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AMD FSR 4 Redstone Review
AMD's FSR Redstone is finally here—and it's more than just another FSR update. With ML-powered frame generation that can match (and sometimes beat) DLSS, smarter ray tracing cleanup, and excellent driver-level support, Redstone turns FSR into a competitive performance solution.
Hundreds rally outside hospital demanding affordable health care options
Tuesday night, hundreds of people rallied outside a Las Vegas Valley hospital demanding options for affordable health care.
3 new names enter Alaska Sports Hall of Fame
Three new names and two "moments" were announced Tuesday as the latest inductees into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.
For Real, a Natural History of Misinformation
It’s not just humans who suffer from leading one another astray. So do fish, flies and even bacteria.
Akron RubberDucks sold to emerging sports ownership company
The RubberDucks, the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, were acquired by Prospector Baseball Group, LLC. Ken Babby, the previous owner since 2012, recently became CEO of the Tampa Bay Rays.
It Ain’t Just Sports: Time to catch up
This week we are not dropping a new episode of It Ain’t Just Sports, but encouraging people to go back and rewatch or catch up on previous episodes.
Greenville City Council approves downtown entertainment district, honors Mayor White’s 30-year tenure
Greenville City Council unanimously approved a new downtown entertainment district Monday night, limiting operating hours for future businesses in an effort to improve public safety following late-night incidents that gained social media attention.
Drew Brees announces new multi-level go-kart track opening at Surge Entertainment in New Orleans
Drew Brees said the attraction is expected to open by Christmas and will offer fun for all ages.
Spectrum’s Seamless Entertainment Experience
Spectrum Communications Manager Monte Miller joins Shane to share all the details behind their Seamless Entertainment Package.
Sonny Gray 'lied' behind scenes about Yankees
Sonny Gray's "lies" landed him in New York.
Health care workers rally against ICE at Portland South Waterfront facility
Oregon Congresswoman Maxine Dexter joined health care workers as they protested at the Portland ICE facility on Sunday.
Omaha doctor sentenced for health care fraud in federal court
An Omaha doctor was sentenced in federal court for health care fraud on Thursday.
MTG reveals political plans as she claims Trump betrayed MAGA in 60 Minutes interview
The interview marked the first time Greene has spoken to the press at length since announcing her upcoming resignation from Congress
Grotmas Calendar Day 8 – Speed into action with a Harlequins-focused Aeldari Detachment
Leap aboard your transports and boost into the fray.
Laredo Health Department warns of flu increase
The Laredo Public Health Department is warning the community about an increase in flu-like illnesses.
Sunday Sports: A 25-year reunion of the Watertown boys basketball sectional championship team
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Sunday.
East Tennessee State earns 78-62 win over Tusculum
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) Brayden Crump scored 15 points as East Tennessee State beat Tusculum 78-62 on Sunday.
Man arrested after assault at local business in Canton, Missouri
David Christopher Arch Jr. was determined to be the primary physical aggressor and placed under arrest, according to CPD.
iam8bit sues Skybound Games for $4m, claiming breach of contract and theft of designs
Iam8bit is suing Skybound Games for £2.9 million ($4 million), alleging breach of contract, fraudulent expenses, theft …
Omaha small business vendors see improved sales at Midwest Fest weekend
Holiday shopping season is crucial for vendors who rely on outdoor markets to supplement income.
Better Business Bureau warns of holiday delivery scams targeting online shoppers
The holiday season brings an increase in online shopping and package deliveries, creating opportunities for scammers or thieves to target busy buyers. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has tips on how you can protect yourself this holiday season.
Man arrested in fatal November stabbing at Piere’s Entertainment Center
ABC21 News Sunday Morning
Footballer arrested on suspicion of assault and affray in London
An international footballer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested in central London on suspicion of assault and affray.
Ancient 'dirty dishes' may have led archaeologists astray for decades
A new study questions if Bronze Age dishes really do have traces of olive oil.
Passenger Jet Suddenly Dropped From Sky for a Wild Reason, Airbus Says
Apologies to our art director, who must depict a plane plunging after being blasted by cosmic rays, which is something that actually happened.
Flu cases likely to 'spike' in coming weeks, warns health secretary
Neil Gray says the rise in cases is a challenge and urges anyone able to get vaccinated to do so.
Oregon nurses rally to support striking specialists, practitioners at Legacy Health
As care providers with Legacy Health hospitals and clinics in the Portland area have been on strike, the healthcare group has agreed to resume mediations on Monday.
