Brian Thomas Swimme did his doctoral work in gravitational dynamics in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon. From the publication of The Universe Is a Green Dragon to the Emmy Award–winning PBS documentary Journey of the Universe, Swimme has articulated the cosmology of a creative universe, one in which human intelligence plays an essential role.
For three decades as a professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, he taught evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the humanities. Currently he is director of the Third Story of the Universe at Human Energy, a nonprofit public benefit organization.
- A detailed description of his books and media works can be found at storyoftheuniverse.org.
- About the documentary, Journey of the Universe.
- Human Energy presents Story of the Noosphere
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Summary and transcript of this interview
Interview recorded September 18, 2022
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introduction to Brian Thomas Swimme and Cosmology
- 00:03:59 – Two Meanings of Cosmologist
- 00:08:00 – The Relationship Between Human Mind and the Universe
- 00:12:49 – The Power of Scientific Knowledge in Understanding Ourselves
- 00:16:55 – The Color of the Universe
- 00:20:55 – The Nature of Laws and the Mystery of the Universe
- 00:25:36 – The Ontology of Intelligence and Consciousness
- 00:29:10 – The Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness and the Experience of Reality
- 00:34:14 – The Ontological Connection between Individuals and the Universe
- 00:38:50 – The Interplay of Science and Spirituality
- 00:42:17 – The Mystery of Mathematics and Science
- 00:46:22 – The Influence of Teilhard de Chardin and Thomas Berry
- 00:50:12 – The Interdependence of Science and Spirituality
- 00:53:43 – The Noosphere: United Humanity and Earth’s Evolution
- 00:58:46 – The Special Quality of Humanity and Symbolic Consciousness
- 01:03:50 – The Dark Age and the Loss of Knowledge
- 01:07:45 – Ignorance of Extinction
- 01:10:57 – Co-evolution of Technology and Spirituality
- 01:15:02 – Becoming beings who see the whole first
- 01:19:50 – The Bhagavad Gita and Being Established in Action
- 01:23:55 – The Vast Intelligence Within You
- 01:27:25 – The Noosphere in Action
- 01:32:05 – The Noosphere as a Collective Consciousness
- 01:35:24 – Deepening Collective Intelligence
- 01:38:19 – The Dream of the Earth and Integral Ecology
- 01:43:30 – Embracing Change: A Deep Change of Heart and Mind
- 01:46:42 – A Breaking of Symmetry in the Early Universe
- 01:50:50 – The Incessant Creativity of the Universe
- 01:54:52 – Matter’s Intrinsic Property of Self-Organization
- 01:59:13 – The Excitement of Matter and Spiritual Development
- 02:02:39 – A Round-Trip from Tacoma to Berkeley
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