In the two decades since German reunification, the German government has spent up to €1,6 trillion on upgrading the defunct economic infrastructure of the communist East to match that of […]
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Let’s face a sad truth: To be a book lover in the 21st century is a hard task. In the world of the knowledge economy and of constantly being plugged […]
It used to be that the word “doctor” brought to mind an image of a kindly old man in a small office with a stethoscope, but now it conjures up […]
A new research institute out of MIT wants to bring the power of new computing to bear on medical devices, creating non-invasive tools to monitor patients and test new drugs faster.
From Richard Branson, who began his storied career as a magazine editor, to the Columbian Journalism School, which boasts 40 start ups launched by former students, the two fields are closely related.
Dreams of a better Internet have evaporated, says Alexis Madrigal. How did we become contented with the same basic apps, all modified to fit ever-smaller niche groups?
Despite the irreverence of the nation’s new favorite comic, Louis often discusses essential moral lessons through what he has experienced as a father, parent and divorcée.
How do we develop the aptitude to separate spam from knowledge? James Lawrence Powell tells Big Think you need to be “your own spam filter.”
Note: Before you comment to say “This is not going to change the mind of someone who would issue a death threat”, please don’t. That’s not my point. Ask yourself […]
It’s difficult to categorize Siri Hustvedt. She is, first and foremost, a writer and a thinker. Her well-known novels include What I Loved and The Sorrows Of An American. They […]
In September 2011, Pew released the latest in its annual “Views of the News Media” survey, showing that Democrats have moved closer to Republicans in their dissatisfaction with the performance […]
Everyone has secrets. Some have personal secrets of infidelity, lies and embarrassing tidbits that they hope will never see the light of day. Powerful institutions like businesses and governments also have […]
Big Think is excited to announce Humanizing Technology, a virtual expo in partnership with Bing, whose goal is to identify new technologies that integrate themselves seamlessly into our lives, capitalize on our unique strengths, and amplify the best of human nature.
Mr. President, yesterday I told WEAA radio host Sean Yoes that I would write you an open letter challenging you to cut a re-election promo where you look directly into […]
University of Chicago researchers have found that one’s place in a social hierarchy influences the body’s response to illness and stress. Thus the best medicine may be a job promotion.
Jonathan Gottschall says stories are good for us. I’ll soon apply myself full-time to story-writing, so you might suppose I’d find this an encouraging thought, but I don’t. It’s an annoying thought. […]
I usually write optimistic posts. This is going to be a scary one. I apologize in advance. While I was in Columbus last month, I mentioned the furnace-like heat. Well, […]
Is the Slow Internet movement based around an ultimately flawed idea – that it’s actually possible to shut off the massive meme-spraying firehose of the Interwebs?
When you read a news story about a threat or danger or hazard, what do you want to know? Most likely, you want to know if it’s a risk […]
Longtime readers of this blog may remember that I wrote a book some time ago. What happened to it is something I’ve only alluded to a few times. Suffice to […]
Reprinted from PSFK’s “Need to Know” magazine In the future, cities will be judged by their generativity. Over seventy percent of the world’s population, and almost all of the globe’s […]
Having a great depth of knowledge in a specific field limits your problem solving abilities to what has worked in the past, says entrepreneurial polymath Naveen Jain.
The Obama administration has a pronounced tendency to give off mixed signals on controversial issues for an interminably long time before deciding on a particular policy to implement or a […]
Women’s psychology is better suited to keeping the peace, say some of today’s top minds. Informed by evolution, women have a greater incentive to negotiate with those around them.
In a Q&A interview with Jason Zengerle of New York magazine, outgoing Congressman Barney Frank offers a diagnosis of several of the major drivers of polarization in American politics that […]
Few academics decided to study Yemen because of terrorism or al-Qaeda. It was Yemen’s other, richer side that attracted us.
Jesse Bering is the author of the new book, “Why is the Penis Shaped Like that?: And Other Reflections on Being Human.” He is well known in my circles as […]
It’s obvious why we are motivated to eat, drink and reproduce; the origins of our desire to push musical boundaries, on the other hand, are less clear.
By Chris Arkenberg In what amounts to a fairly shocking reminder of how quickly our technologies are advancing and how deeply our lives are being woven with networked computation, security […]