Chasing Consciousness

In what way is beef in UFOs religious-like? Is there evidence for collective visions of these objects and entities, or rather for their objective reality? In what way could the experience have elements of both? In this episode we have the ever more mainstream story of UFO experiences to assess; Not necessarily the important questions around the existence of the phenomenon, which the office of the US director of National Intelligence confirmed in an official 2021 report that they were, in fact, a ‘population of objects’ (see show notes below)- but rather the belief in the phenomenon, in 2008 polled at around %37 of Americans, but by no means confined to the US. This widespread belief, along with less ridiculed beliefs bolstered by the high probability of extraterrestrial civilisations more advanced than our own existing out there in the cosmos, has had a huge sociological and cultural influence on western society. So in this episode I want to put into a sociological context all of this quasi-religious belief; understand the role of our perception of technology; get our heads around a rare example of a modern myth forming in real time; look at the ways a phenomenon can be both physical and psychological at the same time; and examine various scientific, academic and even philosophical doors into this confounding phenomena that no matter how much the sceptics deny, just won’t go away. So when we study belief we have to turn to a religious studies specialist, and who better to call on than Professor of Religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Diana Pasulka. She’s also the author of 3 books, “Heaven Can Wait”, a book about purgatory, “American Cosmic” on scientists who believe in UFO’s, and her new 2023 book “Encounters” on multi-disciplinary academic approaches to the UFO phenomenon and experiences with non-human intelligence. Don’t forget listeners, that we talk about all the science in more detail with Stanford medical School’s immunologist, pathologist and inventor Garry Nolan in this series so check that out too. What we discuss:00:00 Intro.13:08 Meaningful events propel people towards religious belief.21:30 Heidegger’s warning about underestimating the influence of technology on our culture.27:00 Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” - A just government and the control of information.34:40 Nietzsche, the risk of assigning causal power for synchronicities to higher powers.44:00 Perspective change: The creation of a modern myth, to a real physical phenomenon.45:50 Looking for UFO crash parts in the desert with Garry Nolan, taken blindfolded by a Space Force scientist.49:00 The ‘Antenna’ hypothesis: the brain as a receiver and transmitter.56:00 Physical data analysed by top scientists, and government “management” of information.01:01:00 Where the physical and non-physical meet: idealism or VR hypotheses.01:05:00 Humans may be a sophisticated type of biotechnology.01:06:00 The use of intuition protocols to find technological solutions: intention and visualisation.01:11:30 New Encounters book: a “reorientation”.01:14:00 Iya Whitely: validating pilots experiences. Diana Pasulka, “Encounters”. https://g.co/kgs/tFfG3Mx Diana Pasulka, “American Cosmic”. https://g.co/kgs/MbQ1tXQ Office of the Director of National Intelligence Assessment on UAP, June 2021, John L. Ratcliffe https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf Martin Heidegger essay, “The Question Concerning Technology” https://g.co/kgs/ed5JVEW Iya Whitely “Trusting and Learning from Pilots”, Lecture at the SOL Foundation symposium at the Nolan Lab at Stanford Medical School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR09GHQ5AwA Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness & Contact with Non Human Intelligence - Rey hernandez et al. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-UFOs-Science-Consciousness-Intelligence/dp/1721088652

