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Gavin Newsom wants Democrats to be more ‘culturally normal.’ Huh?
OPINION: Gov. Gavin Newsom often brags about California’s diversity. But his latest remarks sound like a slap at the proudly non-normal state he’s led for seven years, Joe Garofoli writes.
Issa will run for reelection in California rather than move to Texas
Rep. Darrell Issa, whose San Diego-area district was redrawn to favor Democrats, said he would run for reelection in California rather than moving to Texas to run in a safe GOP seat.
California scientists discover 'pulse' in Earth's glaciers
Ice masses are alive with activity, images reveal.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa to stay in California after flirting with US House run in Texas
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is staying in California
To counter climate denial, UN scientists must be 'clear' about human role: IPCC chief
With US President Donald Trump and other sceptics calling climate change a hoax, the UN's climate science body must tell the world in a "very clear way" that humans are heating the planet, its chairman told AFP. Jim Skea, a Scottish professor, chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which held a five-day meeting in a skyscraper outside Paris this week to begin drafting the next major UN climate assessment.I mean, we concluded in our last report, very simple conclusion: It is
UVA chief mental health officer: Easy ways to stay healthy, succeed during exams
Eating well and making a study plan are part of the prescription.
Trump to visit Pennsylvania in push to focus on domestic issues, sources say
Report shows California health care jobs pay, but waitlists clog college on-ramp
Community college programs promise mobility — but demand far exceeds capacity, the PPIC finds.
Second padel recreational sports complex planned in Milwaukee
Epic Padel, an Arlington, Virginia-based indoor sports complex operator, is planning its first Wisconsin location in a new industrial building on
The next big breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s science and treatment
The outlook for dementia care is changing fast. UC experts explain what that means for patients and families, and what it will take to keep the momentum growing.
Global Fishing Watch and Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory launch Deep-Sea Mining Watch
The new global transparency tool will empower governments, researchers and civil society to monitor vessels involved in deep-sea mineral explorationWashington, D.C., United States, Dec. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization advancing ocean governance through transparency of human activity at sea, and the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have unveiled an upgraded open-access portal designed to br
Here’s What the World Health Organization Had to Say About GLP-1s in its First-Ever Guideline on the Drugs
The health agency supports the long-term use of the medications in combination with a healthy diet and exercise, and calls for equitable access to the drugs
How U.S. Employers Can Meet the Healthcare Needs of Younger Workers
Employers and health systems can do a better job of serving the specific healthcare needs of Millennials and Gen Zers by embracing the following seven approaches: 1) Enlist AI in the design of benefits and the delivery of care; 2) Harness virtual technologies to boost employees’ engagement in choosing and making the most of their healthcare benefits; 3) Shift to prepayment reimbursement models, which emphasize maintaining patients’ health rather than generating revenue when patients become ill; 4) Train physicians to connect with younger patients both technologically and culturally; 5) Combat the physician shortage by supporting educational programs and advocating for legislation to increase residency slots; 6) Treat mental health as an essential part of overall health; and 7) Adopting ways to make care for younger workers more affordable.
NFL Week 14 picks: Bears defeat Packers at Lambeau; Texans topple Chiefs
Sam Farmer makes his picks and predictions for Week 14 of the NFL season, with the Chicago Bears winning at Lambeau Field and the Chiefs moving to below .500.
Boomers are drowning in their millennial kids' junk. They've had enough.
Millennials and Gen Zers are storing their stuff at their baby boomer parents' homes because it won't fit in their own. The parents are sick of it
Strategies to Help Students Embrace Science Instruction (Opinion)
Knowing how to redirect science denial in your classroom is a strong way to start.
High school basketball: Boys' and girls' scores from Wednesday
CIF City and Southern Section boys' and girls' basketball results from Wednesday.
Former Russian chief commander gave 'entire Russian intelligence community' a failing grade for Ukraine attack
Col. Gen. Vladimir Chirkin said Moscow's leadership was "unprepared" and misled into thinking 70% of Ukrainians supported Russia.
