This is for encouragement, ideas, and support for people going through a faith transition no matter where you hope to end up. This is also the place to laugh, cry, and love together.
Here's a quote from the link that describes the book:
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on Higgs bosons and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview?
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Carroll shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us. Our lives are dwarfed like never before by the immensity of space and time, but they are redeemed by our capacity to comprehend it and give it meaning.
This sounds like something worth reading. I have added to to my Goodreads list.
Typically when a book about science or philosophy delves into the meaning of life, I find the discussion fun to read but ultimately unsatisfying. I think my issue might be that I am used to a faith tradition that actually gives life meaning (or so it seems), while naturalistic theories (as I understand them) merely allow for the possibility of things being meaningful if you "choose to believe" that they are.
Obviously I can't comment on the approach taken in this particular book just yet, but I appreciate the recommendation.
I recently finished this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Carroll definitely gave me some new ways of looking at some of the things that I think about a lot.
Although his writing is clear, well-organized, and not overly-technical, the range of topics covered by this book is a little overwhelming. I feel as if I need to revisit individual chapters to be sure that I remember things that I found insightful and to decide what I really think of the ideas.
I second this recommendation. Although Carroll covers a lot of territory, it is fairly accessible to a non-scientist. I will need to read it a few more times though before it will totally make sense.
If you liked this, you might look into the Ask Science Mike podcast. Mike McHargue was an Evangelical Christian who became atheist, then found God again In the Waves. That's the name of his book. So, a scientific perspective with a nod to the possibility of God.