Does the use of computer models in physics change the way we see the universe? How far reaching are the implications of computation irreducibility? Are observer limitations key to the way we conceive the laws of physics? In this episode we have the difficult yet beautiful topic of trying to model complex systems like nature and the universe computationally to get into; and how beyond a low level of complexity all systems, seem to become equally unpredictable. We have a whole episode in this series on Complexity Theory in biology and nature, but today we’re going to be taking a more physics and computational slant. Another key element to this episode is Observer Theory, because we have to take into account the perceptual limitations of our species’ context and perspective, if we want to understand how the laws of physics that we’ve worked out from our environment, are not and cannot be fixed and universal but rather will always be perspective bound, within a multitude of alternative branches of possible reality with alternative possible computational rules. We’ll then connect this multi-computational approach to a reinterpretation of Entropy and the 2nd law of thermodynamics. The fact that my guest has been building on these ideas for over 40 years, creating computer language and Ai solutions, to map his deep theories of computational physics, makes him the ideal guest to help us unpack this topic. He is physicist, computer scientist and tech entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram. In 1987 he left academia at Caltech and Princeton behind and devoted himself to his computer science intuitions at his company Wolfram Research. He’s published many blog articles about his ideas, and written many influential books including “A New kind of Science”, and more recently “A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics”, and “Computer Modelling and Simulation of Dynamic Systems”, and just out in 2023 “The Second Law” about the mystery of Entropy. One of the most wonderful things about Stephen Wolfram is that, despite his visionary insight into reality, he really loves to be ‘in the moment’ with his thinking, engaging in socratic dialogue, staying open to perspectives other than his own and allowing his old ideas to be updated if something comes up that contradicts them; and given how quickly the fields of physics and computer science are evolving I think his humility and conceptual flexibility gives us a fine example of how we should update how we do science as we go. What we discuss:  00:00 Intro 07:45 The history of scientific models of reality: structural, mathematical and computational. 20:20 The Principle of Computational Equivalence (PCE) 24:45 Computational Irreducibility - the process that means you can’t predict the outcome in advance. 27:50 The importance of the passage of time to Consciousness. 28:45 Irreducibility and the limits of science. 33:30 Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem 42:20 Observer Theory and the Wolfram Physics Project. 50:30 We ’make’ space. 51:30 Branchial Space - different quantum histories of the world, branching and merging 58:50 Rulial Space: All possible rules of all possible interconnected branches. 01:19:30 The Measurement problem of QM and Entanglement meets computational irreducibility and observer theory.  01:32:40 Inviting Stephen back for a separate episode on AI safety, safety solutions and applications for science, as we did’t have time. 01:37:30 At the molecular level the laws of physics are reversible. 01:45:30 Entropy defined in computational terms. 01:50:30 If we ever overcame our finite minds, there would be no coherent concept of existence. 01:51:30 Parallels between modern physics and ancient eastern mysticism and cosmology. 01:55:30 Reductionism in an irreducible world: saying a lot from very little input. References: “The Second Law: Resolving the Mystery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics”, Stephen Wolfram “A New Kind of Science”, Stephen Wolfram Observer Theory Article, Stephen Wolfram

How has the evolution of cognition led to homo-sapiens being such effective collaborators and how is the collective knowledge and wisdom of the society distributed and passed on to later generations? How can we apply the amplified wisdom of distributed cognition to solve some of humanities biggest problems? Today we have the important fields of Collective Intelligence and how we can use it to solve our problems as a society, to try and get our heads around. We’ll be discussing the relevance of difficulties arising from cognitive science and physics research that for some put into question the consensus story that embodied feelings were fundamental in the development of reasoning and consciousness; We also discuss the relevance of the work of Carl Jung on the Collective Unconscious; of Neuroscientist Anil Seth’s Controlled Hallucination and Don Hoffman’s User interface theory; of Iain McGilchrist’s split brain research and of Michael Levin’s take on cellular cognition.  There is of course only one polymath who can hold that many topics in a single conversation and that’s the Cognitive scientist, and philosopher John Vervaeke. Vervaeke is the director of UToronto’s Consciousness and Wisdom Studies Laboratory and its Cognitive Science program, where he teaches an Introduction to Cognitive Science and The Cognitive Science of Consciousness.  He has been a leading intellectual observer of the modern meaning crisis: the loss of a spiritual worldview in the West, and the decline of wisdom traditions that help individuals find meaning in their lives. His online lectures and practices integrate teachings from many different disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, religion, and cutting edge cognitive science. He is the author and presenter of the YouTube series, “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” and his brand new series, "After Socrates." What we discuss: 00:00 Intro. 05:35 Losing faith without losing a taste for the transcendent. 15:30 The difference between intelligence and living cognition. 18:40 Relevance realisation: What to attend to in the sea of info available. 21:00 Cognition “cares” because its life is on the line: Salience landscapes. 24:15 Humans VS persons. 30:05 Distributed Cognition explained. 30:30 ‘Reason is monological’ framework. 33:15 The rise of individualism. 34:30 Distributed computation and problem solving via the internet. 36:30 ‘Reason is dialogical’ framework. 38:00 Your best self-correction ability is with other people. 42:30 Life builds collective intelligence without language. 45:50 Issues from neuroscience and quantum physics. 50:30 Predictive processing to identify salience. 52:30 The imaginary VS the imaginal. 53:40 Imaginally augmented perception. 58:00 Causality is not the same as causal relevance: Acausal phenomena. 01:00:30 Determinism VS fractal probability.  01:03:50 A hierarchy of cognitive selves: Michael Levin. 01:06:50 There isn’t just bottom up emergence but top down emanation. 01:07:20 Deep continuity - Evan Thompson. 01:09:30 Hierarchies of selves: Michael Levin. 01:15:30 Could we be part of single selves greater than our individual organisms? 01:17:30 Cognition is a continuum but differences of degree eventually make differences of kind. 01:19:30 Solving collective problems via distributed cognition and practices of connectedness. 01:25:20 Left/right hemisphere considerations for distributed cognition: Iain McGilchrist. 01:32:30 Adaptivity: Self-transcendence VS self-delusion. 01:35:15 Narrative bias and the Left Brain interpreter: Mike Gazzaniga. 01:37:00 Extended naturalism 01:40:24 The Collective Unconscious - Carl Jung. 01:46:25 A lot of the unconscious contents are not narrative like or persona like. References:  “After Socrates” You Tube series “The meaning Crisis” You Tube series Michael Levin - Cellular cognition episode Evan Thompson - Deep continuity hypothesis “Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind”

