Word: taboo
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...made of different stuff." This is the leap of faith made by a growing number of scientists, many of whom are associated with the Sante Fe Institute, a research facility that is the center of the artificial-life movement. "They feel like they are taking the first step into taboo territory," says Steven Levy, a New York City-based author who is writing a book on artificial life. "It's almost a religion...
...those dark and chilly cold war years, the mysterious taboo surrounding the communist world fascinated me, and I took to monitoring these stations with a passion. Why settle for a bland rehash of the CBS Evening News spouted by Voice of America bureaucrats when you can hear news from the Evil Empire itself? With the secret fervor of a teenager sneaking his first drink of alcohol. I listened to the dark echoey voices of Bulgarian news broadcasters parroting the party line, the cheerful banter of Radio Habana Cuba's hosts touting the glories of the revolution...
...Golden Lotus. Liu found that 60% of married couples in cities like to have sex in a variety of positions. Pan's survey indicated that nearly seven out of ten Chinese have had anal sex with heterosexual partners. Neither survey explored the extent of homosexuality, which is still taboo in China but not uncommon...
...relegated to nightclubs and TV variety shows, is now big business. Its practitioners work comedy clubs, the concert circuit and cable TV, where their material is available to children. One way to get attention, to appear hip, to make a provocative point or just to give a joke some taboo oomph, is to talk dirty. Plenty of comics don't; the most popular TV comedian of the '80s is clean (and funny) Jay Leno. But plenty do. Just watch them on HBO or Showtime. Sam Kinison, a kind of defrocked evangelist of red-neck rage (and also, in spurts, funny...
...seven dirty words are in now common usage, there are different standards. The new pornography is violence, often sexual violence. And the new obscenity is race. For most people, it's O.K. to call someone a bastard but not a nigger or a kike. But Clay is saying the taboo words we don't dare use. That's why he's popular. He's telling the secrets we keep inside...