Is Reality Made of Consciousness? - Dr Bernardo Kastrup, PhD

I'll propose an idealist ontology more parsimonious and empirically rigorous than mainstream physicalism, bottom-up panpsychism, and cosmopsychism. The ontology also offers more explanatory power than these three alternatives, in that it does not fall prey to the hard problem of consciousness, the combination problem, or the decomposition problem, respectively. It can be summarized as follows: there is only universal consciousness. We, as well as all other living organisms, are but dissociated alters of universal consciousness, surrounded by its mental activity. The inanimate world we see around us is the extrinsic appearance of this activity. The living organisms we share the world with are the extrinsic appearances of other dissociated alters.
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Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He 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 Science Ideated: The fall of matter and the contours of the next mainstream scientific worldview. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.
Links
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- Dr Kastrup’s website: www.bernardokastrup.com
- Dr Kastrup’s books: amzn.to/3fQ4yKv

[@craigbowers4016]

As someone who has had a benign brain tumor removed I want to say thank you to Bernardo for his description of brain surgery. All I was told prior to the tumor being removed from my left Temporal Lobe was that I would have terrible memory for the rest of my life. However, I truly do feel like things often feel "different" (feeling like I am suddenly tripping for no reason) and while my seizures have decreased my epilepsy still affects my perspective on the world. Sadly many in medicine assume that the brain is a simple structure and that it isn't anything more than playing Tetris.

[@grolstum211]

Your surgeons were terrible then with very bad knowledge on how the neural connections affect perception of reality. Regardless if Bernardo is right or not whether the brain is also just a representation/interface of the dissociated universal consciousness that is you, the doctors did not tell you the truth ( which is medically-materially proven).

[@maartenv4611]

do you 'trip' like people on psychedelics do? Maybe you can't compare, but it would confirm Bernardo's theory that reduction of brain activity causes the hallucinations of the psychedelic trips and not the chemical compound.

[@grolstum211]

@@maartenv4611 That would not be some kind of ground breaking discovery considering that almost 20% of brain neural circuits are inhibitory in nature. Which also explains why brain activity reduces during psychedelic experiences instead of increasing.

[@maartenv4611]

@@grolstum211 Why don't the researchers mention that? They were surprised in their paper. The researchers must have known about the inhibitory processes. But they were surprised about the reductions in brain activity due to psychedelics. And do you mean that during our normal daily routine, the brain is constantly busy with producing hyperreal alien-like fantasies and multidimensional creature trips underneath and that somehow all that is inhibited by inhibitory neural processes, waiting to come free under psychedelics? And are you saying that psychedelics somehow selectively choose just only these inhibitory processes in the brain to disinhibit and let the excitatory neurons free from reduction?

[@robbie_]

All the best Craig.

[@manojchulki]

While it’s admirable that a scientist and philosopher of the stature of Me. Kastrup is coming to these conclusions, these conclusions were arrived at a few thousand years ago in a collection of texts called the Upanishads (which are part of the ancient texts called the Vedas). Even the terms he uses are verbatim from the Upanishads. He uses terms like consciousness, appearance, non-dualism which are all terms used in the Upanishads. For instance what he calls appearance is referred to as Maaya in the ancient texts. Non-dualism = Advaita . Consciousness = Chit. I applaud Mr. Kastrup for coming to these conclusions from a scientific perspective and taking a stance which is otherwise against popular scientific discourse.

[@teogee59]

Thank you, Bernardo. You just explained all that I had experienced through my entire life in a way that I can accept it. In 1963, at age 4, my "spiritual teacher" chocked my throat, as you pointed when mentioning the popular online game by the kids today. So, a moments later, I was watching my body from the center of the ceiling. My body was laying on the floor, facing down, and was subjected to a serious "spiritual" blows. However, my I, on the ceiling, felt no pain and could see and hear. That "spiritual ritual" was applied to my body more that 10 times within the next 3 years. The last two events I was able to shoot myself to the center of the ceiling using my will - that was the only way to escape the horror and the pain. I had no idea that leaving the body is called death and coming back is called resurrection. My life that followed and continues to unfold is just a series of miracles. However, I could not share those with anybody as that would send me to a mental institution, and I don't like that. On the other side, I realized that that event was a deal between me and my "teacher" and it had a purpose: to teach me how to leave and come back to the body. I was born in a country, where religion was forbidden and spirituality was not such a popular business as it is today. Finally, the science can lift the vail on that! Thank you, again. I can confirm that leaving the body is not at all emotional. Everyone can experience that right now: stand up from the chair and carefully monitor what are you feelings for that chair. :). Yes, Rupert Spira is correct in almost everything he says. I am not sure how one can follow him without any confirmation from the Life, though. I prefer the path that Bernardo recommends at the end of his brilliant presentation.

[@vanshikatyagi08]

Can you please tell us what were those miracles...?

