The Latest from Big Think

In a 1977 interview with Glenn O’Brien for the marijuana lifestyle magazine High Times, O’Brien asked Andy Warhol if his teachers recognized his early “natural talent.” “Something like that,” Warhol responded with his characteristic unconventionality, “unnatural talent.” Warhol’s “unnatural talent” quip alluded not only to his mass-produced, machine-like paintings of soup cans and silk screen portraits, but also to his sexual orientation — the “unnatural” life of a homosexual. Just as Warhol turned that verbal double play, art scholar Michael Maizels tries to touch those two bases of Warhol’s art in “Doing It Yourself: Machines, Masturbation, and Andy Warhol” in the Fall 2014 issue of Art Journal. For Maizels, the way that Warhol made art reflected the way Warhol lived his life as a homosexual male in late 20th century America. When we look at Warhol’s art, Maizels suggests, we should see not just a critique of commercialized society and its art, but also a critique of that same society’s sexual tolerance.

The snobbery wars have erupted over photos of a sometimes blue-black, sometimes white-gold dress.

Will you explode, freeze, or boil? Advice on how to maximize your life. “A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces […]

Slapping on mascara to get those luscious lashes wasn't nature's intention. Your lashes serve a purpose, and their length shouldn't be tampered with.

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."  

"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future."

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, a case involving a Muslim woman whose headscarf, or hijab, disqualified […]

Introduction to the Optimized Brain, with Steven Kotler Flow is technically defined as an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and we perform our best. Steven Kotler […]

A groundbreaking study suggests you probably could.

We now know that flow works not like an on-off switch but in a four-part cycle. Understanding these cycles can help you to more often access flow.

There are seventeen triggers for flow that can each draw your attention to the now. Mastering flow means building these triggers into your life.

Beyond neuroanatomy and neurochemistry, flow states rely on shifts in the brain's neuroelectricity.

Steven Kotler explains the neurochemical changes during flow states that strengthen motivation, creativity and learning.

Flow is technically defined as an optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and we perform our best. Steven Kotler runs through the neuroanatomic shifts that make it possible.

Perspective-taking describes the ability to see things from another's point of view and it's an important skill to teach children early on.

Confidence is cultivated outside one's comfort zone. This is why immersive artistic activity is such a boost to one's confidence.

A brief explanation of today's big net neutrality news and why the decision excites some while troubling others.

Individuals who cheat in life quickly ignore the fact that their success is fraudulent, believing instead that their own abilities will carry them to even greater heights.

A San Francisco startup (what else?) is looking to make the home-buying process much simpler, leveraging data to find a fair market price as soon as a house is listed.

In 1995, I published They Don’t Get It, Do They? Closing the Communication Gap Between Women and Men after writing “The Memo Every Woman Keeps in Her Desk” — a […]