[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.86,0:00:24.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality in principle
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.54,0:00:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaving only the details to be filled in.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.25,0:00:30.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a very wide spread belief in our society.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.16,0:00:33.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the kind of belief system of people who say
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.65,0:00:36.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't believe in God, I believe in science.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.48,0:00:41.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a belief system which has now been spread to the entire world.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.62,0:00:47.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there's a conflict in the heart of science between science as a method of inquiry
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.96,0:00:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on reason, evidence, hypothesis, and collective investigation
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.89,0:00:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and science as a belief system or a world view.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.85,0:01:03.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And unfortunately the world view aspect of science has come to inhibit and constrict
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.55,0:01:07.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the free inquiry which is the very lifeblood of the scientific endeavor.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.50,0:01:13.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since the late 19th century, science has been conducted
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.98,0:01:17.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,under the aspect of a belief system or world view
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.38,0:01:22.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is essentially that of materialism. Philosophical materialism.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.59,0:01:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the sciences are now wholly-owned subsidiaries of the materialist world view.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.94,0:01:34.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that, as we break out of it, the sciences will be regenerated.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.08,0:01:41.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I do in my book 'The Science Delusion' - which is called 'Science Set Free' in the United States -
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.84,0:01:49.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is: take the ten dogmas or assumptions of science and turn them into questions,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.06,0:01:54.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seeing how well they stand up if you look at them scientifically.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.54,0:01:58.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,None of them stand up very well.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.15,0:02:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I am going to do is first run through what these ten dogmas are,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.58,0:02:08.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then I will only have time to discuss one or two of them in a bit more detail.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.58,0:02:12.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But essentially the ten dogmas which are the default world view
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.84,0:02:16.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of most educated people all over the world are,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.34,0:02:21.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first that nature is mechanical or machine like, the universe is like a machine,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.26,0:02:25.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,animals and plants are like machines, we are like machines.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.07,0:02:26.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, we are machines.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.94,0:02:30.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are "lumbering robots" in Richard Dawkins' vivid phrase,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.24,0:02:34.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with brains that are genetically programed computers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.70,0:02:40.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Second, matter is unconscious, the whole universe is made up of unconscious matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.29,0:02:47.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is no consciousness in stars, in galaxies, in planets, in animals, in plants,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.52,0:02:51.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there ought not to be any in us either, if this theory is true.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.78,0:02:55.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So a lot of the philosophy of mind over the last hundred years
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.62,0:02:59.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been trying to prove that we are not really conscious at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.36,0:03:07.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the matter is unconscious, then the laws of nature are fixed. This is the dogma three.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.82,0:03:12.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The laws of nature are the same now as they were at the time of the Big Bang
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.27,0:03:13.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they will be the same forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.26,0:03:19.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not just the laws but the constants of nature are fixed which is why they are called constants.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.79,0:03:24.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dogma four: the total amount of matter and energy is always the same.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.13,0:03:30.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It never changes in total quantity except at the moment of the Big Bang when it all sprang
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.66,0:03:33.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into existence from nowhere in a single instant.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.42,0:03:40.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fifth dogma is that nature is purposeless, there is no purposes in all nature
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.42,0:03:45.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the evolutionary process has no purpose or direction.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.84,0:03:54.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dogma six: the biological heredity is material, everything you inherit is in your genes
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.48,0:04:01.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or in epigenetic modifications of the genes, or in cytoplasmic inheritance. It is material.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.88,0:04:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dogma seven: memories are stored inside your brain as material traces.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.23,0:04:13.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somehow everything you remember is in your brain in modified nerve endings phosphorylated proteins.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.59,0:04:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one knows how it works,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.76,0:04:20.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but nevertheless almost everyone in the scientific world believes it must be in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.06,0:04:24.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dogma eight: your mind is inside your head.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.96,0:04:29.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All your consciousness is the activity of your brain and nothing more.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.84,0:04:36.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dogma nine, which follows from dogma eight: psychic phenomena like telepathy are impossible.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.82,0:04:40.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your thoughts and intentions can not have any effect at a distance
