Episode 41: Bernardo Kastrup

03/22/22 • 132 min

3 Listeners

In this episode Simon Mundie hosts a conversation between Rupert Spira and Bernardo Kastrup.

Simon opens this wide-ranging and far-reaching dialogue by stating that most people’s everyday, ordinary experience is that they are themselves an entity that happens to contain a mind, within a world of entities.

The two-hour conversation that follows is all about how this so-called common-sense perspective is, in fact, false.

Bernardo has two PhDs, one in computer science and another in philosophy. He was employed first at CERN, the European council for nuclear research, where he began working in artificial intelligence (AI) in connection with the Large Hadron Collider. Then he moved on to artificial consciousness (AC), wondering if he could build an artificially conscious entity, which piqued his interest in philosophy.

Simon Mundie is the host of the podcast 'Life Lessons: From Sport and Beyond’, which explores life's bigger questions.

In this episode Simon Mundie hosts a conversation between Rupert Spira and Bernardo Kastrup.

The two-hour conversation that follows is all about how this so-called common-sense perspective is, in fact, false.

Simon Mundie is the host of the podcast 'Life Lessons: From Sport and Beyond’, which explores life's bigger questions.

Previous Episode

Episode 40: Jonny Wilkinson

What do the highest achievers do when they can’t achieve anymore? How do they deal with it? Jonny Wilkinson, a professional rugby star, whose sporting prowess could not have been higher at the peak of his career, has found the integrity and courage to face this question head-on. He has acknowledged that emergence from a mental health crisis has led him to a personal exploration of a broadly spiritual nature.

Wanting to bring his new perspective to the coaching of younger players, he travelled to Oxford to talk to Rupert. Their conversation ranges from the deepest meaning of ‘being in the zone’ to a definition of ‘a life well lived’; and they bring to light how an understanding of our true, essential nature is as relevant to athletes’ issues as it is for all of us.

Next Episode

Episode 42: Henry Shukman

Steve James hosts a conversation between Rupert and Award-winning English poet and author Henry Shukman.

Henry and Rupert have much in common, they were both successful artists in the first two decades of their adult life – Henry, with his poetry, and Rupert, as a potter; they are both now spiritual teachers – Henry in the Zen tradition; and Henry grew up in Oxford in the same street where Rupert now lives.

With all this in mind, Steve James, who knew them each separately, has brought them together for this wonderful conversation.