"If we’re going to solve the problems that we’re trying to solve – and it’s not just for the Foundation, it’s for all of us, we’ve got to tap into the creativity and the capability and the innovation potential of the private sector." -Julie Sunderland of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, from her recent Big Think Interview  

"Be patient with the belligerence of the simple-minded. It is not easy to understand that one doesn’t understand." -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 19th century Austrian novelist

The renowned philosopher takes us through the events of his new book, Event: A Philosophical Journey Through a Concept. He explains how an event retroactively creates its own causes and why these elements explain our fear of falling in love.

ABC News Correspondent Dan Harris explains why someone who tells you they're a good multitasker is lying. In fact, what we perceive as multitasking is really just "doing many things poorly"

Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson draws from Darwinian theory to posit the appearance and characteristics of an extraterrestrial life form. "E.T. is out there," says Wilson, and their more like us than we may realize.

"Research can be undertaken in any kind of environment, as long as you have the interest. I believe that true education means fostering the ability to be interested in something."

"Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with its subject."

"Truth has never been, can never be, contained in any one creed or system."  

"My passion is actually for people. So the exploration into different musics of different times has to do with trying to figure out who these people are, what this music represents and what context do we want to give it and what does it mean to us right now."

In this day and age, we and our gadgets are limited by the archaic ways we store our power. Tech guru Brad Templeton explains that a breakthrough in battery technology would spark an exciting wave of innovation and enable the future of computing to be realized.

Filmmaker Sanjay Rawal discusses Food Chains, his new documentary investigating the plight of a group of farm workers in Southern Florida who have fought for fair food standards.

A.J. Edwards is the director of the new film The Better Angels, which highlights the formative years of Abraham Lincoln. In this Big Think interview, Edwards explains his decision to shoot the film in black and white.

Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo and one of the inventors of CAPTCHA, explains how reCAPTCHA harnesses the abilities of both humans and computers in order to accomplish tasks such as the digitization of old books.

"I like to say, the universe doesn't care about our common sense.  We have to force our ideas to conform to the evidence of reality rather than the other way around.  And if reality seems strange, that’s okay." -Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss, from his Big Think interview  

"Companies really want inclusion but they often predicate that inclusion on the surrender of various forms of diversity that people bring to the table. So the idea is that if you modulate your outsider identity to adopt mainstream behaviors then you’ll be included. And so it puts people to this tragic choice between their identity and inclusion."

"Limitations force you to find the essence of what you want to say, which is one of the most important things to know for an artist."

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation."

The president of Iceland explains the secret to the Nordic countries' recent economic and social success. Social welfare programs such as free access to education and healthcare have proved to be a boon to the free market economy.

Tech entrepreneur Brad Templeton returns to Big Think to discuss how Bitcoin disrupts the finance industry.

"I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. I want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once that far down, everyone will understand because they are the same that far down." -Jack Kerouac