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.
Big ideas in little doses
What's the Big Idea? Will North Korea experience a smooth transition from Kim Jong-Il to the so-called "great successor," Kim Jong-un? Big Think asked Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a political scientist who uses game theory to turn conventional wisdom on its head. Mesquita is the author of The ...
Occupy Wall Street is a giant human hashtag -- a conversation, a thread, a way of organizing ideas. I resist calling it a “movement” because that may imply that people who do not yet consider themselves participants are excluded from the conversation. What Occupy Wall Street allows people to do ...
One of the things I’ve been most impressed by in my involvement with the Occupy Wall Street movement has been most protesters’ respectful and courteous attitude towards the police. That being said, I have still observed quite a few mistaken attempts to angrily challenge, insult, threaten, and speak ...
What's the Big Idea? How well do you know your rights? Moreover, have you ever had to exercise your rights during an encounter with a police officer? Unfortunately, many people unknowingly waive their rights during police encounters. This should not be very surprising. After all, police ...
What's the Big Idea? Are you in a rut? Instead of changing what you do, try changing how you think about it, says Roger Martin, a strategic advisor to global businesses and Dean of the Rotman School of Management. Watch: In 2000, growth at Proctor & Gamble had slowed to almost ...
A forum where top mixologists explore the party drinks defining the 21st Century . . . Whether it is goji berry juice, Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull, moonshine, or water, you will most likely drink something this holiday season. Why not impress your friends and family with one of the ...
What's the Big Idea? The bursting of the dot com bubble in 2000 and the real-estate bubble in 2008 not only gutted workers' bank accounts – it shook to the core whatever trust they had left in their employers. This is a story that began in the manufacturing sector, as companies began to close ...
Just as he stretches the boundaries of our imaginations, Dr. Michio Kaku pushes the limits of the philosofro. NEXT >>
Psychologist Steven Pinker unravels the enigmas of language and the human mind while sporting a truly luxurious philosofro. NEXT >>
Margaret Atwood's philosofro is almost as engaging and intricately structured as her internationally acclaimed novels Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale. NEXT >>
Professor Cornel West's philosofro is as unstoppable as his fiery political oration. NEXT >>
Writer Malcolm Gladwell's is one of the most iconic philosofros of our time.
UPDATED: 12.12 10:08 AM EST: If you were hoping for an early Christmas present, you will be disappointed. The discovery of the Higgs particle will not be confirmed until 2012 at the earliest, when scientists have been able to analyse more data. As the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) ...
In my time teaching students about making choices, especially moral ones, based on sound reasoning and evidence, we often range into areas many have not thoroughly considered. After all, everything deserves scrutiny if we are to be fairly sure an idea (or belief) is worth pursuing, defending and ...
As we count down to the New Year, Big Think is surveying the ideas that will have the greatest impact in 2012. This idea was suggested by Big Think Delphi Fellow Mitch Horowitz: What's the Big Idea? Attention is rightly focused today on the problem of bullying among school kids. Now, a ...