Big Think

Larry Summers, the ex-president of Harvard University (of the women don't go into the sciences scandal) and a local resident in my neck of the woods, has invested in the new web site Big Think, touted as a You Tube for intellectuals. The premise is intriguing: a bunch of intelligentsia ponder the great questions of our times. Is the two party system working? Is global warming a real threat? What is the next big thing?

Sounded worth a visit so I did yesterday and was less than impressed. The site is easy enough to navigate and join so you can post comments to the topics on which various leaders in their fields wax poetic. But the jazzy "Big Think" graphics and music that precede every video conversation get old pretty fast.

The list of big thinkers who have contributed video musings is impressive, especially for its range of participants: everyone from law professors at Harvard to the founder of the New York Social Register. But it would be helpful to have a list of who these people are and what they do closer to the beginning since many do not have instant name recognition, at least for me.

That said, I found the answers to the questions: What inspires you and describe your creative process to be fascinating. For most of those who make a living by putting words to paper, i. e. Josh Lieb, co-producer of the Daily Show and Calvin Trillin, novelist, writing is work and they say so. The romantic notion of inspiration from on high just doesn't ring true. Ideas come from everywhere and are usually based on research, experience and careful observation. The act of putting these thoughts to paper is often painstaking.

As Josh Lieb said, "It's just work."

It is indeed for those lucky enough to get paid for thinking.