Big Think

"It's not that I don't think these problems are big or that they're urgent, but I can start to see that these problems are solvable."

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Sam Harris: Breaking the spell of propaganda | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4dr_YQxrQ

Climate doomerism is everywhere. But there's still hope, says data scientist and self-proclaimed "urgent enthusiast" Hannah Ritchie. Here's her full Big Think interview, in its entirety.

00:00:00: Tackling our biggest environmental problems, with Hannah Ritchie

00:00:19: Has your thinking on climate change evolved over time?

00:01:51: What is driving climate change today?

00:05:12: Are the goals set by the Paris Agreement still achievable?

00:06:40: How do we solve climate change?

00:08:39: What impact does renewable energy have on land use?

00:10:51: Is mineral extraction required to increase renewable energy?

00:12:51: How do we transform our transportation systems?

00:16:34: What can we do to transform construction?

00:19:07: Who will be hit hardest by climate change?

00:20:45: How would you define sustainability?

00:22:57: What can individuals do to progress sustainability?

00:26:33: What impact does food production have on our planet?

00:28:57: How do we build a more sustainable food system?

00:31:57: How do we increase global crop yields?

00:34:04: Are we reaching a point of no return for harvesting?

00:35:15: How do we address soil degradation?

00:36:02: Will land usage increase with population growth?

00:37:21: Does eating locally reduce your carbon footprint?

00:38:58: Is organic food better for the environment?

00:40:16: Is vertical farming a viable solution?

00:42:08: Should we "demodernize" our farming methods?

00:43:14: How do dietary changes impact our environment?

00:45:26: Is meat an efficient source of nutrition?

00:47:20: Is it possible to maintain a plant-based diet?

00:48:50: Does everyone need to go vegan?

00:49:59: What could the future look like if we make these changes?

00:53:38: Why is plastic so prevalent?

00:55:39: Why is plastic waste a problem?

00:57:38: Where does plastic waste come from?

00:59:26: What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

01:01:00: Should we stop using plastic?

01:03:26: Is recycling a solution to our plastic problem?

01:05:16: How do we fix our plastic waste problem?

01:10:06: What can we as individuals do to prevent plastic waste?

01:11:08: Is overpopulation an environmental problem?

01:12:56: What does the overpopulation argument get wrong?

01:15:30: Why is the messaging around overpopulation damaging?

Read the video transcript ► [Link to site article]?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About Hannah Ritchie:

Dr. Hannah Ritchie is Senior Researcher in the Programme for Global Development at the University of Oxford. She is also Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher at Our World in Data. Her research appears regularly in the New York Times, The Economist, and the Financial Times, and in bestselling books including Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now. She is the author of Not the End of the World.

The answer is different than we once thought.

Based on observations from our observatories, we now have evidence that supermassive black holes may have formed from a process known as direct collapse.

In direct collapse, huge clouds or streams of gas collapse to make seed black holes, maybe even before the galaxies that we associate them with are created.

"You need to run towards the pain and darkness and not away from it. I think the best leaders always run towards the darkness. They always run towards a problem."

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Much of the management advice we find in books emphasizes using leadership tactics that may seem reasonably obvious. This advice is often easy to follow — but that’s not where leaders run into issues with their strategy, argues Ben Horowitz, founding partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and author of the best-selling book, "The Hard Thing About Hard Things.”

Horowitz says that leaders make blunders when they find themselves in highly emotionally charged situations where the emotion prevents them from doing the thing that they intellectually know they need to do. For example, firing a friend or doing a reorganization that causes a very talented employee to lose power. These things are much more difficult, and people often avoid them. But as a leader, you're much better off running at your fear than running away from your fear because it's going to chase you down, emphasizes Horowitz.

‘Management debt’ is what happens when you don't do what you're supposed to. And accruing a lot of management debt has a cascading effect that can create a total degradation of your organization. Here’s how to lead instead.

0:00: Complicated emotional challenges

1:19: Management debt

2:42: Wartime conditions

4:43: Choosing courage

Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/legends/ben-horowitz/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About Ben Horowitz:

Ben Horowitz is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The Hard Thing About Hard Things and What You Do Is Who You Are. He also created the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund to connect the greatest cultural leaders to the best new technology companies, and enable more young African Americans to enter the technology industry.

