The Earth Has Grown A Nervous System,

Consciousness Is Cerebral Celebrity--nothing More And Nothing Less. Those Contents Are Conscious That Persevere, That Monopolize Resources Long Enough To Achieve Certain Typical And "symptomatic" Effects--on Memory, On The Control Of Behavior And So Forth.

The Traditional View Of Purpose Says It Comes From On High, From God, From The Creator. Darwin's Idea Of Natural Selection Makes People Uncomfortable Because It Reverses The Direction Of Tradition. Whereas People Used To Think Of Meaning Coming From On High And Being Ordained From The Top Down, Now We Have Darwin Saying, "no, All Of This Design Can Happen, All Of This Purpose Can Emerge From The Bottom Up Without Any Direction At All."

I Am A Philosopher, Not A Scientist, And We Philosophers Are Better At Questions Than Answers.

Postmodernism, The School Of 'thought' That Proclaimed 'there Are No Truths, Only Interpretations' Has Largely Played Itself Out In Absurdity, But It Has Left Behind A Generation Of Academics In The Humanities Disabled By Their Distrust Of The Very Idea Of Truth And Their Disrespect For Evidence, Settling For 'conversations' In Which Nobody Is Wrong And Nothing Can Be Confirmed, Only Asserted With Whatever Style You Can Muster.

I Even Agree That The Concept Of God Helps Some People Lead Better Lives. That Does Happen. Don't Ever Forget It. I Just Think There Are Better Ways To Help People Lead Better Lives.