(video) Terasem Space Day Colloquium, July 20, 2022

This video is also on YouTube.

The Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022 took place on Wednesday, July 20, from 10am ET to 1pm ET, via Zoom. Theme: cultural, philosophical, and spiritual aspects of spaceflight and space expansion. Speakers: Rick Tumlinson, Riccardo Campa, Elaine Walker, Frank White, Frank Tipler.

See my previous newsletter for more information on the theme and the speakers.

I started with a short introduction. Then Riccardo Campa gave a talk based on his paper “A Theory of the Merging Noospheres: Teilhard and Big History,” co-authored by Christopher Corbally and Margaret Boone Rappaport and published in Theology and Science. In his talk, Riccardo proposed a modern “astro-theological” interpretation of Teilhard.

Then longtime space activists Rick Tumlinson and Elaine Walker gave two high-spirited talks on spaceflight and space expansion in the context of humanity’s present and future, life, the universe, and everything including culture, politics, and education. Elaine and Rick are the parents of a girl called Alice who was listening off camera. Hopefully Alice’s generation will push deeper than ours into outer space.

Unfortunately Frank White was unable to attend in person due to a family emergency. I gave a short introduction to his ideas in my own words. But while I was speaking Frank sent me the slide presentation that he would have used, so I showed also his slides.

Frank Tipler gave a talk that was not only a lecture but also a great performance. He gave an introduction to his Omega Point theory and hinted at an ongoing experiment that could not only validate the theory but also open a theoretical door to interstellar spaceflight. I suggested a Kickstarter (or similar) to crowdfund the completion of the experiment.

The Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022 ended with a lively discussion.

Screenshots:

Frank Tipler speaks at the Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022.

Rick Tumlinson speaks at the Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022.

Elaine Walker speaks at the Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022.

Riccardo Campa speaks at the Terasem Space Day Colloquium 2022.

Frank Tipler hints at an ongoing experiment that could not only validate his Omega Point theory but also open a theoretical door to interstellar spaceflight.

A common theme that all speakers touched in different ways is that we are not only “a way for the cosmos to know itself” (Carl Sagan), but also a way for the cosmos to evolve, and that’s our purpose and meaning. In Frank White’s words, the universe itself will become a living whole and we are “actively encouraged by larger forces” to expand beyond the Earth and “help the universe become increasingly self-aware.”

In Rick’s words: “we are here to go there.”