Finding Consciousness at the Heart of it All with Neil Theise (Part 2)

Episode Description

In part two, Ilia Delio and Neil Theise unpack the implications of complexity theory for human life, especially consciousness, our technology and the relationship between them. Can AI become “conscious?” Neil tells us more about his journey as a practicing Zen Buddhist, its impact on his research and thought, and the value our wisdom traditions can still offer to science.

ABOUT NEIL THEISE

 “The teeming hordes of living things on Earth, not only in space but in time, are actually all one massive, single organism just as certainly as each one of us (in our own minds) seems to be a distinct human being throughout our limited lifetime.”

Neil Theise, MD, is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through his scientific research, he has been a pioneer of adult stem cell plasticity and the anatomy of the human interstitium. Dr. Theise’s studies in complexity theory have led to interdisciplinary collaborations in fields such as integrative medicine, consciousness studies, and science-religion dialogue. His recent book, Notes on Complexity: The Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being explores all of these topics and more. He comes from a spiritual background of devotional Jewish practices and is a Senior Student at the Village Zendo in NYC.