[@grayire]

Bernardo is a gift. I don't always follow everything but always a pleasure to listen to him talk

[@Musa-keys]

Bernardo is from Brazil, Bernardo uses Fútbol as example. We love Bernardo! (One can leave South America, but South America never leaves us ❤️ ⚽️)

[@VanEazy]

Bernado is so amazing! Having someone so hardcore in analytical philosophy is so important! I listen to everything he does two or three (or sometimes more ) times because it’s always dripping with insight that I don’t always catch the first time.

[@theseedoflife3057]

Here here

[@beyshore_]

@@theseedoflife3057 hear, hear

[@aliceinwonderland887]

Bernardo is describing concepts in the Vedic texts and he knows enough to say he is spiritually inept. True scientist.

[@gardelk]

Brahma dreams and we are sparks of his dreams, still dreams in nature. At the ultimate bottom, ask Dzogchen! 🌈

[@honkytonk4465]

where's the muslim claiming koran always knew?

[@animesh7296]

@@honkytonk4465 but allah sits at the seventh sky on a sofa and comes down every night to answer the prayer.

[@animesh7296]

@@gardelk Then it should be the Dzogchen people or Buddhist people saying sorry to Hindus. After 2500 years of saying there is no self, there are anything but Hindus. Only to end up saying the same thing.

[@honkytonk4465]

@@animesh7296 😂😂🤣

[@sspunch9886]

Bernardo has beautifully vocabularized the advaita philosophy in English language to even explaining the dream analysis, wave as part of the ocean, eye of the eye subject witnessing the experiences etc.

[@muriloams]

Very proud of a brazlian scientist at the forefront of conciousness research.

[@daxross2930]

I love Bernardo’s work. Thank you for this

[@samrowbotham8914]

I have interacted with Bernardo many times I have read all of his books the one to start with if you're new to Idealism is "Dreamed Up Reality.

[@X11bl]

What an amazing presentation Bernardo. Very informative and direct. Loved it. ❤❤❤

[@sophiashekinah9872]

Oh! I'm SO EXCITED to have found this. Ny break is pretty much over, but I can't wait to return to this just as soon as I'm off work!

[@seenathpanchowrie1767]

I find this lecture to be very informative. Mr. Bernardo is a very knowledgable person.

[@andreiadetavora8471]

Thank you, thank you for this presentation!!!

[@hansgouda8593]

Yes, I have read and put into practice many teachings of spiritual teachers from Plato to Ramana and beyond and experienced what it is to 'be'. A lot is said and written about awareness, about consciousness, but I hadn't heard the best yet. At least until now. Another great lecture from Dr. Tony Nader eight years ago is also in line with what Bernardo Kastrup knows how to put into words so well. (I'm also surprised that I can follow it so well, while my English is not very good :) )

[@djelalhassan7631]

Scientifically and philosophically this is the best I have seen on the real nature of nature, beautiful, peace and love.

[@4k-os]

Love the "dashboard" analogy!

[@helmutgensen4738]

Thank you so very much Bernardo! Surprising new scientific way of looking at the world and understanding quantum physics - I'll be sharing with my colleagues. And great questions on death and dissociation from the host Neil. Perfect

[@realcygnus]

BK is on point as always.

[@DawsonHillManor]

Hurrah Bernardo! Best easy to understand lecture of your work on consciousness yet; keeping science in proper humility. (Language in Thought and Action S. I. Hayakawa 1949 quoting Alfred Korzybski, “the map is not the territory”.)

[@Studio-pg4sq]

I read these writers years ago and this is why what Bernardo says resonates in my "brain" so melodically. Thank you for referencing these.

[@georgedovas]

Thank you for the discussion - mind blowing! (or should I say “mind disassociating!!!”) The analogies (cockpit instruments, soccer match on two television screens) were very useful. 😊 thank you for sharing this information / knowledge.

[@bradmodd7856]

My reality is, I have never accessed matter except as an experience and I don't think anyone else has either.

[@darksteeltorqueo4397]

Sub'd Bernardo. We got to really push this evidence before humanity collapses under their false assumptions. I'm really enjoying listening to this video while at work. Thank you for all that you do!

[@MagdiNonDuality]

Excellent. Very stimulating.

[@gwgwgwgw1854]

Very interesting explanation. Makes a lot of sense.

[@ErnestoCeccoDOrtona]

When you talked about mirroring the possible states of reality, I think I experienced it and I had to manage it a lot, it's true that messes with psychological and phisical integrity and functioning. I had a functional and incomprehensible digestion problem that got worse and worse in the years to the point I couldn't eat anymore and I risked dying in jan 2020 with 11 certified nutrient shortages, I've been in hell basically, but balance between a "normal" way of experiencing "existence" and removing the mind's boundaries while "riding it" it's possible (since years i have a kinda generative mind, I have to stop and limit ideas and making connections, some periods it was like my mind was spontaneously accelerating for no reason, but after long I understood the workings and now I'm very "free from it"). For me it required combined knowledge in several subjects, undiscriminate attention, care, control, living with sensibility and quietness, peacefulness, calm, clarity, simplicity and maybe most of all "knowing yourself" because each of us should see clearly who they are and what they really care about, to find their purpose and personal value.

