Technology & Innovation — May 18, 2009

This Week on Big Think: A Smart Guide to the Working Life

Short of kidnapping your boss or stealing all the loose executive bonus money out there, what are some ways you can survive this job market? Big Think bucks the recession.

It’s Darwinian out there to be sure, but it’s all the more reason to explore this fascinating time in the way the world works, or doesn’t. We’ll take a stab at answering:

Is this work-more-for-less mentality really helping anyone?

Are master’s degrees worth the paper they are printed on?

Are taller people more likely to be fat cats?

Why is the Texas labor market charging ahead like a herd of steer?

Will Americans march for jobs like the rest of the world?

If there are any other areas thinkers want covered, let us know.

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.

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7 min

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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.

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