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Companies cut 32,000 jobs in November, ADP says
Economists had been expecting to see jobs added, not lost. The latest data signals a labor market that could be on unsteady ground.
Bad Bunny Remains the Reigning King of Spotify
The Puerto Rican megastar's latest project Debí Tirar Más Fotos was also named this year's top streamed album on the platform
Eva Kaili to Mogherini: Belgium ‘not a safe place’ for politicians
Former MEP embroiled in Qatargate scandal speaks out on fraud probe involving EEAS and College of Europe.
Holland & Knight Health Dose: December 3, 2025 | Insights
The Trump Administration finalized a trade agreement with the UK that exempts British-origin pharmaceuticals, ingredients and medical technology from Section 232 tariffs.
Overnight fire at Warren County business prompts large response
An overnight fire at a Warren County business has garnered a large response from first responders.
Missouri State football bowl game predictions, where Bears could land
With the bowl games announced on Sunday, here are the potential landing spots for Missouri State football, according to national media.
Rugby World Cup 2027 draw: Englaned and Wales paired together
England and Wales are paired up in the pool stages at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with Scotland and Ireland also drawn together.
Winter in Saudi Arabia: Where Ancient Heritage Meets Modern Entertainment
Saudi Arabia's winter season features the "Winter Is Alive" campaign with more than 1,000 cultural and entertainment events.
Satellites Detect Seasonal Pulses in Earth’s Glaciers
From Alaska’s Saint Elias Mountains to Pakistan’s Karakoram, glaciers speed up and slow down with the seasons.
Pittsburgh’s People of Year 2025
Whatever may be happening at the national level, progressives in Pittsburgh are undeterred. The local Democratic Party has shored up and built on its base. Prominent left-leaning candidates now hold office everywhere from the county to Congress. Following November’s blue wave election, high off-year turnout propelled even more local progressives into office. Among their number […]
City, business leaders launch vision for Madison’s downtown future
MADISON, Wis. -- The City of Madison is beginning work on its new Downtown Area Plan in conjunction with Downtown Madison Inc.’s Greater Downtown Economic Investment Strategy as part of
Doctor and author turned social media creator: Former Colorado public official on posting science-based health content
After working as one of Colorado's top public health officials, Dr. Tista Ghosh advised Fortune 500 companies during the pandemic. Now, after writing a book, she's turned to spreading health information online.
Ignore the Jets tanking alarmists and focus on the bigger picture
To borrow from Herman Edwards’ famous rant: Play to win the game.
Video College sports landscape spurs Saint Francis University to leave Division 1
ABC News’ Ike Ejiochi reports on Saint Francis University’s major decision to move from Division I to Division III athletics because of challenges created by NIL, the transfer portal and more.
Why 'Home Alone' star Daniel Stern won't be celebrating the movie's 35th anniversary in person
Actor Daniel Stern still appreciates his 1990 holiday favorite, 'Home Alone,' but says he won't be celebrating the movie at in-person events.
Days from death? Speculation surrounds health of 'Green River Killer' Gary Ridgway
Local and national speculation continues to swirl around the possibly delcining health status of Gary Ridgway, the notorious WA serial killer.
College Football Playoff rankings: Texas A&M drops to No. 7 behind Ole Miss, Alabama and Notre Dame swap spots
How scammers are targeting businesses with 1-star Google reviews in 'extortion schemes'
Gutfeld: Democrats only care about victims for ‘politics’
‘The Five’ co-hosts discuss the Trump administration’s drug crackdown and alleged ‘double tap’ of suspected drug boats in Venezuela.
Paramount throws in more cash in bid for Warner; Comcast wants to combine assets with NBCUniversal
Jockeying for HBO-owner Warner Bros. Discovery has intensified as the auction appears to enter its home stretch.
Oregon’s governor unveils a ‘roadmap’ to business prosperity. Here’s what’s at stake
The blueprint comes as Oregon faces sluggish population growth, high housing costs and other faltering economic indicators.
Lowell High School wins its first teacher of the year award
Tara Goodhue, head of the science department at Lowell high school, will proceed to the national competition for top educator.
Packers-Bears game flexed to Saturday night for Week 16
Assume that the Green Bay Packers’ game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 will be flexed into a night slot, too.
SEA Sports Commission to launch website for grant applicants
The Sports and Exhibition Authority’s Sports Commission will launch a website later this week for its grant program, which has provided millions...
