Features — InCharacter.org

In Character has moved...

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:57:02 -0400

We’ve migrated to Big Questions Online. Please join us there for lively articles on--well--the big questions in science, religion, economics, and ethics.

Do Good Things Happen to Good People?

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:39:03 -0400

We're used to worrying about why bad things happen to good people. Dr. Stephen Post, director of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, has another take on the subject.

Outward and Visible Signs

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:22:16 -0400

Only very superficial people, the author once thought, judged people by their appearance; for the majority of people to dress in a sloppy or careless fashion therefore represented an opportunity for people to make deeper estimates of each other's character, dependent not on the outer, but on the inner man.

Virtually Virtuous

Mon, 31 May 2010 10:57:47 -0400

Are we more or less likely to lie to someone if we are communicating via email or text message than if we are speaking face-to-face? One researcher has found that using the computer can actually encourage people to lie.

What Law & Order Taught Us

Mon, 24 May 2010 08:33:16 -0400

The magnificent warhorse of a series ended Monday night. Jonathan V. Last lists the lessons viewers can take away from one of TV's longest-running shows.

Role Models vs. Heroes: Was Tiger Woods Ever Really Enough?

Fri, 14 May 2010 10:10:55 -0400

The term "role model" was coined in the first half of the twentieth century by the Columbia University sociologist Robert K. Merton, who also pioneered the techniques used in focus groups. "Hero," by contrast, is an ancient term of poetry and war.

The Nashville Flood...Why Have We Paid So Little Attention to It?

Mon, 10 May 2010 12:58:36 -0400

Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No...you didn't. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No...we didn't loot.

Silence, PLEASE

Mon, 03 May 2010 12:49:03 -0400

Is a taste for silence an aesthetic matter only? Does silence really have no moral qualities, no intellectual advantages, no significance for the deepening of character?

The Death of Embarrassment

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:17:24 -0400

In our nonjudgmental, individualistic culture, we see public displays of just about everything. There are sound arguments for bringing back embarrassment.

Virtue on the Hill: Are We Their Enablers?

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:07:10 -0400

Scandal stories about our leaders are embarrassing, but do they also make the voters (or to be blunt, you and me) complicit in the apparent collapse of political mores? And are our leaders in Congress today really as bad as critics claim?

What Does It Take to Go Down into the Earth for Coal?

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:47:27 -0400

Iain Murray's grandfather was a pit deputy at Whitburn Colliery in County Durham. He has some thoughts on the Montcoal Mining Disaster.

Food for Thought

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:45:44 -0400

People who grow their own dinner often talk about self-sufficiency. But there is much more to the homesteading movement than that.

Theodore Dalrymple on Self-Esteem vs. Self-Respect

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:31:51 -0400

There is hardly any undesirable behavior or experience that has not been attributed, in the press and on the air, in books and in private conversations, to low self-esteem, from eating too much to mass murder.

Polkinghorne's Unseen Realities

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:00:51 -0400

A particle physicist turned Anglican priest, Sir John Polkinghorne talks about things we can't see in religion and science.

John Polkinghorne's Unseen Realities

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:02:02 -0400

A physicist turned Anglican priest, Sir John Polkinghorne talks about what we can't see in religion and science.

Christine Rosen on the Plague of the Plagiarists

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:00:17 -0400

Recent years have also witnessed an increase in what might be called plagiarism-by-design: authors who liberally lift passages from others' work without attribution but justify the theft by calling it a "pastiche."

David Rieff: Forgetting Haiti. It's Bound to Happen. Then What?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:00:51 -0500

Thanks to YouTube and the fact that even many very cheap cell phones have cameras nowadays, we who live in the rich world could observe this havoc all but instantaneously. But what purpose did this witnessing (most emphatically not "Witness") serve for us or for the Haitian people?

The Case for Lucifer

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:03:22 -0500

Pride has such a bad rap. Really, it’s unfair.

Good Habits

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:39:37 -0500

What can cloistered nuns who pray all day (and have never heard of Oprah) teach the rest of us?

The Office

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:34:00 -0500

How to succeed in business without really trampling.

Prometheans vs. Copernicans

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:58:55 -0500

The apotheosis of Promethean science was the atomic bomb, which once again stole the gods’ fire for mortal use.

Awe and the Machine

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:41:40 -0500

By the twentieth century, the newest machines had stopped filling us with wonder.

Can the truly humble attain greatness in wordly affairs?

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:24:42 -0500

Six responses: Michael Shermer, William Saletan, Omid Safi, Robert Royal, Kate Wheeler, and David Warren.

Virtue or Vice?

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:07:09 -0500

The mighty god of “self-esteem” sometimes seems to have replaced humility.

