Bernardo Kastrup & Michael Levin in Conversation: With Reality in Mind

“The breadth of Bernardo's insight and understanding into the nature of reality and all kinds of related subjects is utterly breathtaking. Thank you Bernardo and Amir for a wonderful, inspiring, transformative four weeks.” ★★★★★  - Karen
 

We're excited to have had back Michael Levin for a further conversation with Bernardo that pushes the boundaries of how we understand life, reality and consciousness. 

Michael Levin is a renowned developmental and synthetic biologist leading research that is changing how we conceive of intelligence, and which systems and entities have it.  

Bernardo Kastrup is undoubtedly the world's most articulate, rigorous and increasingly well-known defender of metaphysical idealism - the notion that all reality is consciousness. This is a chance to immerse in this perspective together with Bernardo and Michael, deepening an understanding of the ramifications of this incredible philosophy.

On joining the group, you will be sent video recordings of introductory material. 

You'll also be sent links to a Telegram group for community discussion, and a forum for proposing topics and questions. 

Please note that  a certain level of familiarity with  their approaches would be ideal to get the most out of the conversation which means making the most out of the introductory videos and some other recommended viewing or reading.

This is now an event recording; 90 minutes with Bernardo and Michael, followed by 2hrs of Q&A with Bernardo covering

• How the electromagnetic field is just one of 17 theorised quantum fields, the one we most know to manipulate, which will bias scientific discovery.
• Bernardo’s take on the implications of Michael’s work:
• How your memories are not in your brain
• The resonances between Michael Levin and Federico Faggin
• Analytic idealism allows for both dissociation, reassociation and the creation of life
• Life and death are just fleeting thought-forms from the perspective of large time scales
• What humans with squid tentacles will do for spirituality
• To be coached in historical context is what gives meaning to life
• The difference between dissociation and differentiation
• Bernardo’s new project: proving that metacognition may be inherently dissociative - a high degree of integrated internal information casts a shadow over anything outside it.
• Does Michael’s work contradict evolutionary theory?
• Might sorting algorithms indicate non-local principals?
• Analytic idealism is reductive. But being reductive doesn’t require going from big to small, it is going complex to simple, which may mean going small to big.
• Any global phenomena must be an epiphenomena of smaller scale operations onto which we project.
• Bernardo: T-cells may appear to be autopoetic, but that is only if we ignore their context in which they are optimising for the whole to their own detriment.
• What can dreams and active imagination teach us about thresholds of dissociation?
• Instinctive beings act without thought, but most dream characters are much like someone talking to themselves.
• Some reoccurring dream figures might indicate a dissociated segment of your own mind or the collective unconscious.
• Bernardo on IFS, being a collective and caring for the inner child
• “We are all of us a collective”
• Rescuing the abandoned inner child
• Compassion for the rich
• Interpreting dreams
  
  If money is a barrier to attendance, please get in touch. No one is turned away for lack of funds.  
  
  Before attending this week we recommend watching some of Michael and Bernardo's previous work, as well as their last conversation:

"Bernardo has this very rare ability of combining philosophy, science and spirituality in a holistic perspective, and communicating his vision is a clear and inspiring way that also laypersons understand. Very much looking forward to the next edition of this course!" 
★★★★★ - Frank Dierick

“Phenomenal talk. Bernardo is truly a great philosopher... truly inspiring and life-changing. So thank you to Bernardo, the Psychadelic Society for organising, and to everybody else in attendance, who consistently asked profound questions!”  ★★★★★ - Andre

About Bernardo Kastrup

Photo by Pedro Henrique Casarin

Bernardo Kastrup's work has been leading the modern renaissance of the philosophical position, ‘metaphysical idealism’ that reality is essentially mental, an appearance in ‘mind.’  Bernardo has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. Bernardo's most recent book is The Idea of the World: A multi-disciplinary argument for the mental nature of reality. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.

About Michael Levin
 

Michael Levin, a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at Tufts, holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. Recent honors include the Scientist of Vision award and the Distinguished Scholar Award. His group’s focus is on understanding the biophysical mechanisms that implement decision-making during complex pattern regulation, and harnessing endogenous bioelectric dynamics toward rational control of growth and form.

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS COURSES 

★★★★★  “Bernardo is a true pioneer and a brilliant thinker (and experiencer). One of my favorite aspects of Bernardo's personality is his humility and his unpretentiousness. Very enjoyable and enriching. Should follow up in 3 mos min.” - Tomas

★★★★★ “Listening to Bernardo makes my whole Being fizz with excitement. Excellent content, thank you so much for hosting this. And Amir is the ideal facilitator - curious, playful, respectful, attentive, and organised.” - Liam

★★★★★  “This was a fascinating 4 weeks on the nature of consciousness. Highly recommended.” Frank I

★★★★★  “It was a wonderful experience. I have learnt a lot through out this course, Bernardo is such a very articulate philosopher and Amir is such a very good coordinator. I am so grateful for having had this experience.” - Nour

★★★★★  "Great course! Very insightful and original. Impressive how Bernardo is able take a holistic/multidisciplinary perspective and is able to translate difficult philosophical and scientific concepts into everyday language. A course definitely worthwhile repeating!" - Frank 

REFUNDS: Please note that we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. We welcome swapping or reselling your tickets with people you know.

ACCESS: We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of employment or health circumstances. If you would like to attend this event but are truly unable to afford the ticket price, please do get in touch with the event organiser.