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Existentialism
The deep-thinking oddballs of West Coast cycle racing valued mid-ride marijuana over sports science.
The Universe is grand, awe-inspiring, and greater than we likely imagine. Even astrophysicists get anxious thinking about it, but we cope.
The multi-leveled constructions of metaphysics are the collective workings of a fantastical virtuality. Did you get that?
Our huge, expanding Universe may truly be infinite. But if the set of possible quantum outcomes is also infinite, which "infinity" wins?
The multiverse is an idea that has gained a lot of traction in popular culture. But what does science have to say about it?
End of life patients face mental health challenges uniquely existential and spiritual in nature — but psychedelics are emerging as a possible solution to relieve the suffering.
Monsters have always represented societal fears, but narrative art also casts doubt on whether we fully understand our monsters — and their slayers.
“Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences," film critic Roger Ebert once wrote about "Mulholland Drive."
For Nietzsche, a great work of art can either veil the horror of reality or – better yet – help us face it.
The Fermi paradox (along with the subsequent Drake equation) is so difficult that even brilliant thinkers can make little dent in it.
"It is more human to laugh at life than to lament it."
Foster your own moments of mystery.
Is history decided by discernible laws or does it unfold based on random, unpredictable occurrences?
Every Christmas could be the last Christmas.
Total annihilation is a permanent threat.
In special relativity, the statement that two events happened at the same time is meaningless.
Reframing life in terms of death reveals some of the biggest philosophical problems with how we think about living systems.
Just as there are many types of believers, there's not only one type of atheist.
John Templeton Foundation
We often laugh at inappropriate things, but not when we are emotionally invested. Laughter cannot be serious. So, can we ever laugh at death?
It is little more than a fancy excuse for escapist fantasizing.
1859's Carrington event gave us a preview of how catastrophic the Sun could be for humanity. But it could get even worse than we imagined.
Pain makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. What's puzzling is why so many of us choose to seek out painful experiences.
John Templeton Foundation
We all know assholes. Perhaps, you are one. Now, psychologists are trying to answer one of life's biggest mysteries: What, exactly, makes someone an asshole?
When faced with too many choices, many of us freeze — a phenomenon known as "analysis paralysis." Why? Isn't choice a good thing?
We have long thought that Pluto was completely frozen solid, but the discovery of cryovolcanoes challenges that assumption.
A growing body of research shows that religious people seem to enjoy more psychological well-being compared to others.
Despite all that we've learned about the Universe, there remain unanswered, and possibly unanswerable, questions. Could "God" be the answer?