Understanding Risk

Big Think Home

Understanding Risk

Everything Videos Articles Classes
A close-up of a spotted nudibranch with translucent, pointed cerata on a brown underwater branch against a black background, inviting reflection on the intricate nature of consciousness in marine life.
Books
What sea slugs can teach us about the nature of consciousness
In this excerpt from "One Hand Clapping," Nikolay Kukushkin makes the case that neurons reveal how memory, meaning, and even consciousness emerge from the same biological roots in humans, sea slugs, and beyond.
Nikolay Kukushkin
Split image: Left side shows a painting of hands peeling apples with a knife; right side features a modern mechanical apple peeler, echoing Jeff DeGraff’s spirit of innovation bridging tradition and progress.
Business
AI will never be a shortcut to wisdom
Real understanding, argues Jeff DeGraff, doesn’t come from outputs — it comes from practice.
Jeff DeGraff
Abstract 3D geometric surface with intersecting translucent orange and brown planes, inspired by the amplituhedron theory of everything, set against a blurred orange background with white network lines.
Starts With A Bang
Ask Ethan: Could “positive geometry” unlock the theory of everything?
Since even before Einstein, physicists have sought a theory of everything to explain the Universe. Can positive geometry lead us there?
Ethan Siegel
A colorful, abstract scientific illustration with a central glowing sphere, circular patterns, and various lines and circles suggesting quantum connections or uncertainty data points, on a dark background with blue accents.
Starts With A Bang
The single most amazing fact about the Universe
No matter what it is that we discover about reality, the fact that reality itself can be understood remains the most amazing fact of all.
Ethan Siegel
Learn from the world's biggest thinkers.
© Copyright 2007-2026 & BIG THINK, BIG THINK PLUS, SMARTER FASTER trademarks owned by Freethink Media, Inc. All rights reserved.