A single decision by the chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell has a greater impact on the health of the planet than all the coffee-ground-composting, organic-cotton-wearing ecofreaks gathering in Washington D.C., for Earth Day festivities this weekend.

The conscious act of thinking about one's thoughts in a different way changes the very brain circuits that do that thinking.

Arguing, after all, is less about seeking truth than about overcoming opposing views.

The mind, of course, is just what the brain does for a living.

With modern parts atop old ones, the brain is like an iPod built around an eight-track cassette player.

Like sand on the beach, the brain bears the footprints of the decisions we have made, the skills we have learned, the actions we have taken.

The mind's cross indexing puts the best librarian to shame.