Is the universe conscious? Panpsychism, religion, and the modern search for meaning

For much of the past century, science seemed to be winning the story of reality. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people with no religious affiliation grew by more than 270 million — nearly a quarter of humanity, according to Pew Research Center.

Many of these so-called “nones” look to science alone to tell them what is real. They’re four times more likely than believers to say “the natural world is all there is,” and far less likely to think science has limits.

But lately, something seems to be shifting. Across the U.S., more people describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” In the U.K., Gen Z church attendance is ticking up. Meditation retreats sell out, ayahuasca is a household name, and “energy work” has its own subreddit.

Is science enough to explain who we are and why we’re here?

It’s a good question for noted philosopher Philip Goff, a professor at Durham University and proponent of panpsychism — the idea that consciousness pervades the universe. Goff writes a philosophy Substack and is the author of Why? The Purpose of the Universe (2023) and an upcoming book on religion.

The Well spoke with Goff about consciousness, mysticism, and what a reimagined religion might look like for a skeptical yet meaning-hungry modern age.

The Well: Panpsychism’s roots stretch back thousands of years. Why do you think this ancient idea is finding new relevance now?

Goff: Scientists have tried to solve the “hard problem” of consciousness by giving a complete explanation of conscious experiences in terms of physical processes in the brain. But despite decades of trying, nobody has the first clue as to how to solve the hard problem. So then some people said, what if we reverse it — start with simple forms of consciousness and build upward to understand the physical world. Hence a resurgence of panpsychism, which views consciousness as fundamental to the universe.

The Well: Panpsychism isn’t exactly spiritual, but doesn’t it speak to the same human longing for meaning?

Goff: I think panpsychism does offer a bridge between the scientific and spiritual worldviews. Panpsychists don’t believe in anything supernatural or outside the physical universe. But if reality is infused with consciousness, this does at least open up the possibility that mystical experiences might be genuine insights into the nature of reality rather than just strange psychological delusions. 

There is also a form of panpsychism known as “cosmopsychism,” on which the universe itself is conscious. I’ve argued that cosmopsychism also offers an answer to what’s become known as the “fine tuning of physics for life” — the striking fact that the constants of physics are, against incredible odds, just right for life to exist. Traditional believers say, that’s God. But if you already think the universe is conscious, then perhaps the universe fine-tuned itself — a natural (not supernatural) middle path that explains much of what religion deals with.

The Well: Last year, you announced your leap from atheism to Christianity. What prompted that shift?

Goff: Growing up, I thought the core of Christianity was: We’re all sinners and we deserve to go to hell, but Jesus is going to take the rap, and if we accept that kind gift, we can go to heaven. 

Actually, my recent research revealed that this view was pretty much invented 500 years ago by the Western Protestant reformers like Luther and Calvin. In the Eastern Church, God isn’t interested in finding someone to punish for our sins; God is interested in becoming one with the physical universe, including humanity. So here I found a form of Christianity that fits with mystical experiences that I take very seriously.

The Well: What kinds of mystical experiences?

Goff: It might be an artist who loses the sense of self while creating, or someone looking up at the night sky and feeling that the line between “me” and “everything else” has dissolved. Philosophers sometimes call these “nondual” experiences — moments when the usual boundary between ourselves and the world seems to fall away.

Different cultures and religions have various ways of explaining these experiences. In the Eastern Christian tradition, they speak of oneness with God, distinguishing between God’s unknowable essence and God’s human form of existence, which is taken on so that humans might share in the divine life. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” an image of deep, organic unity between the human and the divine.

The Well: You’ve called religion a “social technology.” What do you mean?

Goff: Throughout human existence, people have felt a sense of connection to a greater reality. Today, many describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious,” and that’s fine. But religion offers something valuable as a kind of social technology, linking individuals and communities to that greater reality through shared rhythms — the changing seasons, and life’s milestones like birth, marriage, coming of age, and death. It connects personal spirituality to the life of the community and the world as a whole.

Of course, many people say, “but I don’t believe the doctrines,” and that’s a real concern. Religions do make truth claims. Still, I think it’s too narrow to focus only on belief and ignore the broader social dimension. There’s a great deal of wisdom and value in the social technology that religion provides.

The Well: But don’t you have to be a believer to be religious?

Goff: I’m working on a book called Heresy, which explores how we might use the social technology of religion even without accepting all its doctrines. 

One way is to rethink what faith means. The historian Karen Armstrong argues that our modern focus on belief is a distortion that arose after the scientific revolution. The Greek word pistis, usually translated as “faith,” really meant something closer to commitment or heartfelt engagement. I don’t think faith is about certainty or even belief; it’s about hope, trust, and the decision to live something out. You can fully accept a religion’s doctrines, or simply live in hope that they’re true.

Another option is to be a bit heretical. I describe myself as a slightly heretical Christian. I’m skeptical about parts of the tradition — I don’t believe in the virgin birth, I don’t think God is all-powerful, and I think much of the Bible simply gets things wrong.

The Well: And for someone with no faith in the doctrines at all — is there still value in the “social technology” of religion?

Goff: A third approach, sometimes called the “fictionalist” view, is to see religion as a profound metaphor. Many Christians I know take the story of Jesus not literally but symbolically, as revealing the divine not as the king in the castle, but as the naked executed peasant, the guy who hung out with sinners and outcasts. That’s a profound way of understanding what the divine is, even if all the stories of miracles are not literally true. 

The Well: The newest “social technology” shaping human life is artificial intelligence. Could it ever connect to that “higher consciousness” you describe?

Goff: Panpsychists don’t see consciousness as something supernatural or magical, so in principle, artificial consciousness should be possible. But I don’t think consciousness depends on complex information processing, so I doubt we’ll get it from large language models, extraordinary as they are.

To me, artificial consciousness would mean artificial life — something as simple as an artificial bacterium to start with, and perhaps in 5,000 years an artificial conscious being as complex as a human.

What’s missing right now are visionaries reimagining how AI might positively transform human existence, even our spiritual lives. I’m inspired by the paleontologist and heretical priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who imagined that we would become more informationally connected, and that it would lead to a higher form of life and consciousness.

If we cultivate a hopeful vision, it might draw us away from AI’s darker paths. That’s close to how panpsychists see reality: not supernatural, but deeply interconnected. A spiritually infused understanding of our material, human world.

We interviewed Philip Goff for The Well, a Big Think publication created in partnership with the John Templeton Foundation. Together, we’re exploring life’s biggest questions with the world’s brightest minds. Visit The Well to see more in this series.