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.
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Featured Interviews
“Professional chefs set up their stations before they start, making sure they have all of the ingredients, all of the utensils, pots and pans are there…”
“They’ve read through the recipe. And it’s a great metaphor for all of us when we go about changing our behavior. We really need an environment that would make it easier to actually achieve our goals.”
Where science fails, according to a physicist
Jim Al-Khalili
Jim is a multiple award-winning science communicator renowned for his public engagement around the world through writing and broadcasting and a leading academic making fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly[…]
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How apologies save relationships
Amrisha Vaish
Amrisha Vaish is an associate professor of psychology at University of Virginia, and was formerly a Dilthey Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Her research focuses[…]
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Time travel is possible. Can we go back?
Brian Greene
Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau[…]
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Featured Article
Are you a spectator to reality? Or are you its creator?
Signals from the environment, such as those detected by your sense organs, have no inherent psychological meaning. Your brain creates the meaning.
“Your brain does not detect features in the world and body; it constructs features to create meaning…”
So, what does all this mean for everyday life? If physical signals from your body and the world only become meaningful to you in relation to signals created in your brain, this means you have a bit more responsibility than you might realize for how you experience and act in the world.”
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Rituals are defined as "a series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone."
There’s a psychological reason you haven’t created healthier habits in your life.
Habit-forming rituals are subconsciously controlling your life. Here’s how to master them.
Starting tomorrow, learn how to master your habits in our next interview series with behavioral scientist Wendy Wood.
There are many reasons to ask a question. Often, a question is an attempt to fill some gap in our knowledge — the questions of students, children, and lost tourists…
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, it really does not make a sound, posits neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. Read the full story…
Do you think we take planet Earth for granted?
What is one thing that you and your friends bonded over early on that told you that they would be with you for life?
All Stories
Hit peak performance with the power of habit
There’s a psychological reason you haven’t created healthier habits in your life.
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The secret habits that control your life
Habit-forming rituals are subconsciously controlling your life. Here’s how to master them.
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Are you a spectator to reality? Or are you its creator?
Signals from the environment, such as those detected by your sense organs, have no inherent psychological meaning. Your brain creates the meaning.
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Can quantum science supercharge genetics?
Are physicists about to decode a mysterious field of science that could have huge implications for your health?
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A mind-blowing explanation of symmetry
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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Jim Al-Khalili: How our ancient sense of wonder drives physics deeper into the unknown
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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Einstein’s beef with quantum physics, explained
Our world would be impossible without quantum mechanics — but we still don’t have a narrative of how it works.
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Where science fails, according to a physicist
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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Can mathematics be spiritual? Ask Einstein
Mathematics and religion both embody awe-inspiring, eternal truths.
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How apologies save relationships
Dr. Amrisha Vaish explains the science of remorse, guilt, and an effective apology.
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System 1 vs. System 2 thinking: Why it isn’t strategic to always be rational
People believe that slow and deliberative thinking is inherently superior to fast and intuitive thinking. The truth is more complicated.
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Michio Kaku: 3 mind-blowing predictions about the future
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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Time travel is possible. Can we go back?
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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Atheism is not as rare or as rational as you think
Many atheists think of themselves as intellectually gifted individuals, guiding humanity on the path of reason. Scientific data shows otherwise.
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What alien life could teach us about humanity
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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5 harmful myths and 5 inspiring truths about teenagers
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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The joy of being wrong
Arguments on social media are notorious. Can practicing intellectual humility make us smarter and happier? Science says yes.
Superhumans: The remarkable brain waves of high-level meditators
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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I put a camera on a monkey. Here’s how it shook my understanding of humanity
Awe is a powerful force, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying.
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What’s inside black holes?
To understand the edges of our universe, we’ll need to explore the edges of our own philosophies.
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There are 8 classes of intelligence. Which are you?
IQ tests only measure two of the eight intelligences. Howard Gardner explains them all.
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Your moral compass could be broken
People rarely question their own moral compass. But do you know what shapes yours?
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3 great untruths to stop telling kids—and ourselves
These psychological principles can unlock your resiliency.
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How Picasso and Beethoven hacked creativity
Anyone can learn from this creativity challenge.
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The great Big Bang misconception
Thanks to time-traveling telescopes, we can see more about the Big Bang.
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How looking at 4 billion years of Earth’s history changes you
Astronaut Chris Hadfield shares how living in space has bettered his life on Earth.
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Is free will an illusion?
Philosophers have been making the claim that free will is an illusion for hundreds of years. Dr. Uri Maoz shares what modern neuroscience has to say about it.
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How to live an intellectual life
According to Zena Hitz, the idea of the intellectual has become distorted. She believes “the real thing is something more extraordinary but also more available to us.”
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