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Amazon explores cutting ties with USPS, building its own delivery network
Amazon looks into expanding its nationwide delivery network and giving up its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
Anderson leads Xavier against Cincinnati after 28-point game
Xavier hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats after Roddie Anderson III scored 28 points in Xavier's 96-74 victory against the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash
Here are 58 Washington County high school winter sports girls to watch
Dozens of talented Washington County high school athletes are returning to the hardcourts, the mats and the track. Here are 58 girls to watch.
Colombia’s Political Elite Is Embracing China Ahead of Elections
More and more lawmakers from the South American nation are visiting Beijing instead of Washington as Trump and Petro trade barbs.
Sonny Milano with a Goal vs. San Jose Sharks
Sonny Milano (Washington Capitals) with a Goal vs. San Jose Sharks, 12/03/2025
Venezuela’s Maduro confirms ‘cordial’ call with Trump amid tensions with US
Venezuelan leader expresses hope phone call marks beginning of 'respectful dialogue' between Washington and Caracas.
Looking for solutions to ocean's threats to Outer Banks
We visit communities affected by homes falling into the ocean and N.C. 12 closed by ocean overwash.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez Celebrate “a Real Sense of Community” at THR Women in Entertainment Event
Robert Downey Jr., Dakota Johnson, Regina Hall, Kerry Washington and Rachel Sennott also took part in the star-studded breakfast gala, presented by Lifetime.
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.
Congress pulls major college sports bill after bipartisan backlash: 'Not ready for prime time'
The move to pull the SCORE Act by GOP leaders two hours before it was slated for a final vote was seen as a sign it didn't had enough support to pass.
Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow & More Attend 'THR's Women in Entertainment Gala
Goldie Hawn, Jennifer Lopez, Kerry Washington, and Regina Hall were just some of the iconic actresses to grace the red carpet for The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment gala Wednesday ... and we have pics from the epic event!
LiaFi Introduces TOR Score Dashboard for Small Business Cash Flow Management
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky., December 03, 2025--LiaFi, a Fintech platform built for small businesses, today announced enhancements to its TOR Score dashboard, a proprietary cash flow variability metric designed to give sole proprietors and small business owners clarity on their financial health. The TOR Score, short for Track, Optimize, Refine, translates complex transaction data into a single score that reveals cash flow stability, identifies surplus opportunities, and flags potential risk periods. With
PAHO ramps up support to Caribbean health systems one month after Hurricane Melissa
Washington, D.C., 3 December 2025 (PAHO)– One month after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) continues working closely with national health authorities of Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba to restore essential services, prevent and respond to disease outbreaks, and strengthen health systems in the hardest-hit countries.
Sacramento Kings at Houston Rockets odds, picks and predictions
The Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets clash Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Jennifer Lopez Reflects on ‘Selena’s’ Impact and Vows to Keep “Pushing for Inclusivity” While Accepting Equity in Entertainment Award at THR Women in Entertainment Gala
The 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' star was presented with the award by Kerry Washington, who received the honor in 2023.
Onondaga County legislators clash over Republican lame-duck appointments
The Onondaga County Legislature approved a new batch of appointments on Tuesday.
In unexpected moment of candor, Shapiro says Harris told ‘blatant lies’ about him
Shapiro appeared to also dismiss some of Harris’s accounts about him in her memoir, “107 Days,” by telling the Atlantic, “She’s trying to sell books.”
OpenAI's chief researcher says Mark Zuckerberg 'hand-delivered soup' to an employee in a recruiting effort
OpenAI's research chief, Mark Chen, told author Ashlee Vance that the company is "always under attack" by rivals trying to poach its talent.
Trump says he will pardon Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar
Cuellar was charged last year with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy. His wife, Imelda, also will receive a pardon, according to Trump.
‘Small Business Saturday’ Hopes Dashed By 18% Spending Decline In 2025
Small Business Saturday spending dropped sharply this year, with consumers prioritizing bargains over supporting local shops due to high inflation and low confidence.
