Does science consider issues of meaning and purpose in the universe?
A. To be perfectly honest, no. Scientists think all the time about the meaning of their work, about the purpose of life, about the purpose of their own lives. I certainly do. But these questions, as important as they are, are not scientific questions. If I could solve the question of the meaning of my life by doing an experiment in the laboratory, I assure you I would rush off and do it right now. But these questions simply lie outside the purview of science. It doesn’t say they’re not important, it doesn’t say that any answer to these is necessarily wrong, but it does say that science cannot address it. It’s a reflection of the limitation of science.