[@contemplatingwithamaster]

Marvelous; wow; thank goodness for you’re thinking; ❤.

[@MrSridharMurthy]

What if consciousness is a ' field' just like electromagnetism or gravity. A field that exists in 3 states namely 1. Dormant ( matter), 2. Active ( Life ), 3. Transient ( moving from one state to another ).

[@standsguadalajara]

Sounds like "Morphic Reaonance" you should check Rupert Sheldrake

[@ProfMoriarty]

Excellent lecture. If you have a strong/in-depth background in some of the concepts in Buddhism and give this a listen, then you immediately realize what he is trying to say! Some of the great eastern philosophies/religions has been saying the same thing for centuries (Of course a lot of deep knowledge has been lost due to organic decay of knowledge and due to being lost in translation)

[@user-ru5xz3lz9c]

This video is outstanding!

[@surfism]

In response to a question at 59:05, Bernardo accidentally says that people should be "consequent", when he means "consistent". This is a false cognate', probably from the Danish "konsekvent", which means "consistent".

[@maartenv4611]

from Dutch. He is from the Netherlands.

[@mindfulkayaker7737]

Even when I was educated in a highly materialistic society (Communist Cuba) I was very reluctant to accept that the reality of the Universe is material. After knowing the works of Bernardo Kastrup I am very proud to define myself as a “Rational Idealist” This man as well as people of Rupert Spira, Francis Lucille and Swami Sarvapriyananda have totally changed my philosophical ideas about the Universe. God bless all of them.

[@Blonde111]

A new fan!! Thank you.🙏

[@marycollins8215]

Thank you.

[@bipolarbear9917]

One of the most richly fascinating presentation and interview I’ve ever seen. The perfect combination of science, psychology, quantum theory, physics, metaphysics, and philosophy. Absolutely mind blowing stuff. As for any purpose or reason for our intellect, Carl Sagan came close with his wonderfully eloquent statement that; “We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself”.

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

Err, carl sagan probably didn't mean what you think that means lol.

[@peteraddison4371]

... this "IS" assention preparation 101 & HEAR, WE-GO-!!!

[@javadhashtroudian5740]

Thank you Bernardo. My background is pure science, software engineering a little AI. I was a radical materialist until 1967 whe. I first took LSD-25. The journey to radical monist with consciousness being the base of existence has been long. My personal experiences with psychedelics (less than 20 times in the last 60 years) tells me that the brain is a filter for experiences and psychedelics reduce that filter.

[@tr7b410]

For a brilliant breakdown of the different types of consciousness/samadhi see on utube Ramana Maharshi Be as You Are Chapter 12 Experience and Samadhi..Sahaja samadhi-the unified field of awareness or Born Again.

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

lol lay off the hippe bs

[@James-ll3jb]

Superb. I always had asuspicion favorable toward Idealism.

[@brainstain2904]

All our life we thought we knew it all to find out we knew nothing. The truth shall set you free if your smart enough to figure it out!😮

[@JanSandahl]

Just blurting it out casually in the middle of a sentence: "Life is the appearance of dissociated mentation in the mind of nature." 💥

[@connectingupthedots]

Lol does that mean anything? Sounds like nonsense.

[@JanSandahl]

Well, yeah (it means something). 🙂 It's just a descriptor though.

[@patbaptiste9510]

*FINALLY!* Someone with scientific credentials, who has identified the *ONENES* between *CONSCIOUSNESS* and materialism - a subject expressed by all true spiritual teachers over thousands of years but never fully understood by the materialistic mindset, even after Einstein gave the simple formula describing the secret of the so-called physical universe made of so-called solid matter... *E / c² = m*

[@GTN3]

Bernardo has a well thought out presentation. He's right, we can't see true reality - For our minds would dissolve into madness, it is so different from what we're accustomed to seeing.

[@noxaeventide8845]

We may be able to "see" glimpse of it but we might not be able to fully understand it, or "pin it down" into clear and concise conceptual understanding. Much less put it into words as it seems that "true reality" is non-linear while language and by extension most "ideas" are linear. You have to "see it for yourself" by introspection. Revelation cannot be communicated as intended, because it is likely to be misinterpreted or misunderstood ("false idol" in theology). But we shall keep trying as it lies in our nature to do so, and hopefully make it more than less clear over the course of history. (traditions)

[@Corteum]

Mind cannot perceive reality... it can only attempt a feeble interpretation of it. Hence why the traditions suggest getting behind the mind back to awareness....i.e. turya

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

Drivel

[@alananthony7053]

