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WATCH: Did Science Invent Optimism?
What role did science play in the emergence of optimism? Join us in conversation with the Columbia University professor and chair of biology, Dr. Stuart Firestein. Author of two trade books on the surprising role of ignorance and failure in science, Dr. Firestein is at work on a new book on optimism, from which he shares a preview in this exclusive discussion with the John Templeton Foundation. His bold argument makes the sweeping claim that it was the emergence of science, and its discovery of technologies that enabled rapid improvement in quality of life, that first allowed people to feel…
New $5.34 Million Grant to Examine the Neuroscience of Free Will
Think about a decision you’ve made — a big one like where to go to college, or a tiny one like whether to pick up your phone. People take for granted that they act according to their decisions, and that our actions only begin once we’ve made a conscious choice. But is it really true? Several fascinating experiments have suggested otherwise. Beginning this year, a 17-member international team of leading neuroscientists and philosophers will undertake an ambitious four-year set of studies to expand our understanding of decision and action, funded by a $5.34 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation…
Why Justice and Forgiveness Go Hand In Hand
Foundation-Supported Researchers Win Nobel Prize and MacArthur Fellowship
Two researchers who have received support from the John Templeton Foundation were announced this week as winners of the Nobel Prize and the MacArthur Fellowship. Jennifer A. Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on developing a method for editing the genome. She received the award jointly with Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier of France. Doudna was the co-leader of a John Templeton Foundation-supported project to convene discussions among scientists, ethicists, and civil and religious leaders on the challenges and opportunities of gene editing and to develop “a set of common principles to…
Clean Slate: How to Leave the Past Behind and Start Anew
Announcing a New Request for Proposals to Advance Applied Research on Intellectual Humility
The Transformative Power of Humility
‘Together in Our Differences’
Religion, Spirituality, Aging, and Health
Monthly Grant Report – March 2020
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Developing Belief: The Development and Diversity of Religious Cognition and Behavior: Phase 1 University of California, Riverside Rebekah Richert; Kathleen Corriveau $9,866,732 Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project Phase VI Pew Charitable Trusts Alan Cooperman $2,446,900 Philosophy and Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Social virtue epistemology: What does it take to be an intellectually humble Socratic gadfly? Macquarie University Mark Alfano; Jay Van Bavel $797,870 The Launch of MA & PhD Degrees in Philosophy and the Foundations of Science for Latin America Asociación Civil de…
Monthly Grant Report – February 2019
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount What is Religious Experience? Validating and Testing the Inventory of Non-Ordinary Experiences University of California Santa Barbara Ann Taves; Michael Barlev $234,521 Using Self-Reported Religiosity/Spirituality to Predict Mental Health Outcomes and Biological Correlates Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. Myrna Weissman; Connie Svob $234,302 Project Amazing Grace Phase 2: Making Sense of Grace Biola University Peter Hill $234,779 Philosophy & Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount When and Why We Explain: Need for Explanation and Tolerance for Mystery in Science and Religion The Trustees of…
The Question of Character: Equipping the Next Generation
The Leap to Life: $2.9M Grant to Explore Life’s Emergence
Robotic chemical reactors, synthetic organisms, and artificial intelligence are poised to shed new light on one of science’s most engaging and vexingly murky questions — the origin of life — in a unique new research project with $2.9 million in core funding from the John Templeton Foundation. The project got its formal start this fall at the University of Arizona under the leadership of astrobiologist Sara Walker, who has made several key contributions to the study of life’s origins, and Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and 1995 Templeton Prize laureate. The three-year series of studies and analyses aims to…
Monthly Grant Report – January 2019
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Tracking and Understanding the Effects of Transformative Events in People’s Lives Regents of the University of Michigan Rada Mihalcea; James Pennebaker $1,684,328 Systematic Review and Analysis of US Federal Investments in Research on Religion and Health University of Connecticut Crystal Park; John Salsman $234,207 The Third Religion, Economics and Society (RES) Initiative: Making the Economic Study of Religion and Religious Markets a Field of the Future Chapman University Jared Rubin $325,346 Divine forgiveness: Phase 1 Florida State University Research Foundation Inc. Frank Fincham $233,994 Religion and human flourishing…
The Art of Meaningful Conversations
Two new grants aim to unravel the essence of hope & optimism
Some people are unflappable optimists. The gambler who just knows that the next roll will be a winner. The patient diagnosed with cancer who is sure he can beat it. Or the Cubs fan who knows that this year is the year. What makes us hopeful? When is optimism reasonable? Are hope and optimism good for us? Through two grants from the John Templeton Foundation, sociologists, philosophers, and scientists are seeking to explain precisely what constitutes hope and optimism, to probe what makes us hopeful and optimistic, and to discern when and where they are good for us. With support…
The Neuroscience of Free Will
Best of All Possible Worlds?
