In this ongoing online dialogue, Carter Phipps speaks with Robert Wright, contributing editor at The New Republic and at Slate.com, and author of Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny.

Always eager to tackle the most challenging—and fascinating—topics, Phipps and Wright dive deeply into this discussion about the evolution of religion, the meandering development of human morality, and the possible fate of civilization in the future.

Will the story of the creation and evolution of the universe itself—in which we are both product and participant—one day replace the core beliefs and icons of today's great religions, just as the singular God of monotheism replaced the pantheons of ancient Rome? And if our scientific understanding of evolution one day does becomes the fundamental spiritual image for all of humanity, would this lead to the birth of a global consciousness and a new form of morality on earth?

Wright and Phipps offer convincing arguments that the upward, if unpredictable, evolution of human culture—indeed, of our salvation as a civilization—will be largely determined by the moral development of the individual. And that has everything to do with our understanding of the universe, the world, and our vital individual and collective roles within it all.

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