Meaning & Purpose

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a painting of a landscape with mountains and rain.
The Well
Why the search for meaning is not a job for science — or religion
Unlock the paradoxes of life through poetic realism.
Jennifer Michael Hecht
John Templeton Foundation
a man with glasses is looking out a window.
The Well
The Axial Age: With the birth of rational thinking, what happened to imagination?
Man does not live by measurement alone.
Gary Lachman
John Templeton Foundation
The Well
The horrifying problem of meaning
Thinking about the problem of meaning is unsettling because it introduces us to a list of solutions that all feel a bit insane.
Kelle Dhein
John Templeton Foundation
a person holding a glass ball in their hand.
The Well
Why we are the only humans in the Universe and why it matters for our collective future
The acceptance of our cosmic loneliness and the rarity of our planet is a wakeup call.
Marcelo Gleiser
John Templeton Foundation
A red-orange background with atom-like scribbles
The Well
How meaning emerges from matter
The answer to the age-old philosophical question of whether there is meaning in the Universe may ultimately rest upon the power of information.
Adam Frank
John Templeton Foundation
A painting of an elderly man with long white hair and beard, wearing a red robe, surrounded by clouds with a halo above his head, set against a soft green sky—inviting reflection on beliefs and the types of atheism.
The Well
These are the 4 types of atheism
Just as there are many types of believers, there's not only one type of atheist.
Big Think
John Templeton Foundation
The Well
Why a meaningful life is impossible without suffering
Pain makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. What's puzzling is why so many of us choose to seek out painful experiences.
Stephen Johnson
John Templeton Foundation
Two black-and-white illustrations blur reality: a woman sits on a chair, while another person’s head unexpectedly emerges through a hole in the floor beneath a nearby chair.
The Well
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.
Lisa Feldman Barrett
John Templeton Foundation
math awe
The Well
Can mathematics be spiritual? Ask Einstein
Mathematics and religion both embody awe-inspiring, eternal truths.
Francis Su
John Templeton Foundation
Illustration of a baboon standing on all fours, facing right, with a reddish-brown coat and a pink patch on its hindquarters—an awe-inspiring member of the animal kingdom.
The Well
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.
Agustín Fuentes
John Templeton Foundation
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