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Nuggets, Kings clash for 4th time in 6 weeks
Two teams quite familiar with one another meet for the fourth time in less than six weeks when the Denver Nuggets visit the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.
Raleigh County in top five counties for new business registrations
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — Raleigh County is among the top five counties in the state for New Business Registrations for November of 2025. Raleigh County reports 58 new businesses registered, coming in fourth after Kanawha, Berkeley, and Monongalia counties. Michelle Rotellini, President of the Beckley Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce, said these statistics mean great […]
UC San Diego Alumnus Honors Cognitive Science Pioneers with Endowed Chairs
UC San Diego alumnus Robert J. Glushko, Ph.D. and Pamela Samuelson have four endowed faculty chairs in honor of transformational scholars whose work shaped both modern cognitive science and Glushko’s career.
Democrats target ‘vulnerable’ Republican senators ahead of high-stakes health care showdown
The Democratic National Committee launches ad campaign targeting four vulnerable Republican senators ahead of crucial Senate votes on ACA tax credits affecting 20 million Americans.
According to 'Forbes,' Taylor Swift is the most powerful woman in entertainment
Who's the most powerful woman in media and entertainment? It's not the head of a TV network or a movie studio — it's Taylor Swift.That's according to Forbes, which has published its annual list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, based on four main metrics: money, media, impact and spheres of influence. Taylor comes in at #21 on the list, which makes her the highest-ranked, and therefore the most powerful, woman in the Media & Entertainment category.
2026 NFL mock draft roundup: Expert predictions for Round 1
Who will each NFL team target in the 2026 draft? Here's how four experts project the first round to go, and where Fernando Mendoza could land.
Austin Public Health warns of uptick in foodborne illness reports
Austin Public Health has seen an increase in cases of salmonella and norovirus across central Texas, and the CDC recommends following a four-step process to ensure food safety: clean, separate, coo…
Matthew Stafford re-captures lead in NFL QB power rankings for Week 15
NFL quarterback power rankings for Week 15 include some big changes, including another change at No. 1 with four weeks to play.
Four Things Every Business Leader Should Know About Quantum Computing, According to an MIT Quantum Engineer
Quantum computing will not transform corporate IT in the short term, but today's decisions will determine which companies benefit.
These Giants have the most to prove in final four games of season
No matter how much the Giants would like it to be the case, history says wins in December don’t carry over to the next season. But individual late-season performance can be a springboard for better...
Champions League results: Dominik Szoboszlai leaves it late for Liverpool, Chelsea now winless in four
Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Spurs were among the winners during Tuesday's Matchday 6.
Sheinelle Jones named co-host for the fourth hour of 'Today'
Jones will join Jenna Bush for program formerly co-hosted by Hoda Kotb
FGCU, FOX Sports Radio Team Up for Basketball Coverage
Florida Gulf Coast and Sun Broadcasting's FOX Sports Radio have partnered to broadcast four men's and four women's basketball games in 2026.
Optum Golf Channel Games: Scottie Scheffler
Watch the reigning World No. 1 and four-time major champion Scottie Scheffler tee it up at the Optum Golf Channel Games on December 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET on USA Network and Golf Channel.
UC San Diego Health Earns Highest Ranking for Obstetric, Infant Care
For the fourth year in a row, UC San Diego Health is recognized as a Best Hospital for Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report.
4 Takeaways From the Chargers' Win Over the Eagles
Here are our takeaways from the Chargers' overtime win over the Eagles with Jalen Hurts throwing four interceptions.
Hochul: Grieving Families veto should come as no surprise
“Don’t pass the same bill four times if you want a different result,” she said.
First-Ever College Sports Collective Bargaining Agreement Released By Athletes.org
The four-year proposal includes a revenue-sharing template agreement and “school-specific revenue-sharing percentage based on pro rata revenue per sport."
