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What Makes This Business So Successful? We Find Out From the Founder's Kids
The children of Morgan Clayton, founder of Tel-Tec Security Systems in Bakersfield, California, share how their father's wisdom, life experience and caring nature have turned their family business into a locally respected powerhouse.
Column | More than 100 scientists told me what kids books inspired their careers
Want to inspire the next generation of scientists? Here are the best books recommended by experts in ecology, biology, entomology and other fields.
Five Penn State Sports Moments That Felt Like Christmas Morning
These five recent moments made us feel like kids again.
Rob Reiner’s legacy includes political push for keeping kids healthy
Chris Hemsworth says caring for his dad with Alzheimer's has reshaped his priorities as a father
Regardless of the experiences and material things that money can offer, at the end of the day, kids "just want your time," Chris Hemsworth said.
What Is Renal Denervation?
Renal denervation uses targeted energy to reduce kidney nerve activity, helping lower blood pressure.
Video games can get kids to practice science skills
Though some might see video games as a distraction, a new study suggests they can actually serve as a place to practice key science skills.
Adelanto City Council’s gift makes science camp possible for local kids
Students at Gus Franklin Jr. Elementary School will attend science camp thanks to a generous contribution by the Adelanto City Council.
My tween kept asking to chat with her friends online. Now, in Australia, I can just say, 'it's against the law.'
Leon Spencer, an Australian dad, wants his kids to meet up with friends in person, not become products for advertisers.
A Hidden Difference Between Dinosaurs and Mammals Is Changing Science’s View of the Past
New University of Maryland research suggests that dinosaur parenting strategies helped transform the Mesozoic world, as “latchkey kid dinosaurs” spread into ecological niches their parents left untouched. Imagine a young Brachiosaurus no bigger than a golden retriever, foraging alongside its sibl
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 fans can't get over just how difficult the Update's new bosses and challenges are now
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's new patch shadow-dropped earlier this week, and Sandfall Interactive sure wasn't kidding …
Live updates: Eagles look to snap 3-game losing skid against Raiders
Follow along for live updates as Jalen Hurts and the Eagles look to snap a three-game losing skid against the Raiders.
My kids went to an outdoor elementary school with no art, music, or library. They loved it, but adjusting to public school was hard.
My kids loved their private elementary school because they got to learn in small groups outside. They missed out on a lot, but it was worth it.
Texas A&M-CC visits Lamar on 4-game road slide
Texas A&M-CC aims to end its four-game road skid with a win over Lamar
A Kinect for kids is outselling Xbox to become the hot toy this holiday
The Nex Playground is basically Kinect for kids, and it’s outselling Microsoft’s Xbox, shaking up the console market this holiday.
University Health doctors share the No. 1 gift they won't buy for their kids
Are you still on the fence about what to get your kids for Christmas? Before you run out to the store, there are some gifts local health professionals suggest you avoid.
From troubled youth to NFL star: Garett Bolles' journey
His first career Pro Bowl nod is tantalizingly within reach for nine-year NFL veteran Garett Bolles, whose renaissance on the gridiron mirrors his awakening off the field. The Broncos' left tackle has polished the rough edges of his game over the years to go from a raw latecomer to football (he was a lacrosse star as a kid) to one of the league's best blindside protectors. Early on, he was derided by Broncos fans for his propensity for penalties.
Kids Start Up Business Fair
Enjoy an exciting evening of creativity, innovation, and fun as young entrepreneurs showcase their products, inventions, and creative services!
Timothée Chalamet won’t confirm or deny rumors he’s mysterious British rapper EsDeeKid
Timothée Chalamet is feeding speculation that he could be the anonymous British rapper EsDeeKid.
Lurie expands inpatient psychiatric unit amid ongoing youth mental health care shortage
The four new beds and 20 new staffers are designed for kids with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The $4.5 million addition is a first for the state but can't fill the major dearth in youth psychiatric beds across Illinois.
CDC study says Covid shots continue to protect healthy kids from severe illness
Researchers found that Covid vaccines reduced the risk of emergency room and urgent care visits by 56% to 76%. It comes as some federal health officials have sowed doubt in the shots.
Sports360, the newest immersive exhibition at the Science Center, opens this weekend
The 9,500-square-foot Sports360 exhibition is designed to immerse visitors in the science of athletic performance.
FMOL Health has purchased this property near Our Lady of the Lake
FMOL Health has acquired a kidney care facility property on Flanders Drive near Essen Lane. The system purchased the site through Our Lady of the Lake Hospital Inc. from Flanders Building LLC f… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. We are glad you enjoy reading Business Report. Continue reading this story and get ACCESS to all […]
U.S. seizes oil tanker amid tensions with Venezuela and health care disagreements plague the GOP: Morning Rundown
Plus, a test of AI-powered children's toys reveals a not so kid-friendly side.
I sold my house and moved my kid across the US to live with my parents. I'm not sure the benefits are worth all I gave up.
Selling my house and moving cross-country to live with my parents has been good for my kid, her grandparents, and my finances, but I'm struggling.
Science Center of Iowa prepares to reopen popular exhibit
"Small Discoveries" is a play space for kids to explore.
Manlius pediatrician, who draws vaccine skeptics, faces felony over her kid’s vaccine records
New York put the doctor on its vaccine fraud awareness list. She’s now suing the state in federal court.
Area Events & Entertainment Community Calendar
Dec. 11 - Veterans Coffee & Conversation at the Eagles Club Dec. 13 - Optimist Free Movie for kids at The Cosmo Theatre at 1 p.m. Dec. 13 - Merry Merrill Market (downtown Merrill) 5-9 p.m. Dec. …
Thriving Through Layers. My Path Across Networks, Business, and Inclusion
Solutions Engineer Chuks shares his inspiring Cisco journey from curious kid to empowering Africa's digital future through dedication, and mentorship.
