Big Think

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Big Think Podcast

Our mission is to make you smarter, faster. Listen to interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers on science, philosophy, business, and more. Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content, featuring the best experts since 2008. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life. No Copyright Infringement Intended. For inquiries, please reach out to theboldgenz@gmail.com.

  1. Is Science Coming to an End? | Sabine Hossenfelder - BIGTHINK

    4 DAYS AGO

    Is Science Coming to an End? | Sabine Hossenfelder - BIGTHINK

    Is science close to explaining everything about our universe? Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder reacts. In his 1996 book "The End of Science", John Horgan argued that scientists were close to answering nearly all of the big questions about our Universe. Was he right? The theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder doesn't think so. As she points out, the Standard Model of physics, which describes the behavior of particles and their interactions, is still incomplete as it does not include gravity. What's more, the measurement problem in quantum mechanics remains unsolved, and understanding this could lead to significant technological advancements. Ultimately, Hossenfelder is optimistic that progress will be made in the next two decades, given the current technological advancements in quantum technologies and quantum computing ----------------------------------------- Chapters:- 0:00 The end of science 1:33 The ‘Theory of everything’ 3:11 The measurement crisis 4:29 Our quantum future ------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sabine Hossenfelder: Sabine Hossenfelder is a physicist, author, and creator of "Science Without the Gobbledygook". She currently works at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy in Germany. ------------------------------------------------------------ Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ---------------------- Discover Big Think | Smarter Faster™ Your top destination for expert-driven, educational content. Featuring thousands of episodes and insights from renowned figures like Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think accelerates your learning by delving into the pivotal concepts and essential skills shaping knowledge in the 21st century... Unlock Knowledge, Faster With Insights from the World's Leading Minds Remember to Follow the Podcast and Enable Notifications If you found this episode valuable, Share It Leave a 5-Star Review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    10 min
  2. 4 DAYS AGO

    “Drug use is your BIRTHRIGHT” | Dr. Carl Hart - BIGTHINK

    Columbia Professor Carl Hart breaks taboos surrounding drug use in America. The U.S. was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So, why does the government prohibit Americans from altering their state of consciousness with drugs it has deemed illegal? After all, drug prohibition has not only proven ineffective and unjust in many cases, but it also impinges on one’s right to live life as they see fit. It restricts liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Given these inconsistencies between principle and policy, what role should the U.S. government play, if any, in regulating mind-altering substances as we move forward into the 21st century? ----------------------------------------------- About Dr. Carl Hart: Dr. Hart is an Associate Professor of Psychology in both the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at Columbia University, and Director of the Residential Studies and Methamphetamine Research Laboratories at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. A major focus of Dr. Hart’s research is to understand complex interactions between drugs of abuse and the neurobiology and environmental factors that mediate human behavior and physiology. He is the author or co-author of dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles in the area of neuropsychopharmacology, co-author of the textbook, Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior, and a member of a NIH review group. Dr. Hart was recently elected to Fellow status by the American Psychological Association (Division 28) for his outstanding contribution to the field of psychology, specifically psychopharmacology and substance abuse. ------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min
  3. 4 DAYS AGO

    Understand these 4 key concepts for a happier life | Arthur Brooks

    How does one become truly happy? Arthur Brooks, author and Harvard professor, explains. Throughout his career, Brooks has pinpointed the essence of real happiness. His key insight? Happiness is not just a feeling, it’s a state of mind. In this interview, Brooks shares three primary elements of well-being, and explains how each one – enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning – contributes to your own happiness factor. Enjoyment, he explains, involves more than mere pleasure—it’s about shared experiences and lasting memories. Satisfaction arises from overcoming challenges, and meaning comes from understanding life’s coherence, significance, and purpose. Brooks further breaks down the pursuits that genuinely contribute to happiness: faith, family, friendship, and meaningful work. He stresses that happiness is not a final destination but a continuous direction. By focusing on these core aspects, we can build a fulfilling and happier life. This interview is an episode from ‪‪@The-Well‬, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the ‪‪@JohnTempletonFoundation‬. ---------------------------------------------------------- About Arthur Brooks: Arthur C. Brooks is a professor at both the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, where he teaches public and nonprofit leadership and management practice. Before joining Harvard in July 2019, he spent ten years as the president of the American Enterprise Institute, a well-known public policy think tank in Washington, DC. Brooks has written 11 books, including the bestsellers "Love Your Enemies" (2019), "The Conservative Heart" (2015), and "The Road to Freedom" (2012). He writes a column for The Atlantic, hosts the podcast "The Art of Happiness with Arthur Brooks," and is featured in the 2019 documentary "The Pursuit." He also serves on the board of the Legatum Institute, a think tank in London. ---------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ► https://bit.ly/thewellemailsignup ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    13 min
  4. 4 DAYS AGO

