In the first half, Douglas Rushkoff, an authority on the intersection of technology and culture, discussed the societal catastrophe that tech billionaires believe is coming and their Silicon Valley–style mindset that they can break the laws of physics, economics, and morality to escape a disaster. He detailed how five billionaires hired him to give them advice on their apocalypse bunkers. Among the questions they asked him were: Which location is better for their bunker, Alaska or New Zealand? and "How should I maintain control of my security force after my money is worthless?" The glee with which these men were discussing apocalyptic scenarios and how they could be insulated from them indicated they cared little beyond themselves, he commented.
"They really think they can earn more money to protect themselves from the harm that they're spreading elsewhere. It's like they can build a car that drives fast enough to escape from its own exhaust," Rushkoff continued. If they treated the populace well, they could be using their technology and all of their brilliance to make the world a place they wouldn't need to escape from, he added. Beyond bunkers, some of the billionaires are interested in the idea of "seasteading," forming a city-like structure in the ocean, while others are considering escaping in rockets or into virtual realms where their brains are uploaded into silicon wafers. Technocrats are accustomed to running their businesses with "exit strategies," leaving someone else holding the bag, "so, of course, they're going to think about the world as one big exit strategy," Rushkoff concluded.
-------------------
In the latter half, cognitive neuroscientist and author Mona Sobhani, Ph.D., a former research scientist at the University of Southern California, spoke about her transformation from die-hard materialist to open-minded spiritual seeker. She shared her research and observations on such topics as past lives, healing, and the interactions of mind and matter. Her mother and grandmother both used coffee grounds to divine information, and Sobhani noticed things her mother said coming true, and that was the doorway that opened her up to spiritual matters. In particular, her mother warned her of a dark event happening in her life, and indeed several weeks later, one of her USC college professors was killed by a student. She had worked with the professor on her dissertation.
Since then, Sobhani has had many accurate intuitive readings, where the reader has come up with unusual names or information they couldn't have known about her. She studied psychic phenomena research and found impressive evidence that helped transform her skeptical mindset. Science doesn't address many of the mysteries of the universe, and she collected stories from scientists about their own unexplained experiences that they generally don't discuss. Past life regressions and near-death experiences have revealed a spiritual framework, she cited, and regression therapy has been demonstrated as an effective way to release trauma by practitioners like Roger Woolger. Sobhani also touched on how entering into an altered state can foster healing.
News segment guests: Howard Bloom, Mish Shedlock