What is consciousness and the ultimate reality of the Universe | Satya Samvad EP 5

In the fifth episode of Satya Samvad, Dr. Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar speaks to Prof. Sisir Roy of the National Institute of Advanced Studies on how he sees modern science and mathematics addressing the question of what is consciousness and the ultimate reality of the Universe.

Prof. Roy, with his collaborator Prof. Ralph Abraham of the University of California - Santa Cruz, has posited that the concepts of quantum vacuum and category theory could help in doing so.

Indian Knowledge Systems have spoken over millenia about consciousness being the underlying basis of reality, while modern science speaks of reality in terms of energy, mass and information.

There are many ideas within these traditions, such as Tattvas, spacetime and causality, and the forces of nature, as written about by the likes of Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti and Vasubandhu, which are still being studied through a scientific lens.

This exercise needs to be done with rigour and integrity, without recourse to any pseudo-science, as we go ahead.

The aim should be the dispassionate and unbiased exploration of the truth of the Universe.