Expanding the Scope of Science
ORIGINS
David Lorimer introduces the Galileo Commission Report
REMIT
The Galileo Commission was founded in 2017 with a view to expanding the worldview of science beyond its limiting materialistic assumptions, which are seldom explicitly examined. A central and widely held assumption is that the brain generates consciousness and is therefore extinguished at death.
Following widespread consultation in 2018 with 90 advisers representing 30 universities worldwide, we have published the Galileo Commission Report, written by Prof Dr Harald Walach and entitled Beyond a Materialist Worldview – Towards an Expanded Science. The report has been widely endorsed as a groundbreaking document, so we encourage you to support our movement by joining the Galileo Commission either as a Professional Affiliate or a Friend. There is also a Summary Report and a Layman’s Report, and a brief summary of the argument is available in a number of languages. We encourage you to read and support Dr Athena Potari’s Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities and to read our edited book Spiritual Awakenings, which documents the transformative experiences of 57 scientists and academics.
A Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities
The “Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities”, written by Dr Athena D. Potari, is a pioneering project aiming to raise awareness regarding how the prevailing paradigm of materialism affects the ways in which knowledge is approached within the context of the Humanities. In line with the Galileo Report, which discusses the importance of liberating the positive sciences from the limitations of the paradigm of scientific materialism, this Call aims at making the case for the Humanities as well. The Call explores how recent developments in scientific studies on consciousness, and the ensuing understanding that consciousness is primary and unified, can inform our understanding of what it means to be “human” with correspondingly appropriate epistemologies, as well as how we approach key areas of human activity, including ethics, politics and the environment.What people say…
Featured book
Featured podcast
The Playful Universe – Marjorie Woollacott, David Lorimer and Gary Schwartz (Eds)
This volume consists of essays by scientists and academics describing their own experiences of synchronicity and how these experiences transformed both their worldview and the way they lived their lives. We truly believe that this is a fundamentally intelligent, benevolent, creative and playful universe in which we, as individual expressions of the one Universal Mind, co-create our reality.
Recent News
Why do near-death experiences and psychedelics have a transformational effect? – Steve Taylor
Key points: 1) A new study has shown that both near-death experiences and psychedelics can have powerful transformational effects. 2) Both experiences brought a more positive, accepting attitude to death. 3) Although both experiences have different characteristics, they each take us beyond our normal limited awareness, and reveal a wider reality.
David Lorimer on the Unravelling the Universe podcast
The conversation largely revolved around the question: what happens after we die? Topics discussed include Near-Death Experiences, Consciousness, Reincarnation, Psychic Phenomena, and more.
Imaginal Inspirations with Eben Alexander
David Lorimer's guest today is Dr Eben Alexander, a pioneering scientist and thought leader in consciousness studies. Dr. Alexander has been a guest on Dr. Oz, Oprah, and many other media programs. His most recent book, Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Heart of Consciousness, (co-authored with Karen Newell) has garnered accolades from many scientists around the world who study the mind-body question and the nature of consciousness.
Karmic Law: A Synoptic Approach – Adrian Klein
In this paper, an extended approach to the philosophical term of Karma is presented, suggesting a high compatibility between its traditional (initiatically transmitted, especially Buddhist) and scientific interpretation. Blending of both apparently dissimilar concepts is meant to reach a more synoptic perspective on this widely known doctrine, which basically addresses a universal law of nature and its impact on individual and collective worldlines.
Does Mystical Experience Give Access to Reality? – Paul Marshall
There are reasons for the neglect, and in the present article I consider two major theoretical obstacles to finding metaphysical significance in the experiences: a radical form of contextualism and a reductionist approach to neuroscience. With these obstacles addressed, there is room to consider how mystical experience and metaphysics can be brought into dialogue, a task facilitated by the contemporary resurgence of interest in alternatives to materialist metaphysics and a renewed interest in mystical experience encouraged by psychedelic research.
Imaginal Inspirations with Cynthia Bourgeault
David Lorimer's guest today is Cynthia Bourgeault, who is a modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally acclaimed retreat leader. She divides her time between solitude in her seaside hermitage in Maine and a demanding schedule travelling globally to spread the recovery of the Christian contemplative and Wisdom paths.
