Looking-Glass Universe takes a fascinating look at the wholeness revolution in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology and neurophysiology, and the scientists whose converging theories are changing our understanding of how the universe works. The series will explore how far the themes of the book Looking-Glass Universe have developed since it was first published.

Looking-Glass Universe by John Briggs and F. David Peat will be released in a new edition this year with physicist Jonathan Allday filling in readers on how science has evolved in the 40 years since the book first appeared. He reviews the progress towards a looking-glass view of the universe and updating aspects of the text in line with current scientific thinking.

Heisenberg in 1958 proposed that quantum states are ‘potentia standing ghost-like between a dream and reality.’  The proposal of ontologically real potentia not obeying Aristotle’s Laws of the Excluded Middle and Non-Contradiction provides an interpretation of superpositions and answers the six mysteries of Quantum Mechanics. This suggest that potentia are real and that quantum measurement converts Possibles to Actuals. Radin’s work with colleagues is evidence at 6.49 sigma that mind can play a role in collapse of the wave function—the conversion of Possibles to Actuals. Qualia are never in superposition. These facts suggest that conscious qualia arise upon mind’s conversion of Possibles to Actuals. 

Building upon Bohmian (and Kauffmanian) physics, the Eastern metaphor of The Tao is employed to introduce the new emotion science. In this context, emotional sentience—from its simple binary evaluations to its complex informational content—is not only central to the ‘self-regulatory’ behavioral hardware and learning software of living systems but may be integral to the in-forming and trans-forming process of reality creation itself. To distinguish emotion as a separate and more ancient system than ‘cognition’ proper, is to honor the ‘agent in the machine,’ to discover the untold wonders embodied in the physical organism, and to reclaim the divine attributes of human being and becoming.

“The Edge of Belief” is a documentary film about the interplay of faith, imagination and science. The film looks at the modern UFO phenomenon through the lens of the Catholic theological, scientific and literary tradition. This impactful documentary gives viewers a holistic framework for thinking about the mysteries of the universe and dealing with the claims that we are not alone in it. “The Edge of Belief” features interviews with CS Lewis scholar and Oxford professor Michael Ward, religious studies researcher and author of American Cosmic, Diana Pasulka, icon artist and host of “The Symbolic World,” Jonathan Pageau, Notre Dame theologian Christopher Baglow, and Chair of Astronomy at Cornell, Jonathan Lunine, among others.

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Martin Buber wrote, ‘There is something that can only be found in one place. It is a great treasure, which may be called the fulfilment of existence. The place where this treasure can be found is the place on which one stands.’  HIs first attempt to lay out a pathway to this fulfilment was in his seminal book, I and Thou, written in six weeks under an intense sense of inspiration, and which he would spend the next forty years developing into the practice of living dialogue, revealing that ‘all real living is meeting.’ But what does it mean to be truly present in the world, engaged in relationships of wholeness and meaning? How does this relate to the equal imperative to know about the world and to use it to achieve our specific purposes? And what might either have to do with God or ultimate reality? 

Unbreaking the World invites us to pause and think about the cluster of crises we are globally facing. John argues that these problems aren’t just about the media, politics, or even the economy… the roots of this malaise are problems that are deeply historical, cultural, and cognitive. It’s what he calls the Meaning Crisis. Yet the word ‘crisis,’ etymologically means ‘decision.’

In this informal get together for book lovers, I reflect on the meaning of my encounters with Goethe and his two recent biographers. Drawing on my own work, as well as these two books, I explore two main Goethe-inspired ideas: the role of the human observer, and the concept of the life force.

Rebecca Tarnas, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her doctoral dissertation was titled The Back of Beyond: The Red Books of C.G. Jung and J.R.R. Tolkien, and her research interests include depth psychology, archetypal studies, literature, philosophy, and the ecological imagination. Becca is an editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology and author of the book Journey to the Imaginal Realm: A Reader’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. She is currently researching and writing a biography of Stanislav Grof, a co-founder of transpersonal psychology.

A week-long celebration dedicated to examining the legacy of the two Davids with a gathering of former colleagues and friends who will not only illuminate the wide-ranging work and interests of the two physicists but will also share their personal stories and anecdotes.