Happiness

Big Think Home

Happiness

Everything Videos Articles Classes
Scott Britton, in business attire, sits cross-legged on a desk meditating, while blurred figures move in the background.
The Long Game
How to be ambitious without losing your soul
Former tech founder Scott Britton wants to shatter the binary myth that separates driving ambition from inner development.
Eric Markowitz
A middle-aged man with glasses and a beard, resembling Jimmy Wales, poses in front of a light-colored background featuring Wikipedia's globe logo and various language characters.
Business
Wikipedia visionary Jimmy Wales wants innovators to have fun. Seriously
Wales shares with Big Think his thoughts about the future of media, the promise of AI, and our need to build a culture on trust.
Mike Hodgkinson
A book cover of "The Art of Spending Money" by Morgan Housel, with the text "an excerpt from" on a blue background to the left—exploring how to be miserable spending money.
Books
If you want to be miserable, then spend your money like this
In this excerpt from "The Art of Spending Money," Morgan Housel lays out the spending and financial habits guaranteed to end in regret.
Morgan Housel
Collage with hands shaping dough, overlapping U.S. flags, circular architectural elements, and "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" at the top—reflecting on the AI divide woven into the fabric of American life.
Business
The great AI divide: Europe vs. Silicon Valley
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Eric Markowitz
Collage featuring a man operating early computer equipment and a man in aviator goggles, with the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" above them—capturing the creative sparks of innovation and adventure.
Business
The beauty of writing in public
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Eric Markowitz
A collage with black-and-white portraits partly obscured by red squares evokes themes of existentialism and absurdism; one shows a man walking, the other a figure pushing a boulder uphill.
Mini Philosophy
Would you rather be an absurdist or an existentialist? Here’s the difference between the two.
How to look cool in post-war France in black and white photos.
Jonny Thomson
Black and white portrait of Alex Osterwalder with glasses and facial hair, framed against a graphic background featuring striking orange, white, and beige geometric patterns.
Business
How to bust the innovation myth
Strategyzer CEO Alex Osterwalder on why entrepreneurs should take a leaf from Amazon’s innovation playbook.
Tim Brinkhof
Book cover of "The Happiness Files" by Arthur C. Brooks on a yellow background, alongside the text "an excerpt from Arthur C. Brooks" on a light green background.
Business
How to give compliments and criticism for a happier work life
Harvard Kennedy School professor and author Arthur C. Brooks guides us through the give-and-take of feedback — even when it is negative.
Arthur C. Brooks
A person wearing a wide-brim hat and vest crouches beside a tree stump covered with various fungi, gazing in wonder at the fascinating growths in the green forested area.
Mini Philosophy
3 ways to find and invite more wonder
Wonder is like a guest you haven’t planned for.
Jonny Thomson
A group of people in ancient attire react to shadows cast on a wall, referencing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
Thinking
The thought experiments that test your life, not your logic
Why some of philosophy’s strangest scenarios are more than mental games.
Shai Tubali
A digital collage with overlapping purple-tinted images, including a traditional building and a sculpture, explores panpsychism under the title "The Nightcrawler" on a black grid background.
Business
On consciousness, AI, and panpsychism
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Eric Markowitz
Aerial view of people walking on a paved surface, casting long shadows behind them in bright sunlight.
The Present
Most social trends aren’t what they seem
Our minds crave simple, linear narratives. But society rarely follows a straight line.
Adam Waytz
Two people sit on a deck at night, illuminated by red light, looking up at a star-filled sky with mountains silhouetted in the background.
Smart Skills
The meaning of your life isn’t a puzzle to solve
It’s something to wrestle and live with, says behavioral scientist Arthur Brooks.
Danny Kenny
Painting of a man with red hair and a mustache wearing a white cap, resting his head on his hand, set against a swirling blue background with touches of van Gogh yellow paint highlighting the scene.
Books
Why did Van Gogh eat yellow paint? The troubled obsession behind the masterpieces.
In "Human History on Drugs," Sam Kelly explores what the research can tell us about one of history’s most brilliant — and troubled — artists.
Sam Kelly
A young armored man consults an elderly bearded man holding a key and a staff, both seated and looking at an open book, as if exploring how stories teach philosophy.
Big Think Books
5 stories that teach you philosophy (better than some philosophy books)
Want to study philosophy but skip some of its heavier tomes? These five novels are a great place to start. (Existential despair guaranteed.)
Scotty Hendricks
Learn from the world's biggest thinkers.
© Copyright 2007-2026 & BIG THINK, BIG THINK PLUS, SMARTER FASTER trademarks owned by Freethink Media, Inc. All rights reserved.