Consciousness, Complementarity, and Nonlocality

Transcript, including graphical montage, summary, questions explored, and key takeaways

Summary
This conversation explores consciousness as a fundamental aspect of reality and how modern physics can complement, but not replace, spiritual insight. It also ranges across nonlocality, the hard problem of consciousness, and the possibility of an intelligent universe.

Questions This Interview Explores

• How do physics and spiritual experience offer complementary ways of understanding reality?
• Why can consciousness not be fully captured by scientific theory or mathematics?
• What do complementarity and nonlocality suggest about the nature of the universe?
• Is the emptiness of spiritual realization the same as the quantum vacuum?
• How might an intelligent universe change the way we think about life, death, and purpose?

Dr. Menas Kafatos is The Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics and Director of Excellence at Chapman University. He received his B.A. in Physics from Cornell University in 1967 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. After postdoctoral work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, he joined George Mason University and was University Professor of Interdisciplinary Sciences there from 1984-2008.  He has authored and co-authored numerous books including The Conscious Universe, The Non-local Universe, and Principles of Integrative Science.  He is a recipient of the Rustum Roy Award from the Chopra Foundation, which “honors individuals whose devotion and commitment to their passion for finding answers in their field is matched only by their commitment to humanity” and the IEEE Orange County Chapter – Outstanding Leadership and Professional Service Award.  He has been interviewed numerous times by national and international TV networks, newspapers and radio programs.

• Chapman University Bio
• Wikipedia Page

Books:

• The Non-Local Universe: The New Physics and Matters of the Mind
• The Conscious Universe: Parts and Wholes in Physical Reality
• Looking In, Seeing Out: Consciousness and Cosmos

Interview conducted 3/15/2014

Menas Kafatos, in Panel Discussion on Kashmir Shaivism

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction: Menas Kefatos and his research interests
• 00:04:03 – The Nature of Consciousness
• 00:08:33 – The Nature of Emptiness and Conscious Awareness
• 00:13:09 – Complementarity: Physics and Mysticism
• 00:17:32 – Perception of the Self in Others
• 00:22:02 – The Play of Universal Consciousness
• 00:25:50 – Transformation after Death
• 00:29:39 – The Collapse of the Quantum World
• 00:33:43 – Division and Complementarity
• 00:37:38 – The Evolution of Consciousness and Complementarity
• 00:41:46 – The Play of Existence
• 00:45:46 – Consciousness and the Hard Problem
• 00:49:53 – The Observer and the Act of Observation
• 00:53:53 – The Conscious Universe
• 00:57:45 – Quantum Principles Applicable to Everyday Life
• 01:00:48 – The Principle of Complementarity
• 01:04:14 – Non-locality and complementarity
• 01:08:21 – Non-locality and the Infinitely Correlated Nature of Creation
• 01:11:32 – The Interconnectedness of Principles
• 01:14:53 – The Emergence of the Pauli Exclusion Principle
• 01:18:50 – The Awareness of Atoms and Electron Interaction
• 01:22:48 – Unity in Diversity and the Bigger Picture
• 01:26:28 – The Conscious Universe and Universal Intelligence
• 01:30:12 – The Meaning and Purpose of Life
• 01:34:01 – Consciousness and the Clockwork Universe
• 01:37:23 – The Many Perspectives of Reality
• 01:40:57 – The Psi Phenomenon and Scientific Research
• 01:43:57 – The Debate on Climate Change and Global Warming
• 01:47:29 – Catastrophic Implications and Irreversible Damage
• 01:50:07 – The Conflict Between Environmentalism and Fossil Fuel Industry
• 01:52:45 – The Intelligent Universe