Shankar Vedantam’s new book “The Hidden Brain” is based on his belief that the human brain can reveal biases such as racism that we would avoid consciously acknowledging.
Search Results
You searched for: consciousness
How do you get people in a democratic society to change their way of life? The theme has come up a lot at gatherings of climate scientists and environmentalists I’ve […]
In the 1960’s and 70’s, with Americans worried about Communist hordes and Nazism a living memory, many feared that people are just naturally sheep—all too ready to conform, cower and […]
“I have always staged my fears as a way to transcend them,” remarked performance artist extraordinaire Marina Abramović in a recent profile in The New Yorker. With a new retrospective […]
Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a dozen chocolates made from the milk of hormone-and-antibiotic-injected cows and pesticide-sprayed cocoa beans grown on rainforest land which was shorn bare for maximum […]
On Slate’s XX Factor blog, Hanna Rosin argues that “Jihad Jane” (aka Colleen LaRose) is a feminist because she’s part of a cohort of female terrorist wannabes who have been […]
According to Paul Bloom, many religious notions arise out of innate features of our brains, including the tendency to “see consciousness all over.”
▸
5 min
—
with
Evolutionary biologists have learned the basis of a variety of human activities, yet when it comes to understanding human consciousness, the field is as helpless as any other.
▸
2 min
—
with
Of all the writers to emerge from the psychedelic ’60s, few have endured as long at the top of their craft as Robert Stone. In a candid interview with Big […]
President Obama has suggested in not so many words the need for a “New Deal” for America today to, we hope, match the success of FDR’s “New Deal” of the […]
Do-It-Yourself retail stores will soon be stocking solar panels so climate change-conscious customers can pop sustainability into their trolleys and wheel it home.
For the classical pianist, the creative process is a continuous mingling of conscious and unconscious experience, ranging from abstract paintings to the moment of death.
▸
4 min
—
with
This semester in the sophomore-level course I teach on “Communication and Society,” we spent several weeks examining the many ways that individuals and groups are using the internet to alter […]
I’ve always been fascinated by the Pedestrian Do-Si-Do, that dance where you dodge to your left on the sidewalk to avoid colliding with a person walking toward you, and she […]
As most any musician will tell you, the music industry just isn’t what it used to be. While there are a variety of reasons for this decline, the classical pianist […]
Having someone’s breath on your neck may help deaf people to hear what you are saying according to recent research.
The Economist’s Christmas Issue one-act, “Gordon Rex,” might be funny or—in that uniquely English, Economist-y way—slightly self-consciously aloof, but it makes us long for more. More Brown in verse. More […]
Enough time and thought has been spent on the philandering of Tiger Woods, so I don’t want to follow the crowd. From my visual perspective, the most interesting part of […]
Russell Simmons is still the only African-American in the jewelry business. He talks about whether President Obama has prompted a post-racial consciousness.
▸
4 min
—
with
In a Hollywood that became increasingly politicized (some moviegoers would say “boring”) over the past five years, James Cameron is generally considered a-political. Among the all-time box office kings, the […]
If you want to speculate about an alternate-universe world without intelligent primates (and who doesn’t?), then your thoughts must turn to the octopus. Because the octopus has a large and […]
The word “explosive” is use to describe a lot of artists’ work. In the case of Cai Guo-Qiang, he actually earns the adjective. Last month, the Chinese artist inaugurated his […]
It only took me a few minutes, after I tuned into the tail end of Obama’s America: 2010 And Beyond on television the other night, to see that we Americans […]
The irrepressible Richard Dawkins visited Big Think today and spoke about genes, God (or the lack thereof), evolution, and great unanswered questions in his field from how consciousness evolved to […]
What happens when life loses any semblance of stability and one is subject to waves of cosmic and sometimes terrifying hallucinations? For Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinically bipolar professor of […]
▸
6 min
—
with
The social networking site Twitter has taken off this year. According to Alexa it is now the 15th-most widely used site on the web. Its micro-blogging format—users post 140 character […]
Why It’s OK to Talk About White Prejudice Rather Than Prejudice in General
Richard Dawkins is perhaps the world’s preeminent voice in one of our weightiest debates—‘how did we get here?’ So, how does the spearhead of modern atheism feel we are doing […]
Imagine life losing all semblance of stability and becoming subject to a series of occasionally terrifying hallucinations where you streak across the solar system. For Big Think’s recent guest, Kay Redfield […]