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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Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has appeared in a new video speaking publicly for the first time about the attempted Christmas Day airliner bombing, praising the attempt but not taking explicit responsibility for it. “ Mr. bin Laden said that the bombing attempt was a heroic act meant to recall the ...
Fourteen bodies have been recovered after an Ethiopian plane carrying 90 passengers crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather this morning. “The Boeing (BA.N) 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar some five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m ...
“He is about as close as it is humanly possible to get to being a real life Batman and he does it without resorting to capes, masks or the assistance of a Boy Wonder. Instead he uses spies, disguises, sponsorship and a hefty supply of nerve to achieve his near-legendary reputation,” writes The ...
Parasites in the brain. Flu viruses in the human genome. Manmade species of e coli . Carl Zimmer, a science writer and lecturer who has lent his name to a species of tapeworm, isn't afraid to venture into the creepier, crawlier domains of science, as his Big Think interview proved. The author of ...
“Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.” —Oscar Wilde If I may borrow a word from this Oscar Wilde quote, I believe the Supreme Court has malevolently bludgeoned the distinction between living breathing human beings and the convenient legal fictions we ...
With an army numbering a mere 7,000 soldiers and an official policy of neutrality, the Irish Free State’s attitude at the outbreak of the Second World War was that of a very nervous bystander. While covertly providing the Brits with some intelligence and assistance, the overt goal throughout ...
Last month, Dr. Jack Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University, released a national study revealing which US cities (population greater than 250,000) are, by his measures, most literate. Those cities were, in this order: Seattle, WA; Washington, DC; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA ...
Al-Jazeera English Television celebrated its fourth birthday at the end of last year. Launched with much fanfare, albeit after an eighteen month delay, the channel that promised to tread where other channels fear to tread has failed thus far to live up to expectations. Not that this detracts from ...
Considering actual temperatures dropped noticeably below average, the summer of 2009 compensated for the uncharacteristic chill with some incredibly heated debate over health care reform. Resulting in some fascinating (if occasionally bizarre) political expression, health care reform remains up in ...
This photo is from my trip to St. Louis last weekend, taken from the base of the famous Gateway Arch. Besides the sheer scale of the structure, I was attracted to its stark, geometrical shape - almost like a mathematical equation in the form of a building. In the enlarged version, you can see the ...
International rescue crews in Haiti rescued a man who survived beneath rubble on crackers and beer for eleven days just hours after search-and-rescue operations were officially halted. “A man was dramatically rescued tonight after spending 11 days under the rubble of a hotel in Port-au-Prince, hours ...
An audio tape allegedly from Osama Bin Laden claims responsibility for the Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard an American flight, reiterates Palestine’s cause, and promises more attacks. “Osama Bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the failed attack on a US airliner on December 25 in a new ...
British graffiti artist and cult sensation Banksy will be heard speaking for the first time ever in a documentary to be played at the Sundance Film Festival today. “He started out by spraying his provocative images onto walls and under bridges in the middle of the night, leaving the public to puzzle ...
Neurons grown in petri dishes from stem cells have successfully been transplanted into animals’ brains and could one day benefit sufferers of spinal cord injuries. “Healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior. This new finding is the first ...
School authorities face a dilemma now that marijuana is being prescribed to treat ADHD, legitimating its presence in lockers and classrooms across 14 states. “A high school student found to have marijuana in the classroom would seem to be a prime candidate for a little ‘talk’ with the vice principal ...