The Meta
Matters project reappraises the hypothesis that the material world is an illusion. This hypothesis, though far from new, has never been taken seriously by more than a few supporters, and has been increasingly marginalised by the ever-growing weight of scientific evidence about matters material.
Since 2008, Meta
Matters project founder Paddy Gormley has been working to:
reveal powerful new evidence in support of the theory that the universe does not exist in material form;
expose fundamental flaws in scientific reasoning;
explore some of the many new possibilities for the nature of existence that present themselves to a truly open mind.
This website features a selection of Meta
Matters project materials, including:
click-to-play excerpts from sixteen (quarter-hour) radio talks that form the backbone of the project;
a short film, which considers the 3D cinema as a metaphor for immaterial existence;
audio talks and audience discussions in which Paddy Gormley openly challenges basic scientific assumptions;
details of Paddy Gormley's weekly, free-thinking, philosophical discussions for Crisis, the homeless charity.
Click the image for a PDF of the project postcard,
which includes a further illustration on the reverse.
Paddy Gormley observes that powerful new evidence has emerged
in support of the seemingly lost cause of idealist philosophy.
Ironically, the evidence has emerged as the result of scientific research. Specifically,
technologies such as computer games and 3D cinema show that immaterial
worlds, far from being inconceivable, are persuasive and easy to
create. The rapidly increasing prevalence of such technologies
proves that humans are extremely susceptible to spurious sensory
experiences. Computer programming geeks are the Intelligent
Designers of the 21st Century.
Idealist thinking, far from going away, is here to stay. In
the Meta Matters project, Paddy Gormley considers the implications
for 21st century humanity, bringing this important debate into
the public domain for the first time by banishing all jargon, and
opting instead for plain and simple language. In Meta Matters, everything is philosible.
Since March 2009, Paddy Gormley has been exploring these themes
in a series of radio talks. He has already completed two
series of eight talks each, respectively concerned with reappraisals
of the philosophies of scientific realism and idealism. Click right for synopses and audio excerpts from all sixteen talks.
He
envisages several further series, on topics including:
memory, imagination
and the evolution of language;
the social implications of immaterial
existence;
a reappraisal of the case for the existence of
God, based exclusively on the principles of Meta Matters, and without recourse to scriptures or dogma.
The now near-universal belief in material
existence owes much to the rapidly growing body of scientific knowledge. Idealist
philosophies, by contrast, have long been considered insubstantial
(in every sense of the word), and their proponents dismissed as
solipsistic cranks.
Paddy Gormley is actively seeking partners for the Meta Matters
project.
Paddy Gormley conducts weekly Creative Thinking sessions for Crisis, in which homeless and otherwise marginalised people discuss philosophical issues.
He finds that people who have to deal with life-changing problems are more inclined to challenge conventional thinking than those who lead more predictable lives.
These sessions were inspired by the Meta Matters project, and often address similar issues.
Click the image below for a selection of Creative Thinking course programmes.
