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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.
D-Wave Announces Formation of U.S. Government Business Unit
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 02, 2025--D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) ("D-Wave" or the "Company"), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, announced today that it has formed a new business unit dedicated to driving the adoption of its quantum computing products and services with the U.S. government. Led by seasoned government and public sector business executive Jack Sears Jr., the newly formed unit will suppo
NYT defends report on Trump's health after White House backlash
Fox News contributor Joe Concha calls out the New York Times' reporting on President Trump's 'fatigue,' contrasting their past coverage of President Biden's stamina.
Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update improves and breaks dark mode
The update was supposed to improve dark mode in Windows 11
Melania Trump was once the one making controversial White House design choices. Now, it's Donald Trump.
The 2025 White House Christmas decorations reflect Melania Trump's shift to a more low-key role while Donald Trump opts for bold design changes.
Windows 11 KB5070311 update fixes File Explorer freezes, search issues
Microsoft has released the KB5070311 preview cumulative update for Windows 11 systems, which includes 49 changes, including fixes for File Explorer freezes and search issues.
Mamdani, Schlossberg, and the rise of ‘aesthetically literate’ politicians
The online popularity of Mamdani, Schlossberg and AOC may signal a shift: is this the era of 'aesthetically literate' politicians?
The best history and politics books of 2025
The revolutionary spirit in politics and architecture; histories of free speech and civil war; plus how the Tories fell apart and Starmer won
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.
I got laid off from Meta as a 'low performer' and can't find a job
Brittney Ball is struggling to find work nine months after her Meta layoff. She's using this time to start her own tech company and go to college.
The science of storytelling: How narrative accelerates the bioeconomy
In the bioeconomy, breakthroughs alone don’t drive change. Storytelling translates complexity into clarity, turning data into belief through stories
White House distances Hegseth from second strike on alleged drug boat
Defence secretary gave order for strikes but did not say to ‘kill everybody’, according to White House spokesperson
Marcos vs. Marcos: The New Front in Philippine Politics
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is under fire for an enormous graft scandal that is unfolding under his watch. One prominent voice is his sister Senator Imee Marcos.
How the U.S. let ‘everywhere chemicals’ threaten your health
These chemicals continue to contaminate Americans’ food, decades after scientists recognized their dangers.
Democrats and Republicans are pouring money into a special election in Tennessee. Here's why
Tuesday's special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District between Democrat Aftyn Behn and Republican Matt Van Epps has attracted outsize attention and spending from both parties.
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell remake gets another new game director, but it's the original director returning
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell remake has landed itself a new game director, and it's a name you may recognise.
Longwood hosts Troy following Dyer's 22-point game
Troy faces the Longwood Lancers after Zay Dyer scored 22 points in the Trojans' 74-70 win against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
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.
Lammy to address ‘court emergency’ but expected to safeguard jury system
Justice secretary appears to have pulled back from plans to scrap juries for all but the most serious cases
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…...
Trump’s health comes under spotlight, as president hails ‘eternity’ of three years left
Trump is finding himself increasingly judged by the same scrutiny of ageism that proved catastrophic for Biden
Google Patches 107 Android Flaws, Including Two Framework Bugs Exploited in the Wild
Google Patches 107 Android Flaws, Including Two Framework Bugs Exploited in the Wild | Read more hacking news on The Hacker News cybersecurity news website and learn how to protect against cyberattacks and software vulnerabilities.
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
Athletics intent on joining sport’s Goliaths but knows it has long way to go
Jon Ridgeon is overseeing World Athletics’ reach for a younger audience but has to battle it out with football and F1
Winter storm impacts Small Business Saturday, owner calls for community support
Local business owner encourages intentional spending at small businesses after weather forces closures
Is AI making us stupid?
Artificial intelligence can execute tasks in seconds that once took humans hours, if not days to complete. While this may be great for productivity, some researchers are concerned that our increasing use of AI could be impacting our ability to tackle difficult problems and think critically. To find out where the science stands, and how worried we should be about the potential of AI to change how we think, Ian Sample hears from Madeleine Finlay and Sam Gilbert, professor of neuroscience at University College London
2025 NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Who's Really the Best Team in Football?
Ralph Vacchiano sorts out the NFL's hierarchy after every week of the 2025 season.
Ex-Army JAG: Hegseth shifting blame is indication ‘something’s gone terribly wrong’
North Alabama basketball rallies past Jacksonville State for rivalry win
The visiting Lions trailed by eight points heading into halftime, but outscored Jax State 47-32 in the second half to power past the host Gamecocks.
Apple just named a new AI chief with Google and Microsoft expertise, as John Giannandrea steps down
The move is being characterized as a shake-up, but was seemingly inevitable in retrospect.
Samsung fully unveils its Galaxy Z TriFold phone, and it'll be available in Korea in a few days
The Galaxy Z TriFold will be available in Korea later this month, but no price has been revealed yet.
As energy plan nears completion, New York lags on climate goals
New York’s progress on its higher level emissions benchmarks has deteriorated even from the release of the draft plan in July.