    Improve your critical inquiry skills in just 6 minutes | Alex Edmans for Big Think+

    “People will claim that something is rigorous because it's by an authority figure or it's written in a book. But anyone can write a book.” We often think the solution to misinformation is fact checking. But just checking facts is not enough. Even if a fact is 100% accurate, it could still be misleading – it could be a large-scale correlation when there’s no causation. The solution to misinformation is not obtaining a PhD in statistics, London Business School professor Alex Edmans and author of “May Contain Lies” argues. We often already possess the discerning skills to distinguish truth within ourselves. Misinformation is so prevalent today because we suffer from confirmation bias, or the idea that we have a certain view of the world and we will latch onto any piece of evidence that supports our viewpoint. When we inject skepticism into our thought process, we can overcome these biases. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more. https://members.bigthink.com/?utm_sou... ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business. https://bigthink.com/plus/great-leade... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Alex Edmans: Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School. Alex graduated from Oxford University and then worked for Morgan Stanley in investment banking (London) and fixed income sales and trading (New York). After a PhD in Finance from MIT Sloan as a Fulbright Scholar, he joined Wharton in 2007 and was tenured in 2013 shortly before moving to LBS. Alex’s research interests are in corporate finance, responsible business and behavioural finance. He is a Director of the American Finance Association; Vice President of the Western Finance Association; Fellow, Director, and Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Financial Management Association; Fellow of the British Academy; and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. From 2017-2022 he was Managing Editor of the Review of Finance, the leading academic finance journal in Europe. Alex has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, testified in the UK Parliament, presented to the World Bank Board of Directors as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, and given the TED talk What to Trust in a Post-Truth World and the TEDx talks The Pie-Growing Mindset and The Social Responsibility of Business with a combined 2.8 million views. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review and World Economic Forum and been interviewed by Bloomberg, BBC, CNBC, CNN, ESPN, Fox, ITV, NPR, Reuters, Sky News, and Sky Sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    7 min
  5. 4 DAYS AGO

    "Will Civilization Collapse? | Kevin Kelly Explains - BIG THINK"

    WIRED founder Kevin Kelly explains why progress often looks like dystopia to the untrained eye. Imagine that tomorrow, the world magically got 1% better. Nobody would notice. But if the world got 1% better every year, the "compounding" effect would be very noticeable — in the same way that compounding grows a bank account. When technology solves a problem, it creates new problems. The solution is not less technology but better technology. Kevin Kelly of WIRED magazine calls this incremental progress toward a better world "protopia." Protopia is a direction, not a destiny. ------------------------------------------------------ This video is part of The Progress Issue, a Big Think and Freethink special collaboration. In this inaugural special issue we set out to explore progress — how it happens, how we nurture it and how we stifle it, and what changes are required in how we approach our most serious problems to ensure greater and more equitable progress for all. It’s time for a return to optimism. --------------------------------------------------- About Kevin Kelly Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at WIRED magazine. He co-founded WIRED in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. His newest book is The Inevitable, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is founder of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily for 20 years. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a subscriber-supported journal of unorthodox conceptual news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers’ Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. Other books by Kelly include 1) Out of Control, the 1994 classic book on decentralized emergent systems, 2) The Silver Cord, a graphic novel about robots and angels, 3) What Technology Wants, a robust theory of technology, and 4) Vanishing Asia, his 50-year project to photograph the disappearing cultures of Asia. He is currently co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, which is building a clock in a mountain that will tick for 10,000 years ----------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    11 min
  6. Train for any argument with Harvard’s former debate coach | Bo Seo - BIGTHINK

