Guest Thinkers
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iProtest: Social Media and the Evolving Nature of Political Activism
— Guest post by Luis Hestres, American University doctoral student. To say that new information technologies are revolutionizing political activism has become a tried and true cliché. It also happens […]
Are You More Creative Than a 4-Year-Old?
The old adage that the key to creativity is to view the world through the eyes of a child has never been more relevant. Ever since this summer’s release of […]
Intelligence Squared: Would the World Be Better Without Religion?
On Tuesday night, I attended a debate at NYU’s Skirball Center that was part of the Intelligence Squared debate series, “Resolved: The World Would Be Better Off Without Religion“. Supporting […]
Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction
What happens when the complexity and magnitude of the problems facing our civilization "simply exceed our biological capabilities"?
Super-Rover Will Search for Life on Mars
N.A.S.A.'s latest Mars rover will launch later this month. The size of an S.U.V. and powered by decaying plutonium, it will search for water and past signs of life beneath the martian soil.
The Change We Can Actually See
So my previous post clearly irked most BIG THINK readers. They didn’t want to address the fact of the birth dearth in the United States, Europe, Japan, and so forth. […]
Are Arab Countries Ready for Democracy?
In a previous post, I wrote about the Arab Spring’s effect on women and and whether it may actually be a setback for human rights. It so happens that in […]
Russia Liable for Failed Mars Mission
A Russian space probe on its way to Mars, currently stuck in Earth's orbit, will fall back to Earth along with stores of toxic fuel. Under international law, Russia is liable for damages.
Robert Reich Speaks Against Inequality
“We may have democracy or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few,” Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, “but we can’t have both.” That, in essence, was […]
The Case for Paying Attention
Can we be aware without actually paying attention? In other words, can our brains somehow imbibe visual information from the outside world without any conscious effort on our part? It […]
Occupy Wall Street: Evicted
Today the Occupy Wall Street protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park. Regardless of one’s political or economic persuasions, this act will be seen as having been cavalier and performed without […]
Creative Destruction: Peter Thum’s Fonderie 47
A new venture aims to foster stability in war-torn regions through an act of creative destruction: acquiring AK-47s and transforming them into rare jewelry, watches and accessories.
Want to Find a Husband? Go to School, Don’t Bleach Your Skin
What do Asian men and African American women have in common? Both are searching for love in very competitive marriage markets and, according to market forecasters, individuals in these groups […]
Robert Scoble Riffs On Race In Tech After CNN Silicon Valley Special
The internet went crazy Sunday night after Black In America: The New Promised Land- Silicon Valley. Twitter, the place on the internet where the wired segment of Afro America goes […]
The Face of OWS: Is Alan Moore the Storyteller of Our Time?
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 […]
Health Care, Pensions, and Our Demographic “Issue”
Another issue we’ll address at the big conference at Berry College this Thursday and Friday is the erosion or even implosion of our health care and entitlement systems. According to […]
Paul Krugman: Thinking Beyond Econ 101
What’s the Big Idea? Can economics explain everything? Some people have attempted to make that claim, but not Paul Krugman, who labels such a view “academic imperialism.” Krugman, who won […]
It’s Newt Time: Gingrich Emerges as the New GOP Alternative to Romney
The political courtship ritual some have called “speed-dating” has featured a revolving door of Republican alternatives to Mitt Romney: Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain. With a sexual harassment scandal […]
Smell My Tweet!
It’s dangerous business calling any tech innovation idiotic these days. The next thing you know, the company’s worth $50 billion. But it is hard to imagine many (hearing) people beyond […]
Downsizing the Box & the Smaller Future of Retail
Retailers and their suppliers are about to see real and lasting change to the size of their businesses. Not necessarily in sales but in physical size. The future is small […]
The Iranian Spark That Could Start a War
A former British Prime Minister, James Callaghan, once warned that sudden squalls could blow into major storms and often from unexpected places. Not very long afterwards, the Argentinians began to […]
Author Sara Zarr: Finding Inspiration in Failure
Author Sara Zarr has big ideas. Her books tackle huge themes with beautiful, realistic prose that cuts to the heart of her characters. Last week on author Nova Ren Suma’s blog, Zarr posted about […]
Hope and Progress
I just got back from a glorious week in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. John Nash and I were consulting with two different local grassroots NGOs. Our role was to help build […]
Melville, Irony, and Occupy Wall Street
In one of those strange collisions between leatherbound Literature and paperless modern news, Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” was read aloud at Occupy Wall Street on Friday. Not only that, […]
The Neuroscience of Rick Perry’s Brain Freeze
Despite the media attention drawn by Rick Perry's brain freeze in the last Republican debates, scientists say it is not evidence of an intellectual dificiency or mental problem.
Black In America Series Says Race Matters In Silicon Valley
I don’t usually watch the Black In America series, but I will tonight because one of the entrepreneurs in The New Promised Land- Silicon Valley episode is Angela Benton, a […]
Birth Control Can Save the World
The world population, by U.N. estimates, has just surpassed seven billion, and it’s growing even faster than demographers’ predictions. Nicholas Kristof has an insightful column (though I depart from him […]
Meaning in Life Is Logically Independent of Questions about the Supernatural
Andrew Sullivan quotes this passage from Jennifer Fulwiler’s account of her conversion to Catholicism from atheism: If everything that we call heroism and glory, and all the significance of all […]
The Divide Among Whites
White America is divided between those who are comfortable with the influx of immigrants from other countries and those who feel they threaten the American way of life. Obama’s race […]
Is My Redundant Kidney Part of My Net Worth in Dollars?
I gave the case for some kind of kidney markets in my last post. The limited commodification of that particular part of the body is the only way, for now, for […]