Events

In this installment of The Future Scientist we will draw attention to the roots, falsehoods, and perils of “post-truth” in the context of the so-called fourth industrial revolution — to distract and confuse, to discipline and punish, such are the means of totalitarianism, now overpowered by digital media. If not dark, the mirror of science has become rather blurred. Who to trust, and why? The post-pandemic challenges of global control and dehumanization apply not only to science, but also to education, health, and the economy. Despite the accelerated proliferation of scientism (and precisely because of this), science still has a vital role to play.

Scientific materialism and modern consumerism have led to a widespread loss of a sense of the sacred where Nature is regarded as dead and a resource to exploit for monetary gain. Correspondingly, the human being is understood in mechanistic terms, and the vision of transhumanism and technocracy is a future ‘upgrade of the human operating system’ where we are, in the memorably chilling phrase of Yuval Noah Harari, simply hackable animals. The very nature of what it means to be human is now at stake, and a recovery of a sense of the sacred with respect to both humans and Nature is now an evolutionary imperative. This entails resisting the transhumanist agenda of universal surveillance and control, and forging a beneficial relationship both with Nature and emerging technologies with human flourishing at the centre; also recognising the centrality of our transcendent nature that gives us access to deeper structures of reality. In the words of King Charles III, the watchword is Harmony.

Our dominant worldview tells us we’re split between mind and body, separate from each other, and at odds with the natural world. This worldview has passed its expiration date: it’s based on a series of flawed assumptions that have been superseded by modern scientific findings. In this talk, based on themes from his recent book, The Web of Meaning, author Jeremy Lent will discuss how another worldview is possible—recognizing our deep interrelatedness with all of life.

In this final instalment of The Future Scientist series we will be in conversation with the former director of The Pari Center, Dr. Shantena Augusto Sabbadini. We will discuss the I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, which Dr. Sabbadini translated to English together with Rudolf Ritsema, the former director of the Eranos Foundation. The I Ching is a divination system, a formidable three-thousand years old manual, whose language defies Western rationality. It is not a philosophical text, nor a prediction machine. Rather than guessing the future, the I Ching allows us to read into the present moment, weaving together context and chance as an organic whole at the moment of observation.

To celebrate the release of his new book Spiritual Intelligence in Seven Steps, we have invited Mark Vernon, to talk about his new work. Mark’s book will be out in time for Christmas (December 9) and would make an excellent gift. He will be in conversation with Beth Macy followed by Q&A and discussion from the audience. 

The Future Scientist conversation series is reaching an end. After a whole year of monthly encounters with prominent, deep, and visionary scholars, the project will complete the first phase of a greater journey. In this last event of the year, at the heart of the winter solstice, Alex will revisit the initial intention of the series, briefly recapitulate each of the twelve sessions we have had so far, and seek comments and feedback from the participants in an extended Q&A. He will then introduce the rationale for bringing The Future Scientist to a close and evolve it into The Future Human conversation series, which will begin in January 2023 as a natural continuation of the 2022 quest. Paraphrasing one of our very mottos, this will be a virtual encounter to understand where the series is going and to reimage where we hope it might go.

We will inaugurate the series on Wednesday 15th of February of 2023 with Prof. Jeffrey J. Kripal. Our conversation will orbit around “The Superhumanities”.

Entanglement: Physics, Mind and Worlds with Emily Adlam, Jonathan Allday, Basil Hiley, José Latorre, Dean Radin, Vandana Shiva Curated by Jonathan Allday February 18 – March 5, 20239:00am PST | 12:00pm EST | 5:00pm GMT  | […]

In this talk I will explore the theoretical aspects of entanglement, keeping the technicalities to a minimum but providing an adequate grounding for the other presentations to come. The work of John Bell will be discussed, as he provided a means of experimentally showing exactly how counter to classical expectations quantum entangled systems really are. The experiments that have been carried out based on Bell’s work will also be covered in outline.

José Ignacio Latorre got his PhD in Particle Physics at Univ. Barcelona. He was a Fullbright Fellow at MIT (USA) and a postdoc at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. He then became associate professor at the Univ. Barcelona and, later, full professor in Theoretical Physics.