Evidence of past lives: the children who remember what they shouldn't with Dr Philip Cozzolino

Reincarnation is a concept that appears in spiritual traditions from Buddishm and Hinduism, through to Kabbalah Judaism and early Christian teachings. And, while for many it's simply a matter of faith, for Dr Philip Cozzolino, the possibility of humans having lived past lives is a matter for serious research.With a PHD in psychology and more than 20 years of work in mainstream academia under his belt, in 2024 he joined the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he studies past life memories in children.Dr Cozzolino's research spans thousands of cases of kids, generally under the age of four, who claim to remember past lives, and can recount details of their supposed previous existences with remarkable detail and accuracy.On this episode of Hidden Variables, Dr Cozzolino and Tim discuss some of the most impressive cases of past life memories, and the stigma that families face when speaking about these experiences. While Dr Cozzolino doesn’t claim his research proves the existence of past lives, he does argue that it raises major questions for our current models for understanding reality, consciousness and the human condition.Artwork by Justine Hyde-Mobbs.