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Mind and Behavior
“Chicago May” was a classic swindler who conned her way around the world in the early twentieth century. She was also a sign of hard times.
If you guessed “staying up all night to play video games,” you’d be right.
Perrikaryal uses an EEG to translate her brain activity into beating bosses in "Elden Ring" and beyond.
Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.
A growing body of research suggests that optimism plays a significant role in promoting both physical and mental well-being.
In logic, 'reductio ad absurdum' shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.
A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.
The Reitoff principle gives us permission to "write off" a day and intentionally step away from achieving anything.
8mins
James Suzman lived with a tribe of hunter-gatherers to witness how an ancient culture survives one of the most brutal climates on Earth. His learnings may surprise you.
NuqneH! Saluton! A linguistic anthropologist (and creator of the Kryptonian language, among others) studies the people who invent new tongues.
15mins
Harvard has conducted an 85-year-long study on what makes humans happy. Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger explains what they found.
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Or are cults the religions we find distasteful?
Happiness is not a five-star holiday. It's often the result of struggle — and asking for help, as author Stephanie Harrison recently told Big Think.
AI looks like a natural and inevitable fit for business coaching — but some humans are wary. Here are the pros and cons.
Memories aren’t mental recordings, but pliable information we can use to better manage the present and conjure future possibilities.
6mins
Pathologically busy people clamoring for happiness. Founder of HATCH Monica Parker explains how we can do so much better than that.
When we view hard work as a sign of low aptitude, it harms our ability to learn and grow.
Being bilingual benefits children as they learn to speak — and adults as they age.
People who have a regional accent might prefer robots who speak like them over generic voices.
Neuroscientist Tali Sharot recently spoke with Big Think about a two-step method for escaping the dark sides of habits.
Is it genes or their special bond that drives identical twins to offend at similar rates?
Alli Webb, co-founder of Drybar, has a message for up-and-coming leaders: Embrace the mess!
Too many leaders create an imbalance between thinking and doing — but a clear vision can be sharpened through deep reflection.
A simple dice game shines a bit of light on the psychology of regret.
Here's the thorny reality behind psychedelics' ability to unearth buried memories.
At work we're often asked to be decisive — but how can we make an informed choice without complete information?
Here's how belief in a higher power can act like a psychological safety net.
Bertrand Russell shows us how to recognize emotional arguments smuggled into presumed statements of fact.
About three out of every four people arrested in the U.S. are men. That rate is similar across the world.
After listening to the same playlist, people from the United Kingdom, the United States, and China reported feeling nearly identical bodily sensations.