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Philosophy
So far, Earth is the only planet that we're certain possesses active life processes. Here's what we shouldn't assume about life elsewhere.
Famed activist Bayard Rustin constantly faced the dilemma of coordinating collective pursuits among diverse groups of people.
If philosophers really enjoy one thing, it’s a good debate — but not an argument.
Religion is a product of, and not a source of, our evolutionary moral dispositions.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
No matter how good our measurement devices get, certain quantum properties always possess an inherent uncertainty. Can we figure out why?
In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.
"What modern science has taught us is that life is not a property of matter."
Life arose on Earth early on, eventually giving rise to us: intelligent and technologically advanced. "First contact" still remains elusive.
Is it ever possible for God to violate the laws of nature?
Many contrarians dispute that cosmic inflation occurred. The evidence says otherwise.
In all the Universe, only a few particles are eternally stable. The photon, the quantum of light, has an infinite lifetime. Or does it?
A simple semantic device — invented by a forgotten senator — can help us break “the curse of knowledge.”
The original principle of relativity, proposed by Galileo way back in the early 1600s, remains true in its unchanged form even today.
Hospice nurse Julie McFadden shares three examples where people hold off death, just for a bit.
His $1 million ARC Prize competition is designed to put us on the right path.
How do you cope when joining a team shatters your confidence? Albert Camus and Harry Stack Sullivan can help.
Unraveling the subtle mechanics of luck can help us better steer the wheel of fortune.
Welcome to the Big Think debut of The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Slowing growth and limiting development isn’t living in harmony with nature—it is surrendering in a battle.
The Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887, despite expectations, revealed a null result: no effect. The implications were revolutionary.
Why dispelling the notion that it's all about getting the correct answer is so powerful.
For centuries, Newton's inverse square law of gravity worked beautifully, but no one knew why. Here's how Einstein finally explained it.
Quarks and leptons are the smallest known subatomic particles. Does the Standard Model allow for an even smaller layer of matter to exist?
Big Think guest writer Rory Stewart — former UK Secretary of State for International Development and co-host of The Rest Is Politics podcast — made a profound discovery about leadership while working with GiveDirectly.
Today, the Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle physics experiment in history. What would a new, successor collider teach us?
"I know what you're thinking" can sound kind or creepy — depending on who's saying it.
A recent paper in the journal Physical Review Letters claims to prove that a "kugelblitz" is not possible.
The idea of awarding legal personhood to nature has received renewed attention in the contemporary environmental justice movement, but much contention remains.