What is Big Think?  

We are Big Idea Hunters…

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.

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Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.

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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.

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Age of Engagement Posts

Communication, culture, and public affairs

Age of Engagement

STATE OF DENIAL: Woodward Amplifies Framing of a Dogmatic President Out-of-Touch with Reality; Interpretation Traces Back to Katrina as the Catalyst

Missing
over 6 years ago

Everyone here in D.C. is talking about Bob Woodward's State of Denial, as the book's insider accounts continue to dominate the news cycle this week. Woodward's impact offers a leading example of how politicians, journalists, and the general public use frames to cut down on complexity and ...

Age of Engagement

'I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO A CHRISTIAN FLAG': Release of 'Jesus Camp' Demonstrates Power of a Documentary to Shape News Agenda and Framing; Film Sparks News Focus on Evangelical Movement and the Indoctrination of Kids

Missing
over 6 years ago

Email list servs and blogs aren't the only things buzzing about the new documentary 'Jesus Camp,' (trailer) which opens in major cities this weekend, including here in D.C. The news media has also discovered the film, and its impact has been to generate a string of news reports that focus on a ...

Age of Engagement

SO MUCH FOR FAMILY VALUES: Inhofe Attacks Andrew Revkin's New Book for Kids; NY Times Journalist Responds By Way of His Blog and Book Site

Missing
over 6 years ago

Just to show you how out of touch Inhofe and his staff are in their attack on the media, they even label as alarmist Andrew Revkin of the NY Times. I've read through literally dozens of Revkin's articles, I have seen him speak on several occasions, and interviewed him for this article on ...

Age of Engagement

DOES THE PUBLIC BELIEVE INHOFE'S HYPE? Public Is Split on Whether Media Exaggerate Global Warming Threat; Though Compared to 1997, More Americans Now Believe that the Media Downplays Global Warming

Missing
over 6 years ago

Yesterday, Senator James Inhofe, Chair of the Committee on Public Works & the Environment, issued a challenge to journalists to stop what he called the "media hype" over global warming. Inhofe compiles a list of what he considers exaggerated distortions of global warming from recent and past news ...

Age of Engagement

WHEN NEGOTIATING THE NEWS BACKFIRES: Clinton Gets Angry When Fox News Sunday Violates the Agreed Upon Ground Rules; Gotcha Moment Disrupts Attempt to Engage Moderate GOP on Global Warming

Missing
over 6 years ago

News outlets and the blogosphere are abuzz over Bill Clinton's appearance on Fox News Sunday. The whole episode is a classic example of how the negotiation of news between journalists and powerful sources can sometimes go wrong, especially when the two parties might ultimately have competing ...

Age of Engagement

FRAMING SCIENCE GOES INTERACTIVE: Streaming Video of AIBS Lecture from May; Upcoming Oct. 11 Presentation at AAAS on the Communication Battles Over Science Policy

Missing
over 6 years ago

For readers who are interested in learning more about the communication battles over science policy, I gave the following talk to the American Institute of Biological Sciences back in May, and now AIBS has posted a video of the lecture, complete with an interactive version of the powerpoint slides ...

Age of Engagement

SURVEY OF ENVIRO REPORTING ACROSS FOUR REGIONS: Pacific NW Most Likely to Feature Enviro Beat; Few Cover Area Full-Time; Compared to Public & All Journalists, Enviro Reporters More Likely to Be Political Independents; Local Agencies, Groups Top Sources

Missing
over 6 years ago

In the latest issue of the journal Science Communication, David Sachsman, James Simon, and JoAnn Valenti report on their findings from a census survey of environmental reporters across the Pacific Northwest, New England, the South, and Rocky Mountain regions. Here are some key findings from the ...

Age of Engagement

POLL REVIEW ON HURRICANE-GLOBAL WARMING LINK: Roughly 65% of Public Believes Global Warming is Either a Minor or Major Cause of Severe Hurricanes

Missing
over 6 years ago

Since last fall, poll questions across surveys have tapped public belief in the link between hurricanes and global warming. In this post, I provide a round up of poll findings in chronological order starting last year just after Katrina hit. The impacts of Katrina and Rita received saturation ...

Age of Engagement

GORE FAVORABLE RATINGS REMAIN UNCHANGED SINCE 2002: Evidence Argues Against Speculation That 'Truth' Has Reinvented the VP in the Public's Mind; Supports Hypothesis that 'Truth' Draws A Strongly Like-Minded Audience

Missing
almost 7 years ago

Gallup has released a poll report detailing trends in Gore's favorability ratings, indicating that despite the speculation that Inconvenient Truth has morphed the image of the VP in the public's mind, there has been little change in public evaluations. (Go here and watch an ad, to access the ...

Age of Engagement

WARM WORDS AND CLIMATE PORN: Labour-Leaning British Think Tank Conducts Discourse Analysis of UK Climate Change News Coverage; Criticizes Media for Over-Dramatizing to Capture Audience Attention While Offering Few Meaningful Policy Options

Missing
almost 7 years ago

A study released this week by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning British think tank, criticizes the UK media for engaging in a dominant "alarmist" interpretation of global warming. This alarmist interpretation is characterized by an inflated sense of urgency and "cinematic ...