Lives on Earth

Chain of life

  • How To Make a Religion

    In The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, published in 1967, Peter Berger describes religion as a type of knowledge that we make out of our own lives. He explains three stages: briefly, we pour ourselves out… Continue reading

  • Meditation and Science: Two Views of Life

    At the Spiritual Naturalism Society website, Jay Forest’s fine article on “Introduction to Insight Meditation,” also known as mindfulness or Vipassana meditation, opens with several helpful definitions by teachers and writers of what this meditation is about. The explanations include,… Continue reading

  • Steven Pinker on Disgust, Sex, and Happiness

    Hearts and brains. Mind and body. We are quite sure that our thoughts take place in our heads. But what about our emotions? Sometimes we locate them in our hearts, sometimes vaguely in our bodies. But Stephen Pinker in his… Continue reading

  • Finding Spirituality in Science

    I presented this lecture at the college and community Science Seminar at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey in January 2016. My thanks to Dr. Paul Scheuler, organizer of the series. The talk focuses on three questions about life… Continue reading

  • The Death of Everything

    I wrote last year about my five fears of dying. They included four familiar ones—fear of pain and fears of letting go of my life and my ego—along with a mysterious one that I could describe only as the fear… Continue reading

  • Your Inner Fish

    Most people accept the idea that we are descended from earlier primates. But descended from fish? That might seem to be a stretch. In Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (2008), Neil Shubin makes a… Continue reading

  • The Evolution of Morality

    We know that we carry inside us the history of our bodies—the chemistry and bones and nervous systems that have evolved over the millennia. But we carry with us another history as well. Our morality, our capacity to harm, help,… Continue reading