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…
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Spiritual Awakenings – Marjorie Wollacott & David Lorimer (Eds)
Scholars share the experience of their own spiritual awakening and journey, including encountering challenges to their credibility in academia, if they shared these experiences. Their comments about transformation in values, beliefs, and approaches toward life are very moving, expressing a deep inner wisdom and connection, not only with humanity, but with the earth and cosmos.
Recent News
New Thinking Aloud: Parapsychology in the UK with Chris Roe
Chris Roe describes the work of Robert Morris, the first person to hold the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, starting in 1985. As a result there are now hundreds of individuals who have conducted doctoral level research in parapsychology in the UK. He shares his own experiences as a student at Edinburgh. He also discusses the many problems that parapsychologists still face. He expects parapsychology to grow at a slow and steady pace in the UK.
A Hierarchy of Consciousness from Atom to Cosmos – Marilyn Monk
...It is plausible to argue that beyond this entire scheme of all that is known to exist, beyond cosmos, there may be a yet higher order of complexity.
Short History of the Mind: Theory of Norms – David Harrison
The essay presents a theory of how the mind and consciousness have evolved. It assumes that a group of neurones can act as a unit structure which then replicates at higher levels in a fractal like form. David Harrison calls that unit structure a 'norm' because it describes behaviour in simple and complex organisms as well as social structures. It is shown in a simplified schematic form. That is sufficient to explain the nature of many psychological phenomena. This work is not meant to be academically rigorous. It is meant to be understandable to most people.
After-Death Communications (ADCs) Website is LIVE
Thanks to a generous grant from a foundation, an ambitious multilingual project entitled 'Investigation of the phenomenology and impact of spontaneous and direct After-Death Communications (ADCs)' was conducted from February 2018 to January 2020. The second phase of the project started in February 2021 and will be completed in January 2024. By collecting information about how ADCs occur and unfold, and by analyzing their impact on individuals’ lives, we aim to make these results accessible to people who face the death of a loved one, as well as to anyone sensitized to the finite nature of human existence.
Dr. Iain McGilchrist on The Future Scientist – 19th Jan
In sum, the whole enterprise seems to be committed to suppressing broad thinkers, promoting academics that look more like corporate managers, PR mavericks and professional fund-raisers and less like scholars, who are asked to inhibit their interest in philosophy, and to cast suspicion on their fertile imagination. Dogma and habit are inhibiting free inquiry. It is as if science as a whole is becoming less scientific.
Spiritual Awakenings International Call for Papers
If you would like to be considered as a possible speaker at our Spiritual Awakenings International online Conference 2022, please send us your speaking proposal on topics related to any type of Spiritually Transformative Experiences or spiritual awakenings, by January 30, 2022.
