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Are we modeling AI on the wrong brain?

Much like humans had to first let go of having to fly exactly like birds fly in order to crack the code of flight, we must now look beyond the widely held belief that the human mind is singular and unique as an intellectual model.

Big Data: The tenure of a Supreme Court justice

How long does a justice on the high court serve, on average?

50 Words: Boston City Hall . . .

An ongoing series of stories about Boston in 50 words.

Ed Logue and the birth of modern Boston

A new biography of the man who remade the city in the 1960s challenges popular tropes about the evils of urban renewal.

Cartoon | A.J.B. LaneLeave it to Hunter
Cartoonist A.J.B. Lane’s take on the news.

OPINION | STEPHEN KINZER
Condemning Trump on Syria? It’s ‘buffet outrage’
Much of the criticism is a hypocritical blend of anti-Trump fanaticism and frustration over the emerging reality that we have lost the Syrian war.

Latest Headlines in Ideas

Big Data

A number of Mass. cities won’t celebrate Columbus Day on Monday

Six communities across the state will instead observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Amherst, Northampton, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, and Great Barrington.

Margaret Morganroth Gullette

Contrived generational wars disguise the failure of the American Dream

It’s not about “greedy” Boomers or “slacker” Gen Xers. It’s about a generation-spanning decline in upward mobility.

Stat | Adam Dean and Simeon Kimmel

Beyond the Sacklers: Free-trade policies contributed to the opioid epidemic

We can’t say for sure that job losses are killing people. Yet it seems likely that there’s a relationship.

Share your thoughts: How 4 scrappy, blue-collar cities outside Boston rescued the American Dream

Tell us your thoughts about this story.

Cartoon | Beth Wolfensberger Singer

Some reworked Halloween decorations

Beth Wolfensberger Singer’s take on the news.

Miracle on the Mystic: Chelsea, Everett, and the New American Dream

The blue-collar cities of Chelsea, Revere, Everett, and Malden lifted thousands of their poorest children to better lives. Their story could offer clues to restoring upward mobility in America.

IDEAS

Raj Chetty wants to revive the American Dream

The renowned Harvard economist talks to the Globe about his big-data assault on the most pressing problem of our time.

Big Data: Student views on school prayer

Pew Research Center recently released a survey about religion in the public education sphere.


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