Understanding Hylozoism with Thomas Brophy

Thomas Brophy, PhD, is president emeritus of the California Institute for Human Science. He also serves as president of the Society for Consciousness Studies. He is author of The Mechanism Demands a Mysticism: An Exploration of Spirit, Matter and Physics (see https://amzn.to/3abDkGz) as well as The Origin Map: Discovery of a Prehistoric, Megalithic, Astrophysical Map and Sculpture of the Universe (see https://amzn.to/30hM9tH). He has also coauthored, two books with Robert Bauval titled Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt (see https://amzn.to/2Rhh1qb) and Imhotep the African: Architect of the Cosmos (see https://amzn.to/38721SD). His websites are https://www.cihs.edu/ and https://consc.org/.

In this video from 2020, he points out that hylozoism is a worldview that postulates the entire universe is, in some sense, alive. He contrasts it with terms hylostochastic and hylostatic -- that the universe is probabilistic or that it is deterministic. He suggests that this worldview enables one to formulate scientific questions -- related, for example, to parapsychology -- that are considered unacceptable by many scientists.

As a quick check of credibility based on written works, finding an area I have some knowledge of, I took a quick glance at the Amazon synopsis of Brophy's The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt. This synopsis indicates that its thesis is that Ancient Egypt and the Old Kingdom were established by black Africans. This is very extremely implausible and is ridiculed by most Egyptologists, as evidenced most simply by the numerous actual depictions of Old Kingdom figures in sculptures and wall paintings. Prominent examples would be the famous and striking sculpture of builder of the fourth dynasty second pyramid Pharaoh Kephren, and the well-known sculpture of the overseer and village chief "Shiek El-Beled", paralled by a large number of wall paintings of women and men in various poses. Take a look at these depictions of actual Egyptians of the periods. Until very late historical times a couple of thousand years later than the Old Kingdom when the Pharaonic culture had become weak, and when black Africans from beyond Upper Egypt actually did come down to conquer and settle in Egypt as the new rulers, these depictions of the actual Egyptians during most of the dynasties show only slight resemblances to black Africans.

As a quick check of credibility based on written works, finding an area I have some knowledge of, I took a quick glance at the Amazon synopsis of Brophy's The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt. This synopsis indicates that its thesis is that Ancient Egypt and the Old Kingdom were established by black Africans. This is very extremely implausible and is ridiculed by most Egyptologists, as evidenced most simply by the numerous actual depictions of Old Kingdom figures in sculptures and wall paintings. Prominent examples would be the famous and striking sculpture of builder of the fourth dynasty second pyramid Pharaoh Kephren, and the well-known sculpture of the overseer and village chief "Shiek El-Beled", paralled by a large number of wall paintings of women and men in various poses. Take a look at these depictions of actual Egyptians of the periods. Until very late historical times a couple of thousand years later than the Old Kingdom when the Pharaonic culture had become weak, and when black Africans from beyond Upper Egypt actually did come down to conquer and settle in Egypt as the new rulers, these depictions of the actual Egyptians during most of the dynasties show only slight resemblances to black Africans.

Ah this seems rather political so not really wading into that, my interest in Egyptology is where it intersects the paranormal. Not endorsing or refuting anything related to the topic but considered editing the blurb to avoid any reference to politics. I just left that part up b/c Mishlove put it in the description and it felt weird to alter it since I don't do that for other blurbs I quote.

Really just interested in the idea that the universe as a whole is conscious which seems more relevant to our discussions.

Ah this seems rather political so not really wading into that, my interest in Egyptology is where it intersects the paranormal. Not endorsing or refuting anything related to the topic but considered editing the blurb to avoid any reference to politics. I just left that part up b/c Mishlove put it in the description and it felt weird to alter it since I don't do that for other blurbs I quote.

Really just interested in the idea that the universe as a whole is conscious which seems more relevant to our discussions.

It doesn't seem political at all to me - it's just a matter of Egyptological knowledge that has been accumulated during the last century and a half. Perhaps this more belongs in Alternative Views forum, however.

It doesn't seem political at all to me - it's just a matter of Egyptological knowledge that has been accumulated during the last century and a half. Perhaps this more belongs in Alternative Views forum, however.

To me it just seems like the kind of thing that leads to political debate, much like the question of dietary ethics.

Here it's not even relevant to the main topic, and I think just going by the video the argument he gives for Hylozoism - that the universe itself is a conscious entity - is reasonable enough. I don't necessarily accept it, and it's not the best argument I've seen for a philosophical position, but I know of others who argue for Hylozoism as the view goes back to at least Plato and his World Soul along with varied beliefs across the globe.