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.
The word "I" is one of the shortest words in the English language; however, it carries the most meaning of all of our words. Think of the meaning behind it. It can be used to simply refer to oneself, sure, but it can also mean your TRUE self, the full compilation of all of the factors that make you ...
Recently, news programs and the media in general have gone about talking about there being a recession in America. No matter whether there is or not, this is a BAD idea. When people hear this, they think something like "Oh! I better save money just in case things get ugly!" and BANG, the ...
Recently, news programs and the media in general have gone about talking about there being a recession in America. No matter whether there is or not, this is a BAD idea. When people hear this, they think something like "Oh! I better save money just in case things get ugly!" and BANG, the conditions ...
With regard to abortion, the attitude of the Supreme Court is that a woman's body is her own to do with as she chooses. Well, this seems to disregard the fact that it's the man's child as well. I see a possible solution that has numerous possible holes in it: require paternal consent to terminate ...
If matter attracts matter, then logically, at some point in the future, all matter will contract until it is at a point where it is no longer compressible. Guess (tell me if there is a way to prove/disprove this, just makes sense to me): When all matter reaches the point at which it can ...