Okay Geek Farm
What Darryl Reads on the Net - BigThink.com
Darryl Cobb
I could name the obvious tech gems out there like Tech Crunch, Engadget, or CNET, but that is no fun and not my intent. Being a geek means sharing truly innovative ideas and humorous videos along with tech. So from time to time I will share sites that I read and visit often that are still in the vein of Geekdom. I mean after all, there’s more to being a geek than wearing a bra on your head and synchronizing swatches. So the first website I want to recommend to my fellow readers is a site that challenges my beliefs as a Muslim in a good way, allows me to visualize the future, and think about the science of things around the devices I love.
So the site Darryl reading this week is BigThink.com!
Not many sites bring people of varying religious backgrounds, hardened atheists, and people who are just curious either way, together in the interest of exchanging ideas. Unlike any other place I’ve visited, neither side is insulted or demeaned as far as I have seen. Their arguments are rational and creative and they make you think. Penn Jillette, of the famous comedy/magical act Penn & Teller, is a new contributing editor. Penn’s initial article dealt with how he was basically banned from his Sunday school classes for converting too many people to atheism. In contrast, the main editors of the BigThink.com had initiated a discussion, Science vs. Faith: Believe it Or Not? Very interesting look at the beliefs and unbeliefs of many of our greatest scientific minds.
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But Big Think isn’t all religion and philosophy. It’s also futuristic. This is my favorite thing to read on the website because I’m an amateur futurist. Here you’ll find blog posts from the likes of Dr. Michio Kaku, author of Physics of the Impossible. Dr. Kaku’s blog is called Dr. Kaku’s Universe and if you have not read Physics of the Impossible yet, I will confiscate your pocket protector until you do. Recently posted was an article in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Smithsonian entitled Life in 2050. It is a very provocative series with some things we see coming and some things that we may not agree with. But the most important things are the ideas. Another blog that I would pay very close attention to is The Hybrid Reality Project; this is a blog series on Big Think regarding how our humanity will be extended by our technology to maybe live forever or compute without any visible computer.
There are other sections like Art & Culture, Business & Economics, the Environment, Inspiration & Wisdom, Identity and a host of others, just to name a few. I should warn you however, this isn’t the site to see the latest gadgets or consumer products that will be at Best Buy tomorrow. But if you are a forward thinking individual that would like your brain challenged by the world of today by highly intelligent persons, then this is the site for you. This is how we as human beings should exchange and debate ideas, with intelligence, acceptance, humility and a little bit of flash video. Sorry, no HTML5 version as of yet for you Apple Fanboys!
