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A library of interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers.
2mins
Music is an undeniably powerful force, and the science behind it suggests we create music because of some deeply rooted impulses. Bill Nye the Science Guy explains how deep our love of music is.
9mins
Enlightenment is a traditionally mystical and slippery concept, but when it is subjected to the rigors of empirical analysis, there is a lot to be learned about our brains and ourselves.
2mins
Multitasking is a myth, says McGill University Psychology Professor Daniel Levitin. Switching focus across tasks comes at a neurological cost, depleting chemicals we need to concentrate.
7mins
American anti-drug laws are inspired by colonialism and racism, not science. They are at odds with our current understanding of addiction and ignore the economic blight of this second gilded age.
8mins
Tony Award-winning actress Mary-Louise Parker says the stereotypes that accompany being in the military, and growing up in a military family, don't really apply.
4mins
Science writing, or the way scientists describe their research, purposefully removes the human element, but this is what readers want most, says career biologist Hope Jahren.
4mins
James Brown was the godfather of American soul music, yet despite leaving specific instructions that his estate be used to education poor children, funds remain tied up in South Carolina courts.
3mins
Bill Nye the Science Guy explains how reinvigorating basic research and development in our schools resulted in the acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and why new acronyms are emerging.
2mins
Most people are familiar with the technique of taking deep inhalations to relax themselves, but one breathing technique is more effective at returning your body to a naturally calm and connected state.
3mins
Creativity takes places equally in the conscious and subconscious mind, and while popular definitions often emphasize intuition over rationality, you won't have breakthroughs without both.
9mins
Groundbreaking digital companies like Google, Amazon, and Uber operate using a "scorched Earth" method of value creation, says Rushkoff, which resembles 13th century colonialism.
5mins
There are only two events in the universe that defy the laws of physics: black holes and the Big Bang, and while scientists try to explain them, crucial evidence may be eaten up in the meantime.
8mins
Not all love is the same, says psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz. When your brain experiences romantic love, as opposed to maternal love, it exhibits signs of obsession, depression, and emotional stress.
3mins
Meditating will make you more open to a plant-based diet, says legendary music producer Russell Simmons, who calls eating meat "the biggest karmic disaster in the world."
2mins
Calculus was invented by Isaac Newton in the middle of the 17th century, so does a historically contingent event hold true everywhere in the universe, even near black holes? Bill Nye the Science Guy replies to a Big Think fan.
4mins
Humans do not experience life as a linear narrative, but storytellers from journalists to script writers typically tell us stories that way. 3D virtual reality is an opportunity to live stories the way we live life.
5mins
The history of industrialization is the separation of workers from their labor, and it continues today in the digital marketplace where online companies seek to replace human labor with algorithms.
3mins
We all need to purchase goods and services to live life in a modern economy, and how we get those goods and services is changing. As a global economic force, the PC is out and the smartphone is in.
4mins
Ancient Rome was a very different world from ours, so it does have any lessons to teach us? While we shouldn't model our behavior on any ancient society, Rome's treatment of immigrants is illustrative.
6mins
Many of the skills that make for good improvisational comedy also make for successful behavior in life: slow down, listen, be positive, and have integrity. Take it from longtime improv coach Chris Gethard.