Spanberger announces seasoned policy advisor as Virginia’s next health and human resources secretary
As Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger prepares to take the helm of the state of Virginia, she has announced her pick for the next secretary of health and human resources: Marvin Figueroa.
Indiana's redistricting bill advances to a vote in the House with a lone Republican opposed
An overwhelmingly anti-redistricting crowd testified for hours Dec. 2.
Spartans star specialist to forego final year, enter NFL Draft
One of the best players on the Spartans this year is heading to the NFL
Is Claude really writing 90% of the code inside the company? Anthropic's own research suggests otherwise
The company releases a study that shows its own engineers use Claude more to debug code than to write new software.
Omarion Hampton injury: Chargers RB likely to return against Eagles
The Chargers could get a boost to their run game against the Eagles with the latest on Omarion Hampton
Here's How I'm Planning to Transform Myself and My Business in 2026
Here are five things I'm focusing on to achieve meaningful growth in the year ahead.
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.
Why the Best Health Brands Are Built on Trust, Not Marketing Gimmicks
For health and wellness founders, this skepticism isn’t a creative problem – it’s a trust problem.
Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee to shut down wallpapers app
The app, which was criticised at launch for its $11.99 (£9) a month fee, will close on 31 December.
Red Dead Redemption Out Now on Netflix, iOS, Android, PS5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2
Experience John Marston's journey across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico to hunt down the remaining members of the Van der Linde Gang in Red Dead Redemption along with his fight to stop a virulent zombie plague in Undead...
Al Gore urges Democrats to send a 'shock wave' in Tennessee race
The former vice president made a rare return to the campaign trail as he delivered an impassioned plea to Tennesseans to vote for Democrat Aftyn Behn.
Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid live stream: Where to watch online
It's a huge clash as Barca attempt to remain atop the table in Spain
Chris Eubank Jr reveals 'health issues' and says he will not box again until "100%"
Chris Eubank Jr says he will not box again until he is "100%" fit after revealing he has been dealing with "health issues".
Rep. Chip Roy suggests government 'fully intervene' with college sports
While discussing the SCORE ACT, Rep. Chip Roy suggested that Congress 'fully intervene' with college sports to regulate issues like conference sizes
GOP Iowa state Treasurer Roby Smith is running for reelection in 2026
Smith narrowly defeated longtime Democratic Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald in 2022, becoming the first Republican to hold the office in 40 years.
NBA quarter-season grades for every West team, from obvious 'A+' to alarming 'F-'
As we hit the end of the first quarter in the 2025-26 NBA season, we're handing out grades
Mistral closes in on Big AI rivals with new open-weight frontier and small models
Mistral unveils its Mistral 3 lineup, including a frontier model and efficient small models designed for offline, customizable enterprise use—aiming to prove small, fine-tuned AI can beat closed-source giants.
Inova Health Center in Woodbridge opens next week
Inova is expanding its health care operations in eastern Prince William County with a new outpatient health center near Potomac Mills.
Best Missouri sports betting apps: Top MO sportsbook apps for $3,000 in bonus offers
Missouri betting apps are now accepting real-money bets, and this page will guide you through the best sports betting apps currently available in Missouri.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a technical marvel and game design nightmare
After a decade of development, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a beautiful but befuddling game full of misguided design decisions and annoying sidekicks.
Review: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch 2) - Samus Returns In Prime Form
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New Nonprofit Addresses National Health Crisis Empowering People Nationwide to Heal from Trauma and Build Resilience
A new national nonprofit is taking a grassroots approach to one of America's most urgent health challenges: Trauma. Remarkably Resilient, Inc., founded by sisters Kathleen Harnish McKune and Karen Dickson, today announces the official national launch of its Remarkably Resilient Together (RRT) campaign – a neuroscience-informed movement that comprises accessible, easy-to-use tools to help vulnerable individuals, families and professionals heal from trauma, manage stress and build resilience.
Yuyu Pharma Announces Strategic Investment in Dalan Animal Health as Part of Accelerated Global Expansion in Animal Health
Yuyu Pharma announced today that it has completed a strategic investment in Dalan Animal Health, a U.S.-based biotechnology company advancing an innate immunity–based platform for developing vaccines for honeybees and shrimp. The investment marks a significant step in Yuyu Pharma's plan to become a more active global player in the fast-growing animal health sector.
Watch live as President Trump holds Cabinet meeting Tuesday
President Trump is holding a meeting with members of his Cabinet on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Watch it live here.
