WHAT DO YOU WANT to be when you grow up?

It’s a question that’s hammered into most of us since childhood. One we’re forced to answer early and often, at a time when our only reference points are the few adults surrounding us. Parents, teachers, firefighters and zoo-keepers—those who stand out in their bold costumes and obvious responsibilities. Remember how you used to answer?

ON RARE OCCASIONS one’s attraction towards an object goes well beyond the expected; one's feelings towards it transcend simple affection and the relationship between man and artifact itself plunges into a place far more rich and layered than a union based on utility alone.

WHEN YOU'RE A KID you study because you're told to. And when you grow older if you study you study because you want to. And when you ripen further still, you study because you have to. You got to. Because you must know. Not for leisure nor to impress nor impart. But to satiate that all-consuming need...

300,000 BC: Man tames fire.

21 BC: The first collapsible umbrellas are created in Asia, allowing for humans to stay dry while walking outdoors.

HOW can Whole Foods charge as much as they do for lettuce that's covered in dirt?  –COOPER E., BOSTON, MA

Dear Mr. E – In the current consumer climate of the developed Western world, dirt symbolizes "real," earthy, true. Organic. Chemical-free. Your grandpa's crops. To many, that dirt will be a badge of its its origin, of its humble beginnings somewhere just below the topsoil...