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.37,0:04:42.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because your mind is inside your head.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.59,0:04:47.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Therefore all the apparent evidence for telepathy and other psychic phenomena is illusory.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.69,0:04:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People believe these things happen but it is just because they don't know enough about statistics,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.41,0:04:58.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or they are deceived by coincidences or it is wishful thinking.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.80,0:05:03.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And dogma ten: mechanistic medicine is the only kind that really works.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.51,0:05:08.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is why governments only fund research into mechanistic medicine
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.79,0:05:12.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ignore complementary and alternative therapies.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.25,0:05:15.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those can't possibly really work because they are not mechanistic,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.93,0:05:22.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they may appear to work because people would have got better anyway or because of the placebo effect.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.18,0:05:27.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the only kind that really works is mechanistic medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.68,0:05:33.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, this is the default world view which is held by almost all educated people all over the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.76,0:05:40.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is the basis of the educational system, the national health service, the Medical Research Council,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.89,0:05:47.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,governments, and it is just the default world view of educated people.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.00,0:05:53.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think every one of these dogmas is very, very questionable
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.33,0:05:57.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when you look at it, it turns they fall apart.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.32,0:06:03.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am going to take first the idea that the laws of nature are fixed.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.77,0:06:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a hangover from an older world view before the 1960's when the Big Bang theory came in.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.10,0:06:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People thought that the whole universe was eternal, governed by eternal mathematical laws.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.68,0:06:20.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the Big Bang came in, then that assumption continued,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.09,0:06:26.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though the Big Bang revealed a universe that is radically evolutionary about 14 billion years old.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.65,0:06:31.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing, and developing, and evolving for 14 billion years.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.29,0:06:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Growing and cooling and more structures and patterns appear within it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.77,0:06:40.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the idea is, all the laws of nature were completely fixed at the moment of the Big Bang,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.68,0:06:42.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like a cosmic Napoleonic Code.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.80,0:06:45.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As my friend Terence McKenna used to say,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.72,0:06:51.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Modern science is based on the principle: give us one free miracle and we’ll explain the rest."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.89,0:06:55.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the one free miracle is the appearance of all the matter and energy in the universe
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.05,0:06:59.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all the laws that govern it from nothing in a single instant.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.93,0:07:06.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, in an evolutionary universe, why shouldn't the laws themselves evolve?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.12,0:07:13.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all human laws do, and the idea of the laws of the nature is based on a metaphor with human law.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.05,0:07:19.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a very anthropocentric metaphor: only humans have laws, in fact only civilized societies have laws.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.17,0:07:22.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As C. S. Lewis once said,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.57,0:07:28.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"To say that a stone falls to earth because it is obeying a law makes it a man and even a citizen."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.29,0:07:33.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is a metaphor that we got so used to, we forget it is a metaphor.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.80,0:07:37.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In an evolving universe I think a much better idea is the idea of habits.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.46,0:07:43.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the habits of nature evolve, the regularities of nature are essentially habitual.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.15,0:07:48.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was an idea put forward at the beginning of the 20th century
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.68,0:07:51.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the American philosopher C. S. Peirce.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.36,0:07:55.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it is an idea which various other philosophers have entertained,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.33,0:08:00.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is one which I myself have developed into a scientific hypothesis,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.20,0:08:02.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the hypothesis of morphic resonance
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.89,0:08:06.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is the basis of these evolving habits.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.57,0:08:10.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to this hypothesis, everything in nature has a kind of collective memory.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.92,0:08:14.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Resonance occurs on the basis of similarity.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.92,0:08:19.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a young giraffe embryo grows in its mother's womb,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.32,0:08:24.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it tunes in to the morphic resonance of previous giraffes,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.26,0:08:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it draws on that collective memory, it grows like a giraffe,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.00,0:08:31.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it behaves like a giraffe because it is drawing on this collective memory.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.69,0:08:37.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has to have the right genes to make the right proteins, but genes in my view are grossly overrated.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.43,0:08:43.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They only account for the proteins that the organism can make, not the shape, or form, or the behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.05,0:08:49.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every species has a kind of collective memory. Even crystals do.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.29,0:08:53.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This theory predicts that if you make a new kind of crystal for the first time,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.61,0:08:59.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the very first time you make it, it won't have an existing habit.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.65,0:09:04.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But once it crystallizes, then the next time you make it there will be an influence from the first crystals
