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Ideas that inspire a life well-lived
Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional?
Life’s biggest questions rarely have simple answers. That is precisely why they continue to occupy the world’s most thoughtful minds. The Well is a place to engage those questions, drawing on insights from science, philosophy, and the humanities.
Created by the John Templeton Foundation in partnership with Big Think, The Well brings together ideas that inspire deeper understanding and a more considered approach to living.
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The Templeton Foundation supports interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that inspire awe and wonder.
Why Einstein called awe the fundamental emotion
If you’ve gotten goosebumps when hearing a story about a stranger’s selfless heroism, or you’ve felt your chest swell at a concert, when the audience’s voice and the musician’s instruments align, you have felt awe. And, according to professor Dacher Keltner, who has spent his life studying it, it’s one of humankind’s most unifying traits:
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“If intelligence is the ability to respond to any argument, wisdom lies in knowing which parts of an argument to respond to.” Harvard debate coach Bo Seo explains how to argue better.
In the beginning, genes weren't needed.
John Templeton Foundation
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This network scientist is creating a map of the human genome, and it could revolutionize the future of healthcare.
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Experimental neuroscientist Patrick McNamara on how we can harness spiritual experiences to explore alternate realities in our minds, and transform our models of the self.
Considering the perspectives of others has important benefits for individuals and for society. There is one easy way to do it.
John Templeton Foundation
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What beavers and earthworms can teach us about working with, not against, Mother Nature.
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What makes some scientists culturally significant, while others remain in obscurity? Well, there’s a science to it.
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It has perhaps never been easier to feel as if you’ve fallen behind in life. From the anxieties of comparing yourself to others online to our fetishization of success, it […]
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Find food, have sex, not die. That’s pretty much all we need to do — but why do we make it so complicated?
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Tim Ferriss has interviewed some of the most powerful thinkers in the world. This is what he learnt about how they operate.
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History’s most remarkable leaders had this one trait in common. We can harness it too.
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We are ~99% genetically identical to chimpanzees. But there are three key traits that separate us.
Intellectual humility demands that we examine our motivations for holding certain beliefs.
John Templeton Foundation
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Frank Wilczek is celebrated for his investigations into the fundamental laws of nature that have transformed our understanding of the forces that govern our Universe. In this video, the MIT […]
"I am an anthropologist, and for years, I have spoken to people who have had these experiences."
John Templeton Foundation
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Poker pro Maria Konnikova on how to recognize which details matter and master the science of deduction.
The answer to the age-old philosophical question of whether there is meaning in the Universe may ultimately rest upon the power of information.
John Templeton Foundation
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Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky on the science of temptation, and the limitations of your brain’s frontal cortex.
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Left–Right, Back–Forth, Up–Down. What’s the fourth dimension?
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Make it simple. Make it clear. Make it stick. Alan Alda on how to get everyone to understand your thoughts.
John Templeton Foundation