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From Olav Drageset in Norway: Your introduction to the Mysteries Trilogy is an important reminder that there are many academics who are looking beyond materialism, but it is not easy to convince the hard sciences that there is something beyond. Worldview is extremely difficult to change, especially of others. Many wars are fought over that.
I might have found a way of modeling the mind and the consciousness by means of physical theories. See amatterofmind.net if you are interested. I think that is what your visionary scientists are searching for. It provides a complete postmaterial cosmic model based on string theory and introspection. Download published articles and/or buy the book if you find the ideas of interest.