23 November 2024
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MeaningofLife.tv videos
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Oct 20, 2016 — Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
What is “mindfulness?”
Suffering: Can’t live without it!
The pathology of our wandering minds
Seeking the chaos of impermanence
Do all thoughts have feelings?
What’s the relationship between your mind and your brain?
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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enlightenment
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meditation
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memory
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mind-body problem
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mindfulness
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psychology
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religion
Oct 19, 2016 — Robert Wright & Sam Harris
Sam Harris, mystic and atheist
The mystery of consciousness
Is mysticism more like science than like religion?
How religion makes progress
Sam’s case for intolerance
The root causes of extremism
Religious and secular reasons to do good
Ways religion may be closer to the truth than atheism
A secular approach to death
TAGS
agnosticism
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atheism
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Buddhism
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Christianity
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cognitive science
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consciousness
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death
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empathy
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ethics
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evolution
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history
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Islam
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meditation
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mind-body problem
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mindfulness
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mysticism
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nationalism
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New Atheists
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perception
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poverty
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psychology
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religion
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science
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self
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spirituality
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tribalism
Oct 18, 2016 — Robert Wright & Margaret Wertheim
The non-Euclidean nature of coral reefs
When physics defies human comprehension
Bad blood between the sciences and the humanities
The limits of scientific knowledge
Are scientists asking the wrong questions about consciousness?
The intenseness of having an identical twin
TAGS
Christianity
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consciousness
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Daniel Dennett
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philosophy
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physics
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religion
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science
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spirituality
Oct 17, 2016 — Robert Wright & Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly’s new book
The Inevitable
Technology as an extension of evolution
Will Google monopolize AI?
How to foster an ethical AI
People of the screen
The importance of seeing the glass as half-full
TAGS
consciousness
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evolution
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technology
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the future
Oct 9, 2016 — Robert Wright & Wesley Wildman
Wesley explains “transreligious theology”
What’s religious about religious naturalism?
Can science help us understand ultimate reality?
Bringing religious thought and philosophy together
Be skeptical of spiritual experiences
Don’t just love your enemies, understand them
Wesley: “Purpose” isn’t a useful category
TAGS
atheism
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Buddhism
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Christianity
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consciousness
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meditation
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Paul Tillich
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philosophy
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physics
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psychology
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religion
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science
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spirituality
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tribalism
Sep 21, 2016 — Robert Wright & Erik Braun
Erik’s book
The Birth of Insight
and its hero, Ledi Sayadaw
Three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and not-self
Origins and characteristics of American Buddhism
How Burmese politics shaped Western Buddhism
Ledi’s take on how meditation leads to enlightenment
The ethical side of Buddhist practice
Erik’s meditation practice
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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enlightenment
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history
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human nature
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meditation
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mind
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mindfulness
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philosophy
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politics
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psychology
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religion
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science
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self
Sep 17, 2016 — Nikita Petrov & George Young
What is Russian cosmism?
The religious side of cosmism
Cosmism as a response to the challenges of the 20th century
Nature as a temporary enemy and eternal friend
Pavel Florensky, the Russian da Vinci
Plant life as a spiritual ideal
The father of the Soviet space program, and his weird spirituality
Cosmism and transhumanism: Compare and contrast
Cosmism as a Russian propaganda project
TAGS
Christianity
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consciousness
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death
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evolution
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history
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human nature
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mysticism
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occult
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philosophy
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politics
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religion
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science
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spirituality
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technology
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the future
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transhumanism
Sep 14, 2016 — Robert Wright & Vincent Horn
Can smartphones help you meditate?
Bringing virtual reality and meditation together
Vincent’s experience teaching meditation online
Circumventing the rational mind via inquiry meditation
Becoming conscious of consciousness
Vincent’s “modular” approach to meditation
Is Vincent enlightened?
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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meditation
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science
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technology
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the future
Sep 10, 2016 — Josh Summers & Chip Hartranft
An intro to the yogic philosopher Patañjali and the
Yoga-Sutra
The metaphysics of the
Yoga-Sutra
How does a yogi become awakened?
Comparing yogic and Buddhist teachings
Does yogic philosophy encourage isolation?
