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Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Jan. 6 #470
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Introducing Alexa.com, a completely new way to interact with Alexa+
From quick answers to completed tasks, Amazon now offers an AI assistant experience across voice, mobile, and web.
Browns rally for walk-off win, but enter offseason of QB uncertainty after another shaky Shedeur Sanders performance vs. Bengals
The Browns won, but they remain without an answer at quarterback.
Historical Mysteries Solved by Science in 2025
Researchers across the globe put on their sleuthing hats this year to provide answers to questions that have lingered from decades to centuries. The thought-provoking findings offer new ways of
Steve Kerr drops uncertain Jonathan Kuminga update after Warriors loss
Steve Kerr doesn't have any answers on Jonathan Kuminga after the Golden State Warriors' loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Jan. 3 #467
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Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Jan. 2 #466
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Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Jan. 1 #465
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Teaching faculty power UNC Computer Science’s growth and impact - College of Arts and Sciences
UNC Computer Science fills more than 9,000 course seats every year. So how does it still feel personal? The answer lies with 10 teaching faculty members who have built a culture where students are not just taught — they are seen.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 31 #464
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Michigan Mailbag: Citrus Bowl Edition
Michigan Football plays Texas in the Citrus Bowl, just a few days after Kyle Whittingham was hired as head coach. We answer your questions about all of that in this week’s Michigan Mailbag:
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 30 #463
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Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 29 #462
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
The deep ocean has a missing link and scientists finally found it
Scientists have uncovered why big predators like sharks spend so much time in the ocean’s twilight zone. The answer lies with mid-sized fish such as the bigscale pomfret, which live deep during the day and rise at night to feed, linking deep and surface food webs. Using satellite tags, researchers tracked these hard-to-study fish for the first time. Their movements shift with water clarity, potentially altering entire ocean food chains.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 28 #461
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Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 27 #460
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Google is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
Google has finally answered users' cries, allowing Gmail users to swap out embarrassing teenage email addresses.
New science points to 4 distinct types of autism
When Marc and Cristina Easton’s son was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, the Baltimore couple left the doctor’s appointment in confusion. Their toddler - who was very social - didn’t resemble the picture of the condition they thought they knew. And the specialists could offer little clarity about why or what lay ahead. It wasn’t until four years after their child’s diagnosis that the Eastons finally began to get answers that offered them a glimmer of understanding. This summer, a team from Pr
New science points to 4 distinct types of autism
When Marc and Cristina Easton’s son was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, the Baltimore couple left the doctor’s appointment in confusion. Their toddler - who was very social - didn’t resemble the picture of the condition they thought they knew. And the specialists could offer little clarity about why or what lay ahead. It wasn’t until four years after their child’s diagnosis that the Eastons finally began to get answers that offered them a glimmer of understanding. This summer, a team from Pr
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 26 #459
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What is the Upside Down? 'Stranger Things 5' finally answers series-long mystery
What is the Upside Down? 'Stranger Things 5' gives us an answer, and series creators Matt and Ross Duffer are here to unpack it all.
All LinkedIn Games Solutions for Today (December 25, 2025)
LinkedIn Games offers you plenty of interesting puzzles, like Zip, Queens, Mini Sudoku, etc., to solve! And for us, we offer you answers for them!
Why local communities may hold the answers to national political divisions
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 25 #458
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Belmont Lanterns: Depression-era business promotion unearthed after 90 years
Local history buffs attended a news conference held at The Archive on Kern last Friday for answers to the mystery of the Belmont Lanterns. A contractor on the high-speed rail project discovered 82 large painted
Waymo is testing Gemini as an in-car AI assistant in its robotaxis
Waymo is testing a Gemini-powered in-car AI assistant, per findings from a 1,200-line system prompt. The assistant can answer general knowledge questions, control certain in-cabin features, and more.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 24 #457
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I'm 'Shark Tank' investor Kevin O'Leary. I wake up at 5 a.m. with no alarm and refuse to answer emails.
