Project Spirituality in the Age of Science: Hosted in the elegant Morgan Library and Museum, this thought-provoking series features Wisconsin Public Radio’s Steve Paulson in conversation with three leading thinkers and scientists: anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann, physicist Alan Lightman, and physician Sam Parnia. Over the course of an unforgettable evening, each will share the results of their ongoing work and unique insights into the nature of spiritual experience, the quest for meaning and transcendence, and the question of consciousness beyond death.
Project The Enduring Enigma of the Mind Where does the human mind begin? If we equate the mind with consciousness, should we account for its emergence as a by-product of evolution, or should we accept it instead as a fundamental feature of reality, on a par with concepts such as matter and energy? Does the mind only exist in animals with brains, or does it have a deeper, possibly cosmic meaning? The question runs through the intellectual history of philosophy and science, from Plato’s Theory of Ideas to contemporary theories of panpsychism.
Project The Power of Wonder: Modern Marvels in the Age of Science The feelings of awe and wonder engendered by astonishing or mysterious natural phenomena are as old as humanity itself. According to the classical account of rationality, the end of inquiry—the production of a viable explanation—should also serve to diffuse these emotions. Yet, the cultural and spiritual significance of wonder and its psychological underpinnings seem to suggest a different story, one in which the rational and the irrational, nature and the supernatural, and science and religion keep trading places and eclipsing one another.
Project The Musical Art & Legacy of Ostad Elahi at the Met To celebrate the addition of Ostad Elahi’s five instruments on display in the Met’s permanent collection, MetLiveArts presented a special two-day event featuring a musical concert, a debut documentary film screening, and a panel discussion on the musical art of Ostad Elahi.
Project Conversations on the Nature of Reality For millennia, humans have sought to answer a seemingly unsolvable problem: What is the relationship between our conscious, subjective experience—what we see, hear, smell, taste, feel, and think—and the physical world that surrounds us? Is the reality of the physical world constructed through our subjective experience, or does the physical world we perceive have an independent, objective reality?
Project The Will to Meaning: Seeking the “Why” of Our Existence At their core, multiple branches of knowledge have emerged in response to two age-old questions: First, why are we here? And second, how can we lead a meaningful life? Historically, these questions were the province of religion and spirituality, but with the declining influence of religious traditions and waning academic interest in the humanities, we have been left with a vacuum of meaning.
Project Unlocking the Unconscious: Exploring the Undiscovered Self In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the science of consciousness, considered to be one of the last unchartered frontiers. Yet as neuroscientists attempt the daunting task of mapping the human brain, they must also wrestle with the central challenge of explaining how our thoughts and emotions—including our sense of self-awareness—emerge from the trillions of neural circuits in the brain.
Project From Knowledge to Wisdom: Science and the Good Life Ever since Socrates declared “the unexamined life is not worth living,” philosophers have been engaged in a passionate debate: What is the good life? What is the nature of happiness, and how can it be attained? Is morality or virtue a prerequisite to the good life? Is a meaningful life also a happy one? What is the path toward human flourishing?
Project Beyond the Big Bang: Searching for Meaning in Contemporary Physics Perhaps more than any other scientific discipline, modern physics has revolutionized our understanding of the cosmos by tackling a number of age-old existential questions: How did the universe begin? How can something emerge from nothing? What is the fabric of reality? Why do the laws of physics seem to be uniquely suited for life on Earth? Do we live in a deterministic universe? For all its successes, physics has also uncovered new mysteries, from dark energy and dark matter to the perplexing properties of quantum mechanics and the possibility of multiple universes.
Project The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi (August 5, 2014 – January 11, 2015) is the first American exhibition to explore the life and music of this renowned Persian philosopher, jurist, and master musician at the historic Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Coinciding with the inauguration of the new David H. Koch Plaza after a major reconstruction of the Met’s grand Fifth Avenue façade, this groundbreaking exhibition organized by the Department of Musical Instruments was presented under the patronage of UNESCO.
Project Rethinking Mortality: Exploring the Boundaries between Life and Death Remarkable advances in resuscitation medicine—the science of bringing people back to life—have blurred the once clear demarcation between life and death. Led by physicians across the globe, these developments are creating a paradigm shift in our understanding of death, challenging the perception that it is an implacable, terminal moment with the realization that death is a dynamic, biological process that is capable of being reversed.
Project The Emerging Science of Consciousness: Mind, Brain and the Human Experience The complexity of the human brain and how it gives rise to our understanding and experience of the world around us is one of the greatest mysteries remaining in science today. While recent discoveries in neuroscience are providing us with new insights into the workings of the brain, a comprehensive science of the mind is only just beginning to emerge.
Project Perspectives on the Self: Conversations on Identity & Consciousness The perdurable question, "Who am I?" points to a deeply rooted need within the human species to understand the basis for the experience of unitary consciousness known as the Self. Today, the word "Self" has come to refer to a host of intersecting ideas, questions, concerns, and problems that are central to the human condition and predicament. At the same time, our fundamental experience of selfhood has inevitably led to the pursuit of the related but equally enigmatic question of "What is the Self?".
Project Shifting Realities: Myths, Models & Morality How do we understand and define the nature of reality? Can one speak of truly objective realities, or are realities necessarily subjective and contingent upon the observer's perspective? Are realities static and immutable, or are they fluid and dynamic in nature? What forms of reasoning and criteria do we use to ascertain and establish the intrinsic reality of a phenomenon? How do we study those events and environments that are so small or large so as to be beyond the range of our physical senses?
Project Technology, Neuroscience, and the Nature of Being: Considerations of Meaning, Morality & Transcendence The aim of this three-part symposium series is to provide a forum for the launch of high-level interdisciplinary discussions intended to address and overcome the increasing isolation and fragmentation of the disciplines devoted to the science and advancement of the human person. The conferences, which will take place at Georgetown, Oxford University, and the United Nations in New York, will seek to incorporate recent advances in neuroscience into a more comprehensive paradigm that is consistent with what is known of the human condition from a philosophical, psychological, and theological perspective.
Project Beyond the Mind-Body Problem: New Paradigms in the Science of Consciousness Over the past decade, an increasing number of physicians and neuroscientists have sought to uncover the complex relationship between mind, brain, and consciousness as they continue to search for a more comprehensive perspective on the “self” and the workings of the human mind. Though much remains to be done, their findings to date have shed...
Project From Tragedy to Unity: A Celebration of the Human Spirit Few would argue that the tragic events of September 11, 2001 did not devastate this nation and forever change the course of its destiny. Thousands of innocent lives were senselessly lost to an enemy that shamelessly preys on vulnerable and defenseless civilians. In response, the world community has joined together in unanimously denouncing these horrible acts of misguided hatred and destruction.