The Science of Consciousness (TSC) Conference 2022
The Center for Consciousness Studies (CCS) – the University of Arizona, April 18-22.
The Science of Consciousness Conference, April 2022 (Hybrid Format; in-person and remote livestream) organized by the Center of Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. This 29th conference was held at Loews, Ventana Canyon, Tucson with around 1000 participants (in-person and remote).
First a Warm Thank You to Stuart Hameroff (Co-Founder & Director, Center for Consciousness Studies, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Anesthesiology & Psychology University of Arizona, Tucson) and Abi Behar-Montefiore (CCS Conference Manager & Assistant Director, University of Arizona) for all their extraordinary efforts and work in conducting the conference.
The Science of Consciousness Conference (TSC) is the world’s largest, longest-running and premier interdisciplinary conference addressing fundamental questions regarding consciousness, the brain, reality and existence, the structure of the universe … Topical areas include neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, biology, quantum physics and quantum brain biology, cosmology, meditation, altered states, artificial intelligence, the nature of reality, culture and experiential phenomenology. Held annually since 1994, the TSC conference is hosted by the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, and alternates yearly between Tucson, Arizona and various locations around the globe.
NCP X-AIONS had the privilege of participating with two presentations by Therner and Loeth.
The traditional Welcome Reception was this year entitled Mystery of Existence – Why is there sentience? A dialogue between Sue Blackmore and Deepak Chopra – a meeting between different worldviews …
We attended many interesting lectures and workshops, and much points to an emerging Post Materialistic Era and Worldview.
A few brief glimpses from this year’s conference follow below.
Consciousness and non-locality, workshop by Stephan A Schwartz, Saybrook University ‒ Dean Radin, Institute of Noetic Science, IONS ‒ Julia Mossbridge, University of San Diego and IONS ‒ Jeffery Mishlove, New Thinking Allowed; Insight Associates.
The workshop focused on Survival of Consciousness after the Death of the Physical Body, Postmortem Survival of Consciousness, Near Death Experiences and Reincarnation, as well as Precognition and Mind Matter Interaction. The importance and need for “new thinking” and openness to moving forward within these subjects were emphasized.
NCP X-AIONS presented (video film) Consciousness, Reincarnation and Immortality and the X-Structure; the Basic Nature of Life and Reality – Link to Abstract and Updated video version.
Another interesting topic not least from the perspective of the Cosmic Worldview* was Plant and Consciousness workshop with M. Bruce MacIver, Stanford University ‒ Deepak Chopra, Chopra Global ‒ Rainish Khanna, I-Cultiver ‒ Petrisia Gonzales, UArizona ‒ Dennis McKenna, Heffter Research Institute.
* In the plant kingdom, day-consciousness begins to shift from the paraphysical structure/organism and paraphysical plane of existence to the physical structure/organism and physical world. The process continues and develops through the plant kingdom until the stage of the animal kingdom when the individual’s day-consciousness is transferred and linked to the physical structure/organism and plane of existence.
A New area this year was Astrobiology and Astroconsciousness – a very exiting lecture by Abraham (Avi) Loeb, Astrophysics, Astronomy, Harvard University. Avi Loeb searches for extraterrestrial life and the origins of life and consciousness from extraterrestrial sources. In 2018, based on the anomalous behavior of “Oumuamua”*, the first known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, Loeb suggested that alien spacecraft may be in our solar system and refers Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and also the recently announced Galileo Project* (ushers the new frontier of “space archaeology)”. Loeb pointed out the importance of thinking out of the box and being open to the unknown. “When you aren’t ready to accept exceptional things, you will not find them.”
* NASA declares “Oumuamua” as the first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system. This interstellar interloper appears to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The object was named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers. It means “a messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian. ‘Oumuamua is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly elongated – perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. While its elongated shape is quite surprising, and unlike objects seen in our solar system, it may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed.
Read more about the Galileo Project and ‘Oumuamua:
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/oumuamua/
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo/home
It would be arrogant to think we are alone in the Universe
Avi Loeb
And we (Therner & Loeth) want to offer a similar reflection:
To think the physical world and life we know represent the only reality and existence would also be arrogant …
In the area of Astrobiology NCP X-AIONS presented (Video film) The Evolution of the Living Multidimensional Cosmos with its Endless Cycles of Universes and the X-Structure – Link to Abstract and Updated video version.
Below, Sara Walker, the University of Arizona on The Origins of Life. — Intense conference days and discussions continued in the evenings …
We also listened to many well-known “TSC-speakers” who have participated in various ways over the years, not least:
Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona, Center of Consciousness Studies – on The Orch OR theory, information processing and memory in intra-neuronal microtubules in relation to the theory of Embedded Intelligence.
Roger Penrose, University of Oxford, Nobel Laureate Physics – on Time and Consciousness.
David Chalmers, University of New York, Philosophy – on Natural/physical reality vs Virtual reality, how virtual reality throws new light to many traditional philosophical issues.