Promoting Character Strength Development in Youths Through Interactive Storytelling Online: A Pilot Project
The Legacy Paradox: Why We Need the People of the Future as Much as They Need Us
Can Science Set Us Free?
Orienting People toward Forgivingness
The Black Hole in the Basement: Part II
More than Selfish Genes: Understanding the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis
The Black Hole in the Basement: Part I
The Question of Character: Expanding the Veritas Forum Model to Engage the Next Generation
Was Our Universe Made for Us?
The Character Course: Design, dissemination and evaluation of a church-based small group programme for character development
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life? | New Research Review from FQXi
Faith, Politics, and Intellectual Humility
A public symposium on the prospects for civil discussion In the age of the internet comment, it gets harder and harder to imagine meaningful dialogue between people who disagree about topics as deeply held and divisive as faith and politics. On April 25 in Hartford, Connecticut a trio of speakers with divergent backgrounds but a common interest in revitalizing civic discourse will make the case for — and chart paths towards — just such conversations. At the event titled “Talking About Faith and Politics: Navigating Our Differences with Conviction and Humility," former presidential advisor David Gergen, interfaith youth activist Eboo…
Self-Sabotage Is Undermining Your Future. Here’s How to Conquer It.
Humans aren’t alone in our ability to imagine the future and predict likely outcomes. Research shows that animals from ravens to orangutans plan ahead by setting aside tools for later use. Still, our capacity for future-mindedness extends far beyond that of other species. We can dream about many scenarios that haven’t yet happened—for good or ill. (Seneca: "We suffer more from imagination than from reality.") We can constantly update our predictions of our personal future based on what we observe in the world around us. How we think about the future has significant implications for our decision making, and which…
Conversations with Grantees: Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman
Please note: The information in this article reflects our strategic priorities at the time of writing and may change over time. To confirm our current funding interests, please view our Funding Areas. In this conversation with grantee Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman, founding director of Sinai and Synapses, he speaks about the importance of intellectual humility, the Scientists in Synagogues program, bringing together science and religion, and how to nurture constructive — not destructive — conversations. "Imagine if, when we have disagreements, if we have different perspectives, that those conversations actually move us forward." Watch to learn more: This interview is…
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…
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…
Video: Why Intellectual Humility Matters
What is intellectual humility? And how might practicing this virtue help to make people more thoughtful, open, and happy? A new video produced by the John Templeton Foundation in partnership with Freethink media company shares insights from the latest research and scholarship to shed light on these questions. Watch to learn more: "Intellectual humility goes back to one of the core purposes of what Sir John Templeton was trying to achieve," says Richard Bollinger, program officer in Character Virtue Development for the Foundation. "He believed the nature of reality was too big for any one person or one discipline to…
Q&A: Five Questions with Betül Kaçar
Betül Kaçar is an assistant professor at the University of Arizona in the departments of Cell Biology and Astronomy. Her research investigates molecular mechanisms of evolution, the origins of life, and the distribution of life throughout the universe. Her research team uses a new approach that infers ancient DNA sequences using phylogenetics, engineers these reconstructed DNA inside microbial genomes, and reanimates them in order to study ancient enzymes in modern organisms. Kaçar’s work at the University of Arizona and previously at Harvard University has been supported by multiple grants from the John Templeton Foundation, including the latest $357,843 grant “Molecular…
Beyond Forgiveness: The Reparative Quest in South Africa
On Asking Open-Minded Questions: Heather Templeton Dill Interviewed on ‘Beyond Belief’
What inspired one of the world’s great pioneering global investors to devote his wealth to unlocking the mysteries of the universe and human nature? Heather Templeton Dill, president of the John Templeton Foundation and granddaughter of its founder, explored such questions and more in a wide-ranging interview on Beyond Belief, a weekly online show that features guests of diverse backgrounds exploring their views on spiritual and intellectual questions. Beyond Belief is produced by Aish, a Jewish community and content-focused organization. Host Rabbi Adam Jacobs interviewed Dill in a forty-five-minute conversation that covered the Foundation’s origins and the vision of Sir…
Conversations With Grantees: Jeffrey Rosen
Please note: The information in this article reflects our strategic priorities at the time of writing and may change over time. To confirm our current funding interests, please view our Funding Areas. In this conversation with grantee Jeffrey Rosen, the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, he speaks about the importance of intellectual humility, spreading "constitutional light," and preserving civil discourse in the age of social media. He also discusses the Center’s Interactive Constitution, an interactive platform sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation that explores modern implications of the Constitution’s history. “People are learning to debate issues…
