Episode 151: The Real and the Possible: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, with Jacob G. Foster

In The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, the cultural historian William Irwin Thompson predicted the rise of a new form of knowledge building, a direly needed alternative to the Wissenshaft of standard science and scholarship. He called it Wissenskunst, "the play of knowledge in a world of serious data processors." Wissenskunst is pretty much what JF and Phil have been aspiring to do on Weird Studies since 2018, but in this episode they are joined by a master of the craft, the computational sociologist and physicist Jacob G. Foster of UCLA. Jacob is the co-founder of the Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute (DISI), a gathering of scholars, scientists, and students that takes place each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It was there that this conversation was recorded. The topic was the Possible, that dream-blurred vanishing point where art, philosophy, and science converge as imaginative and creative practices. Click here or here for more information on Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium at Lily Dale NY, July 27-29 2023. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute "Deconstructing the Barrier of Meaning," a talk by Jacob G. Foster at the Santa Fe Institute William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Frederic Rzewski, “Little Bangs: A Nihilist Theory of Improvisation” Brian Eno, Oblique Strategies The accident of Bob in Twin Peaks Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry August Kekule,, German chemist Robert Dijkgraaf, “Contemplating the End of Physics” Richard Baker, American zen teacher Gian-Carlo Rota, Indiscrete Thoughts William Shakespeare, Macbeth Shoggoth, Lovecraftian entity Special Guest: Jacob G. Foster.