In this 5-part Big Think Mentor workshop, Julia Galef, President of the Center for Applied Rationality, teaches how to better understand some of the most common cognitive biases and fallacies – and ultimately make better decisions.
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How was Earth’s most well-known precious metal made? “Don’t gain the world and lose your soul;wisdom is better than silver or gold.” –Bob Marley Throughout all of recorded human history, there’s […]
Editor’s Note: This article was provided by our partner, RealClearScience. The original is here. In February, reports filtered in from Germany that two men died of cardiac arrhythmia triggered by marijuana […]
Psychologists have known for a long time the emotional truth captured in Joseph Stalin’s chilling (reputed) observation, “One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic.” This […]
April 23, 2014, marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time and an inescapable influence not just on literature, but also on every […]
“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the […]
The galaxy cluster “El Gordo” has a funny name, but it certainly fits its description. From NASA: It is bigger than a bread box. In fact, it is much bigger […]
“We are just beginning to glimpse the bare outlines of an emerging new economic system–the collaborative commons,” explains economist Jeremy Rifkin
Cuddly toys, ripped to pieces. Their limbs and tails, snouts and eyepatches strung up and nailed to a museum wall. Teddy bears and their furry friends are supposed to be […]
Earlier today the game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost tweeted the above photo, signaling that TEDism—the look and feel of those incisive idea-filled talks from TED conferences—is spreading far and […]
What we can glean from success in the sports world.
This Earth Day, we’re celebrating with a light show. The Lyrid meteor shower began in the early morning hours of April 22 and will be visible through April 25. Just […]
Take a moment today to appreciate exactly how lucky we are to have what we do. “It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years […]
Death is big business. The projected revenue of the funeral industry is projected to be $16.2 billion in 2014. While it’s tough to consider the economics of death when a […]
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” — Isaac Asimov
Yesterday, NASA released this image of spiral galaxy NGC 2841, one of the more massive known galaxies. From NASA: It is one of the more massive galaxies known. A mere 46 […]
Steve Mesler discusses how his mentoring program, Classroom Champions, which brings star athletes into classrooms by using technology.
Science can give patients regenerated organs in the next five years or so. Matthew Putman, Founder and CEO of Nanotronics Imaging, on the political will needed to make this a reality.
“Red and dead” might describe the stars in most ellipticals, but this nearby galaxy tells a different story. “The line that describes the beautiful is elliptical. It has simplicity and […]
A loyal client of mine, and a highly respected member of an NHL hockey team, practices something I call the Four Levels of Accountability off the ice as well as […]
Ross Douthat has written on the revival of Marxism as a seductive theory in the wake of burgeoning economic inequality and the withering away of the middle class. He might […]
A green beam shooting out of a red moon looks like a still from a sci-fi film. This image was captured by NASA on April 15th in the early morning […]
“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly […]
An amazingly fun and clever game that allows you to fuse elements in your own stellar simulation. “Iron helps us play!” –The Simpsons It was so much fun this week […]
“How can we possibly be giving £1 billion a month to Bongo Bongo Land when we’re in this kind of debt is completely beyond me”, Godfrey Bloom said in August […]
From 30,000 feet above sea level, why aren’t the stars visible from an airplane? “Don’t get involved in partial problems, but always take flight to where there is a free […]
Thinking, like seeing, has built-in blind spots. An old parable and Husserl’s matchbox can illuminate these geometric, biological, and cognitive limits. We can’t evade their unseen dangers unaided. In the […]
If you’re running a little short on potable water, you might want to take some empty jugs up to Portland Oregon, where for the next few days they will be […]
The two “go to” occupations for conveying the idea of genius are usually “rocket scientist” and “brain surgeon.” Only the best minds pursue the mysteries of the outer space beyond […]
The Standard Model can’t be all there is. Here are five compelling reasons why. “Other than the laws of physics, rules have never really worked out for me.” –Craig Ferguson Two […]