Kripal tackles ‘The Hard Problem’

Audience members at the Oct. 4 performance of “The Hard Problem” at Main Street Theater stayed for a special post-production talk by Jeffrey Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought and associate dean of humanities at Rice. Kripal shared his thoughts on the play and answered audience questions about conversion experiences, states of consciousness and how to better integrate hard sciences with the humanities.

Kripal’s latest book, “The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge,” touches on some of the same themes and subjects as the play, Tom Stoppard’s most recent, which depicts modern scientific and philosophical arguments over the nature of consciousness. “The Hard Problem” runs at Main Street Theater through Oct. 13. (Photo by Katharine Shilcutt)