Blinded by Science
Diana DeGette's memoir of confusion.
By Yuval Levin
Posted: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Congresswoman Diana DeGette, a leader in the fight for federal funding for embryo-destructive research, has written a memoir filled with factual errors, lacking in ethical arguments, and brimming with disgust at social and religious conservatives. But what it has to tell us about the confusion at the juncture of science and politics in America is even more troubling.   [Read More]

The Synapse and the Soul
By Adam Keiper
Posted: Monday, July 14, 2008
In his latest book, eminent neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga argues that science can explain "what makes us unique." But what should we do with the knowledge we receive from cutting-edge brain research -- how ought we to act? Gazzaniga offers no insights into what neuroscience means for how we live, except to offer up some unattractive visions of a future age of brain implants and mind-machine interfaces.  [Read More]

Public Opinion and the Embryo Debates
By Yuval Levin
Posted: Monday, July 14, 2008
Our political debates about stem cell research in recent years have stood in a peculiar relation to public opinion. Rather than seek to marshal public sentiment, or even quite build public support, all sides have wanted to claim a preexisting bedrock of widely shared attitudes backing their favored policy outcome.  [Read More]

The Myth of Multitasking 
By Christine Rosen
Posted: Monday, July 14, 2008
In modern times, hurry, bustle, and agitation have become a regular way of life for many people--so much so that we have embraced a word to describe our efforts to respond to the many pressing demands on our time: multitasking. Used for decades to describe the parallel processing abilities of computers, multitasking is now shorthand for the human attempt to do simultaneously as many things as possible, as quickly as possible, preferably marshalling the power of as many technologies as possible.  [Read More]

In the Shadow of Progress
Being Human in the Age of Technology
By Eric Cohen
Posted: Tuesday, July 1, 2008
We live in an age of unprecedented human mastery -- over birth and death, body and mind, nature and human nature. In every realm of life, science and technology have brought remarkable advances and improvements: we are healthier, wealthier, and more comfortable than ever before. But our gratitude for the benefits of progress increasingly mixes with concern about the meaning and consequences of our newfound powers.  [Read More]