This ninth volume of AutoRicerca contains a single contribution, written “by four hands” (the reference here is to the computer keyboard, not the fountain pen; it is therefore written as one plays the piano, with two hands). It is in fact a dialogue that took place over a period of about a year (between March 2013 and March 2014) on Facebook.

These conversations demonstrate the possibility of intellectually honest and constructive discussion (focused on ideas rather than people) even on a medium such as Facebook, which unfortunately rarely lends itself to exchanges of this nature.

The topics covered are many and varied, ranging from physics to metaphysics, scientific research to spirituality, religion to faith... The richness of the reflections is both a stimulus and a warning to approach the vast subject of life, its mechanics, and its possible meaning without facile simplifications.