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The Best of All Possible Worlds?
Scientists and philosophers continue to reckon with the spreading evidence and implications of fine tuning. The 18th-century German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz famously argued that the universe as it existed had to be “the best of all possible worlds,” since an omniscient and benevolent Creator would have known what the other possibilities were and selected the best available option. Ever since Voltaire lampooned this answer to the problem of suffering in his novel Candide, Leibniz’s argument has been considered far less useful than his other great feat, the co-discovery of calculus. And yet Leibniz’s argument is oddly relevant in the early…
Exploring the Epigenome
Are we more than the sum of our genes? Three intriguing investigations add insight into the ways environment and experience shape genetic expression — sometimes in ways that can be inherited across multiple generations. One of the set-pieces of the grade-school explanation of evolutionary theory is the triumph of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection over that of the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. In Lamarck’s world, giraffes owed their long necks to generation after generation of their forbears stretching to reach the good leaves. In Darwin’s, giraffes had longer necks because for generations, giraffes born with a predisposition for long…
Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative: The Search for Meaning Among the Nonreligious
The Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative (SYRI) is aimed at addressing the spiritual yearnings, existential concerns, and search for meaning of spiritually curious but nonreligious individuals and communities. SYRI’s overarching big question is: How can those who experience a deep yearning for a meaningful spiritual life, but find traditional religion unsatisfying, fulfill that yearning? This question involves empirical, conceptual, and normative dimensions, calling for an approach that is cross-disciplinary in nature. The Foundation’s aim in this initiative is to arrive at a better understanding of spiritual yearning and flourishing among the spiritually curious but nonreligious, by supporting research by scholars within…
The Evolution of Cooperation
Explaining the evolution of cooperation — one of life’s most common, complex, and paradoxical phenomena It’s easy to take cooperation for granted. Children team up to complete a project on time. Neighbors help each other mend fences. Colleagues share ideas and resources. The very fabric of human society depends upon working together. Cooperation is also ubiquitous in the natural world: lions collaborate on hunts, flowers share nectar with bees, and even bacteria produce essential resources that benefit their neighbors. But cooperation goes beyond mere quid pro quo — mutual aid for mutual benefit — and also takes the form of…
Theory-Experiment Cross Training (TEX) Fellowship
This pilot program accepted applications in 2022 and made awards in 2023. The program will not be open for new applications in 2023 or 2024. Application Details Page Frequently Asked Questions The John Templeton Foundation (JTF) seeks applicants for a theory/experiment cross-training graduate fellowship in fundamental physics, astronomy, or cosmology. The Foundation welcomes applications from outstanding PhD-track graduate students whose research focus is primarily either experimental or theoretical, and who wish to enrich their graduate experience by pursuing one year of research in the complementary “cross discipline”…
World Science Productions: The Mystery of Genius Planning Grant
Love, Goodness, and Renewal | The Colorful Celebration of Holi
WATCH: Did Science Invent Optimism?
How Grantees Are Helping With COVID-19
Templeton Grantees Respond to the Coronavirus At the beginning of 1665, a deadly plague shuttered Cambridge University and sent a 23-year-old Isaac Newton back to his family estate. There, in relative seclusion, Newton thought and wrote and calculated — making breakthroughs in calculus, motion, optics, and gravitation. Newton’s annus mirabilis has become an oft-repeated (and at times embellished) chestnut in the history of science, but it gets at the truth that when the world is turned upside-down and many possibilities are foreclosed, others can open up. Today, as then, tragedy, uncertainty, and massive shifts in the rules of everyday life…
WATCH: The Difference Between Thinking About Science and Religion
Consider a thought experiment. If you could choose an ideal belief system for the next generation of intelligent beings -- a set of beliefs that enables them to thrive and do good -- what would it be? One way to answer this question is to emphasize beliefs that would help them obtain basic information about the world. These might include a focus on evidence, logic, and chains of cause and effect. Inquiry would be valued, and ignorance or uncertainty avoided. But this isn't the only way to answer the question. Another way is to emphasize beliefs to enable people to…
