SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " died " 1,477 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
First ‘Entertainment Tonight’ Producer and Former King World and CNBC Exec Andy Friendly Dies at 74
Veteran TV exec and producer Andy Friendly, the first 'Entertainment Tonight' producer and former King World and CNBC exec, has died at 74.
Michael Reagan's death reverberates among Californians of both parties
Californians on both sides of the political aisle memorialized Michael Reagan, the son of former President Reagan. Michael died earlier this week.
Midwife, doctor dies during childbirth, reignites Black maternal health conversations in NC
Dr. Janell Green Smith advocated for Black people giving birth and just days into the new year, she died while giving birth to her first child.
Family seeking 2nd autopsy after Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody
The family of a Chicago business owner who died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking a second, private autopsy after the circumstances of his death remains a mystery, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
State health officials confirm fourth child death due to flu - Boston News, Weather, Sports
BOSTON (WHDH) - A fourth child has now died because of the flu in Massachusetts, according to state health officials. Two of those who diedRead More
4th child dies from flu in Mass., state health officials confirm - Boston News, Weather, Sports
BOSTON (WHDH) - A fourth child has now died because of the flu in Massachusetts, according to state health officials. Two of those who diedRead More
See moments from Doug LaMalfa's career in politics
Republican U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California has died, lawmakers confirmed on Jan. 6, 2026.
California GOP Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies at 65
Doug LaMalfa, a long-time Republican congressman from Northern Califorina, has died, House GOP leadership announced Tuesday. He was 65.
Flu surges in 45 states as doctor visits reach highest level in nearly 30 years
About 5,000 people have died of the flu so far this season, including 9 children, as the Trump administration pulls back on advice to get kids vaccinated.
Former Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman honored
Former Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman, who died in October 2020 at age 100, is selected for National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame
3 children have died of the flu in Mass. as health officials track surge in cases
Three children have died of flu-related illness in recent weeks as Massachusetts health officials warn of a spike in cases early in the season.
Sega co-founder David Rosen dies aged 95
Rosen, who led Sega from the 1960s into the 90s and who died on Christmas Day, was a hugely important figure in the history of arcade and home gaming
'Today' cohost Sheinelle Jones grieves new family loss just months after husband's death
'Today' cohost Sheinelle Jones shared that her grandmother died on New Year’s Eve at 96. The sad news comes just seven months after the death of the journalist's husband, Uche Ojeh, after a cancer battle.
Alaska Science Forum: A whale of a mammoth tale
The youngest mammoth fossil ever found in mainland Alaska is from a creature that died 13,000 years ago.
At 13, Entrepreneur Jack Daly Caddied To Learn Business Secrets
Jack Daly first learned about business on the golf course when he was a teenager—by making the most of his opportunities as a caddy.
Former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell dies at 92
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the former senator and US representative of Colorado known for his passionate advocacy of Native American issues, died Tuesday. He was 92.
Tatiana Schlossberg, environmental journalist and JFK’s granddaughter, dies at 35 after terminal cancer diagnosis
Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist who was a granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, died on Tuesday, her family announced. She was 35.
Giorgio Armani, Stanley Fischer Among Business Leaders Who Died in 2025
A city-enhancing “starchitect,” a savior of IBM, a revered fashion designer and the founding chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission were among the notable business and finance figures who died in 2025.
Remembering those Tampa Bay sports figures we lost in 2025
We reflect on the athletes and coaches who died at the prep, pro and college levels.
In Memoriam: All the tech that died in 2025
Join us in saying goodbye (or good riddance) to these apps, gadgets, and software.
Denny Hamlin's Father Dies, Mother Hospitalized After House Fire
NASCAR star driver Denny Hamlin’s father died and his mother remains hospitalized after a fire at their home Sunday night.
In memoriam: The sports figures, locally and nationally, we lost in 2025
A look back at the sports personalities who died over the last year.
The way these athletes died right in front of fans is genuinely tragic...I can't believe some were televised
The world of sports can be dangerous.
University of Melbourne vice-chancellor dies, aged 52
University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Emma Johnston has died from complications associated with cancer, aged 52.
Emma Johnston was a visionary scientist, environmentalist and leader, with an abiding hope for humanity
The University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor, who has died aged 52, was driven by a deep love of science and a desire to safeguard the planet’s future.
Brigitte Bardot, icon of French cinema, dies at 91
Brigitte Bardot, whose later years were marked by animal rights campaigns and far-right political sympathies, has died at the age of 91.
'Big Brother' Host Julie Chen Reveals Mickey Lee's Health Condition After Her Death
The Season 27 competitor died at 35 on Christmas Day.
