Jonny Thomson

1 week ago | bigthink.com | Jonny Thomson

A place to pause and reflect on life’s bigger questions, with Big Think’s Jonny Thomson. It’s common to moan about the eroding effects of technology. I won’t win any originality prizes for saying social media, smartphones, and short-form video content have been somewhat corrosive to our collective psychology. One thing I often think about is what daily life looked like before modern technology. I don’t just mean before the internet and iPhones—I mean before TVs, radios, and even the lightbulb.

2 weeks ago | bigthink.com | Jonny Thomson

A place to pause and reflect on life’s bigger questions, with Big Think’s Jonny Thomson. Thanos did not study under Derek Parfit. In part, this is because Thanos was a Titanian Eternal warlord, an alien born on a moon of Saturn. Parfit, however, was a British moral philosopher who taught at the University of Oxford starting in the 1970s. But I also know this because Thanos and Parfit came to very different philosophical conclusions.

3 weeks ago | bigthink.com | Jonny Thomson

A place to pause and reflect on life’s bigger questions, with Big Think’s Jonny Thomson. “Put yourself […] in the mind of a 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old,” Oliver Burkeman instructs me. “You just get up every day, and you have no say. I mean, of course, you get some say, but you know what I mean? Where you live, where you’re going — you know that the plans are just completely outside of your control.

3 weeks ago | bigthink.com | Jonny Thomson

A place to pause and reflect on life’s bigger questions, with Big Think’s Jonny Thomson. This article was first published on Big Think in October 2021. It was updated in June 2025. Each one of us will experience something in life that transforms who we are. A human life is one of adventure and tempering.

1 month ago | bigthink.com | Jonny Thomson

A place to pause and reflect on life’s bigger questions, with Big Think’s Jonny Thomson. I ignore a lot of charity fundraisers or canvassers. If I ever go to an event and I see a stand full of leaflets, manned by someone in a brightly colored vest and with an ingratiating grin, I avoid them with a wide berth. Phone out, head down, and “I’m far too terribly busy to talk to you about your charity today, I’m afraid.” I don’t think this is because I’m a bad person.