    5 DAYS AGO

    Train for any argument with Harvard’s former debate coach | Bo Seo - BIGTHINK

    Train for any argument with Harvard’s former debate coach, Bo Seo. Bo Seo, an author and two-time world debate champion, believes our public conversations are in crisis. To Seo, our arguing skills have collectively atrophied over recent decades, resulting in bad arguments that have caused many people to lose faith in the idea that productive disagreements are even possible. That's why Seo suggests a framework called RISA — which stands for "Real, Important, Specific, and Aligned" — to help people pick their fights more wisely and to give conversations the best possible chance of success. RISA helps individuals find a better way to disagree. Seo believes that by making a contract with the other party and reminding them of the rules, conversations can be productive, and disagreements can lead to progress ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapters for easier navigation:- 0:00 Why you’re losing your arguments 1:11 The making of a world champion 2:17 Intelligence vs wisdom 3:04 The RISA framework 4:29 Applying the RISA framework 6:23 Picking a good fight 7:46 Weak vs. strong arguments 9:21 Side-switch exercises Listen To This Next: Adam Grant's #1 phrase to unlock potential The science of super longevity Beat anxiety with the most addictive experience on Earth ---------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ------------------------------- Discover Big Think | Smarter Faster™ Your top destination for expert-driven, educational content. Featuring thousands of episodes and insights from renowned figures like Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think accelerates your learning by delving into the pivotal concepts and essential skills shaping knowledge in the 21st century... Unlock Knowledge, Faster.... With Insights from the World's Leading Minds Remember to Follow the Podcast and Enable Notifications If you found this episode valuable, Share It Leave a 5-Star Review!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    18 min
  7. 5 DAYS AGO

    How math brings incredible meaning to everything in our universe | Talithia Williams

    What does math have to do with theology? According to Dr. Talithia Williams, a math professor and science communicator, quite a lot. In just under three minutes, Williams explains how mathematics connects the natural world with deeper ideas of order and purpose. Math, she says, helps us make sense of everything from the migration of fish to the patterns we see in nature, uncovering the structure of our universe. Dr. Williams believes math is more than just numbers—it’s a universal language that offers insights into our existence. This intersection of math, nature, and culture reveals something deep and profound about our lives and the purpose behind them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Dr. Talithia Williams: Talithia Williams, PhD, is a Professor of Mathematics and the Mathematics Clinic Director at Harvey Mudd College. She develops statistical models focused on environmental issues, including a cataract model for the World Health Organization to predict surgical rates in Africa. Known for making complex numerical concepts accessible, Williams inspires others through her dedication to STEM education. Williams has worked with NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the National Security Agency (NSA). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ► https://bit.ly/thewellemailsignup ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    4 min
  8. Why Creationism Isn't Suitable for Kids: Insights from Bill Nye - BIGTHINK

    5 DAYS AGO

    Why Creationism Isn't Suitable for Kids: Insights from Bill Nye - BIGTHINK

    Listen To This Next: Adam Grant's #1 phrase to unlock potential The science of super longevity Beat anxiety with the most addictive experience on Earth Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children OVERVIEW: The school boards around the U.S. who’ve decided to teach children creationism, intelligent design, or whatever you choose to call it, are poking a stick in the eye of anyone who hopes to expand our understanding of the world around us. According to Bill Nye, evolution is such a fundamental scientific truth that…well, watch. If you dismiss evolution, Nye says, how can you get any of the followup questions right? The massive number of generations required for evolutionary changes make obvious the kind of time involved, lengthening the age of the earth from religion’s few thousand years to science’s billions of them. And that expanded view, argues Nye, makes so many other things make sense: If we’ve only been around a little while, for example, what’s the deal with those ancient dinosaur bones and fossils? A belief in deep time is so critical to our understanding of life, the earth, its processes, and the stars above us, that to deny it is to force oneself into settling for ever-more-implausible explanations of what we see around us. What’s got Nye even more chagrined is that it’s one thing to turn your own back on science, but when you pass that outlook on to your children, what’s at risk is nothing less than the creation of a generation whose basic premise—creationism—leads to and answers that just get wronger and wronger. Brilliant young minds consigned to scientific failure from the start. We’d hope for better from educators and parents. Just imagine the things these fresh, inquisitive minds could discover someday. BILL NYE: Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.  -------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ----------------------------------------------------- Discover Big Think | Smarter Faster™ -------------------------- Your top destination for expert-driven, educational content. Featuring thousands of episodes and insights from renowned figures like Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think accelerates your learning by delving into the pivotal concepts and essential skills shaping knowledge in the 21st century... Unlock Knowledge, Faster With Insights from the World's Leading Minds Remember to Follow the Podcast and Enable Notifications If you found this episode valuable, Share It Leave a 5-Star Review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    7 min

About

Our mission is to make you smarter, faster. Listen to interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers on science, philosophy, business, and more. Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content, featuring the best experts since 2008. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life. No Copyright Infringement Intended. For inquiries, please reach out to theboldgenz@gmail.com.

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