The Scientific Explorer Within You | The Spirit Of Inquiry

Embarking on a heartfelt journey of self-discovery and profound curiosity, Saqib unveils the true essence of being a scientific explorer beyond academia and mainstream definitions. Celebrating the fusion of consciousness, intuition, and traditional science, they highlight ten essential characteristics that resonate with the innate explorer in all of us. This talk inspires and uplifts, reminding listeners that true exploration is a deeply personal and universally accessible journey.

Transcript

Namaste,

Dear fellow traveller,

My name is Saqib,

And through this talk today,

I want to discuss with you a foundational question.

What does it actually mean to be a scientific explorer?

I will begin by telling you about my journey of exploration,

And how I transformed from being an engineer to being a spiritual coach and a meditation teacher.

To be honest with you,

I was never a good engineer.

That's because I hated how science was taught at my university.

The way most institutions around the world teach science is really sad.

The education system is mostly designed to benefit industry and fuel capitalism.

The spirit of inquiry is suppressed instead of being encouraged.

I still remember being humiliated by my university professor for asking too many questions.

He said that I was trying to disrupt the class.

In reality,

I asked him only two questions,

And it was clear that he didn't know the answers to those questions.

But most students were afraid of him,

So they preferred to stay quiet.

This was the case with most university professors at my university,

With very few exceptions.

Hence,

At some point,

I decided that I would undertake my own exploration.

I became highly unconcerned with grades,

And just somehow managed to complete engineering and earn a degree.

Working as an engineer also was not fulfilling my curiosity,

And hence I was not good at being an engineer.

I was soon transferred to the marketing department of my company,

Because they thought that I was good with ideas and strategy,

And bad with execution.

That was the point when I stopped working as an engineer.

However,

Science never left me.

I was now more curious about finding answers to the big questions of life.

What is existence?

Who am I?

What is this universe that we live in?

This led me to study cosmology,

And at some point,

I stopped practicing orthodox religion.

I became an atheist.

Studying the works of people like Stephen Hawking,

Michio Kaku,

Carl Sagan,

And Neil deGrasse Tyson,

I started believing that there is no existence beyond this physical world,

And that the Big Bang theory and Darwin's theory of evolution are the absolute truths.

But deep down,

I knew that this was not true.

I knew that I am not just this physical meat robot who will stop existing one day.

I knew I am much more than that,

And hence I explored further.

Lo and behold,

I came across quantum physics and the works of non-conventional scientists and researchers like Nassim Haramein,

Robert Lanza,

Amit Goswami,

Rupert Sheldrake,

And Dean Radin.

Exploring quantum physics,

I realized that there is much more to the world than meets the eye.

In fact,

It changed my whole perspective on life and existence.

I realized that the biggest mystery that mainstream science to date hasn't explored properly is consciousness.

So let's get back to the main question.

What does it actually mean to be a scientific explorer?

My journey made me realize that being a scientific explorer is not about reading university textbooks doing experiments in labs that are dictated by professors,

Getting a degree,

Or working for a company that wants to make profits through technology.

In my understanding,

The following 10 characteristics are required to be a true scientific explorer.

1.

Presence Now you may ask,

Saqib,

What does presence have to do with science?

Presence is the foundation of science.

If I am not observant of what's going on in the world and within myself,

I cannot even begin to ask questions.

Hence,

Being conscious,

Mindful,

And observant are the key characteristics to be a scientific explorer.

2.

Curiosity Being curious about why things are the way they are.

For example,

Rather than taking for granted that the color of the sky is blue,

I ask,

Why is the sky blue?

3.

Self-awareness The greatest enigma of existence is my own self.

Before I try to understand the external world,

I have to understand the one who is observing this world.

Hence the question,

Who am I,

Is the greatest scientific inquiry of all.

For this,

I have to know myself and be self-aware.

This is why Socrates said,

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.

4.

Experience Only when I have experienced something,

I will be able to tell whether it is true or not.

Imagine someone who has never tasted chocolate.

They may have read about its flavor,

Listened to others describe it,

Or even studied its chemical composition.

But unless they have actually tasted the chocolate themselves,

They can't truly know or tell the truth about the exact sensation of its flavor.

Their understanding will always be based on secondary sources,

And it won't capture the direct experience of tasting it.

The problem today with mainstream science is that it does not give much value to subjective experience.

For example,

Millions of people have experienced the phenomena of NDE or near-death experience.

But a typical physicalist would refute the experience because it is not proven in a laboratory yet.

This does not mean that the phenomena is not valid.

