When a precocious yet nonconformist teenager asks why they need to learn calculus, what should you say?
You know they will never use it in adulthood, outside of certain career choices.
You co...
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In order to be born, you needed:
2 parents
4 grandparents
8 great-grandparents
16 second great-grandparents
32 third great-grandparents
64 fourth great-grandparents
128 fifth...
The artist Saul Steinberg, who immigrated to the United States in 1942, was deeply preoccupied with identifying the essential threads of American life. For him, baseball was rich material. In 1954, h...
A general solution to the cubic equation was long considered impossible, until we gave up the requirement that math reflect reality.
References:
Some great videos about the cubic:
50...
Should we be satisfied with limited government rather than no government?
AFFIRMATIVE: Private, Contractual Methods Are More Efficient and More Just (Katherine Mangu-Ward)
NEGATIVE: In Praise o...
“Microdosing” on psychedelic substances like LSD—ingesting just enough to heighten cognitive faculties, enhance creativity, improve concentration and alleviate depression—is currently back i...
Nominations are now open for the second MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award, which carries a $250,000 cash prize, no strings attached.
This award will go to a person or group engaged in what we...
The real goal of tu quoque (or any ad hominem attack) is to shift the focus to your opponent’s weaknesses as a way to hide your argument’s weaknesses. To create a hypocrisy meme: 1) pick a trigger...
The general rule is that a person’s behavior does not invalidate that person’s arguments. This is because ideally philosophical arguments are based on reason. Thus if the reasoning is valid, it do...
It seems extraordinary that in defiance of all factual history and philosophical knowledge anyone should celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx. More than anyone, through wrong-headed ide...
Live without regrets:
On November 4, Jeff Bezos was interviewed by his brother Mark at the ideas festival Summit LA17 event in Los Angeles. During the course of this interview, Jeff revealed...
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braincrave
in braincrave
History repeats itself. Men have constantly fought and died in the war for equality throughout the centuries. However, not all of them had in mind the same idea of equality when they gave their lives...
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braincrave
in braincrave
You're an idiot.
That's right. According to New York spin doctor Sheherazad Jaafari (aka press-aide or press attaché), Americans are easily manipulated. All politicians need to do is admit that th...
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braincrave
in braincrave
I'm talking about the real anarchists here, not bloody bomb-throwers or anti-capitalist window breakers. I'm referring to people who have faced the scary fact that all coercive power corrupts and tha...
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in braincrave
Selfishness is often defined as an evil that deals with one caring for oneself more than for others. Many evils in the world are blamed on selfishness. Hunger, poverty and illness are supposedly all...
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braincrave
in braincrave
The holidays are often difficult, and can be downright depressing, especially for those who have pain from a loss, a traumatic experience, or just plain loneliness (e.g., not having a date for holida...
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braincrave
in braincrave
We all have previously learned about the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918, which killed between 20-40 million people worldwide in our history classes. Now with the advance of modern molecular biology techn...
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braincrave
in braincrave
There's a button that some wear on election day. It says "I voted." It's as if voting makes them feel powerful.
But the vote they cast typically isn't for a specific law - it's usually for a polit...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned that Platonic love isn't what we thought it was. In fact, Plato didn't even believe in it, was pro-sex, thought erotica was a spiritual force that helps us find our true selves, and e...
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in braincrave
Life is a constant struggle, especially because the lessons we learn are oftentimes knowledge gained after we really needed it. It's one of the reasons mentors are so important - they've "been there,...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Throughout most of human civilization, centuries of men have starved, died from the elements (for lack of proper housing), suffered terrible health, and barely lived. Even today, starvation kills mil...
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braincrave
in braincrave
We need a new demotivational poster: "Science. A quick way to mess-up all those great love poems."
The definition of rational isn't very controversial: "having reason or understanding." The defini...
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in braincrave
A neuroscientist is someone who studies "the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or molecular biology of nerves and nervous tissue and especially their relation to behavior and learning." Although the...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Ron Paul just came out with a plan to cut $1 trillion from the US's federal budget and severely curtail entitlement programs. According to the "Plan to Restore America," it cuts $1 trillion in spendi...
