One thing that we learn from modern science, which you know as well as I do, is that the 20th century

science, especially 20th century physics, has shown us that our senses lead us astray when it comes to certain fundamental

properties of nature such as the time is not absolute and that at the subatomic level

that particles take on a wavy dualistic character and a particle can be in several places at once.

The experiences that I call spiritual, for example, looking up at this a starry night and feeling connected to the cosmos or making eye contact with a

wild animal or feeling connected to nature. Those experiences may originate with the senses, but ultimately they are mental experiences.

We can trust our senses for most things that we experience in daily life.

In the spiritual world, I think the essence of the experiences are not sensory, that

they are mental, and that the senses may be triggers to the feelings that we call spiritual

feelings, but ultimately it's not about the

senses.

Welcome everyone to Into the Impossible.

In this episode, physicist and award-winning best-selling science writer and novelist

Alan Lightman makes his second appearance to discuss his latest book,

The Transcendent Brain. Spirituality in the Age of Science.

Together with your host Brian Heating, Professor Lightman addresses the nature of

consciousness and the relationship between science and

spirituality. How can they coexist? You're going to get some unique insight into

Professor Lightman's personal philosophy and some of his opinions about quantum

theory and the mechanism and evolution of

consciousness. You'll discover how the author of the beloved Einstein's dream

thinks about the nature of reality and thinking itself.

...