2025 Unfiltered: Remembering those we lost in Colorado
Rod Bockenfeld Former Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, died on Feb. 13, 2025, at his home in Watkins. He was 69. Bockenfeld served in the Colorado House from 2019 to 2025, including on the Joint Budget Committee. He battled cancer during his final year and declined to run for a fourth term. Bockenfeld “led with integrity, […]
Before This Physicist Studied the Stars, He Was One
Brian Cox once toured as a keyboardist in major rock and pop bands. Now he’s a particle physicist on a new world tour with a dazzling show he designed in an era of science disinformation and denial.
Witnesses describe events leading up to deadly Christmas Eve shooting outside business near San Marco
After a man died on Christmas Eve in a shooting outside of a business on St. Augustine Road, several witnesses shared details with News4JAX about the moments leading up to the deadly confrontation.
Beloved social media dog Raffie dies from heart attack amid vicious assault
Beloved social media influencer dog Raffie of the Bundleofbullies TikTok account has died after a reported heart attack amid a vicious assault from another dog.
My husband died unexpectedly 6 years ago. I'm so grateful for the many holiday photos and videos I have of him.
After her husband died weeks after Christmas, a woman reflects on their last holiday together and why capturing everyday moments now matters.
Bucks County nursing home in fatal explosion has history of violations
The new owners of a Bristol nursing home where 2 died in an explosion is attempting to correct "longstanding" issues with meeting state standards.
Bart Story, Entertainment Research Executive at SAG-AFTRA and MarketCast, Dies at 63
Bart Story, a veteran entertainment research executive who worked at SAG-AFTRA and MarketCast, died on Tuesday. He was 63.
Bart Story Dies: Veteran Entertainment Research Executive Was 63
Bart Story, a veteran entertainment research executive best known for his work at MarketCast and SAG-AFTRA, has died. He was 63.
Bart Story Dies: Veteran Entertainment Research Executive Was 63
Bart Story, a veteran entertainment research executive best known for his work at MarketCast and SAG-AFTRA, has died. He was 63. Story died on December 23, 2025, in Los Angeles from complications related to metastatic urothelial carcinoma. The executive spent more than three decades helping studios and streamers better understand audiences. Since 2003, he served …
Santa Clarita resident and ‘Call of Duty’ creator Vince Zampella dies in crash
Vince Zampella, “Call of Duty” co-creator and Valencia resident, has died at the age of 55 in a fiery car crash on the Angeles Crest Highway. Respawn Entertainment, a video game […]
In Memoriam: Remembering those in politics, culture and media who died in 2025
Meet the Press NOW looks back at the icons in politics, culture and media who we lost in 2025.
Beloved sports reporter dies at 41 after fall from LA building
Australian sports reporter Duncan McKenzie-McHarg, who covered international tennis for Stan Sport, died Wednesday in Los Angeles at age 41.
Historical mysteries solved by science in 2025
Researchers studied fossils, well-preserved remains and even a single fingerprint to solve some of history’s long-standing mysteries this year.
2025 was the year Xbox died
The Xbox brand effectively died this year. But can it be resurrected as a PC platform?
Vince Zampella, 'Call of Duty' co-creator, dies after crash on Angeles Crest Highway
Vince Zampella, the video game developer who launched the 'Call of Duty' franchise and 'Apex Legends' outlet Respawn Entertainment with Jason West, has died.
Vince Zampella, Call of Duty co-creator, dies in California car crash
The influential video game developer died after his car crashed and caught fire on a highway in Los Angeles, US media report.
America’s oldest National Park Service ranger ever, who shared her own stories of life during WWII, dies
Betty Reid Soskin, who was the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger when she retired at age 100, has died. She was 104.
Twin Cities exercise business mogul Dick Enrico dies at 85
Dick Enrico, the man behind 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment, died earlier this month. He was 85 years old.
James Ransone, star of 'The Wire' and 'Sinister,' dies at 46
James Ransone, the prolific star of such series as 'The Wire' and films like 'Sinister' and 'The Black Phone,' has died by suicide at the age of 46.
Death of Elon sports legend Rich McGeorge
Richard “Rich” McGeorge ’72, one of Elon University’s most distinguished athletes and a cherished figure in both collegiate and professional football, died December 20 at the age of 77. He...
Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation'
A Bulgarian man from Chicago arrested during an immigration enforcement 'blitz' has died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Michigan private prison, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
Two NC governors, two parties and ‘mutual respect’: Jim Martin on the late Jim Hunt
Former Republican Gov. Jim Martin talked to The News & Observer about former Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, who died at 88.
Fort Smith business leader John Taylor has died - Talk Business & Politics
John Taylor, who built a successful career in accounting and investments and had a key role in the creation of the Fort Smith-based Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE), has...
Former NC Gov. Jim Hunt, a longtime, dominant figure in state politics, has died
Jim Hunt was elected to an unprecedented four terms as governor.
T. Rogers Wade, mentor and adviser to prominent Georgia politicians, has died
T. Rogers Wade mentored generations of young Georgians, like Attorney General Chris Carr, seeking traction in politics and the business world.
Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life
Melissa Hortman died in a shocking act of political violence. This is her story
Gil Gerard, ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’ star, dies at 82
Gil Gerard, the actor best known for playing sci-fi hero Buck Rogers, has died. He was 82.
Beloved referee who officiated youth sports for 30 years dies on court during basketball game
A beloved youth sports referee died on the court during a basketball game in Indiana.
College sports 'visionary' Neinas dies at age 93
Chuck Neinas, the onetime Big Eight commissioner whose media savvy and dealmaking helped turn college football into the multibillion-dollar business it is today, died Tuesday.
Nuno Loureiro, professor and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, dies at 47
Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor of nuclear science and engineering and of physics, has died at 47. A theoretical physicist and fusion scientist, and director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Loureiro studied complex problems at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe.
Nuno Loureiro, professor and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, dies at 47
Nuno Loureiro, an MIT professor of nuclear science and engineering and of physics, has died at 47. A theoretical physicist and fusion scientist, and director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Loureiro studied complex problems at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe.
MIT professor from Porturgal shot at home has died, police say
Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, a nuclear science and engineering professor was shot "multiple times" on Monday.
The Groundbreaking Political Legacy of Theodore Roosevelt
American presidents occasionally perform roles that extend well beyond the formal obligations of their office. Thomas Jefferson’s tenure (1801–1809) embodied the broader progress of antebellum sout…
Family of referee who died Friday touched by support, stories, memories
Longtime referee Jeff Tamarri died Friday while working a girls' basketball game at Monrovia. His family is appreciative of community support.
Rob Reiner's life in photos
Rob Reiner, one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation who directed movies such as “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally …” and “This Is Spinal Tap,” died Sunday
Hochul signs several bills into law on artificial intelligence regulations
One piece of legislation aims to stop artificial intelligence from being used to essentially recreate people who have died.
RIP, 'Dead Space'....Again (2008-2023)
Unless EA decides to sell off the 'Dead Space' IP to someone else, the sci-fi horror series has died a second death.
JIM CLOERN: The scientist and science I mourn
By Ariel Rubissow Okamoto A man died recently who was one of my heroes. Inside his big brain lay the secrets of San Francisco Bay. In one sentence he could explain the relationships between the tiny plants drifting aimlessly in the shallows, the muscular salmon leaping upstream, and the health of the planet. He had a warm smile, a curl to his hair, a ready chuckle. But I did not know this man well. For decades he ran a monthly data […]
Fernando Mendoza leads Indiana past Ohio State into CFP; Heisman case grows
After a violent early hit nearly silenced Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana's quarterback steadied the Hoosiers, stunned Ohio State and became the toast of the Heisman race.
41 People Who Almost Died Are Sharing How They Barely Survived, And It's Terrifying
"That night, I knew I was going to die. I called my mother to have a last conversation with her and then called the hospital."
My dad died unexpectedly. Picking up one of his hobbies has helped me feel more connected to him.
My dad died last year, and it still makes no sense to me. I've picked up his painting hobby, and it's created a tiny tether to feel connected to him.
Home health aide who admitted to taking $1.4 million from elderly man back in court
‘I still love Dr. Braida,’ Fatumata Jaiteh said of man who died in 2022
I moved my 88-year-old dad into my apartment complex. His apartment is visible from my window, so I can keep an eye on him.
Deirdre Catucci's father was lonely in his large house after his wife died. The daughter moved him into her apartment complex to help care for him.
Women’s Health Is Chronically Understudied and Underfunded. It’s Time for a Change
For millions of women, TikTok has become a doctor's office: Scroll through the app and you'll see endless videos about menopause, joint pain, hormone therapy – featuring no small amount of pseudoscience. Though misguided, this digital quest for medical knowledge is only a symptom of a larger issue:
Siena lacrosse coach Gleason, 41, dies after fall
Siena men's lacrosse coach Liam Gleason has died, the school announced Wednesday, three days after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall at his home. He was 41.
Doctors warn delaying hepatitis B shot for newborns could revive a deadly threat
As RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel ponders changing the hepatitis B vaccination schedule, some doctors recall past patients, including children, who died painful deaths before there was a vaccine.
China's top universities plan to roll out 'embodied intelligence' majors to fuel Beijing's robotics push
Seven Chinese universities plan to launch an "embodied intelligence" major as Beijing races to build a pipeline of robotics and AI talent.
Seattle’s younger college grads far more likely to have studied science
Among younger Seattle adults who earned a college degree, 64% majored in a science-related subject, a higher share than older generations, writes FYI Guy.
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.
‘Landman’ Season 2, Episode 3 Recap: Running on Empty
In the latest episode of ‘Landman,’ we discover that M-Tex’s financial stability might’ve died when Monty did.