This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.

Black holes should be thought of as "empty places" rather than "dense objects." While they are indeed formed from incredibly dense objects (collapsed stars), the black hole itself is nothing.

Black holes could have played a crucial role in the emergence of life. Ironically, the Solar System is in orbit around a supermassive black hole located in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. And one day, we might fall into a black hole.

If you were out in space exploring and you didn't realize you were coming upon a black hole, you would not notice that anything terrible was about to happen. Eventually, however, you would succumb to a terrifying fate.