What is Big Think?

We are Big Idea Hunters…

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.

Big Think Features:

12,000+ Expert Videos

Browse videos featuring experts across a wide range of disciplines, from personal health to business leadership to neuroscience.

Watch videos

World Renowned Bloggers

Big Think’s contributors offer expert analysis of the big ideas behind the news.

Go to blogs

Big Think Edge

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.

Find out more

Transcript

Leigh Gallagher: Having this option to freeze your eggs and put the biological clock on hold, basically, I think it’s incredibly empowering. When you look at men and women, and men and women in the workplace, you do see a lot of women leave the workplace for a few years, women on very high-track careers, to have children. And then they come back sometimes and then they continue to do amazing things.

I mean, I edit our Fortune 40 Under 40 list and we consistently have a problem finding women in their 30s who match the achievement of the men on the list, and it’s a constant struggle for us. And one of the reasons—I mean I’ve looked into this a lot—one of the reasons is that, you know, if a woman wants to have children it’s usually between the ages of 30 and 40 that they’re going to do it. So they—you know, you have to pull back even if you have all the child care in the world. It’s just—there’s just a fact about it that it’s just, you know, it unevens the playing field for men and women a little bit during that time.

I don’t think that this is going to solve that problem. I think that this is an option for people with, you know, who have a very specific set of circumstances. They either haven’t met someone yet and want to have children with a partner. They, in many cases, it’s done by women who have to undergo medical treatment that might damage their fertility, and it’s a wonderful thing for that. And then sometimes it’s for people who just aren’t ready just yet but want to keep their options open.

Directed / Produced by
Jonathan Fowler & Elizabeth Rodd