000			02709cam a2200313 i 4500
001			on1369678354
003			OCoLC
005			20240301124708.0
008			230220t20242024nyua b 001 0 eng d
040			_aYDX _beng _erda _cYDX _dBDX _dOCLCO _dOCO _dNFG
020			_a1639365176 _q(hardcover)
020			_a9781639365173 _q(hardcover)
035			_a(OCoLC)1369678354
092			_a576.8 _bW687
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aWilkinson, Samuel T., _eauthor.
245	1	0	_aPurpose : _bwhat evolution and human nature imply about the meaning of our existence / _cSamuel T. Wilkinson.
264		1	_aNew York : _bPegasus Books, _c2024.
264		4	_c©2024
300			_a338 pages : _billustrations ; _c24 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
336			_astill image _bsti _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
520			_aBy using principles from a variety of scientific disciplines, Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework for human evolution that reveals an overarching purpose to our existence. Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence, that life has no fundamental meaning. We are merely the accumulation of tens of thousands of intricate molecular accidents. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of God. But is this true? With respect to our evolution, nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. We are pulled in different directions: selfishness and altruism, aggression and cooperation, lust and love. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence. This purpose, at least one of them, is to choose between the good and evil impulses that nature has created within us. Our life is a test. This is a truth, as old as history it seems, that has been espoused by so many of the world's religions. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature--including how evolution shaped us--are evidence for the existence of a God, not against it. Closely related to this is meaning. What is the meaning of life? Based on the scientific data, it would seem that one such meaning is to develop deep and abiding relationships. At least that is what most people report are the most meaningful aspects of their lives. This is a function of our evolution. It is how we were created.
650		0	_aEvolution _xReligious aspects. _9133505
650		0	_aMeaning (Philosophy) _9176147
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c380352 _d380352