Discover how breathwork interacts with the nervous system, accesses memories, and treats ailments. Learn about the pioneers in the field and the basics of breathwork. Explore the impact of past experiences on the nervous system and the healing process for trauma. Discover the connection between meditation, breathwork, and relaxation. Understand the transformative power of breathwork for various ailments. Dive into the speaker's books, training school, and website.

Exploring the role of bioelectricity in the formation of new organisms. Discussing the relationship between DNA and electrical fields. Exploring the distribution of quantum mechanics and prime numbers. Exploring the significance of cellular plasticity and bioelectricity for regenerative medicine. The concept of collective intelligence in organisms and its relevance in understanding complex systems.

Dr. James Hollis, one of the world's most published and respected Jungian analysts, explores Carl Jung's concept of 'The Shadow' in analytic psychology. They discuss the ways the shadow manifests, how it affects relationships and parenting, the importance of making it conscious, and the burden it can place on children. They also touch on the significance of finding meaning in life, embracing change, and the film 'Soul Heal' which focuses on men's issues.

Shohini Ghose, a quantum physics professor and advocate for women in science, discusses the fascinating world of quantum computers. She explains their development, challenges, and potential applications. Additionally, she dives into the underrepresentation of women in science, highlighting forgotten contributions and biases in prestigious awards. The podcast explores the connection between women in science and quantum physics, tracing the history of scientific discoveries.

