Published January 3, 2023 @ Templeton Ideas
My essay, “Concepts of Space and Concepts of Self” is now online. Here I argue that when physicists of the 17th century conceived the idea of infinite space this precipitated a radical shift in Western thinking about what it means to be a human self.
The intertwining relationship between notions of space and notions of self is the journey I trace in my book The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet – which, in the coming age of the ‘metaverse’ (another name for ‘cyberspace’), now seems quite prescient.
Consolidating ideas I explored in that book, the essay is also based on a talk I gave in September 2023 for the International Forum on Consciousness held at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI, Madison, WI). Thanks to Bill Linton and Karin Bough for hosting this eclectic gathering of minds, and to my Templeton editor Thomas Burnett for insightful editorial suggestions.