Bernardo Kastrup's Small Theory of Everything

This is a brief, idiot-proof, to-the-point overview of Bernardo's philosophical views; his 'theory of everything,' so to speak. It's "small" because it's based on one simple, straight-forward idea, on the basis of which the whole of reality can be explained without reference to any postulated universe outside mind. A corresponding essay touching on the same ideas can be found here:

The contents of this video are based on the book 'Brief Peeks Beyond,' which can be purchased here:

Author info:

Credits:

Photos of the Alzheimer Symposium: The Future of Brain Health 2015 by Roy Borghouts.

Copyright © 2015 by Bernardo Kastrup. All rights reserved.

[jodo]

I've been a staunch materialist and a hard-line determinist for most of my life, but you've presented your argument in a nigh unassailable way here. Fair play, I feel much more open to this line of thought now.

[dreieckkreisquadrat]

WHY ON EARTH did it take the algorithm f***ing 6 years to suggest this video to me? Holy S**t, this may be the best video i've ever seen on Youtube. Guess I have to read, watch and listen to everything from you from now on. Thank you for your work! Truly brilliant.

[Sam-hhry]

Weirdly the most beautiful, illuminating thing I’ve ever heard

[chrisburden]

Thank you Bernardo. This is the first explanation of " who we are" that matches my NDE experience 6 years ago.

[anduinxbym]

This makes far more sense than the present "mainstream" material views of reality. A paradigm shift is sure to follow!

[inglestaemtudo]

Wow! This theory brings so much meaning to life! THERE SHOULD BE A MOVIE ABOUT THIS!

It Would be cooler then The Matrix

[thebishop]

This mind-at-large or general consciousness seems to me to be what Hinduism calls "Brahman".

[larry]

Bernardo Kastrup “complements” Tom Campbell, Rupert Sheldrake, and Bruce Lipton, to name some of today’s leading guiding lights. Each has a unique presentation of essentially similar discoveries - both theoretical and experiential. So glad to recently learn of Dr Kastrup!

[ChrisLehtoF]

Amazing work! Thank you Bernardo. I’ve seen in my own life and friends that physical activity, getting in shape over many months can give great mental benefits. The idea that physical activity could improve mental activity seems like an inconspicuous benefit and evidence for your theory.

[skemsen]

Why oh why would you put distracting music on a presentation of this kind????

[adrienbiassin]

I'm French, I understood 90% of the video, that's enough to keep me awake for the next few weeks.

[agoodman]

Thank you, Bernardo. I love your hypotheses. I saw your talk in London at Conway Hall, but we never got a chance to meet. I hope we do one day! You and I will have extraordinary conversations... I'd just like to point out here, for the sake of greater completeness, and in the hope that viewers of this video may have certain questions answered, that this is a brief summary of Bernardo's working hypothesis. I have read some of his books but not the one mentioned here yet. However, there are clearly a few things missing from this summary. That's no criticism of Bernardo or his hypothesis, but I'll just throw them into the mix to help people along with their understanding of the ideas presented here. Two essential points that are missing here, IMHO, are memory and attention. Identity cannot be understood, let alone experienced, without memory. The 'I' that observes needs no memory, but separate Identities need a narrative of memories. When that narrative is the focus of conscious attention, it outshines any other possible identity, large or small, that it might be part of. Speaking in terms of psychology, we all have sub-personalities that can be very unaware of each other, and that conflict with each other eg. when trying to stick to a diet, or trying to overcome procrastination. Additionally, every nerve end in our body is a separate 'I'. There is something it is like to be the top of my right forefinger, and that is very different to what it is like to be the tip of my left forefinger. One could be in pain from being hit by a hammer held in my right hand, yet the larger 'I' can be experiencing both. If I climbed into my comfortable bed and switched the light out in a dark quiet room, the sensation of pain in my left forefinger would outshine all the sensations from my other nerves and senses. At that time, I would be predominantly identified with my left forefinger, and unaware of the millions of other, less perturbed 'I's throughout the rest of my body. So consciousness itself is fractal... Fractals, of course, are the infinite yet bounded image of a very small, very finite seed when viewed from the perspective of that seed expressed as a repetitive process of existential self-relation. Sorry. Bit of a mouthful. But if this idea is new to you, do have a think about it and see what comes up in your own direct non-conceptual experience. Every brain/nervous system is a multi-input multi-output feedback system, inseparable from its environment from which it has grown. Analogous to such a feedback system with multiple inputs and outputs is a video camera pointing at its own monitor. I speculate that the physical Universe is equivalent of the 2-D mandala image produced by the metaphysically higher dimensional camera/monitor. Isn't this all such fascinating stuff..? :) [Disclaimer: I wrote this in bed on a Sunday morning on my smartphone with predictive texting, and only 4 lines of text visible at any time so please excuse any typos or nonsensical words as it's really difficult to edit this. Just I hope it's all reasonably comprehensible.]

