To solve this conundrum, Goodbrand relies on science, based on observation and evidence. He gives a brief but thorough overview of the formation of the universe and the development of biological life, rooting humans firmly in the cycle: “We are part of nature which is embedded in us as we are embedded in nature.” He then ties humans to what he calls the “arc of the cosmos”: “the elimination of matter” through the burning of energy—in other words, the unraveling of all life. This seeming paradox, that the point of life is to destroy life, in Goodbrand’s view, lies at the heart of human misery and conflict.
Goodbrand dedicates many pages to dismantling humanity’s view of itself as the pinnacle and point of life, saying our “self-centered exceptionalism” leads us to “cruelty and destructiveness.” Yet those traits, he notes, seem inevitable, as we follow our own ruthless survival instincts and therefore fulfill the cosmos’ larger aim of taking everything apart. Accordingly, Goodbrand doesn’t come up with a solution to life’s woes so much as propose a temporary fix: relative safety for the greatest number of people achieved through technology and adherence to scientific precepts, combined with a realistic acceptance of our fleeting place in a larger scheme that will end in universal extinction. It’s not the most optimistic place to end up, but for those readers with a hardy existentialist bent, it should prove enlightening.
Takeaway: Insightful, unsparing look at humanity in a universe hostile to life.
Comparable Titles: Marcelo Gleiser’s The Dawn of a Mindful Universe, Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
