Before the Internet, most of us would read the same newspaper in the morning and sat down to watch the same TV news over dinner. There was a good chance we'd be exposed to people, ideas and opinions that challenged us... Today, in turn, we have in front of us an ever-expanding galaxy of like-minded websites, blogs, video, Twitter and Facebook pages that construct a kind of virtual news kiosk. We may think that this cascade of information is making us smarter, but sometimes due to the filter effect - it brings the risk of narrowing our minds.
I found randomly Bigthink.com a site featuring video interviews with a truly impressive roll-call of experts and entertainers, authors which advice to aspiring novelists; the power of the consumer; on redemption; what keeps brilliant minds up at night; urban theory. There is an incredible array of physicists, mathematicians, philosophers, business innovators and gurus of all persuasions. The interviews, which are presented in full along with transcripts, are long, in-depth and always thought-provoking. They are a great respite from the sound-bite saturation of the daily news cycle. As food for thought, bigthink.com is an all-you-can-eat buffet. The site features a quote from Dorothy Parker that sums it up: "Curiosity is the cure for boredom. There is no cure for curiosity."
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