Madison businesses ‘redo’ Small Business Saturday after storms slowed holiday shopping
Many storefronts say Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are days they typically rely on, but this year’s timing left them scrambling.
Man arrested in fatal November stabbing at Piere’s Entertainment Center
Saturday night the Fort Wayne Police Department arrested a man in connection to a deadly stabbing at Piere’s Entertainment Center Friday November 28, 2024.
Christmas in LeClaire offers fun, helps make up for Small Business Saturday
Holiday fun is underway in LeClaire.
100K Alabamians could lose health insurance overnight
Alabama hospital leaders and Congresswoman Terri Sewell are warning that a new federal healthcare bill could push many rural hospitals, including one in Wilcox county, into deeper financial trouble.
Saturday Sports: Local high school and college basketball updates from across the North Country
Here’s a recap of your North Country sports this Saturday.
Tybee Island Marine Science Center hosts Whale Week to educate about endangered North Atlantic right whales
Conservationists continue working to ensure the species doesn’t disappear forever as the whales face ongoing threats in their critical habitat areas.
Man City v Sunderland: Team news
Manchester City make one change from their incredible 5-4 win at Fulham on Tuesday. Rayan Cherki returns to the side in place of Tijjani Reijnders, who drops to the bench. Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Gonzalez, Silva, Foden, Doku, Cherki, Haaland Sunderland make three changes following their credible draw at champions Liverpool during the week.
Alarm grows in Europe over what is seen as Trump's 'betrayal' of Ukraine
European governments are fearful that Washington is laying the groundwork for an ultimatum to Kyiv on Moscow's terms.
The 30 Most Unforgivable Betrayals in Sports
When you think about it, nobody in sports is really that loyal. It is a completely selfish world. And why shouldn't it be? No one is as dedicated to the team as a fan, so it is no ...
Audiences set records in Peoria, Bloomington entertainment venues
The Peoria Civic Center and the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts are celebrating record-setting events.
Suns' Grayson Allen: Limited in return
Suns' Grayson Allen: Limited in return
Rail construction costs accessibility business hundreds of thousands
The latest setback came when contractors destroyed the sidewalk that people in wheelchairs needed to access the company’s vehicle display space on Dillingham Boulevard.
Comanche Entertainment discusses impact of new Indigenous in-room programming
In addition to letting guests experience Indigenous and Native culture from the comfort of their hotel rooms, the partnership between Comanche Entertainment and First Nations Experience (FNX) is also shedding light on the rich history of Native American casinos in the United States.
WDAM 7’s weekend sports offerings include MHSAA high school football, Pelicans NBA basketball
WDAM 7’s weekend sports offerings include MHSAA high school football
NJ plane fiasco shows how 'cosmic rays' from another galaxy can...
"The pilots recovered quickly, but yes, it could have been worse."
Cosmic rays are cause behind JetBlue flight suddenly plunging in the sky. This is why it happened
The plane suddenly lost altitude while traveling from Cancun to New Jersey in October.
Report: Man tells police he is ‘Jesus’ after entering business to announce killing
Report: Man tells police he is ‘Jesus’ after entering business to announce killing
The 2025 Holiday Gift Guide For The Entertainment Lover In Your Life
Steelbooks, 4Ks, Blu-Rays, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Watch every 2025 New York high school football state championship game: Live stream, schedule, tickets
The NYSPHSAA football finals are Friday and Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Mel’s Sports History: Watertown’s Championship win
For Mel’s Sports History, Mel Busler takes a look back 25 years ago when the Watertown boys basketball team won a championship game.
UK University Health Pharmacy closing Dec. 19
Patients are able to transfer their prescriptions to another UK Retail Pharmacy location through an online form.
One Retracted Study Doesn’t Cancel Climate Science
It’s hard enough for most of us to predict what we’re having for dinner tonight, much less how the the world will look in 2100. By that time we might have cured cancer and started building giant space brains. Or maybe we’ll be nothing but batteries for our robot overlords. Or spraying crops with a sports drink.
Central Wisconsin high school sports highlights for Dec. 4
Tomahawk and Antigo double-dip in competition.
We The People: Sphere celebrates second anniversary with continued innovation in Las Vegas entertainment
The Sphere marked its second anniversary by continuing to redefine entertainment through immersive experiences that transport audiences beyond traditional viewing.
Sunshine Bridge construction in Springfield impacting businesses nearby
Food truck owners at Metro Eats are struggling with lost business as the Sunshine Bridge construction project blocks customers from Republic.
