Each February, the annual David O. McKay Lecture Series, named in honor of President David O. McKay who founded BYU–Hawaii in 1955, has allowed distinguished faculty members to present insights from their respective fields of study and reflections on the gospel. The first lecture was in 1962. The 2015 David O. McKay lecturer was Dr. Roger Goodwill, professor of biology, who addressed the students, faculty, and staff of BYU–Hawaii on February 12 in the Cannon Activities Center.
Dr. Goodwill’s lecture, entitled “Just One,” focused on how one person can change the normal social courses in place to make great changes for mankind. He based his lecture on a quote by Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world;
The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Dr. Goodwill used several examples of individuals throughout history who were originally considered unreasonable by their respective societies but, despite the opposition, persisted in their beliefs and changed the world. Some of his examples included Galileo Galilei, who defended Copernicus’ heliocentric theory of the Earth orbiting around the sun despite opposition from the Catholic Church; Harriet Tubman, who assisted the escape of slaves using the Underground Railroad despite current laws of the time; and Joseph Lister, who insisted upon the importance of antisepsis during a time when medical practitioners did not think sterilization was necessary.
Dr. Goodwill noted that BYU–Hawaii is standing today because President McKay “had a vision of this school and what it could mean to the world.” He suggested that the students at BYU–Hawaii “should and could become an influence on the world” despite opposition. “Many of you will find yourselves in a position to affect worldwide change,” said Dr. Goodwill. “Others may be in a position to only change the life of a single person, but to that one person, his family, and his descendants, it is possibly the most important decision in the world.”
He concluded by saying that everyone will be given the choice to be “reasonable or unreasonable,” and he asked his audience “Which will you be? Reasonable or unreasonable?”
To read or watch the entire lecture, click here.