Advice for new meditators
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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enlightenment
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Hinduism
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human nature
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meditation
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mindfulness
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philosophy
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religion
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spirituality
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yoga
Sep 5, 2016 — Robert Wright & Michael Lynch
Michael’s book,
The Internet of Us
, and “neuromedia”
How Google short circuits our critical faculties
Dangers of the “hive mind”
The echo chamber effect and how to combat it
How tech has—and has not—changed the way we learn
Privacy in the age of big data
TAGS
consciousness
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philosophy
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technology
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the future
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transhumanism
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tribalism
Aug 19, 2016 — Robert Wright & Douglas Osto
Doug’s book
Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America
Psychedelics as gateway drugs to Buddhism
Common ground between Buddhism and psychedelic spirituality
What is Psychedelic Buddhism?
When are psychedelics unhealthy?
Compare and contrast between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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drugs
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enlightenment
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happiness
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meditation
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mental health
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mindfulness
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religion
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spirituality
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Zen
Aug 8, 2016 — Robert Wright & Susan Schneider
The most intelligent life in outer space may be artificial
Should we be worried about AI?
Shopping for a scientific path to eternal life
“Protomentality,” matter’s (hypothesized) latent sentience
Would your self survive uploading to a computer?
What if we never understand consciousness?
TAGS
cognitive science
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compassion
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consciousness
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death
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free will
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human nature
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identity
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mind-body problem
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philosophy
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physics
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psychology
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science
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technology
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the future
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transhumanism
Jul 10, 2016 — Robert Wright & Kenneth Folk
The bell-curve of awakening
Being enlightened feels “meta-okay”
The benefits of experiencing life impersonally
Does enlightenment have to have a moral dimension?
Awakening as growing up
The lenses and filters through which we see life
TAGS
altruism
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Buddhism
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consciousness
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drugs
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enlightenment
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ethics
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happiness
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meditation
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mindfulness
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perception
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psychology
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religion
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sadness
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self
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spirituality
Jun 29, 2016 — Robert Wright & Daniel Kaufman
Bob’s love for the supercosmic
“Design” and “purpose”: Bob explains…
…and Dan objects
Is there a direction to natural selection?
Nobody understands consciousness
Is humanity making moral progress?
TAGS
consciousness
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ethics
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evolution
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philosophy
Jun 25, 2016 — Robert Wright & David Bryce Yaden
David’s recent research on “self-transcendent experiences”
Causes and effects of self-transcendence
Is the loss of self real?
Evolutionary explanations of mystical states
The neurology of meditation
Revisiting the mind-body problem
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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meditation
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mind-body problem
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psychology
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science
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self
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spirituality
Jun 20, 2016 — Robert Wright
The Cliff Notes version of Bob’s first four talks
Must a spiritual worldview include a “higher purpose”?
How non-zero-sum games shaped religion
Is God like an electron?
Everyone is deluded (but salvation is possible)
An ancient theology compatible with a modern mindset
Questions from the audience
TAGS
Buddhism
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Christianity
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consciousness
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game theory
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Islam
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meditation
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religion
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spirituality
Jun 13, 2016 — Robert Wright
Are we animals in an alien zoo?
Does evolution have a direction? A purpose?
The emergence of the “giant global brain”
How to get Dan Dennett mad
Does consciousness do anything?
Bob’s semi-crazy theory of consciousness
Questions from the audience
TAGS
consciousness
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Daniel Dennett
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evolution
Jun 11, 2016 — Robert Wright & Daniel Kaufman
What makes Bob’s worldview “spiritual”
Scientific arguments for a spiritual discipline
The expanding grounds for intellectual humility
Does evolution have a purpose?
The mystery and value of subjective experience
Is consciousness a scientific problem?
TAGS
consciousness
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evolution
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science
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spirituality
May 27, 2016 — Robert Wright & Bernard Beitman
Bernard’s new book
Connecting With Coincidence
Debating whether coincidences are significant
Jungian synchronicity and archetypes
The weird coincidence involving the sun and the moon
Mental states that make coincidences seem meaningful
Should you take guidance from coincidences?
TAGS
consciousness
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mind-body problem
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psychology
May 23, 2016 — Robert Wright
Why science calls for a new agnosticism
Consciousness seems more mysterious than ever
The intellectual hubris of the “New Atheists”
The holy war against religion
Cognitive biases that fuel tribalism
Questions from the audience
TAGS
consciousness
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Islam
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New Atheists
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religion
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science
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terrorism
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tribalism
Apr 25, 2016 — Nikita Petrov & Jay Mutzafi
The spectrum of dream awareness
How to start lucid dreaming
Ways to use the virtual reality of your mind
Dream practices in Tibetan Buddhism
Scientific perspectives on lucid dreaming
Inducing lucidity with sound, light, electricity and supplements
TAGS
cognitive science
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consciousness
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dreaming
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meditation
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science
Mar 12, 2016 — Robert Wright & Stephen Asma
The Western encounter with Buddhism
Divine beings and supernatural forces in Buddhism
Why Stephen finds Buddhism appealing
Drawing as meditation
Does neuroscience support the Buddhist view of the self?
