Does thinking shape our reality?

Thanks to our brain we can think about our place in the universe. Are we the only kind that can do that, and do we see the real reality? We can think of what others will think. Can animals do that too? And the reality in which it all plays, does that really exist, or is it a kind of projection? Is scientific knowledge of the world to be combined with the belief in a higher power?

Original title: De Denker

Nicky Clayton has been fascinated by birds throughout her entire life. Ideally, she would be one. She works a lot with birds, doing comparative research between the thinking ability of crows and people, especially children.

Donald Hoffman grew up as a son of a "fairly religious" parent couple - his father was a pastor - he went to church every week. He soon realized that the creation story was in conflict with how nature works. This led to the urge to investigate the world itself. Hoffman was a teenager when the computer age came and his mother, provided him with computers that he could key in and which he could encode. His fascination with computers sharpened his interest in the relationship between man, machine and consciousness.
Hoffman is researching how we look at the world around us. How do we get where? Can we manipulate that observation? Why did evolution make us beings using symbols (car, tomato, house)? What is reality, and how does our brain interact with how we perceive that reality? Hoffman shows that what we see is a reality.

Guy Consolmagno is an astronaut who specializes in meteorites, pieces of alien material that have fallen on Earth. But he is also the head of the Vatican Observatory. Believing in a higher power and doing scientific work, does that go together? Yes, he thinks. “Knowledge is dangerous, but so is ignorance. Religion needs science to stay away from superstition and stay close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which ultimately is a form of pagan faith”.

The Mind of the Universe is an international science documentary series and open source platform about the rapid evolution of our knowledge. It explores the human destiny and the world of tomorrow through the eyes of the greatest thinkers and scientists of our time. In each episode, a typical human quality takes centre stage, in which the scientists and their research are embedded.

Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2017.
© VPRO Backlight June 2017

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Credits:
Presented by: Robbert Dijkgraaf
Editor in chief and script: Rob van Hattum
Direction & Editor: Kees Brouwer, Gijs Swantee, Sander Cijsouw
Research: Frederique Melman, Remy van den Brand, Anna Gimbrere, Wiesje Kuijpers, Gerko Wessel
Production: Madeleine Somer, Jordy van Langen (stage), May-Linn Tsiang (stage)
Cross Media Manager: Eef Grob
Redaction: Elmar Veerman, Marijn van der Waa, Bram van Dijk (stage), Imani van Oosterhout (stage), Yfke van der Ploeg (stage)
Media Manager & Assistant: Olivier Schuringa, Pardis Faqiri (stage)
Camera: Chris Blokhuis, Hans Bouma, Martijn Cousijn, Jacko van ’t Hof, Job Kraaijeveld, Sjoerd Vogel, Karsten Hohmann
Sound: Daan Arens, Dennis Kersten, Jillis Schriel, Mark Witte,Gregor Koppenburg, Bidisha Das, Pedro Rodriques da Silva
Translation: Lei Fang, Sasja Yakovleva, Alexandra de Vries
Script editing: Caroline Ligthart
Editing: Jeroen van den Berk, Sander Cijsouw, Tim van der Maden, Olivier van der Zee
Design: Jurriaan Schalken
Composition: Jos Jansen (Big Orange)
International partners and Education: Fred Mulder
In cooperation with: Tijl van Huijkelom

English, French and Spanish subtitles: Ericsson.
French and Spanish subtitles are co-funded by European Union.

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