Daniel Dick

Track: New Horizons in Science and Cosmology

Slaughtering sacred cows of science and reaching out beyond materialism

What is it that remains sacred in materialism? What difference does it make when we talk about sex, love or evolution? And why do some of the sacred cows of modern science need to be slaughtered  and which should remain untouched?
Every society and each culturally shaped and united group of humans create connectedness through meaning and cohesion, and the leading and directing elements of such groups are ultimate sacred postulates, rules and taboos. Stepping into these taboos is dangerous and whoever does so is accused of heresy and usually expelled. Science as well as materialism have its own sacred cows, so which of these need to be addressed in order to enlighten the shadows of today´s science and enrich academia with aesthetics, consciousness and a humane future? What are extensions towards an even mystical wholeness of inquiry?
The social acceptance of breaking taboos has the potential of transforming the inner compass of individuals as well as the collective psyche. Often enough, heretical worldviews and their proponents struggle during their lifetimes but ultimately contribute to  fundamental transformations of humanity and of paradigms. This talk presents vulnerable elements of today’s science, it´s legacy and it´s deficiency for scientific evolution as well as the vulnerability of brave scientists who lead transformations. The entangled paths of truth-seekers, consciousness researchers as well as of those who face challenges concerning the quality of life are analyzed towards an integrative view.
The talk presents pioneers such as Gregory Bateson, Pierre Levy, Jean Gebser and other scientists who stretched the horizon of the possible in science. Mythological figures, religious writings and their stories will show how history repeats itself by looking into the archetypes of taboo breakers. These findings will shed light on the history of humanity, on the way of research on consciousness and on the dangers hiding behind transformations towards wholeness.

Daniel Dick MA is a cultural and social anthropologist, systems thinker, consciousness researcher and world-bridger. He studied in Austria and Switzerland, specializing in religion and consciousness studies, philosophy of science, ritual studies, ideology and cultural ecology. He holds the Young Scientist Award of the European Meeting of Cybernetics and System Research 2016, has worked for several research institutions and co-founded the independent Viennese Academy of Consciousness Research in 2015.