bigthinkeditor

“According to a controversial new theory, our emotions have evolved as tools to manipulate others into cooperating with us.” The New Scientist says emotions are the currency of relationships.

Big ideas are usually too big, says Jason Fried, co-founder of the software company 37signals and co-author of the workplace manifesto “Rework.” “If we have a big idea, let’s chop […]

A $20m refit aims to cut the Empire State Building’s energy use by 40% and save emissions equal to 20,000 cars, says the Guardian. The motive is profit rather than conscience.

Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg says the democratization of the media is an improvement over alleged moral gatekeepers like Walter Cronkite, the ‘saint of bourgeois America.’

The Smart Set considers the phrase ‘State-of-the-Art’ and asks why some things receive so much praise just for being new? Progress, it says, is something distinct from improvement.

A group of leaders spread across the globe have been given secret keys and are “charged with rebooting the web if it is sent into meltdown by a terror attack or mass hacking.”

“A reduction in crop yields caused by climate change could mean up to 6.7 million additional Mexicans will emigrate to the United States by 2080, says a study by Princeton University researchers.”

General Motor’s new hybrid car will soon sell for $33,500, after a government credit. The machine will be a test of the public’s willingness to go hybrid and its confidence in a revamped GM.

“The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system,” says The Boston Globe. The state’s electoral votes would follow the national popular vote.

“The communist government of North Korea, currently bouncing through the headlines once more, was supposed to have gone out of business at least a generation ago.”

“Digital freedom campaigners have welcomed a US ruling that loosens Apple’s tight control over what users of its iPhone can do with the device.” The Independent on digital copyrights.

“People are turned on by photographs of people who resemble their close genetic counterparts,” say researchers. The recent findings shed light onto who we are attracted to and why.

Let’s face it: The planet is heating up, Earth’s population is expanding at an exponential rate, and the the natural resources vital to our survival are running out faster than […]

In 2008, journalist Jere Van Dyk crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. An expert on the history and culture of the region, Van Dyk had lived with the Mujahideen […]

“New research from France finds restaurant patrons exposed to music with pro-social lyrics are more likely to leave tips.” Miller-McCune on another delicious French sociology study.

“They sure buy a lot of cars for a society built on collective ownership.” Slate says that while China’s political party is highly centralized, most Maoist concepts have been abandoned.

What happens when you are on ‘the same wavelength’ as someone? New neurological data suggests physical traits are behind feeling a deep connection with someone.

“If we want to protect traditional marriage, we should be prepared to sacrifice our love affair with equal rights and sexual freedoms.” An author at 3 Quarks reflects on the nature of tradition.

Nouns that have changed to verbs, such as ‘login’, ‘text’, and ‘unlike’ have some grammarians in a fuss, but one lexicographer celebrates the changes as evidence of language’s dynamism.

“In many ways, WikiLeaks’ 92,000 Afghanistan documents are no Pentagon Papers.” The Christian Science Monitor says the leaked documents confirm already-available information.

“Before children even take their first breath, common air pollutants breathed by their mothers during pregnancy may reduce their intelligence.” Scientific America reports on urban pollution.

An Illinois particle accelerator is helping to determine the range in which the Higgs boson, a.k.a. “God particle” exists. The special particle is thought to give mass to other elementary particles.

“Anti-luxury politics are often a hit with the public. But Ben Franklin argued that wealth accumulation is a positive, and that government should not interfere.”

The knowledge-based economy is dead because its goals have been accomplished so well, says a British CEO. The new economy will be driven by ideas and value-added products.

Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi has it in for peace-loving Switzerland.  He says he’d destroy the country if he had atomic weapons. But since he doesn’t have them, he advocates wiping […]

Playing fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach on the piano is not unlike playing “Mario Cart” on the Nintendo 64, says Hilda Huang, who at 14 years old is Big Think’s […]

The recent assessment of European banks’ stability was a public relations exercise, says Al Jazeera. Banks look unprepared for the long term, but few are being moved to act.

“Google is not making us stupid, PowerPoint is not destroying literature, and the Internet is not really changing our brains.” The L.A. Times tells its readers not to sweat new technologies.

Paul, the World-Cup-predicting octopus, has brought attention to recent research suggesting the octopus is a relatively intelligent animal despite its exclusion from the mammal club.