Thank you, Dr Kastrup, for a fascinating and extremely clear presentation. Four main thoughts occur to me after watching, listed here in no particular order: 1. The notion of a "reality-in-itself" beyond our powers of perception is integral to the ancient Buddhist theory known as the doctrine of the three truths, with the Truth of Temporary Existence (the aspect of existence accessible to perception) essentially corresponding to your ‘Markov blanket’ and the Truth of the Middle Way (the actual, but perceptually inaccessible, aspect of existence) to your ‘external state(s)’. 2. The evidence from the experiments to which you refer regarding reduced brain activity during LSD trips etc. seems to me to be pointing in the general direction of the somewhat counter-intuitive but (I believe) increasingly popular view among philosophers/neuroscientists that the primary function of the brain is to LIMIT, rather than to maximize, sensory input. This notion could also go some way toward accounting for the mystery of ‘attention’, since attention constitutes surely the most concentrated - and therefore the most limited - extreme of consciousness. 3. There seems to exist a mysterious correlation between, on the one hand, DEATH/UNITY /INORGANIC MATTER/UNCONSCIOUSNESS* and, on the other LIFE/SEPARATION/ORGANIC MATTER/CONSCIOUSNESS, and these conceptual sets seem to correspond respectively to (to return to the Buddhist doctrine of the 3 truths) the Truth of Non-substantiality and the Truth of Temporary Existence. (*or, expressed in panpsychist terms, the lowest level of consciousness) 4. I suppose that, to extend your metaphor of external states/reality-in-itself as the sky and conscious perception/the Markov blanket as pilot’s dashboard instrument panel, we might assert that, while most of us are like pilots whose windscreen is covered up and who navigate only by dint of information from their dashboard, some “enlightened”/spiritually awakened beings may additionally have a direct view through their windscreen of the actual sky!

[@jigneshipatel007]

The same philosophy has been in vogue in ancient Indian culture and scriptures- called Adhwait Vedanta- where it says that only true existence Is the consciousness ( the awareness- Chetana) - everything else is just an illusion arising out of that pure consciousness

[@frankjspencejr]

1:00:15 Complete agreement that honestly following my intellect has led to a rejection of materialism and acceptance of an experience based reality. But it also leads me, if I am strictly logical and honest with myself, to be at a loss to justify the concept of other subjects or centers of consciousness interacting and communicating with “me”. As I see it, experience consists of “input” only: we HAVE thoughts, we HAVE perceptions, and we HAVE feelings. The impression of “output”, of doing, of communicating, of interacting is simply an illusion made of thoughts, perceptions, and feelings.

[@nbeezhao]

There is no time, there is no space, all is one, in your face.

[@ericjohnson6665]

This is one of those both/and kind of things. There is physical reality, and there is mind spread throughout the universe. My preferred text on this subject is The Urantia Book. Physical reality is the stage, conscious beings, the actors on that stage.

[@footballfactory8797]

When you delve into the word physical what do you get though?

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

lmao! You do realize that book is a hoax?

[@sotocandoalquimiasonora]

Great analogy around 22:00 to explain the physics nobel of 22 and the root of the quantum realm. The real world is a football match, and what we know within a lab research is what we watch through a television

[@sumskind]

I see a similarity with our own advaita school of vedanta...what you just explained on consciousness as ever pervading goes along with the Advaitic thoughts and scriptures especially the upanishads

[@recreate21]

Interesting that this understanding was present in the sages of ancient india as given in the vedanta.

[@amaratvak6998]

Shortest ever answer is: Yes.

[@N0v3LisT]

We need to allow ourselves the opportunity to dismantle institutions of thinking in order to progress, and perhaps quickly. Otherwise, I fear we may risk an ontological shock unlike anything our species has encountered to this point. We can start this transition now.

[@jorgegarciapla6880]

Perhaps one can begin by dismantling the universal standard of measurement called "person", and by extension, "human being". The whole of society is 100% based on it. What is the encounter like without such an unquestioned standard?😊

[@frankjspencejr]

I realized long ago that the only thing that can be known to exist without question is first person subjective experience or consciousness. What I have been searching for ever since is a way to verify that anything else actually exists. So far, I haven’t found it. Saying that the world outside of our own mind obviously exists is similar to the argument that materialists use to suggest that a material world obviously exists. Since conscious experience is all basically input, made of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, creating every experiential moment of our lives, even if other centers of experience actually exist, how could we ever know it? I’m hoping I will learn that from Dr. Kastrup. I very much want it to be true.

[@warmrainofficial]

Love this ❤❤❤❤ Spooky to observe Donald Hoffman at a distance 😂

[@sophiashekinah9872]

What you're saying about dissociation raises a TON of questions! If consciousness exists beyond the body, then it seems that there are several consciousnesses sharing a single body in the case of dissociation. Like they are whole entities in their own right.

[@tr7b410]

For a brilliant breakdown of the different types of consciousness/ samadhi see on utube Ramana Maharshi Be as You Are Chapter 12 Experience and Samadhi..Sahaja samadhi-the unified field of awareness or Born Again.

[@Clarityandwisdom33]

Isn’t dissociation a quality of consciousness though or did I misunderstand what you are saying?

