The Well

A microscope, Earth, and a colorful arc appear against a starry black space background.
White text reads "The Well" with a circular swirl design behind the text on a light background.
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.

in partnership with

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

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How your brain’s hemispheres actually work
The "logical left, creative right" narrative about our brains took hold in the '80s. It was never fully true. Neuropsychologist Iain McGilchrist on what actually happens in each brain hemisphere.

Iain McGilchrist

A middle-aged man with a gray beard and glasses perched on the tip of his nose, wearing a beige blazer and a white shirt.
Science doesn't fit neatly into ideology.
John Templeton Foundation
Four sequential diagrams of a figure skater performing moves within oval tracks, each position numbered from 1 to 58 on a blue background—visually illustrating how to change habits through step-by-step progress.
Willpower alone likely isn't enough to replace a bad habit with a good one.
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.
Signals from the environment, such as those detected by your sense organs, have no inherent psychological meaning. Your brain creates the meaning.
John Templeton Foundation
Silhouette of a person standing on a field at night, gazing at a clear sky filled with stars and glowing celestial objects, evoking the wonder described by Jim Al-Khalili.
Popular media often frame scientists as having a cold, sterile view of the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
John Templeton Foundation
math awe
Mathematics and religion both embody awe-inspiring, eternal truths.
John Templeton Foundation
thinking fast slow
People believe that slow and deliberative thinking is inherently superior to fast and intuitive thinking. The truth is more complicated.
John Templeton Foundation
Many atheists think of themselves as intellectually gifted individuals, guiding humanity on the path of reason. Scientific data shows otherwise.
John Templeton Foundation
teenager myths
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.
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.
Awe is a powerful force, a fact that is both exciting and terrifying.
John Templeton Foundation