Virginia jumps out early, beats Texas 88-69
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Chance Mallory scored 16 points, and Virginia jumped out early and cruised past Texas 88-69 on Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
James Franklin explains Virginia Tech's run on Penn State commits
Penn State's recruiting has sunk to a new low since James Franklin was fired. Now at Virginia Tech, the Hokies' recruiting class is set to be their best in at least 13 years.
Costa Mesa will explore ballot measures that would increase hotel tax, business license fees
Seeking to bolster city revenues and create parity between Costa Mesa and other cities levy on businesses and hotel guests, the council Tuesday backed pursuing two potential initiatives in 2026.
Inova Health Center in Woodbridge, Virginia, opens next week
Inova is expanding its health care operations in eastern Prince William County, Virginia, with a new outpatient health center near Potomac Mills.
Santa Monica Place celebrates holiday season with live entertainment, snow, decor
The holiday season has officially arrived at Santa Monica Place, where visitors to the outdoor shopping destination can enjoy a full festive experience through Christmas Eve. Here’s a breakdown of what guests can expect: While snow is common in Southern California, visitors can still experience a white Christmas, thanks to the new” Snowfall at Santa […]
Only social media platforms with 'real humanity' will survive, investor and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian says
"At some point, more and more people are going to realize just how compromised much of social media is," Ohanian told Fortune.
Kris Brunson Signs With Louisville Football
KRIS BRUNSON – CORNERBACK 247 Composite – 3-Star OFFERS: Virginia, Colorado State, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State Highlights: Evaluation: Louisville has a lot of holes to fill throughout the roster, with cornerback being a key spot. Brunson is a player with better offers than his recruiting ranking, which shows up on his Hudl. He […]
UMW Announces Master of Science in Nursing Degree Program
The University of Mary Washington will add a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, with enrollment beginning in 2026-27. The new program gained approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) at its October 2025 meeting and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in November. It […]
San Francisco’s mayor faces test over his key allies: Business execs
Moderate Mayor Daniel Lurie has leaned on personal ties to business execs to revamp the city, but they could be facing a backlash.
School Specialty's New Edition of Its Phenomena-Based Science Curriculum--FOSS Pathways™--Wins Parent and Teacher Choice Award
School Specialty, a leading provider of supplies, furniture and curriculum for the education marketplace, today announced that its newly released FOSS Pathways™ Edition for PreK–5 has been named a Parent and Teacher Choice Award winner. The new edition of the highly-respected Full Option Science System™ (FOSS®) curriculum, developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, introduces a next-generation, phenomena-based, hands-on science program designed to meet rigorou
Humphreys weighs in on sports betting trends
With the Associated Press, Brad Humphreys discusses trends involving sports betting in West Virginia as other states begin to legalize gambling.
Republicans barely won in a Trump-friendly Tennessee district. Here’s what it means for Pennsylvania and 2026.
The fact Democrats turned a special election in a deep-red district into a nail-bitter is a bad sign for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms.
What Josh Shapiro Believes
The Pennsylvania governor has spent his life preparing to lead an America that might no longer exist.
Health experts urge awareness as seasonal depression affects South Carolinians
As winter approaches and daylight hours shrink, health experts are reminding South Carolinians to monitor their mental health during what can be a challenging season for many.
High school basketball: Boys' and girls' scores from Tuesday
CIF City and Southern Section boys' and girls' basketball results from Tuesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom trolls Trump with phony new health update
California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared a bogus medical report in his latest attempt to troll President Donald Trump that labeled him the “healthiest human currently alive” and lavished praise on his...
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.
RFP Electronic Health Records System
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services (Department) is pleased to invite you to respond to a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Electronic Health Records System. The Department is seeking a vendor that has experience providing comprehensive EHR systems in a California County Department or Division of Public Health Services. The system should be a single, comprehensive solution to address public health and medication and case management workflows and documentation. Proposals must be received no later than 2:00 P.M. on January 13, 2026.
From Hawkins to Hollywood: Stranger Things Pumps Over $650M Into Georgia and $500M Into California
In one small Indiana town, many events would happen that would change many people’s lives, nearly 10 years of a beloved, wildly acclaimed series that shook the entire world. Stranger… The post From Hawkins to Hollywood: Stranger Things Pumps Over $650M Into Georgia and $500M Into California appeared first on Where Is The Buzz | Breaking News, Entertainment, Exclusive Interviews & More.
