Guest Thinkers

The ‘generation gap’ of the 1960’s and 1970’s referred to the differences between the then young baby boomers and their parents about what was wrong and whatshould be – today […]

–Guest post by Jamie Schleser, American university doctoral student. Technological advances in how we communicate, from the advent of the printing press to the launch of the World Wide Web, […]

“Two, four, six, eight, we don’t want to integrate!” The black and white picture from the fifties of a teenaged white girl yelling racial epithets at a young black coed […]

The scientific study of dreams is known as oneirology. Rather than being concerned with what dreams mean, it is more interested in the processes that give rise to dreams. 

Thanks to advances in computing power over the last few years, it is now possible to scan someone's brain and get a reasonable idea of what is going through his or her mind.

So my post on whether or not higher education is worth it got a lot of responses, mostly negative. Many of the respondents chimed in through email and want to […]

Creating an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Arab world is the next logical step in consolidating the political gains of the Arab spring and stabilizing the region’s volatile economic environment. That’s […]

When my sister married a man she had only known for nine months, seventeen-year-old me thought that was a bad idea. “Why not live together first?” I asked. Because, she […]

When I tape a radio segment for WEAA’s AFRO/FIRST EDITION with Sean Yoes, I usually gather more information than we have time to cover. Yesterday was no exception, when I […]

Are you a Big Thinker? Are you a Serial Thinker? Are you always the first person to offer your opinion? Then there’s a good chance you’re an Ice Breaker. You […]

The technologies that contribute to automation are likely to follow an exponential pattern, which means that more industries will start to lose jobs at an astounding rate as machines get […]

It’s always exciting news for us at Big Think when one of our own has published a new book. Today we are excited to spread the word about Mark Seddon’s […]

–Guest post by Sarah Merritt, American University doctoral student. As we begin to look back at the Iraq war in hindsight, it is clear that more scholarship needs to focus […]

Listening to Mozart won't make your child a mathematician, but Shakespeare can help make her more social.

The next Scientific Revolution is already underway. And it may make it possible for you to celebrate your 150th birthday, says Sonia Arrison. 

The principle of presidential campaigns run by Ross Perot, Steve Forbes and now Herman Cain is that politics are broken and only a business leader can repair them. True?

What is the link between innovation and the science fiction imaginary?

Like many urban rivers, the South Platte in Denver is not always easy to get to. City officials have done a fair job of creating walking and biking paths along […]

If one walks into any school in the United States, it is obvious that digital technologies are pervasive. It is impossible not to see students using laptops or netbooks, tablets […]

Occupy St Paul’s! This isn’t the slogan of those who have followed in the wake of the Wall Street protestors, but London’s eponymous cathedral is now surrounded by a tent […]

Occupy Wall Street is becoming a meaningful movement these days, with large numbers of people out on the street in several major cities and manymoreengagingcautiously, curious about what the movement’s […]

Last Friday, I posted a piece in The Stone at The New York Times suggesting the work of philosopher John Rawls as an intellectual touchstone for the Occupy Wall Street […]

I love watching visions of the future from technology companies. Not only are they usually thinking ahead of most of us, they also are trying to actually create the future […]

“I don’t have students,” Man Ray allegedly told Lee Miller when she finally tracked the Surrealist down in a Parisian bar after he eluded her visit to his front door […]

When I tell people that I’m an atheist, I’m often asked if I think that fiery rhetoric and sharp critiques of religion, like the kind found in the writing of […]

T.M. Scanlon’s response to my reply to his short essay on liberty and libertarianism offers a nice chance for me to add some of what I couldn’t fit in my […]

Paula always thought that infidelity should be “a deal breaker” in marriage—until two good friends confided in her about their unfaithful husbands. “I had a hard time wrapping my head […]

What we need is a RESCUE Mortgage program, a reduced equity, spoiled credit, unemployed/underemployed expectation loan that brings mortgage relief to those who cannot otherwise qualify for the refinance programs […]

Ultimately, space could collapse back in on itself, destroying all stars and galaxies in existence, or it could expand into essentially an endless void.

Virtual schooling is a good idea. Over the past decade or so, online education has proven itself a valuable component of the learning system, from elementary to post-secondary. I personally […]