Given the increasingly complacently atheistic tone of many of the BIG THINKERS, I thought I’d introduce some realism about our Constitution’s silence on God. My position will be, of course, somewhere […]
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There is a prevailing conception that students must learn facts and procedural knowledge BEFORE they can then engage in so-called ‘higher-order’ thinking skills. Educators, parents, policymakers, online commentators, and others […]
The question of my last post: Why do we deny that it’s our nature to die? The answer from many of my threaders: We aren’t merely or even essentially natural […]
What a wonderful surprise it is for us to find today that Time magazine has rated Big Think number 1 in News & Info in its list of The 50 […]
The U.S. is historically a Christian country. It’s not just that 3 out of 4 Americans identify themselves as Christian. It’s that the colonists who fought in the American revolution […]
After touching down early Thursday morning, the Atlantis shuttle is now officially a museum piece. It will be retired at the Kennedy Space Center Museum in Cape Canaveral, Florida. “Job […]
In a previous post, Teddy Zareva wrote about a biodegradable urn made by the Spanish designer Martin Azua that turns you into a tree when you die. Big Think readers […]
The fierce moralist and political writer has died of oesophageal cancer and the outpouring of remorse at his loss is as varied as the arguments he made during his life. A fond farewell, Hitch.
There are a lot of cool posts on BIG THINK today. Austin Allen’s on stuff the great literary critic Harold Bloom declared dead is a kind of an ironic appreciation. The […]
Kris Broughton, a classy and eloquent BIG THINKER, is a particularly fervent defender of our president. Nonetheless, he’s warming up to MITT ROMNEY. He even believes that his anti-Obama rhetoric […]
The scientific concept that will most impact our world is the idea that will unify two opposite ideas, those of Newton and Einstein, says Big Thinker Ajitkumar Tampi Trivikram.
Miles Grimshaw didn’t get in to the most popular course at Yale this Fall. The course, Great Big Ideas, features the best experts, scholars and professionals the world has to […]
Everyone has ideas; it's how you execute them that will get you noticed. Ghost writer Jeff Haden has observed the world's greatest businessmen up close. Here are his tips.
As barbarians, says Lawrence Summers, economist and former President of Harvard.
Why can’t the Greeks be more like the Germans? Could it be because they speak Greek? There’s no doubt some nations save more money than others, and plan better for […]
David Brooks has a generous and eloquent column on the decision of “crunchy conservative” Rod Dreher to move back to his hometown of St. Francisville, LA. Dreher is embracing the […]
In each generation, our most brilliant thinkers lay the foundations on which lesser lights will build a new, bloated bureaucracy of the mind. Can experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats help us break the cycle?
In a previous post, we asked you who you want to see featured on video at Big Think. The response was overwhelming to say the least. From UAW President Bob […]
The Floating University’s first course, Great Big Ideas: An Entire Undergraduate Education While Standing On One Foot, is being used to teach courses at Harvard, Yale, and Bard this fall […]
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ROBERT DE NEUFVILLE, my fellow BIG THINKER, has said I said I think raising taxes is never the right thing to do. His rhetorical strategy is to show all Republicans […]
As tuition costs continue to skyrocket, parents and students are demanding answers to this question: what am I getting as the return on my $50 thousand annual investment that is college tuition today?
Major scientific endeavors like space exploration require decades of planning and funding sources that can weather economic downturns. Will the results of the Google Lunar X Prize competition stand that assumption on its head?
Big Data can become the key to unlocking growth for smaller companies throughout the U.S. economy.
Religious groups, labor groups, women's rights groups, environmental groups and various business interests all offer "scorecards" that rate politicians. So why not atheists? Penn Jillette fills the void.
The study of brain chemistry is the latest doubt cast over the idea that humans have a free and independent will. Now, thinkers are poking holes in what was once an air-tight case.
Well, I’m really not. But a lot of BIG THINKERS must be, because we have nary a post so far talking up THE AMERICAN HOLIDAY. So HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! […]
It is the premise of the course that there are precious few important ideas relevant beyond their specific disciplines, but that it is these very ideas that are the foundation of a modern education.
1. I was glad to learn from BIG THINKER Daniel that Walmart has become a catalyst for change on the Green or environmental front. That’s good news, because what that corporation’s brains […]