"Shark Tank" and "Marty Supreme" star Kevin O'Leary explains his daily routine, which includes eating protein, biking, taking naps, and avoiding email.
Can Science Tell Us Why?
The field of science is filled with questions. But are we asking the right ones?
Managing the politics of a holiday get-together
We live in a polarized nation, and sometimes, those varying political beliefs and opinions make their way to the holiday dinner table. It can be awkward and uncomfortable. So, how can we bring it all back together and appreciate one another’s company? WEMU’s John Stockwell went looking for answers and, as you’ll hear, found a number of them.
Video: Why Scientists Are Performing Brain Surgery on Monarchs
Scientists in Texas are studying monarch butterflies to understand how they navigate thousands of miles, possibly by sensing Earth’s magnetic field. Alexa Robles-Gil explains how researchers are examining the butterflies’ brains to find answers.
The Culture War Comes for Science
The Trump administration has exploited and exacerbated the problems besetting science. Our moment demands a new contract answerable to the scientific needs of American society.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 22 #455
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We share some of the 'most' challenging stories we've worked on (Politics+) : The NPR Politics Podcast
It's another installment of our series, "Political Mosts," where we answer a superlative-type question about covering politics and our careers in journalism. Today, Sarah McCammon (national political correspondent) and Sam Gringlas (Congress reporter) each take a turn answering this question: "What's been the 'most' challenging political story you’ve worked on?" They also answer this question from a listener: “Who is the politician, living or dead, you’d 'most' like to interview?” Listen to find out how you can submit a most-type question for us to answer in a future bonus episode!
Editorial: Legal opinion needed on partial sale of MSU sports
Before Michigan State University moves further long with a partial privatization of its athletic department, an essential question must be answered.
5 questions and answers about Patriots vs. Ravens
We spoke with SB Nation’s Ravens blog about the Patriots’ Week 16 opponent.
The Epstein files release did nothing to clear up the scandal’s biggest question
Some questions will never be answered. But there’s one that DOJ officials really can clear up — if they want to.
You finally got a doctor's appointment. Here's how to get the most out of it
It's not that unusual for a 20-something to text Mom from the doctor's office for help answering a health question.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 20 #453
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My husband's stress around saving for retirement is exhausting. I know we'll be fine — how do I get through to him?
"For Love & Money" answers your relationship and money questions. This week, a reader struggles with her husband's stress about saving for retirement.
Life beyond Earth? Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock on the mysteries of space
Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist and science educator who has worked on a number of instruments that are revolutionising our view of the cosmos, including the James Webb Space Telescope. This year she will be giving the Royal Institution Christmas lectures, Britain’s most prestigious public science lectures, in which she will be exploring some of the big questions space science still has to answer.
A Psychologist Shares A Science-Inspired Test To Reveal Your Core Personality
Here's a test that might actually reveal something true about your identity. Answer eight simple questions to get your results.
A Psychologist Shares A Science-Inspired Spirit Animal Test To Reveal Your Core Personality
Here's a spirit animal test that might actually reveal something true about your identity. Answer eight simple questions to get your results.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 18 #451
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Jack Smith set for private interview with lawmakers about Trump investigations
Smith is expected to discuss both of his investigations of Trump but will not answer questions that call for grand jury materials
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 17 #450
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What’s worse for us, sugar or sweeteners?
We all know eating too much sugar is bad for our health – but would we be better off replacing it with artificial sweetener? It’s a question Science Weekly listener Marion posed recently and, as Madeleine Finlay tells Ian Sample, the answer is complicated. She explains what the science says about sugar v sweeteners with the help of Prof Havovi Chichger, from Anglia Ruskin University, and Prof Jim Krieger, from the University of Washington’s school of public health
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 16 #449
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
The *Evening* Bee: More Questions than Answers
Good evening, Fear the Wall. Apologies for the timing on today’s Bee, I was rather busy yesterday evening and didn’t have a chance to get my writing done. Shame on me. Dortmund’s tie draw in Freiburg is definitely hanging heavily in the air, with some sour commentary coming out of the dressing room and the […]
Can We Just Throw Our Plastic Garbage Into A Volcano?