[@sophiashekinah9872]

@@Clarityandwisdom33 Trauma-induced dissociation and chemical-induced dissociation are two distinct types of dissociative experiences, differing in their underlying causes and triggers. Trauma-Induced Dissociation: Trauma-induced dissociation occurs as a result of experiencing severe psychological trauma or overwhelming stress. It is commonly associated with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). When faced with traumatic events, some individuals may disconnect from their thoughts, feelings, and memories as a way to cope with the overwhelming emotional and physical distress. This dissociation can manifest as a feeling of detachment from oneself or one's surroundings, a loss of time or memory gaps, and a sense of being an outside observer of one's own experiences. Chemical-Induced Dissociation: Chemical-induced dissociation refers to dissociative experiences triggered by the ingestion or use of certain substances that affect brain functioning. These substances typically include hallucinogens, such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, or dissociative drugs like ketamine or phencyclidine (PCP). The dissociative effects caused by these substances can lead to alterations in perception, cognition, and a sense of detachment from reality. These experiences can vary widely depending on the substance used and the individual's unique response to it. While both trauma-induced and chemical-induced dissociation involve a sense of disconnection or detachment, their origins and mechanisms differ significantly. Trauma-induced dissociation arises from the psychological impact of traumatic events, while chemical-induced dissociation results from the direct influence of substances on brain chemistry and function. It's worth noting that dissociative experiences caused by substances are temporary and usually resolve once the effects of the drug wear off. In contrast, trauma-induced dissociation can be more persistent and require therapeutic interventions to address the underlying trauma and promote healing. From chatgpt Google search results

[@sophiashekinah9872]

@@Clarityandwisdom33 One of the objectives of satanic ritual abuse is to cause a virtual "village" of identities all with different functions and no knowledge of the existence of other identities. This is how monarch mind control slaves are "programmed", they are usually trained with a "specialty" such as warlord (general), delta (assassin) or masochistic sex slave (kitten) to name just a few.

[@simonsanchezkumrich8489]

It may imply different conscious agents or personalities, but there's only 1 nonlocal infinite consciousness. I don't know though, i believe in a soul, a localized point of the infinite consciousness that goes through different lives, does DID imply different souls living in the same field or localization of consciousness? Or does it merely say that personalities are not really the soul? Or idk

[@sophiashekinah9872]

40:49 "As above so below, as within so without". Fractals

[@goodquestion7915]

Today, Bernardo corrected my mistaken idea that cells crawl towards each other to assemble the fetus, and now I know the truth about cell differentiation. Bernardo is my preferred "Deepak Chopra" of philosophy ... "The woo must flow".

[@slowdown7276]

How does analytic idealism explain anesthestic effect on brain lowering awareness/consciousness?

[@slowdown7276]

My dissociated mental activity is blown to pieces and I'm now cosmos talking.

[@bigfletch8]

On the basis of his wonderful presentation , consider this. Light itself (together with all other sensual experiences) is PURELY subjective. It does not exist anywhere outside a sentient being with a visual cortex. Plants convert the same source energy via their ability for photosynthesis. We actually create the light and then project it, where each projection interacts forming what we refer to a holograms (hence the holographic universe hypothesis). This also explains metaphysical realities such as telepathy and many other examples, where people at particular stage of awareness project at a common " frequency", forming different levels of group consciousness. This applies as much to a bunch of chimps as it does to a group of scientists. " Nothing more predictable than a group of classic phycisists". The time traveller is not from a different time, but from a different level of consciousness. Great example with daVinci, Tezla and many other visionaries. This also explains the UFO phenomenon..(not the NWO version to push their agenda..also predictable ). Epictetus told us , reality is where you are looking from, not what you are looking at. The different perspectives appear in one word, seen differently. Image-in-nation (group consciousness) and I-Magi-Nation (individual awareness/creativity). The creator created creators !!! Take care..Really? Who takes care of what, and for what reason ...hehehe...we are all subject to trivialities .....

[@shawnpalmer6715]

the lines on palm are similar in view of the microscopic view of atomic activity

[@sophiashekinah9872]

So, I just saw that death is the separation of consciousness from matter due to an increase in "complexity"; like how Cymatics changes matter from one form to another using increasing harmonic sound vibration. I guess with the subtle level the energy would be in the form of light rather than sound.

[@tommoody728]

He states a lot of stuff I’ve been thinking about but more clearly and better ! 😂

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

“The hard problem makes it look like consciousness is impossible to solve. It doesn’t give you any out. Every bit of evidence we have is that the mysteries of the universe have been gradually solved by science. I don’t see why consciousness should be any different. I think what engenders this possibility of us being conscious right now, of my knowing that I’m talking to you and seeing your faces on the screen and vice versa, is fundamentally linked to affect. It is a feeling, through and through, a feeling of the continuity of life in my organism. We also have reasons to believe that this core feeling is largely being produced below the level of the cerebral cortex. It is then made available to our cerebral cortex by certain subcortical structures, such as those in the thalamus and in the hippocampus. The essence of the consciousness process is actually simpler than what people want to make it. There’s no hard problem, really”. - Antonio Damasio

[@JohnMartim-sy9yf]

No matter how well we know this reality, including consciousness, it will tell us nothing about the ultimate reality. And this is what will last for eternity.

[@sophiashekinah9872]

I wish I had the scientific vocabulary for what I see. Is it increased amplitude that is the difference between sound and light? Or does that only measure sound?