What the New Atheists get wrong about religion
TAGS
Buddhism
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cognitive science
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consciousness
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meditation
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New Atheists
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religion
Mar 6, 2016 — Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
What is it like to be an arhat?
Perspectives on the self: It’s nothing, it’s everything
What enlightenment is, and what’s so great about it
Dwelling in enlightenment is easy, but getting there can be hard
Does enlightenment entail moral improvement?
Can meditation save—or impede salvation of—the world?
TAGS
Buddhism
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Christianity
|
consciousness
|
enlightenment
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happiness
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Hinduism
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meditation
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mysticism
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psychology
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religion
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self
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spirituality
Feb 25, 2016 — Robert Wright & George Johnson
The limits of human knowledge
Confronting the weirdness of quantum physics
Einstein, relativity, photons—and time travel!
What good is a legacy if you’re dead?
George’s ideal afterlife
The human compulsion to find order in the world
TAGS
consciousness
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death
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free will
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physics
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religion
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time
Feb 12, 2016 — Daniel Kaufman & Robert Wright
A quick look at the life of Wittgenstein
The misunderstood philosopher
How does language represent reality (if at all)?
Wittgenstein the Mystic
Why your private thoughts are public
Cognitive science’s big Wittgensteinian problem
TAGS
consciousness
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language
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mind-body problem
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mysticism
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philosophy
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transhumanism
Jan 5, 2016 — Robert Wright, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, & David Chalmers
Rebecca’s “mind-blowing” encounter with the problem of consciousness
David’s famous zombie thought experiment
Rebecca: “We are material things”
Does an electron have a kind of mind?
Where does meaning come from?
Describing a satisfactory model of consciousness
TAGS
cognitive science
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consciousness
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mind-body problem
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panpsychism
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physics
Dec 13, 2015 — Robert Wright & Donald Hoffman
Natural selection doesn’t build brains to see the truth
How perception is like a graphical computer interface
Don’s theory: It’s consciousness all the way down
Is there a chicken-and-egg problem with this theory?
Don describes his consciousness formula, sans math (phew)
With this theory, life is more interesting—and painful
TAGS
cognitive science
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consciousness
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evolution
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mind-body problem
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perception
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psychology
Oct 19, 2015 — Robert Wright & Jorge Ferrer
Do all religions have the same “esoteric core?”
The psychedelic origins of transpersonal psychology
Aligning your instincts, consciousness, and heart through “participatory spirituality”
Constructing reality through “embodied cognition”
Why Jorge would object to making participatory spirituality a religion
The complicated morality of “enlightened” spiritual teachers
TAGS
Buddhism
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consciousness
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psychology
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religion
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spirituality
Oct 16, 2015 — Robert Wright & Lee Smolin
What Lee means when he says “time is fundamental”
Understanding the universe as a network
A (very) tentative theory of consciousness
Did the laws of physics evolve?
Is the universe fine-tuned for the emergence of life?
Applying Lee’s theories of time to everyday life
TAGS
consciousness
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cosmology
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evolution
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free will
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physics
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science
|
time
Aug 4, 2015 — Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
The “strong AI thesis”: Can a machine think?
Debating the usefulness of the Turing test
Could your brain be swapped with a silicon replica?
Massimo: You’ll never be able to upload your consciousness
Digging into the famous “Chinese room” thought experiment
Dan: Neuroscience won’t solve philosophy of mind puzzles
TAGS
biology
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cognitive science
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consciousness
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mind
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philosophy
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science
|
technology
Jul 26, 2014 — John Horgan & George Johnson
Prominent physicists bash philosophy
Can materialism explain consciousness?
The problem with Lawrence Krauss’s “universe from nothing”
Why “mathematical mysticism” leaves John cold
Are mathematical truths discovered or invented?
Environmentalists who want more energy usage
TAGS
agnosticism
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atheism
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climate change
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consciousness
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cosmology
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Daniel Dennett
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evolution
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mathematics
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physics
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religion
|
science
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