Joe Queenan: The Buck Stops Here. Though I Wish It Didn't

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:42:29 -0500

Politicians love to mouth it, invariably thrusting out their chests as they do so, for maximum effect. Executives do the same. Football coaches are particularly fond of this once noble expression, not to mention economists. Headline writers positively adore this full-service, one-size-fits-all play on words, and talk-show hosts are no slouches, either. Especially the macho ones. When Truman used the phrase "the buck stops here" he was actually taking responsibility for something.

Mind & Matter

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:55:01 -0400

With the rise of modern science, the pursuit of wisdom gave way to the acquisition of useful truths.

Quantum Buddha

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:50:19 -0400

Modern science meets medieval folk tales.

New Life for Old Words

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:13:35 -0400

Seeking wisdom together as Jews, Christians, and Muslims may be one of the most important items on the twenty-first-century agenda.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:07:01 -0400

Whatever happened to being seen but not heard?

The Best Medicine

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:42:46 -0400

While knowledge and understanding are necessary for wisdom, they are not sufficient.

Michael Walzer talks to IC

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:33:07 -0400

The political philosopher Michael Walzer is a self-described man of the left, but he has often found himself at odds with his ideological allies. In recent years, he has been an especially interesting and independent voice on questions related to terrorism and to strife in the Middle East, drawing on arguments first advanced in his now classic book Just and Unjust Wars (1977). He was kind enough to share his wisdom with In Character.

Wisdom of the Ages

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:04:37 -0400

Most modern thinkers have not been much concerned with the virtue of wisdom. So it may just be time to put the sapiens back in homo sapiens sapiens.

Gritbiscuit

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:54:01 -0400

The greatest confrontation between glamour and grit that ever occurred on American soil took place at four in the afternoon on November 1, 1938, at Pimlico racetrack, on a day when almost everything in the country seemed to stop for two minutes, while a radio audience of 40 million, among them President Franklin D. Roosevelt, listened in.

The Failures Club

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:45:41 -0400

If you are afraid to fail, stop here. Don’t waste your time reading the rest of this article. Please give this article to a more ambitious friend of yours.

Learning the Hard Way

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:37:22 -0400

For Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, the worst year of their long effort to help inner-city children was probably 1997. They had created the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) in a Houston elementary school three years before.

Days of Their Lives

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:34:13 -0400

Einstein's Final Quest

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:28:06 -0400

Angela Duckworth talks to IC

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:21:48 -0400

Angela Duckworth has done more than anyone else to popularize the term grit. While teaching low-income children, Duckworth became convinced that something besides IQ was a key factor in predicting success. What was this something else? Along with Martin Seligman, Duckworth, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has conducted studies to find that crucial ingredient. As a result of her studies, she has been called in by West Point to predict which cadets have what it takes to survive the tough atmosphere at the academy.

An American Virtue

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:15:58 -0400

The story of the world is mirrored in the history of words. And because that story is full of surprises and paradoxes, the words we use are bound to reflect that fact.

Self-Help Yourself

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:02:25 -0400

What’s the secret to success? Intelligence? Wealth? Luck? According to the vast and growing advice industry, the secret to success is sheer tenacity.

Michael McCullough talks to IC

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:43:08 -0400

Is Revenge Just Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly? Even guppies do it. But ending hostilities appears to be just as natural.

False Apology Syndrome

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:35:52 -0400

I’m sorry for your sins.

Pinning Your Own Tail on Someone Else’s Donkey

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:27:57 -0400

Guilty feelings got you down? Let Dr. Feelgood help you move on.

Robert Sapolsky talks to IC

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:01:05 -0400

When Monkeys Make Up – Chimps are from Mars, bonobos are from Venus.

Fathers and Sons – “Who is Ruth?” I asked. “I thought you knew,” she said

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:55:45 -0400

A lesson in three parts ...

What If They Gave Out Compassionate Conservatism and Nobody Cared?

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:02:31 -0400

"Why Blacks Should Give Bush a Chance" sounded like the punch line of a joke.

Feeling Good about...Me — but that's not really the point, is it?

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:51:19 -0400

How an Emotion Became a Virtue

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:48:01 -0400

It took some help from Rousseau and Montesquieu.

Take Two Aspirin and Don't Bother Me in the Morning

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:43:51 -0400

What can doctors do when compassion fatigue sets in?

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, I Feel Your Pain After All

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:30:51 -0400

Mirror neurons may hold the key to understanding how human beings respond to one another's plight.

Java and Sympathy

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:17:31 -0400

A former Starbucks president tells how to succeed in business without putting people last.

Michael Shermer talks to IC

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:00:00 -0400

Evolution, Compassion, and the Corporation – Gordon Gekko's greed speech got it all wrong.