Beyond Netanyahu: Israel’s major political corruption scandals
Every prime minister in Tel Aviv since 1996 has been investigated on charges of corruption.
Drake Maye, 'aggressive' Patriots pummel Giants for 10th straight win
Drake Maye tossed two touchdowns and the New England Patriots out-gained the New York Giants by more than 150 yards to earn their 10th straight win.
Alabama lawmakers in 1965 risked everything to stand up to an unstoppable George Wallace
A dozen state senators withstood arm-twisting by the governor and handed Wallace one of his few political defeats.
Logitech Named to Inc. Best in Business 2025 List
Logitech Sight's Smart Switching feature, powered by RightSight 2, recognized in Best AI Implementation Category for enhancing hybrid meeting equity Intelligent multicamera framing listed in Best AI Implementation category Honored for AI tech that fixes poor hybrid meeting experiences Company selected based on ingenuity, industry impact, superior execution Today, Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) was named to Inc. Best in Business 2025 list. The annual awards celebrate the exceptional achievements and contributions of companies that have made a profound impact in their industries. Based on the AI-powered Smart Switching feature of Logitech Sight tabletop conference camera, the company has been recognized in the Best AI Implementation category. The AI-powered Smart Switching feature of Logitech Sight automatically selects the best angle between multiple cameras. The experience to the remote viewer is like that of a TV production. Logitech developed Smart Switching in response to a
Library offers custom ornaments for children’s holiday reading program
The Old Forge Library has begun a holiday reading incentive for children, offering personalized wooden ornaments crafted by Dennis Kenny for completing 10 books.
Prep talk: Carson's Xavier Allen delivers City titles in football and baseball
Top athlete Xavler Allen has helped Carson win City titles in football last week and baseball last spring.
Section III high school sports schedule for Dec. 2
See which Section III teams are competing today.
Science Explains Why You Wince When Watching Another's Pain
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Ever wonder why you instinctively wince when you see physical harm come to a TV or movie character on screen? There’s a scientific explanation for why we flinch when watching painful events, even though we know it’s not ...
Your iPhone Already Has iPhone Fold Software, but Apple Won’t Let You Use It
Recent exploits show iPadOS windows running on an iPhone, hinting at the future of Apple hardware and software alike—while also possibly revealing its incoming foldable phone experience.
Cancer. COVID. Strikes. After a 9-year journey, 'A Little Prayer' was still worth the wait
Writer-director Angus MacLachlan explains how his tiny indie surmounted so many hurdles — and why he still feels the 'Movie Gods' smiled upon him.
21 South Bend area restaurants with priority health violations; 59 get perfect inspection
The health violations occurred during health inspections from Oct. 1-15.
In Pictures: Sporting photos of the week
A selection of some of the most striking sports photographs taken around the world over the past seven days.
Save the Date: Livestream of All-new Sports Models World Premiere on December 5
Toyota Motor Corporation will present the All-new Sports Models World Premiere from 11:00am Japan Standard Time (03:00 a.m. CET) on December 5. The event will be live-streamed (with English interpretation) on this webpage : https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/43567793.htmlFollowing the premiere, a video of the presentation will b...
Liberty Sports Group and Front Row Hospitality Announce Multi-Year Partnership with Shift4 to Power Commerce Across Sports, Entertainment, and Hospitality Properties
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Liberty Sports Group (LSG) and its food and beverage division, Front Row Hospitality…...
Liberty Sports Group and Front Row Hospitality Announce Multi-Year Partnership with Shift4 to Power Commerce Across Sports, Entertainment, and Hospitality Properties
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Liberty Sports Group (LSG) and its food and beverage division, Front Row Hospitality…...
AI valuations heighten risk of ‘sharp correction’ in stock markets, Bank of England warns
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as the Bank of England releases its Financial Stability Report
Section III high school sports scoreboard, stats leaders for Dec. 1
See results from Section III teams.
Senate barrels toward failure on health care
A bipartisan breakthrough appears unlikely ahead of next week's scheduled votes.
Nintendo Announces 50th Maximus Cup Event For Tetris 99
Celebrating the release of Kirby's new game
Champions League Power Rankings: Who is stopping red-hot Arsenal?
The Gunners won a key match against Bayern Munich and may just be UCL favorites
Former mental health counselor charged with sexually assaulting patients dating back to 1996
‘Heartbreaking:’ Snow shutters some stores on Small Business Saturday
Local retailers see mixed results as the weather forces closures and reduces foot traffic.