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.87,0:09:10.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the second ones all over the world, by morphic resonance it will crystallize a bit easier.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.54,0:09:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The third time there will be an influence from the first and second crystals.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.69,0:09:20.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is in fact good evidence that new compounds get easier to crystallize all around the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.79,0:09:23.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just as this theory would predict.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.34,0:09:27.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It also predicts that if you train animals to learn a new trick,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.81,0:09:30.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for example rats learn a new trick in London,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.77,0:09:34.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then all round the world rats of the same breed should learn the same trick quicker
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.70,0:09:36.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just because rats have learned it here.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.88,0:09:41.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And surprisingly, there is already evidence that this actually happens.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.26,0:09:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Anyway, that is my hypotheses in a nutshell of morphic resonance,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.39,0:09:50.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everything depends on evolving habits not on fixed laws.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.76,0:09:55.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I want to spend a few moments on the constants of nature too.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.02,0:09:58.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because these, are again, assumed to be constant.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.94,0:10:03.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Things like the gravitational constant, the speed of light are called the fundamental constants.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.65,0:10:07.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are they really constant?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.53,0:10:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, when I got interested in this question I tried to find out.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.47,0:10:14.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are given in physics handbooks.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.55,0:10:19.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Handbooks of physics list the existing fundamental constants and tell you their value.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.68,0:10:24.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I wanted to see if they've changed, so I got the old volumes of physical handbooks.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.50,0:10:27.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to the Patent Office Library here in London,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.76,0:10:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they are the only place I could find that kept the old volumes,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.86,0:10:35.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,normally people throw them away. When the new values come out, they throw away the old ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.63,0:10:42.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I did this I found out that the speed of light dropped between 1928 and 1945
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.12,0:10:44.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by about 20 kilometers per second.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.20,0:10:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a huge drop because they were given with the errors of any fractions, decimal points of error.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.58,0:10:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet, all over the world it dropped
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.90,0:10:58.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they were all getting values very similar to each other with tiny errors,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.03,0:11:03.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then in (1945) 1948 it went up again,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.27,0:11:06.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then people started getting very similar values again.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.57,0:11:11.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was very intrigued by this, and I couldn't make sense of it,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.15,0:11:13.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I went to see the Head of Metrology,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.11,0:11:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the National Physical Laboratory, in Teddington.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.91,0:11:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Metrology is the science in which people measure constants.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.55,0:11:22.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I asked him about this, I said:
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.100,0:11:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what do you make of this drop in the speed of light between 1928 and 1945?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.44,0:11:30.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he said, "Oh dear",
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.78,0:11:35.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he said "you uncovered the most embarrassing episode in the history of our sciences."
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.09,0:11:42.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said well, could the speed of light have actually dropped, and that would have amazing implications if so.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.64,0:11:46.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he said, "no, no, of course it couldn't have actually dropped, it is a constant!"
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.70,0:11:51.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh, well then how do you explain the fact that everyone was almost finding
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.47,0:11:54.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it going much slower during that period?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.36,0:11:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it because they were fudging their results to get what they thought other people should be getting
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.46,0:12:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the whole thing was just produced in the minds of physicists?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.35,0:12:06.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We don't like to use the word fudge."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.06,0:12:08.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said, well what do you prefer?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.06,0:12:13.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, "well we prefer to call it intellectual phase-locking."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.57,0:12:23.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if this was going on then, how can we be so sure it is not going on today,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.41,0:12:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that the present values produced by intellectual phase-locking?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:28.48,0:12:30.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he said, "no, we know it is not the case."
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.41,0:12:31.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said, how do we know?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.77,0:12:35.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, "well, we have solved the problem". I said well how?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.21,0:12:39.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, "well we fixed the speed of light by definition in 1972".
Dialogue: 0,0:12:41.47,0:12:43.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it might still change.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:43.57,0:12:47.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He said, "Yes but we'll never know because we defined the metre in terms of the speed of light,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.79,0:12:50.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the units have changed with it".
