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.
Meeting individual and business needs through making changes to the time (when), location (where) and manner (how) in which an employee works
What's the Latest Development? Silicon Valley companies of all sizes are increasingly cutting employees' landline cords and exhorting them to use mobile phones and tablets in their stead. Google gave Android smartphones to most of its 53,000 workers, and the 15 staff at Schematic Labs are ...
What's the Latest Development? In an era where every digital interaction leaves a mark, companies are better prepared than ever to hire and promote the best people, thanks to a new discipline called work-force science. The massive amounts of worker data gathered annually by recruiting company ...
What's the Latest Development? At this week's Intelligent Cities "UnConference," a participant-run event hosted at the annual meeting of the American Planning Association, workplace strategist Adam Stoltz asked: "[W]hat happens when our behavior changes, when the ways that people move through ...
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 ...
On Monday, I suggested that Justice Thomas might build on his first moment of non-silence in seven years. “If he wants to demonstrate that he takes his judicial role seriously with landmark decisions looming,” I wrote, “Justice Thomas should consider asking a question now and then” during Supreme ...
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 ...
Through luck or sheer force of will, these seven former interns all managed to make it from paper-pushing, truck-loading, and (literally) shit-shovelling to the very top of their fields. Many went on to become divas themselves. But was their coffee any good?
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? Why does it feel better to be paid hourly than to receive a salary? Why are we willing to gamble, even when we know there's a house advantage? Why would anyone buy stock in Blockbuster or Borders? (Respected financier Bill Ackman owned 10.6 million shares of the latter on ...
What’s the Big Idea? In the end, it’s not the vision that makes the business – it’s the people. Yet the hiring and managing of employees is the achilles heel of many an otherwise tightly-run organization. Why? Because human beings come with many more variables than do widgets – we’re trickier ...
What is the Big Idea? The LIBOR scandal may be breaking now, but industry insiders told The Economist that the rate fixing goes back much further than that. “Fifteen years ago the word was that LIBOR was being rigged,” says one industry veteran involved in the LIBOR process. Barclays ...
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 ...
We're getting older. Not just as individuals, and not just as a country, but as a world. A census report projects that between 2010 and 2050, the US will face a rapid growth in its older population. Over the next four decades, the number of Americans aged 65 and older will be more than double ...