Category Archives: Science & Philosophy

Carl Sagan: A Universe Not Made For Us

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) is one of my intellectual heroes. I first encountered his work in 1980 watching the 13-part PBS mini-series “Cosmos.” While I had taken many college science courses before that, there was something special about his presentation that excited me, especially his poetic, philosophical monologues. Continue reading Carl Sagan: A Universe Not Made For Us

Are Many Worlds and the Multiverse the Same Idea?

Sean Carroll 2017.jpg
Sean Carroll is a cosmologist and physicist specializing in dark energy and general relativity. He is a research professor in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of TechnologyA post on his blog recently caught my attention: “Are Many Worlds and the Multiverse the Same Idea?Continue reading Are Many Worlds and the Multiverse the Same Idea?

Why Earth’s History Appears So Miraculous

A person holds a globe against a background of Earths hit by meteors, crumbling, and colliding with rockets.

Here is a brief recap of Peter Brannen’s recent piece in the Atlantic: “Why Earth’s History Appears So Miraculous: The strange, cosmic reason our evolutionary path will look ever luckier the longer we survive.

Brannen begins by introducing us to the observer selection effect. Continue reading Why Earth’s History Appears So Miraculous

Science and the Meaning of Life

The Universe represented as multiple disk-shaped slices across time.

1. Facts and Meaning

All the truths of modern science are at least somewhat relevant to considerations of meaning. But why? What it is about scientific facts that make them especially germane? Continue reading Science and the Meaning of Life