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.08,0:12:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So he looked very pleased about that, they'd fixed their problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.50,0:12:58.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I said, well then what about Big G?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:58.96,0:13:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The gravitational constant known in the trade as Big G, it is written with the capital G.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:04.15,0:13:11.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Newton's universal gravitational constant. That has varied by more than 1.3 per cent in recent years.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.97,0:13:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it seems to vary from place to place and from time to time.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:17.27,0:13:23.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he said, "well there is a chance of errors, and unfortunately there are quite big errors with the Big G.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:24.30,0:13:28.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I said, what if it is really changing, perhaps it is really changing.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.45,0:13:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then I looked at how they do it: what happens is that they measure it in different labs,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.50,0:13:37.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they get different values on different days, and then they average them.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:37.67,0:13:39.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then other labs from around the world do the same
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.52,0:13:41.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they come out usually with a rather different average.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:42.06,0:13:46.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the International Committee on Metrology meets every 10 years or so
Dialogue: 0,0:13:46.59,0:13:51.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and averages the ones from labs from around the world to come out with the value of Big G.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:51.71,0:13:57.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what if G were actually fluctuating? What if it changed?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:57.25,0:14:01.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is already evidence actually that it changes throughout the day and throughout the year.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:02.08,0:14:07.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if the Earth, as it moves through the galactic environment, went through patches of dark matter
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.18,0:14:12.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or other environmental factors that could alter it? Maybe they all change together.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.78,0:14:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if these errors are going up together and down together?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:15.86,0:14:20.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For more than 10 years I have been trying to persuade metrologists to look at the raw data.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:20.76,0:14:23.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I am now trying to persuade them to put it online on the internet,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:24.02,0:14:26.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the dates and the actual measurements,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.04,0:14:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and see if they are correlated; to see if they are all up at one time, all down at another.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:31.93,0:14:36.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If so they might be fluctuating together and that would tell us something very, very interesting.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.61,0:14:40.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But no one has done this, they haven't done it because G is a constant.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.78,0:14:42.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is no point in looking for changes.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:43.44,0:14:49.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see, here is a very simple example of where a dogmatic assumption actually inhibits inquiry.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:49.36,0:14:53.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I myself think that the constants may vary quite considerably.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:54.22,0:14:56.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well within narrow limits, but they may all be varying.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:56.90,0:15:02.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think the day will come when scientific journals like Nature have weekly reports on the constants
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.34,0:15:04.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like stock market reports in the newspapers.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.33,0:15:12.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This week Big G was slightly up, the charge on the electron was down, the speed of light held steady,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:12.20,0:15:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so on.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.39,0:15:24.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, that is one area, just one area where I think thinking less dogmatically could open things up.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:25.18,0:15:27.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the biggest areas is the nature of the mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:27.81,0:15:31.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is the most unsolved problem as Graham has just said.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.62,0:15:35.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Science simply can't deal with the fact that we are conscious.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:36.53,0:15:41.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it can't deal with the fact that our thoughts don't seem to be inside our brains.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:43.06,0:15:46.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our experiences don't all seem to be inside our brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:46.45,0:15:50.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your image of me now doesn't seem to be inside your brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:50.22,0:15:54.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet the official view is that there is a little Rupert somewhere inside your head
Dialogue: 0,0:15:54.29,0:15:57.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and everything else in this room is inside your head.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:57.31,0:15:59.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your experiences is inside your brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.02,0:16:03.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am suggesting actually that vision involves an outward projection of images,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:03.93,0:16:07.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you are seeing is in your mind but not inside your head.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:07.54,0:16:11.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our minds are extended beyond our brains in the simple act of perception.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:12.77,0:16:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that we project out the images we are seeing and these images touch what we are looking at.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:19.44,0:16:23.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I look at you from behind and you don't know I am there, could I affect you?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:24.11,0:16:25.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Could you feel my gaze?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.05,0:16:29.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a great deal of evidence that people can.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:29.19,0:16:31.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sense of being stared at is an extremely common experience,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:32.06,0:16:36.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and recent experimental research actually suggests it is real.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:36.54,0:16:38.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Animals seem to have it too.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:38.54,0:16:41.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it probably evolved in the context of predator-prey relationships.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:41.96,0:16:47.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Prey animals that can feel the gaze of the predator would survive better than those that couldn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:47.44,0:16:52.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This would lead to a whole new way of thinking about ecological relationships between predators and prey,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:52.80,0:16:55.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also about the extent of our minds.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.47,0:17:01.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we look at distant stars, I think our minds reach out in the sense to touch these stars
Dialogue: 0,0:17:01.38,0:17:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and literally extend out over astronomical different distances.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.46,0:17:07.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They are not just inside our heads.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:07.88,0:17:13.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now it may seem astonishing that this is a topic of debate in the 21st century.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:13.45,0:17:16.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know so little about our own minds that where our images are
Dialogue: 0,0:17:17.09,0:17:20.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a hot topic of debate within consciousness studies right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:22.14,0:17:28.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't have time to deal with anymore of these dogmas, but every single one of them is questionable.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:28.17,0:17:32.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If one questions it, new forms of research, new possibilities open up.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:32.60,0:17:37.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think as we question these dogmas that have held back science so long,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.20,0:17:42.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,science will undergo a re-flowering, a Renaissance.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.52,0:17:45.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am a total believer in the importance of science.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:45.30,0:17:49.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have spent my whole life as a research scientist, my whole career.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:50.28,0:17:54.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think by moving beyond these dogmas it can be regenerated.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:55.03,0:17:58.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once again it will become interesting, and I hope life affirming.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:59.20,0:18:00.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.