IDEAS
July 5, 2009
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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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(Globe Staff Photo Illustration)The nature of temptation
Why those who speak against vice so often fall for it. (By Drake Bennett, Boston Globe)
Q&A with Colin Ellard
An argument for reconnecting with the space around us (By Interview by Chris Berdik, Boston Globe)
A dollar for a day?
Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you life. An economist found that people who have earned more are much less likely to die. (By Kevin Lewis)
PREVIOUS IDEAS FEATURES
June 28: The future of ‘Free’
A controversial new book argues that businesses can flourish by giving things away. Does this make any sense?
June 21: The inheritance
A Father’s Day meditation on the invisible costs of war - and their family legacy.
June 14: The next tropical paradise?
New ideas for what to do with America's piece of Cuba
June 7: The day pain died
What really happened during the most famous moment in Boston medicine
May 31: Time for a new literature of the workplace
It used to be a central ambition of novelists to capture the experience of working life but for contemporary writers are notably silent about the workplace.
May 24: The fallen
A time to remember New Englanders who have given their lives - and to recall the region's deep military tradition.
May 17: The end of civil rights
If we really want to fix inequality, it's time for a new approach
May 3: No natives allowed
Over the last century, the conservation movement has created some beautiful parks - and millions of refugees.
April 26: Inside the baby mind
It's unfocused, random, and extremely good at what it does. How we can learn from a baby's brain.
April 19: The future of sea power
We have the world's largest navy. They have speedboats and machine guns. What now?
April 12: Luck Inc.
The 7 secrets of really, really lucky companies
April 5: The other kind of smart
Is it time for schools to try to boost kids' emotional intelligence?
March 29: The family dog
Why we treat our pets like royalty
March 22: Rethinking rent
Maybe we should stop trying to be a nation of homeowners.
March 15: Ready, aim . . . fail
Why setting goals can backfire.
March 8: Dark Passages
Violent writings in the Koran and the Bible.
March 1: Learning from slums
The world's slums are overcrowded, unhealthy - and increasingly seen as resourceful communities that can offer lessons to modern cities.
Feb. 22: Finding the lost city
Does the Amazon jungle conceal a vanished empire?
Feb 15: Time for a muzzle
The online world of lies and rumor grows ever more vicious. Is it time to rethink free speech?
Feb. 1: Cash on delivery
The movement to give every American a trust fund at birth.
Jan. 25: Mystical power
Why Sufi Muslims, for centuries the most ferocious soldiers of Islam, could be our most valuable allies in the fight against extremism.
Jan. 18: The violence network
It's biased, gruesome, and totally compelling. How Al-Jazeera makes one American think differently about war.
Jan. 11: Dark green
A scientist argues that the natural world isn't benevolent and sustaining: it's bent on self-destruction.
Jan. 4: How the city hurts your brain
...And what you can do about it. (By Jonah Lehrer, Boston Globe)
Dec. 28: The year in maps
A cartography boom offers new ways to see the world.
Dec. 21: Paradigm lost
Economists missed the brewing crisis. Now many are asking: How can we do better?
Dec. 14: When Jesus met Buddha
Something remarkable happened when evangelists for two great religions crossed paths more than 1,000 years ago: They got along.
Dec. 7: So you want to save the economy?
All you need is a keyboard and a few good ideas. Inside the influential new world of econobloggers
Nov. 30: Betting on Bob
The next thing in student loans: Investors pay your bills. You give them a share of your future.
Nov. 23: No nukes
Once a quixotic slogan, the idea of actually dismantling every nuclear weapon is attracting mainstream policy thinkers.
Nov. 16: Depression 2009: What would it look like?
Lines at the ER, a television boom, emptying suburbs. A catastrophic economic downturn would feel nothing like the last one.
Nov. 9: What it meant
In the great national narrative, where will Obama's election really fit? Five historians answer.
Nov. 2: Born to party
New research suggests that our basic political attitudes -- are with us at birth. What does this mean for our democracy.
Oct. 26: The incredible, flexible, movable house
How we could save money, time, and the environment by making homes easy to remodel.
Oct. 19: Crimson tide
Harvard Law School, long fractious and underachieving, is on the rise again - and shaking up the American legal world.
Oct. 12: Driving Mr. Lynx
As the climate changes, proponents of 'assisted migration' say it's time to help animals and plants move.
Oct. 5: Higher art
Universities should become society's great patrons of the arts.
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.