Second System of Cognition

The Nature of Higher Consciousness with Sally Ornstein (4K Reboot)

New Thinking AllowedOct 4, 2026

Sally Ornstein discusses God 4.0, the final book by her late husband, psychologist Robert Ornstein, which argues that experiences of the divine come from a natural capacity of the brain that anyone can develop. The book claims that quieting the brain's default mode network and right parietal lobe dissolves our sense of self, space, and time, opening a 'second system' of intuitive, holistic perception. Tracing human transcendence from Paleolithic shamanic caves to modern neuroscience, she argues that cultivating this capacity through Sufi teaching stories could help humanity solve global crises like climate change.