It simply means that we haven't yet developed the technology to prove it.

Saying that NDEs are not true because you cannot prove it is like saying that love is not true because you can't measure it.

Even a hardcore physicalist scientist won't deny the experience of love.

5.

Imagination Imagination is one of the strong pillars of scientific exploration.

When Albert Einstein introduced his theory of general relativity in the early 20th century,

It opened the door to imagining the existence of black holes,

Regions in space where gravity is so intense that nothing,

Not even light,

Can escape.

Initially,

These were seen as just mathematical oddities in Einstein's equations.

However,

Scientists like John Wheeler,

Who coined the term black hole,

Used their imagination to explore the idea that such phenomena might exist in the real universe.

Thanks to this imaginative leap and subsequent observational evidence,

Black holes transitioned from mere theoretical constructs to recognized cosmic entities,

Fundamentally reshaping our understanding of the universe.

6.

Intuition Your soul,

Spirit,

Higher self,

Or whatever you want to call it,

Already knows a lot about existence.

This is how people get insights and epiphanies.

Hence,

Trusting your intuition is the key to scientific exploration.

7.

Expression If I can't express my ideas to others,

What is the use of my scientific exploration?

Great discoveries and inventions have been made throughout history only because those explorers found the right medium to express their findings.

Hence,

It is our duty towards existence to keep expressing our exploration through discussions,

Books,

Art,

And media.

8.

Exploration A scientific explorer is like a sailor who navigates the world to explore new lands.

We have to be ready to take the road less taken and to step into the unknown.

We have to consider possibilities that no one might have considered before.

Considering possibilities which are impossible to others is a key sign of a true explorer.

Something like,

What if I can invent an anti-gravity device that can help me float in the air and that can make air travel much easier.

This might sound preposterous to an average person,

But not to a true explorer.

9.

Non-conformity Challenging the status quo is essential to being a true explorer.

If I blindly believe what the textbooks,

Media,

Governments,

Corporations,

And even mainstream scientific institutions tell me,

Then I am just a consumer of information.

I am not an explorer.

A true explorer always challenges the prevailing belief system.

For example,

When the theory of quantum entanglement was initially introduced in physics,

It was ridiculed by many prominent scientists at that time.

Einstein himself called it spooky action at a distance.

But just last year in 2022,

Almost a century later since this concept was first introduced,

The Nobel Prize in Physics was given to three scientists for their work on quantum entanglement.

Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon when two particles become so connected that the state of one instantly affects the state of another no matter the distance between them.

10.

Truthfulness Truthfulness is the courage to stand by your discovery even if the whole world is against it.

If your exploration has led you to conclusions that are different from the world,

Having the courage to speak the truth even in the face of adversity,

Ridicule,

And abandonment is the sign of a true explorer.

Many great legends have sacrificed their lives for the truth to prevail.

For example,

In the 16th century AD,

Giordano Bruno proposed that the stars were distant suns surrounded by their own planets and raised the possibility that these planets might foster life of their own.

He also believed in an infinite universe with no center.

Due to these views,

He was tried for heresy by the Roman Catholic Church and burned at the stake.

So which of the 10 characteristics that I mentioned are there in you?

I would say that if you have even 5 of these 10 characteristics,

You are already a scientific explorer.

If you don't have a background in science,

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do science.

We all have all the qualities inside us to explore anything in existence.

And through this talk,

My intention is to encourage you to rekindle that scientist within you and explore the universe.

Thank you so much for listening,

Lots of love to you,

And take care.

Reviews

I have just found this talk and it is so encouraging! I have been asking myself the questions ‘who am I’ ‘what am I’ ‘where am I’ etc for so long and have certainly had moments of clarity. This talk has reminded me to stay curious and lovingly embrace the journey of travelling through time and space! Thank you for these words Saqib 🙏

Such a clear expression of our potential as human beings, to live this life fully. (I just happen to be reading Oliver Sacks (a neropathologist/physician) “Letters”— a living example of what you so beautifully express. He, too, lived his life’s calling in ways contrary to what he’d been taught in his “training”, always going beyond the bounds of “knowing”, and forever dedicated to healing. Namaste🙏🏻

I love the way you see the world and then articulate it… thank you

Your experience was enlightening, empowering, and encouraging for me. Now is the time for me to reflect and redirect my energies. Thank you for sharing 👏🏽🙌🏽🫶🏽

Very good talk, Saqib. I had tears in my eyes. For those who dare...
Namaste ✨️ 🙏🏽💖🍀