An enriching, immersive experience for anyone interested in exploring the foundation of life.
In this dense but thought-provoking treatise, Porter argues in support of a provocative, refreshing assertion: The mysteries of physics and the cosmos are “inherently simpler than biology.”
Publishers and cable TV routinely disseminate dramatic theories about black holes, string theory and multiverses, but Porter reminds readers that any “unstinting scrutiny of living phenomena unveils a stupendous hyper-complexity that beggars human understanding.” Throughout his discussion, which he relates in a sometimes demanding style, Porter reviews the divisive debate sparked by questions about life, Darwin’s theory of evolution, creationism and “intelligent design.” He faults advocates on all sides for “ingrained obstinacy,” but Porter defends Darwin to the extent that the scientist simply wrote down what he “parsed from the Book of Nature” while acknowledging that he didn’t have any explanation for some phenomena such as instincts. To this day, our knowledge of evolution remains “an outpost on the fringe of a wilderness,” Porter says, although it’s at least “possible to describe how stars may have evolved from clouds of hydrogen.” Spicing up the narrative are eye-opening examples of animal and insect behaviors, along with occasional references to Shakespeare and popular culture. For example, explaining an astounding animal adaptation by saying “this phenomenon was ‘selected’ ” is, Porter says, like explaining the Beatles’ success by saying “they were likewise chosen by the favor of popular opinion.” The “intelligent design” hypothesis is just about as “meaningful” as the Beatles analysis, Porter wryly observes, pointing out that “intelligent design” advocates who “[conflate] faith and science…would have us believe them to be exceptionally acquainted with the mind of God.” However, as Porter implies in his book’s title, he believes there to be some sort of force at work in everything encompassed by the universe, and “if some innate Divinity…resides in every atom and every cell, the poetry of life may have been written not by a mind external or prior to Creation…but instead by Nature herself.”
An enriching, immersive experience for anyone interested in exploring the foundation of life.Pub Date: June 11, 2010
ISBN: 978-1450229531
Page Count: 348
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.
Lessons about life from those preparing to die.
A longtime hospice chaplain, Egan (Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago, 2004) shares what she has learned through the stories of those nearing death. She notices that for every life, there are shared stories of heartbreak, pain, guilt, fear, and regret. “Every one of us will go through things that destroy our inner compass and pull meaning out from under us,” she writes. “Everyone who does not die young will go through some sort of spiritual crisis.” The author is also straightforward in noting that through her experiences with the brokenness of others, and in trying to assist in that brokenness, she has found healing for herself. Several years ago, during a C-section, Egan suffered a bad reaction to the anesthesia, leading to months of psychotic disorders and years of recovery. The experience left her with tremendous emotional pain and latent feelings of shame, regret, and anger. However, with each patient she helped, the author found herself better understanding her own past. Despite her role as a chaplain, Egan notes that she rarely discussed God or religious subjects with her patients. Mainly, when people could talk at all, they discussed their families, “because that is how we talk about God. That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives.” It is through families, Egan began to realize, that “we find meaning, and this is where our purpose becomes clear.” The author’s anecdotes are often thought-provoking combinations of sublime humor and tragic pathos. She is not afraid to point out times where she made mistakes, even downright failures, in the course of her work. However, the nature of her work means “living in the gray,” where right and wrong answers are often hard to identify.
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59463-481-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