Mapping DC health inequities: a scoping review comparing scientific and medical humanities approaches
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Mapping DC health inequities: a scoping review comparing scientific and medical humanities approaches
Cutting back on social media has proven health benefits. Here are some tips
A recent study underscored the suggestion that taking a break from social media can be beneficial for your mental health — even if it’s just for a short time.
The AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Noise Canceling Earbuds Drops to $149.99 for Cyber Monday
Certified open box (new) from an eBay vendor with 400,000 feedback and a 99.7% rating.
Apple Artificial Intelligence Head to Leave After AI Struggles
Apple Inc. artificial intelligence head John Giannandrea plans to step down from the job, ending a challenging stint at the iPhone maker.
DualSense Wireless Controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition announced
Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced the DualSense Wireless Controller – Genshin Impact Limited Edition. It will launch on January 21, 2026 for $84.99 / €84.99 / £74.99 / ¥12,480 in s…
West Des Moines' Historic Valley Junction reschedules Small Business Saturday
Business owners prepare for Small Business Saturday 2.0 after a winter storm disrupted the original event.
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.
Why is Trump threatening attacks? US-Venezuela tensions, explained
Since September, the Trump administration is known to have carried out strikes on at least 21 boats in international waters that killed 83 people.
Jeffries seeks to raise pressure on GOP centrists over expiring health care subsidies
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is pressing centrist Republicans to help Democrats extend ObamaCare tax credits before they expire at the end of the month. Jeffries has offered…
André Carson drawn out of Indy House district in proposed redistricting map
Carson's home near downtown Indianapolis, currently in the 7th District, which he's held since 2008, would now be in the ninth congressional district.
Allen County Coroner identifies victim of deadly Piere’s Entertainment Center stabbing
The Allen County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim of a fatal stabbing at Piere’s Entertainment Center.
'Do it right:' Trump posts cryptic message after ballroom setbacks
President Donald Trump and his chosen architect have clashed over the enormous construction project at The White House.
iPad Mini Drops to New All-Time Low Price of $349 for Cyber Monday
Amazon and Best Buy have introduced new low prices on the iPad mini 7 for Cyber Monday, starting at $349.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi tablet, down from $499.00. You'll also find a few deals on cellular models during this sale. Note. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Top 25 And 1:
Catch your breath if you can because Tuesday's schedule is loaded with great games including UConn vs. Kansas
The Clock Is Ticking for These Cyber Monday Smartwatch and Fitness Tracker Deals From Apple, Garmin, Samsung, and More
Cyber Monday November 2025 smartwatch and fitness tracker deals are ready for your wrist. Score an Apple Watch SE 3 for under $200 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at 48% off.
Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time
By the first World AIDS Day of his second term, Trump gutted LGBTQ+ employment globally and put humanity at greater risk of AIDS.
Science on Tap: The science behind food
Wisconsinites tend to take pride in being the dairy state, encouraging the love of everything from cheese curds to custard to cream puffs.But are you aware of how much research goes into perfecting the products?
World Health Organization recommends GLP-1s for obesity. There's a catch.
The WHO issued guideline on the use of GLP-1 therapies for obesity, conditionally recommending them as part of long-term treatment.
Super Bowl 2026: Pregame performers include Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile
Charlie Puth will sing the national anthem, Brandi Carlile will perform “America the Beautiful,” and Coco Jones will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
NFL news, injury updates: Justin Herbert to have surgery on hand, Sauce Gardner suffers possible calf strain
The Voice of Alabama Politics examines Jones bid, power rates, PBS, libraries
Bill Britt, Susan Britt and Josh Moon analyze Alabama’s governor race, energy policy, public media and library censorship debates.
Ebola outbreak in Congo declared over by health officials
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now over, Congolese health officials announced on Monday, after the country went 42 consecutive days without recording a new case.
Capitol agenda: Health deal hinges on Trump
Capitol Hill factions are trying to figure out what the president wants and how to entice him to their side.
Rams upset by Panthers; Chargers win, but Justin Herbert is injured
The Rams are no longer the top seed in the NFC after losing, while the Chargers win, but Justin Herbert breaks his left hand.
Ruby Is Not a Serious Programming Language
Ruby survives on affection, not utility. Let's move on.
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.
Section III high school sports schedule for Dec. 1
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