A volcanologist answers your questions about glass-shard hairballs, cooking breakfast over lava, Gollum's end on Mount Doom, and more.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 15 #448
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Jets' defense overwhelmed in ugly 48-20 loss to Jaguars
The Jets' defense had no answers for the Jaguars' offensive attack on Sunday, as the unit gave up six touchdowns in a brutal 48-20 road loss in Jacksonville.
Carman: Hickenlooper owes Colorado voters answers, not threats
The Democratic campaign machine is already mobilizing to crush Julie Gonzales’ bid to unseat Sen. Hickenlooper
Repairs needed after business hit-and-run
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A family-owned business in Scranton is reeling after a hit-and-run crash that badly damaged their property. The owners are now looking for answers, hoping someone will come forward. The family told 28/22 News while there have been instances when someone sideswiped their fence, they’ve never seen anything quite like this […]
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 14 #447
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Galaxy S26 Ultra Release Details: Samsung Confirms Powerful Upgrade
Ahead of the Galaxy S26 Ultra's launch in January, Samsung's filings with the FCC reveal the answer to a long-standing community question... Exynos or Snapdragon?
Kindle’s New AI Feature Can Answer Questions About Your Books (Whether Authors Want It or Not)
The Kindle app's new feature will provide AI-generated tips to explain your book's plot or how the characters relate to one another, though it's currently only available on the iOS version.
Business owner loses money over USPS shipping delays, Congressman demands answers
If you have a package on the way from USPS, you may have to wait a little longer, and several say they are already in that position. And, it’s been especially hurtful for business owners who rely on fast shipping for their products.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 13 #446
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
The Search for Life Tops NASA's Science Goals for the First Human Mars Mission
A new report identifies searching for life as the top science priority for humanity's first landing on Mars, ranking it above understanding water cycles, mapping geology, or even studying how the Martian environment affects astronaut health. The report outlines four possible exploration campaigns, with the highest ranked approach calling for missions totalling 330 sols at a single scientifically rich site where crews could investigate everything from ancient lava flows to active dust storms. By placing the search for extraterrestrial life at the centre of human Mars exploration, the report reimagines the first crewed mission not just as a milestone for spaceflight but as humanity's best chance to answer whether we're alone in the universe.
Netflix, Warner, Paramount and antitrust: Entertainment megadeal’s outcome must follow the evidence, not politics or fear of integration
Even President Trump is concerned about this situation. But the answers aren’t obvious.
Netflix, Warner, Paramount and antitrust: Entertainment megadeal’s outcome must follow the evidence, not politics or fear of integration
Even President Trump is concerned about this situation. But the answers aren’t obvious.
Netflix, Warner, Paramount and antitrust: Entertainment megadeal’s outcome must follow the evidence, not politics or fear of integration
Even President Trump is concerned about this situation. But the answers aren’t obvious.
Column | Why Mormonism may have an answer for our toxic politics
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox draws on teachings from his Mormon faith to ‘disagree better.’ Studies show his approach could change public attitudes.
Scientists have been studying the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e. Could it harbor alien life? : Short Wave
Want to be a top notch candidate for hosting alien life? Then there's a few key requirements you should be aware of: Ideally, you're a large object like a moon or a planet; scientists suspect you also have an atmosphere and water; plus, you should orbit your star from a nice mid-range distance — in the "Goldilocks Zone" of habitability. Until recently, you would be competing against TRAPPIST-1 e. It's a planet outside of our solar system. TRAPPIST-1 e is also only 40 light years away, rocky and the same size as Earth, which prompted researchers to investigate whether it also has an atmosphere — and the potential for alien life. A team of researchers has been investigating TRAPPIST-1 e to learn more about its potential. Their answers, recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, say a lot not just about this exoplanet, but about how scientists should refocus their hunt for alien life.Interested in more space science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Omaha business owners frustrated by Streetcar construction
An open house held by the city at the Durham Museum tonight to answer questions about ongoing streetcar construction, but what business owners want is solutions.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 12 #445
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WhatsApp is trying to reinvent voicemail
It’s now easier to send a voice or video message when someone doesn’t answer their phone.
