Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let’s learn from them. Welcome to The Well, a publication by the John Templeton Foundation and Big Think.
Featured Interviews
“We know that when people imbue their goals or relationships with sacred meaning, that they exert more effort and they benefit more from those relationships.”
Jacob Mchangama is a lawyer, human-rights advocate, author, podcast host, and founder and executive director of the think tank Justitia. He has written about free speech and human rights in[…]
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Ethan Kross is one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor and bestselling author in the University of Michigan’s top ranked psychology department and[…]
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3 min
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Jacob Mchangama is a lawyer, human-rights advocate, author, podcast host, and founder and executive director of the think tank Justitia. He has written about free speech and human rights in[…]
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Featured Article
Sikh American scholar and historian Simran Jeet Singh on helping kids imagine — and create — a more empathetic world.
“Empathy doesn’t just fully appear on its own. In large part, it has to be nurtured, and ages 1 to 6 is a prime window. While temperament plays a role, so does a child’s environment, including the people and stories they’re exposed to.”
All Stories
Geniuses and prodigies are captivating. But generalists rule the world.
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Neuroscience is beginning to provide clues about the emergence of human consciousness.
This network physicist is mapping the world’s most significant data to create the most beautiful visualizations of information we have ever seen.
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Aimless wandering is essential for understanding yourself. Here’s why.
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Man does not live by measurement alone.
Science has opened so many doors to humanity’s understanding of the world. Scientism shuts them. Here’s how to tell the difference.
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Forget AI. Gene editing is still our most powerful — and dangerous — technology.
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Thinking about the problem of meaning is unsettling because it introduces us to a list of solutions that all feel a bit insane.
From DMT elves, to God, to the figures in our dreams — why are humans so obsessed with the supernatural?
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Humans, like animals, are driven by instincts. But we also have wants. Here’s what that means for our lives.
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How humans came to feel comfortable among strangers, like those in a café, is an under-explored mystery.
This scientist made an algorithm to predict which artists succeed — all without even looking at their art.
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How World War II codebreaker Alan Turing invented modern AI.
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The acceptance of our cosmic loneliness and the rarity of our planet is a wakeup call.
People say we are better off than ever. Are they right?
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How America became a fragile nation — and how it can get its resilience back.
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9 min
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Adolescents actively shape the transformation of religion and become the bearers of new religious patterns, worldviews, and values.
This is not your average dream interpreter. Nightmares, as explained by a neuroscientist.
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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.
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In the beginning, genes weren’t needed.