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 ...

Building Homes with Too Much Sand Leads to Tragedy

While doing relief work in Haiti following the devastating earthquake there on January 12, 2010, Palmer Chichen observed firsthand the tragedy of building ...

People' Magazine's Cover Stories Reveal Our Priorities

In his book Life: The Movie, cultural critic Neil Gabler claims that People magazine has became the archetypical magazine of our times. Gabler writes:

Famous Board Game Reflects Our Changing Values

The hugely popular board game by Milton Bradley called The Game of Life went through the following variations—all of which reflect the changing ...

Guide Tells River Rafters: Stay in the Rough Water

Palmer Chinchen writes in “True Religion”:

My brothers and I had traveled to the western edge of Zimbabwe to raft the Zambezi River. We boarded ...