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Giannis Antetokounmpo mock trades: What potential offers from Knicks, Lakers, Warriors could look like
What could an eventual Giannis Antetokounmpo trade look like? Let's assess the landscape
Lanouette leads collaborative research bridging science education, urban ecosystems
Assistant Professor Kathryn Lanouette is leading a research project to better characterize what outdoor environmental education can look like in urban spaces.
The future of Veteran health: Dr. Jason Vassy on genomic medicine
A look at how VA is using genomics to guide smarter screening, treatment and prevention for Veterans, featuring Dr. Jason Vassy.
Broncos vs Raiders Week 14: Keys to victory
The Broncos finish off their season series against Las Vegas in Vegas this Sunday, and this is a game that the team cannot afford to overlook, especially considering what went down the first time they faced off a handful of weeks ago. Here’s how the Broncos extend their winning streak to double digits. 1. Get […]
Isaac TeSlaa start or sit: Week 14 fantasy football advice
We break down the fantasy football outlook of Isaac TeSlaa ahead of the Lions’ Week 14 matchup vs. the Cowboys.
Des Moines revives small business loan program
The city is working to address a financing need that traditional lenders are overlooking.
One UI 8.5 brings a new look and a time-saving feature to the Calculator app
Samsung is bringing a slightly newer UI design to the stock apps. One of those apps include Calculator, which is getting a depth effect.
New Sci-Fi Samurai Game Looks Like Ghost Of Yotei In Space
SOL Shogunate is aiming for the moon--literally--with its sci-fi samurai action.
Not all local arts entertainment has to be Christmas-y this month
Looking for a few arts options in December that aren't holiday-themed? Check out these choices at MSU, LCC and in REO Town.
BBC Entertainment Commissioning is looking for a new Comedy Entertainment series for BBC iPlayer and BBC Two
The aspiration is to find a format-first idea that prioritises funny moments and spontaneity rather than anything which is heavily scripted or topical
Amazon explores cutting ties with USPS, building its own delivery network
Amazon looks into expanding its nationwide delivery network and giving up its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
Under Kennedy, America’s Health Department Is in the Business of Promoting Kennedy
Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services increasingly uses its social media channels to promote Kennedy himself and his agenda. Interviews with over 20 former and current employees provide a look inside an agency where personality and politics steer communications with the public.
Arsenal's 'beautiful' line-up change
Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy says Arsenal's squad depth is "remarkable" after Brentford struggled to contain the right side of their attack in the 2-0 win on Wednesday: "It's becoming remarkable now how good their squad is because [Jurrien} Timber and [Bukayo] Saka play on the right hand side normally, which is arguably one of the best combinations down the right side in Europe. "Then they bring in [Ben] White and [Noni] Madueke, who looked like they have played together for seasons. It was a beautiful combination.
Florida wildlife agency’s leaders claim they don’t have to follow science
When I was growing up here in Florida, everyone revered science. We looked to high-IQ scientists to tell us how to fly to the moon, how to transplant a heart, how to fire up a laser, how the universe began with a Big Bang. But science is clearly out of favor now, especially in Florida. […]
Looking for solutions to ocean's threats to Outer Banks
We visit communities affected by homes falling into the ocean and N.C. 12 closed by ocean overwash.
Scientists capture flu viruses surfing into human cells in real time
Scientists have captured a never-before-seen, high-resolution look at influenza’s stealthy invasion of human cells, revealing that the cells aren’t just helpless victims. Using a groundbreaking imaging technique, researchers discovered that our cells actually reach out and “grab” the virus as it searches for the perfect entry point, surfing along the membrane.
Arkansas parents voice concerns over voucher changes affecting homeschool sports funding
Educators and parents are reacting to proposed changes to Arkansas' school voucher program, known as the Educational Freedom Accounts, as lawmakers look to fine
Red Wings open six-game excursion against Blue Jackets
The Detroit Red Wings are starting a lengthy road trip and coach Todd McLellan looks forward to the journey.
Packers vs. Bears Injury Report
See who's in and who's out for the Week 14 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on December 7, 2025.
How to watch 2025 NCAA men's water polo championship on ESPNU
No. 2 UCLA looks to win back-to-back NCAA men's water polo titles. Here's how to catch the championship game on ESPNU.
Scientists reveal the one practice that could prevent dementia as you age
New research reveals that social isolation increases dementia risk by 47% in older adults. The study shows that a lack of social contact is a major neurological threat.
