The physical sciences do not digest the notions of intention, purpose and choice well. Yet the physical realities created by intention, purpose and choice are just as concrete and real as the realities resulting from impersonal "natural" processes. Something as simple as a pencil cannot be reasonably explained by the scientific method except by defaulting to the idea of "intelligence". However, "intelligence" is not a well defined concept. There is no generally accepted objective definition of intelligence. Intelligence is simply a quality that someone or something presumed to have it can recognize in someone or something else. This is the best that science can do.
For this reason this book disparages arguments based on intelligent design. At the same time, the author holds that there is a metaphysical reality that is beyond our current scientific methodology. He calls this metaphysical reality "mind".
Mind is described as a "force" or agency which can cause otherwise highly improbable events. The transformation of matter from the ground into a thermonuclear bomb is not something that is likely to happen by chance. This agency or force of mind is an emergent property of the evolving cosmos. It happens that mind, in its most evolved state, resides only in human brains, at least as far as we know. Perhaps extra-terrestrial intelligence exists, perhaps not. Regardless, it is becoming apparent that mind may not always exist only as a property of human brains. There is every reason to believe that what we call artificial intelligence will someday far surpass our brains in the scope and scale of creating highly improbable events. This the reality beyond science. What are limits of mind in the evolving cosmos? The author suggests a most outrageous answer.
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