This is a great video to run in the background during your day. The physics of spacetime, the consequences of matter and energy being able to change into one another, the absolute awesomeness of the sun and how we know about what's inside, solar storms, and the insanity of neutron stars.

Modern physics is forcing us to rethink existence | Michelle Thaller: Full Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGbZsE7qFgw #physics #astronomy #stars #relativity #bigIdeas #bigThink #awe

Modern physics is forcing us to rethink existence | Michelle Thaller: Full Interview

YouTube

Do I make tonkatsu sauce for my chicken that my roommate made that I'm bringing for lunch


#big-think
"Never Again?" How fascism hijacks democracies over and over | Rob Riemen | Big Think

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"In 1970, political theorist Giovanni Sartori described this drift of meaning as “conceptual stretching.” Sartori argued that it occurs when words or phrases move too far from the conditions that originally anchored them. They become gradually devalued, retaining their emotional and moral charge while losing clarity. In everyday use, “narcissist” moved from a clinical diagnosis to a sort of lifestyle judgment, yet it retains the moral seriousness — and social stigma — that we often associate with a mental health disorder."

https://bigthink.com/thinking/from-woke-to-traumatic-how-useful-terms-become-empty-buzzwords/

#BigThink #ConceptualStretching #Linguistics #SemanticDrift

From "woke" to "traumatic": How useful terms become empty buzzwords

Useful words lose meaning when they’re applied too broadly — a drift that political theorist Giovanni Sartori called “conceptual stretching.”

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"John Stuart Mill argued that diversity of opinion sustains democracy. If AI funnels us all into the same conceptual pathways, we lose that."

Susan Schneider of Florida Atlantic University, interviewed by Big Think.

https://bigthink.com/the-long-game/why-the-ai-megasystem-problem-needs-our-attention/

#SusanSchneider #BigThink #AIrisks #Cognition #PhilosopyOfScience

Why the AI “megasystem problem” needs our attention

A conversation with Dr. Susan Schneider on the AI risks we’re not talking about and why the fixation on AGI is misplaced.

Big Think
for someone who thinks anything longer than 10mins on youtube is too long, i started this (by mistake—thought it’s only 10mins)…and finished it. although there’re many points i’m already aware of, it’s the way he puts them together, also in the way he speaks and how he expresses with his face, that makes you listen and want to (re)learn. watch: what 85 years of #research says is the real key to #happiness by #robertwaldinger on #bigthink. #thegoodlife #happy #living #life https://youtu.be/_CxmzkYPvsg
What 85 years of research says is the real key to happiness | Robert Waldinger: Full Interview

YouTube

The love ethic ...
How to be a more loving person, in 3 steps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmzzFB_mTQ4

#bigthink #ethics #morality #love #society

How to be a more loving person, in 3 steps

YouTube
Why don’t Americans trust experts? Just ask a paranormal investigator.

In “The Ghost Lab,” Matt Hongoltz-Hetling spent time with paranormal investigators to understand their relationship with science and society.

Big Think
🚂 Wow, congrats! You've discovered the world's longest train journey that absolutely no one cares to take! 🚂 It's like writing a novel no one's gonna read—bravo, Big Think! 🎉
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/portugal-to-singapore-train/ #longesttrainjourney #BigThink #novelnoonewillread #trainadventure #travelhumor #HackerNews #ngated
The world’s longest train journey is epic — but nobody's ever taken it

Can you travel by rail from Portugal all the way to Singapore? In theory, yes. In practice? Not so much.

Big Think