Look, Up in the Sky, It's a Feeling in Inconsequence

Here's a story I did for the Enquirer that ran today. A Thomas More College physics professor named Terry Flesch is giving monthly astronomy lectures to the public. The Enquirer ran it with the head line of Subject: The Universe; Audience: Everyman. The photo - seen here - was nice. Some thought was put into it. I don't think Meggan has taken photos for many of my stories but the ones she has are pretty good.

A final paragraph the editors cut:

“I ask my students to think about what, scientifically, makes us humans unique. "Immortal souls" does not count. Not scientifically provable,” said Flesch. “When I was a kid, the answer to that question was sometimes "Humans use tools" or "Humans have language". We now know that neither of those statements apply only to Homo Sapiens. Today, we answer that question with the statement that, as far as we are aware, humans are the only bits of cosmic matter that contemplate how they themselves fit into the context of the Universe. Astronomy certainly provides us with an avenue for this journey of self-discovery.”

I had never thought of it that way and I'm sure it could lead to a great pot filled dorm room discussion. Man, where's all nothing. We're made up of nothing. We're talking billions of years man. It just doesn't matter if my grades suck or if I don't get some corporate job or if I (gulp) ask out your sister. It just doesn't matter.

Stay You.
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