This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter . Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night.

On a rainy evening two weeks ago, a classroom full of college students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spent their evening contemplating the value of monogamy: Should it be a social ideal? How many partners contribute to the well-being of individuals and children? How much should we give in to our natural impulses?

These questions were at the heart of a discussion between Brad Wilcox, author of “Get Married” and professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, and evolutionary psychologist Diana Fleischman. They spoke at MIT as part of the school’s civil discourse series .

Fleischman, who is married with two children but who end

See Full Page