UMW Announces Master of Science in Nursing Degree Program
The University of Mary Washington will add a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, with enrollment beginning in 2026-27. The new program gained approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) at its October 2025 meeting and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in November. It […]
Microsoft warns latest Windows 11 updates might break the Start menu, Taskbar, and other integral UI bits — here's what you need to know
Windows 11 PCs that are targeting enterprise use may experience an issue where system-level UI surfaces and apps such as the Taskbar, Start Menu, and Settings app will fail to load or crash.
San Francisco’s mayor faces test over his key allies: Business execs
Moderate Mayor Daniel Lurie has leaned on personal ties to business execs to revamp the city, but they could be facing a backlash.
Owning a Smartphone at Age 12 Is Linked to These Health Issues in Kids
Think of the children.
The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment 2025
After another wild year for the industry, the women making the biggest impact across film and television reveal their predictions for Hollywood 2026, discuss the perks and pains of AI and even pitch their dream storylines for The Studio.
Hims & Hers to Acquire YourBio Health, Pioneer Behind Advanced, Pain-Free Blood Sampling Technology
Acquisition Combines Hims Hers’ Leading Wellness Platform with YourBio’s Patented, Virtually Painless Micro-Needle Technology to Redefine the Future of Blood Sampling Hims Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE: HIMS), the leading health and wellness platform, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire YourBio Health, Inc., a Boston-based pioneer in capillary whole blood sampling technology. Powered by YourBio’s advanced blood sampling devices, the acquisition will help accelerate efforts to redefine and modernize the overall blood collection experience, making pain-free blood sampling the new standard. YourBio Health develops technologies designed to simplify the process and expand when, where, and how blood samples can be collected—including beyond traditional clinic settings. Its TAP® device, built on HALO™ technology, uses bladeless microneedles thinner than an eyelash to produce high-quality capillary blood samples in seconds, without the pain or
Holland & Knight Health Dose: December 3, 2025 | Insights
The Trump Administration finalized a trade agreement with the UK that exempts British-origin pharmaceuticals, ingredients and medical technology from Section 232 tariffs.
VA staff flag dangerous errors ahead of new health records expansion
A multibillion-dollar electronic system seeks to boost medical care for veterans across VA’s network. Some users say glitches and errors put patients at risk.
How George Soros changed criminal justice in America
The liberal funder has spent tens of millions of dollars swinging dozens of district attorney races, drawing a backlash from the right.
Health insurance costs could spike, as bipartisan ACA deal looks less likely
With a ticking clock and no clear bipartisan path forward, extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies is becoming more challenging.
High mortgage rates come back to bite real estate investors who bet on rising rents
Landlords built mini-empires of rental homes using billions of dollar's worth of once-obscure DSCR loans. For some, the cash isn't flowing as planned.
Yale Political Union leaders proud of group’s respectful debates
As universities face criticism for an alleged lack of intellectual diversity, student leaders across party lines in the Yale Political Union say that debate there has been blossoming.
Quentin Tarantino trashes 'weak sauce' 'There Will Be Blood' star: 'The weakest male actor in SAG'
Quentin Tarantino opined that one 'weak sauce' actor holds 'There Will Be Blood' back from further greatness: 'The weakest male actor in SAG.'
Plan a year of insights and entertainment with Monocle's 2026 cultural calendar
Pick up a fresh new diary and fill the forthcoming 12 months with art, books, design, fashion and more from...
Clifton Park approves 2026 budget
The Town of Clifton Park has approved a final 2026 budget.
Scientists Uncover New Evidence of Ancient Airbursts That Ravaged Earth Without Leaving Craters
Scientists are uncovering signs that Earth has been hit by powerful cosmic blasts that leave little trace on the surface yet unleash extraordinary heat and pressure.
Trump appears to doze off in another meeting
It was the second time in a month Trump has appeared to struggle to stay awake as his advisers have spoken to cameras about the administration’s initiatives.
Paramount throws in more cash in bid for Warner; Comcast wants to combine assets with NBCUniversal
Jockeying for HBO-owner Warner Bros. Discovery has intensified as the auction appears to enter its home stretch.
