Topics
Inspiration & Wisdom
How to Fail Well
Psychology Lecturer, Harvard University
Tal Ben-Shahar’s most important lesson to his students to be sure to fail, and to fail well. He explains why this is and introduces us to the most successful individual in history at failing, Thomas Edison.
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Gary Vaynerchuk: Your Word is Bond
The best career advice Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk ever received was from his dad—and Wu-Tang. Watch
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Law professor Lenni Benson encourages young people not to be tied down by the few job titles they know, and to start cold calling. Watch
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Inventor Dean Kamen discusses how successful creative people fail frequently, rarely work linearly and never give up. Watch
Related Blogs
The Voice of Big Think
October 16, 2009 — 1:31 AM
The Remarkable Intelligence of Infants
Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik has been in a very small minority among her fellow philosophy scholars; for one, she’s woman, but more importantly, she is convinced that philosophers were doing themselves a disservice by ignoring the importance of babies in our searches to the answers to humanity’s big questions. Gopnik sat down with Big Think to talk about how exactly you go about studying the minds of young children, and what they have taught her about child-rearing, education, love, and more. She even gives us all a great excuse to run off to Paris with a lover and drink double espressos at a cafe. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
October 9, 2009 — 10:25 PM
Josh Lieb, the executive producer of "The Daily Show," visited Big Think to talk about his first novel, "I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President." He shares with his seventh-grade protagonist, Oliver Watson, a disdain for "Fahrenheit 451" as an authorial circle jerk in which a writer writes about the preciousness of writing. Besides dissing sci fi ancient Ray Bradbury, Lieb leveled snarky shots at New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff and beating-aging apostle Aubrey de Grey, both of whom were on Big Think recently. Our interview with Lieb will be posted in a few days. He was last here two years ago. Read more
Latest Ideas
A Guide to Building a Business That Matters
Returning to America after 10 years abroad, the founder of Year Up found himself alone and with nothing but a big idea. Here he explains how he turned this situation into one of the most renowned non-profits around today, sharing his strategies on everything from fund-raising to ensuring employee satisfaction. Read More
November 15, 2009
Dinner With Martin Luther King
If Gerald Chertavian could do dinner with anybody, it would be the great civil rights activist, whose insights into social justice and grassroots organization have proven timeless. Read More
November 15, 2009
Paul Auster to Young Writers: Lose the Ego
The novelist believes that it's “the burning need to do it,” not to be praised, that spurs great writing. Read More
November 13, 2009
Big Think Interview With Cornel West
Big Think sits down with the author and University Professor at Princeton University. Read More
November 9, 2009
Classical musician Thomas Hampson recounts a singing childhood with an operatic debut at age 19. Read More
November 6, 2009
In his imposing baritone, Thomas Hampson cautions aspiring opera singers that "Fortune favors the prepared mind." Read More
November 6, 2009
The classical musician explains Walt Whitman's begrudging encounter with Italian opera, and the indelible mark this meeting has had on the American song. Read More
November 6, 2009
Advice to Aspiring Novelists: Don’t Shoot Yourself
After the publication of the "World According to Garp" and numerous other bestsellers, John Irving does not really have to worry about his career. But, for those looking to break into the book-writing business today, Irving is far from envious. Read More
November 5, 2009
What Keeps Russell Simmons Up at Night?
For the hip-hop mogul, it’s a pre-bedtime ritual. Read More
November 3, 2009
Daily Ideafeed
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Sun Sets
No Oprah -
The sun will set on the Oprah Winfrey Show – on of America’s most popular TV shows – in September 2011 after two decades on the airwaves.
November 20, 2009
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Fitting?
Epileptic Dancer -
A dancer with epilepsy has stopped taking her medication and is hoping to have a seizure on stage to raise awareness about “an invisible disability.”
November 20, 2009
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Stem Cells
Curing Blindness -
Permission to use embryonic stem cells has been requested by scientists developing a cure for blindness.
November 20, 2009
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Quidditch
Snitch Catching -
Harvard is the latest US University to take up the fictional wizard-sport Quidditch which features in the Harry Potter books.
November 20, 2009
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Meteoric
Fire Ball! -
Last night a fireball lit up parts of the Utah sky– and the phenomenon, which saw the dead of night as bright as day, was captured on CCTV.
November 19, 2009
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To The Letter
Respectfully, Lincoln -
A letter written by former US president Abraham Lincoln to a schoolboy around 150 years ago is to go on sale.
November 18, 2009
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Separated
Twin Success -
Conjoined twin girls joined at the head have been successfully separated after 29 hours of surgery.
November 18, 2009
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High Five
Right-Hand Chimp -
Research on chimpanzees suggests that human language has its roots in the gestural hand communications of our primate ancestors.
November 17, 2009
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John Thompson
After Death Row -
The BBC talks to a man who spent 14-years on death row before new evidence led to his release from jail.
November 16, 2009
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Drought Panic
“Bomb the Clouds” -
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is encouraging Cuban scientists to “bomb clouds” with aircraft in order to stimulate rainfall during sever droughts.
November 16, 2009
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Traumatic Birth
Sharky Midwife -
Staff at a New Zealand aquarium were astonished to find baby sharks spilling from a wound in a female school shark’s stomach after she was bitten by another shark.
November 11, 2009
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20 Years On
Berlin Wall Toppling -
On this day 20 years ago the wall dividing East and West Berlin was toppled heralding an end to the cold war and the division of Germany.
November 9, 2009
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Mongolia
Sham or Shaman? -
The use of shamans, spiritual priests said to have a direct link to dead spirits, is making a comeback in Mongolia.
November 6, 2009
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Drugs Virtue
Herbal Remedy -
A mother has been medicating her autistic son using marijuana as an alternative to sedative drugs and says it has improved his condition.
November 5, 2009
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Puzzling Art
Rubik’s Cubism -
An artist has been recreating masterpieces using rubik’s cubes instead of paint.
November 5, 2009
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False Mourning
‘Til Death… -
A man reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his family and friends by turning up to his own funeral.
November 5, 2009
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Precipitous
Artificial Flutter -
Chinese meteorologists have successfully induced artificial snow to fall in Beijing after chemically seeding clouds to combat lingering drought.
November 2, 2009
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Pregnant Dad
Seahorse Sex -
The bizarre mating rituals of sea horses are fascinating – and they are the only species in which the male becomes pregnant.
November 2, 2009
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Memoryscape
Art and Autism -
An artist with autism has drawn an 18-foot picture of New York from memory after a 20-minute flight over the city.
October 30, 2009
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Going South
Light Migration -
New research reveals that birds use light rather than magnetic fields to aide their migration.
October 29, 2009
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Most Distant
Cosmic Dark Age -
A gigantic explosion on the edge of the universe has given scientists an insight into the “cosmic dark ages” of 13.7bn years ago.
October 29, 2009
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Grammar Cops
Lexicography -
A new book “The Lexicographer’s Dilemma” discusses the rage bad grammar can cause and calls on staunch advocates to chill out.
October 28, 2009
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Humane Meat
Veal Issues -
What if eating veal was actually more ethical than shunning it?
October 28, 2009
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Butterfly Lugs
Have You ‘Eard? -
Scientists have discovered a new species of butterfly which has ears on its wings.
October 27, 2009
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Pit Stop
Mechanic Synchrony -
Are the seven seconds it takes to complete the average Grand Prix pit stop the longest seconds in sport?
October 26, 2009