bigthinkeditor

James Cameron was homeless when he wrote Terminator, according to History Pics. Yet he sold the film rights for $1. Why? He took the extremely low salary in exchange for getting to direct the project. Smart bargain. Image via History Pics

NASA researchers recently announced that life beyond our planet will be discovered in the next twenty years. Bill Nye, everyone’s favorite “Science Guy,” an educator, scientist, and the CEO of […]

Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that’s all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect. Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? Amadeus by Milos Forman, Screenplay by Peter Shaffer

“No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“I regularly take my entrepreneurship students out walking because I want to get them in the habit of noticing and thinking about what they notice.” – Margaret Heffernan Image courtesy of mheffernan.com

“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” – Carl Sagan

This looks like a still from Federico Fellini‘s classic film Amarcord, inspired by the filmmaker’s childhood in fascist Italy. According to Historical Pics, it’s Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party headquarters in […]

“I force people to have coffee with me, just because I don’t trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen.” – John Cusack

Historical icons look as though they’re still alive and working today in these incredible colorized old photographs, brought to the Internet’s attention by Open Culture.

“If humanity is being swallowed by a modern primitivism, imagination might be the thing that saves us all.” – Geoffrey Fletcher

A study of 4,000 professionals across the U.S. and 300 international leaders has found that there is a check list that bosses look for in grooming and promoting their staff.

Companies that can manage risk stand to have a significant advantage in the marketplace, says Karan Girotra, Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD, France’s leading business school. Unfortunately, […]

The Internet is a creative place, and it just became a whole lot more artistic. Over 400,000 high-resolution digital images have gone public domain thanks to The Metropolitan Museum of […]

It’s selfish to be nice. As we’ve previously reported here on Big Think, the kinder you are the happier you will be. While being nice is good for you, being […]

“Superheroes fill a gap in the pop culture psyche, similar to the role of Greek mythology. There isn’t really anything else that does the job in modern terms. For me, Batman is the one that can most clearly be taken seriously.” – Christopher Nolan

Do religious institutions have an obligation to fight for social change? The Civil Rights movement sprung from the Baptist churches of the South. Without the congregations and the organizing power […]

From Stars Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, America’s second favorite Star Wars film according to this poll by FiveThirtyEight, a family of Ewoks take off their masks […]

“My greatest joy comes from creativity: from feeling that I have been able to identify a certain aspect of human nature and crystallise a phenomenon in words.” – Alain de Botton

NASA released this image today of the nighttime view of one of the 66 house-sized dishes at Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), high up in the Atacama Desert of Northern […]

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” – Bertrand Russell

Ambition can work against you by leading you to set unrealistic and overwhelming goals. Want to make a difference in the world? Think small. It’s much less complicated.

Turns out that being nice to other people isn’t just good for the recipients of your kindness. According to the latest research, people who are generous and altruistic reap a […]

A commonly reported anxiety dream is standing in front of an audience naked. Neuroscientist James Fallon lived this nightmare. While giving a talk in Oslo to leading researchers and a […]

If a CEO enjoys last minute getaways to the island of Mustique and lavish shopping sprees, favorite pastimes should not concern shareholders. Or should they? It turns out that materialism […]

What looks like a still from Star Wars: Episode 7, in production right night, is actually a successful experiment in patience. Icelandic photographer Ingólfur Bjargmundsson waited all night to capture […]

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway

Hierarchy is essential to an organization. Clearly, it helps things run smoothly by ordaining decision-makers to sit in the proverbial corner offices. But this also creates power gaps, alienating workers […]

What is this massive eruption on the Sun? Nothing unusual. It just threw a solar filament, and this one pictured took place in 2012, producing a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). […]

“He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” – Edmund Burke

A giant squid haunts the depths of Earth’s sky. NASA explains: A mysterious, squid-like apparition, this nebula is very faint, but also very large in planet Earth’s sky. In the […]