IDEAS
October 5, 2008
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The Sunday Globe Ideas section features reporting and commentary on the ideas, people, books, and
trends that are shaking up the intellectual world. To submit a letter for the Globe's letters page, write to letters@globe.com.
Or share your thoughts on the Boston.com Ideas message board. Story pitches and manuscripts may be sent to Ideas editor Gareth Cook at cook@globe.com, or deputy editor Stephen Heuser at sheuser@globe.com. For submissions to the op-ed page, visit the Globe's Editorial and Opinion section.
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THE WORD COLUMN
The great 'scape
Everything's a landscape now.
- MORE Jan Freeman columns
CRITICAL FACULTIES
Mark Oppenheimer
Charm school
Scholars unpack the secrets of charisma, and suggest the elusive quality can be taught.
(Geoff Grandfield for the Boston Globe)Higher art
Universities should become society's great patrons of the arts. (By Marjorie Garber, Boston Globe)
Life of the Mind
The next decider
The election isn't just a referendum on ideology. It's a contest between two modes of thinking. (By Jonah Lehrer, Boston Globe)
Everything is illuminated
The best time to take in the new Pentagon Memorial? 1 a.m. (By Michael Paulson, Boston Globe)
PREVIOUS IDEAS FEATURES
Sept. 28: Hidden histories
'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad' are giving up new secrets about the ancient world.
Sept. 21: Fear of fairy tales
The glossy, sanitized new versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts.
Sept. 14: Brain Drain
Why so many talented educators are leaving Boston for New York.
Sept. 7: The secret benefits of fandom
It's not just psychological: When your favorite team wins a game, you may actually profit.
Aug. 31: Daydream achiever
A wandering mind can do important work, scientists are learning - and may even be essential.
Aug. 24: A blueprint for good
A new movement aims to change the world through free architecture.
Aug. 17: Confidence game
How impostors like Clark Rockefeller capture our trust instantly - and why we're so eager to give it to them.
Aug. 10: Missing men
America's fight against poverty has a growing hole. Some say it's time to pay attention to the people falling through it: men.
Aug. 3: How magicians control your mind
Magic isn't just a bag of tricks - it's a finely-tuned technology for shaping what we see. Now researchers are extracting its lessons.
July 27: How to contain radical Islam
The best global strategy for the United States may be the one that won the Cold War.
July 20: Abducted!
The Amber Alert system is more effective as theater than as a way to protect children.
July 13: Sane sanitation
We all produce a rich resource in our homes and then spend millions of dollars to throw it away. A new philosophy says there are smarter ways to think about waste.
July 6: How disasters help
Natural disasters can give a boost to the countries where they occur - and sometimes, the more the better.
June 29: Attention class
Paying attention is a more important skill than you might think - and new evidence suggests it can be taught.
June 22: Stopping Google
With one company now the world's chief gateway to information, some critics are hatching ways to fight its influence.
June 15: All tomorrow's water
One man's lonely quest to save Massachusetts by drowning it in fresh water.
June 8: I now pronounce you . . . friend and friend
Some argue that it's time to legally recognize the bond of friendship so that some of the rights and privileges restricted to family would be given to friends.
June 1: The answer
Fifteen years into education reform, we are still failing to fix the most troubled schools. Now there's no excuse: A few successful urban schools have shown it can be done.
May 25: Everyone's a historian now
How the Internet - and you - will make history deeper, richer, and more accurate.
May 18: My space
If we really want to explore space, maybe we should sell it off to the highest bidders
May 11: Measure for Measure
Literary criticism could be one of our best tools for understanding the human condition. But first, it needs a radical change: embracing science
May 4: Signs of the times
The language of gang hand-signs is, as of yet, almost entirely unstudied by sociologists, linguists, and anthropologists, even those who focus on street gangs themselves.
April 27: The future of dirt
Better soil could accomplish some surprising things, researchers find, but improving it is no small task. (By Drake Bennett, Boston Globe)
April 20: Shackled to the past
New research from a Harvard scholar suggests that Africa's economic woes may have their roots in the slave trade.
April 12: How to defuse a human bomb
Since 9/11, the focus of the war on terrorism has been to capture or kill terrorists. Only now are thinkers turning to the equally vital question of what it would take to persuade a terrorist to give up the life.
