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Patriots 2026 Schedule: Opponents List Set After Week 18 Results
The Patriots had a historically easy schedule this season. And though much can change between now and next September, at first glance, New England could be in for a far tougher road in 2026. With Week 18 in the books, the Patriots’ slate of opponents for next season has been finalized. As a division winner, […]
Computer model locks in Dolphins vs. Patriots picks, score prediction
How to bet Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots in NFL Week 18
Computer model locks in Dolphins vs. Patriots picks, score prediction
How to bet Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots in NFL Week 18
Former Patriots Fan-Favorite Among Scouts Prepping For New England
The New England Patriots are hosting some special guests at Gillette Stadium. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that the seven teams vying for playoff spots in the AFC will have scouts in attendance for Sunday’s regular season finale with the Miami Dolphins. Shane Vereen — who was with the organization during its win in Super Bowl […]
Dolphins vs. Patriots previewing Week 18 with Pats Pulpit
The Miami Dolphins visit the New England Patriots in Week 18 as the 2025 NFL regular season closes. We get a closer look at the Patriots with a Pats Pulpit insider.
Lake Chelan Health Hospital Welcomes First Baby of the New Year - Lake Chelan News and Information
Taylor Owyn Denney was born on New Year's Day information released, pictured are Kaitlynn and Daytin Denney with baby Taylor alongside Juliana England, OB Labor and Delivery nurse and manager While many in the community were still sleeping in after ringing in the New Year, the Labor and Delivery team at Lake Chelan Health Hospital was already
‘This is reckless': Local politicians react to U.S. attacking Venezuela, capturing president
New England politicians are reacting to Trump’s announcement that the U.S. conducted a “large-scale strike” on Venezuela, capturing Nicolás Maduro.
Dolphins-Patriots Preview
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) The New England Patriots' regular-season finale will be the biggest game of their season. It has been preceded by a challenging week off the field.
How to Watch Patriots vs. Dolphins: Time, TV Channel and Live Stream
Learn which TV channel or how to live stream the NFL Week 18 New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins game, Sunday, Jan. 4.
Bird flu cases affect one Arkansas duck hunter’s business
ENGLAND, Ark. – Duck hunting season started at the end of November in Arkansas with hunters looking forward to a successful season. When the season first kicked off news crews went out to England t…
Khawaja to retire after fifth Ashes Test
Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.
Children from struggling families to be offered jabs at home
The scheme is being tested in some areas of England as part of a government plan to prioritise children's health.
Christian Barmore faces domestic assault charge, Patriots release statement
Barmore is the second standout New England player to face criminal charges in the past two days
NHS under ‘extraordinary pressure’ as amber cold alerts issued for all England
Hospitals brace for new year surge in sick patients as temperatures plummet and 95% of beds are full
New England Patriots WR Stefon Diggs charged with assault, strangulation
Diggs' lawyer said Tuesday that the receiver has reached an agreement on a financial settlement with the alleged victim
Jobs can be saved in Sydney Ashes Test
There are no dead rubbers in the Ashes and the difference between 4-1 or 3-2 could be significant for both England and Australia, writes Glenn McGrath.
Cold weather to ring in New Year as amber health alerts issued
Temperatures will fall to lows of -4C in the North West of England, with snow expected in some areas.
‘Rise in deaths’ predicted as amber cold health alerts issued in northern England
UKHSA warns vulnerable and elderly people may be at risk with temperatures to drop severely overnight
Patriots Wire staff predictions for Patriots-Jets Week 17 game
The Patriots Wire staff make their final predictions for Sunday's Week 17 game between the Patriots and Jets.
'Silly' to change England management
Joe Root says the England players are “absolutely committed” to the team’s management and it would be “silly” to make changes following the Ashes series defeat.
The Ashes: MCG curator Matthew Fox in 'state of shock' over two-day Test
Melbourne Cricket Ground head curator Matthew Page says he was in a “state of shock” during England’s two-day defeat of Australia in the Boxing Day Test.
Previewing the New York Jets’ opposition: New England Patriots
The Jets are home to take on the New England Patriots on Sunday
‘Bad for business’: Cricket Australia facing £5m loss after two-day Test at MCG
England’s two-day win in the Boxing Day Test is set to deliver a huge financial hit to Australian cricket that could reach a reported £5m
'Has a touch of genius'
Chief cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt marks the performances of the Australia and England teams after the fourth Test in Melbourne.
How to Watch Jets vs. Patriots: Time, TV Channel and Live Stream
Learn which TV channel or how to live stream the NFL Week 17 New York Jets and New England Patriots game, Sunday, Dec. 28.
Manchester United's Amir Ibragimov & MMA's Ibragim Ibragimov dream
The Ibragimov family moved from Dagestan to England with their sights on university - but they are excelling in sport instead.
England rolled for 110 on chaotic day in Melbourne
England's Ashes tour teeters on another crisis as they are bowled out for 110 on an almost farcical first day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Packers clinch NFL playoff spot as Lions lose to Vikings
The Green Bay Packers advanced to the NFL playoffs on Thursday without stepping onto the field, clinching a post-season berth when the Detroit Lions lost 23-10 at Minnesota.AFC teams that have clinched post-season berths are dDenver, New England, Denver, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Los Angeles Chargers.