[@armandstrauss1348]

Summary: The universe may have a brain-like network topology and nature may be mental, with physicality being a representation, and our perception of the world is not the world itself, but rather an encoded representation that conveys important information without overwhelming us with useless details. 🧠 The universe has a brain-like network topology, suggesting that nature is mental and physicality is just a representation. 00:00 🧠 Our perception of the world is not the world itself, but rather an encoded representation that conveys important information without overwhelming us with useless details. 09:18 🔬 The physical world is a result of measurement, while the real world is what is being observed and measured. 15:51 🧠 Psychedelics reduce brain activity and black swan events refute the theory that all experiences are generated by brain activity. 26:01 🧠 The universe may be mental and we cannot directly know the world as it actually is. 36:45 💀 Death is the end of dissociation and the reabsorption of our mental activity into the mind of nature. 42:49 🌿 Nature invests in the production of self-aware species, but humans pose a significant risk to it, and our self-awareness may be the only hope for change. 54:41 📚 Essential Foundations publishes scholarly work for an educated audience.

[@sandas.9592]

Thank you ! ❤

[@skybellau]

I wonder... why didnt the universal field stay smooth and waveless? What caused its first wave? Why didnt that first wave remain in unison as one synchronised unified rising and falling ... or never collapsing at all? What caused their alternations within the unified wave field? Consciousness? Does it ride those waves? Is it the observer measurement energy of existence? What stirred it from a still now moment of no duration and begin measuring imaginary forms?

[@randomdude7200]

Consciousness, light, whatever it is, doesn't understand itself! Physical matter diffracts and refracts consciousness through itself and reflects it back to the rest of the world. Physical matter, whether it be microscopic, a complex organism or an animal, may or may not recognize whether consciousness is separate or a part of itself. It's my opinion that the fight to live is the fight to understand our place in the world and try to have some control over our destinies. Dying and returning to the whims of the universe, in search of this great oneness, is the loss of that understanding and control. Enjoy life while you have it!❤

[@sophiashekinah9872]

So, the act of observing is the measurement?

[@sophiashekinah9872]

The most Ecstatic states of consciousness (it would appear) are experienced either as a result of or only when brain activity is decreased significantly or ceased entirely. I was just watching an interview with a guy who has been studying near death experiences for over 20 years; meditation (as we all know) serves to slow the brainwaves into a coherent pattern, I wonder what kind of brainwaves are produced by Sacred Sexuality. I know that ecstasy is the most effective state for Magickal intention.

[@trashygit]

The central problem with this argument is good old subjectivity. There are many instances during the talk that push "world vs us" dichotomy. We are made of world - or universe or particles or cells, etc. Nothing in or around us is out of this world, just parts or members of it, and if the world is "real" so we are, hence there is no "representation" of anything. This does not mean that everything is 'the same', but rather there are 'realms' or domains of beings albeit non-compartmental; they do co-exist, not in different dimensions. The confusion comes from language: The word 'apple' is made of letters and sounds and finds its various meanings within linguistic contexts. But the actual - or organic if you like - fruit that helped coining the word apple exists too, without needing the word itself. Within their autonomous existential realms, words then can create other words which do not have to depend on physical elements, such as "the snow white" or "Pegasus", and they can 'really' continue to exist within our conversations. Let us not forget everything we hear in this video - or everything you read here - are made of words; "real", "consciousness", "mind", "us", "world", etc. Language makes us to believe that we - or things - are separate, so our minds are out of this world. Understanding atoms will not give any hint to understand life, even if all life is made of atoms. Similarly, understanding mind or perception will not give any knowledge or insight into language, even if all language has to emerge and exercise itself over minds. But these differing realms do not make one existence is real and the other is fake or "representation". Language has an agenda which is simply its own existence, just like organic beings have their own agenda which is simply their own existence, hence each agenda will have its own perspective. So there is no need to confuse apples with apples...

[@scooble]

Perhaps the reduced regional brain activity whilst using psychedelic substances is the equivalent of 'down clocking' the brains GPU and producing a less rendered and less filtered perception.

[@theomnisthour6400]

Not only that, but consciousness is a quantum phenomenon, one that creates new consciousness quanta every time a soul answers the first question God dealt with - "What am I, and what am I not?". Narrowing the answer to this question through successive incarnations in various soul vehicles in an expanding selection of physical and spiritual universes is how all creative evolution occurs for all souls, oversouls, and soul collectives. The multiverse is a grand virtual reality machine that let's every soul define who they are in the shifting context of the souls within their sphere of influence

[@noxaeventide8845]

Or, there is only one "soul" living all lives simultaneously.

[@animesh7296]

That would be Samkhya Philosophy. Multiple Purusha.

