I like exploring the magic and mystery of reality, in whatever forms that might appear to us.
Data Points in the Firmament
Concepts of reality differ according to history, geography, class, and upbringing. I like to follow various approaches to reality, whether categorized as scientific, spiritual, or religious. Here are some of them.
The Scientists
Starting from a scientific foundation, various thinkers push the limits of the conventional, challenging us to question our assumptions even as we wonder how crazy can things really be? Here are some of my favourites.
Donald D. Hoffman
The title of Donald D. Hoffman’s most-popular book kind of says it all: The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes (2019). Evolution is economical with the truth—because too much will kill us.
Instead, he says our view of reality is like a dashboard, summarizing what we need to know, when we need it. Check out this rigorous cognitive scientist’s many YouTube appearances to help bend your sense of reality.
Michael Levin
Relentlessly experimenting, Michael Levin looks for mechanisms that explain life’s order. The biologist has extensively explored bioelectric patterns that produce order far more flexibly than genes alone could do.
His theorizing ranges from talk of “cognitive glue” that binds cells into problem-solvers, surpassing mere neurons, to a reworking of ancient philosophy through “Platonic spaces,” where big patterns writ large reside.
The Philosophers
Trying to be both rigorous and exploratory, some modern philosophers are challenging “naive realism” and similar attitudes to reality. Here are some thinkers whom I find particularly intriguing as they push the envelope.
Bernardo Kastrup
Unlike Hoffman, Bernardo Kastrup isn’t so much into the math, at least not in his analytical idealism, but with two PhDs under his belt (in computer engineering and philosophy) he displays a most keen and incisive intellect.
Drawing on physics and psychology, Kastrup sees the universe as one big consciousness split into many “alters,” not unlike the fractured psyche of people with dissociative ailments. Check out his many videos for details.
Iain McGilchrist
Wending his way through philosophy, psychiatry, and neuroscience, Iain McGilchrist has extensively written and lectured on brain hemispheres, saying the oversimplifications of past claims hide real value in such study.
He says the ills of the modern world stem from our close-minded, overly analytical left hemisphere, which has value, but shouldn’t rule our selves and our society. We need to rediscover intuition and holistic thought.
The Parapsychologists
Parapsychologists are an interesting lot. As they try to put unusual phenomena under a scientific microscope, things seem more terrifying than if viewed more subjectively. But here are a couple of researchers I follow.
Jeffrey Mishlove
A venerable pioneer in psychic research, Mishlove was also on the cutting edge of spreading the word, first through public television via satellite, and then on his YouTube channel, a first stop for those interested in the field.
Unfailingly ebullient, Mishlove nonetheless is quite capable of asking incisive questions and challenging assumptions when he interviews guests on out-of-body, after-death, and UFO experiences, and a whole lot more.
Dean Radin
Pushing the empirical approach of parapsychology, Dean Radin relies on studies to form his view of consciousness. Taken at face value, his results aren’t dramatic, but he views subtle but persistent effects as “real magic.”
Radin favours “dual-aspect monism” over (mind-only) idealism. He keeps standard physics, but views consciousness and ordinary reality as seeping with quantum nonlocality and deeper connections beyond mere matter.
The Magicians
Straddling traditional and modern thought, major figures in esotericism, magic, and more try to put their beliefs into practice, whether alchemical, spiritual, or even shamanistic. You can start browsing the arcane here:
Alexander Eth
A big player on magical YouTube is Alexander Eth, the dulcet-toned host of Glitch Bottle. I would buy a teddy bear packaged with his voice to lull me to sleep each night, but sadly I have to content myself with just his episodes.
Browsing through his guest list is an education in itself, and although highly ceremonial magic is a big part of his own practice and that of many of his guests, he interviews a wide range of seekers looking in all directions.
Denis Poisson
Book-reviewer-turned-YouTube-star Denis Poisson, going by nom de video Foolish Fish, maybe concentrates a little too much on the quality of the binding (book, not demonic), but his astute critiques are always insightful.
He’s published a book springing from his many YouTube reviews, and the range of his erudition is truly breathtaking. I belong to his Patreon channel, though I mostly just lurk in its Discord aisles, soaking up the wisdom.