Patriots Clinching Scenarios For Week 17
The New England Patriots have already clinched a spot in the playoffs, but they can clinch the AFC East in Week 17. Clinching the division would guarantee a home playoff game. The Patriots can clinch in two ways, but not with a loss. They can clinch the division with a win and a Buffalo Bills […]
Why one long walk may be better than many short ones
How you walk may matter just as much as how much you walk. A large UK study tracking more than 33,000 low-activity adults found that people who grouped their daily steps into longer, uninterrupted walks had dramatically lower risks of early death and heart disease than those who moved in short, scattered bursts.
Maldon's Zimbabwe striker Bonne set for Salah Afcon tie
Macauley Bonne plays for Maldon & Tiptree in England's eighth tier, but is going to Afcon with Zimbabwe.
Patriots vs. Ravens: Drake Maye rallies New England from 11-point deficit in fourth quarter to clinch playoff berth
Maye had 380 yards and two touchdowns. Whether or not Maye wins the MVP award this season, it was certainly his MVP moment.
NFL DFS picks, Ravens vs. Patriots: Daily Fantasy lineup advice for 'Sunday Night Football'
Daily Fantasy multimillionaire Mike McClure reveals his daily Fantasy football picks for Baltimore vs. New England on 'SNF'
Scottish Open: Chris Wakelin defeats Chang Bingyu in final to win title
England's Chris Wakelin wins eight frames in a row on his way to securing the Scottish Open title with a 9-2 victory over Chang Bingyu in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Sunday Night Football: How to watch the New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens game tonight
English voters scatter from the center, strengthening extremes
England appears to be on the edge of a shift away from its traditional Labour-Conservative axis, to more radical parties such as Reform UK and the Greens.
Prisco's Week 16 NFL picks: Patriots vs. Ravens prediction and best bets
Pete Prisco reveals all of his Week 16 picks, including New England losing its second straight game.
Kildunne scores superb solo try as Quins beat Bristol
England star - and BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 runner-up - Ellie Kildunne scores a sensational solo try as Harlequins beat Bristol Bears at Allianz Stadium.
Patriots down leading tackler vs. Ravens
The New England Patriots enter Week 16 without leading tackler Robert Spillane as team prepares for a huge road matchup vs. Ravens.
Best player? Surprise package? Review of WSL so far
Former England internationals Ellen White and Fara Williams review the Women's Super League season so far as we head into a winter break.
The Ashes: Travis Head century pushes England closer to defeat
England are pushed towards the precipice of the fastest Ashes series defeat in more than 100 years as a Travis Head century maintains Australia's grip on the third Test in Adelaide.
Apple TV teases new horror-comedy series set in New England
The horror-comedy series is about a supposedly cursed small island community. Here's what we know about it.
Bank of England expected to announce pre-Christmas interest rate cut today
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Patriots Wednesday Week 16 injury report: Multiple starters out
Multiple starters were listed as non-participants at the Patriots' practice on Wednesday, ahead of their Week 16 showdown with the Ravens.
Beachy Head Woman may be ‘local girl from Eastbourne’, say scientists
Exclusive: DNA advances show Roman-era skeleton, once hailed as first black Briton, came from southern England
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots Week 15 snap counts
The Buffalo Bills regrouped at halftime to claim a key win over the New England Patriots in Week 15.
Famous phallic tapestry may have entertained monks during meals
The 770-pound Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
'Scary' if Foden still to improve
Former England forward Theo Walcott says that if there is "a lot more to come" for Manchester City's Phil Foden then it could be "scary". Boss Pep Guardiola was critical of Foden in his post-match interview with Match of the Day after their 3-0 win over Crystal Palace and Foden agreed with his manager in his own response to the game. "It was constructive criticism I felt," Walcott said.
NFL scores: Kansas City Chiefs eliminated from playoff contention as Buffalo Bills beat New England Patriots in thriller
Kansas City Chiefs to miss NFL playoffs for first time since 2014 season following defeat to Los Angeles Chargers; Patrick Mahomes exits the game injured in the fourth quarter; Buffalo Bills meanwhile come from behind to beat New England Patriots to keep division title hopes alive
Computer model locks in Bills vs. Patriots picks, score prediction
How to bet Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots in NFL Week 15 action on CBS and Paramount+
Computer model locks in Bills vs. Patriots picks, score prediction
How to bet Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots in NFL Week 15 action on CBS and Paramount+
Scoring metrics revealing between Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots
Critics of the New England Patriots forget one thing: Winning the games you should isn’t as easy as it sounds.
'There's a fear': How Bills fans are reacting to Patriots' resurgence with Maye
Has the AFC East's balance of power already shifted back to the Patriots? NFL insider Tyler Dunne explains how Bills fans are feeling about New England's rise.
