Have you ever had a pet rat?  I had three when I was growing up.  They were fun pets, really: active, friendly and cuddly, and adventurous.  The downside is that they do not live very long:  three years at most.

    So it was that my daughter, who loves animals, lost her pet rat recently.  She was quite devastated:  despite appearing to be in excellent health, he only lived two and a half years.  We thought he might beat all the odds and live for five years.  Alas, it was not to be.

    Those of us who have had pets, particularly mammalian ones, can testify to the hold they exert on us and how easy it is to become attached to them.  In many cases, such pets become like members of one's family, so when they pass on, we mourn, often deeply.

    We could debate for some time about why pets attach themselves to us.  I will only say this:  such attachment serves to underscore how incredibly personal we, and our mammalian friends are.  We are personal beings who live in a personal universe.

    Out of this comes my question:  if the cosmos began with impersonal matter, how did it ever become personal?