How To Keep Your Glass Half Full
Strategic Priority Q&A: Intellectual Humility
This conversation is the first in a series of conversations about the Strategic Priorities that the John Templeton Foundation will be funding over the next five years. This interview with Richard Bollinger, program officer in Character Virtue Development, was conducted and edited by Benjamin Carlson, director of strategic communication. What is intellectual humility? Many people agree that the core definition has to do with recognizing and owning one’s own limitations and recognizing that one’s perspective is incomplete and at times even incorrect. Where there’s some disagreement is how much more you add to that concept. For example, some people include…
Heather Templeton Dill Joins the Generosity Commission
President Heather Templeton Dill and the John Templeton Foundation are proud to be a part of the Generosity Commission which launched on October 12th. This commission consists of a group of leaders across business, philanthropy, and civil society that will address the ways in which generosity is conveyed in America, especially during times of conflict, and how it can be fortified. Following a two-year plan that calls for new research and national conversation, the Generosity Commission will explore and promote multiple ways that philanthropy, volunteerism and community are being redefined in 21st century America. The group’s two goals are to…
More than a Feeling: How Hope Galvanizes Us Into Action
Hope and Grit: Companions on the Road to Change
Monthly Grant Report – June 2019
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Knoxville Marriage Initiative: Partnering with churches to deliver science-based interventions to solve a community problem The University of Tennessee Kristina Gordon $234,800 Natural Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount The creative role of stress in evolution and development Yale University Gunter Wagner; Alan Love $886,152 Philosophy & Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount What Breathes Fire into the Equations: The Metaphysics of laws of nature Rutgers University Foundation Barry Loewer $167,325 The Fine-tuning Argument: A Curated Bibliography The University of Mississippi Neil…
Report Shows Key Role for Communication at Science Philanthropies
In a time marked by scientific discovery and technological advancement, a new report identifies a promising area for greater investment by science philanthropies: communication. The report, Identifying Best Practices for Communications Workforce at Science Philanthropies, was developed through a collaboration by the Rita Allen, Albert and Mary Lasker, and John Templeton Foundations to identify challenges and opportunities in science philanthropy communications. Philanthropy’s contributions are critical to advancing scientific research, providing essential support for new ideas and major initiatives. However, the report finds, science philanthropies can amplify their impact considerably by investing more purposefully in communications as a central part of…
Collaborative Inquiries in Christian Theological Anthropology
A new project will foster interdisciplinary work — informed by both science and theology — on what it means to be human Human flourishing and freedom are topics that have long been considered by theologians and humanities scholars, but recent work in the life and social sciences—on subjects ranging from how brains make decisions to how individuals develop virtues — is presenting some of those age-old topics in a new light. A new three-year, $3.9 million research project funded by the John Templeton Foundation and led by theologians Jesse Couenhoven at Villanova University, and Gerald McKenny and Neil Arner at…
Foundation Releases White Paper on Study of Hope and Optimism
A new report explores the benefits of two related virtues. A new paper published by the John Templeton Foundation explores the latest scientific and philosophical research on the related but distinct virtues of hope and optimism. The 45-page white paper, written by Michael Milona, a philosophy professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, examines findings on the benefits and risks involved in both hope and optimism. Milona’s summary gave particular focus to the results of another Templeton-funded initiative, “Hope & Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations,” a three-year, $4.4 million project led by Samuel Newlands at Notre Dame and Andrew Chignell…
Spiritual Exemplars Program
Monthly Grant Report – December 2019 & January 2020
Recently Approved Grants Human Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Religious belief, health and disease: a family perspective. I. Data collection University of Bristol Jean Golding; Kate Northstone $234,800 Scholarship for International Faculty/Students to Attend Spirituality & Health Research Workshop Duke University Harold Koenig; Benjamin Doolittle $115,411 Natural Sciences Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Social Practices, Scientific Practice, and Human Evolution Wesleyan University Joseph Rouse $233,297 Philosophy and Theology Project Title Grantee(s) Project Leader(s) Grant Amount Panentheism and Religious Life The Johns Hopkins University Yitzhak Melamed; Clare Carlisle $232,748 SCP Graduate Fellowships for Science…
