religion
People often say, “Let go,” or, “Don’t take things to heart.” But where’s the line with this philosophy?
The Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order would be just one quarter the size of Vatican City.
Oliver Burkeman — author of “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals” — tells Big Think about modern life lessons from a 6th-century monk.
Desire is like a drug. But is an addict always an addict?
Thinking of a number between one and ten? Here’s how predictable human responses create the illusion of telepathy.
Religion is a product of, and not a source of, our evolutionary moral dispositions.
Is it ever possible for God to violate the laws of nature?
Hospice nurse Julie McFadden shares three examples where people hold off death, just for a bit.
Is there a force keeping humanity in check?
Are fava beans and chianti really the best pairing for human liver?
Redemption is the journey towards becoming a better person. It’s the story of human life.
The acceptance of death is deeply embedded in our culture; it’s time to overthrow that idea.
God is not a vending machine, but is it wrong to treat him like one?
Sometimes you just want to hear, “I know what it’s like.”
Japanese thought can’t be easily characterized by just a few books — but this essential guide is a great place to start.
Or are cults the religions we find distasteful?
How would you feel about working like a Lutheran or a Cistercian?
Here’s how belief in a higher power can act like a psychological safety net.
Adrie Kusserow, an anthropologist and scholar of Buddhism, shares how her study of the religion and its history has reshaped her view of the world — and herself.
Millions of people have had a near-death experience, and it often leads them to believe in an afterlife. Does this count as good proof?
While Taoism can be paradoxical and abstract, it also offers daily life lessons.
The tonal Native American language differentiates words based on pitch and makes Spanish conjugation look like child’s play.
A single knife is sometimes worth more than a thousand armies.
‘Six Persimmons,’ an ink painting by the Chinese monk Mu Qi, has long been hailed as the poster child of Zen Buddhism. But is its reputation deserved?
This necropsy represents an early entry in what would become a tradition of performing autopsies to consider an individual’s sanctity.
The clash of academic archaeology and what might be called folk archaeology comes into stark focus at Stonehenge.
Many countries’ histories are governed by the familiar demographic story of growth, industrialization, and decline. But not France.
The history of hell doesn’t begin with the Old Testament. Instead, hell took shape in the 2nd century from Mediterranean cultural exchange.
Tikal, one of the biggest cities the Maya ever built, was home to a vast and flourishing society.