Prior to a16z, Ben was cofounder and CEO of Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007, and was appointed vice president and general manager of Business Technology Optimization for Software at HP. Earlier, he was vice president and general manager of America Online’s E-commerce Platform division, where he oversaw development of the company’s flagship Shop@AOL service. Previously, Ben ran several product divisions at Netscape Communications. He also served as vice president of Netscape’s widely acclaimed Directory and Security product line. Before joining Netscape in July 1995, he held various senior product marketing positions at Lotus Development Corporation.

Ben has an MS and a BA in computer science from UCLA and Columbia University, respectively.

Ben serves on the board of Anyscale, Databricks, Mayvenn, NationBuilder, Navan, Okta ($OKTA), and UnitedMasters.

"Asking the question of, where did the entire universe come from, is no longer a question for poets and theologians and philosophers. This is a question for scientists, and we have some amazing scientific answers to this question that have defied even the wildest of our expectations."

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Ethan Siegel, theoretical astrophysicist and science communicator, author of the James Webb Space Telescope book, "Infinite Cosmos," and writer of the science blog, "Starts With A Bang" joins us to explore the cosmic origins of our universe.

0:00: Where did the entire universe come from?

0:57: A question for scientists

1:43: The quest for the beginning of the universe

2:21: Hubble’s telescope

4:09: Extragalactic objects

5:11: Blueshifted vs redshifted

6:53: General theory of relativity

7:50: The cosmic egg

8:26: The origin of The Big Bang

9:55: A cosmological constant

14:24: Scale invariant spectrum

15:13: Testing for Cosmic Inflation

19:34: Our cosmic origins

21:03: Ethan Siegel, kilt influencer

Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/ethan-siegel/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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"We're awash in lies and misinformation to a degree that was not possible before we got the internet and in particular before we got social media."

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Our world seems more fragmented than ever. Author and podcaster Sam Harris thinks that an open conversation with 8 billion strangers could solve that. Here's his full Big Think interview, in its entirety.

00:00:00: Finding meaning in a world of disinformation

00:00:21: When did you first become interested in debate?

00:01:28: What is causing the polarization we are seeing in our society?

00:08:46: How do we experience meaning?

00:14:37: What concerns you most about the future?

00:21:49: Why is freedom of speech such a powerful concept?

00:28:48: How do our belief systems affect the world around us?

00:37:05: How do we navigate the current landscape?

00:45:00: What can individuals do to make the world a better place?

00:51:15: How can we become better versions of ourselves?

01:04:44: How can we reframe our mental state into a positive experience?

01:14:01: Is artificial intelligence friend or foe?

01:22:08: How can we develop artificial intelligence responsibly?

01:26:39: How can the media regain lost trust?

01:36:13: How can you tell who is telling the truth in media?

Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/sam-harris/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About Sam Harris:

Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction.

Mr. Harris' writing has been published in over ten languages. He and his work have been discussed in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, Nature, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere.

We made this video in partnership with Unlikely Collaborators.

“I want people to know that their lives matter and that their deaths ultimately will too.” How a journey to Cuba made Alua Arthur confront her own mortality, and ultimately led her to her career as a death doula.

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Watch the full Perception Box series ► https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5uULy4b0kV4iomWS7CzqCdOCwj0lFnLr&si=yCY6Ee7m6bpj7E-y

Alua Arthur, a death doula, never expected to find her calling in the space between life and death. Struggling with depression and a sense of not belonging, she was searching for meaning when a chance encounter in Cuba changed everything.

After encountering death in her personal life, she began to confront her own mortality—and realize she wasn’t truly living. This moment, combined with the loss of her brother-in-law, set her on a path to becoming a death doula, someone who supports people through their final days. Now, she is an author, a (public speaker), and has dedicated her career to helping others embrace life by acknowledging its inevitable end.

