430 The Human Universe

In The Human Universe, a BBC show on ABC tv, physics professor Brian Cox delves deep into the mystery of how life arose on Earth and how much of a fluke it is we are here. I've alluded to that subject matter before in my blog 409 and blog 421. All this is Big Questions stuff … and a hobby of mine that is very dear to me.

The series is turning out to be the best science programs of late (admittedly I keep saying that about each new show that makes it to our tv screens, but bear with me) ... just because the subject matter is us, humans, and how we fit into the Big Picture, our existence and our origins.

Episode one is entitled Apeman To Spaceman, it's about the rise of consciousness two hundred and fifty thousand years ago; In episode two Why Are We Here? Cox offers very intriguing hypotheses to answer that very question ... but as a bonus he explains in very lucid terms that we can be quite certain there is not just our universe, but an infinite number of universes.

Don't miss these programs ... fortunately the ABC is very generous with their iView.

The shows do not disappear after just ten days ... as they do on SBS's On Demand.

Don't be in two minds here, folks: This is tv at its very best. Wednesdays, ABC, 20:30

I have essays on this and related subjects, i.e. COSMOS and THREE THOUSAND, in my book with no title, but instead three definitions for the term en.light.en.ment

Oh, one more thing: In episode two Brian Cox is visiting India, namely a school for Brahmin teachers. The young pupils chant the Vedas, namely a verse from the Rig Veda, four thousand year old texts that form the prime Hindu religious scriptures ... the chant translates to:

"The gods themselves are later than creation.

So who knows truly whence it has arisen?"

This alludes to the notion the universe was not created by the gods. In fact, it hints at a more scientific outlook on the creation of the universe, rather than a religious one.