The Meaning of Life, Here and Elsewhere

It's part of a traditional university experience--the late-night conversations about Big Ideas, the ones that settle all the world's problems.

Once mortgages, families, and other adult realities infiltrate our daily lives, most of us don't have time to debate Big Ideas anymore. Even (or especially?) in election years, we like to make our points without listening. But maybe we should make some space for those conversations again.

A website by a Thunder Bay writer gives people a chance to ponder some of the Biggest Ideas around--as a speaker and as "listener" or reader.

Maureen Arges Nadin recently launched "The Awakening" blog to start a conversation around the question, "When life is discovered elsewhere in the Universe, will faith and science collide or merge?"

On her site, she asks four questions (listed down the right-hand side) that serve as a great starting point. People of faith, and those who aren't part of a faith tradition, can share views on what it might mean when (and Maureen says "when," not "if") life is discovered elsewhere in the universe.

Maureen has several links with related content to provide some background and further reading--topics range from astrobiology to exoplanets, with new content added to the blog regularly.

So if recent developments in space exploration have you re-evaluating the role of humans and our place in the universe, check out this blog and add your voice to the conversation.