Read more from this interview ► https://bigthink.com/perception-box/alua-arthur/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

Explore the Perception Box series hub ► https://bigthink.com/perception-box/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About Alua Arthur:

Alua Arthur is a death doula, end-of-life care expert, and founder of Going with Grace, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals navigate the final chapter of their lives. After struggling with depression and identity, Alua found purpose in guiding others through the dying process with compassion and dignity. She has dedicated her life to empowering people to face death with grace, offering support to both individuals and their families.

One day, the Universe will go completely dark. No more stars. No more light. Just a cold, endless equilibrium where energy can no longer be extracted.

This is known as the “Heat Death of the Universe.”

What will the universe’s last flicker of energy be? Dr. Ethan Siegel breaks down two possible final acts of the cosmos:

Corpses of stars spiraling into each other, emitting their last gravitational waves.

Supermassive black holes slowly decay over time until the last one releases one final flash of energy that propagates throughout the Universe at the speed of light.

We created this video in partnership with Unlikely Collaborators.

Gracie Gold’s battle with mental health nearly ended her career—and her life. This is how she found her way back to herself.

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Watch the full Perception Box series ► https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5uULy4b0kV4iomWS7CzqCdOCwj0lFnLr&si=yCY6Ee7m6bpj7E-y

Gracie Gold, a two-time national champion and Olympic medalist, seemed to embody perfection. But behind the medals and the headlines, her obsession with being flawless led her to a breaking point. After the 2016 World Championships, she spiraled into depression, binge-eating, and a complete loss of identity.

Feeling trapped and out of place, Gold hit rock bottom before seeking help at a treatment facility. There, she finally “met herself,” learning to let go of perfection and accepting “okay” as enough. Now, she’s a mental health advocate and a New York Times bestselling author.

Read more from this interview ► https://bigthink.com/perception-box/gracie-gold/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

Explore the Perception Box series hub ► https://bigthink.com/perception-box/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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Go Deeper with Big Think:

►Become a Big Think Member

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About Gracie Gold:

Gracie Gold is an American figure skater known for her technical skill, artistry, and resilience. Born in 1995, she rose to prominence by winning the U.S. national title in 2014 and earning a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the team event. Gold also claimed silver at the 2016 World Championships, solidifying her status as one of the sport’s top competitors. After facing mental health challenges that led to a hiatus, she made a remarkable comeback, advocating for mental health awareness in athletics.

Welcome to The Freethink Interview, a interview series from our sister channel @freethink where we talk to the new generation of builders, leaders and thinkers shaping technological progress. Join us for thought-provoking conversations with some of the world’s most interesting and ambitious technologists.

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Up Next ► The solar revolution turning sunlight into synthetic fuel | The Freethink Interview: Casey Handmer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb3mrsUAaFc

What if the world's most critical technology isn't software, but the tiny pieces of silicon that power it? In an age where chips are everywhere, from smartphones to coffee makers, their manufacturing complexity might surprise you. It's harder to make a modern semiconductor than a nuclear weapon.

Inside Taiwan's cutting-edge fabrication plants, machines worth $350 million each orchestrate an atomic ballet. These marvels of engineering use the flattest mirrors ever made and lasers that create temperatures 40 times hotter than the sun's surface – all to carve transistors smaller than a coronavirus.

From Silicon Valley to Taiwan, from the Netherlands to Japan, making modern chips is a global dance of unprecedented complexity. Each processor requires ultra-purified materials, billion-dollar machines, and a supply chain spanning multiple continents. But this intricate network faces its greatest challenge yet.

As artificial intelligence reshapes our world, the demand for advanced chips is skyrocketing. Tech giants are pouring billions into new semiconductor designs, while startups race to create specialized AI chips that could make artificial intelligence as accessible as a Google search. Join us as we explore how these tiny silicon marvels are shaping humanity's future.

00:00: The Freethink Interview: Chris Miller

00:39: A single factory in Taiwan

02:31: The first transistor

03:31: The first chip

04:50: Moore’s Law

07:40: A global industry

10:01: The most important company in the world

12:08: Why chips are central to US and China

13:45: AI and chips

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Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business. https://bigthink.com/plus/great-leaders-think-big/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About [Speaker Name]:

Bio