the jilted lover, and Miami, with an already talented duo in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, would now be perennial contenders for the title. He left a place [...]
Proposed changes to the psychiatric profession’s diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, have caused a recent uproar, with critics worried that the new label of “alcohol abuse disorder” will overdiagnose young problem drinkers — as many as 40% of college students — who eventually outgrow their dysfunctional behavior. Editors of the DSM-5 countered that the change in [...]
This past week, results from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that whites now account for less than half of all births made front-page news. Most of this demographic shift away from our nation’s Eurocentric heritage is being driven by Hispanics, whose median age is younger than that of whites and who tend to have more [...]
It was a headline long in coming. On the front page of the New York Times on Sunday, accompanying a story datelined Camp David, Maryland, there was a clear signal that President Obama recognizes the great political and cultural realities of the nation he leads. “World Leaders Urge Growth, Not Austerity,” wrote the editors of [...]
When protesters gather in Chicago this week to express their views about the NATO summit, people will be able to videotape the police and post videos of any police misconduct. Recording the police used to be illegal in Illinois. But this month, a federal appeals court ruled that a state wiretap law prohibiting it conflicts [...]
Is understanding human behavior as being driven, at least in part, by neurobiology, tantamount to “blaming the brain”? Does talk about genes, and brain structure and chemistry relieve us of personal responsibility for our actions, reinforcing a kind of hopeless fatalism, and allowing us such easy excuses for our bad behavior as – to borrow [...]
In November 2010, I checked into the Silicon Valley Four Seasons for two weeks to write TIME’s Person of the Year story on Mark Zuckerberg. They were a good two weeks, and not just because of the room service. I got a close-up look at Facebook at a fascinating moment in its history, when it [...]
There was something to be said for the old-fashioned landline, with a handset so bulky, you had to tuck it between your neck and shoulder to get your hands free. They didn’t — couldn’t — go everywhere with us. Now we’re tethered to our mobiles — addicted, even. They’ve become handy tools for avoidance, and [...]
Student debt is completely out of control, right? The more than $1 trillion in outstanding college loans is front-page news and is pretty much the only educational issue the presidential candidates are talking about. Yes, ballooning student debt is causing real hardship for some Americans. But as with many educational flare-ups, the public debate is giving [...]
Some religious leaders are struggling with President Obama’s support for gay marriage but not the Rev. Jesse Jackson. In a statement released shortly after Obama’s announcement Jackson said, “If Dr. King and our civil rights movement have taught us anything, it’s the fundamental principle that all people deserve equal protection under the law. LGBT people deserve [...]
Obama’s announcement of his support for gay marriage and Romney’s reaction to the revelations that he bullied a gay classmate in prep school offer vivid examples of the differences between how the two candidates think — and, ultimately, govern. People mistrust people who take time to think before they speak, which accounts for some of [...]
If you’ve ever been a part of a team in a workplace, you know that coordinating with even a single other person can quickly get, well, complicated. Now imagine having hundreds, even thousands of “teammates,” all with a hand in the same project. This kind of megacollaboration is becoming the norm in many scientific fields, [...]
For me, perhaps the most striking tactical story of the 2008 presidential campaign was the surprising reaction to Barack Obama in the American South. As a native of the region, I was long skeptical about the Illinois Senator’s viability in the Old Confederacy and thus about his national viability. (PHOTOS: Inside Barack Obama’s World) He [...]
When the story is written of how Hollywood flipped off heterosexual women, Exhibit A will be Brad Pitt’s beard. Remember when he started appearing in public with the icky nesting material and debris in his facial hair? That benign eccentricity signaled the beginning of A-list actors masquerading as homeless men. Skeevy celebrities with greasy, uncombed [...]
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