Each sermon gives a poetic introduction to a field of knowledge that has something to say about what we are, in the following order.
- Adrift in Space and Time – Astrophysics
- The Games of Entropy – Molecular Biology
- One of Us – Evolutionary Biology
- The Love that guides Humanity – Biological Anthropology
- The Signal and the Voice – Cultural Anthropology
- United in the Quest for Truth – Cognitive Science
- The Universe Machine – Philosophy
They are connected in an arrangement loosely inspired by the Open Systems Interaction model of communication systems:
- Physical layer – The physical atoms that everything runs on.
- Data link layer – The self-replicating patterns of links between atoms.
- Network layer – The network of relations between all life on Earth.
- Transport layer – The relationships and exchanges between us.
- Session layer – The dialogues between individuals that give rise to culture.
- Presentation layer – The mental representations that give rise to the mind.
- Application layer – The relationship of reason and reality.
Each follows logically from the previous one and each of them has to be present in order for the whole to come together as it does.