Remix culture, revisited
Where do great ideas come from? Often, the answer is “other great ideas, sort of mashed together.” The term “remix culture” was coined...
Bright Lights, Big Ideas
Here’s one way in which all that talk about big-city glamor may be backed up by fact. Statistically, large cities yield a far higher...
Falling Apples and the Rise of Domain Knowledge
What is the most practical method for generating creativity? Despite our growing understanding of those neural processes, that question...
Old science and new horizons
The human brain is one of the true wonders of the world; after all, it contained the source material for building each of the seven...
The Seinfeld Productivity Problem, and the Power of "Nothing"
When you think about Seinfeld, it's likely you think of his perpetually rerun TV show by the same name. His comedy was built on seemingly...
Sacrifice, Mastery and a Deal with the Devil
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner, in examining the lives of Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, T. S....
Caffeine, Friend or Foe?
One thing's for sure: Americans love their coffee. According to the National Coffee Association, we drink an average of 3.1 cups a day...
Shaky Pedestal Syndrome: Why Our Heroes Let Us Down
General Patraeus, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Jonah Lehrer, Tanya Harding: an incomplete list of those who, at the peak of their...
What Do Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, and Lynyrd Skynyrd Have in Common?
When it comes to Carol Dweck’s concepts of mindset, northwestern Alabama might not be the first region that leaps into your mind. And yet...
Beyond the Punchline: The Real Meaning of Laughter
“What keeps a dyslexic agnostic up at night? Wondering if there really is a dog.” You can debate whether that’s funny or not, but either...
