Big Ideas

The accepted wisdom is that addiction to drugs, like ice or heroin, is a disease of the brain. Neuroscientists can actually see how drug use alters the brain. Drug users, therefore, should not be blamed for their addiction: they are not weak, or bad, or morally flawed. Because their addiction a disease, it follows their condition should be medicalized and treated by clinicians. This, so called, 'brain disease model' of addiction is now being seriously questioned. Paul Barclay talks to some of dissenters.

What does nature mean to each of us?  Why is nature so pure?  And how do we reconnect with the natural world in an age where our lives are connected to technology?

The evolution of sound and listening. Listening to nature isn’t just a peaceful and joyful experience. It can teach us our place in the natural world. Animal sounds and bird song have adapted to specific environments and habitats, but the use of sound has in turn shaped the evolution of different species. And that includes homo sapiens. Sound has formed us as social and cultural ‘animals’.

A writer and an astronomer traverse the blurry line between science fiction and science fact

The romantics have a lot to answer for, according to philosopher and author, Alain de Botton. Love, marriage and human relationships are not a bed of roses. There is no such person as ‘the one'. And, despite trying to avoid it, many of us will marry the wrong person. You want to know one of the early warning signs? It’s when someone says to you, "I’m a really easy going, easy to live with, person". Wrong, says de Botton, we are troubled, so you should run a mile if someone says that to you.

How did the world become full of consumers and how did we end up with so much stuff ?

The silo effect: when the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and why it's a problem for big organisations.

Can art, culture and innovation shape future urban development? More and more people think this is achievable. But how do you plan and build a genuinely creative community? Cities around the world are seeking to create cultural precincts and neighbourhoods: places that attract young creatives, artists, designers, and high tech start ups. Do these dynamic districts need to evolve organically, or can you engineer them without them feeling contrived and clinical?

We don’t condemn something because it is a crime. But it is a crime because we condemn it.

Punishment is the common response to crime. But what is punishment? And what really motivates our will to punish?