We live in a time of information abundance, which far too many of us see as information overload. With the sum total of human knowledge, past and present, at our fingertips, we’re faced with a crisis of attention: which ideas should we engage with, and why? Big Think is an evolving roadmap to the best thinking on the planet — the ideas that can help you think flexibly and act decisively in a multivariate world.
A word about Big Ideas and Themes — The architecture of Big Think
Big ideas are lenses for envisioning the future. Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable. We’re sifting the noise for the questions and insights that have the power to change all of our lives, for decades to come. For example, reverse-engineering is a big idea in that the concept is increasingly useful across multiple disciplines, from education to nanotechnology.
Themes are the seven broad umbrellas under which we organize the hundreds of big ideas that populate Big Think. They include New World Order, Earth and Beyond, 21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.
Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.
Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.
Big Think’s Edge learning platform for career mentorship and professional development provides engaging and actionable courses delivered by the people who are shaping our future.
The set of work habits that create greater employee happiness and organizational efficiency
New data shows Americans haven’t a clue how stunningly massive the wealth gap in their country really is. An excellent video blowing up on YouTube depicts this disparity and explains how badly Americans tend to underestimate it. No matter how many statistics you’ve read on the subject, the video ...
What's the Big Idea? When it comes to making choices about benefits, keep it simple, says Bruce Finley, Senior Partner and the Director of Global Workplace Communication at Mercer -- and calculate, calculate, calculate. If we're willing to do the math and put the time in to making informed ...
What's the Big Idea? In 1990, Kate O'Connor was the aide for the lieutenant governor of a small, largely inconsequential New England state. Fourteen years later, when Howard Dean became a clear front runner for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, that job -- her first -- suddenly took ...
What's the Big Idea? What does the millennial generation want? Today's recent graduates may still be finding themselves, but the culture has plenty of labels ready. Are they confident or anxious? Rebels against consumerism, or simply people who don't want to buy stuff? Reckless adultolescents ...
The best and worst part about being a twenty-something is that every decision you make can change the rest of your life. Once you're in your 30's or 40's, it gets harder and harder to reinvent yourself. In this Q&A with Dr. Meg Jay, the clinical psychologist explains why the twenties matter ...
What's the Big Idea? The backbone of every organization is its people. We know this to be true. Workers are the fundamental source of productivity and the drivers of innovation, especially in the knowledge economy. Happy workers save employers crucial time, money, and energy by being actively ...
What's the Big Idea? The 17th-most cited economist in the world, a Nobel laureate for his work examining global wealth concentration and international trade, and the inspiration behind a viral Youtube ode, Paul Krugman is known as much for his outspoken criticism of the political handling of the ...
What's the Big Idea? My brother-in-law, a tenured professor at Osgood law school in Toronto, sent me an article yesterday. “This will interest you. Anne-Marie is a rockstar academic!” The rockstar academic wrote of why women still can’t have it all -- an interesting article from a unique vantage ...
What is the Big Idea? Pension funds have gone from a state of surplus to a state of deficit in the last decade and no matter what measures are taken to mitigate the risks, struggling companies can't seem to catch a break. Stock market crashes, a heavy reliance on equity investment, inflation ...
What is the Big Idea? Ford and General Motors might be setting the new standard for U.S. companies when it comes to managing pension obligations. G.M. reduced its pension liabilities by $26 billion earlier this month by offering lump-sum payments to thousands of retired white collar employees to ...
A conversation that could easily be taking place this very moment, somewhere in the United States... A: Man, the French really have their priorities straight. Three months of vacation a year. Wine with dinner every night. None of this diet craziness or pathological sleep-deprivation. Kids ...
Today's "visiting professor" Walter Mosley teaches us that failure is an important part of success. Failure demonstrates our willingness to take risks. But what else does failure tell us? What do you think are the main causes of failure? Tell us what you think by taking this poll. And then ...
Class of 2012, you’ve heard it before: you will graduate into a world transformed by the global financial crisis. Unemployment among young people is at its highest rate since WWII, and the average 22-year-old now enters adulthood with $23,000 in debt. The total amount owed by students in the U.S ...
What’s the Big Idea? The average consumer associates 3M with tape – a product so integral to our daily lives that we barely notice it anymore. But in 1925, as an alternative to the unwieldy, glue-covered sheets of paper it made obsolete, the product was a stroke of genius. In fact, 3M is ...
Good intentions can lead to bad outcomes in business. This is especially true in organizations that have toxic cultures in which leaders tout worthy values--and then put up roadblocks that prevent employees from living those values. The GSA scandal provides an apt example. With all the rampant ...