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in braincrave
As many mourn the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs, they use words such as visionary, brilliant, innovative, leader, entrepreneur, capitalist, and philanthropic to describe him. Many aren't aware th...
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in braincrave
Aristotle spoke of music as having "influence over the character and the soul." He noted that "Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger and gentleness, and also of courage and temperance, and of...
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in braincrave
How we do like to complain about politicians. We vote them into office (well, some don't vote) and expect them to change the world. To reduce war. To make our lives better. To keep their promises. Af...
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in braincrave
Today I learned the adage "you can't prove a negative" is false because you can prove a negative. It's very easy. We need to stop saying that. A better statement to use is "he who asserts a positive...
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in braincrave
Just when you thought you understood how the world works, the tachyons come to shake things up.
For those who haven't heard by now, the masterminds at CERN who brought you the LHC rap have made wh...
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in braincrave
Competition increases change and motivates people to excel. For example, gamers recently competed to solve a scientific problem that has "vexed researchers for a decade." Companies compete for your b...
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It was all the rage.
Following 14-year old Jamey Rodemeyer's tearful "It Gets Better, I promise!" video, in which he tried to show how positive he was in the face of gay bullying, other well-know...
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in braincrave
Make everyone equal. It is a common battle cry across the centuries. Just look at the current class warfare that Obama is pushing because we are not all equal. (Or, as Orwell famously put it in Anima...
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in braincrave
Why are so many children familiar with the adage "do as I say, not as I do?" The answer should be obvious - because we, as adults, often do things that we don't want our children doing. Let's face it...
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in braincrave
Ron Paul famously said of neocons:
The neoconservative ethos, steeped in the teachings of Leo Strauss, cannot abide an America where individuals simply pursue their happy, peaceful, prosperous l...
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in braincrave
Einstein once wrote that "our conscious acts spring from our desires and our fears." Many agree. For example, David Hume suggested in A Treatise of Human Nature that humans are prone to letting emoti...
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in braincrave
When it comes to non-violent, ideological leaders, Mahatma Gandhi has got to be toward the very top of the list. His resistance to British tyranny through mass civil disobedience is famous. Needless...
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in braincrave
When it comes to politics, it's difficult to say "liberals believe this" or "conservatives believe that." After all, within each political ideology, there are many views; sometimes even views that se...
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in braincrave
Paris Hilton did it to Lindsay Lohan. Tiger Woods did it. American Idol did it. Couples do it. Sometimes we even do it to ourselves. Politicians do it as well, but they do it badly (just like everyth...
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braincrave
in braincrave
First, let me make this perfectly clear: I am an anarchist (or, more specifically, an anarcho-capitalist). I do not support any kind of government, including a president. The last election I voted in...
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in braincrave
Space is a concept which is very rarely correctly understand by anybody, including modern physicists. However, the purpose of this essay is not to discuss the confusions of others in relation to this...
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braincrave
in braincrave
As scary as it might sound, we already know that evidence doesn't matter much in the context of politics. So, even when there is clear evidence of a certain idea being factually true, many people don...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Most of you are probably aware of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. It states that it is not possible to know the precise position and momentum of subatomic particles such as electrons. (There is...
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braincrave
in braincrave
(Meanwhile, as the Italian cabinet approves a tough austerity plan, and as Nero feasts while Rome burns...)
According to the AP, "France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are banning short-selling on sele...
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braincrave
in braincrave
As this is an article about the theory of games, I thought that, as I intend to do this systematically, I should start with a brief post defining what a game actually is. You might think that I could...
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braincrave
in braincrave
One of the many fun things to do as a kid is to sit around a campfire late at night and hear adults tell ghost stories. Our imaginations would run wild - are there really such things as ghosts?
Bu...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Porn is like bacon: some won't eat it for religious reasons, some consider it filthy, some feel guilty after eating it, but everyone else (which is most of the population) loves it. Funny enough, sci...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Nowadays, you have to take on massive amounts of debt to go to college, only to graduate and find that there aren't any jobs available. So you leave college, go back to living with your parents, and...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Praxeology is a general theory of human action or, more specifically, purposeful behavior. Unlike unconscious behavior such as breathing or reflexes, we act in conscious, chosen ways to achieve vario...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Politics. Morality. Religion. Relationships. Even science. These are examples of the many categories in which you will find disagreements. These debates occur just as much with intelligent people as...
