Guest Thinkers

“It makes no difference whether determinism is true or false. We can’t be ultimately morally responsible either way.” A philosophy professor takes the gravity out of the free-will debate.

Once the process of aging is correctly identified, will pharmaceuticals be able to counteract it? Slate reviews two books that take on aging and the human endeavor for immorality.

The average person flushes more than 7,000 liters of water down the toilet every year. With more than half of the world’s population using flushable toilets, this amounts to trillions […]

“Words matter.” This was what Obama said during his campaign. Did his celebrated belief in—and unique gift with—language factor into his choice of artist Ed Ruscha when considering a gift […]

“[The painting is] one of the most powerful, horrible and yet fascinating pictures that has been painted anywhere in this century,” wrote the New York Tribune in 1879 of then […]

Sometimes it seems that everyone has abandoned the notion that rational self-interest drives people’s decisions. It’s high time for some answers to the next obvious question: If Reason doesn’t rule […]

Today it started to cost me four dollars a week to keep a clean conscience. No, I’m not giving to the Church. I’m paying money to read the news (gasp!). […]

What does it mean to have our lives watched by an invited guest who never forgets anything he sees? Mr. Internet comes in many guises – Count Facebook, Mssr Twitter, Professor LinkedIn, […]

IT is ten days since French MPs voted to ban the Burqa, on the grounds that the garment “is an insult to the country’s values”.  Yesterday two women wearing a […]

Money doesn’t buy happiness because when we try to treat ourselves, we can end up spoiling ourselves, ruining the enjoyment of everyday pleasures like a chocolate bar, says Wired Science.

In his new book, Wesley J. Smith says the precondition for the human rights movement is exactly what elevates humans above animals: namely, a moral sense of right and wrong.

Is current Middle East violence the after effect of a stabilizing Ottoman Empire or a modern consequence of leaders exploiting cultural differences for political gain?

Dani Shapiro’s recent New York Times editorial was not the first shot fired in the never-ending debate about the limits of artistic license, but it is one of the most […]

Phoebe Prince hanged herself in her bedroom in South Hadley, Massachusetts at the age of 15. Six students from her high school are charged with hounding her to suicide. Emily […]

Entomologist Mark Moffett stopped by the Big Think offices today to share a few lessons that he’s gleaned from his work studying ant societies and his time as a nature […]

In 2008, filmmaker and activist Annie Leonard launched The Story of Stuff – an ambitious animated web film aimed at raising awareness about the various systems of consumption and creating […]

I’ve been critiquing the Tea Party since its first stirrings in 2009. I’ve blogged, tweeted, reported, and even given public lectures about its roots in the socially conservative New Right, […]

Tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST, Big Think will host a live-streamed interview with the Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals and author of the modern workplace manifesto “Rework.” Fried’s thoughts on […]

“If something has been around longer, it must be better. New research suggests we hold onto that bias even in instances where quality has nothing to do with longevity.”

The arms industry, much like our domestic pacific economy, is looking for a bump in exports given the recession. Weapons manufacturers want to sell arms in the Middle East and Asia.

Is freedom of religion still a valued principle in America? “The Ground Zero mosque is only one of several mosques that are being strongly opposed. Opposition to mosques is on the rise.”

If you listen to the entire video of Shirley Sherrod’s infamous NAACP remarks, somewhere around the 14 minute mark, your stomach will start to curdle as you hear her describe […]

“It gives you a whole new way of looking at the day,” Dennis Hopper’s character Billy says in the unforgettable film, Easy Rider, which the then 33-year-old Hopper also directed. […]

A friend of mine, who works in the sustainable food industry, was alarmed by my recent post on overfishing. Not alarmed to learn about the demise of marine ecosystems (she […]

The national security business is booming, even bloated, according to “Top Secret America,” an in-depth investigative report published Monday in the Washington Post.  Among the findings: an estimated 854,000 people […]

If you knew exactly how much electricity your home consumed, would you be more mindful of your carbon footprint and adjust your habits to lower consumption? Textile designer Cecil Marcq […]

Love songs may actually help your love life, a recent study shows. Researchers in France conducted an experiment in which 18- to 20-year-old women were exposed to songs with either […]

Today I was given some pause before writing this post by a friend who made what I thought was a crack about Glenn Greenwald. But now that it’s been cleared […]

Mr Cameron has gone to Washington. Have any of you noticed? David Cameron is the new British Prime Minister, and today he is meeting with President Obama in the White […]

“Is our modern mobility sustainable? We are facing an energy crisis, a climate crisis, and an economic crisis—and perhaps a mobility crisis as well.” An urban studies professor on the car.