NFL power rankings Week 15: How far do Eagles tumble after latest loss?
Philadelphia has lost three in a row. The skid hasn't cost the Eagles first place in the NFC East, but they dropped in our power poll.
Sensory play business Squish opens downtown
Kids in Marshalltown have a new play option – Squish, a downtown hands-on sensory play business. Owners Bobbie Slaney and Tiffany Fouts started the business inside the Hellberg’s Jewelers building at 13 W. Main St., with a soft opening on Monday. According to Slaney, the inspiration came when they saw there were not a lot […]
Liberty Science Center is letting kids meet Santa in their pajamas during the 2025 holiday season
The Santa’s Pajama Party runs from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays now until Dec. 24.
These kids can't be home for Christmas. An influencer is here to help.
Interior decorator and content creator Meghan Gallagher decorated the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia to spread holiday cheer to 150 families.
Educational Video Game Helps Kids Learn Science, Study Finds
By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Dec. 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Video games often have a bad reputation as being a distraction, but a new study suggests they may help kids build important science skills. University of Georgia researchers created an educational video game that helps elementary school students learn about ...
One Million More U.S. Kids Became Obese During COVID Pandemic
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Dec. 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Roughly 1 million American kids became obese during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study says. Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. rose from around 21% pre-pandemic to nearly 23% during the global health crisis, researchers ...
I got my kids, all 8 and under, a DVD player. It made family movie night more enjoyable and saved my sanity.
I switched my family to DVDs to avoid streaming overload. It transformed our chaotic movie nights into a calmer, quicker, and happier weekly tradition.
I quit my job when the NFL drafted my husband. Now, I homeschool our 6 kids.
Tamela Gill Davis explains why she homeschools six kids while her husband, Saints linebacker Demario Davis, plays in the NFL.
Dodgers notes: Freddie Freeman, Miguel Rojas, Tim Harkness
Freddie Freeman was born in California but both of his parents were from Ontario, Canada, and the first baseman has played twice for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. So it was only natural that Freeman teamed up with famous Canadian star Ryan Reynolds for charitable purposes, filming an ad raising money for the SickKids […]
Ivy League to NFL? How a kid can look at the big picture as a recruit
Our series behind curtain of D-1 recruiting looks at sports as a path to life success. We also chat with a former player who went from D-3 to the NFL.
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)
Oregon arrives at matchup with UCLA on 4-game skid
UCLA, looking to get back into the Top 25 rankings after a one-week absence, hosts slumping Oregon on Saturday in Los Angeles in a battle of former Pac-12 basketball rivals.
Golden State plays Cleveland, aims to end road skid
Golden State comes into a matchup with Cleveland after losing three road games in a row
New Orleans faces Brooklyn on 5-game road skid
New Orleans Pelicans (3-20, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Brooklyn Nets (5-17, 13th in the Eastern Conference) New York; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: New Orleans visits Brooklyn looking to stop its five-game road skid. The Nets are 1-10 on their home court.
Sports aren't giving kids a chance with their unceasing and...
How can kids be no different when those who should know better conspire to help make them creeps?
My family just stayed at our first all-inclusive resort. I really, really wish we'd done it sooner.
Our family enjoyed our first stay at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. The kids got more independence and we were pleasantly surprised by the food.
Dog Parents, Rejoice: Science Says Your Pup Might Actually Help Your Teen’s Well-Being (Including Their Gut)
Like most parents of teens, you’re probably constantly trying to decode what actually supports your kids’ emotional well-being. Some days it feels like a moving target: school pressure, friendship drama, big emotions, changing hormones—it’s a lot. But one constant in your house could be… your dog. Your family pup can somehow manage to crack open …
More dangerous than football. Motocross is deadliest sport for kids
An investigation into 158 youth motocross deaths shows inconsistent safety measures cause preventable fatalities nationwide.
New Hampshire faces Merrimack, seeks to stop 3-game skid
New Hampshire will try to stop its three-game losing streak when the Wildcats take on Merrimack
Boomers are drowning in their millennial kids' junk. They've had enough.
Millennials and Gen Zers are storing their stuff at their baby boomer parents' homes because it won't fit in their own. The parents are sick of it
PEOPLE: Jeff Shultz to join Radial Entertainment’s C-suite next year
Also, Kidscreen alum Nelson Huynh will manage content sales in the Americas for Mattel on contract in 2026, and Paramount has added LatAm to franchise director Lee Harris-Gibbs' remit.
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.
Hoda Kotb Shares New Holiday Tradition She’s Starting With Her Kids
Kotb previously shared glimpses of her family's Thanksgiving celebrations via social media.
Owning a Smartphone at Age 12 Is Linked to These Health Issues in Kids
Think of the children.
Three degrees, one vision: Natarajan Ravikumar blends technical depth, business acumen and data mastery
Three degrees, one vision: Natarajan Ravikumar blends technical depth, business acumen and data mastery Since he was a kid in Chennai, India, relentlessly solving a Rubik’s Cube, Natarajan Ravikumar sought solutions – and he was good at it. Today, he is a three-time Charlotte master’s alumnus and a technology executive at Honeywell, where he is bridging […]
I kept working as an RN even after my husband had made more than $30 million in the NFL. It gave me a sense of purpose.
Parker Henry reflects on settling in New England, raising her kids, and navigating the uncertainty that comes with her husband Hunter Henry's NFL career.
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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