The Well

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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.

with

The Templeton Foundation supports interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that inspire awe and wonder.

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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:

by Dacher Keltner

A beam of light shines through clouds in a painted sky, with the word "AWE" in large yellow letters centered in the image.
Everything Articles Videos
A black silhouette of a human head with a rectangular section cut out, revealing a profile face against a cloudy blue sky, symbolizes the limits of our attention span.
5mins
The Well
How to unlock your “peak mind”
“What you pay attention to, is your life.” Where do you place precious brain resources?
Amishi Jha
John Templeton Foundation
Statue of Liberty against an orange background with a horizontal torn bar obscuring the middle section of the statue.
5mins
The Well
Tyler Cowen: America is at a critical point in history
“There’s a sense of crisis today that we did not have in the 1980’s or 90’s” — economist Tyler Cowen on progress in America.
Tyler Cowen
John Templeton Foundation
Illustration of Earth with labeled axes, equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and magnetic and geographic poles. Orange lines indicate Earth's tilt and rotation.
4mins
The Well
How Earth’s axis and rotation created human ritual
Why do so many cultures celebrate holidays at the same time of year?
Sasha Sagan
John Templeton Foundation
Close-up of two figures; one extends an apple towards the other near a tree trunk. The scene references the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
6mins
The Well
Are humans wired for conflict? Charles Darwin vs. “Lord of the Flies”
In 1965, six boys were stranded on an island. Fifteen months later, the survivors were rescued. How many were there?
Rutger Bregman
John Templeton Foundation
A man in a suit stands facing a mirror, but the reflection shows the back of his head instead of his face.
6mins
The Well
How to stop toxic self-talk, explained in 6 minutes
If your inner voice is cruel, try these steps to reclaim your mind.
Ethan Kross
John Templeton Foundation
A sequence of human silhouettes in shades of blue and green shows progressive motion of a person walking from left to right.
3mins
The Well
Bayes’ rule: A powerful thinking paradigm
Think via Bayes’ rule to become more rational and less brainwashed.
Julia Galef
John Templeton Foundation
Illustration of a volcanic eruption with thick clouds of smoke, ash, and flowing lava rising from the volcano’s crater.
6mins
The Well
Stop chasing utopia. Create “protopia” instead.
Pessimism sounds smart. Optimism sounds dumb. Don’t fall for it, says Wired’s Kevin Kelly.
Kevin Kelly
John Templeton Foundation
A whimsical vintage illustration depicts people in Victorian-era attire flying in futuristic airships and vehicles above a cityscape.
7mins
The Well
A futurist sets the stage for the next 1,000 years
We don’t need one Elon Musk. We need 8 billion empathic futurists.
Ari Wallach
Three shadow-like human figures appear in sequence on a textured, speckled background, with each figure becoming more distorted towards the top.
7mins
The Well
Are near-death experiences real?
A psychiatrist studied 1,000 near-death experiences. Here’s what he discovered.
Dr. Bruce Greyson
Microscopic image of cells with red and green outlines and blue nuclei on a black background.
5mins
The Well
CRISPR: What will humanity create?
CRISPR’s gene drive can defy evolution. Here’s how, explained by Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna.
Jennifer Doudna
John Templeton Foundation
Black cerebral blood vessels are shown against a red background, resembling a brain scan or angiogram image.
7mins
The Well
What trauma does to your brain and body
The ultimate definition of trauma, explained by leading psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk.
Bessel van der Kolk
John Templeton Foundation
Three purple coneflowers at different life stages: dried and dead, wilting, and fully blooming, shown against a black background.
7mins
The Well
The happiness paradox, explained in 7 minutes
To be happy, you have to become antifragile first. Harvard’s Tal Ben-Shahar explains.
Tal Ben-Shahar
John Templeton Foundation
Black and white engraving-style illustration of a human eye in close-up, with detailed lines depicting the iris, pupil, and eyelids—capturing the intense focus and clarity of the flow state.
The Well
Flow state: How to trigger the best performance of your life
‘Flow state’ is a peak performance mental state experienced by the world's highest achievers. Learn how it works in just 7 minutes.
Steven Kotler
John Templeton Foundation
A vintage illustration of a person's head in profile, with diagrams of astronomical and conceptual systems overlaying the brain to evoke themes of consciousness, set against a yellow background.
8mins
The Well
Why consciousness is one of the most divisive issues in science today
Is science destined to crack the code of consciousness—and how would we even go about it?
Max Tegmark
John Templeton Foundation
tribalism
The Well
Humans are not “tribal”
From politics to culture, we blame “tribalism” for humanity’s problems. This explanation is entirely wrong.
Agustín Fuentes
John Templeton Foundation
Two figures, their heads covered in white cloth, face each other closely against a dark background, evoking the mysterious science of love.
The Well
The science of love with Dr. Helen Fisher
We all want to have a good, stable relationship with somebody, says Dr. Helen Fisher. So it's important to understand how intense romantic love affects our long-term goals.
Helen Fisher
John Templeton Foundation
A horned, fanged figure lies on the ground with a foot pressing down on its neck; red drapery is visible above.
6mins
The Well
The 3 “demons” that haunted legendary scientists
Darwin, Descartes, and Maxwell all believed in these science ‘demons.’
Jimena Canales
John Templeton Foundation
A clock face with a spiral effect, showing multiple overlapping clock dials against a solid blue background, evokes the question: is time an illusion?.
The Well
Time: Do the past, present, and future exist all at once? 
The concept is so complex that scientists still argue whether it exists or if it is an illusion.
John Templeton Foundation
youth
The Well
I study America’s youth. Here’s what I found
Today’s young people are intelligent and kind, but they are overworked and burned out.
Sara Konrath
John Templeton Foundation
A classical-style portrait of a person with their face obscured by a large white starburst shape.
9mins
The Well
How enlightenment permanently alters your brain
Enlightenment is a traditionally mystical and slippery concept, but when it is subjected to the rigors of empirical analysis, there is a lot to be learned about our brains and ourselves.
Andrew Newberg
John Templeton Foundation
Learn from the world’s biggest thinkers.
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