Reading The Big Picture: Part Two
In part six of The Big Picture physicist Sean Carroll completes his skillful journey from the molecular basis of the cosmos to the inherent possibilities for human caring for each other and for our world. It turns out that this very real (but emergent) human phenomenon is something built into the mechanics of physics finding diverse expression in animal form. "In human terms, the dynamic nature of life manifests itself as desire. There is always something we want, even if what we want is to break free of the bonds of desire. That's not a sustainable goal; to stay alive, we have to eat, drink, breathe, metabolize, and generally continue to ride the wave of increasing entropy. "Desire has a bad reputation in certain circles, but that's a bum rap. Curiosity is a form of desire; so are helpfulness and artistic drive. Desire is an aspect of caring: about ourselves, about other people, about what happens to the world. "People are not inanimate rocks, accept