Post Rethinking Mortality: Exploring the Intersection of Life and Death Scientific advances in the 21st century have led to major breakthroughs in the understanding of death. One in five survivors of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) who are revived back to life recall experiencing a heightened and transcendent state of consciousness that often follows a specific narrative arc. What can these remarkable experiences ultimately tell us about the nature of human consciousness?
Post Spiritual Materialism: Transcendent Encounters with the Sacred What is the origin of our transcendent experiences? How should we interpret feelings of being connected to nature and the cosmos, of being part of something larger than ourselves, of being overcome with awe and wonder? Can such feelings arise from the forces of natural selection and the human brain, or must they be derived...
Post The Spiritual Impulse: Understanding the Experience of God Numerous polls have consistently shown that most people around the world believe in the existence of God or some higher power. Indeed, many of these people not only believe in a deeper reality, but also claim to experience God directly. Can social science explain how rational people come to believe in God and experience the...
Post Cultivating the Mind: Reason and the Pursuit of Ethical Transformation Rationality, long considered a distinctive characteristic of the human mind, provides us with the capacity for understanding and discernment, as well as the ability to introduce order into our thoughts by allowing us to form higher-order volitions, adopt values, establish priorities, and achieve a level of consistency in our actions across time. The ancient Socratic ideal of the “examined life” in pursuit of truth and justice relied on a definition of human nature that was to be cultivated in a systematic way.
Post Fathoming the Mind: A Closer Look at the Formation of Self Recent research in animal behavior and culture shows that the mental capacities of animals have been largely undervalued. And yet it is hard to resist the impression of a gap—a difference in nature rather than degree—between humans and non-humans when it comes to certain tasks involving abstraction, planning, sustained attention, or the transmission of culture over generations. How different is the human mind from the minds of non-human animals?
Post Unraveling the Mind: The Mystery of Consciousness Few words in our language appear to cover such a broad and flexible swath of ideas as “the mind.” But what, actually, is the human mind? How does it relate to and differ from its seemingly inseparable companion, the brain? Where does the mind begin or emerge from? Is it merely a by-product of neural activities within the brain, or does it connect with deeper and more fundamental features of physical reality that possibly span across nature beyond the realm of living forms?
Post Beyond Oneself: The Ethics and Psychology of Awe Prof. of religious studies and ethicist Lisa Sideris joins psychologists Jennifer Stellar and Piercarlo Valdesolo to explore our understanding of how awe shapes our perspectives and views on everything from science to morality.
Post Unpacking Wonder: From Curiosity to Comprehension Social psychologist Michelle "Lani" Shiota, writer Caspar Henderson, and astrophysicist Alex Filippenko unpack the emerging science behind the emotion of awe and wonder, and its function in our ongoing quest for understanding and knowledge.
Post The Musical Art of Ostad Elahi Hosted by New York Public Radio’s John Schaefer, the sold-out event began with a debut documentary film screening on the life and music of Ostad Elahi. The film screening was followed by a panel discussion with Leili Anvar, Professor of Persian Language and Literature; Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician, and bestselling author; and Theodore Levin, Arthur...
Post Reality Is Not As It Seems Cognitive scientist Donald D. Hoffman and neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan join Steve Paulson to discuss the elusive quest to understand the fundamental nature of consciousness, and why our perception of reality is not necessarily what it seems.
Post Human Cognition and the AI Revolution Logician/mathematician Roger Antonsen and computer science pioneer Barbara J. Grosz join Steve Paulson to break down the fundamental elements of human understanding and analyze what lies ahead on the horizon of AI.
Post The Mystery of Our Mathematical Universe Theoretical physicist S. James Gates Jr. and science writer Margaret Wertheim join Steve Paulson to explore the mystery of our universe and the uncanny potential of mathematics to reveal the laws of nature.
Post The Wake How do we mark death and celebrate lost lives around the globe? In this hour, we hear stories from inside the funeral industry, wonder why dead bodies can compell or repell us, and learn about the new Ghanaian tradition of "fantasy" coffins inspired by people's work and dreams.
Post Opening Event In celebration of the eponymous exhibition at the Met, the opening event will feature a series of stirring musical performances, including a rare appearance by tanbur grandmaster Chahrokh Elahi, as well as solo and duet pieces by renowned double bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons and master lutenist Claire Antonini, who will present a unique fusion of eastern...
Post The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi Ostad Elahi (1895–1974) was a renowned Persian musician, thinker, and jurist whose transformative work in the art of tanbur—an ancient, long-necked lute—paralleled his innovative approach to the quest for truth and self-knowledge. Beginning August 5 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition will document the interdependent, mutually transformative relationship between player and instrument through...
Post Alive Enough? Sherry Turkle directs the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Her book, Alone Together, created a catchword for anxiety about the alienating potential of technology. But that’s not really her message. We explore the real challenge she poses — that we can and must lead examined lives with our digital objects — actively shaping technology...
Post Civility, History, and Hope As part of our Civil Conversations Project, we experience the civil rights veteran Vincent Harding. He has a long lens of wisdom on contemporary divisions and confusions. He says America is still a developing nation when it comes to democratic encounter across real difference. But he finds hope in the young people he’s been bringing...
Post Restoring Political Civility Richard Mouw challenges his fellow conservative Christians to civility in public discourse. He offers historical as well as spiritual perspective on American Evangelicals’ navigation of disagreement, fear, and truth.
Post Listening Beyond Life and Choice Frances Kissling is known for her longtime activism on the abortion issue but has devoted her energy more in recent years to real relationship and new conversations across that bitter divide. She’s learned, she’s written, about the courage to be vulnerable in front of those with whom we passionately disagree.