[@theomnisthour6400]

@noxaeventide8845 That's irrational and unscientific nonsense. Anyone who has ever created anything of significance knows that divide and conquer is a prerequisite pattern for all serious complex creations. Philosophies of unity are the masturbation fantasies of lazy, plagiaristic, low consciousness minds, IMHO

[@FRANCCO32]

Given everything is mental and not physical. There still must somehow exist strict laws of perceived physicality? Otherwise we could manipulate the physical like having the ability to walk through walls etc.? Or would these laws just be necessary for the observational suite we are currently residing in?

[@AndrewWutke]

Please define entropy and its relevance to the subject.

[@itswagon]

The more complex the target of perception, the less the perception is purely objective.

[@sophiashekinah9872]

I wonder if the alters have different neural networks; or, rather, different synaptic connections within the hardwired network.

[@peterbroderson6080]

The moment a particle is a wave; it has to be a conscious wave! Gravity is the conscious attraction among waves to create the illusion of particles, and our experience-able Universe. Max Planck states: "Consciousness is fundamental and matter is derived from Consciousness". Life is the Infinite Consciousness, experiencing the Infinite Possibilities, Infinitely. We are "It", experiencing our infinite possibilities in our finite moment. Our job is to make it interesting!

[@freethinker4402]

It would be nice to know the belief system dr bernardo was influenced by from childhood to early manhood. I would also like to know if there is records of a blind person using psychedelics and describing their experience with colors something there brains dont have experience with.

[@bipolarbear9917]

Bernardo obviously doesn’t believe in orthodox religious beliefs (he was probably raised Catholic). He mentioned being a ‘naturalist’, so I’d assume according to his description of conscious reality that ‘Scientific Pantheism’ (also called ‘Naturalistic Pantheism’ would be consistent and coherent with his scientific and philosophical ‘worldview’.

[@studiojake5253]

Google: "What happens when a blind person takes psychedelics"

[@ernie429]

Bernardo, you were not born with language so you were born enlightened.

[@bblueangel2]

I and more people i know have witnessed unbiased reality. And it's very attainable. 😅

[@sophiashekinah9872]

And our perception is limited by our perspective.

[@sophiashekinah9872]

I wonder if "compartmentalizing" is just a way to achieve dissociation.

[@georgerasmussen2318]

He gets IT.

[@pertsonvelts1699]

You most probably are not qualified to judge.

[@peterkuhn78]

​@@pertsonvelts1699 1❤

[@Homunculas]

@@pertsonvelts1699 And yet, here you are, deeming yourself qualified to judge the OP.

[@pertsonvelts1699]

​@@Homunculas Useless response. People who give these kind of empty "compliments" as OP usually don't understand a thing themselves. Nobody who has even the most basic level of respect towards the presenter and the complicated topic at hand, wouldn't simply refer to "IT" like it's something almost easily graspable, almost something "objective". And even if OP actually can understand and reason on the same level as the presenter, the "IT" still remains mostly/"just" a philosophical hypothesis.

[@peteraddison4371]

​@@pertsonvelts1699.... KNOw 1 is ...

[@danielgonzaleznader7387]

Bernardo. I used mushrooms 2 days ago and was not close yo what u said it was in previous videos. I didnt see colors morr intense. I did not see fractals. All i felt was dementia. And for sure all time i felt ME. So i ddint lose the ego in the experience. Can you tell me why? I ate 5.5 grams.

[@hansgouda8593]

Is the observed created by the observation of the observer?

[@kevinrhodes4325]

@43:30 "I think what we call life, biology, is what a dissociative process in the fugue of subjectivity underlying all nature looks like. In other words, a living breathing metabolizing body is what dissociative mentation looks like. That's what life is, life is the appearance of the dissociative mentation in the mind of nature. So what is that, the end of life? Well, it is the end of dissociation. If life is what dissociation looks like then life is the end of dissociation. It's the reabsorption of our seemingly private mental activity into the broader mind of nature, into Mind at large."

[@sophiashekinah9872]

Does "static" mean an incoherent (or chaotic) brainwave pattern? Like the opposite of meditation?

[@canisronis2753]

What is difficult here is how unintuitive it is to conceive of a physical world experienced through touch as mental. A useful technique is the process of negation. Instead of trying to understand what something IS, start with identifying what it is not. The book The Tao of Physics I think is a useful place to enter the rabbit hole.

[@rooruffneck]

Great point. Also, if you've ever had a dream that involves intense physical interactions, that can help get an idea of how mentality can create concrete environments.

[@waynehilbornTSS]

"Physics" tells us time is simultaneous and the past "could" ostensibly change which we notice prevalent when manifesting. Your FIRST KISS is an event that will occur simultaneously to a million years from now. Your MEMORY is a telepathic attuning to those first kisses.. Your WORM-FOOD simulated brain doesn't matter for beans. Your first kiss will NOT just be a vivid memory in a million years.. but your first kiss will actually be OCCURRING in a million years. Your PERSONALITY is EGO which is MEMORY... Your memory doesn't contain every license plate number you and your brother have ever seen... No... You merely attune to the (einstein/wheeler) simultaneous (absence of) time event. Easy Peezy. There is no "touch".. there is no "physical". Space-time is a dead dog now. You are a THOUGHT... an immortal changling... I understand all of "reality" and to simplify we are living the dream.. Simultaneous time also means you live forever by default. Wayne Hilborn (author of "Theory of everything mind" & "the savvy sorcerer")

[@user-ys3ev5sh3w]

​@@waynehilbornTSS i consider myself to be not THOUGHT but REALITY. THOUGHT became REALITY if and only if BEGIN happens as had been said in video body BEGINS from one point, also our universe BEGINS from one point. BEGIN means separation by means of self-closure. Closure is equivalent to appearing of SHAPE. Faces of SHAPE is NUMBERS. "no distinction between numbers and shape. Numbers couldn't exist without shape" Pythagoras (reincarnation of Euphorbos).

