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Weds 11 December, 2019
Many Americans are actually centrists — in theory, anyway. // 10 mind-bending books on the nature of time. // This nerd fight could wreck or cure our way of life. //
How Big Think can better support you and how you can support Big Think
Here's a letter from our co-founders on the ways to help the world get smarter, faster, through engaging actionable content.
Dear readers,
We're the co-founders of Big Think. First and foremost, we want to thank you for your viewership. Over the last 12 years, you have helped us take Big Think from a vision scrawled in notes on lined paper to a reality that has reached over 1 billion people with the mission of helping the world get "smarter faster".
Secondly, we'd like to address how Big Think can better support you and, as well, how you can better support Big Think. A number of readers have written us recently complaining about the appearance of advertising on the site over the last year and voicing frustration about our use of tools to prevent those ads from being blocked.
It's no secret that the climate for digital media—especially high-minded platforms like Big Think—has been difficult. As an independent publisher, advertising has become a critical part of our sustainability. That said, we understand that people have legitimate concerns about the intrusiveness of advertising—both visually and in terms of personal privacy.
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Here's to a future of bigger, bolder thinking!
Victoria Brown
CEO & Co-founder
Victoria.Brown@Bigthink.com
Peter Hopkins
President & Co-founder
Peter.Hopkins@Bigthink.com
Cosmic perspective
Scientists' brains are wired to see differently.
There are many people who have discomfort engaging with a scientific perspective of the world — for some, for instance, it conflicts with what they were taught during their religious upbringings.
We can all gain a greater view of life — the cosmos — by getting to know scientists, especially when we're at an impasse in our lives. Scientists' view of the world retains a "distance" to it — it's observational, fact-driven. This helps with finding consistent principles in nature.
Disparaging humor
Disparaging humor isn't funny — a psychologist explains why.
By disguising expressions of prejudice in a cloak of fun and frivolity, disparaging humor appears to be harmless and trivial. However, a large and growing body of psychology research suggests just the opposite — that disparagement can foster discrimination against targeted groups.
Regardless of its intent, such humor is intended to make fun of its target and not the prejudice itself. This, in turn, it can have serious social consequences as an emanator of further prejudice.TESS Satellite view
The TESS satellite caught a comet 'burp'.
When NASA trained their Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, AKA TESS, at Comet 46P/Wirtanen, they were merely looking for a body with which they could test out their system. TESS's mission is observing some 200,000 stars for evidence of exoplanets, but they knew the comet was going to pass through their observation window and that it would be bright. It seemed a good test case. Little did they expect they would catch it belch ice, dust, and gas.
11 holiday gift ideas for the person impossible to shop for
From coffee makers and headphones to a calming weighted blanket, something here should appeal to just about anyone on your list.
Check out 11 awesome holiday gift ideas, each up 75% off. Options include an ultrasonic cleaner, a portable video projector and a weighted blanket. You can save an extra 15% off each item with the coupon code MERRYSAVE15.
Sharp dressed man
Stylish men are perceived as 'significantly more competent'
It would be nice to believe that we judge others not based on how they dress, but on their personal character. While such an idea sounds commendable, it's not true, says a new study out of Princeton University. Regardless of how much we like to think ourselves above judging based on the clothing others wrap themselves in, such decisions are made much quicker than conscious awareness allows—as little as 130 milliseconds.
The paper, which includes research from nine separate studies, confirms the long-held sentiment that "the clothes make the man."
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