Post Sidling up to Difference Our Civil Conversations Project continues with the Ghanaian-British-American philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah. His parents’ marriage helped inspire the movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. He’s studied ethics in a world of strangers and how unimaginable social change happens. We explore his erudite yet down-to-earth take on disarming moral hostilities in America now.
Post Words That Shimmer Poetry is something many of us seem to be hungry for these days. We’re hungry for fresh ways to tell hard truths and redemptive stories, for language that would elevate and embolden rather than demean and alienate. Elizabeth Alexander shares her sense of what poetry works in us — and in our children — and...
Post The Impact of Brain Function on the Concept of Criminality Dr. Bennett is Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Sydney, and Scientific Director of the Brain & Mind Research Institute and holds a University Chair awarded for research ‘recognized internationally as of exceptional distinction’. He graduated in Electrical Engineering and did his doctoral research in Zoology at Melbourne University before turning to the brain sciences and...
Post Universal Morality, Inclusivity, and the Brain Dr. Andrew B. Newberg is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a staff physician in Nuclear Medicine. Upon completing a Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, he has actively pursued a number of neuroimaging research projects that have...
Post The More We Understand, The Less We Understand Dr. Martha Farah is currently Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences and Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been teaching since 1992. Farah has undergraduate degrees in Metallurgy and Philosophy from MIT, and a doctorate in Psychology from Harvard University. She is the recipient of...
Post From Prodigy to Virtuoso: Mozart and Ostad Elahi Farhad Mechkat is a critically acclaimed composer, conductor, and musical virtuoso who began his musical studies at the Geneva Conservatory of Music. After graduating from the Mannes College of Music in New York, he spent 3 years studying with Toscanini’s disciple, Franco Ferrara in Rome and Sienna. He then returned to New York where he...
Post Advances in Neuroscience Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is a Research Associate Professor in the Division of Biochemistry and Pharmacology of the Department of Oncology and the David Lauler Chair for Catholic Health Care Ethics at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He is a member of the Center for Clinical Bioethics, the Advisory Board for the Center for Infectious Disease...
Post The Neurobiology of Virtue: Evolution, Cognition and Human Flourishing Dr. Casebeer is a career intelligence analyst and Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force. He holds degrees in political science from the US Air Force Academy (BS), philosophy from the University of Arizona (MA), national security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School (MA), and a joint PhD in cognitive science and philosophy from the...
Post Common Morality: Deciding What to Do Dr. Bernard Gert is currently the Stone Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Dartmouth College, and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School. In addition to being awarded numerous fellowships, he has been the recipient of two Fulbright Awards, and in 2006 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Bioethics and...
Post Neuroscience, Reverence and Moral Sense Dr. James Giordano is Samueli-Rockefeller Professor of Medicine and Neurosciences, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC. and is a Senior Fellow of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (VA), where he serves as Director for the Center for Neurotechnology Studies; he is a Fellow in Philosophical Psychology at Blackfriar’s Hall, University of Oxford, UK; Visiting...
Post Persons and their Brains Roger Scruton, Ph. D. is currently Research Professor for the Institute for the Psychological Sciences where he teaches philosophy at their graduate school in both Washington and Oxford. He is also Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. Dr. Scruton is a writer, philosopher and public commentator. He has specialized in aesthetics with particular attention to music...
Post The Varieties of Transcendent Love Dr. Leili Anvar is Professor in Persian Language and Literature at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Paris, where she is also the Head of the Iranian Languages Department. She holds a chronicle dedicated to literature and spirituality in the magazine Le monde des religions and co-hosts a weekly radio program on...
Post Infinite Echoes Infinite EchoesRobert Crinella – guitar & laudEmmanuel During – viola & oudPaola Munari – soprano Catena d’Amore by Cesare NegriTuo Splendore by LaudanovaSono Pellegrino by LaudanovaImprovisation on Middle Eastern MelodiesSelini Selini by Laudanova
Post The Neuroscience of Fair Play As head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior at Rockefeller University, Dr. Pfaff uses neuroanatomical, neurochemical and neurophysiological methods to study the cellular mechanisms by which the brain controls behavior. His research has focused on steroid hormone effects on nerve cells as they direct natural, instinctive behaviors, as well as the influences of hormones...
Post Brain, Mind & the Nature of Being As the fields that are broadly grouped under the rubric of neuroscience provide increasingly more information about the structure and function of neural systems and the brain, it becomes relatively easier to accept and use this data as “facts” to guide, if not actually dictate, our perspectives and activities. Indeed, in the past decade neuroscience...
Post The Paradox of Neurotechnology Read the Conference ReportAs published in Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine Though neurotechnologies have allowed unparalleled capability to bring groups of individuals together through rapid communication and informational delivery while at the same time providing invaluable insight into the workings of the brain, the paradox remains that these technologies may also incur more dystopian...
Post Beyond the Brain: The Experiential Implications of Neurotheology As explorations into the neuropsychology of religious and spiritual experience provide new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the interplay of consciousness, volition, and emotion, the central question remains: to what extent does the mind transcend its neural basis? Conventional wisdom holds that assemblies of neurons must account for consciousness, and, by extension, for all...
Post Why God Doesn’t Use Biostatistics: Science and the Study of the Mind, the Body, and Spirituality With the rapidly expanding field of research exploring mystical and spiritual phenomena as well as altered states of consciousness, there have been many perspectives as to the validity, importance, relevance, and need for such research, in addition to the ultimate issue of how such research should be interpreted with regard to epistemological questions. Ultimately, this...