-
Socrates Wouldn’t Trust the Web. Should We Trust Him?
Thinkers worried about the Web rotting our brains would find an ally in the ancient Greek sage. But are their fears justified?
-
Why We Refuse to Learn From History
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So George Santayana, Harvard intellectual, whose main contribution to history was to write books no one reads any more. “History is bunk.” So Henry Ford, high school drop-out, whose inventive genius transformed history. Both were ... -
Could ‘UFO’ on the ocean floor really be the lost kingdom of Kvenland?
The release last week of a sonar scan showing an anomalous formation on the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland set off a storm of wild speculation as to what exactly the image means. Most of this speculation centered on the idea that this object (if it is an object or objects ... -
Fear is the Mind-Killer
The adrenaline rush we all experience when our bodies go in to “fight or flight” mode is an asset if we’re up against a physical threat. But in every day life, how do you overcome fear?
Topics
Belief
-
Re-Envision
Brains Are Automatic, But People Are Free
1 day ago
What's the Big Idea? Michael Gazzaniga, one of the world's leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience, describes the mystery of free will: “If you think about it this way, if you are a Martian coming by earth and looking at all these humans and then looking at how they work you wouldn’t—it ... Read More
-
IdeaFeed
Sugar Coating: What Your Doctor Really Prescribes
1 day ago
What's the Latest Development? A new Harvard study calls into question our assumption that medicine is one of the most honest professions. In a survey of 1,900 doctors from across the country, 55 percent said they had been overly optimistic about a patient's prognosis and 10 percent said they ... Read More
Latest Ideas
-
Brains Are Automatic, But People Are Free
1 day ago
What's the Big Idea? Michael Gazzaniga, one of the world's leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience, describes the mystery of free will: “If you think about it this way, if you are a Martian coming by earth and looking at all these humans and then looking at how they work you wouldn’t—it ... Read More
-
Your Brain is Automatic. You Are Free.
1 day ago
Michael Gazzaniga, one of the world's leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience, argues, "We can understand brains to the nth degree, but that's not going to in any way interfere with the fact that taking responsibility in a social network is done at a social level. So the way I sum it up is that brains are automatic, but people are free because people join social groups" -- and those groups dictate the laws to live by. Read More
-
Standardized Testing: The Monster that Ate American Education
7 days ago
None of the characteristics that are important for thriving in the world of the twenty-first century are encouraged by standardized testing, argues Diane Ravitch, one of the most respected educational historians in the world. What we need is a generation of students who can think critically and creatively. Read More
-
Brain Bugs: Hallucinations, Forgotten Faces, and Other Cognitive Quirks
16 days ago
What's the Big Idea? If seeing is believing, then how do we come to know? One common misperception holds that vision springs directly from the eyes. True, the eyes, ears, and skin bombard us with a constant stream of information. But sensory input is only the first step in a complex journey ... Read More
-
Who is the Real Martin Luther King, Jr.?
27 days ago
What is the Big Idea? Some of the most memorable photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King are of him standing behind a podium with his fists clenched and his arms raised. This image of King is further reinforced by his famous I Have a Dream speech where he exudes power and confidence while ... Read More
-
Do You Have the Moral Compass of a Toddler?
about 1 month ago
What's the Big Idea? Are we born with a sense of morality? Or is ethical awareness something we arrive at only as we age? Like nature versus nurture, this is a question so loaded it's become a philosophical exercise as much as a basis for scientific inquiry. In his Floating University lecture ... Read More
-
Is Necrophilia Wrong?
about 1 month ago
Cemeteries are not for the dead, but for the living. The dead will not thank us for the coffins made to their specifications, nor compliment us on the choice of flowers or gravestones. They cannot do so, since they are, by definition, dead: they feel nothing, they cannot communicate, they are no ... Read More
-
The End of Free Will?
about 1 month ago
What's the Big Idea? The field of neuroscience evolved so rapidly in the past twenty years that it will pose unprecedented challenges to the legal system in the decades to come, changing the way we understand crime and punishment, says neuro-pioneer Joy Hirsch, director of the Functional Magnetic ... Read More
-
It Pays to Be Stubborn: Conflict Resolution, Steven Pinker-Style
2 months ago
What's the Big Idea? Do stubborn people actually win? Maybe the reason they take such an aggressive approach every time is that it works, says Steven Pinker. The Harvard psychologist, known for his argument that human language is an evolutionary adaptation, is convinced that the best way to get ... Read More
-
The Value of Forgotten Ideas
3 months ago
Editor's Note: Over the next 12 days, Big Think will be running excerpts from all the lessons that make up our first online course, Great Big Ideas. During this period, we are offering discounted subscriptions to Big Think readers. You can now subscribe and gift this course for $99. Please sign up ... Read More
- More ideas in Belief