Ailing Warriors look to get on track vs. 76ers
The Golden State Warriors will be short-handed for Thursday's road game against the Philadelphia 76ers, but it remains to be determined exactly how undermanned they'll be.
Hate, threats force more and more women out of public life
Often labeled as bad mothers, insulted for their looks and threatened with physical violence, female politicians face a particularly high level of hate. Many step down out of fear.
🧪 Science with Sarah: Soda bottle rockets! 🥤
Hello parents, teachers and students! If you’re looking for a fun way to explore literal rocket science, this experiment is for you.
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.
Ohio State OC Brian Hartline to take USF job: Buckeyes losing top recruiter
Ryan Day will be looking for a new Ohio State offensive coordinator once again
We combed our Marketplace to give shoppers looking for affordable sports cars a place to start.
These three late-model used sports cars offer high levels of driving enjoyment at a low price.
Check out the first droolworthy pictures of the upcoming Motorola Edge 70 Ultra flagship!
Now this looks like a very different kind of Android high-ender than what we're normally used to.
How does your Spotify Wrapped get made? 3 Spotify leaders break down the yearlong process.
Spotify Wrapped is "the thing that's most looked forward to," said one Spotify leader. "It's also the thing that gets the most scrutiny."
Gartner (IT) Slid on Weak Business Outlook
Scout Investments, Inc., an affiliate of Carillon Tower Advisers, recently released its third-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Carillon Scout Mid Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Russell Midcap Index posted positive returns in the quarter, fueled by strong corporate earnings, the continued momentum in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, and the […]
AMA is Investing in Physician Leaders to Improve Community Health
How would you use $50,000 to help patients in your community? The AMA’s Community Health Impact Lab Micro Grants Program is awarding $50,000 each to 20 physicians with big ideas on how to improve the health of their communities – and you could be one of them. The AMA is providing $1 million in grant funding to support physician-led projects focused on improving community health, with selected projects receiving $50,000. AMA's Community Health Impact Lab is looking to support innovative,...
Health insurance costs could spike, as bipartisan ACA deal looks less likely
With a ticking clock and no clear bipartisan path forward, extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies is becoming more challenging.
Athens area voters to decide new state representative in special election
With a state House seat in Athens open, Republicans are looking to preserve the seat while Democrats are hoping to flip it.
One UI 8.5 full changelog just dropped, see what you're getting!
Changelog for Samsung's next version of One UI for Galaxy phones and tablets, One UI 8.5, has leaked. Take a look at the changes it offers.
Crystal Palace XI vs Burnley – Predicted lineup and team news
Crystal Palace travel to Turf Moor on Wednesday looking to get their season back on track. After a promising start to the season, Oliver Glasner’s side recently lost consecutive games against Strasb...
Student-run snow removal business looking forward to change in weather
Florida wildlife agency’s leaders claim they don’t have to follow science
When I was growing up here in Florida, everyone revered science. We looked to high-IQ scientists to tell us how to fly to the moon, how to transplant a heart, how to fire up a laser, how the universe began with a Big Bang. But science is clearly out of favor now, especially in Florida. […]
Kim Jong Un's Su-25 fighters have a new weapon, and it looks a lot like a Western cruise missile with a 300-mile range
Pyongyang paraded a new air-launched weapon that shares visual features similar to the Taurus, a cruise missile used by Seoul with a 300-mile range.
You can no longer Call Home on the Google Home app
the feature looks to have been removed with recent updates
What would the ideal CFP model look like? 👀
What would the ideal CFP model look like? 👀
Van Wert Holiday Season Entertainment
Quincy Thompson with Van Wert Live in to give us a look at the upcoming entertainment opportunities during this holiday season.
Verticals Platform DramaBox Courts Up-and-Coming Writers With Stage 32 Partnership (Exclusive)
The companies are launching a writer development program and competition as DramaBox looks to expand the pool of storytellers schooled in the fast-moving, addictive format.
Tennessee election updates: Voters hit polls in tighter-than-expected race
Tennessee's House District 7 was supposed to be Democrat-proof, but a progressive state representative is looking for an upset over her GOP rival.
Gemini is getting a ChatGPT-flavored tweak and new Maps features
Experimenting with the latest Google app beta, we managed to get a look at some new Gemini features, including handy Google Maps integration.