[pambennett]

I have severe DID to the point that I have seizures for hours daily .. but I only turn into very young (newborn to about four) versions of myself. I did not show any sign except vague memories of hiding in closets till age 38.
This makes me think that the manifestation of alters is secondary.. that there is a point to it. I believe that the alters provide a way to view and then shift perception, but very slowly and with help or other perspectives of surrounding people ..
by extension then, life is being formed in order to see where consciousness is ( expression or birth of alters), and then shift it( change understanding about linear and possibly no longer useful line of thought )to find a more
Inclusive perspective/paradigm with the aid of the fresh information provided by the existence/expression of new people and their feedback

[leandrosilvagoncalves]

I have OCD and it also feels like I'm dissociated sometimes. In many times I caught myself engaged in a regular task while at the time I was having a compulsive behavior. ... The sensation of being two within the same consciousness was crystal clear

[bluelotus]

I see Bernado Kastrup and Rupert Sheldrake as the two most important thinkers in science today - although this may not be fully appreciated until many more years to come. Really interesting I see this explanation now as I had a sort of "aha" moment a few days ago where I saw the universe as being one large neural network and now it just seems so plainly obvious that I can't believe western science hasn't even respectfully entertained the idea yet! I feel that we are still stuck in this human centricity complex that first said the earth is the centre of the universe and nature was essentially built for the OUR experience. Then we said our solar system was the centre and which also was built for OUR experience. Now what we have done is propose that the entire universe has no purpose apart from the fact that WE are the only way in which the universe can experience, observe and know itself! This is perhaps the most egocentric and arrogant stance of all three! Not to mention painfully ignorant. I feel like it's the exact type of claim that in 200 years from now people will look back upon in awe at the sheer ignorance and arrogance of such a ludicrous idea. Thank God we do have thinkers like Bernado that allow for the growth of scientific thought and philosophical endeavour - even though it will invariably encounter a lot of resistance along the way, the alternative would simply lead us in a painful circular road to nowhere.

[disposium]

Thanks, Bernardo, for another valiant attempt to explain this world view. A universe in which there is ultimately only one mind, and nothing else, really makes it possible to look at a long list of bizarre phenomena and check them off one at a time, saying, "Ah, yes, not so bizarre, really."

[nivekvb]

Bennett says consciousness is an Ilusion. Without knowing any of his work I figured out the same, but I thought shortly afterwards, hang on a minute, i can accurately predict shapes and distance of things, ect. So, I thought, if, for instance, I can accurately see and taste an orange, then I'm actually truly experience the orange. I am, in fact, fully conscious of the orange, so I soon gave up on this nutty theory. What I mean is that if through. Ilusion I accurately and fully experience the world, then I am conscious of it and its not an Ilusion.

[elzechristinedun]

Hi Bernardo, Today, December 11th 2017, I wathced your video for the first time. Ever since I can remember, the subject on which you so directly speak have the words that go with what I already knew. Your words are sometimes almost the same as the words I heard me speak when this ongoing "satsang" in my head was going on while working in the garden. Thank you for putting words to this intuitive knowledge!!

[aminemankai]

Very intersting perspective, very powerful ! But there is a specific point (at the beginning of the video) upon which you build the theory that seems a bit shaky to me and please correct me if I'm wrong. If the brain is correlated to a "first person experience of consciousness", nothing allows us to say that it is the same case for the universe and all its components. It might be true of course, but it also might be true that the brain of living creatures is so specific in its nature with just the perfect right structure that we can not expect the same "first person experience of consciousness" with the other components of the universe.

[alexanderteachernyc]

Is there a version of this amazing talk without distracting background music?