As energy plan nears completion, New York lags on climate goals
New York’s progress on its higher level emissions benchmarks has deteriorated even from the release of the draft plan in July.
McKinney food truck business suffers setback after break-in
McKinney-based King Kups lost $3K–$4K in equipment after a Thanksgiving weekend trailer break-in, canceling two catering events.
Sources: Kentucky hiring Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to replace Mark Stoops
Kentucky fired Mark Stoops on Monday after 13 seasons.
Big snow falls on Small Business Saturday
NEW ULM — Snow fell on New Ulm on Saturday as shoppers visited local retailers for Small Business Saturday, a nationwide promotion designed to encourage community shopping after Black Friday. New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce President Sarah Warmka said even with the snow many businesses reported steady traffic and strong sales. At A to […]
Science teacher bringing lessons to life with a touch of magic
Alexus Ables uses magic and real-life experiences to draw her students in to learning.
'Keep your mouth shut.' Mark Kelly hits back at Trump, Pentagon investigation
Mark Kelly alleged Donald Trump has “no regard for the rule of law" after the Pentagon announced investigation into the Democratic senator.
'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.
After a recall and a resignation, SF mayor finally appoints new supervisor
Alan Wong, a former city college board member, was appointed Sunset supervisor.
UW: Anonymous $50M gift will cover tuition for med lab science students
The anonymous gift is estimated to bring $50 million over the next 50 years to UW's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.
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.
Small Business Saturday rescheduled after snow disrupts shopping event
MADISON, Wis. -- Small Business Saturday faced significant disruption due to snow, but local businesses and advocates remain optimistic about a rescheduled event planned for this upcoming weekend.
Holiday gift guide 2025: Something for every sports fan on your list
From books and apparel to sports cards and art, we have something here for all ages.
Colorado businesses concerned about increased costs, supply chain issues as a result of tariffs, report finds
Colorado businesses face mounting headwinds amid a suite of tariffs enacted this year, with concerns about elevated costs, supply chain disruptions and consumer backlash, according to a new state report. The study is the second...
Trump’s quest for political retribution is impeding the Justice Department : The NPR Politics Podcast
President Trump has vowed to seek retribution from his perceived political enemies and to reward his political allies. We discuss how that focus is playing out at the Justice Department, where career prosecutors and other civil servants are no longer calling the shots. How does this partisan shift affect major court cases, from redistricting in Texas to James Comey’s prosecution?This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
Does Recent Business Model Shift Make DocuSign a Better Value for Investors in 2025?
Curious if DocuSign is trading at a bargain or if recent changes have made it less appealing? Let’s break down what has been happening and what it could mean for anyone eyeing the stock. DocuSign’s stock has experienced some volatility recently, climbing 5.2% in the last week, but still down 23.2% year-to-date and 13.6% over the past 12 months. Analyst discussion has focused on DocuSign’s evolving business model and strategic partnerships, both of which have been making headlines and...
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Trump admin 're-examining' all Afghans imported after DC shooting
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.
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.
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.
Kevin Durant’s return brings dilemma to Rockets starting lineup
After missing two games due to personal reasons, superstar Kevin Durant returns to a team that has handled his absence superbly.
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
After a Witcher-free decade, CDPR still promises three sequels in six years
CD Projekt Red says shift to Unreal Engine allows for more rapid development.
Even Microsoft’s retro holiday sweaters are having Copilot forced upon them
Microsoft has not one, not two, but three new sweaters available for $60 to $80.
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.
K&W Cafeterias close all locations after 88 years in business
K&W Cafeterias, a beloved Southern restaurant for 88 years, has closed all its locations.
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.
Microsoft’s ugly sweaters return with Clippy, Xbox, and Zune brown options
All three holiday sweaters can be purchased at Microsoft’s company store.
SmartTube YouTube app for Android TV breached to push malicious update
The popular open-source SmartTube YouTube client for Android TV was compromised after an attacker gained access to the developer's signing keys, leading to a malicious update being pushed to users.
The Guardian view on men’s health: the needs of different groups can only be addressed in a functioning system
Editorial: The specific health issues faced by boys and men deserve attention. But waiting lists stand in the way of improvement
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Price Target Trimmed by Citi
We recently published 12 Best Consumer Cyclical Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE:FLUT) is one of the best consumer cyclical stocks Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE:FLUT) is a software technology company that offers online betting and other services. Its leading service FanDuel is one of the largest sports betting apps in the […]
World Health Organization recommends GLP-1 drugs for obesity
The World Health Organization is now recommending GLP-1 drugs for adults trying to manage obesity. Dr. Natalie Azar explains how this historical shift changes the approach for patients.
At least 9 Indiana Republicans were targeted in swatting attacks amid redistricting pressure from Trump
The threats came after Trump publicly called on state lawmakers to pass new congressional maps that would benefit Republicans.