Business Leaders You Should Follow In 2026
This analysis highlights several business leaders who are winning in this fast-changing world and whose insights will be essential for anyone looking to stay ahead in the year ahead.
Galaxy Z TriFold likely priced around $2,800, first look shows display creases, DeX, more [Video]
More details about the upcoming Galaxy Z TriFold have been revealed in a first look video, while Samsung has also...
How Product Replaced Art (or ‘A Recipe for Entertainment Soup’)
Podcasts, videos, TV, films: is everything starting to look (and taste) the same?
Who's running for California governor? Here’s a look at the current field of candidates
After recent shakeups, 10 candidates remain in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom next year, including Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter.
INSEAD Holds Top Spot In Financial Times European Business School Ranking
A look at how European business schools fare across Full-Time MBA, Executive MBA, MiM, and Executive Education measures
30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment 2026: The Actors, Producers And Financiers Ushering In A New Wave Of Entertainment
Lola Tung, Chris Briney and Mikey Madison are taking over Hollywood. Here’s a look at more young stars—on screen and behind the scenes—shaping the business of entertainment.
5 wallpaper apps you need to download now that MKBHD's Panels app is dead
MKBHD's Panels app is shutting down. Looking for a new wallpaper app to replace it? I found five excellent choices.
It seems inevitable that Sam Altman will bring ads to ChatGPT. When will it happen — and what will they look like?
Everyone believes ads are going to end up in ChatGPT. But we don't know when or how — and it's possible Sam Altman doesn't either.
Lexus Has A Surprise (Or Three) For Sports Car Fans
Lexus has teased three new sports cars, with one of them looking like the upcoming GR GT and another the production version of the Sports Coupe concept
This book is our favorite holiday gift for metro-area birdwatchers
“Bird City" is a look at birding in the metropolitan region, told through the adventures of a talented reporter formerly with The Asbury Park Press.
Samsung’s Z TriFold is official and it looks like a tablet with a phone attached
DeX who’s coming to dinner.
Trending Timberwolves look to extend Pelicans' losing ways
The Minnesota Timberwolves' trip to New Orleans to face the Pelicans on Tuesday looks like a mismatch on paper.
Viola Nation 91: A New Hope (not really)
Mike, Mike, and Tito break down the start of a new Viola error that looks suspiciously like the preceding Viola era.
'There’s a lot of harassment' | Madisonville business owner looking for solutions after safety issues
Liz Field of The Cheesecakery told us the harassment and issues have gotten worse within the last year, and now she’s at her wits' end and doesn’t know what to do.
As political winds shift, top chipmaker TSMC looks beyond Taiwan
The lifeblood of Silicon Valley — advanced microchips — pumps from a science park on Taiwan's west coast, mostly from TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker. But now the company is looking abroad for places to grow.
With new bids, Warner Bros. Discovery looks to narrow the auction field
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are poised to submit a second bid on Monday, kicking the auction into high-gear.
Penn State vows it won't 'look ahead' past Campbell
After its lowest-scoring game of the season, Penn State has responded with back-to-back 90-point performances.
Scathing ‘jobs for mates’ review finds appointments to government boards routinely abused
A report by Lynelle Briggs says placements ‘look like nepotism’ and are undermining confidence in government
Iowa State football recruiting early signing day targets for Cyclones
Dec. 3 is early signing day for college football. Here's a look at which class of 2026 commits can sign early for Iowa State.
Best performances from 49ers' convincing road win vs. Browns
The 49ers stayed hot, winning their third straight. A look at San Francisco's best performers in its win at the Cleveland Browns.
The "most capable" and "best-looking" Apple Watch Series 11 is cheapest at Best Buy and Amazon for Cyber Monday
Snap it up for $329 at either of these retailers, $70 off its typical retail price and worry less about battery life and more about hitting those training goals.
Giants vs. Patriots: 'MNF' preview, prediction, what to watch for in...
An inside look at Monday's Giants-Patriots NFL Week 13 matchup in Foxborough.
Go (North) West, College Basketball
Lamenting the death of the truly-enjoyable MTE. I hadn’t planned on much basketball coverage here for a couple reasons: for one, the internet is a dying place, and, for two, that’s exacerbating the steady death of Off Tackle Empire dot blogspot dot biz. BUT! Looking over the (limited) options for basketball on this last snowy […]
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.
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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