The famous lady who studies chimpanzees. She is now 87 years old and has won the 2021 Templeton Prize, given to people who contribute to the intersection of science, spirituality and society. (Mother Teresa won the inaugural Templeton Prize, six years before she won the Nobel Peace Prize).
This is a brief but revealing video - under two minutes long.
This is from wikipedia -
Goodall was raised in a Christian congregationalist family and took night classes in Theosophy as a young woman. Her family were occasional churchgoers, but Goodall began attending more regularly as a teenager when the church appointed a new minister, Trevor Davies: "He was highly intelligent and his sermons were powerful and thought-provoking. . . I could have listened to his voice for hours. . . I fell madly in love with him. . . Suddenly, no one had to encourage me to go to church. Indeed, there were never enough services for my liking." Of her later discovery of the atheism and agnosticism of many of her scientific colleagues, Goodall wrote: "Fortunately, by the time I got to Cambridge I was twenty-seven years old and my beliefs had already molded so that I was not influenced by these opinions."[69]
In her 1999 book Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, Goodall describes the implications of a mystical experience she had at Notre Dame Cathedral in 1977: "Since I cannot believe that this was the result of chance, I have to admit anti-chance. And so I must believe in a guiding power in the universe—in other words, I must believe in God."[70] When asked if she believes in God, Goodall said in September 2010: "I don't have any idea of who or what God is. But I do believe in some great spiritual power. I feel it particularly when I'm out in nature. It's just something that's bigger and stronger than what I am or what anybody is. I feel it. And it's enough for me."[71] When asked in the same year if she still considers herself a Christian, Goodall told the Guardian "I suppose so; I was raised as a Christian."[72]
In her foreword to the 2017 book The Intelligence of the Cosmos by Ervin Laszlo, a philosopher of science who advocates quantum consciousness theory, Goodall wrote: "we must accept that there is an Intelligence driving the process [of evolution], that the Universe and life on Earth are inspired and in-formed by an unknown and unknowable Creator, a Supreme Being, a Great Spiritual Power."[73]
Love this story about such an inspiring person as Jane Goodall!
Posted by: Regina | Friday, May 21, 2021 at 09:07 AM
Jordon Peterson would love tths
Posted by: Judith Anderson | Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 02:15 PM
Yes he would! Good point.
Posted by: tom faranda | Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 11:44 PM