Genki’s colorful, powerful power strip is 25 percent off
Up to 240W of power via its four USB-C ports
‘We’ll need to see a warrant’: the group teaching businesses vital tool to fight ICE raids
Siembra in North Carolina gives owners fourth amendment rights trainings should federal agents show up at their door
Kevin Stefanski: I'm responsible for unsuccessful two-point play
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski handed play-calling responsibilities to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees earlier this season, but he pointed the finger at himself when it came time to discuss the team's bid to tie the Titans late in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Capitals Report Card: Caps Squeak By Blue Jackets
The Washington Capitals (18-9-3) returned home after a four-game road trip. They were able to squeak by the Columbus Blue […]
10th annual Youth Entertainment Showcase is Saturday
Xpreesha Outreach announced the 10th annual Youth Entertainment Showcase to be held Friday at the Killeen Arts and Activities Center, 801 N. Fourth Street, in downtown Killeen.
Trump lashes out as latest Charlotte light rail stabbing reignites political fight
Trump and other Republicans were quick to criticize Democratic policies after a new stabbing happened less than four months after a fatal one made national headlines.
In Roob's Observations: Why do the Eagles keep collapsing in the 4th quarter?
Why are the Eagles falling apart in the fourth quarter? How about some help for A.J. and DeVonta? We have a big helping of Roob’s Eagles Observations.
Letter: Random thoughts about politics from a tree stand
My deer rifle holds only four shells. I have never needed all four...But I guess the Grand Old Party’s congressmen think owning a 50-shot clip is important.
College Football Playoff expert picks: Notre Dame vs. Miami vs. Alabama
Notre Dame vs. Miami for sure. What about those two vs. three-loss Alabama? Are bubble teams BYU and Texas toast? Setting the table for the CFP argument.
Palm-sized Mini PC NAS offers four M.2 bays and dual 2.5GbE ports
Youyeetoo has introduced the NestDisk, a compact mini-PC NAS built around Intel’s Alder Lake-N architecture. The system integrates four M.2 NVMe slots in a chassis similar to an external drive enclosure, targeting home lab, soft routing, and media server deployments. The device is powered by the Intel Processor N150, a quad-core CPU within the Alder Lake-N family. The processor reaches…
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
4 arrested in Livingston County business theft
Kentucky State Police (KSP) charged four people in connection with a Nov. 24 theft at a Livingston County resort.
Nurses association welcomes mediation as Legacy Health returns to negotiation table
After four days of striking, Legacy Health has agreed to enter mediation with the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) and return to the bargaining table.
This year's Netflix holiday movies ranked from worst to best
Netflix has released four new holiday movies this year, including "Jingle Bell Heist" and "A Merry Little Ex-Mas." See which ones are worth your time.
Western Carolina plays Queens (NC) on home skid
Western Carolina will attempt to stop its four-game home slide when the Catamounts face Queens (NC)
Frostburg State set to face Kutztown in quarterfinals
KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Frostburg State is one of eight teams remaining in the Division II playoffs. If the Bobcats (11-2) want to reach the Final Four, they’ll have to conquer one of the top teams in the nation. Kutztown University has reached at least the second round in five of the last six seasons, including a semifinal berth in 2023. The Golden Bears (13-0) were ranked in every coaches poll this ...
Nets seek better fourth quarter vs. last-place Pelicans
While a fourth-quarter collapse leading to a loss may improve draft lottery odds, it did not cure the immediate sting and disappointment Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez and his players felt Thursday night.
MyMichigan Health consolidates leadership across four medical centers
Chuck Sherwin to lead four medical centers as the health system expands its unified leadership model across central Michigan facilities.
Sherman Phoenix offers Taste to Table to grow Milwaukee food businesses
Sherman Phoenix launches new four-week food business program called Taste to Table
4 ChatGPT Prompts To Turn Your Business Idea Into Reality In 2026
Learn how four practical ChatGPT prompts can help anyone refine a business or side hustle idea, avoid common mistakes, and gain traction in 2026.
Eurovision has faced political boycotts before – how does the latest compare?
Decision by four countries to pull out over Israel’s inclusion is significant for the contest but crisis may not be existential
Pentagon announces another boat strike amid heightened scrutiny
Four killed in attack on boat in eastern Pacific as questions continue over earlier double strike
Prep talk: Jayshawn Kibble of Washington Prep is off to fast start in senior season
Jayshawn Kibble of Washington Prep is averaging 29.3 points in his first four games this season.
City Council overrides four vetoes by Mayor Adams
One bill caps household rental contributions at 30% of monthly income.