Inside Iowa Politics: Whether targeting drug boats is legal
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley and U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson told Iowa reporters that they support the Trump administration's efforts to target international drug traffickers.
Suspected drunk driver crashes into Manatee County business
Security footage from the store shows the moment the vehicle slammed through the glass doors.
Nuggets take potent offense on the road vs. depleted Hawks
On the heels of Jamal Murray's offensive explosion, the visiting Denver Nuggets will look to extend their recent dominance over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Governor’s office responds to situation at North Star Health Alliance
Says hospital system needs to provide "basic information"
NYS funding stalls for North Star Health Alliance
Funding delay puts facilities "on the brink of crisis"
HEALTH FIRST: Heart health care in Southeastern North Carolina
Dr. Peter Kane, a heart surgeon with Novant Health, was in the studio to talk more about heart health care and the national recognition he and his partner, Dr. Marks, recently received.
Ticket offices closed, access, M-ticket… Practical information for Galatasaray
Here is the information you need to keep in mind if you are going to the Stade Louis-II for the match between AS Monaco and the Turkish club this Tuesday, December 9 (kick-off 9 p.m.), for Matchday 6 ...
Valley elementary school brings science to life with virtual reality
A Valley elementary school is taking classroom lessons into the virtual world. The Prendergast Elementary School District is using the virtual-reality technology with the help of Arizona State University and its partner Dreamscape.
Wolfe Mountain Entertainment presents holiday radio play in Pomeroy
Wolfe Mountain Entertainment will present “It’s a Wonderful Life, a live radio play” next weekend at New Beginnings United Methodist Church.
"Joke's on you," says No Man's Sky lead as rival survival game confirms it's replacing an eerily familiar cosmetic
Once Human has been accused of imitating and adapting a No Man's Sky teleporter to create a decorative item included in its loot crates.
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.
Health Secretary Neil Gray insists there are 'adequate stocks' of flu vaccine
Over a million adults and 400,000 children received the flu jab between September and November.
ND Sports Scores for the week of December 1
Sports scores for the ND high school and college teams for the week of 12/1/2025
High school sports highlights for Dec. 2
Highlights and scores from area games on the ice and the hardwood.
Jackson bans employees from having relationships, doing business with ‘dope dealers’
The measure comes as three former Jackson city officials face federal charges in connection with a 2024 bribery scheme.
Political Points: Tracking North Central Florida politics, campaigns, and governance
WCJB TV20 provides regular updates on the latest news in politics, campaigns, and governance across North Central Florida.
Top 5 Entertainment News: From Ranveer Singh apologizing for recreating the 'Kantara' sequence to Ajith Kumar visiting Batu Caves in Malaysia - buzzworthy stories of the day | - The Times of India
In a heartfelt moment, Ranveer Singh extended an apology for his portrayal in 'Kantara' during the IFFI event, taking the time to celebrate Rishabh Sh
Regé-Jean Page to headline new erotic Netflix series 4 years after departing “Bridgerton”
Page has appeared in the ensembles of "The Gray Man," "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," and "Black Bag" since exiting the period drama series.
Fallout 2 designer Chris Avellone recalls his first forays into game development
Avellone recaps his journey from learning on a TRS-80 to today.
Legacy Health advanced practice providers go on strike
Advanced practice providers with Legacy Health hospitals and clinics in the Portland metro area and Southwest Washington have gone on strike.
Allen County Coroner identifies victim of deadly Piere’s Entertainment Center stabbing
21Alive Morning News
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.
Winter storm impacts Small Business Saturday, owner calls for community support
Local business owner encourages intentional spending at small businesses after weather forces closures
‘Heartbreaking:’ Snow shutters some stores on Small Business Saturday
Local retailers see mixed results as the weather forces closures and reduces foot traffic.
Madison leaders launch new entertainment district to boost downtown business
Mayor Ranae Bartlett says this project shows the city’s commitment to the future of downtown Madison.
Madison leaders launch new entertainment district to boost downtown business
Mayor Ranae Bartlett says this project shows the city’s commitment to the future of downtown Madison.
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.
Masking reinstated for staff at Yale New Haven Health amid respiratory precautions
Staff members at Yale New Haven Health are masking up again starting on Monday, officials have announced.
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.
Review: Marvel Cosmic Invasion (PS5) - Marvel's Most Fun Beat-'Em-Up in Decades
Beta Ray Brill
Sports Daily: Chiefs aim to stay in playoff hunt in upcoming game against Houston
The busy holiday week is behind us. We have Chiefs, college football, college hoops and more to talk about. Paul Mills and Joshua Brisco join the show.
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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