Metaphysics, Science, and Waking Up (dialogue with Roman Campolo)
1:01 - Plato's View on the Physical World and Eternal Forms
5:01 - The Passive Nature of Eternal Objects and Active Role of Actual Occasions
12:00 - Metaphysics, Science, and Spirituality: Process Philosophy's Impact on Scientific Practice
22:08 - Reimagining Science as Relational and Value-Driven
35:04 - Integrating Moral and Spiritual Values into Scientific Inquiry
50:12 - The Relationship Between Suffering, Growth, and the Human Role in Evolution
55:05 - Contemplating Death, Continuity of Self, and Primal Wonder.
Roman and Matt delved into Whitehead's metaphysics, exploring its intersections with modern science and spiritual experience. Roman began by asking Matt about the distinction between Whitehead's eternal objects and Plato's eternal forms. Matt explained that although Whitehead was influenced by Plato, the two concepts are different. Plato saw the physical world as an imperfect imitation of an unchanging realm of forms, whereas Whitehead valued the process by which these forms become actualized in the physical world, emphasizing the dynamic nature of reality.
As their discussion continued, Roman sought to understand whether Whitehead's eternal objects are active influences. Matt clarified that in Whitehead's philosophy, eternal objects are passive, while actual occasions are the active elements that bring these objects into existence. This inversion of Plato's idea underscores Whitehead's focus on the processes of realization rather than static perfection.
Their conversation then shifted to the broader implications of metaphysics on science and spirituality. Roman inquired about how adopting a process philosophical viewpoint could transform scientific practice. Matt responded by critiquing modern science's historical drive to control nature, often leading to ecological and existential crises. He suggested that a Whiteheadian perspective would promote a more relational approach to science, one that emphasizes cooperation with nature rather than domination, potentially leading to more sustainable and compassionate practices.
Roman and Matt then explored the role of values in scientific inquiry. Matt argued for a reimagined science that treats knowledge as sacred and value-driven, rather than value-neutral. This perspective, he believed, could align scientific endeavors with broader human and ecological well-being, moving away from purely economic or militaristic goals.
Reflecting on the importance of abstraction and intuition in philosophy, Matt emphasized the need to ground philosophical abstractions in a wide range of human intuitions, including those that might seem irrational or spiritual. This inclusive approach, he argued, ensures that speculative cosmologies remain connected to lived human experiences.
The conversation also touched on the future of human knowledge and existence. Matt highlighted the potential for humans to positively influence the evolutionary process through compassionate and knowledgeable engagement with the world. While acknowledging the inevitability of suffering, he suggested that human efforts can reduce unnecessary suffering and enhance joy for all life forms on the planet.
They also pondered the relationship between suffering and growth, with Matt affirming that while suffering is inevitable, human actions can reduce unnecessary suffering and enhance overall well-being. When Roman raised questions about the nature of the self and continuity after death, Matt expressed his belief in some form of continuity, suggesting that karma creates a causal connection between lives. He likened death to a transition similar to sleep (or perhaps waking up from a dream!), implying ongoing spiritual development.
Пікірлер: 12
Ah, the lads.
This was VERY beautiful to listen to! Love the discussion around science!💕
@Michael-nt1me
25 күн бұрын
An emerging and evolving integrally greater care for ...sense, science, and salience.... coming forth and going forward.
I love what you guys have to say about modern science around 20:00. I was trained as a chemist, but I've always been drawn to nature. I've recently been attempting to study the hundreds of various enzymes in various plants and amimals and how they interact, inhibiting or inducing one another and their various substrates in an effort to affect transformations in materials biologically (think: potions). Increasingly I feel the call of nature: "Eat the plants. Listen to the voices of the forest. They'll tell you everything you need to know." I'm trying to piece it all together like a million-piece jigsaw puzzle while the spirits of the plants are waiting for me to merely listen to their advice. Allow the information to arise from the body, rather than squeeze it all out of my head.
6:25 eternal objects have a “lure of feeling” leading to psychic resonances and ingression.
@Michael-nt1me
25 күн бұрын
...resonance, rhythm and rigor..... up through ...e-gression and in-gression with meta-gression, trans-gression and ultra-gression....
54:15 this is a pretty deep question. I've asked it before, and it usually just soars over the heads of others. I had an experience (smoking salvia) wherein I "woke up" and saw this whole experience as just some weird dream. The concepts of material objects and bodies amused me and felt so alien, so silly. It was only a brief moment, before I came hurtling back to earth, but it really did feel so peculiar to be outside of this reality in that way: to be able to see it as a peculiar dream. What if, when we die, we just wake up and have a whole new reality that we believe is normal, and forget all about this one? I get what Roman is saying here.
Eternal object as life that's meant to break, a shear pin holding the vertical expansion of the universe and the vertical shaft of creativity together. The horizontal pin contains the One and the Many in the way it breaks, one middle piece that stays in the shaft and two (or more) end pieces which concresce, with the superject as a new pin in an expanded universe.
The feeling of the infinite seems like a dance with power and objects, if a person feels like they're in the middle of something, how can they know that while not knowing the end? Is it the end of the individual, or the end of the collective human, or does it keep moving outwards and inwards according to need, which is not intelligence as in being able to think of infinity, it's a feeling that is bound thru the center in this dance. Perhaps life (intelligence) is orthogonal to the fractal yet bound to that.
around 35 min Matt says knowledge is sacred and it seems understanding is sacred, where information moves to knowledge then understanding. Knowledge by itself isn't tied to action as an autopoetic expression, which reduces trust, so I can trust someone's skills but not their person, which makes their skills irrelevant. It's possible that information is sacred also: I'll think about knowledge, thanks. The thing about knowledge is that it can guide one thru two settings for compromise, where one compromises in the short term but not in the long term because that locks one into a lower level of perception. One uses pain killers as needed as opposed to an addict, and knowing of the addictive qualities helps avoid traps. Similar tricky mind mechanisms hold information in triggers that move one onto the philosophical silk road, perhaps. Past knowledge to understanding as peaks and valleys instead of a flat ontology, since it opens up and follows what's there. also ritual as allowing the sacred, where the impact of the knowledge is a switch that has a certain threshold to cross, and this jump causes ripples that need time to subside or will corrupt the harmonics in a most discombobulating way. Switch bounce, avoided by allowance as intelligent as in the attention span.
~Hi. So many yeses, thanks. I am doing the work... I'm trying to match God somehow... which is too much, too inflated.