New Year: Reflections, intentions, ritual & soul

Bernardo is suspicious of personal goals and intentions, and of rituals aimed at shaping the future. But he does see great value in the power of ritual to synchronise with the rhythms of nature, in reflecting on the past to discern what those rhythms might be. If we can discern the movements of nature, unless some moral oversight is required, we have the opportunity to surrender to them.

We spent a little time sharing our personal reflections for this year of With Reality in Mind, and if you missed the live meeting, you’re welcome to add your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Time Travel: A literal trip down memory lane

Bernardo considers memory a potential form of time travel. This sounds far-fetched until he breaks it down. But if true, it could mean that deliberate reflection is way to consciously create a more porous ‘dissociative boundary.’

We’ll be hosting a session exclusively on the subject of Time in the near future, and you can start to add relevant questions to that topic on this page: 

Time

Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup

Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles

Might we have a soul? 

Publicly, Bernardo argues for Analytic Idealism, a position that can be defended according to the paradigm of our time; analytic philosophy. But personally, he entertains the possibility that we do have a soul, and that reality is a dualist process on an idealist operating system.

He clarifies this idea, and the reasons to consider it, near the end of today's meeting. This includes anecdotal evidence such as near death experiences, and the fact that our personality isn't always easy to explain based on genes or environment alone.

It sparked so many questions that we’ll dedicate a complete session to it, supported by Marjorie Woollacott:

Near-Death, Duality & Soul, with guest Marjorie Woollacott

Discussion with Bernardo Kastrup & Marjorie Woollacott

Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles

Happy New Year!

It's been wonderful to share these vibrant conversation and community with you all this year. Wishing you a reflective end to this one, and a joyous start to the next.

Until very soon I hope!

Amir

Speakers

Bernardo Kastrup

Analytic idealism

Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence).

As a scientist, he 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). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV.

Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in Scientific American, the magazine of The Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. His most defining book is Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.

Explore Bernardo’s work →