Why do we have a negativity bias that predisposes us to focus on bad things in the world? How can we channel that natural tendency to learn and improve, rather that be afraid and depressed by it? What are the implications of negativity bias for the functioning of our society ongoing? In this episode we’ve got the important topic of the inherent Negativity Bias in human psychology to assess. This is the tendency for bad events, experiences and emotions to have more impact than good ones. We see this in relationships, social patterns, traumatic events, the media and learning processes. Research shows that bad impressions and stereotypes form quicker than good ones, that the self is more motivated to avoid bad self-definitions than to pursue good ones, and even that bad impressions are more thoroughly processed than good ones. This all plays out in out in the media, in the consumer markets and in politics and thus defines our culture ongoing. Is this natural? Is there anything we can do to mitigate it or use it for good? And do we even want to? Fortunately for us our guest today is a specialist in these matters, one of the most prolific and cited psychologists in the world, with over 650 publications, Professor Roy Baumeister. His 40 books include the New York Times bestseller Willpower. His research covers self and identity, self-regulation, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, aggression, self-esteem, meaning, consciousness, free will, and self-presentation, some of which we cover today in connection with negativity bias. In 2013 he received the William James award for lifetime achievement in psychological science (the Association for Psychological Science’s highest honor). In 2001 He co-wrote a seminal paper on the very topic of today’s episode in, called ‘Bad is Stronger than Good’; and one of his latest books, co-authored with John Tierney, is called “The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It”. What we discuss: 00:00 Intro 10:00 Negativity Bias Explained 12:00 Evolutionary reasons to focus on the negative 15:45 “Life has to win every day, death only has to win once” 17:45 We process the negative more thoroughly than the positive 18:45 “We learn a lot more from bad events than from good ones” 20:10 The Pollyanna principle VS Bad memories being good for learning  27:30 Negativity bias in the media, fiction and entertainment 31:50 Ai algorithms tracking our engagement with negativity, making us feel the world is worse than we it is 33:10 “The world is getting better on every index except hope”, John Tierney  35:30 Older people are happier than younger people, Laura Carstensen 37:00 Polarisation as a consequence of algorithmic driven negativity bias 41:50 Using fear for profit VS using fear for control  33:15 Tendency to see the outsiders as threats 47:30 Belonging: our need not to be thought of negatively, hence not to be thrown out of the group 49:50 Theory of mind: Primates understand how other people think of them competitively but humans also collaboratively 50:40 We act ethically because we need people to cooperate 53:50 Negativity bias leading to a sense of belonging in the camp against the ‘other’ 55:30 Self control and regulation: taking control of negativity bias, we’re good at getting better 56:30 Not doing the bad things is what makes the difference 58:50 4:1 Ratio of good things to bad things required to swing the balance 01:03:40 Ego depletion confirmed: self control fatigue over time  References: Baumeister and Tierney “The Power of Bad: How the negativity effect rules us and how we can rule it” ‘Bad is stronger than Good’ Paper, 2001 Baumeister and Tierney, “Will Power: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength” Full Show Note References on CC.net

What data supports the idea that Oumuamua could have been space junk from another civilisation from another civilisation? Why is it so important that the Galileo Project at Harvard looks for more such objects? Why is science finally taking the UAP Phenomenon seriously? Today we’re going to find out about new developments in the SETI discussion (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) that has been prompted by the anomalous interstellar object Oumuamua, that passed through the solar system in 2017. Since the cosmologist, sceptic and TV presenter Carl Sagan helped normalise the topic for serious scientific consideration, SETI has been a thriving, if underfunded, scientific endeavour with multiple techniques being used, not just listening for radio signals; but which until recently hasn’t found anything to write home about, despite a few false alarms. Until the arrival of Oumuamua, today’s guest, Avi Loeb wasn’t really involved in the SETI debate, but his SETI interpretation of the data on this object, and his impeccable reputation as former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University has brought him into the debate with a bang. He is the Frank B. Baird Jr Professor of Science at Harvard, author of over 700 scientific papers, and receiver of so many awards and accolades I won’t list them there. Avi is also the author of 4 books, of which we’ll be discussing two today. First his New York Times bestseller ‘Extraterrestrial’ about Oumuamua, and second his new book that’s just out “Interstellar: the search for extra terrestrial life and out future in the stars”. To add further taboo to this newly invigorated debate, we’ll also be talking about the 2017 NYTimes story on military UFO encounters, which revealed that the US Government had not only been secretly studying the UFO Phenomenon, but also covered the extraordinary ‘TicTac’ case around the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, witnessed by multiple pilots and including radar blip confirmation. All of which has led to Congress passing a new law obliging military witnesses to testify about these incidents and alleged black projects working on this kind of technology, and to the June 2021 report form the Director of National intelligence (see show notes). Having never known this was even a real confirmed phenomena, and knowing Avi has since become involved in the scientific debate on this topic too, this interview was particularly curious. What we discuss: 00:00 Intro 12:45 6x anomalous data points on interstellar object Oumuamua, Oct 19th 2016 21:45 Technological relic VS natural object hypothesis 24:00 Natural origin: Solid hydrogen/nitrogen hypotheses 27.30 Avi’s New book “Interstellar” 32:00 Our star is younger than most in the galaxy so younger star’s civilisations are probably more advanced 36:00 The Galileo Project: Looking out for interstellar objects, in 3 ways 39:15 1. Exploring impact sites on earth, Finding the next Oumuamua sooner, Study of UAP 48:00 Imagining seeding of planets, creating species and creating universes in labs 01:12:30 “Science is not zero sum game its an infinite sum game, because basically everyone benefits from knowledge” References: Avi Loeb 'Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars '(2023) Galileo Project @Harvard University Office of the Director of National Intelligence Assessment on UAP, June 2021, John L. Ratcliffe VICE Magazine, Experiencers brains and Anomalous materials magazine article NY Times USS Nimitz ‘Tic-Tac’ article, Dec 2017

