Videos — April 6, 2011

What Do Toddlers and Shakespeare Have in Common?

They both experiment with language, recombining words and phrases in novel ways. Steven Pinker explains how his studies in childhood linguistics try to shed light on linguistic creativity in general.

Steven Pinker

They both experiment with language, recombining words and phrases in novel ways. Steven Pinker explains how his studies in childhood linguistics try to shed light on linguistic creativity in general.

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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with

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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with

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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Write Like Shakespeare

This is Twilight, for poets. It’s not designed to fly over your head; it’s designed as to shoot straight to your heart.