There’s a sort of spark to life — moments that stir up something inside of us that we can’t explain. Maybe you've experienced this while playing with your dog, or singing along at a concert, or seeing the Northern Lights.

Perhaps these sparks are simply neurons firing, chemicals releasing, and muscles contracting. Or perhaps these sparks point to something like a soul, something transcendent. How do we know which it is? And what do we do when our evidence remains elusive?

This episode is an excerpt from a Veritas Forum at MIT in 2016. You’ll hear from biologist Dr. Ken Miller (Brown University), and philosopher Dr. Alex Byrne (MIT), as they discuss the human soul, evidence, and what gods we do — or don’t — believe in. This vibrant conversation is moderated by Dr. Ian Hutchinson, a nuclear physicist at MIT.


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What Can We Know about the Soul? | Miller & Byrne

At the Veritas Forum, we believe we were made to seek truth and be changed by it. We are a community of students, faculty, campus ministers, and more, who are pursuing a vision of the university that seeks and stewards truth and invites people of all backgrounds to explore the ideas that shape our lives. Since 1992, we’ve shared lectures and conversations with a firm belief that generous dialogue is essential for universities and the Christian faith alike.  

In this podcast, we're pulling from our archives of recorded events. Learn more about each episode in the show notes and visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and join us as we explore the ideas that shape our lives.

Religion & Spirituality

Other

Spirituality

Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Judaism

Islam

In college, it's common to feel the pressure to do everything—overload classes, join clubs, apply to internships, and more. But rarely do we stop to ask why. Behind all of our striving, what’s the purpose of our work anyway?
The speakers in this episode ask this question. You'll hear from Lydia Dugdale, a primary care physician and director of the Center for Medical Ethics at Columbia University, and Mike Fontaine, professor of Classics at Cornell. They discuss our desire to cling to life, how to find a purpose that transcends the daily striving of school and career, and what ancient wisdom might offer us that the “grindset mindset” can’t. This forum was held at Cornell in Fall 2023. Thank you to the forums team at Cornell for making this event possible.

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    Watch the full Forum here.
    Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives.


Is the Grindset Mindset Working? | Dugdale & Fontaine

What if there was a way to alleviate the symptoms of depression in just five days by changing a person’s brain activity? Obviously, this kind of shift would radically change a person’s life, finally letting them find happiness and satisfaction.
Our guest today in this episode is David Carreon. He’s the co-founder of Acacia Clinic, a mental health clinic in Silicon Valley that uses a radically fast treatment for mental illness. He’s just released a new book called The Opposite of Depression to share what he’s learned.
In this conversation, David and Seth discuss how depression affects more than just the mind, why removing symptoms of depression doesn’t remove habits of depression, and what the opposite of depression really is. We also talk about how Jesus is an emotional exemplar for us today.

    Find additional resources and a link to David's book on the podcast episode page here.


The Opposite of Depression Is More Than Just Mental Health w/ David Carreon | Beyond the Forum

One of our faculty partners and frequent Veritas Forum speakers, John Inazu (WUSTL), has a new book out — Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect.
His book isn’t about the election per se, but so many of his ideas and tools will be helpful this year. As November approaches, we'll have to decide not just who or what we will vote for, but how we will engage in political conversations, especially with people we love.
In this episode, you’ll hear about his book and the empathy we need, the challenges of compromise, and his recommendations for difficult conversations. He also talks about the model of Jesus for how to disagree in truth and love.

    Find additional resources and a link to John's book on the podcast episode page here.


Three Skills for Disagreeing Better in 2024 w/John Inazu | Beyond the Forum

It would be great if the world was a better place. More kindness and friendship. Less war and injustice. For “everything sad to become untrue” (to paraphrase Tolkien). 

Our speaker in this episode is Mary Poplin (Claremont), and she cares about making the world a better place. In fact, she’s dedicated her life to it. Yet her dedication was challenged when she encountered someone else who was dedicated to social justice but was going about it in a completely different way. That person? Mother Teresa.

In this episode, you’ll hear Mary Poplin share how her life was changed by Mother Teresa. Mary walks us through her personal faith journey, her time spent working with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, and how this experience led her to better understand the inextricable role of Jesus in making the world a better place.

This forum was held at the University of Michigan in 2012. Thank you to the Forums planning team at University of Michigan for making this event possible.


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	Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives


What Mother Teresa Taught Me | Mary Poplin

We spend — on average — 90,000 hours of our life working. So it’s no wonder we want our jobs to bring us happiness. Yet, all too often, work doesn’t make us happy. Why is that? And is there anything we can do about it?

In this episode, we discuss just that.

You’ll hear from social scientist and New York Times bestselling author, Arthur Brooks (Harvard). Arthur talks with Dean of Harvard Medical School, Bernard S. Chang, about happiness, vocation, faith, and physician burnout. They discuss Arthur’s empirical research on happiness, explore the role of transcendence in a happier life, and how to best set expectations about the role of work in our lives.

This Forum was held at Harvard Medical School in February of 2024. Thank you to the Forum planning team at Harvard Medical School for making this event possible.


	Sign up for our newsletter here.
	Visit veritas.org to learn more about the mission of the Veritas Forum and find more resources to explore the ideas that shape our lives


What Can We Know about the Soul? | Miller & Byrne

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