If we invent a machine with a personality and desires, does it deserve freedom?
Faking It
Who do you put your faith in, who might be faking their belief?
The Power of Sleep
Carl Pettit feels sorry for the American insomniac, from sleepless in Seattle to the city that never sleeps.
‘Peter Pan Syndrome’ Is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing
Does the pop psych notion of Peter Pan Syndrome give boyish traits a bad reputation?
Ten Wicked Idioms That I Love
Without letting the cat out of the bag: Carl Pettit loves idioms suggesting the torture of house cats.
Kicked Out of Sunday School
As a child, Carl Pettit didn’t believe in God, and was sure he’d go to Hell for his disbelief.
Toilet Scribes
If you must write on the bathroom stall wall, make it good.
Alternate Endings to 2012
If the world had ended this year, it might have gone something like this.
Life Keeps Getting Easier
Despite present-day injustice, unequal distribution of wealth, tragedy, and even petty inconvenience, we have much to be grateful for, including the fact that progress marches on.
Earth without Humanity
Life on Earth can survive any man made disaster. But will we?
The Girl with the Smurf Tattoo
It’s hard to avoid reading into someone’s appearance, especially when they’re intended to intimidate.
The Dying Game
Can a merciless marketplace be entrusted with caring for people?
Freedom, Business and Change
If conservatives want to run America like a business, they should never turn a potential customer away.
Death By Side Effect
TV commercials now sell prescription drugs, including controlled substances like testosterone. Is 30 seconds of knowledge a dangerous thing?
Hemingway Tweets
What would Ernest Hemingway have tweeted?
Normal for Now
Our beliefs and values surrounding concepts like family, childhood, and masculinity, are products of our time and culture.