ABSTRACT
The complex patterning of life, as the people now know, emerged only gradually in nature, by way of a long, drawn-out process of evolution that included a good deal of random, blind experimentation and a lot of what the humans would consider sheer waste. However, the question of whether there is a point or purpose to the universe is not answered simply by reference to evidence for or against a designer. “Cosmic pessimism,” the modern synthesis of science and tragic mythology, still poses the most serious cultural challenge to religions based on hope in a promising future. Steven Weinberg argues perceptively that it is useless to reconcile some vaguely construed and religiously uninformed concept of deity with modern science. Currently most scientists agree that cosmic evolution began in a hot “big bang,” after which the universe began to expand and cool, giving rise to atoms, stars, and galaxies.
