Remaking Humanity

Posted: Monday, September 8, 2008
When historians study hubris, they usually tell stories about the dazzling, cruel, or ill-fated exploits of specific people--presidents, dictators, revolutionaries. In Fatal Misconception, Matthew Connelly, an associate professor of history at Columbia University, looks instead at an idea: controlling human reproduction.  [Full Story]

The Myth of Multitasking 

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.  [Full Story]

A Life Worth Living

Posted: Monday, June 30, 2008
Harriet McBryde Johnson forced us to look at disability in a different way -- not as something that we should seek to eradicate, but as something that is integral to the human condition, a "natural part of the human experience," as the American Association of People With Disabilities puts it.  [Full Story]

Everyone Is Talking

Posted: Monday, April 21, 2008
A new technology has disrupted the unspoken social rules that had previously governed public space, and people are left searching for ways to reinstate them -- some more effective than others. But the technology itself, of course, is more than the enemy of decorum.  [Full Story]

Is That Your Final Question?

Posted: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debated for possibly the last time in Ohio on Tuesday evening. It was the 20th debate. Is there anything left to ask? The New York Times Opinion section asked five experts, including EPPC Fellow Christine Rosen to pose the questions that they feel have not been answered.  [Full Story]

Daddy's DNA

Posted: Monday, February 25, 2008
For every burgeoning cultural crisis there is a product that offers to solve it: Enter Identigen, a company that is now selling an over-the-counter paternity test -- available in Rite-Aid and Meijer drugstores nationwide (as well as over the Internet). The box features a tasteful sketch of mother and child and promises test results "admissible in most courts of law." As Identigene's Web site promises, "Putting your mind at ease, or making sure that a potential parent acts responsibly, has never been more convenient, confidential, affordable, or accurate."  [Full Story]

Craigslist is Classifying the Unclassifiable

Posted: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Craigslist is not just a company; it's a philosophy. And that philosophy has many appealing qualities: a resistance to excessive advertising, a sincere commitment to making the minutiae of daily life in the wired world a little easier to manage and a sensibility that places a great deal of trust and optimism in one's fellow human beings. But the fact remains that its raison d'être is facilitating commerce, not community.  [Full Story]

Standing Athwart E-History

Posted: Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The critic Lee Siegel has embarked on an unenviable venture: challenging the pieties of contemporary Internet culture. In Mr. Siegel's rendering, the Internet promotes a form of cultural obesity -- its vastness, often heralded as an unparalleled good, now threatens our intellectual health.  [Full Story]

Hillary's 'Mommy-Knows-Best' Progressivism

Posted: Thursday, February 7, 2008
Hillary Clinton's campaign for president has eviscerated the decades-old feminist claim that the fairer sex would transform politics, writes Christine Rosen. Voters drawn to a therapeutic, inspiring rhetoric of hope are turning to the other Democratic candidate this year. "It's no wonder the doyenne of daytime empathy and connection - Oprah - is stumping for Obama."  [Full Story]

Heaven Help Us: Stars Expound on Scripture

Posted: Monday, February 4, 2008
In a culture awash in celebrity endorsements, it was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized the value of branding the Bible.   [Full Story]