Riverside Health Celebrates Ribbon-Cutting for Riverside Smithfield Hospital Ahead of Opening in Early January 2026
Riverside Smithfield Hospital will join the Riverside network of four additional acute care facilities in early January 2026
FIFA World Cup Draw: Everything you need to know
The FIFA World Cup is only played once every four years, and it is arguably the most eagerly anticipated event in all of sports.
Gen Z believes political violence may be justified in these instances—Poll
Nearly four in 10 Gen Zers believe political violence may at times be justified, according to a new poll.
Lessons from the Past: Responsible Science and Astrobiology
In a recent paper, a team of SETI and astrobiology specialists examines four controversial claims about the existence of extraterrestrial life. From these, they present recommendations for scientists and science communicators when addressing future claims of discovery.
Battle for sports betting market heats up as Polymarket announces return to the U.S.
The prediction market giant rolls out mobile platform almost four years after regulators banned it from the U.S.
Four with MIAC ties to be honored at National Girls & Women in Sports Day-Minnesota
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Four individuals with ties to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) will be honored with awards during the 2026 National Girls & Women in Sports Day-Minnesota Celebration on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.
No 10 to delay four England mayoral elections amid accusations of ‘cancelling democracy’
Ministers will argue that four newly created mayoralties need more time to complete reorganisation
Through the lens: Four decades of arts & entertainment with photojournalist Roger Mastroianni
For more than 40 years, photojournalist Roger Mastroianni has chronicled Cleveland's arts, healthcare, and corporate landscapes—capturing everything from Cleveland Orchestra performances to hospital operating rooms.
The four best science documentaries of 2025
From animal rivals to Jane Goodall's last thoughts, enjoy 2025's best science documentaries, says our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley
Watchdog finds Hegseth risked endangering troops by sharing of sensitive war plans on Signal, sources say
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report that was sent to Congress Tuesday night.
Scientists Just Tore Up a Major Particle Physics Theory
New results from the MicroBooNE experiment at Fermilab found no evidence of a hypothetical fourth flavor of neutrino
Over 400 students and educators attend high school sports media conference at Ouachita
The Ouachita Sports Digital Network at Ouachita Baptist University welcomed over 400 high school students and teachers to campus on Nov. 12 for its fourth annual OSDN High School Sports Media Conference.
Big Four promotions hinge less on performance and more on office politics, researchers say
Promotion reviews often end up as "political arenas" where managers lobby, trade favors, and defend their protégés, a multi-university study found.
Big Four promotions hinge less on performance and more on office politics, researchers say
Promotion reviews often end up as "political arenas" where managers lobby, trade favors, and defend their protégés, a multi-university study found.
College football rankings: Bottom 25 national champion crowned for 2025
North Carolina and Oklahoma State were among the Power Four's most feudal teams this season
Read Former Honduran President’s Letter to Trump
The New York Times has obtained the four-page letter that former President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras sent President Trump.
Georgia's high-flying offense presents challenge for Florida St.
Georgia has come out firing in Mike White's fourth season as head coach.
Thinking Of Starting A Business In 2026? Focus On These 4 High-Impact Areas.
Discover the four high-impact areas where entrepreneurs can build meaningful, future-proof businesses in 2026—from workforce reskilling to human-AI collaboration.
CFP Traffic Report: Examining the paths for remaining Power Four contenders
How are the remaining College Football Playoff contenders from the Power Four navigating the traffic?
State Variations in the Role of the Reproductive Health Safety Net for Contraceptive Care Among Medicaid Enrollees
This KFF analysis uses 2023 T-MSIS Research Identifiable Files to look at where reproductive-age female Medicaid enrollees received their last contraceptive visit by state. Overall, more than four in 10 (43%) female Medicaid enrollees received their last contraceptive visit of 2023 at a safety net provider, which includes Planned Parenthood clinics, community health centers, state and local health departments, and Indian health services, but there is wide variation by state.
Four people shared their quitting stories. This is some of their best advice.
Are you fed up at work? Sick of it all? Ready to throw in the towel? You're likely not alone.
WRDW TV and Peachtree Sports Network to Broadcast 10 Augusta Basketball Games
Augusta, Ga. - Augusta University basketball will once again be air on the Peachtree Sports Network. A total of 10 games, including four doubleheaders will be on WRDW-TV's affiliate for the second straight year.
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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