Trump rails against Somali migrants: ‘I don’t want them in our country’
The president blasted Minnesota’s Somali community as “garbage” in a rant also attacking Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Trump announces more restrictions on legal immigration after DC shooting : The NPR Politics Podcast
The Trump administration has announced more restrictions on the country’s refugee and asylum programs after a shooting of two National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan immigrant. How do these changes advance Trump’s immigration policy agenda and his vision of what it means to be an American?This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, immigration policy correspondent Ximena Bustillo, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Opinion | Big business finally joins the fight against Trump’s tariffs
Costco becomes the largest company to sue over the administration’s trade policy.
Accused National Guard shooter pleaded not guilty to charges at first court appearance from the hospital
The Afghan man appeared in court virtually from his hospital bed on Tuesday to plead not guilty to charges related to the shooting two of National Guardsmen in Washington, DC.
Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid live stream: Where to watch online
It's a huge clash as Barca attempt to remain atop the table in Spain
UCF Researcher Creates Novel Sensors for Smartphone-Based Health Monitoring
Professor Debashis Chanda’s low-cost, smartphone-based biosensor could bring rapid, reliable disease detection to areas with limited access to traditional diagnostics.
Denver Broncos power rankings around the web for Week 14
The Denver Broncos continue to win in the most amazing ways. On Sunday Night Football, they needed a Nik Bonitto batted pass on a two-point try in over time to move past the Washington Commanders. At 10-2, they are one of just two double-digit win teams in the NFL after thirteen weeks of football. At […]
Business Trades Support Bank Capital Rule Reform to Boost Economic Growth
“Now is the time to modernize our capital framework to unleash economic growth for American businesses and consumers across the country.” WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of leading business trade organizations urged prudential regulators to examine and modernize large bank capital requirements to ensure they support consumers, businesses, and the…
Madison Kozak Signs With Warner Chappell Music Nashville & The Core Entertainment
Singer-songwriter Madison Kozak has inked a co-publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music [...]
Sienna Miller is pregnant with her third child
Hollywood star Sienna Miller has revealed that she is pregnant with her third child, appearing on the red carpet on Monday night with a visible baby bump.
Legacy Health advanced practice providers go on strike
Advanced practice providers with Legacy Health hospitals and clinics in the Portland metro area and Southwest Washington have gone on strike.
One month after Melissa, Jamaica scrambles to get back to business
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Antony Anderson had been on the job for exactly five months as Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States when his country suffered its worst natural disaster in history.
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
“I’m really shocked,” said Jasmine Wertz, eyes filling with tears. “Overwhelmed. Extremely grateful.”
Forbes Daily: Gen Z Leaders Now Dominate The Forbes 30 Under 30
Today’s Forbes Daily newsletter covers the new 30 Under 30 list, Sam Altman’s OpenAI memo, NYC casino proposals move forward, Eli Lilly slashes Zepbound costs and more.
NYT defends report on Trump's health after White House backlash
Fox News contributor Joe Concha calls out the New York Times' reporting on President Trump's 'fatigue,' contrasting their past coverage of President Biden's stamina.
E-Sports Week in Review
On November 17, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate played SUNY Polytechnic Institute in the first round of playoffs. In just two games, Heath LaPointe took 13 stocks but Albion could not come away with the victory as they lost 0-2.
Opinion | Democrats won an opening on health care. Here’s how they can use it.
Five reforms can cut costs across the system.
How the U.S. let ‘everywhere chemicals’ threaten your health
These chemicals continue to contaminate Americans’ food, decades after scientists recognized their dangers.
Corporations to claim $16B from retroactive GOP tax break, federal report says
The Republican tax law's bonus depreciation provision is expected to cost $362.7 billion over the next ten years, with corporations claiming $16 billion in new tax breaks this year.
Why Republicans are sweating Tuesday’s special election in ‘Trump Country’
The surprisingly competitive race in Tennessee’s ruby-red 7th Congressional District is a high-profile test of voters’ attitudes about the president’s agenda.
