Peter Biles

Writer and Editor, Center for Science & Culture

Peter Biles graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois and went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. He is the author of Hillbilly Hymn and Keep and Other Stories and has also written stories and essays for a variety of publications. He was born and raised in Ada, Oklahoma and is the Writer and Editor for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture.

Archives

Dolphins Quarterback Suffers Another Concussion

Head trauma remains a dark reality in American football
Peter Biles
September 13, 2024
Suffering too many concussions can result in mental health problems, including severe depression, with victims running the risk of dementia or even early death.

Why Are We Drawn to Beauty?

Peter Biles
September 12, 2024
While I love Haidt’s emphasis and regard for the beautiful, I question the power of his argument about beauty as a remnant of our collective survival instinct.

The Smartphone is the Enemy of Learning

Digital devices are hijacking kids' ability to concentrate in the classroom
Keri Ingraham and Peter Biles
September 6, 2024
How can students be expected to read and study or engage in discussions when educators are competing with TikTok videos and Instagram in the classroom?

Antidote to Screen Addiction? A Good Book

Sitting and reading in silence is a pleasure the modern world has forgotten
Peter Biles
August 28, 2024
We should let ourselves take pleasure in story first before jumping back on our phones to make comments on Booktok or Goodreads.

Live Music is Making a Comeback, and So is Bob Dylan

People still want to experience music in person.
Peter Biles
August 26, 2024
This past summer, 110,000 people convened for a George Strait concert in College Station, TX, the biggest crowd ever recorded to hear live music. Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” has amassed over a billion dollars in revenue, with the pop star traveling the world to sold-out amphitheaters. Coldplay, another massive musical act, is gearing up for the release of their tenth studio album, Moon Music, set to drop on October 4th. They plan a world tour for the album and are also known to fill up stadiums far and wide. So, whatever plights the world of arts and culture might be facing, and given AI’s incursion into the creator economy, one thing remains evident: people still want to experience music in person. Ted Gioia, the celebrated music and cultural critic who runs …

The Return of the Rings

Time to revisit Middle-earth
Peter Biles
August 24, 2024
August has been a big month for Tolkien fans. Season 2 of Amazon’s The Rings of Power is slated to premiere on Thursday, August 29th, two years after the first season (with its billion-dollar budget) dropped and garnered mixed reviews. You can read my own two cents on The Rings of Power here and here. The question a lots of Tolkien fans are probably asking now is whether the show can recover from a slow start, some poor character development and cliche dialogue, and some basic plot issues that made many of us wish more time was invested on the story than the stratospheric budget. We’ll see. Here’s the trailer for Season 2: The Rings of Power isn’t the only Tolkien-themed entertainment coming your way, though. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the …

Tulsi Gabbard Put on Terror Watch List. Is the Dystopia Already Here?

Tyranny is starting to rear its head in the western world
Peter Biles
August 15, 2024
Last week, the United Kingdom warned its citizens about what they post online, noting they could be criminally prosecuted for sharing content that can “incite” violence. Free speech advocates were quick to condemn the announcement as censorial and undemocratic. But is America immune from the thought police? Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was recently put on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) terror watchlist. According to whistleblower reports, she and her husband were followed by federal agents and a team of dogs last month and checked multiple times at airports as they traveled across the United States and overseas. Local Hawaiian lawmakers sent a statement to the TSA condemning the “harassment”: The people of Hawaii …

What Happened to “Third Spaces”?

Many men are lacking the deep community and sense of brotherhood (fraternity) they need to flourish and grow.. Bringing back communal institutions might be crucial for social cohesion
Peter Biles
August 13, 2024
A few decades ago, the club was more of a thing. And not the kind where people rave and disco until six in the morning. No, these were “gentlemen’s clubs,” places where guys could separate themselves both from familial and professional venues and enjoy meaningful connection with other men. Anthony Bradley, a scholar at the Acton Institute, shared some of his thoughts and findings on the decline of these “third spaces” and how they’ve been detrimental towards men in particular. The rise of more egalitarian attitudes towards gender, which had the great net benefit of opening the door for more equal opportunity for women, inadvertently led to the decline of these male-centric institutions. Today, we see the result: many men are lacking the deep community …

The U.K. Government Reposts Censorious Tweet

The rising authoritarianism in western societies is becoming more evident
Peter Biles
August 9, 2024
In light of the violent protests and now counter-protests raging across the England and elsewhere in the United Kingdom (UK), the UK government reposted an announcement on X that those posting online content promoting “hatred” or “violence” could be criminally prosecuted. Here’s the post: Think before you post. https://t.co/sgqCErb4AC— GOV.UK (@GOVUK) August 8, 2024 Not only can citizens face prosecution by posting inciteful content (although the video makes no mention about what that really is), but they can also get nabbed for simply reposting it from someone else. The pushback on X was swift, with critics calling the post a blatant instance of government overreach and comparing the measure to something we would expect in authoritarian …

AI: The Future of Friendship?

Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment.
Peter Biles
July 30, 2024
Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment. An upcoming device simply called “friend” is now being advertised. Per the product description, the “friend” is a Bluetooth disk that hangs around a person’s neck and “listens” to the user. It then has the capacity to make conversation by “texting” you at random times of the day, like a human friend might do. The website includes a “frequently asked questions” portion, which is where you can discover what the product is and what it can do. Here’s a bizarre response to the question: “what does ‘always listening’ mean”: When connected via bluetooth, your friend is always listening and forming their …