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Are the mysteries of reality within the grasp of science? Or does a strictly empirical, Western materialist approach fail to properly consider the role of humans as observers? In this video from the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth (ICE), the US theoretical physicist Sean Carrol argues that, through scientific enquiry, a comprehensive understanding of reality is within our reach. Indeed, one layer of our reality – the world of elementary particles and forces – has already been entirely accounted for. Countering him, the US scholar of Tibetan Buddhism B Alan Wallace argues that such a materialist account of our Universe fails to fully account for both the complexities of the human mind and the world outside it.
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Earth science and climate
The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact
22 minutes
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Cosmology
The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge
13 minutes
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Ethics
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
6 minutes
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
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Love and friendship
After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter
25 minutes
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Astronomy
Seven years later, what can we make of our first confirmed interstellar visitor?
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Physics
Is it possible to design a shape to roll along any fixed path?
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Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
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Biotechnology
The two women behind a world-changing scientific discovery
14 minutes