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braincrave
in braincrave
The latest weapon of mass destruction: starvation.
The situation is dire. It's the worst drought in Africa in 60 years. The UN is airlifting food to Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It's estimated th...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Imagine that you are a human brought to another planet. You are not religious. You haven't any belief in God or the supernatural. On this planet, the aliens are immediately able to cure all your dise...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Remember the guy who talked about change? Where'd he go?
In 2006, Obama said this:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a...
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braincrave
in braincrave
You sometimes have to wonder why teaching children seems to be more complicated than rocket science. There are many valid debates in education as to the proper conditions required for a child to lear...
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braincrave
in braincrave
No doubt about it - we humans have a strong desire for sexual intercourse. It certainly makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, as the desire helps further humanity. But some are programmed for...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
"Facts don't necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite."
Before you read this article to determine where that conclusion came from, ponder that quote for a moment...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Winning people's hearts and minds through ideas is one way to affect change, but it's a very, very slow process. Most would consider it "impractical." For those who want to implement change quicker,...
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braincrave
in braincrave
"Philosopher of revolution" Pyotr Kropotkin (aka Peter Kropotkin) once wrote: "America is just the country that shows how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Humans and chimpanzees share 96% of the same DNA. In other words, from a scientific perspective, humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar.
As the battle between evolution and intelligen...
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braincrave
in braincrave
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who "passionately" believes in the welfare system, is lashing out at parents who are raising their children through social welfare programs. He thinks the issue is a...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Once upon a time, in a land far away which has nothing at all in common with the world we humans inhabit, a horse was running free in the plain. He longed to climb up the mountains and see the world...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Today I learned hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold water. Although there isn't one, conclusive scientific explanation for the phenomenon, one of the theories for why this occurs is that hot...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Jesse Ventura, of wrestling, acting, and conspiracy theory fame, is disgusted with politics. (And anyone who isn't disgusting isn't sane.) So he's come up with some new ideas.
What do you think el...
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braincrave
in braincrave
How we do love eye-candy. And, after all, "since when is a woman dressing sexy in public a bad thing?"
By now, you've probably heard about the various "slut walks" that are happening all over the...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Considered the third, best-selling poet of all time, Khalil Gibran once said "Desire is half of life; indifference is half of death." Apathy is defined as having a lack of emotion, interest, or conce...
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braincrave
in braincrave
From a WoW forum:
Original post: "So many trolls be trolling....thugs be thugging....haters be hating.... I love everyone on this server Spread the love."
Reply post: "Homo."
Sarcasm aside,...
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braincrave
in braincrave
When it comes to protecting civil liberties, it just keeps getting worse. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now testing what it calls Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). It i...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Obama is currently getting criticized because of his recent speech asserting that the US government officially supports a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 borders along with negotiated...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Monty Python famously sang "life's a piece of shit when you look at it." There's also the adage that, if everyone threw all their problems on the table, most would reach back down and pick up their...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
When I was much younger, I told my father I believed I would live forever. He asked how that would happen and gently reminded me that we all die sooner or later. I explained that I believed we would...
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braincrave
in braincrave
A placebo is a sham or simulated medical intervention by a doctor in which some patients experience actual improvements in their conditions. Although it doesn't work on everyone, these effects in pat...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Good etiquette facilitates relationships, and good relationships help us live better lives. We've previously discussed proper manners in communications. Continuing in our etiquette and manners series...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Ayn Rand once wrote that "Definitions are the guardians of rationality, the first line of defense against the chaos of mental disintegration." Perhaps that's one of the reasons politics always appear...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Ron Paul has entered the US presidential race for the third time as a Republican. But he's not really a Republican - he's a Libertarian. Ron Paul, like all Libertarians, is always talking about limit...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Here's the backdrop: in 2005, the US Supreme Court ruled in Castle Rock v. Gonzales that a person does not have a constitutional right to police protection, even in the presence of a restraining orde...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
The great political theorist and economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote in The State: "The oppressor no longer acts directly by his own force on the oppressed. No, our conscience has become too fastidiou...