Congress begins final session of 2025 with healthcare (and a dash of AI policy) on the docket
At the top of lawmakers' economic agenda is a promised vote on healthcare left over from the 43-day shutdown fight. Also being debated are two limited AI measures that have a last chance for action in 2025.
Mikel Merino - could he be Arsenal's number nine?
Arsenal's draw with Chelsea was not their best performance of the season but the sight of Mikel Merino wheeling away after scoring an important goal has become a familiar welcome sight for the Gunners.
Vikings waive Adam Thielen, who requested to finish NFL career elsewhere before retiring
The Vikings announced on Monday they are waiving Adam Thielen at his request, as he intends to retire after the end of the 2025 season.
Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert cancels 2D pixel art Zelda-like RPG after struggling to secure funding
Ron Gilbert has called time on his previously teased but largely under the radar RPG.
Forsberg: Jordan Walsh emerging as the 'violent defender' C's were promised
After Jordan Walsh's career night, Chris Forsberg breaks down how the young Celtics wing has become a legitimate difference-maker on defense.
Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo granted leave of absence after talks with club
The 26-year-old was not part of the Barca matchday squad for Saturday's 3-1 league home win over Alaves on Saturday.
In rare move, Gov. Jeff Landry intervenes in House GOP leadership race. Here's why.
Governors have often picked speakers of the House and presidents of the Senate, but weighing in on the Republican Caucus leadership is unusual.
Exchanging a holiday gift? Science is on your side. | News
Gift givers aren't nearly as offended by returns as the recipient may think, SDSU marketing research shows.
Product sold at Walmart recalled due to risk of explosion
Walmart recalls 201,000 'Ozark Trail' camping stoves after explosions caused burns to users. Stop using immediately and return to store for full refund.
/dev: 2026 Season One Gameplay Preview
A preview of the gameplay changes coming to Summoner’s Rift in 2026.
/dev: 2026 Season One Gameplay Preview
A preview of the gameplay changes coming to Summoner’s Rift in 2026.
Ratio Beerworks earns RiNo Art District’s Creative Business Award
Ratio Beerworks has received the RiNo Art District’s inaugural Creative Business Award, a new honor recognizing Denver’s creative economy.
HGTV's Hilary Farr Sets the Record Straight on Viral Rumors About Her Health
Hilary Farr shared an update on her well-being after alleged AI-generated posts claimed that the Love It or List It star's health was on the decline.
'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.
College football rankings: Ohio State finishes regular season No. 1 in CBS Sports 136
Updating the college football rankings featuring every FBS team after the Week 14 action
$3.5 Million Mindpath Health Data Breach Settlement Gets First Nod
A California Superior Court judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement to resolve litigation against Community Psychiatry Management, LLC, Mindpath Health has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a 2022 breach of its Microsoft Office email environment that exposed the protected health information of almost 194,000 individuals.
Seen but not forgotten: How citizen science helps document biodiversity in remote Borneo villages
When I, Erik Meijaard, worked as a wildlife consultant for a timber concession in Borneo, I often chatted with the logging truck drivers—and quickly realized that some of them knew far more about local ...
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.”
Former USDA-ARS Lead Scientist and Researcher Brendan Niemira Takes Over as Chief Science and Technology Officer at IFT
Former USDA-ARS lead scientist and researcher Brendan Niemira takes over as the new Chief Science and Technology Officer at IFT.
AFTD Grantee Leads Basic Science Study Exploring Role of Protein in Tau-Based Disorders like CBD
A recent study examines chromogranin A in tau protein disorders, expanding our foundational knowledge of these forms of FTD.
Airbus stock drops as much 10% as it confirms a 'quality issue' in the best-selling A320's supply chain
Airbus shares fell as much as 10% after it emerged there was an issue with some A320s' fuselage panels that could delay deliveries to airlines.
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.
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Tennessee's special congressional election
Less than a month after Democrats scored big victories in the Nov. 4 general election, voters in a heavily Republican Tennessee congressional district will fill a vacant seat Tuesday in the closely divided U.S. House
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.
Mapping the exposome: Science broadens focus to environmental disease triggers
After decades of intense focus on genetics, the biomedical research community is undergoing a major shift, focusing on a new framework called "exposomics."
FEMA workers reinstated after suspension and investigation over letter criticizing Trump’s overhaul of agency
A group of FEMA workers has been reinstated after three months of forced leave and an investigation into alleged misconduct for signing an open letter to Congress that criticized the Trump administration’s overhaul of the disaster relief agency and warned it could put American lives in danger.
After 40 years of adventure games, Ron Gilbert pivots to outrunning Death
Interview: Storied designer talks lost RPG, a 3D Monkey Island, “Eat the Rich” philosophy.
What to expect from AMD, NVIDIA and Intel at CES 2026
CES 2026: What we know and what we expect CES 2026 runs from January 6 to 9 in Las Vegas and is once again the main global show for consumer tech hardware, unlike developer or pro-focused events such as COMPUTEX, GTC, GDC, or Hot Chips, which often center on infrastructure, servers, and roadmaps rather than […]
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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