At a small think tank in Italy, scientists and philosophers debate the nature of intelligence. Dartmouth neuroscientist Peter Tse traces the evolution of human intelligence — and says our imagination is both our greatest gift and deadliest weapon.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Religion and Philosophy
In a 16th century chapel on an Italian hillside, a new scientific worldview is taking shape. It’s a new way of thinking about planetary intelligence and the interconnectedness of all life on Earth.
Chris Timmerman is a neuroscientist at Imperial College with a deep interest in philosophy. He’s discovered that a single psychedelic experience can transform a person’s fundamental belief system, often turning materialists into panpsychists.
Many Buddhists say psychedelics violate the prohibition against intoxicants. Spring Washam straddles this divide as both a Buddhist teacher and founder of an ayahuasca church.
After losing his California home to a wildfire, writer Pico Iyer went on retreat to a hermitage in Big Sur. He’s since made more than 100 retreats to the monastery. He tells us how retreats brought him out of his mind and ‘into his senses.’
Plant scientist Monica Gagliano did a series of groundbreaking experiments that suggest plants have intelligence. But she hasn’t talked—until now—about the leap of faith she took when a plant told her to go on a darkness retreat—for 39 days.
Sometimes the world is just too much. Too much awful news, too many things to worry about, too much to do. When you know inside you need something deeper than a vacation — maybe it’s time for a retreat.
There’s a huge question swirling around the really big psychedelic experiences. Are these mind-blowing trips just hallucinations – the brain shot full of chemicals, playing tricks on you - or do they crack open some transpersonaldimension of consciousness? Most scholars who study...
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