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in braincrave
Getting people to agree on objective moral principles is difficult, to say the least. Moral codes seem to span the gamut of culture, time, environment, experience, geography, gender, race, etc. Could...
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braincrave
in braincrave
If you're looking for the meaning of life, religions are ready with an answer. As of yet, science doesn't have an answer, other than to possibly claim that there isn't any purpose. (Nihilists of the...
editorial posted by
braincrave
in braincrave
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with morality, and the moral code/ideology used when differentiating between right and wrong is critical (e.g., consider that Hitler used national socialis...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Let this sink in for a moment: the United States has the highest prisoner population rate in the world. That's right, even more than China. (And, no - that doesn't include all of the hidden prisons i...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Politics are a disgusting abyss of failed attempts to legislate morality. But why is it like that? Perhaps one of the primary reasons is because people can't seem to agree on what morality is; or, mo...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Discussing sports, Noam Chomsky once remarked: "Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people so...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Contrary to what the United Nations does, Mother Earth doesn't have a conscience. She can't tell us which of her resources she wants us to save, which to take care of, and which to use. Ergo, how we...
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braincrave
in braincrave
In the adventure film Sahara, General Kazim states: "Don't worry. It's Africa. Nobody cares about Africa." In 2009, it's estimated that 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with almost 70% liv...
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braincrave
in braincrave
There's an old Russian political joke where an American and a Soviet car salesmen are arguing about who makes better cars. The American asks: "How many decades does an average Soviet man need to work...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which revolutionized the cotton industry. But he had a hard time profiting from his invention because he tried to charge farmers a huge price (2/5 of their profits...
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braincrave
in braincrave
There's an adage that goes: if you've got enemies, it means you stood up for something in life. Out of all of the potential philosophies that you could adopt in your life, perhaps none may be more co...
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braincrave
in braincrave
In 1967, psychologist Martin Seligman performed an experiment on dogs by shocking them with electricity which appeared to start and stop at random. After the dogs were conditioned, he put the dogs in...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Do a search on the web and you'll find all sorts of criteria for what makes an effective leader. People can't even seem to agree on the definition of leadership. As a result, theories abound. But wha...
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in braincrave
The US government consists of a bunch of hypocrites. I know, tell you something you don't know, right?
Recently, Hillary Clinton and her lackeys at the US State Department released the Country Re...
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in braincrave
Sometimes it seems that the worse things get, the more we tolerate. It's not that we become impartial to a particular wrong, but it does seem that we often "sit on the fence" when we see wrongdoing....
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in braincrave
Many women like having big breasts. They also like looking good. According to the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, of the 13 million cosmetic plastic surgeries performed annually, women seek 9...
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braincrave
in braincrave
You can call a fish a duck, but that doesn't make it so. Does anyone else find it funny that people claiming to be anarchists - which is, by definition, being against government - are rioting in su...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Alexander Pope once said: "A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." As in any discussion about a topic of...
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in braincrave
We experience art as an emotional reaction to our senses. Enjoying art has a personal meaning and relevance; therefore, we evaluate art differently depending upon our own values, perceptions, and kno...
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braincrave
in braincrave
"Gamers are super-empowered hopeful individuals." They are masters at figuring things out, even medical problems. So who wants to use gaming to change the world?
There are many problems to address...
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braincrave
in braincrave
So many consider money as the primary asset in life. Sometimes we are so caught up in the "rat race" that we forget that money, and each possession we acquire from it, costs us something very valuabl...
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in braincrave
Attention US government. You're not very bright. By having a high corporate tax rate, you are pushing jobs, profits, patents, executives, research, and operations of US companies overseas. (And, as a...
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in braincrave
New research confirms scandal: not just anyone can be a supermodel. Such discrimination! Say the word discrimination and most immediately think of prejudice. In many countries, by law, employers cann...
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braincrave
in braincrave
Pain is a part of life, and we all have different ways to deal with it. In what might appear to be a strange contradiction, some even go so far as to self-inflict pain in order to avoid pain. It's al...
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Socrates, the philosopher who claimed the contradiction "I know that I know nothing," provided us with a method to help us question what we think we know and to demonstrate otherwise: the Socratic me...