Feed Your Head

Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, is among the top 0.1% most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior. In addition to the books Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain and How Emotions are Made, Dr. Barrett has published over 275 peer-reviewed, scientific papers appearing in Science, Nature Neuroscience, and other top journals in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, as well as six academic volumes published by Guilford Press.   Learn more about Dr. Barrett and find her books visit https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com Read the transcript www.feedyourhead.blog/p/your-brain-is-not-for-thinking Explore more at www.feedyourhead.blog

Iain McGilchrist is a former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Consultant Emeritus of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital, London, a former research Fellow in Neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore. He is committed to the idea that the mind and brain can be understood only by seeing them in the broadest possible context, that of the whole of our physical and spiritual existence, and of the wider human culture in which they arise – the culture which helps to mould, and in turn is moulded by, our minds and brains.   Explore more at feedyourhead.blog

Philip Goff is a philosophy professor at Durham University, UK. He spends most of his time trying to work out the ultimate nature of reality. In his recent book Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 2023) he explores whether panpsychism can offer a kind of middle way between traditional belief in God and secular atheism.  

"What is this thing called love?" - Cole Porter It's one of life's most mysterious experiences - coveted by all yet, strangely, also a source of immense pain and suffering. Where did love come from and what ultimate purpose does it serve? Rabbi Adam Jacobs discusses many intriguing facets of the idea of love with Oxford anthropologist Anna Machin. Watch the interview, https://youtu.be/QsNOxozRDwM?si=_hvoehXcIfaK3gK6 Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog 01:38 What is love? 05:31 Wouldn’t we be better off without love? 09:37 Are people loving less? 13:55 Does love transcend scientific meaning? 19:10 Does the love of God require an intermediary? 24:23 How does religious love compare to other types of love? 27:52 Can a religious love be unhealthy? 30:19 Can there be a false love? 33:50 What do our pets tell us about love? 37:41 Is it possible to fall out of love? 40:34 Can we love someone we dislike? 42:26 Is love a choice?

Philosopher James Tartaglia is a nihilist - he believes that existence has no ultimate purpose. He also believes that there is an immaterial world beyond our own which at least "opens the door" for religious thinking. Can these two ideas really exist side by side? Watch the interview, https://youtu.be/pPanw9OUhf4?si=-6XWIusxMTmHVwD5 Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog

Rabbi Adam Jacobs speaks to Dr. Edward Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia about the existence of non-material reality.  Watch the interview, https://youtu.be/rcbYG6crWPk?si=hrG1Bsm-U8HkV0cZ Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog To find out more about Dr. Kelly's work, visit https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-s...   01:03 What do you mean by “tyranny of materialism”? 03:15 How did the Division of Perceptual Studies begin? 06:05 How is parapsychology received at the University of Virginia? 08:35 Why can’t we explain the origin of consciousness? 12:47 How is our understanding of the metaphysical world? 19:51 How do we overcome this wall of resistance? 27:55 Would Carl Sagan be convinced of your research? 32:33 Is there a specific undeniable case of reincarnation? 35:36 Can inorganic matter have consciousness? 39:07 Do subatomic particles exhibit consciousness? 42:16 How do categorical influences challenge materialism?

Noted author and scholar Sara Rigler interviewed hundreds of people who claim to have had a previous life during the Holocaust. Many of them suffer recurring dreams and visions of terror and pain. Many of their stories also seem inexplicable. Are these experiences the product of overactive imaginations or could they be indicating something important about a hidden aspect of reality? Three remarkable accounts are featured in this episode. 01:15 What is the story of your book? 05:02 Can you describe your flashback? 07:10 Why should people take this book seriously? 15:50 Why repeat such traumatic experiences from a previous life? 20:40 How can I know if I have been reincarnated? 25:20 How did you first connect to the idea you were reincarnated? 34:54 How did you learn of your reincarnation? 43:01 If given the choice, would you experience these remembrances again? Watch the interview, https://youtu.be/XxctHP1VVLM?si=cMwKYoHDngKiehSW Explore more at: www.beyondbelief.blog/ To purchase Sara Rigler's book, "I've Been Here Before" please visit:  Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Ive-Been-Here-... Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/IVE-BEEN-HERE-... Hardcover: https://menuchapublishers.com/gsp48ppqd6  

Why we should be "profoundly shocked" at the nature of reality with Dr. Ruth Kastner. Read the transcript, https://www.beyondbelief.blog/p/adven... Watch the video: https://youtu.be/sni6MGy785U?si=-utpQV5DsVUQuVRt Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog

A conversation on the hidden, lost, and suppressed knowledge of the Western World featuring Mr. Gary Lachman. Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/nrctA_Wgfhg Read the transcript, https://www.beyondbelief.blog/p/the-secret-teachers-of-the-western  Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog

Most of us consider ourselves to be "good" but how do we truly know? Is there any objective standard? Dr. Massimo Pigliucci skillfully tackles this important question and others. Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog 01:22 What does it mean to do the right thing? 03:36 Is it human nature to do the right thing? 06:18 Why would evolution have selected negative traits? 11:28 Is the highest virtue to do for oneself? 14:46 What happens if science shows there are no objective virtues? 25:46 If evolution's goal is survival and reproduction, why does everyone want more than that? 31:23 Can religion solve the questions that science fails to answer? 38:07 Is Neo-Darwinism true? 41:54 Why don't people live up to their own values? 

