The self is emergent from all the different parts, absolutely like like. And its closely related to the emergence of consciousness, the emergence of reflective consciousness, is the emergence of the self. Well, yet even in human behavior, we recognize that. Let's say somebody who has a tumor pressing up against the hypothalamis that causes them to commit violence or petifile. Would that not be an emergent property?
Michael Shermer speaks with scientist, educator, activist, and accomplished author, Fritjof Capra, about the evolution of his thinking over five decades. In this conversation, based on Capra’s book, Patterns of Connection, Shermer and Capra discuss: what it means to be spiritual in an age of science, nuclear energy and why Capra thinks we don’t need it and Shermer thinks we do, 50 years of progress or regress, limitations of models and theories of reality, limitations of analogies between western physics and eastern mysticism, mind and consciousness, and why Capra is hopeful for the future of humanity.