Gresham touts Garage to Storefront program as way to uplift small business
Program waives first-time fees and helps fill vacant storefronts in business hubs The city of Gresham wants small businesses to thrive and take a bite out of the vacant storefronts across town. The hope is its Garage to Storefront program could be the answer to success. “It helps relieve some of the first-time fees for […]
IRS Issues Guidance For Expanded Health Savings Accounts Under New Tax Law
The IRS has issued guidance on HSAs, answering questions about telehealth services, bronze and catastrophic plans under the ACA, and direct primary care arrangements.
Rams Reacts Survey Week 15
Is confidence back up after the Rams thrashed the Arizona Cardinals? Post your answer to this week’s Rams Reacts question and then let us know in the comments why you voted like you did. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most […]
Analysis: Trump’s answer for everything: Blame Biden
It feels like a lifetime since Joe Biden was in the Oval Office, such is the turmoil and transformation unleashed since he went home to Delaware. But one person in Washington never stops obsessing about the 46th president — his predecessor and successor.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 9 #442
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Does it matter which HDMI port you use on your TV? Short answer: Yes
You may be missing out on optimal performance or sound. Here's how to check.
Soccer City hopes World Cup enthusiasm will help business
World Cup games might be Frisco soccer store's answer to slow business.
I tried Google’s prototype smart glasses and it almost made me forget about my phone
How often do you reach for your phone to get directions, answer a video call or Google something? Probably more times than you can count.
One UI 8.5 beta program: List of supported Galaxy devices
Will your Samsung Galaxy smartphone get the One UI 8.5 beta? Our list of supported devices has the answer.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 8 #441
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Hollywood legend’s wife shares health update on his condition: ‘It’s hard to answer’
During an appearance on "Today" this week, Savannah Guthrie asked the actor's wife how he was doing.
Confusion, Anxiety for Parents as Vaccine Guidelines for Children are Upended
Conflicting recommendations leaves parents with more questions than answers when it comes to vaccines for their newborn children.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 7 #440
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Decades Later, Scientists Finally Explain Voyager 2’s Bizarre Readings at Uranus
Powerful waves unleashed by solar storms could be the key to understanding extreme radiation. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) researchers now think they have found the answer to a puzzle that has lingered for nearly four decades involving Uranus and its unusual radiation environment. When Vo
Sydney Sweeney Issues Direct Response to American Eagle Jeans Ad Backlash
The ‘Euphoria’ star is making her stance a little more clear after months of non-answers.
Sydney Sweeney Issues Direct Response to American Eagle Jeans Ad Backlash
The ‘Euphoria’ star is making her stance a little more clear after months of non-answers.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 6 #439
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 5 #438
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Former NFL player Greg Olsen answers questions on youth sports: Should parents watch practices?
Every month, former NFL player and Fox broadcaster Greg Olsen answers reader's most pressing questions about youth sports.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 4 #437
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Why are Browns opening Deshaun Watson's practice window? Answering complex question
Though he'll be on the field during the week, the three-time Pro Bowler seems unlikely to play again for Cleveland. Let's break down team's thinking.
An unsettling indie game about horses keeps getting banned from stores
Short answer: Neither Steam nor EGS will say exactly why.
All 6 of my kids look forward to this Christmas tradition — and it's not about gifts
When I asked my kids what their favorite part of the holiday season had been, I was surprised at their answer.
Scientists finally answer the question of when is the best time to shower
Showering in the morning keeps your skin cleaner and prevents unpleasant odors caused by night time microbes and bedding residue.
BI readers told us their grocery bills keep going up. That's bad news for more rate cuts.
Business Insider surveyed readers about how prices have changed. Their answers could mean the next interest-rate cut catches a snag.
Pete Carroll searches for answers as Raiders' dismal season continues
Pete Carroll remains optimistic about the Raiders' chances despite their 2-10 record
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.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Dec. 1 #434
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