Conversations Beyond Science & Religion

Nothing is more present than consciousness, and nothing is harder to describe.  But leaving aside the definitional problem, a further difficulty is how does one measure consciousness?  In our current scientific worldview, the inability to measure something is tantamount to declaring it does not exist.   But this cannot be true for consciousness. At the same, a growing number of thinkers are talkin...

Bertrand Russell once described the world of science as espousing the position that "man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving, that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms." In my new book, The Collapse of Materialism, Visions of Science, Dreams of God, I discuss how thi...

No one really knows what happens after we die, except of course those who have died and then lived to tell their stories.  This week's guest, Dr. P.M.H. Atwater ( http://pmhatwater.hypermart.net/) , is not only one of the world's leading researchers of near-death experiences, she also died three times herself , all in 1977, and thus brings her own personal experiences to the subject.  Viewed from...

Personal transformation or world transformation?  The first one we can control; the second one remains a dream.  We know that it starts with us and the decisions we make.  What we may lack is a plan to get there.  In the revised edition of her best-selling book, Now What? - 90 Days to a New Life Direction ( http://www.laurabermanfortgang.com/shop/) , this week's guest, Laura Berman Fortgang, lays...

On this special episode, Philip and Alex Tsakiris of the Skeptico ( http://www.skeptiko.com/ ) podcast present a mirrored show, where each interviews the other about their own new books, Philip's The Collapse of Materialism - Visions of Science, Dreams of God, and Alex's Science is Wrong . .  .  About Almost Everything.   Alex believes science is almost always wrong because it is wrong about consc...

Although Darwinian evolution is the leading theory for how organisms change with time, it is not without mystery.  One of these mysteries is how natural selection creates new innovations.   Natural selection is supposed to preserve survival traits, but how can this mindless process fabricate new traits that adapt to an ever-changing environment?  Unless this question is answered, the theory of evo...

World peace remains an elusive -- and faraway -- goal.  A goal for dreamers.  But unless at least some people hold the vision of world peace firmly in their sights, it can never become a reality.  The World Peace Caravan is a real caravan set to embark on December 15, 2015 from Petra, Jordan. Inspired by the Queen of Sheba's 750 camel caravan to make peace with King Solomon over 3000 years ago, th...

Some scientists believe the seeds of life were delivered to Earth by meteors.  Some UFO experts believe the seeds of spirituality were delivered to Earth by extraterrestrials.   Mediums speak to Ascended Masters, Oneness, and the Source.  Other mediums speak to beings from other planets existing in other planes of existence.  Compared to many of today's political leaders, historical figures such a...

Modern spirituality is drawing closer to modern science.  Quantum theorists, from Max Planck to Amit Goswami, discuss how consciousness is the matrix of all matter.  The spiritual truth that brings religions together is, in the words of this week's guest, Dr. Roger Teel, "this world is consciousness." The world we see, as he writes in his new book, This Life is Joy, may very well be a "temporary o...

By all indications, there is a "great awakening" underway in the world. This is not a mystical flight of the chosen few, but instead encompasses a broad range of experiences -- some sudden and others slowly-evolving -- that in the words of this week's guest, Miriam Knight ( http://www.ncreview.com/) , "call into question the very fundamentals of their assumptions about life ...one would say that t...

According this week's guest, Art Markman, Ph. D., Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas, the brain is a "habit creation machine."  The problem is that oftentimes these habits are not good ones.  But how do we truly change behavior and point ourselves to a place where we realize our potential? Whether it's learning to play the piano, quitting smoking, or removing ourselve...

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  Tomorrow, science will definitely look different than it does today.  In multiple fields, we are seeing a growing number of technological and human breakthroughs that give us a glimpse of the future science world.  In this new book, Brave New Mind: Living in a Future-Science World, this week's...

