About this episode
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