• Biocentrism

  • How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to the True Nature of the Universe
  • By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
  • Narrated by: Peter Ganim
  • Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,038 ratings)

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Biocentrism  By  cover art

Biocentrism

By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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Publisher's summary

Every now and then, a simple yet radical idea shakes the very foundations of knowledge. The startling discovery that the world was not flat challenged and ultimately changed the way people perceived themselves and their relationships with the world. For most humans of the 15th century, the notion of Earth as ball of rock was nonsense.

The whole of Western natural philosophy is undergoing a sea change again, forced upon us by the experimental findings of quantum theory. At the same time, these findings have increased our doubt and uncertainty about traditional physical explanations of the universe's genesis and structure.

Biocentrism completes this shift in worldview, turning the planet upside down again with the revolutionary view that life creates the universe instead of the other way around. In this new paradigm, life is not just an accidental byproduct of the laws of physics. Biocentrism takes the listener on a seemingly improbable but ultimately inescapable journey through a foreign universe - our own - from the viewpoints of an acclaimed biologist and a leading astronomer. Switching perspective from physics to biology unlocks the cages in which Western science has unwittingly managed to confine itself.

Biocentrism shatters the listener's ideas of life, time and space, and even death. At the same time, it releases us from the dull worldview that life is merely the activity of an admixture of carbon and a few other elements; it suggests the exhilarating possibility that life is fundamentally immortal. Biocentrism awakens a new sense of possibility and is full of so many shocking new perspectives that the listener will never see reality the same way again.

©2009 Robert Lanza and Bob Berman (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Copenhagen Interpretation Resurrected

This is a fascinating book which posits that if we accept the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics on face value, a new understanding of the world is possible.

Lanza marries physics with Biology to produce a scientifically grounded world-view which he calls Biocentrism. In a nutshell, the theory states that the world doesn't exist in actuality until we observe it AND since all observation takes place inside the human brain, reality is wholly a construct of human consciousness. While this sounds somewhat audacious on the it's face, there is some extremely good science behind Lanza's amazingly understandable argument and the author presents his case in a manner which is accessible to all. Even if you don't have any previous knowledge of quantum weirdness, this book is comprehendible and, if for no other reason, this makes the book useful.

If you ever wanted to understand the basic strangeness of the quantum world but felt daunted by the scope of the task, read this book and it will make sense to you. If you are initiated into such subject matter and you've started to wonder why there's been no fundamental break throughs in our understanding of the world since the first half of the 20th century, read this book. It's possible that science has been speeding down the wrong track for 75 years because scientists refused to accept what physics experiments were telling them at face value.

Whether the theory of Biocentrism is actually right, wrong or somewhere in between, it's a fascinating and thought provoking read.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely wonderful, beautiful and exciting!!!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The narration was exceptional, the theories were practically heartwarming and the outlook quite bright!!!!

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mystical hogwash, but I loved it.

The book explains the paradoxes in physics more succinctly than any other I've come across. Even for the listener who hasn't heard them before, this very short book makes them understandable.

The author's brief biographical sketch about his youth and his sister are very moving and well worth listening to the book alone.

I don't agree with his theory that consciousness creates reality, but when he's writing those parts of the book he's writing like a poet and it flows perfectly.

He writes and explains so well that if the Imp of the Perverse gets on my shoulder at a party, I'd feel perfectly comfortable bringing up the points he lays out in the book and defending them as real while knowing all along that it's just pseudoscience.

It's easy to develop a pseudoscience while merging a theory of consciousness (I'd recommend "Who's in Charge" for a good book on consciousness) with the mysterious of physics (entanglement, double slit experiment, superposition, Copenhagen interruption and so on).

I enjoyed the book because it was so well written (and read). This book just goes to show one can reject the main theme but still learn a lot and be entertained.


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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS

F**cking Outstanding !
I enjoyed the time spent being able to sit back in meditation and listen to the Wisdom within this book. I am definitely more equipped now to handle conversations with the subjects of Creation, scientific theories, and philosophy. Both basic and advanced concepts 💡 explained. Hallelujah !
הללויה !

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Rambling Muddle

At one point in this book the author starts talking about his awful childhood. It comes out of nowhere and seems to have nothing to do with the thesis of the book. After a relatively long biographical tangent, he returns to an in-depth explanation of the basis of quantum theory which can be found in dozens of books on the subject. That's when I stopped listening. Judging from the other reviews I doubt I'm missing some great revelation later in the book or anything to support the claims made in the book that, based on quantum theory, all reality is in our minds. That's also the basis of some pretty good sci-fi stories but there's no more empirical evidence for the claims in this book than there is that The Matrix exists. Don't waste your time.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A First Rate Intellectual Scam

I download lots of books on the expectation that they will expand my knowledge or entertain me, and frequently both. Mostly I get what I expect, but not so with this book.
Within the first chapter, I knew I was in for a bumpy intellectual ride. I had to stop the book to write down the errors in logic, not a good sign. I am not a scientist, but I have read widely enough to spot an intellectual scam. Usually they start with the setup that only two possibilities exist; mine and everyone else's. They then proceed to demonstrate how everyone else's is wrong. Now, it goes without saying -- in the scam -- that since there are only two possibilities, and everyone else's is wrong mine must be right. That's how an intellectual scam works, and it is exactly the logic used in this book.
There are many fine books available on tape on astronomy, biology, the cosmos, and evolution; they are usually based upon pier-reviewed science. This book does not deserve to be on the same shelf with them.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not pleased

halfway through - I really could have done without Mr. Lanza's discussion of his life, his abusive childhood and his sister being beat. Glad his life turned out so well; really didn't want to hear about it here, though. Just wanted to hear about the theory. Probably would not buy over again, if I had the chance. trying to decide whether to finish the book or not.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome integration of ideas to bridge science gap

So the author uses personal stories in his narrative. It makes the delivery more tangible and human. Lanza's struggles and tragedies, not doubt, fuel his search for bridging the gaps in physics (science), spirituality and the nature of self.


His work is well grounded in the scientific method (observation) and well researched. He directly attacks ideas such as "string theory" as questionable science because it relies on obtuse math. He doesn't say "string theory" is wrong, merely that modern physics uses very sloppy grounding for its assertions.

The book is a fantastic "whack up the side of my head". Consciousness has no explanation in physics. That does not mean science is bunk, but merely that we have no tools to account for consciousness. His book presents the idea that biology (life itself) defines the Universe and not the other way around.


Seen this way, then the human spiritual understanding of consciousness and the scientific method of observation are on a path to converge.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Biolology, Physics with Insight and Courage

This is an extraordinary book for those individuals with the intellectual skills required to analyze Dr. Lanza???s and Dr. Berman's theories, in a logical and open minded fashion. I would strongly urge you to first read the book Quantum Enigma by the physicists, Bruce Rosenblum Phd and Fred Kuttner Phd, PRIOR to reading Biocentrism, as it will give you a grounded NO-nonsense description of the ???quantum strangeness??? in physics that Dr. Lanza and Dr. Berman are discribing their book. I especially want to complement Dr. Lanza for his courage in sharing the "emotionally difficult" stories from his personal life. Both Dr. Lanza and Dr. Berman are highly respected scientists which lends great credabilty to their theories expounded in Biocentrism.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Food for thought

Amazingly this book talks about the same teachings I am receiving from my meditation teacher who follows the precepts of many of the Eastern philosophies (Hindi, Buddhism etc) as well as aspects of the teachings of Christ as my teacher has read them from the original languages and different and more up to date interpretations of thoes languages from the generally accepted ones used popularly today.

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6 people found this helpful