Avsnitt
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Our guest on this episode is Christof Koch, PhD. A physicist and neurobiologist, Christof was a professor of biology and engineering for more than 25 years at Caltech. In 2011, he became the Chief Scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and in 2015, he became its president. He remains at the Allen Institute, now as a Meritorious Investigator, and is currently the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation in Santa Monica, where he seeks to understand consciousness, its place in nature, and how this knowledge can benefit all of humanity.
We are glad to share this energetic conversation between Nick and Christof with you today. As you'll hear, they discuss a wide range of topics—including quantum computing, the neural correlates of consciousness, how mystical experiences come about, and even Christof’s own experience with psychedelics. They also discuss Christof’s qualms with the worldview known as physicalism—sometimes called scientific materialism.
Physicalism is still the dominant worldview in academia today, but its limitations are becoming more evident, as Christof and Nick discuss at length in this episode. After decades in neuroscience, Christof finds some of the metaphysical claims of physicalism to be naive. This framework has given us extraordinary explanatory and technological power over the material world, but it’s also left us with a striking lack of consensus about the nature of consciousness. We at the CCR hope that conversations like this one encourage people to consider what might become possible if we carefully relax some of the methodological constraints that have been motivated by the physicalist picture of reality.
We hope you'll stick around until the end of this episode, where Christof discusses his plans upcoming plans for a dark retreat: a kind of meditation retreat performed in complete darkness, which Nick also happens to have done himself. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this conversation.
Show Notes
Keep up with Christof via his websiteRead Christof's recent book, Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand ItLearn more about Christof's current work at the Tiny Blue Dot FoundationLearn more about the Allen InstituteSign up for newsletters from the Center for Contemplative ResearchFathom the Mind is produced by the Center for Contemplative Research, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Crestone, Colorado. Visit our site to explore our work and access our library with over 70 hours of guided meditations and resources on contemplative practice.
As a nonprofit, we rely on the support of generous listeners like you to keep these conversations going. You can find ways to give here.
#consciousness #science #neuroscience
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Our guest on this episode is Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Jetsunma is a bhikṣuṇī (which is the Sanskrit term for a fully-ordained Buddhist nun) in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author and teacher, as well as the founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She is well known for having spent twelve years living and practicing in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of those years in strict meditation retreat.
Given Jetsunma’s background, we thought it fitting to bring in CCR Co-founder and Vice President Dr. Eva Natanya as a guest host for this conversation. In addition to her administrative duties, Dr. Natanya serves as a resident teacher at the CCR’s mind lab in Crestone, Colorado, helping to guide dedicated meditators who practice there in long-term, solitary meditation retreat. On a related note, if you’d like to learn more about the CCR’s vision for how this kind of sustained practice might influence the field of contemplative science, please visit our site (linked below).
In their dialogue, Jetsunma and Dr. Natanya cover a wide range of topics—including Buddhist monasticism, psychological upheavals in retreat, mind-training in daily life, and the roles of neuroscience and contemplative practice in studying the nature of consciousness. Across all these topics, one can trace a common thread: that true mental balance is accessible to all of us, so long as we can commit to training our minds in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.
This dialogue overflows with memorable stories and hard-won wisdom, and we hope you find something today that you can take into your own lived experience. Please enjoy!
Show Notes
Learn more about Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo via her official siteLearn more about Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery by visiting their sitePreorder Jetsunma's new book: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life: The Transformative Power of Lojong PracticeIn this conversation, Jetsunma mentions a video highlighting a woman who befriends sharks and removes hooks from their mouths, which can be viewed here.Sign up for newsletters from the Center for Contemplative ResearchFathom the Mind is produced by the Center for Contemplative Research, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Crestone, Colorado. Visit our site to explore our work and access our library with over 70 hours of guided meditations and resources on contemplative practice.
As a nonprofit, we rely on the support of generous listeners like you to keep these conversations going. You can find ways to give here.
#meditation #buddhism #spirituality
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Our guest on this episode is Professor Michel Bitbol. Michel is currently Directeur de Recherche Emeritus at the CNRS / École Normale Supérieure, in Paris, based at the Archives Husserl—a center of research in Phenomenology. His career, which spans the fields of medical science, quantum physics, and philosophy of mind, had its origins in a very simple childhood desire to know, in his words, “the secrets of the universe.”
While he knew that was quite an ambitious goal, he also believed it was one he could achieve through studying multiple fields of science. But along the way, there was one basic question that became harder and harder to ignore: What role does consciousness play in scientific research?
In pursuit of this question, Michel found great solace in the work of Edmund Husserl and the field of phenomenology. Though phenomenology might seem hard to grasp for the layman, Michel describes it quite simply. At its most basic level, phenomenology teaches us to become aware of—and then question—the conceptual filters through which we make sense of our lived experience. As you’ll hear, Michel thinks this stance is fundamental for new progress not only in modern science, but in philosophy and religion as well. We hope you benefit from this conversation!
Show Notes
Sign up for newsletters from the Center for Contemplative ResearchSubscribe to Fathom the Mind on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Fathom the Mind is produced by the Center for Contemplative Research, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Crestone, Colorado. Visit our site to explore our work and access our library with over 70 hours of guided meditations and resources on contemplative practice.
As a nonprofit, we rely on the support of generous listeners like you to keep these conversations going. You can find ways to give here.
#science #consciousness #philosophy
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Our guest on this episode is Professor Emeritus Piet Hut. Piet is renowned in the field of astrophysics, and recently retired as head of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey—which was once home to great scientists like Albert Einstein. But as you’ll find out, Piet’s interests reach far beyond the big bang and computer models of the universe.
Before he was a professional scientist, Piet recounts tinkering with motorcycles and conducting somewhat dangerous chemical experiments at his childhood farm. But by his late teens, he was also studying yogic texts and making weeklong retreats in Trappist monasteries.
At the heart of many contemplative traditions, Piet recognized echoes of the scientific method: the process of formulating hypotheses and testing them with replicable experiments. While physicists used this method for making discoveries about matter, contemplatives employed it for making discoveries about the mind.
In this conversation, Piet shares his lifelong interest in studying the nature of consciousness—drawing from not only current scientific approaches but also global contemplative theory and practice. Recently, Piet began his most explicit exploration of consciousness yet through his creation of what he calls “FEST” (Fully Empirical Science and Technology): a new research program that aims to “bridge the gap between matter and mind.” In this episode, we discuss this intriguing project at length, how accessible the “objective world” really is, and the fine line between “dogma” and “science.” Please enjoy!
Show Notes
Piet Hut’s original FEST Log, which Nick references throughout the show.Piet’s new site, festprogram.org, is a treasure trove of resources and thought on the relationship between mind and matter. It houses articles Piet has produced exploring mind and matter, as well as videos from presentations, interviews, and panels that he has given over the years.You can find Piet’s bio and additional writings on the Institute for Advanced Studies website.Sign up for newsletters from the Center for Contemplative ResearchSubscribe to Fathom the Mind on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Fathom the Mind is produced by the Center for Contemplative Research, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Crestone, Colorado. Visit our site to explore our work and access our library with over 70 hours of guided meditations and resources on contemplative practice.
As a nonprofit, we rely on the support of generous listeners like you to keep these conversations going. You can find ways to give here.
#science #consciousness
