Monday 2nd February - 07:00 PM GMT
Science Needs A New Metaphysics
Consciousness, Quantum Mechanics and Physicalism
It’s time for scientists, long wedded to physicalism, to try out new metaphysical accounts of reality’s nature, argues pioneering cognitive scientist Christof Koch in this talk for IAI Live. From the “hard problem” of consciousness to quantum mechanics, the view that reality is fundamentally physical struggles to explain our world. Meanwhile, extraordinary experiences, including near-death experiences, mystical experiences and terminal lucidity, lead subjects towards alternative metaphysics like Panpsychism and Idealism. Join Koch as he argues that embracing these alternative views can help rather than hinder the use of the scientific method.
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Christof Koch
Christof Koch is known for his work exploring the substrate of consciousness in humans, animals, and machines. A physicist and neurobiologist, he was for more than a quarter of a century a professor of biology and engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In 2011, he became the Chief Scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and in 2015, its president. He remains at the Allen Institute, now as a Meritorious Investigator. He is also the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation in Santa Monica, seeking to understand consciousness, its place in nature, and how this knowledge can benefit all of humanity. He is the author of many books, the latest being Then I am Myself the World, and hundreds of publications in neuroscience, perception, and consciousness. A vegetarian, cyclist, fan of big dogs and Der Ring des Nibelungen, Christof lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. For more information, see www.christofkoch.com