#70 | Mona Sobhani | Science Meets Spirituality

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Mona Sobhani on how the brain works, why we behave the way we do, and the crossroads of science and spirituality. Mona Sobhani is a cognitive neuroscientist with 15+ years of experience. She received her Bachelor's of Science (Neuroscience) from the University of California, San Diego and her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Southern California. Tune in for our conversation on how the brain works and why humans behave the way they do, and how we are now at a crossroads between science and spirituality. To learn more about Mona: https://www.monasobhaniphd.com/ Chapters 0:00 Welcome Mona Sobhani 2:30 Iranian families and religion 5:07 Explaining experiences away 7:41 Her parents 10:13 The chapter that made her like science 12:50 Graduate school in neuroscience 15:27 Waiting for a tenured job 17:59 An existential crisis 20:37 A psychic's warning 23:12 She saw a death 25:42 Compounding the crisis 28:18 A psychic is not a guaranteed cheer-up 30:50 Lessons repeated over lifetimes 33:21 What regression really is 35:58 A patient who remembered little 38:33 A detail no one else knew 41:09 Her doorway book 43:42 The evidence kept piling up 46:12 Learning not to talk about it 48:42 People willing to talk to her 51:14 Changing our model of the universe 53:48 Assumptions science never questions 56:26 Losing an interconnected mindset 59:03 Feeling like gods 1:01:34 Ryan's 150 nights in a tent 1:04:09 More than meat suits? 1:06:44 Ignoring evidence is not science 1:09:16 Facing old wounds 1:11:52 Not wanting to be run by her past 1:14:29 Medium shows on TV 1:17:04 When the humanities were a safe space 1:19:37 Going against the grain is not profitable 1:22:09 What her neuroscience training said 1:24:42 Meditation and the return of dreams 1:27:16 Layers of belief 1:29:50 Writing about the science of psychedelics 1:32:25 Lowering ego defences 1:34:59 Why context and support matter 1:37:34 Every researched idea deserves a hearing 1:40:08 Deciding despite the fear 1:42:45 Living by fear 1:45:16 The limits of the scientific method 1:47:51 No guides for the transformation 1:50:21 Eastern philosophy and consciousness 1:52:57 A calendar with boxes The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com