This show consists of a thought experiment: imagine we are not machines but spiritual creatures, beings of light and energy.  Einstein said that matter is really condensed, slowed-down energy, but imagine that the source of the energy comes from an internal wellspring, not from the forces of nature.  If this is true, then dying can be viewed as the dissipation of energy as we wander off-course fro...

Worrying about the future seems to be part of human nature.  We want certainty about what is going to happen -- to our investments, our children's education, careers, the human race -- but get only doubts.  And then doubts become fears, as we prepare for the worst, and hold out a little hope for something better.  Philip Comella's guest this week, Allison Carmen, has written a new book,The Gift of...

All too often we act with an air of certainty over topics that demand humility.  Examples are the theory of evolution, the emergence of consciousness from the gray matter of the brain, and the interpretation of the Bible.  We are taught that confidence is good, conviction better, and being right is all that matters.  But it is hard to see how someone can be certain about any of these subjects: Don...

Oddly, when we take an expanded view of the findings of modern science we  arrive at the conclusion that consciousness is fundamental; matter, secondary.  If consciousness is fundamental, then that means bodily death is only that: bodily death; consciousness lives on.  Perhaps that is why so many people have reported near-death experiences that speak of the same reality encountered in a different...

The wall between spirit and matter, mind and body, is collapsing. This may be the key finding of the new age of thinking that just now is gaining momentum. Perhaps nothing better highlights this development than the “powerful placebo,” ( http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=303530 )fake drugs and medical treatments that nevertheless cause real physical improvements in the body. But h...

No one really knows what happens after we die, except of course those who have died and then lived to tell their stories.  This week's guest, Dr. P.M.H. Atwater ( http://pmhatwater.hypermart.net/) , is not only one of the world's leading researchers of near-death experiences, she also died three times herself , all in 1977 ( http://www.amazon.com/Died-Three-Times-1977-Complete-ebook/dp/B003WQBIM8/...

Among the leaders in probing the leading-edges of science and spirituality over the last 30 years is this week's guest, Zohara Hieronimus, the author of the new book, The Future of Human Experience and co-host of of the long-running, 21st Century Radio.  On this show, Philip and Zohara discuss the obstacles we must overcome to realize our inner divine nature and to make the real, outer world refle...

Without vision the people perish, and without goals there is nowhere to go.  But to reach any goal -- whether getting a better job or  reaching enlightenment --- it helps to have a plan: a way to get from here to there.  In his new book, My Life Contract, this week’s guest, Joel Fotinos, distills bookshelves of self-help advice and gives a straightforward method to defining and then reaching your...

In the governing world model, the body is a machine made up of genes.  These genes, like parts to a car, control the performance and destiny of the body.  The so-called central dogma ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vghLxGAkft8 ) of genetics, authored by Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of the DNA molecule, holds that genes are fixed information-generating particles that tell proteins how to...

One mantra of our new era is Einstein's statement that you cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.  The big problem we have in today's world is the belief that the outside world controls us; but to move beyond this thought we need to reach a different level of thinking; one where, as this week's guest, Dianne Collins ( http://www.diannecollins.com/ ) says, intent, n...

Thomas Kuhn, in his highly influential book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-Edition/dp/0226458083) , introduced the world to the concept of paradigms and how they change. A paradigm is a framework for understanding and cataloging worldly events, the ground rules for explaining things; at some point, however, the existing paradig...

The idea of oneness is integral to the spiritual tradition.  As Aldous Huxley wrote in his classic book, The Perennial Philosophy, the "perennial philosophy is primarily concerned with the one divine reality substantial to the manifold world of things and lives and minds." One mind behind the world of many things. In her books, Oneness and A Journey to Oneness: A Chronicle of Spiritual Emergence,...

Description: Particles do not make plans, but minds do. In the worldview of materialism, ultimate reality consists of things, and hence there is no purpose in evolution, and the universe is heading nowhere except toward a "heat death" where the stars, including the sun, run out of fuel.  On the other hand, if a mind is at the source of creation, then there likely is a plan, since minds tend to thi...