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Some may first ask why we should support research
on generous love and service, rather than the programs that implement
these ideals in practical ways. We
believe that both these areas are vitally important. Yet leading edge science
can demonstrate the benefits of such kindness not only for recipients,
but also for those who live unselfishly, and thereby convey
to the wider culture
in concrete terms an empowering image of the human good. Because love is
so central to human moral, spiritual, and political concerns,
and because science
continues to have a dominant impact on our images of human flourishing,
those probing the contemporary love-and-science symbiosis are
engaging in matters
of enormous importance to the human future.
While considerable ongoing scientific
research of the highest caliber is focused on negative psychological
states,
personality disorders,
and mental illness,
relatively little high-level research is focused on positive states of psychological
health and personality. For example, more than 100,000 scientific studies have
been published on depression and schizophrenia, but no more than a few dozen
significant studies have been published on other-regarding love. Yet among the
universally lauded human traits are a cluster of parallel phenomena including
love, care, compassion, kindness, generosity, and benevolence. The dignity of
the human species demands that this imbalance in scientific focus be corrected
by providing an alternative to the “disease model.” Moreover, the
information to be gained from the new science of unlimited love must be interpreted
by leading scholars and educators, as well as widely disseminated. We owe this
to the human future.
While the Institute is not solely dedicated to research,
but also to dialogue and pedagogy, without scientific progress in
our understanding of love and unlimited love, and of its effective
transmission through pedagogy, the human future will be increasingly
imperiled by egoism and hatred. Just as human beings endeavor
to understand and harness the power of the wind, the atom, and gravity,
they might also endeavor to understand and facilitate the energies
of unlimited love. The Institute seeks donors who wish to support
high-quality studies in a wide variety of areas, including the following:
Thank you for your interest in The Institute for
Research on Unlimited Love, a nonprofit organization, donations
to which are tax deductible. Our work is
visionary and unique – we want to transform the human future in a more
generous and loving direction. Visionary research does alter human events.
Be a part of our vision to apply all the techniques of the best science to
better understand the human potential for generous behavior. Please consider
supporting the work of the Institute in one or more of the categories listed
here:
A contribution of $100,000 will support a major research
project for a two-year period, and release an additional $100,000
from other sources in guaranteed
matching funds. Larger contributions of $500,000 or more can initiate an entire
new topic area of research on the theme of unlimited love. Topic areas can
include love and kindness in many contexts, including marriage and family,
healing and healthcare, adolescent development, volunteerism and civic virtue,
spirituality and psychological well-being, leadership, management, education,
professionalism, as well as other contexts of donor interest. (See “Areas
of Institute Research”)
A contribution to the endowment leadership fund will
allow the Institute to develop a financial basis for long-term
operational success. The work of the Institute
is unique and should continue indefinitely for maximal impact both scientifically
and culturally. (Contributions to the endowment fund will release matching
funds to be used to support additional research projects.)
The Institute is committed to facilitating and supporting
the dialogue between science, religion, ethics, the humanities,
and pedagogy at all levels. Toward
this end, the Institute sponsors:
(1) High-level summer seminars and conferences that bring together leading
senior and junior scholars, along with dynamic practitioners of love for
humanity, to
engage in groundbreaking integrative discussion of unlimited love and the human
future;
(2) Grant competitions to support major scholars who will write essays and
books;
(3) Workshops for clergy, teachers, or business and nonprofit leaders to enhance
public understanding of the science of unlimited love and altruism.
(Contributions to the integrative leadership fund will release matching funds
to be used to support additional research projects.)
Click here for
more information.
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