Ideas, opinions, politics, humanities
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Every celebrity is autistic now. This must stop
“Well, Mr. Bryxí, I can smell your autism from a long distance,” my psychiatrist once told me. I decided to ask him a question. “How many autistic people have you diagnosed during your career?” “Maybe six. And I have been doing this for 40 years.” “Do you currently have any other autistic patient besides me,…
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Are Trump and Musk the best friends again?
A year ago, Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared to have transformed one of the strangest alliances in American politics into one of its most spectacular feuds. Musk attacked Trump’s spending plans, floated the creation of a new political party and even dragged the Epstein files into their increasingly personal dispute. Trump responded in characteristic…
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The spectrum of religious repression: From social pressure to death
Religious repression does not always arrive with police officers, prison cells or executioners. Sometimes it arrives at the dinner table. A teenager tells his parents that he no longer believes in God. Nobody threatens him. Nobody calls the authorities. His mother becomes upset, his father tells him that he is going through a phase, and…
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Would brutal human rights abuses in Iran stop with regime change?
There are many ways to discuss Iran. We can talk about nuclear weapons, uranium enrichment, Israel, the Persian Gulf, oil, sanctions, Russia, China, the United States and the balance of power in the Middle East. These subjects dominate international coverage because governments naturally view Iran primarily through the lens of geopolitics. For once, put all…
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God loves you and has a list of conditions
God loves you. This is probably one of the most comforting sentences Christianity has ever produced. The creator of hundreds of billions of galaxies knows that you exist. He knows your fears, your hopes, your failures and presumably where you left your keys. More importantly, he loves you with a depth that no human being…
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Can religion turn gay people straight?
Imagine discovering that you are gay and being informed that the solution is remarkably straightforward. You simply need enough prayer, enough faith, enough counseling and perhaps enough determination. Eventually, according to some religious movements, heterosexuality should emerge from the other end. It sounds wonderfully convenient. There is only one irritating obstacle: science. For decades, religious…
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What Heaven really looks like according to the Bible
Few subjects have fascinated humanity more than heaven. Every civilization has imagined a paradise awaiting the righteous after death. Ancient Egyptians envisioned the Field of Reeds. The Vikings dreamed of Valhalla. Muslims anticipate Jannah. Christians, meanwhile, often picture clouds, angels with wings, golden gates, and elderly men playing harps. The Bible presents a far more…
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World’s university student inflation: Has higher education become too common?
For centuries, a university education was reserved for a small intellectual elite. Universities trained future scientists, physicians, lawyers, engineers, philosophers, and public administrators. Admission was difficult, graduation even more so, and holding a university degree carried immense prestige. Today, the situation is very different. In many developed countries, between one-third and one-half of young adults…
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Why society’s best minds work in the wrong places
Every election campaign sounds remarkably similar. Politicians promise better schools, better healthcare, more efficient public administration, and greater investment in science. Almost everyone agrees that these are among the pillars of a prosperous civilization. Parents want excellent teachers. Patients want excellent doctors. Citizens want competent public officials. Every country hopes for groundbreaking scientists whose discoveries…
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IQ and openness to experience: Why intelligence alone is not enough
Intelligence is often viewed as the key to success in education and intellectual achievement. Yet anyone who has met exceptionally bright people knows that high IQ does not automatically translate into broad knowledge, expertise, or creativity. Some individuals with extraordinary cognitive abilities spend their lives pursuing ideas, while others rarely engage in intellectual activities beyond…