The Latest from Big Think

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      It’s a Mean Mean Mean Mean World. Just ask the people in Aurora, Colorado. Or the people in Colombine, Colorado. Or the people of Port Arthur, Australia, where a […]
Higher-learning institutions are beginning to offer classes online, but this is just the start. Within fifteen years, concepts like grades and dividing students by age will also be challenged. 
So here's the transcript of a debate I had with the brilliant and incredibly prolific (and old) bioethicist Daniel Callahan on how to frame end-of-life issues these days.  Students at Singularity […]
Rather than talk of social media as representing a separate online life, we should admit that we can now respond to all of our experiences, which was once the domain of the artist. 
Thanks to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and computer processing ability, machines are now evolving faster than humans. At some point within the next decade, according to proponents of the Singularity, […]
The one thing you can count on in social science research is this: Inquiry will continue until the preferred hypothesis has proven to be true. Proponents for abstinence only sex […]
The Justice Department maintains that Apple's agreement with major publishers over how it markets e-books prevents its competitors from setting prices that would benefit consumers. 
Facebook's new manager of energy efficiency and sustainability wants to develop apps that allow users to share and compare their energy use with friends, leveraging the power of friendship.
Just a quick note: I've been interviewed for the latest episode of Think Atheist Radio, which is now available for download and podcasting. In the interview, we chat about the […]
I wrote a short post on why freedom of expression must and should always trump dignity. Ideas can remain, locked in place as true or good, even if they are […]
Science rests on the assumption that the world can be known: that causes have effects, and logic applied on Thursday in Katmandu is valid still on Friday in Geneva. Psychology, […]
The economic situation seems to be improving, but many Americans think differently.  Is the U.S. recovering or headed for another recession?
The economic state of mind for many countries, and the actual status of the country's economic state don’t always match up.
With respect to the cosmos, mankind has just been born. Hypothetically, if our 14 billion-year-old universe were scaled down to just 10 years (for the sake of comparison), dinosaurs would […]
With less than a week before the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, anticipation and some dread both fill the air. Ever since the Munich games in […]
The U.S. looks to China to support them in its attempt to restrict Iran's nuclear objectives. 
The Director of National Intelligence admits in writing that there was at least one occasion when government spying was in violation of civil rights. 
Women want to have the career, husband and the kids, but to have it all is very difficult—and it isn't because women are incapable of doing it all. 
I usually write optimistic posts. This is going to be a scary one. I apologize in advance. While I was in Columbus last month, I mentioned the furnace-like heat. Well, […]
Having found a way to measure the sensation of awe in laboratory settings, researchers have found that appreciating majesty helps us live in the present, making life more satisfying.