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.
Spanberger announces seasoned policy advisor as next health and human services 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 services: Marvin Figueroa.
National organization recognizes LION Mobile Clinic for advancing rural health
Penn State College of Medicine’s LION Mobile Clinic has been named one of Pennsylvania’s 2025 Community Stars by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health.
Letters to the Editor: Politics, policy and law are the very things that make up the world we live in
'Wake up, buddy — politics, policy and law will determine the world you and your family will live in, a world that is heading for catastrophe under the current lawless regime,' writes an L.A. Times reader.
Alexis Ohanian Is Bullish on Women’s Sports
In March 2019, in response to the news that players from the U.S. women’s national soccer team had filed a gender-discrimination against their employer, the U.S. Soccer Federation, over pay inequality, Alexis Ohanian fired off a series of tweets. Ohanian, an investor and entrepreneur who co-founded Reddit and, since 2017, has been married to Serena…
Letters to the Editor: As production moves overseas, it’s American entertainment workers who suffer
'As with any business that goes to other countries, people here start losing their incomes and life possibilities. This leads to a downward spiral of any household, community, town, city or state now missing spending potential and tax benefits,' writes an L.A. Times reader.
Who's running for California governor? Here’s a look at the current field of candidates
After recent shakeups, 10 candidates remain in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom next year, including Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter.
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.
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.
A short social media detox improves mental health, a study shows. Here's how to do it
Young adults who took just a one-week break from social media showed improvement in depression, anxiety and insomnia symptoms, a new study says. Plus, tips for how to take a break from your feed.
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.
High school basketball: Monday's boys' and girls' scores
CIF City Section and Southern Section high school boys' and girls' basketball scores from Monday's games.
Entertainment and more in the Mid-Ohio Valley
PARKERSBURG – The Artsbridge calendar for the week ahead: TODAY * Anything Goes: Wild Things, all member exhibition of the West Virginia Watercolor Society, Parkersburg Art Center * Belpre Holiday Lights, Civitan Park, Belpre * Festival of Trees Display, Blennerhassett Hotel and Spa * Shannon Hammer, naturalist photography display, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., WesBanco, […]
Does Congress see war crimes in Venezuela?
Amid reports Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan boat, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine about how Congress is handling oversight of the Pentagon.
Justice Department could present a new indictment against James Comey to a grand jury this week
No matter what, prosecutors will likely present new indictments against the former FBI director and New York Attorney General Letitia James to grand juries in the Eastern District of Virginia.
With new bids, Warner Bros. Discovery looks to narrow the auction field
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are poised to submit a second bid on Monday, kicking the auction into high-gear.
11 surprisingly simple, expert-backed fixes for dramatically better sleep | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Everyone has trouble sleeping from time to time, even sleep scientists. This is what they do to beat insomnia.
In a bold move, UCLA hires Bob Chesney to become its next head football coach
UCLA turns to up-and-coming James Madison head coach Bob Chesney, hiring him to rebuild the Bruins football program.
The Ten Best Science Books of 2025
From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year
QB recruit Huhn following Franklin to Va. Tech
QB Troy Huhn, a former Penn State pledge and ESPN's No. 10 pocket passer in the 2026 cycle, announced his commitment to Virginia Tech, reuniting with coach James Franklin.
I toured the White House to see Melania Trump's Christmas decorations. The East Wing is no more, but the display was still dazzling.
First lady Melania Trump unveiled the 2025 White House Christmas decorations centered on the theme "Home Is Where The Heart Is."
$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.
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.
CA migrant workers delay medical care during Trump’s immigration crackdown
Fewer immigrant farmworkers in California are showing up at pop-up medical clinics since Trump’s immigration crackdown.
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.
Scientists just found a way to tell if quantum computers are wrong
Researchers unveiled a new technique that validates quantum computer results—especially those from GBS devices—in minutes instead of millennia. Their findings expose unexpected errors in a landmark experiment, offering a crucial step toward truly reliable quantum machines.
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.
McKnight foundation honors founding member of Oral Health Task Force
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