Student Bluffs His Way onto Basketball Team Staff

Virginia college sophomore Danny Foley just wanted to be part of his school's men's basketball team—even if that meant faking his way onto ...

Everybody Expects to Be Entertained

Here's how the best-selling author Michael Crichton described our need to be constantly entertained:

Today, everybody expects to be entertained, and ...

Christopher Hitchens on Christianity's Greatest Contribution

Before his death in 2011, the outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens was asked if he could identify "Christianity's greatest contribution." ...

TV Shows in Brazil Change Family Values

A 2012 article in New York magazine told the story about a trio of researchers who were trying to solve a sociological mystery. Over the course of 40 ...

Carelessness Causes Deaths at the Grand Canyon

In his book Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, Michael P. Ghiglieri chronicles the nearly 700 deaths that have occurred in the Grand Canyon since ...

Researchers Identify the Tyranny of Too Many Choices

A number of recent books and articles have noted the explosion of choices that we face in many facets of our lives. Consider the following examples:

• In 2024, the average American supermarket carried up to 60,000 items, more than five times the number of items in 1975.

Research Suggests We Want What Others Have

Researcher Robert Cialdini once demonstrated with a fascinating experiment the persuasive power of desiring the possessions or experiences of others. ...

Kids Playing Mud Football Realize They're Playing in Sewage

In his book Glorious Mess, Mike Howerton tells the following story about a childhood experience playing "mud football." After a huge downpour, ...

Market Researcher Explains the Lure of Peer Pressure

Martin Lindstrom, a former market research expert and author of Brandwashed, argues that advertisers know something that human beings have in common with ...

Famous Painting Pictures Human Folly

I imagine you're familiar with the phrase "ship of fools." It was a common medieval motif used in literature and art, especially religious ...