The idea of a multiverse has captivated humanity for thousands of years (including two current major films about it). Do many worlds actually exist? What are the implications if they do? Rabbi Adam Jacobs speaks with Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University. Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog 01:18 What is wisdom? 03:34 Does wisdom affect how we behave or only how we think? 6:34 Why does philosophy evoke rage in scientists? 10:39 Is God a logical inference of the fine-tuning argument? 14:25 Should the idea of the multiverse affect how we act? 19:35 Why do you lament the western approach to religion? 23:13 What is the difference between monotheism and pantheism? 30:21 Is math discovered or created? 35:57 Are our bodies good or bad for our spirituality? 38:40 Who is held back by the nature of their bodies? 41:00 How do you define the success of a religion? 43:51 What would be your message to religious leaders?

Rabbi Adam Jacobs discusses science, religion, and philosophy with Dr. George Ellis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog 02:22 What can a non-scientist appreciate most about the scientific endeavor? 04:34 Isn’t more grains of sand just a bigger pile of sand?  08:03 Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? 11:20 Is evolutionism sufficient to produce complex information? 13:53 What is the philosophy of evolutionism? 16:07 Why is it important to conduct research in science and religion? 19:35 What do you believe as a Quaker? 22:18 Are you frustrated by the limitations of the human brain? 24:36 Do ordinary experiences have a greater meaning? 28:57 Is Aristotle correct regarding causation? 33:46 What bothers you about intelligent design? 37:30 Do non-physical things exist?

What If All Things Are Conscious? with Dr. Loriliai Biernacki Read the transcript: https://www.beyondbelief.blog/p/infinite-awareness Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/ve2hRd3fZ74 Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog

Dr. Donald Hoffman has made the astounding discovery that everything that we experience through our senses is an illusion. Space and time do not exist and consciousness is the true building block of reality. Learn more about Donald Hoffman's research at http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/ Purchase Donald Hoffman's book The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes at https://www.amazon.com/The-Case-Again... 01:06 What is consciousness? 04:44 How does evolution hide the truth? 09:35 Why are we creating this kind of reality? 13:14 Why have we created a reality with 3 dimensions? 17:05 Why does evolution not always follow logic? 20:28 What happens when we stop perceiving? 22:36 How do we create what we see? 24:48 What is reality besides what we perceive? 28:48 What is the difference between information and consciousness? 33:29 How is taste a good example of your theory? 34:44 How do we create reality for concepts and beliefs? 38:26 Is the ultimate truth of reality infinite? 41:48 Has your research pointed towards spirituality? Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/dlrCbIUjNdQ?si=wBXu5zpML4fCiPEV Explore more at: https://www.beyondbelief.blog/

Oxford physicist Chiara Marletto shares her thoughts on some of life's deepest mysteries and explores if there can be any true synergy with the spiritual way of considering them. 02:01 What is your deepest motivation to study physics?  06:21 Is science ever frustrating?  11:51 What is the cause of all causes? 15:56 Should philosophers seek out the uncaused cause? 20:55 Is significant information being preserved within the human body? 23:13 Is Your Mind in a Computer Still You?  27:10 Can we restore the consciousness of a lost loved one? 31:18 Can any idea in science be considered dogmatic? 36:23 Does religion allow any self-critique?  39:19 Does the scientific process undercut morality? 43:13 Is the ultimate reality immaterial? For more Jewish inspiration visit https://www.aish.com – the world's leading Judaism website.

Dr. Rick Strassman of the University of New Mexico ran the first federally sanctioned experiments with a psychedelic since the 1970s. He subsequently developed a fascination with what he perceives is an overlap of the psychedelic experience with the states of consciousness described by the Hebrew prophets.  Explore more at https://www.beyondbelief.blog/ 01:49 Do psychedelics unlock reality or illusions? 05:22 Why do psychedelics tend to produce feelings of love and oneness? 08:11 Does God communicate with humans through our brains? 13:06 Do our brains block the ultimate reality? 17:02 Do psychedelics reduce our brain’s block on reality? 18:39 What is closer to the DMT experience: Judaism or Buddhism? 25:53 How do near-death experiences compare to psychedelics? 29:18 Did Ezekiel describe a drug-induced experience? 32:52 Why do people enter a prophetic future-telling state? 39:50 Can an Atheist experience transcendence through psychedelics? 41:46 Do you experiment with psychedelics? 43:31 What did you learn through your own psychedelic experience?  

How Columbus, Galileo, and Scopes were never persecuted by religious authorities and other popular myths. Watch the video interview here: https://youtu.be/UWfNde_tUe8 Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog

Reflections on one of our most treasured, confusing, and elusive emotions. For more, explore www.beyondbelief.blog Find the transcript here https://www.beyondbelief.blog/p/the-strange-truth-about-happiness

Marjorie Woollacott is a neuroscientist who came to the conclusion that our consciousness is not solely generated by our neurons. Through her meditative practice she has also discovered a powerful "energy" that lies just below the surface of our day to day awareness, and is a source of profound joy and tranquility. Watch the intergiew here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBO8dT8-RT8 Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog To learn more about Dr. Woollacott, visit https://marjoriewoollacott.com/

Dr. Christopher Satoor is an expert in the philosophy of Friedrich Schelling—a German Idealist thinker who was fascinated by the spiritual underpinnings of nature, history and the idea of freedom. He is also the writer whose words Beethoven chose to set to music in his celebrated "Ode to Joy." Explore more at www.beyondbelief.blog