About this episode
Bernard Carr is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Queen Mary University of London. As an undergraduate, he read mathematics at Cambridge University and for his Ph.D. he studied the first second of the Universe, working under Stephen Hawking. He was elected to a Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1975, and in 1980 spent a year traveling around America as a Lindemann Fellow before taking up a Senior Research Fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. In 1984 he was awarded the Adams Prize, one of the UK’s most prestigious mathematical awards. In 1985 he moved to Queen Mary and he became a Professor there in 1995. He has also held Visiting Professorships at various institutes in America, Canada, and Japan. His professional area of research is cosmology and astrophysics and includes such topics as the early universe, black holes, dark matter, and the anthropic principle. He is the author of around 300 papers and the books Universe or Multiverse? and Quantum Black Holes. He is also very interested in the role of consciousness as a fundamental rather than incidental feature of the Universe. In particular, he is developing a new psychophysical paradigm linking matter and mind which accommodates normal, paranormal, and mystical experiences. He also has a long-standing interest in the relationship between science and religion, especially Buddhism, having been the coholder of a grant from the Templeton Foundation for a project entitled “Fundamental Physics, Cosmology and the Problem of our Existence". He is President of The Scientific and Medical Network and a former President of the Society for Psychical Research. Summary and Transcript of this interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded July 24, 2022 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump with Rick Archer 00:06:07 - The Three Books that Awakened My Interests 00:11:41 - The Origins of the Anthropic Principle 00:17:09 - Fine Tunings in Physics 00:23:05 - The Number of Fundamental Constants in Physics 00:28:41 - The Fine Tuning and Theology 00:34:21 - The Changing Nature of Science 00:39:47 - The Possibility of Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter 00:44:55 - The Possibility of Life in Different Universes 00:50:31 - The Complexity Principle and the Hierarchy of Complexity 00:56:20 - The Origin of Order in the Universe 01:01:49 - The Existence of a Pre-Big Bang Mind 01:07:31 - God's Presence in the Universe 01:12:42 - The Limits of Physics and Mathematics 01:17:57 - Anomalies in the Standard Big Bang Model 01:23:32 - Indirect Evidence of Fine Tuning and Containment of Superintelligence 01:29:02 - Primordial Black Holes and Astronomical Observations 01:34:07 - Connecting Science, Spirituality, and Psychical Research 01:39:55 - Expanding Physics to Accommodate Consciousness 01:45:51 - Expanding Science for Spirit 01:51:53 - The Possibility of Levitation 01:56:49 - Building a Bridge Between Mind and Spirit 02:01:56 - The Reconciliation of Science and Religion 02:07:34 - The Human Psyche and Probing Reality 02:13:03 - Exploring the Mysteries of Reality 02:18:26 - Extra dimensions and their implications 02:23:55 - Hyperspatial Higher Dimensions and Consciousness 02:29:40 - The Perception of Time and Consciousness 02:34:51 - The Nature of Consciousness and Self-Identity 02:40:09 - The Programmer of the Simulation 02:44:54 - Wrapping up the Topics