Bills-Patriots Preview
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) There was a time in the not-too-distant past when it was a yearly occurrence for the New England Patriots to win the AFC East and go to the playoffs.
Revived Patriots face Bills test in hunt for playoffs
High-flying New England face a mouth-watering test against Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills Sunday, seeking a win over their AFC East rivals that would secure the Patriots a playoff berth and the divisional title.They face a mountain to climb against their divisional rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, who sit three wins ahead in the AFC West.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year: England stars and 2025 champions nominated
England teammates Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton are up against one another for BBC Sports Personality of the Year on a shortlist that also includes Lando Norris and Rory McIlroy.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year: England stars and 2025 champions nominated
England teammates Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton are up against one another for BBC Sports Personality of the Year on a shortlist that also includes Lando Norris and Rory McIlroy.
Sports Personality of the Year 2025: Lionesses square off on six-strong shortlist
England teammates Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton are up against one another for BBC Sports Personality of the Year on a shortlist that also includes Lando Norris, Rory McIlroy, Luke Littler and Ellie Kildunne.
Social media and ADHD diagnosis, new mpox strain in England and early firestarters
Science editor Ian Sample sits down with co-host Madeleine Finlay to discuss three eye-catching stories from the week
Buffalo Bills fan survey: Week 15
Do the Buffalo Bills have what it takes to defeat the New England Patriots in Week 15, and the AFC in general, later on?
Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds
LONDON (AP) — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France
Humans were lighting fires from scratch a lot earlier than previously thought
A 400,000-year-old tinderbox is found in eastern England
Sledged on the beach - England's break in Noosa
England can not escape Australian sledging on their break from the Ashes series in the beach town of Noosa.
Tom Brady's Week 14 Power Rankings 🚨
Tom Brady lists his top 10 teams for Week 14 which include the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers and more!
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support
Experts warn of dangers as England and Wales study shows 13- to 17-year-olds consulting AI amid long waiting lists for services
Mike Vrabel’s big-picture injury update as the Patriots come out of the bye week
Mike Vrabel shared an update on the New England Patriots’ current injury situation ahead of the team’s first practice of the week on Monday.
NH's Business: Granite State facing shortage of nurses
Registered nurse Carlene Ferrier talks about the impact of the shortage after a report found that New Hampshire has the most open nursing jobs per capita than any other New England state.
I'm a lifelong Connecticut local — these are the absolute best places to visit in the state during the winter
My favorite places in Connecticut to visit during the winter season include dreamy New England bed and breakfasts, hidden-gem cafés, and more.
Don’t exploit Christianity for populist politics, church leader warns Tommy Robinson
Church of England confronts far-right appropriation of Christianity to push anti-migrant rhetoric - as Tommy Robinson plans mass Christmas event on Whitehall
Ashes player ratings: Who may be wilting under the pressure?
Chief cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt marks the performances of the Australia and England teams after the second Test in Brisbane.
The Ashes 2025: England needed to show 'fight'
England failed to show fight in the final session of the third day of the Ashes Test, said former captain Michael Vaughan.
'Life being stressful is not an illness' - GPs on mental health over-diagnosis
Hundreds of GPs in England tell the BBC they are also worried about a lack of help for patients.
'Life being stressful is not an illness' - GPs on mental health over-diagnosis
Hundreds of GPs in England tell the BBC they are also worried about a lack of help for patients.
2026 World Cup draw: England and Scotland learn group stage opponents for tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico
2026 World Cup co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico and takes place from June 11 to July 19; biggest-ever World Cup sees 48 teams competing across 104 matches; nations will find out venues and kick-off times for their games on Saturday at 5pm UK time, when FIFA will unveil match schedule
2026 World Cup: When will England and Scotland discover venues?
England and Scotland will know their World Cup opponents on Friday, but there will be a wait to discover where they will play.
No 10 to delay four England mayoral elections amid accusations of ‘cancelling democracy’
Ministers will argue that four newly created mayoralties need more time to complete reorganisation
A dozen former FDA commissioners condemn plan to tighten vaccine approvals
In a New England Journal of Medicine article, the former FDA commissioners wrote they were “deeply concerned” by the top vaccine regulator’s approach to raising the bar for approvals.
Rugby World Cup 2027 draw: Englaned and Wales paired together
England and Wales are paired up in the pool stages at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with Scotland and Ireland also drawn together.
Laura Woods: TV presenter 'taken ill' during England coverage
Presenter Laura Woods appears to faint while leading the coverage of England's friendly against Ghana on Tuesday.
Drake Maye, 'aggressive' Patriots pummel Giants for 10th straight win
Drake Maye tossed two touchdowns and the New England Patriots out-gained the New York Giants by more than 150 yards to earn their 10th straight win.
AI valuations heighten risk of ‘sharp correction’ in stock markets, Bank of England warns
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the Bank of England releases its Financial Stability Report
I kept working as an RN even after my husband had made more than $30 million in the NFL. It gave me a sense of purpose.
Parker Henry reflects on settling in New England, raising her kids, and navigating the uncertainty that comes with her husband Hunter Henry's NFL career.
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
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