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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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The brain is behavior.
The stories come in surprising ways. An unexpected confession over a meal or a few drinks. A warning, perhaps, to keep your distance from a particular person before a conference. A breakdown during one too many late nights in the lab. But, eventually, one way or another, these stories come. And ...
A few years ago, Lay's Potato Chips threw down the gauntlet in a new advertising campaign: "Bet you can't eat just one!" It was a clever slogan--and had a clever commercial to match. But I think the line resonated so much because it's true. It's quite difficult to eat just one chip. You open ...
Did you see that photo of sharks allegedly swimming in a mall in Kuwait? Or the video of the eagle grabbing a baby in Montreal? Both must have been shared at least a dozen times on my social media feeds before someone even ventured to suggest either was a fake. As digital image manipulation ...
Could monitoring the activity of a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) help law enforcement officials predict which violent criminals are likely to re-offend? A recent study out of the Mind Research Network says maybe so. Kent Kiehl, an associate professor of psychology at ...
Nearly 10 years ago, the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in Roper v. Simmons . Justice Anthony Kennedy, representing the majority opinion, wrote: First, as any parent knows and as the scientific and sociological studies respondent and his amici cite ...
One of the best things I read this week was a piece by Vaughan Bell in the Guardian entitled, "Our Brains, and How They're Not as Simple as We Think." Bell, a neuropsychologist and science writer, talks about how neuroscience is penetrating every day life. That we are now framing the ...
You've heard it time and time again: marriage is good for your health. Studies have shown that married folks not only live longer but also enjoy better health than their singleton peers. Married couples have a lower risk of strokes, cancer and heart attacks. Married folks are less depressed ...
I have a friend who suffers from chronic pain. She has tried meditation, acupuncture, opioids, yoga and all manner of other remedies. Chances are, if anyone, anywhere, has said something will help with the pain, she has tried it. She has visited an untold number of doctors. Each has examined her ...
What secrets might one single biological pathway be harboring? The RAS family of proteins have a unique role. They act as a sort of relay, an on/off switch, if you will, in the cell. As RAS is activated by incoming signals, it turns on other proteins and genes involved in cell development and ...
Ludwig van Beethoven is credited with saying, "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." And while some may argue the point, there's certainly been a good bit of evidence suggesting that learning to read and play music is good for intelligence, academic performance and critical ...
Last week, I had the honor of speaking at the second Computation + Journalism Symposium hosted by my alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology. The basic question asked by the symposium was simple: what role does computation have to play in the practice of journalism today--and, of course ...
In the 80's classic movie, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, experienced high school ingenue Linda Barrett tells her younger friend Stacy Hamilton that she should just lose her virginity already. "It's no huge thing. It's just sex," Linda advises, pushing Stacy towards a date with much-older, more ...
A few weeks ago, I was in line at the grocery store and overheard the following exchange. "The cop gave her a ticket for texting and driving. She wasn't speeding or anything." "I'm not sure why they make such a big deal about that. I mean, I remember when I learned to drive -- I had this ...
A good friend--I'll call her Tandy here--is a huge fan of meditation. She spends a good hour each day practicing "mindfulness." She credits her practice with a more calm demeanor, a faster-working brain and a healthier body. She's certainly not the first to do so. Advocates of meditation claim ...
There's a pervasive notion that a monogamous relationship is the ideal. Certainly, that's what most Americans have been hearing for as long as they can remember. A committed, loving relationship between two people is the end-all-be-all -- and, to hear many tell it, the only thing that helps keep ...