Wheatley Institute and the BYU College of Life Sciences welcomed Yale Professor Dr. Samuel Wilkinson to BYU campus on Oct 17, 2024 as he shared an insightful lecture on the purpose of our existence.

The 2024 Truman G. Madsen Lecture on Eternal Man was given by Reverend Andrew Teal, a chaplain specializing in Christian church history and a full member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford University.

Wheatley Institute and the BYU Economics department were pleased to hear from Dr. Devin Pope, an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Dr. Pope used cellphone data to explore the frequency, regularity, and correlates with religious worship in America across geographies and religious traditions.

The Constitution is foundational to what we all love about America. Arizona State professor Paul Carrese noted in a lecture at the Wheatley Institute last year that “our very complex constitutional system of separation of powers and federalism inherently call for civil disagreement over both long-term and day-to-day political issues.” So, understanding the rights underlying our constitutional system and how they protect people who disagree with us is critical.

These findings hint at a generational transformation in how Americans relate to political legitimacy. Older Americans are unified in their faith in the Constitution. Middle-aged Americans are split by education, sorted into different legitimacy frameworks. And younger Americans are divided and diverse, with no dominant view and increasing weight placed on personal belief and public opinion.

"The Convention’s rules assumed that if you brought people together and had them listen to one another, they’d change their minds...The Framers became friends who were willing to engage in good faith negotiations and seek mutual accommodations for the sake of unity."