The place of humans in the cosmos was dramatically changed with the Copernican Revolution, and current science indicates that, more likely than not, there are other intelligent civilizations in the Universe. If we finally discover them or their technology, what impact might that have on society, and in particular the religious systems of the world? In Subject 11 of our Course 0 talk series, Dr. Aaron Adair discusses how we might determine if we have cosmic neighbors, what impact that discovery might have, and how it proves to be a challenge to both theologians and the laity.

WHEN: Thursday, 2023/APR/13, 6pm ET
WHERE: 3-333 (3rd Floor, 33 Massachusetts Ave, https://whereis.mit.edu/?go=3 )

Free and open to the public. Presentation followed by audience Q&A. Free refreshments will be served after. The event will be photographed, recorded, and streamed.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/793783634939567/
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQRibmybzLA

About our speaker:
Dr. Aaron Adair is a lead data scientist in the defense sector, and a research affiliate at MIT. His physics research focuses on physical intuitions and computational methods to describe those concepts. He has previously worked at the SETI Institute, using radio telescopes to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and at CERN, preparing equipment for the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider. He is also a scholar of the Bible and of the history of science and religion. He has published on the attempts to explain the miraculous claims of the birth story of Jesus, the symbolism of the Book of Revelation, and the production of myths in the Greco-Roman period. He has presented his work internationally at the Society of Biblical Literature and at the University of Groningen. Dr. Adair has taught both high school and college classes, including at Babson and Merrimack College in Massachusetts. He is the author of “The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View”, has contributed chapters to books on both Christianity and Islam in science, and his most recent book is “Aliens and Religion: Where Two Worlds Collide”, co-authored with Jonathan MS Pearce. He lives in the greater Boston area with his wife, Janice, and their cat, Venus.

Speaker links
Website: https://draaronadair.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adair_aaron
Blog: https://gilgamesh42.wordpress.com/