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Wimborne U3A

“Our generation - the U3A generation - has lived through the greatest revolution in human understanding of the universe we live in. This is in terms of cosmology, physics, biology etc. We have moved in the last fifty years from the idea of a universe to a multiverse. We have witnessed the first man in space and the landing on the Moon.

We are the first generation to become aware that the long term fate of our species and all other life on the planet lies in our hands due to the impact on our environment of technology and the blind adherence to the doctrine of continued economic growth.

Welcome to the Anthropocene - the term given to man’s dominance of the natural world.

At a time when humankind needs some moral anchor to cling to in order for him to steer his way through these problems, traditional religion is in decline.

So, how do we find some way to navigate our way in a universe vast beyond comprehension wherein there seems to be little space for the supernatural and where all the certainties that seemed so clear to earlier generations are evaporating? This ‘shaking of the foundations’ might well extend, before you and I depart this mortal coil to know that we are not alone in the universe. NASA predicts that we will know of the existence of extra-terrestrial civilisation(s) by 2025.

The purpose of this course, which will be extremely wide in content and will cause the ‘little grey cells’ to ache (for this I make no apology) will embrace the technique of philosophical analysis to attempt to try and make sense of a world in which our common sense of reality, is not alas, what we think it is. I cannot assure you of answers, but perhaps we can ask the right questions?”