Videos — February 9, 2011

Plate Tectonics: Global Thermostat

The continental game of bumper cars known as plate tectonics is part of a global recycling system crucial to maintaining long-term temperature constancy—and giving rise to life.

Peter Ward

The continental game of bumper cars known as plate tectonics is part of a global recycling system crucial to maintaining long-term temperature constancy—and giving rise to life.

Feel first, think second: is our brain really cut out for the modern world?

Are you in love? Trust your mother over your brain.

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with

Big Think

Videos

Impeachment 101: Why, when, and how the people can fire the president

Getting rid of the president is a popular subject these days. And Sunstein's advice on the subject can show us the protocol — and the history — behind firing the most powerful man in the free world.

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10 min

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Cass Sunstein

The Present

How power affects the way you behave — and the way you’re punished

We all live by society's invisible rules but for some groups, these rules are tighter than for others, says psychologist Michele Gelfand.

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3 min

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Michele Gelfand

Videos

Superhumans: The remarkable brain waves of high-level meditators

People who have meditated for thousands of hours exhibit a remarkable difference in their brainwaves.

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3 min

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with

Daniel Goleman

The Future

Artificial general intelligence: The domain of the patient, philosophical coder

Sure, some expert-level knowledge is needed if you want to program artificial intelligence. But AI expert Ben Goertzel posits that you also need something that Guns N' Roses sang about: a lil' patience.

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4 min

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with

Ben Goertzel

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