The Latest from Big Think

“My Experience is What I Agree to Pay Attention to,” said psychologist William James. And therein lies the problem and danger of advertising: we don’t always agree or choose to pay attention, but it shapes our life experience irrevocably.

Why are we the way that we are - is it nature or nurture? This week, Bill Nye answers a question from Evan, who is having a science argument with his mom.

How can we chart moral progress? One popular narrative holds that it increases steadily, rising over time. But Jelani Cobb argues it happens in fits and starts, like an EKG line that spikes and falls.

Vampires were considered an actual danger in 18th century eastern Europe, but how did the myth come about? Science researcher Kathleen McAuliffe sheds new light on a famously murky legend.

Your brain isn't the only organ processing your day while you sleep. Dr. Emeran Mayer explains the circular processing of emotion and memory that goes on between your brain and your digestive system, and how the latter can "dream".

Visionaries know why they get out of bed each day. Do you? Ethnographer and leadership expert Simon Sinek explains how to find direction and fulfillment in your personal and professional life.

Whatever you do, don't look behind you – because the answer isn't there, says psychologist Alison Gopnik. The real ghosts are glitches in your brain, and in a way, that's even scarier.

A powerful scientific method of observation has helped scientists understand the brain. That method closely parallels Nobel Prize-winner Eric Kandel's journey to make his most famous discoveries.

Could we use computers to translate animal communication into human language? If so, what would we learn? And might it unlock a new understanding of existence and our place in the cosmos?

Standardized testing is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. It's not totally useless, but it does misunderstand the situation. The Imagination Institute's Scott Barry Kaufman suggests a more three-dimensional search for intelligence.

Why does Jim Gaffigan tell clean jokes? Jesus Christ told him to, obviously. The real reason, which Gaffigan explains here, takes him through the history of comedy and satire in American.

If you want to know what separates animals from humans, look no further than this meditation on life from American novelist T.C. Boyle. The author says nature obsesses him and renews him.

Nobel Laureate and Columbia professor Dr Eric Kandel discusses the nature of good and evil via the Trump candidacy, and his own devastating childhood experiences in Austria.

Neuroscientists now think of the gut as a "second brain"; it independently controls your digestive processes and is in constant conversation with your main brain. What do they talk about? Depression, theorizes Dr Emeran Mayer.

Bill Nye casts his mind to the future to give us a picture of how the descendants of our current 3D printing technology will change our ways and our world.

Most of the foods we consume are created for the supermarket shelf, not for our health, says psychiatrist Drew Ramsey. But you can boost your brain function and overall well-being with this one very low-tech, analogue tool: your grocery list.

We all want to get more done with the limited amount of time we have. Here are 3 easy ways to become more productive, have greater focus, and learn more about yourself in the process.

The truly awesome part of Facebook's company culture isn't the unlimited holidays or the free lunches, says Stuart Crabb, former Global Head of Learning. It's something much deeper.

Making ethical decisions is a process that starts in our gut, i.e with our automatic response. But it is essential to also think about moral dilemmas, says Harvard Law Professor Glenn Cohen.

What is masculinity? Should gentlemen watch pornography? How do we raise sons to be better than their fathers? What's for dinner? Comedian Jim Gaffigan mulls over these big questions and more.