What is the protocol for psychedelic therapy? How does it work? Who is it appropriate for? Today we have the interesting topic to look into, of how psychedelic compounds are now being used in psychotherapy. With promising results in clinical trials from Imperial College around the mid 2010’s, a flourish of trials at other medical schools across the world has seen a renaissance of the psychedelic movement for treating, particularly depression and PTSD, that was started by transpersonal psychologists like Stan Grof in the 1960’s before then being banned.  Along with this renaissance has come interest from pharmaceutical companies and psychonauts, psychotherapists and members of the general public suffering from treatment resistant conditions. With all this activity there is confusion about what the results from the studies actually show, how the treatment should be done safely, ethically and with lasting results and who to be contacting if you want to try it out. So I thought it was important to speak about these matters here for anyone interested in getting a data led picture of the fast evolving situation, among all the noise out there on the internet. Fortunately my guest today is a clinical psychologist who’s been at the centre of the field since the beginning of the renaissance, and not just as a researcher but as a hands on psychologist in the therapy room with the subjects at all stages of the process, Dr. Rosalind Watts. Dr. Watt’s work as the Clinical psychologist Lead for Imperial College London’s psilocybin trials,  have made her one of the most prominent voices and minds in the field of psychedelic research. She has been named as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Psychedelics; however, what sets Dr Watts apart is her focus on integration, harm-reduction and inclusion in the psychedelic space.   Apart from treating she also builds tools and structures to foster connectedness after psychedelic experiences, finding inspiration for their design from nature. The most recent of which is the integration community she’s created - ACER Integration. What we speak about: 00:00 Intro 04:30 Clubbing community 07:40 The psychedelic therapy process: step by step 08:40 1. Screening: for people it could suit VS cause problems for 09:50 2. Preparation: Building trust and safety in vulnerability 11:15 The psychedelic experience is the beginning not the end of the work 13:05 Sharing meals; music and essential oils used to encourage relaxation and surrender 16:50 At least two guides needed for ethical and practical reasons 19:50 The ‘Pearl Dive’ analogy, deep down to the hidden traumas 26:50 3. The therapy session itself 28:50 A non-directed approach to the journey from the guides 33:05 4. Integration: after the experience, maximising benefits 35:10 Planting the pearl of insight to nourish and nurture them 35:40 6 months later the depression was back 44:20 The role of ritual and ceremony in effective results 46:20 Appropriated from Mexican Mazatec tradition of psilocybin for healing 49:50 How to talk about the ceremonial without deities and religions   54:50 Opening up to the sacred wound VS numbing the feelings 58:50 Ros’s first experience: Fear before and transformation after 01:07:35 The ‘brain reset’ analogy and the expectations it created 01:12:05 Mystical experience’s importance in the transformation  01:18:05 Adverse psychedelic effects: actively facing the hardest places References: ACER Community Integration Group Dr. Rosalind Watts, A.C.E. Accept, Embody, Connect model Maria Sabina, Mexican shaman - Life magazine 1957 Gaia Hypothesis Adverse effects trial at Greenwich University: Jules Evans and David Luke  Increased brain connectivity following psilocybin treatment Little Pharma (Dr. Ben Sessa)