Wildman welcomed to Conference on Religion and Science

Goshen College welcomed Wesley Wildman, a professor of philosophy, theology and ethics, and of computing and data sciences at Boston University, to lead its 25th annual  Conference on Religion and Science.

Paul Meyer Reimer, professor and department chair of physics, was the organizer of the Science and Religion conference and invited Wildman to GC for a variety of reasons. Meyer Reimer felt that what made Wildman unique was his expertise in both topics. “It’s relatively rare to have these sorts of conversations between what many people think of as very different disciplines,” he said. 

Wildman wanted to cater his presentations to the GC audience in specific. He contacted Carl Helrich, founding director of the Goshen Conference on Religion and Science. When coming to GC, Wildman not only wanted to share information with conference attendees, but also to appreciate meeting new people. Wildman stated that, when attending a liberal arts college, he is intrigued by both students and professors’ perspectives when it comes to disciplinary boundaries,.“They care more about genuine wisdom and uniting forms of knowledge across all sorts of different disciplines,” he said. 

The conference holds an annual meeting of the Midwest Religion and Science Society and invites a speaker of international stature to present about the ongoing conversation of religion and science. The conference format asks the speaker to develop three lectures, two of which are open to the public, and one addressed to registrants of the conference.

In theology, Wildman’s primary research focus was in philosophical theology, philosophy of religion, philosophical ethics, religious and spiritual leadership, nonprofit entrepreneurship, religion and science and the scientific study of religion. He is a founding member of The International Society for Science and Religion, as well as the president and chief scientist of Just Horizons Alliance.

Wildman spoke over the weekend of  March 6-8 on “The Future of Spirituality: From Temples to Toolkits.” Over the course of the three days, Wildman hosted three lectures titled: “Resilient, Reimagined, or Relegated? Challenges facing traditional religion,” “Shaping the Sacred? Understanding and designing spiritual experiences,” and “Spiritual Journeys beyond Religion? Purpose, virtue, meaning, and belonging.”

On Friday, Wildman spoke on three horizons: “legacy institutions, hybrid innovations and novel infrastructures of meaning and belonging.” He stressed the damage that technology and phone usage is causing younger generations. 

Wildman categorized the generation of youths who grew up on technology as “attention-deficit,” meaning they cannot hold attention for as long as previous generations. This attention deficit group has contributed greatly to the decline in numbers of church-goers, as they cannot sit through an entire service.

On Saturday, the day began for conference attendees with breakfast in the Westlawn Dining hall. Following the meal, Breanna Nickel, associate professor of Bible and religion, responded and led a discussion following the prior evening’s conference.

Wildman’s second lecture came shortly after the open discussion led by Nickel. The lecture covered topics over technologies used in religion and the use of artificial intelligence in the spiritual world. Wildman discussed the uses of apps and science to reach a meditative state quicker, as well as the newly invented “AI Jesus.” According to Meyer Reimer, this bot is similar to the use of  AI companions, as a “means of therapy, informal therapy,” 

Finally, to conclude the conference, Wildman led an exclusive lecture that was open only to registrants. This lecture, entitled “Spiritual Journeys beyond Religion? Purpose, virtue, meaning, and belonging,” was originally intended to cover more content than it did, but seeing the interest of the audience, Wildman called an audible and focused mainly on his initial point. He covered his research team’s computer-generated social predictions of what type of spiritual groups will be dominant in the next century.

Though their research suggests that organized religion will be significantly diminished by 2100, spiritual people will continue to exist. Wildman emphasized that spirituality is an evolutionary strategy that will not be destroyed so easily. “Spirituality is here to stay. It’s built into our bodies, and the way that it’s built into our bodies is beautiful,” Wildman said his concluding statements. “We’re constantly imaginig and creating. This is because we are in touch with the depth dimension of reality, and that, my friends, stays. It stays, regardless of what happens with trust and religious institutions.”

Goshen College welcomed Wesley Wildman, a professor of philosophy, theology and ethics, and of computing and data sciences at Boston University, to lead its 25th annual  Conference on Religion and Science.

Paul Meyer Reimer, professor and department chair of physics, was the organizer of the Science and Religion conference and invited Wildman to GC for a variety of reasons. Meyer Reimer felt that what made Wildman unique was his expertise in both topics. “It’s relatively rare to have these sorts of conversations between what many people think of as very different disciplines,” he said. 

Wildman wanted to cater his presentations to the GC audience in specific. He contacted Carl Helrich, founding director of the Goshen Conference on Religion and Science. When coming to GC, Wildman not only wanted to share information with conference attendees, but also to appreciate meeting new people. Wildman stated that, when attending a liberal arts college, he is intrigued by both students and professors’ perspectives when it comes to disciplinary boundaries,.“They care more about genuine wisdom and uniting forms of knowledge across all sorts of different disciplines,” he said. 

The conference holds an annual meeting of the Midwest Religion and Science Society and invites a speaker of international stature to present about the ongoing conversation of religion and science. The conference format asks the speaker to develop three lectures, two of which are open to the public, and one addressed to registrants of the conference.

In theology, Wildman’s primary research focus was in philosophical theology, philosophy of religion, philosophical ethics, religious and spiritual leadership, nonprofit entrepreneurship, religion and science and the scientific study of religion. He is a founding member of The International Society for Science and Religion, as well as the president and chief scientist of Just Horizons Alliance.

Wildman spoke over the weekend of  March 6-8 on “The Future of Spirituality: From Temples to Toolkits.” Over the course of the three days, Wildman hosted three lectures titled: “Resilient, Reimagined, or Relegated? Challenges facing traditional religion,” “Shaping the Sacred? Understanding and designing spiritual experiences,” and “Spiritual Journeys beyond Religion? Purpose, virtue, meaning, and belonging.”

On Friday, Wildman spoke on three horizons: “legacy institutions, hybrid innovations and novel infrastructures of meaning and belonging.” He stressed the damage that technology and phone usage is causing younger generations. 

Wildman categorized the generation of youths who grew up on technology as “attention-deficit,” meaning they cannot hold attention for as long as previous generations. This attention deficit group has contributed greatly to the decline in numbers of church-goers, as they cannot sit through an entire service.

On Saturday, the day began for conference attendees with breakfast in the Westlawn Dining hall. Following the meal, Breanna Nickel, associate professor of Bible and religion, responded and led a discussion following the prior evening’s conference.

Wildman’s second lecture came shortly after the open discussion led by Nickel. The lecture covered topics over technologies used in religion and the use of artificial intelligence in the spiritual world. Wildman discussed the uses of apps and science to reach a meditative state quicker, as well as the newly invented “AI Jesus.” According to Meyer Reimer, this bot is similar to the use of  AI companions, as a “means of therapy, informal therapy,” 

Finally, to conclude the conference, Wildman led an exclusive lecture that was open only to registrants. This lecture, entitled “Spiritual Journeys beyond Religion? Purpose, virtue, meaning, and belonging,” was originally intended to cover more content than it did, but seeing the interest of the audience, Wildman called an audible and focused mainly on his initial point. He covered his research team’s computer-generated social predictions of what type of spiritual groups will be dominant in the next century.

Though their research suggests that organized religion will be significantly diminished by 2100, spiritual people will continue to exist. Wildman emphasized that spirituality is an evolutionary strategy that will not be destroyed so easily. “Spirituality is here to stay. It’s built into our bodies, and the way that it’s built into our bodies is beautiful,” Wildman said his concluding statements. “We’re constantly imaginig and creating. This is because we are in touch with the depth dimension of reality, and that, my friends, stays. It stays, regardless of what happens with trust and religious institutions.”