An acclaimed biologist explains on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s television show how much of our existence is guided by chance.
Sean B. Carroll is an award-winning scientist, writer, educator and film producer. He’s the Andrew and Mary Balo and Nicholas and Susan Simon Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He’s also a professor emeritus of genetics and molecular biology at the University of Wisconsin. His many books include “The Serengeti Rules,” “Brave Genius,” “The Making of the Fittest,” and, most recently, “A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You.” Carroll shows how central the role of happenstance is to everyday existence. Tune in to hear the lively guest expound on how startling scientific discoveries over the past half century are revealing that we live in a world driven by chance, and that, like every other species, we humans are here by accident.
“How would people reconcile traditional theological ideas with chance?” Carroll asks “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “At a first level, the answer is not very well, but I think it’s a more interesting conversation to think about how people might wrestle with these worldviews. Certainly there’s going to be some folks who reject chance as completely unacceptable because they understand the threat to various doctrines.”
You can watch the entire interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel now. New shows go up every Thursday.
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Upcoming shows include interviews with Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece, and with New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, who will be speaking at FFRF’s annual convention in the fall. You can catch interviews from earlier this season and from previous seasons here, including with Gloria Steinem, Ron Reagan, author John Irving, actor John “Q” de Lancie and award-winning columnist Katha Pollitt.
Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers — your antidote to religion on Sunday morning!
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