New World Order
Today's Big Idea: Education Revolution
Education is being turn its head. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are emerging from the most prestigious corners of the academic world. Start-ups like Coursera and edX allow students free global access to the world's best teachers and classes. "We see a future where world-renowned universities serve millions instead of thousands, allowing many more people to live their dreams," said Coursera founder and Stanford professor Daphne Koller.
But while Ivy League professors are teaming up to disrupt the way we learn, there are still lessons we can glean from the education systems of other countries. Student is Shanghai and South Korea scored the highest in math, reading and science tests worldwide despite spending less per student than most wealthy countries. How are they doing this? And if these Asian countries are shining examples of effective learning, South Korea's neighbor and enemy to the north serves as a cautionary tale on the dangers of education in a totalitarian regime.
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Coursera, edX, Khan Academy, UoPeople - Are the Floodgates for Free Education Finally Open?
It’s all but a secret these days that online education has developed itself into a hot market as founders, developers and investors get attracted to the vertical and now take it more serious than some 2 years ago. What many people have criticized so far was a reluctance from most of the top ... -
Making The Grade in The Impossible State
What is the Big Idea? Step into a classroom in North Korea and you will find very little that differs from a classroom in New York City - chalkboard, rows of desks, chairs, desktop computers and bulletin boards full of text and pictures. But stay a little longer and you might notice something ... -
Lessons From Asia's Tiger Teachers
Students in China are out performing countries who spend far more education.
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How NOT to reform American education
Alberta, Canada is widely recognized as having one of the best schooling systems in the world. A recent article in Alberta Views highlighted the differences between its system and America's, noting that the United States is an 'anti-model' for how to do school reform: By contrast we can also ...
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Meet the Urban Datasexual
Dominic Basulto
Digital Thinker, Electric Artists
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A Marriage Ruined by Monogamy
Pamela Haag
Essayist
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Killing Creativity: Why Kids Draw Pictures of Monsters & Adults Don't
Sam McNerney
Science writer
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Braingasm: How Porn "Shuts Down" Women's Brains
Megan Erickson
Associate Editor, Big Think
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Why Traveling Abroad Makes Us More Creative
Sam McNerney
Science writer
Latest
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Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants" is one of the most important books I've read in the past decade. If you're at all involved in technology innovation, it's required reading. I use several of the ideas originating from this book on a weekly basis. One of the ideas that I often revisit is the ... Read More
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What is the Big Idea? Step into a classroom in North Korea and you will find very little that differs from a classroom in New York City - chalkboard, rows of desks, chairs, desktop computers and bulletin boards full of text and pictures. But stay a little longer and you might notice something ... Read More
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What's the Latest Development? After Derek Amato sustained brain damage by hitting his head on the bottom of a swimming pool, he began playing classical piano compositions without a single lesson. He is one of just 30 people worldwide with acquired savant syndrome. In 2003, scientists began to ... Read More
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I’ve read nothing more heartwarming recently than the excerpts from young Obama’s love letters in the new Vanity Fair. The glow they exude has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with nostalgia. They’re so post-collegiate, they almost reek of ramen. Full of curiosity and self-absorption ... Read More
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Sex. What a compelling topic! As a spiritual teacher, whether I’m giving a lecture or leading a retreat, whenever the subject comes up, a very particular form of focused attention immediately takes over the room. Suddenly everyone is listening very closely, hanging on my every word! Why? Because ... Read More
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What is the Big Idea? While Congress dukes it out over the federal interest rates on student loans, venture capitalist Peter Thiel has a solution for college students who don't want to be saddled with huge amounts of debts in an unstable economy. The solution, he says, is to drop out of college ... Read More
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Blunt head trauma and traumatic brain injuries are well-known artifacts of war. The Brain Trauma Foundation reports that between 10-20% of Iraq veterans (approximately 150,000-300,000 individuals) suffer from some level of TBI. That’s a lot of former soldiers who may be experiencing symptoms like ... Read More
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What's the Big Idea? David Eagleman's Laboratory for Perception is located on the ground floor of Baylor College of Medicine, but the vibe is more creative think tank than clinical academic enclave. The walls are enamelled in dry-erase paint and marked up with impromptu sketches, arrows, and ... Read More
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Like many college students, I took a semester abroad. I spent the first half of my junior year in London taking classes at UCL, exploring the museums, and learning the difference between two pints, two pounds and two pence. After a few lovely months on the “other” side of the pond I returned home ... Read More
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Andy Warhol looked for fame any place he could find it, so news that a crater on the surface of the planet Mercury has been named in his honor comes as no surprise. Warhol joined 22 other famous dead artists, musicians, and writers in that distinction recently, according to a NASA press release ... Read More
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As I've written before, I'm a skeptical of claims, like Jonathan Gottschall's, about the power of stories to make us better people. Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker is skeptical too. Gopnik argues that Gotschall's more central claim—that stories increase our empathy, and “make societies work ... Read More
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If you asked me how being a single parent has affected my economic prospects I would have to say for the worse…and for the best. You see, while parenting young children alone may have made everything more difficult (literally, everything) it also gave me an incentive to work hard to give those ... Read More
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Brain Teasers
Savant Syndrome: When Brain Injuries Create Geniuses
There are just 30 people worldwide whose brain injuries have rewired their brains in ways that allow them to perform amazing feats. But now a machine replicates the process with some success.
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Exercise Science
How Exercise Improves Brain Performance & Treats Mental Disorders
New research has found a genetic link between exercise and brain performance, implying that physical activity could treat disorders like ADD and ADHD, especially during youth.
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Brain Teasers
How a Distracted Brain Works Like a Painkiller
To soften the feeling of pain, distract your mind with another task. Researchers say that investing mental energy elsewhere keeps your nervous system from receiving pain signals.
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Creative Processes
How the Brain Chooses Between Doing What We Should and Doing What We Want
Why are some people more willing to put in hard work now for a larger payoff in the future? Neuroscientists believe the effect of dopamine contributes to how we tolerate the tedium of work.
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Nature vs. Nurture
Veterans & Athletes Share Severe Brain Ailments
A new study has found parallels between bomb blast injuries sustained by soldiers and a degenerative brain disorder known to occur in athletes who box and play football.
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genetics
Gene Makes People Prone To Alzheimer's Disease
Researchers have a clearer picture on how a gene contributes to Alzheimer's disease. It establishes a new objective in the fight against the disease.