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The astonishing skills displayed by autistic savants are evidence not of the mystery and rarity of genius, but of the plasticity of the ordinary human mind.

Michelangelo spent most of his life on a massive guilt trip. When he painted The Crucifixion of St. Peter in 1550 (pictured), he inserted not one, but two self-portraits. To […]

When you hear the name Leonardo da Vinci you automatically think “Genius” with a capital “G.” Such Genius that he seemingly came from nowhere to walk among us. Science fiction […]

They say that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. When they say that, they usually mean that they’re going to get drunk, not write a novel. But while a […]

Who killed Caravaggio? Or what killed Caravaggio? Four hundred years later, who cares? To “celebrate” the 400th anniversary of the demise of the demented genius of the Renaissance, Italy’s National […]

“Fail better,” Beckett advised. David Shenk affirms that it’s not just persistence that produces brilliance—it’s persistence at a skill level beyond one’s own.

Genes and environment don’t determine different quantities of our success (or failure). Instead, they operate together in surprising and complex ways.

The eroticism of Gustav Klimt’s painting is obvious to anyone who has enjoyed his art. A new exhibition at the Secession in Vienna, Austria will make that eroticism obvious to […]

When J.D. Salinger passed away recently, many casual fans who only remember him from tattered copies of The Catcher in the Rye lost long ago seemed shocked that he was […]

Simon Schama’s piece on the relationship of objects to history in the Weekend FT reminds us of Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God. This was the artist’s outrageous/brilliant/bullshit/prescient/profitable/pathetic/gorgeous/obscene (depending) diamond-encrusted […]

Just when you think you’ve seen them all, a new Vincent Van Gogh painting rises from seemingly nowhere. An 1886 painting titled Le Blute-Fin Mill (pictured) recently became the first […]

Like the first life forms on Earth, the career of John Singer Sargent rose up from the sea. Between 1874 and 1879, when Sargent first emerged from his teens and […]

As the first biographer to hear Louis Armstrong’s private tape recordings, the author of “Pops” discovered a side of the jazz genius the public never suspected.

It was Andy Warhol who said “sex is the biggest nothing of all time,” and whether his coy abstinence is worth comparing to the young novelists analyzed in Katie Roiphe’s […]

Katie Roiphe’s cover essay in today’s New York Times Book Review affectionately notes one thing about several male novelists of an earlier generation—Roth, Bellow, Updike—that we should consider missing: unapologetic, […]

Quick Quiz: Who is the only artist to be named “man of the century”? Picasso? Did Demoiselles d’Avignon and Guernica preach love and peace to define the twentieth century? I […]

A law banning gay marriage in Texas has effectively banned all marriage according to the Democratic attorney general candidate.

Is Lang Lang the most popular pianist on the planet? CNN talks to China’s biggest prodigy a year after he took to the world’s stage.

A conversation with the author of “I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President.”

Josh Lieb describes the traits he shares with the protagonist of his new book, “I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President.”

The United States’ Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act takes effect on Saturday. Subsequently, it will be illegal for employers to use genetic test results to make decisions about their employees, or […]

When Josh Lieb set out to write a book about a 12-year-old billionaire from Nebraska, the comedy writer and producer of The Daily Show, didn’t incorporate too many details from […]

Josh Lieb, the executive producer of “The Daily Show,” visited Big Think to talk about his first novel, “I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be […]

Their stories and misadventures have inspired some of Hollywood’s greatest films. They are the hucksters, burglars, and schemers whose love for taking risks and search for outrageous fortune made them […]

Mobbing Behavior and the Media

Now that the Obama administration has characterized Fox News as a political opponent rather than a disinterested news outlet, people are debating the political fallout as well as the veracity […]

The gossip mills go crazy for a celebrity dying before their time, and that was just as true in the 18th century as it is today. But instead of Michael […]

Sam Wang debates genius vs. hard work.

Blogger Stevel Rubel spoke with Big Think yesterday on the the future of internet advertising, the semantic web and digital media. He’s a smart guy. He also has a really […]

Lynda Resnick was only 19 years old when she founded a full-service advertising agency and is now the co-chairman of Roll International, the parent company of such lovable brands as […]