127. Mind, Matter, and Spirit — A Conversation with Michael Ferguson

Faith Matters

Faith Matters Foundation

Christianity, Ethics, Latter-day Saint, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Mormon, Mormonism, Morality, Lds, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For decades, our understanding of how the brain works has advanced dramatically. Using new theories, methods and tools, like fMRI technology, scientists are beginning to reveal the mysteries of this truly remarkable and complex organ.

One scientist on the cutting edge of this research is Michael Ferguson, a BYU grad who is now researching and teaching at Harvard.

For Michael, the most exciting result of all this new knowledge of the brain is how it might transform our spiritual lives and help us connect more fully to the divine. He is a pioneer in a field called neurospirituality and his research has been in part inspired by Latter-day Saint theology, in particular the idea that spirit and matter are on a continuum, not radically different substances. In this episode, Michael was interviewed by Zach Davis and Terryl Givens about these fascinating subjects, and the most important insights he’s gained from his research.

Michael is an Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, a Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, and a neuroscientist at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He earned his Doctorate in Bioengineering at the University of Utah, after which he completed post-doctoral fellowships at Cornell University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, I just want to take a second to invite you to join me this year at Restore
0:06.6	a Faith Matters Gathering happening October 13th and 14th.
0:12.0	It's going to be at the Amount and America Expo Center in Sandy and it promises to be
0:16.5	an exceptional conference.
0:18.4	I attended last fall and found it to be a remarkably inspiring, hopeful two days of listening
0:27.2	to really well-prepared, thoughtful talks as well as inspiring music and really feeling
0:36.7	a deep connection with my other Latter-day Saint brothers and sisters around me in our
0:41.8	shared desire to speak to the best in our faith and to speak to one another and find a sense
0:48.6	of connection.
0:49.9	I'm also going to be one of the people speaking.
0:52.3	I'll be speaking a bit about eros energy and its connection to spirituality and to the
0:59.6	light of Christ.
1:01.1	And so I hope to see you all there.
1:05.1	Hey everybody, this is Tim Chavez from Faith Matters.
1:11.1	Over the past few decades, our understanding of how the brain works has advanced dramatically.
1:15.7	Using new theories, methods and tools like FMIRI technology, scientists are beginning
1:20.1	to reveal the mysteries of this truly remarkable and complex organ.
1:24.1	One scientist on the cutting edge of this research is Michael Ferguson, a BYU grad who is
1:28.6	now researching and teaching at Harvard.
1:30.9	For Michael, the most exciting result of all this new knowledge of the brain is how it
1:34.5	might transform our spiritual lives and help us connect more fully to the divine.
1:38.9	He is pioneer in a field called Neuro-Spirituality and his research has been in part inspired
	...

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