Culture & Religion — October 6, 2011

Farewell to the Man who Reframed IT’s Frontiers

The man who changed the world: Apple founder Steve Jobs dies weeks after quitting as boss of firm he started in his garage. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg praises his “mentor and friend.”

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

Apple founder Steve Jobs’ death after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer has many reflecting on the mastermind’s legacy and his singularity as a tech trailblazer. Apple’s board of directors issued a statement saying his brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

What’s the Big Idea?

Jobs succeeded in creating an atmosphere of teamwork and togetherness, while also demanding nothing but the best. “His employees notoriously followed him like a messiah, while also cowering from him in fear.” His demand for perfection, however, seems to have inspired the best—with job satisfaction ratings among staff at Apple the highest in the industry.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Why Are Graffiti and Street Art Destroying One Another?

For most people, there’s little difference between graffiti and street art. To those within that circle, however, there’s a whole world of difference—even enough to drive them to destroy the […]