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.

Big Think Features:

12,000+ Expert Videos

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Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.

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World Renowned Bloggers

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

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Big Think Edge

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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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Cue the Future Posts

Technology and marketing in the world of tomorrow

Cue the Future

We were right about Bing + Facebook!

Missing
over 2 years ago

Today, Bing announced it has become a Facebook Instant Personalization partner, and is going to start using like data to change the way you comprehend your search results on Bing. This is an incredibly smart move that I’ve wanted them to take for ages. In Social Data for Search Giants (a blog ...

Cue the Future

Envisioning the future of Facebook Groups.

Missing
over 2 years ago

I have a ton of respect for Facebook’s product team, they consistently launch innovative products that pull their users, often kicking and screaming, into more engaging experiences. This requires two key skills: 1. Vision: predict what your customers want before anyone knows they’d use it. The ...

Cue the Future

Cue the Future

Missing
over 2 years ago

In the interest of helping people understand me more effectively, I’ve changed the name of this blog to “Cue the Future,” which more aptly communicates what guides most of my efforts. In my life, I’m focused on figuring out how innovation will improve our lives, and how we as a society can get ...

Cue the Future

How blogging rewired my brain

Missing
over 2 years ago

On a recent vacation, I experienced a fit of “small thoughts.” For a few hours, every few minutes my brain was coming up with somewhat interesting tidbits that were fun to mull around. These ideas were not earth shatteringly brilliant by any measure, but represented a small change in my ...

Cue the Future

Cool opportunity for a designer

Missing
over 2 years ago

An organization I’m working with is looking to hire a design-thinker to help build an exceptional global brand. If you’re waiting in the wind to be the next Eston Bond, Jason Putorti, or Dustin Curtis (i.e. you’ve got the chops, you just need the opportunity to hone and the platform to work with ...

Cue the Future

Facebook Places for marketers

Missing
almost 3 years ago

I penned a blog post that’s over 900 words about the Facebook Places launch as seen by Marketers. In it I discuss 13 facts about how Places will affect businesses. Go check it out on the Involver Blog! Here’s a small excerpt from the article: How should I manage my Facebook Page and Facebook ...

Cue the Future

Estee Lauder's impressive commitment

Missing
almost 3 years ago

I’m in New York today for the Estee Lauder Digital Media day. As I write this from the show floor in Chelsea, I look out upon 13 market leading digital companies invited to share knowledge with the Estee Lauder team. Companies like Facebook, Google, Bazaarvoice, Yahoo, Microsoft Advertising, and ...

Cue the Future

Digital Publishing Workflow Management

Missing
almost 3 years ago

I have a serious problem with how I find, attend to, curate, add to, and finally, publish information. Here’s my basic flow today: I use Facebook, Twitter, RSS, email and web-browsing to find interesting items. Then I use Google Reader Shared Items, Twitter Starred Items, Facebook Likes ...

Cue the Future

Smaller Ideas

Missing
almost 3 years ago

I’m fascinated by people and companies who benefit from good content creation to support non-content business objectives: Fred Wilson, Chris Dixon, and Mark Suster have materially changed the trajectory of their career by embracing blogging. Venturehacks and Tim Ferriss created great evergreen ...

Cue the Future

Obama’s missed legacy

Missing
about 3 years ago

I’m a big fan of Obama, and have publicly supported him on this blog several times. I think, by in large, he’s done a great job of managing the presidency and engaging in traditional politics — which is, in my opinion, his biggest (and most annoying) failure. Obama stopped mobilizing his ...

Cue the Future

Could answering beat out blogging?

Missing
about 3 years ago

There’s a new “blog” I’ve just discovered and I’m a big fan of it — but you can’t subscribe to it in google reader, it’s only on Quora. I recently read an answer on Quora to the question, “what have been your most important life lessons?”  The author of this answer echoed a lesson I’d recently ...