Happy New Year everyone… almost. I’m actually going out dancing with my wife which, as a creaking 63-year-old, will be a trip in itself. Hopefully I can make it past 9:30 pm.
So, to mark this holiday, here’s a quick recap of what’s happened with Everyman’s Universe in 2025 and what we can expect for the coming trip around the Sun.
Remarkably, we went from 0 subscribers when I started back in July to now almost 4000 members of this community of inquiry and wonder. I am as startled by this as the next guy (as Groucho Marx once said “well move over and let me talk to the next guy”). It's a good beginning and I am grateful to everyone who has joined us.
The point of Everyman’s Universe is to explore science and its place in human culture. I am a practicing researcher who adores what science reveals about the world. I am, however, critical of certain kinds of philosophies (and that’s all they are) which try to speak in the name of science claiming to be “what science says”.
Science does not tell us that we are “nothing but” atoms bouncing around in a meaningless void. Science does not tell us that it is the only path to truth about being human. Science does not say we are computers made of meat and bio-robots made of bone and tissue. That view is, literally, a metaphysics and a bias some people have (which is fine, we all have our biases).
But I think it's a view that is not only outdated and doesn’t work anymore, it’s a perspective that’s also done real damage to the planet and our ability to shape a viable future where humans (and all life) can thrive.
So, this theme, along with lots of cool new results/topics in physics, astrophysics, astrobiology, exoplanets, the human future and the intersections of science and human spirituality are what you can expect going forward.
I do hope you will stay with me on the journey.
Just to close out, here a few notable “further readings” I wanted to leave you with in case you’re interested.
1) First is a piece on the Physics of Life I recently did for The Atlantic. Many of you got here because of it. I’ll note that the article struck a nerve. It’s been on the magazine’s “Most Popular” list for more than 15 days. I think that’s crazy for an kind-of abstract science article.
2) Here is a longer article on why we need an entirely different approach to understand Consciousness. It's a deeper dive into the topics covered in the Atlantic article. It was also one of Noema magazine’s top 10 articles for the year (you should read Noema, it’s awesome.
3) Here is a piece about “Young Men and Science” I did for the New York Times. I am really concerned about the ways the “Manosphere” distorts science for young men and it's a topic I will come back to. This one also went viral for the Times.
OK, that’s it. Have a great New Years and if you gonna party hard (as we used to say in Jersey back in the late 70s), get an Uber. That’s our plan.
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PS. Got a thought? Leave a comment on the website version of the post or email me at [email protected]
PSS. I was not able to have this post proof-read so please excuse any typos.
— Adam Frank 🚀
