The Dynamic Universe: a New Holistic World View with Tuomo Suntola Saturday August 169:00am PDT  | 12:00pm EDT  | 5:00pm BST  |  6:00pm CEST 2-hour session. The session is live and […]

David Krakauer is the President and William H. Miller Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. His research explores the fundamental character of problem-solving matter. This is in contrast to the ordinary and abiotic matter of the universe. This research spans the origin of life and the evolution of intelligence and stupidity on earth, to include processes of “exbodiment” through which intelligence is enhanced and outsourced, using languages and artifacts. The details of this research include studying the evolution of cellular, linguistic, social, and cultural mechanisms supporting communication, memory, and a panoply of information-processing systems. He is also interested in the history of complexity and the way in which language games, rule systems, and paradigms help us to understand systems of knowledge.

Science has largely displaced religious accounts of our existence. But it can make both life and death seem virtually meaningless. Religion does not, suggesting there is a necessary opposition between them. We will move beyond that to look at how spiritual traditions, the sciences and the arts provide complementary ways of celebrating life and accepting death as parts of living authentically.

Synergies between Jungian psychology, systems dynamics, Gaia theory, dual-aspect monism and deep ecology can prepare and guide us to counter the existential threat of the Anthropocene. Moreover, Jung’s Stages of Life “cradle-to-grave” developmental theory can be scaled up to show that our entire civilisation is in mid-life crisis, and responding to it with a toxic mix of inertia, nostalgia and hubris… Read more