December 17, 2018 - Blobs of Organized Mud, Eh?

Sean Carroll is a professor of molecular biology and genetics. He is also the

author of numerous books, including The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning,

and the Universe Itself.

That’s quite a broad sweep—the origins of life, the universe, and even meaning

itself?—all from one book, and especially from a guy who, as a molecular biologist,

probably spends a great deal of time looking at reality from underthrough a microscope.

No doubt, one can learn lots of fascinating things by peering into under a microscope,

but to extrapolate from there to the origin of the universe would require quite a leap of,

well, faith.

In his book, Dr. Carroll wrote: “We humans are blobs of organized mud, which

through the impersonal workings of nature’s patterns have developed the capacity to

contemplate and cherish and engage with the intimidating complexity of the world

around us.”

Blobs of organized mud, huh? If so, then he, too, would be an organized blob of

mud, and so how much credibility could we put in what a blob of mud—organized or

not—says about anything, especially about meaning? From one blob of organized mud