For Gen Z, cash isn't king. It's a joke.
'It's money that doesn't exist": Gen Z is treating cash like fake money.
Undefeated Missouri faces tough road test at Notre Dame
Notre Dame will host an ACC/SEC Challenge game for the first time when it clashes with Missouri on Tuesday night.
UK mulls ban on crypto cash in politics — putting Farage in firing line
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was the first U.K. political party to accept donations in cryptocurrency — and now the government is considering a ban.
Mavericks' P.J. Washington: Won't play Monday
Mavericks' P.J. Washington: Won't play Monday
Why AMC Entertainment Stock Got Mashed on Monday
Many an investor eye was on the holiday weekend, a crucial stretch for movie exhibitors.
Colorado businesses concerned about increased costs, supply chain issues as a result of tariffs, report finds
Colorado businesses face mounting headwinds amid a suite of tariffs enacted this year, with concerns about elevated costs, supply chain disruptions and consumer backlash, according to a new state report. The study is the second...
An extra solar system planet once orbited next to Earth — and it may be the reason we have a moon
Earth may have a moon today because a nearby neighbor once crashed into us, a new analysis of Apollo samples and terrestrial rocks reveals.
Schumer says three of his New York offices were targeted with bomb threats
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says three of his New York offices were targeted with emailed bomb threats from an email address alleging the “2020 election was rigged.”
In a bold move, UCLA hires Bob Chesney to become its next head football coach
UCLA turns to up-and-coming James Madison head coach Bob Chesney, hiring him to rebuild the Bruins football program.
Congress begins final session of 2025 with healthcare (and a dash of AI policy) on the docket
At the top of lawmakers' economic agenda is a promised vote on healthcare left over from the 43-day shutdown fight. Also being debated are two limited AI measures that have a last chance for action in 2025.
Oleksandr Usyk expresses desire to fight Deontay Wilder who would be open to world title clash in 2026
Oleksandr Usyk wants to defend his world heavyweight titles against Deontay Wilder, who has welcomed a fight against the unified world champion.
Why AMC Entertainment Stock Got Mashed on Monday
Key PointsThe Thanksgiving weekend period didn't compare favorably to the 2024 version.
GUEST COLUMN: What Washington’s elections say about Oregon politics
Elections in various states in November drew national attention and pundits read them closely for longer-term implications, but not in Oregon, where voters who received ballots (this writer did not) had little more than local ballot issues and other mostly low-key contests.
'Do it right:' Trump posts cryptic message after ballroom setbacks
President Donald Trump and his chosen architect have clashed over the enormous construction project at The White House.
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Jersey City’s mayoral runoff election
Voters in New Jersey’s second-largest city will get another chance to elect a new mayor Tuesday in a runoff election
Rodney Harrison’s 'Sunday Night Football' freeze-up sparks concern...
NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison raised eyebrows when he appeared to lose his train of thought in the pregame show ahead of the "Sunday Night Football" clash between the Broncos and the Commanders.
Living near marijuana shops may increase chance of health issues, study finds
A recent study from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy found that people across the state who lived near licensed marijuana stores were more likely to be diagnosed with cannabis use disorder.
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Tennessee's special congressional election
Less than a month after Democrats scored big victories in the Nov. 4 general election, voters in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district will fill a vacant seat Tuesday in the closely divided U.S. House
Trying to cast Netflix from your phone? You might have an issue.
If you've got an older Chromecast, you might be in luck. Otherwise...
League of Legends 2026 S1 Gameplay Changes: Atakhan Removed, New Plates on T2 & T3, Nashor Back at 20
Dive into in-depth analysis and latest updates in the world of League of Legends Esports with Sheep Esports.
The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'
Dentons recognized as “Entertainment Law Firm of the Year 2025” by Lexology Index Awards
Dentons is proud to announce that it has been named “Entertainment Law Firm of the Year 2025” by the Lexology Index Awards which celebrates excellence across the global legal landscape.
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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