The Weight of Evidence By Teya Brooks Pribac The late neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp would remind people that science doesn’t give us proofs and certainties but only the weight of evidence. The weight of evidence in his field of inquiry suggested that other-than-human animals are conscious beings, and that this consciousness Read more
Indigenous Cosmovision Challenges Us to Move from Restoring to “Re-storying” Ecosystems By Daniel Bryan Recently, I accompanied a Humans for Abundance team to the community of Mushullakta with master ecosystem restorer, Omar Tello. In a workshop on interconnecting cultural traditions to ecosystem restoration, we defined the community’s ecosystem as a Read more
Embracing the Magicality of Science By Kocku von Stuckrad A few weeks ago, Renny Thomas argued on this blog that “rituals and prayers are very much part of the public imagination of science in India.” Many readers from Europe and North America may have the impression that this observation differs Read more
How the Soul Became Consciousness By Kocku von Stuckrad The soul is a strange thing. Depending on which expert you trust, you might regard the soul as the immaterial essence of our existence, as a material substance wired into our bodies, or neither, because the soul is too vague to Read more
Here’s to Astrology! By Kocku von Stuckrad Astrology is a fascinating and controversial topic. Many people in Europe and North America share the idea that astrology is some superstitious gibberish (perhaps with the exception of millennials who seem to love astrology and create a new boom in online astrology). And Read more
Looking Back: A Report on the Paradoxical Plausibilities Symposium – Astrological Interpretation from Different Perspectives (13–14 April, Berlin) By Sophia Löwe The question of astrological plausibility seems to spur endless discussions. Most professional astrologers and their clients grant astrology a high level of plausibility, while public opinion paradoxically deems astrological Read more
Poetic Science: How Literature Conveys Knowledge of Nature By Kocku von Stuckrad For most non-specialists, much information about the natural world is drawn from newspapers, TV, and popular books. Even scientists are influenced by those sources. Another source of knowledge, however, and a thoroughly underestimated one, is literature—historical fiction, novels, Read more
Paradoxe Plausibilität(en): Astrologische Deutung aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven Paradoxical Plausibilities: Astrological Interpretation from Different Perspectives (event conducted in German) An interdisciplinary symposium, co-sponsored by the German Astrologers’ Association and Counterpoint 13–14 April 2019 in Berlin When it comes to the plausibility of astrology as a system of knowledge, interpretation, and experience, Read more
What It Means to Deny Climate Change By Susannah Crockford On 26 August 2018, sixty academics, environmentalists, and politicians released an open letter asserting that they will no longer debate with those who deny anthropogenic climate charge, refusing to enable any false equivalence between the two positions. As happens with Read more
Major Themes and Insights for the Work of the New Center On 25 August 2018, Counterpoint: Navigating Knowledge was officially launched with a stimulating program of speakers and discussions in Berlin. The general theme being “Beyond Pluralism: Contrapuntal Responses to Culture Wars, New Nationalisms, and the Challenges of the Anthropocene” Read more