"One of the first people to recognise the problem of disengagement between the arts and sciences was C.P. Snow. He identified the schism in his famous 1959 lecture “Two Cultures“. In it, he argued that the disengagement between the worlds of the sciences and the arts stymied our ability to solve our most pressing problems."
Our most read article of 2017 -- a response to the claims made in the infamous Google Memo -- by psychologists Lee Jussim, David Schmitt and Geoffrey Miller and neuroscientist Debra Soh.
Our 2nd most read article of 2017 came from clinician & social worker Lisa Marchiano.
Our 3rd most popular article this year came from Swedish journalist Paulina Neuding.
Our 4th most popular article of 2017 was Jeffrey Tayler's profile of the brave and eloquent freedom-fighter Sarah Haider.
Our 5th most popular article was from evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller.
Our 6th most popular article of 2017
Read our 8th most popular article of 2017
Our 7th most popular read this year came from Bo Winegard.
"A lesson we have learnt from the EU referendum is that one of the key differences between direct and representative democracy is that in a pure direct democratic process such as a referendum, no-one is accountable. Because no representatives were elected as a result of the referendum, no-one is left holding the can."
Our 9th most popular article this year was from Uri Harris on the Laurier scandal.
Our 10th most-read article this year was written by Michael Aaron.
'Thousands of years before anyone spoke of an “internal locus of control,” the poets and bards of earlier epochs knew the decisive importance of walking toward one’s fate. The one who did this was known as the hero."
"In Myanmar and Indonesia, companies are using blockchain to eliminate high-level bribery and corruption – all financial transactions would be preserved on public ledgers of chains of information blocks, and subject to public scrutiny. Blockchain technology has the power to render the dealings of businesses and nation states into open books, purged of secrecy"
"Even if it takes more than 10 years to identify the gene variants associated with IQ, it still won’t be long in the grand scheme of things before we have to make policy decisions about how best to use that knowledge. The reason for this lacuna, of course, is the refusal by most public intellectuals and policy wonks in the West to accept that intelligence is largely genetically based, even though, as Haier writes, “the evidence is overwhelming and compelling”."
"Attempts to create policies to do this without paying attention to what we know about intelligence have failed for decades, especially with respect to closing achievement gaps. My view is that neuroscience/intelligence research offers the potential to increase intelligence and learning. It’s time to start discussing these possibilities"
"The key term Stendhal introduces, which is central to his vision of romance, is (to use the Americanized spelling) “crystallization”; the term refers to a twig thrown into a salt mine which, when “taken out two or three months later … is covered with brilliant crystals.” Beautiful patterns form around something that wasn’t necessarily beautiful to begin with, so that, once the process has taken place, the original thing is scarcely recognizable. By analogy, to fall in love with someone involves a transformation of your way of seeing; consequently, for instance, a lover need not be beautiful in any objective sense, your standards of beauty change to match the person in whom you are interested."
Quillette is proud to be a new patron of Dr Debra W. Soh
