The Fermi paradox (along with the subsequent Drake equation) is so difficult that even brilliant thinkers can make little dent in it.
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As the Manhattan Project headed for completion, German attempts to build a nuclear weapon had already been dismantled.
Descartes broke from the European philosophers who preceded him and devised a new way of considering humanity and the world.
Stories of child prodigies and the naturally gifted hide the fact that success is built on more than talent alone.
James Gleick, the author of biographies of Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman, discusses what they and other geniuses have in common.
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Don’t take the prodigy pathway. Become a broad thinker instead.
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Neuroscience supports the notion that an escape from conventional perspectives can be a gateway to spectacular insights.
Successful forgers are remembered as great conmen, not artists. This is strange, considering their forgeries fooled even the most seasoned critics.
The National Defense Education Act of 1958 meshed with white anxiety about the desegregation of schools.
Does it have a deeper significance — or is it just a number?
A next-generation LHC++ could cost $100 billion. Here’s why such a machine could end up being a massive waste of money.
Great genius is not born of lightning bolt-like moments of inspiration. In reality, perseverance plays the biggest role.
Wolfgang Pauli was a brilliant, well-liked physicist and a scathing critic of balderdash.
This collection of learning and development quotes serves as a reminder of the meaning and purpose behind this important work.
Even the most brilliant mind in history couldn’t have achieved all he did without significant help from the minds of others.
We are wired to value things more when we work hard at attaining them — even if, objectively, they aren’t worth that much.
We are still new at this.
Would you confess your crimes to a skeleton with “an unnatural ghastly glow”? One inventor thought you would.
“The Soul of a New Machine” provides a rare level of insight into the minds and decisions of humanity’s greatest thinkers.
Big Think recently spoke with behavioral scientist and author Katy Milkman about what really motivates us and steers our behavior.
The ability to toggle between abstract and concrete thinking is a key differentiator of high-potential leaders.
Inspired by the shape of a New Caledonian crow’s beak, researchers created a new 3D-printed prototype of tweezers.
It is easy to mock Nobel Laureates who go astray, but eccentricity often accompanies brilliance. We should have some sympathy.
Plato, Sun Tzu, and Buddha all lived in a “golden age” of philosophy that laid the foundation of modern thought.
The corporate unicorn was yesterday — now we should consider the wisdom of black and white stripes.
Piano Sonata No. 23 offers a window into the way culture became an instrument of Soviet state policy.
Centuries ago, the plague forced people into quarantine for years. Isaac Newton and Galileo used the time to revolutionize the world.
Modernism has lasted longer than any art movement since the Renaissance.