“It’s the realm of mystical experience. And those who’ve been there describe the visit as the most significant event of their lives. Until recent times that was a world known only to holy men, to saints, or perhaps to the insane. Then a generation ago this drug, LSD, escaped from the laboratory. It was consumed by millions of young people. To some it’s a doorway to the mystical universe, chemical ecstasy, enlightenment in a bottle. To others it’s a dangerous and subversive poison.”

“LSD is one of the strangest and most controversial substances known to science. A dose smaller than a grain of salt precipitates a hazardous mental journey into a universe of hallucination, intense emotion and, some believe, mystical revelation. These remarkable effects were discovered by the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman in 1943. During the 50′s the LSD was used widely for research in psychiatric hospitals. Than in the early 1960′s LSD leaked out of the laboratory. With bizarre and unforeseen consequences the drug was consumed by a generation of young people seeking spiritual transcendence and an escape from the conventional world.”

Fellow atheists Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist, and Daniel Dennet, an American philosopher of science, discuss the meaning of life and death. It is nice to see these materialists have a heart-to-heart and not forget the importance of meaning in our understanding of the world.

An interview with Australian philosopher and professor David Chalmers discussing his theory of consciousness, the hard problem, and the explanatory gap.

Chalmers also has a wonderful online collection of academic papers, philosophical essays, and scientific articles over at Consc.net/online: a incredible resource for anyone interested in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, or philosophy of mind.

I have also written about my personal thoughts on this subject in some of my articles. In particular I recommend:

1. The Hard Problem Of Consciousness: Is Science In Need Of Another Cognitive Revolution?

2. The Epistemic Gap, Psychology, and The Scientific Method.

3. Thoughts On The Nature of Reality, Experience and Meditation

Part 1: A Life of Dreams

“Part one provides an overview of the major contributions made by Jung in his long career. Born on July 26, 1875, in Switzerland, Jung became interested in psychiatry during his medical studies. He saw that the minds of mentally deranged persons had similar contents, much of which he recognized from his own interior life, described in his autobiography Memories, Dreams, Reflections. His lifelong quest to understand the workings of the psyche led him to develop the analytical method of psychiatry. He proceeded by looking at the role in his patients’ lives of what he termed the personal and collective unconscious, as expressed through dreams, myths, and outer events. With film clips, photographs, and interviews with some of his colleagues, as well as with Jung himself, the story of one of the most important figures of the 20th century is told.”

PART 2: Inheritance of Dreams

“Looks at the collective myths that are shared by different cultures and races throughout the world. Jung saw these as evidence of an underlying unifying principle in the human psyche, which he termed archetypes. These archetypes are present in the collective unconscious and express themselves to the individual in dreams and synchronistic events. The film surveys some of the archetypal symbolism in world myths. Jungian analyst John Beebe uses the science fiction film Star Wars to illustrate the presence of the ancient myths in today’s symbolic expressions. There is rare footage of Jung’s travels to Africa, England, and New Mexico, in search of archetypal motifs.”

Part 3: A World of Dreams

“This episode examines some interesting archetypal images expressed in modern imagery. The film takes the viewer through a diverse range of sources, from Alcoholics Anonymous and science fiction films, to modern architecture and the stock market. There are interviews with Jungian analysts including Aniela Jaffe, Jane Wheelwright, James Hillman, and Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig. Dr. Harry Wilmer shares his work with the dreams and “healing nightmares” of Vietnam veterans. New Age philosophy and Alfred Hitchcock’s film Notorious are discussed as they relate to Jungian psychology.”

“Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art (or visionary art) that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. Grey is a Vajrayana practitioner. His body of work spans a variety of forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting. Grey is a member of the Integral Institute. He is also on the board of advisers for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, and is the Chair of Wisdom University’s Sacred Art Department. He and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, a non-profit institution supporting Visionary Culture in New York City.”