Science, Philosophy and Spirituality
A description of what motivated me to develop a 12-part course for u3a, covering our common reality, the shaping of the modern world, and issues facing the modern world.
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Issue: Homo Sapiens
1.01: The Significance of Stories
Resources to support the u3a “Stories” Module of Science, Philosophy and Spirituality that was delivered during November 2022.
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Situation Critical: There are too many of us, and we are behaving too badly.
Many people are telling us what is wrong with the world – but “it is what it is”. As a species, we have flourished to the point where we occupy vast portions of the world’s land mass. And the way we behave collectively is destabilising the planetary systems which sustain life on earth—the reasons for our success and the damage we are doing lie in our fundamental human nature. So, suppose we want to repair dysfunctional relationships with our fellow people, the living planet, and its fractured ecosystems. In that case, we should match our efforts to control nature with a drive to understand how to harness the better angels of our nature.
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The Significance of Stories
It is easy to take stories for granted, but they are an essential and unique element of human life. They are all around us; they shape our personalities and are the glue that binds groups of us together. In a genuine sense, they form our windows into the world. But each of us has our own unique set of windows, and they are more like “stained glass windows”, or even a fairground “house of mirrors” than panes of undistorting glass. So, even though there is a shared physical reality in which we all live, we all perceive it differently. Unfortunately, these differences in perception not only encourage tribalism and lead to conflict. They also allow us to persist in a collective lifestyle that severely threatens human life as we know it on our home planet.
Read MoreWhy Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
From one of America’s most brilliant writers, a New York Times bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. — amazon.co.uk
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