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

1

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

2

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

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Big Think Edge

3

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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Hybrid Reality Posts

The co-evolution of humans and technology

Hybrid Reality

Documentaries Ponder the Future

42-23714282
almost 3 years ago

What does the future look like? We essentially rely on science fiction thrillers to give us a taste of what lies ahead for humanity: Avatar; Iron Man; I, Robot; Surrogates; Star Wars; and I am Legend. But these films only give us part of the picture both in terms of the science and the social ...

Hybrid Reality

Restructuring the "D" in R&D

Robot
almost 3 years ago

Recently we wrote about emerging models for Research (the "R" in R&D) and how the US government can encourage and support them. But what about Development - the “D” in R&D? The majority of spending in R&D is in fact allocated to development, which includes costs associated with market analysis ...

Hybrid Reality

Watching World Cup 2022 and Beyond

3dmobiletv
almost 3 years ago

Football fever surrounds the Fortune Global Forum here in Cape Town, South Africa! Amidst the fascinating discussions about finding high-tech solutions to Africa’s problems, one can’t help but appreciate the power of spectator sports to entertain and provide a collective cathartic release for ...

Hybrid Reality

The Rise of the Designer

Matrix_architect
almost 3 years ago

In the Matrix trilogy, God is portrayed as a software Architect. The fact that the first movie was released in 1999 is appropriate since software code had begun to exert a profound impact on our daily narrative. Nothing captured the importance of the software engineer better than the fact that the ...

Hybrid Reality

Is Your Head in the Clouds?

Head_in_cloud
almost 3 years ago

Last week our narcoleptic Lenovo laptop dozed off into permanent slumber. Not terribly saddened at its untimely demise, we nonchalantly recycled it (using Gazelle.com) and bought ourselves a shiny new Mac.  Five years ago, the scene would have unfolded far more dramatically: panic about lost work ...