The idea of a "purpose" or "reason why" has a strong hold on the human imagination, and has a special resonance when we think about the universe itself. However, modern science has gradually eroded the role of purpose in our best understanding of nature. This represents an important step forward in human understanding, as we can see how apparently purposeful features of reality arise through undirected laws of nature. But it represents a challenge for questions of morality and meaning. I will argue that purposes can be created or emergent even when they are not fundamental, and that this perspective has important consequences for how we live our lives.
Sean Carroll is an author and theoretical physicist at Caltech.
http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/
http://www.americanhumanist.org/
Recorded 6/2/13. Sean Carroll was the keynote speaker at the 2013 American Humanist Association annual Conference.
