Purpose
What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence
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Narrated by:
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Mike Lenz
About this listen
Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of God.
But is this true?
By integrating emerging principles from a variety of scientific disciplines—ranging from evolutionary biology to psychology—Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework of evolution that implies not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what this purpose is.
Nature seems to have endowed us with competing dispositions, what Wilkinson calls the dual potential of human nature. When we couple this with the observation that we possess a measure of free will, all this strongly implies there is a universal purpose to our existence.
Our life is a test. From a certain framework, these aspects of human nature—including how evolution shaped us—are evidence for the existence of a God, not against it.
What is the meaning of life? Based on the scientific data, it would seem that one such meaning is to develop deep and abiding relationships. This is a function of our evolution.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
Warren Buffett is often described as the greatest investor of all time. In Buffett's Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life award-winning professor John M. Longo sorts through the mountain of advice that Buffett has given over the years and distills it down into 100 easy-to-understand lessons. Everything young (and old!) people need to know about finance is in this book. From the different types of bank accounts to the basics of investing and risk management, this book teaches listeners how to live healthy financial lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The content!
- By KATIE TRAN on 07-21-24
By: John M. Longo, and others
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The Longest Minute
- The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906
- By: Matthew J. Davenport
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck San Francisco, catching most of the city asleep. For approximately forty-eight seconds, shock waves buckled streets, shattered water mains, collapsed buildings, crushed hundreds of residents to death, and trapped many alive. Matthew Davenport draws on letters, diaries, unpublished memoirs, and previously unearthed archival records, as well as interviews with engineers and geologists, to combine history and science to tell the dramatic true story of one of the greatest disasters in American history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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History told from those who survived
- By BamaState on 12-26-23
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Active Measures
- The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare
- By: Thomas Rid
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 394
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 317
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 316
We live in the age of disinformation - of organized deception. Spy agencies pour vast resources into hacking, leaking, and forging data, often with the goal of weakening the very foundation of liberal democracy: trust in facts. Thomas Rid, a renowned expert on technology and national security, was one of the first to sound the alarm, even before the 2016 election. But this is not new. The story of modern disinformation begins with the clash between communism and capitalism after the Russian Revolution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Grounding book for COVID 19 Media
- By fjness on 05-12-20
By: Thomas Rid
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The Craft
- How the Freemasons Made the Modern World
- By: John Dickie
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 208
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
Founded in London in 1717 as a way of binding men in fellowship, Freemasonry proved so addictive that within two decades it had spread across the globe. Masonic influence became pervasive. Under George Washington, the Craft became a creed for the new American nation. Masonic networks held the British empire together. Under Napoleon, the Craft became a tool of authoritarianism and then a cover for revolutionary conspiracy. Both the Mormon Church and the Sicilian mafia owe their origins to Freemasonry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The best book about Freemasonry out there.
- By Isaac Pea on 02-19-21
By: John Dickie
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Around the World in Eighty Games
- From Tarot to Tic-Tac-Toe, Catan to Chutes and Ladders, a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games
- By: Marcus du Sautoy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Spanning millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures, Around the World in Eighty Games gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Renowned mathematician Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding math can help us play games better, and how both math and games are integral to human psychology and culture.
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4 out of 5 stars
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a very interesting one
- By Francisco on 06-09-24
By: Marcus du Sautoy
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The Genesis Book
- The Story of the People and Projects That Inspired Bitcoin
- By: Aaron van Wirdum
- Narrated by: Christian Neale
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Bitcoin did not appear out of nowhere. For decades prior to Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention, a diverse group of computer scientists, privacy activists, and heterodox economists tried to create a digital form of money that could operate independently of government control. The Genesis Book tells the story of the people and projects that inspired the invention of the world’s first successful peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very informative!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-24-25
By: Aaron van Wirdum
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Our Fragile Moment
- How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis
- By: Michael E. Mann
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
The conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are fragile, incredibly so. Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred innovation. But there’s a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability within which human civilization remains viable. And our survival depends on conditions remaining within that range. In this book, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann will arm listeners with the knowledge necessary to appreciate the gravity of the unfolding climate crisis.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding
- By R.C. Olson on 12-30-24
By: Michael E. Mann
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One Way Back
- A Memoir
- By: Christine Blasey Ford
- Narrated by: Christine Blasey Ford
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 137
On September 27, 2018, Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee which was considering the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. She described an alleged sexual assault by the Supreme Court nominee that took place at a high school party in the 1980s. Her words and courage on that day provided some of the most credible and unforgettable testimony our country has ever witnessed. In One Way Back, Ford recounts the months she spent trying to get information into the right hands without exposing herself and her family to backlash.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Waste of my good money..
- By william Story on 01-30-25
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The Burning Shore
- How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America
- By: Ed Offley
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 356
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 322
On June 15, 1942, as thousands of vacationers lounged in the sun on Virginia Beach, a massive fireball erupted from a convoy of oil tankers steaming into Chesapeake Bay. By the next day, three ships lay at the bottom of the channel, victims of Lieutenant-Commander Horst Degen and his crew on the German submarine U-701. In The Burning Shore, acclaimed military reporter Ed Offley presents a thrilling account of Degen's rampage along the American coast and of US Lieutenant Harry J. Kane's quest to bring him down.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ugh, Perhaps a Second Listen is Required?
- By Matthew on 09-05-15
By: Ed Offley
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A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth
- The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America
- By: James Tejani
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
The Port of Los Angeles is all around us. Objects we use on a daily basis pass through it: furniture, apparel, electronics, automobiles, and much more. Yet despite its centrality to our world, the port and the story of its making have been neglected in histories of the United States. In A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth, historian James Tejani corrects that significant omission, charting the port's rise out of the mud and salt marsh of San Pedro estuary.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Understanding hindered by the reader
- By Ronald on 04-15-25
By: James Tejani
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The Treeline
- The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth
- By: Ben Rawlence
- Narrated by: Jamie Parker
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story5 out of 5 stars 56
For the last 50 years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, to meet the scientists, residents, and trees confronting huge geological changes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A surprising find
- By BearheartRaven on 02-23-22
By: Ben Rawlence
What listeners say about Purpose
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 03-17-25
Remarkably Well Written
I was expecting a book more focused on biological concepts in understanding evolution and their relationship to God and the creation. This book includes some that but it includes much more. Topics include biology, chemistry, physics, philosophy, sociology, psychology, behavioral science......did I get them all? There are quotes from great scientists and great thinkers from the past to the present. The ideas considered and discussed are complex but the writer presents things in an understandable fashion. When definitions are needed to help the reader understand some terms that may be unfamiliar the author gives clear definitions. This is a well written book with some great thought that went into it.
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