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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:
Basic and breath-taking – Dr. Frank Wilczek addresses symmetry’s critical role in nature’s laws and what we consider to be beautiful.
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Popular media often frame scientists as having a cold, sterile view of the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
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4mins
Our world would be impossible without quantum mechanics — but we still don’t have a narrative of how it works.
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5mins
Why are we here? What is everything made of? This theoretical physicist says science isn’t the right way to answer these questions.
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Mathematics and religion both embody awe-inspiring, eternal truths.
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Dr. Amrisha Vaish explains the science of remorse, guilt, and an effective apology.
People believe that slow and deliberative thinking is inherently superior to fast and intuitive thinking. The truth is more complicated.
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What lies in store for humanity? Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku explains how different life will be for your descendants—and maybe your future self, if the timing works out.
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Theoretical physicist Brian Greene explores the potential particles of time and why we could, in theory, travel forward in time but not back.
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Many atheists think of themselves as intellectually gifted individuals, guiding humanity on the path of reason. Scientific data shows otherwise.
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5mins
Dr. Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist, who is questioning the very nature of life and how we’re attempting to find it elsewhere.
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Society treats teenagers as if they’re a problem to be solved, but the truth is that we have to prepare them to solve our problems. It’s time that we change the narrative.
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3mins
Arguments on social media are notorious. Can practicing intellectual humility make us smarter and happier? Science says yes.
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Psychologist Daniel Goleman shares what he learned by studying the brain waves of Olympic-level meditators, and his findings are unprecedented.
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Awe is a powerful force, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying.
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To understand the edges of our universe, we’ll need to explore the edges of our own philosophies.
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8mins
IQ tests only measure two of the eight intelligences. Howard Gardner explains them all.
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5mins
People rarely question their own moral compass. But do you know what shapes yours?
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