Building a great team is the ultimate competitive advantage. Steve Jobs famously thought that his greatest creation wasn’t a great device, but rather was a company filled with people capable […]
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What’s the Big Idea? “Your Gravity Theory Sucks!” Margaret Wertheim was surprised to find this comment on an order form for a self-published book called The Other Theory of Physics, […]
From all of us here at Big Think, Happy 70th birthday, Stephen! If you had only been one of the smartest humans ever, it would have been enough – but you’re something much bigger than that: a model of how to live.
“What’s a ‘natural flavor’?” my 10-year-old asks me from the back seat of our car. He’s munching on a rare treat—a snack that lists about 500 unpronounceable ingredients and boasts […]
So the Susan G. Komen Foundation has withdrawn its financial support of Planned Parenthood. Wailing and gnashing, wailing and gnashing. Erica Greider, my colleague at The Economist, offers an evenhanded […]
The shuttle program having been terminated and a budget crunch looming, the national space program lacks a clear purpose. One astronomer says NASA should focus on saving the planet.
Chefs Make Change, a loose coalition of superstar chefs, is leveraging the power of micro-donations to raise a million dollars for charities, many of them focused on how, what, and whether people eat.
A single dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms,’ brings about a measurable and lasting personality change—’openness’—lasting at least a year.
I recently revisited What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis and was struck by how it spoke to me about the needs of today’s schools. Here are a few points […]
Many, including myself, wondered if today’s Apple announcement would be the kiss of death for digital textbook startups like Kno, Inkling and Chegg. Now, it seems as if Apple as […]
What’s the Big Idea? If seeing is believing, then how do we come to know? One common misperception holds that vision springs directly from the eyes. True, the eyes, ears, and […]
In the midst of the economic downturn, designer Sandra Garratt wanted to do something hopeful. So she integrated solar panels into her clothing designs to make green tech fashionable.
Several of the most recent recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry and medicine share their work habits, their inspiration and what else put them on the path to Nobel gold.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Americans know today is a watered down version of the force that he once was.
Of all the surreal moments in the Penn State sex scandal surrounding the actions of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the most surreal for me was watching on a […]
Welcome to Action In Action, a new column on Big Think that seeks to investigate and clarify the underlying structural causes of America’s economic, political, and social problems. Some background on […]
Bravo to Janaka Stucky, whose new article in Poetry on struggling independent bookstores is both the most sensible and inspiring thing I’ve read on the subject. Stucky concedes what everyone in […]
Via Slacktivist, I came across a post on the Christian blog Exploring Our Matrix that asks a perfectly reasonable question: Why Doesn’t the Bible Contain Superior Medical Advice? …you will […]
Our university system is bloated, inefficient, too expensive, and increasingly out-of-sync with a digital society and global economy. Dr. Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and President of Harvard, is […]
Looking forward to the end of the world requires a divorce not only from reality, but from the awe that our infinitesimal place within it inspires.
Like a superhero masking their “real” identity, Cindy Sherman may be the most photographed person in history whose “real” face (whatever that means) remains a mystery. Since the 1970s Sherman’s […]
Last month, I posted my review of “An Unquenchable Thirst”, Mary Johnson’s luminous and enlightening memoir about the twenty years she spent as one of Mother Teresa’s nuns. After writing […]
The world is increasingly taking notice of the turmoil brewing in Israel, where a growing culture war between the rest of Israeli society and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, or “haredim”, […]
As NYC police attempt to clear Zuccotti Park of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, it seems appropriate to reconsider who OWS is and what they want. To me, their goals […]
As the astute Ross Douthat points out, the race in Iowa is now between Gingrich and Paul Right now, the polls show Paul to be in second place, with Romney still fading […]
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and if your family is like mine, you’ve got leftovers enough for days. And speaking of leftovers, here are some links that I didn’t have […]
What is the link between innovation and the science fiction imaginary?
Five years ago this June, Cormac McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Given McCarthy’s legendary reticence (he had done only one major interview in the past, with the New […]
I’m still not sure what Pinterest is for [1], but scrolling a recommended collection of maps on the site, I couldn’t help but notice that the number of cartographic tattoos […]
While reading some remembrances of Christopher Hitchens, I came across a column which quoted this statement from his brother Peter, who was a believer: Like Einstein, he viewed ethics as […]