April 6: House of cards
'Bringing Down the House,' the best-selling book that inspired the new movie '21,' has been sold as an amazing true story. Well, it's amazing, and it's a story -- and two out of three ain't bad.
March 30: She did what?
As one starlet after another goes off the rails, what kind of example are they setting for American girls? Maybe a good one. Meet a new cultural force: the anti-role model.
March 23: The good recession
As the economy enters the doldrums, there are some things you can look forward to - including better health
March 16: State Inc.
The most important new forces in global business are aggressive, wealthy, and entrepreneurial. But they aren't corporations: they're authoritarian governments.
March 9: The joy of boredom
Don't check that e-mail. Don't answer that phone. Just sit there. You might be surprised by what happens.
March 2: When shove comes to push
If you've started a new job in the past couple of years, your 401(k) plan may be quietly subjecting you to a profound social experiment.
February 24: Brother, can you spare a carbon credit?
Thinkers weigh a radical new way to reduce greenhouse gas: Give everyone an individual carbon allowance, and let the dealing begin.
February 17: Black man vs. white woman
Hillary Clinton contends with gender stereotypes, and Barack Obama with racial ones. Which bias runs deeper in the American psyche? The answer does not bode well for Clinton.
February 10: Finders, keepers
As museums ship ancient treasures back to the countries where they were found, some are now saying: Enough.
February 3: Vote hypocrite
In times like these, America needs a politician who isn't afraid to fake it.
January 27: The black box economy
Behind the recent bad news lurks a much deeper concern: The world economy is now being driven by a vast, secretive web of investments that might be out of anyone's control.
January 20: Small change
Why we can't fight terrorists by cutting off their money
January 13: Don't just stand there, think
New research suggests that we think not just with our brains, but with our bodies.
January 6: Those people
What if our prejudices could be transformed into a force for good? A Harvard scholar suggests a new way to think about social relations.
December 30: The new, new things of 2007
Apple is the new NASA. Iran is the new Iraq. Beer is the new water, and water is the new oil. What's new in 2007. A guide for the perplexed.
December 23: Trees by design
Genetic engineering has transformed medicine and agriculture - and triggered intense controversies. What happens when it comes to the forest?
December 16: The 'no' muscle
It's the season of temptation - groaning tables, open bars, tipsy co-workers whose beer goggles screen out your wedding ring. Which means, for most of us, that it's also the season for attempts at self-control.
December 9: Africa Rising
Democracy is expanding. Conflicts are ebbing. Economies are growing at a healthy clip. The untold story of a continent that is surprising the pessimists.
December 2: Last call
Why the gay bars of Boston are disappearing, and what it says about the future of city life
November 25: The amero conspiracy
Behind closed doors, a secret cabal is planning the end of the United States as we know it. Inside a paranoid vision for our time. (By Drake Bennett/Boston Globe)
Novermber 18: The opposite of Thanksgiving
The modern holiday would horrify the Puritans, who observed a tradition that was quiet, deeply religious, and concerned with betterment, not bounty
November 11: Accidental voyeurs
E-mail has created a new social possibility: immersion, against your will, in the life of a complete stranger
October 27: The difference myth
We shouldn't believe the increasingly popular claims that boys and girls think differently, learn differently, and need to be treated differently
October 21: Bug bomb
One of the cheapest and most destructive weapons available to terrorists today is also one of the most widely ignored: insects.
October 14: News flash
New research concludes that the sensationalism sweeping local news is bad for ratings
September 30: Raiders of the faux ark
Biblical archeology is too important to leave to crackpots and ideologues. It's time to fight back.
September 16: Why are we here?
Colleges ignore life's biggest questions, and we all pay the price
September 9: Lawyer for the dog
Inside the booming field of animal law, in which animals have their own interests -- and their own lawyers.
September 2: Mom, the next corporate titan
Hungry for talent, big companies have started to pursue women who have dropped out of the workforce. How this could redefine the whole notion of a career.
August 26: A nation of outlaws
A century ago, that wasn't China -- it was us
August 19: The new dirty energy
It's big, it's growing -- and it's bad for the environment. Inside the other alternative-energy movement.