[@waynehilbornTSS]

@@user-ys3ev5sh3w - Reality is a compendium of thoughts.. we share a dream to simplify

[@user-ys3ev5sh3w]

@@waynehilbornTSS i do not believe some dream wich is fake untill BEGIN happens. If I dream to have million dollars it doesn't mean it come true without something to BEGIN to do. Yes, REALITY is a part of compendium of THOUGHTS and BEGIN is channel to it and END is channel out of it. So we share part of dream,. "life is a dream about one day wich we spend as quests" Pascal

[@julioreija8052]

25:07 errata corrige: the Greek letter the doctor says is «phi», Φ φ, is “in reality” 😅 «psi», Ψ ψ. Is it just him, or is it common amongst physicists not to properly know the Greek alphabet?

[@filamcouple_teamalleiah8479]

The original claim is quite audacious. The Universe does seem to have a structure on the large scale that consists of voids and clusters of galaxies in a string like formation. But how do the galaxies interact

[@daves2520]

"The world is not physical..." - this quote seems to jive with what is written in the Bible. The Bible states, "What is seen is made from that which is not seen."

[@batfink274]

I've had 4 DMT experiences and none of them involved moving pictures. After many years I've come to believe that taking DMT is like looking at the world through an electron microscope. The geometric pattern I saw before blacking out wasn't moving and it was all pervasive. My hearing became hypersensitive aswell, multiplying my tinnitus by 10 making it deafening. So what I get how the research says there was very little brain function, it was impossible to think because everything was so intense.

[@stephenfosker6066]

Is his use of "mentality" and "mental" synonymous with "conscious" and "consciousness" ?

[@amphimrca]

Is our brain physical or not???

[@billbradleymusic]

Sort of, but not literally. You cannot reach out and touch ideas but you can objects from which ideas were spawned.

[@Gifthunterz]

👏

[@eliranmal]

bernardo kastrup - in your analogy of the physicality vs imagery of the world (using the soccer match example), are you implying that the quantum state ("the universal wave function") is outside the realm of physics; i.e. only part of the underlying mentation? tim maudlin, rebuttal please!

[@naraseth]

This is very interesting and I much of it makes total sense, tho I think there are some logical fallacies. First of all, we don't know how accurate and how much of the non-physical world we perceive correctly and how mich is lost in the translation. In the example of the dashboard the dashboard looks nothing like the sky, both are completely different. In the example of the camera some things are similar, for example the colors of the image, whereas other things like the three dimensionality are "lost in translation". The theory that everything is mind takes for granted that the non-physical world is completely different to the physical, which we just don't know. Secondly, the fact that brain activity is lower on LSD doesn't lead to the conclusion that the highest amount of experience would be there when the brain is dead. It doesn't even lead to the conclusion that our mind is created outside of the physical world. We simply don't know. Our consciousness could be the minimal base process that is running in our brain, which is overwritten by other processes when they are active, but when they are inactive it just appears to be more intense. Like a single sound seems more intense and loud the quieter the surrounding gets. Most if not all of the experience we have while on psychedelics is referencing the physical world, as this is everything we know. We see colors and music and stuff that isn't there. We have feelings (which ultimately are all a product of us experiencing life). Even if the part of our brain that is creating consciousness is non-physical eg. non observable by our dashboard/camera: Our non-physical brain might not be completely visible and observable with our camera/dashboard, but that doesn't mean that a) non of the parts that we can observe are important in creating the "mind" and b) the non-physical parts of the brain don't shut down after death. We simply can't know if the non-physical condition that happens to be interpreted by us partly as body will completely change or only the observable part will change. Some stuff also just seems like an argument over semantics rather than the nature of the world. Are we devisions of one cell or many? Well, both, depending on the view. If I'm one cell and cut off my finger are my finger and I still one even tho we're apart from each other? And if yes, are we still separate after my finger is reattached? Why am I one cell and not one human as my zygote is just a devision of the cell of my parents? Why am I one human and not one animal... Why am I not everything? Ofc I can say that I'm just a devision of the world, it even would make sense in a physical world as everything is just a different condition/ripple in the fabric of the universe. But it also makes sense to call those different ripples not the same thing as it would make our language obsolete. So saying we're made out of cells which are made out ot atoms... is in itself not a counter argument for idealism, it's just emphasizing that there are differences and that our language and our understanding is based on those differences.