Publisher's Weekly, Samuel T. Wilkinson: Humans are Meaningful by Design:

Imagine a book about God with no pronouns for the deity. No mention of Jesus, heaven, hell, or salvation. Is it an atheist's dream? Not really. It's a debut trade book by a psychiatrist who embraces the science of evolution with an asterisk*. The * is that evolution is actually God in action—creating humans right down to their very DNA to know and love God and each other—says Samuel T. Wilkinson [Yale], the author of Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence (Pegasus Books, Mar. 5, 2024).

Wilkinson is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, where he also serves as associate director of the Yale Depression Research Program and has won awards for academic writings in his field. His viewpoint in the book, however, was shaped by his medical studies, his own struggle to reconcile science, the faith instilled in him as a follower of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and his life as the married father of five children. Yet no specific religious denomination or philosophy, East or West, and no theological stance gets mentioned in his book. Everyone fits in.

"I didn't want to leave anyone out," he tells PW. "The primary audience for the book is people who think there is something more in life — whether that is a specific belief in the New Testament God or a sense that we are not here by accident." He expresses in the book that he has observed a pervading climate of distrust, fear, cynicism, and disconnection among people, which he attributes to "a loss of faith in a benevolent God. A loss of faith in the goodness of humanity. A loss of faith in an absolute purpose and meaning to our existence," he writes.

This spurred him to present the idea that "a proper understanding of how we were created may also help us better comprehend human nature, how we can be happier, and how we can form societies that bring out the better angels of our nature," he tells PW. His book delves into numerous disciplines, including evolutionary biology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, for evidence that "evolution was not a random process." Instead, it was "constrained and guided by higher-order principles," he says.

Confronting the confounding contradictions of human nature, Wilkinson points out in his book, is possible because, he writes, humanity is encoded with the ability "to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. This life is a test." And this test, he proclaims in the book is "strong evidence for the existence of a God, not against it." To survive and to discover our "divinely ordained purpose" he writes, God-guided evolution embued humans with a built-in drive to form deep friendships and families, which Wilkinson tells PW, provide "life's most profound joys."

Yale News, What Is Life’s Purpose? A Yale Psychiatrist Looks to Science for Answers:

As a young mechanical engineering student, and later as a medical student, Yale’s Samuel Wilkinson became fascinated with what science — particularly theories of evolution — might tell us about the meaning and purpose of life. …

In an interview with Yale News, Wilkinson discusses what inspired his fascination with understanding life’s purpose, how nature instills in humans a “dual potential,” and the evolutionary forces that spur us to be our more altruistic selves.

“When you combine the concept that we are free to choose with the dual potential of human nature, to me this strongly implies that life is a test,” said Wilkinson, who is also director of the Yale Depression Research Program. “The purpose of life is to choose between the good and evil impulses inherent within us.

“This seems to be written into our DNA.”

In your book you dive deeply into what evolution can tell us about the meaning of life, but can you tell us a little about the evolution of your interest in and desire to write a book about these fundamental life questions?

Samuel Wilkinson: The idea for the book stems from an existential crisis I experienced as a medical student 15 years ago. I was concerned that some of the lessons of science and evolution conflicted with some of the beliefs I have, that most people have, that life has value, meaning, and purpose. It’s hard to describe what happened, but the idea for the book came together as I studied these topics more in depth.

Samuel T. Wilkinson, of Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence (Mar. 5, 2024):

By using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence.

Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence, that life has no fundamental meaning. We are merely the accumulation of tens of thousands of intricate molecular accidents. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of God.

But is this true?

By integrating emerging principles from a variety of scientific disciplines—ranging from evolutionary biology to psychology—Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework of evolution that implies not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what this purpose is.

With respect to our evolution, nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. We are pulled in different directions: selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation, lust and love. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence.

This purpose, at least one of them, is to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. Our life is a test. This is a truth, as old as history it seems, that has been espoused by so many of the world’s religions. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature—including how evolution shaped us—are evidence for the existence of a God, not against it.

Closely related to this is meaning. What is the meaning of life? Based on the scientific data, it would seem that one such meaning is to develop deep and abiding relationships. At least that is what most people report are the most meaningful aspects of their lives. This is a function of our evolution. It is how we were created.

Reviews:

“Wilkinson has done something extraordinary: He has provided a science-based answer to the world’s most intractable philosophical question. And he has done it in elegant, entertaining prose that any thoughtful person can enjoy. This book will change your life. It tells us not just how to live, but why. It is especially inspiring to young people struggling to find purpose in an uncertain age. This book is for anyone who wonders about the meaning of life."
– John Morley, Yale University

"Samuel Wilkinson brings his considerable expertise to questions of evolution, purpose and God. What results is an innovative approach which takes the science seriously both in what it can say and where it needs a wider context to give insights into what it means to be fully human."
– Reverend Professor David Wilkinson, Principal of St John’s College, Durham University

"Psychiatrist Sam Wilkinson digs deeply into recent insights about how evolution has shaped the competing dispositions of human nature, and how these observations point to a Creator God who has a purpose for our existence. If you are one of many in our technological society who is troubled about whether science and faith can be harmonized, you will be reassured and inspired by this intellectually rigorous and spiritually compelling presentation.”
– Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, Leader of the Human Genome Project, Author of The Language of God, and Founder of BioLogos

"An essential book by every measure. Beautifully written, superbly researched—and life changing. You will never think of your life, or the earth, or the purpose of each in the same way again!”
– Greg McKeown, New York Times bestselling author of Effortless and Essentialism

"If you struggle to reconcile faith and reason, Sam Wilkinson’s profound book Purpose was written for you. You will be left with an understanding of the guiding forces behind human evolution and behavior.”
– Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Dr. Wilkinson has given us a wonderfully—indeed masterfully—synthetic work on the biggest question of all. Bringing together insights drawn from the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and theology, he puts a spotlight on the things that give human beings, over time and across cultures, a sense of purpose. His book is an intelligent person’s guide to the meaning of life.”
– Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

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