# What is Biocentrism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645 "2018-10-08T06:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/1 "2018-10-08T06:13:42Z")
I heard the idea floated around but to be honest it don’t know what it is. I mean I hear biology and consciousness but I really don’t know what it is per se. Does someone know? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/2 "2018-10-08T07:31:05Z")
_Where_ did you hear the idea floated about? _What_ exactly did you hear? That one word means \*at least \*two _very different_ things. One’s a fairly standard model of ethics, one is wooo crap. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/4 "2018-10-08T08:20:47Z")
For instance, according to biocentrism, I, being a living being, have a greater intrinsic value than the poster above me, who is not. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/5 "2018-10-08T08:30:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > For instance, according to biocentrism, I, being a living being, have a greater intrinsic value than the poster above me, who is not. That’s the best spam report ever! 🙂 The mods will love you. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/6 "2018-10-08T11:05:17Z")
Code for ‘intelligent design’, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/7 "2018-10-08T11:16:29Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Code for ‘intelligent design’, I think. According to Wiki, [not really.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocentrism_(ethics)) ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/8 "2018-10-08T12:07:44Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Where_ did you hear the idea floated about? _What_ exactly did you hear? That one word means \*at least \*two _very different_ things. One’s a fairly standard model of ethics, one is wooo crap. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > According to Wiki, [not really.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocentrism_(ethics)) That’s the “standard model of ethics” one. The “woo crap” one is a theory put forward by [Robert Lanza.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lanza#Biocentrism) The CBC Radio program _Ideas_ broadcast an [interview with Lanza](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/biocentrism-rethinking-time-space-consciousness-and-the-illusion-of-death-1.3789414) a couple of years back, if you’re interested in learning more detail from the man himself. Having read the description on the CBC website, I’m highly skeptical; but I haven’t listened to the whole program, so maybe he makes a better case for himself than the CBC editors did. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/9 "2018-10-08T12:26:54Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > That’s the “standard model of ethics” one. The “woo crap” one is a theory put forward by [Robert Lanza.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lanza#Biocentrism) The CBC Radio program _Ideas_ broadcast an [interview with Lanza](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/biocentrism-rethinking-time-space-consciousness-and-the-illusion-of-death-1.3789414) a couple of years back, if you’re interested in learning more detail from the man himself. > > Having read the description on the CBC website, I’m highly skeptical; but I haven’t listened to the whole program, so maybe he makes a better case for himself than the CBC editors did. Neither the ethics model nor the woo version have anything to do with “intelligent design”, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/10 "2018-10-08T12:39:05Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > That’s the “standard model of ethics” one. The “woo crap” one is a theory put forward by [Robert Lanza.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lanza#Biocentrism) I dunno. He seems like a legit scientist. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/11 "2018-10-08T14:26:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I dunno. He seems like a legit scientist. Heh. Linus Pauling seemed like a legit scientist until he began working in an area outside his area of expertise. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/12 "2018-10-08T15:52:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Neither the ethics model nor the woo version have anything to do with “intelligent design”, as far as I can tell. The Lanza BS is the Strong Anthropic Principle mixed with a complete misunderstanding of quantum physics.[Nothing new there](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mysticism). Deepak Chopra’s been doing it for years. I think if Heisenberg and other quantum pioneers ever find out how much the woo-heads abuse their work, we could use their rotating corpses as free energy for everyone for millennia. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/13 "2018-10-08T17:06:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Heh. Linus Pauling seemed like a legit scientist until he began working in an area outside his area of expertise. Right. Pauling was a physicist and a chemist making Interesting Statements about biology and medicine. Lanza is an MD (the only advanced degree he seems to have) making Interesting Statements about physics. It should perhaps be emphasized that an MD is not a PhD. It isn’t even the same kind of thing as a PhD: Whereas a PhD has to advance a field to earn their degree, an MD merely has to complete undergraduate coursework and then complete vocational training including an apprenticeship. An MD isn’t a guarantee of being able to do independent original research. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/14 "2018-10-08T18:07:19Z")
I think one of the things he said was that there was no difference between the macro world and the quantum (or I guess micro), as a way to get around how Newtonian physics still applies at macro but not quantum (that’s the extent of what I know about quantum physics). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-biocentrism/822645/15 "2018-10-09T04:26:31Z")
So we _are_ talking about the Lanza woo crap. You had the answer to your GQ in my first reply, then - it’s pseudoscientific bullshit with no basis in real science.