"Indeed, one of the important challenges to us as a species is how we can figure out ways of dealing with our inability to conform our behavior to our long-term best interest."

- Steven Hyman, neurobiologist, director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT, and former director of NIMH, interviewed by Bill Moyers.

Because naturalism shows our deep connection to the world and others, it prompts concern for the natural environment and for those who will succeed us on the planet. Because it discounts the existence of the soul and survival after death, naturalism increases the value we place on this, our only life, and the world we inhabit now. Naturalism leads to an environmental ethic of wise use, sustainability, and population control that will keep the earth habitable for future generations of all creatures.