On the Black Mountain Retreat in Asheville, NC, in April of 1999, I first had this "idea" about co-creating a network of scientists and researchers all over the world who want to put forward an alternative to present-day science, based on principles laid out in CWG.

The following thoughts and ideas are very preliminary, but I decided to still write them down and even make them public to initiate discussion, dialogue, even controversy -- and to be able to better find out for myself "where I am going".

I see three main stages in the history of science (since the Middle Ages, in our western civilization):

• Stage 1: "Science serves Religion": In the Middle Ages, science was done "to honor God", to serve the purpose(s) of the (Roman Catholic) Church. Most sciences originated in theology, which was considered the "main science", and whenever a "conflict" occurred between teachings of the church and teachings of science, a major problem resulted (e.g., discoveries of G.Galilei, to name a famous example).
• Stage 2: "Science releases Metaphysics": Starting with the renaissance, scientists gradually became "independent" from the church and theological dogmas and stands. The so-called "objective scientific methods" came into place; experiments had to be reproducable; metaphysical considerations were not only unimportant, but basically out.
• Stage 3: "Spirituality-inspired Science": I believe that if humanity wants to survive the next decades and centuries, the way science is done and perceived in society has to change fundamentally. One way to see this change is to apply a fundamental question in CWG to everything that happens in science: "What would love do now?" In this "new science", spirituality is an integral part of the scientific enterprise. However, it does not dogmatically "dictate" the rules for scientists but enables them to individually and collectively co-create their scientific endeavors, in an interactive dialogue with all people of the global human society.

For this to happen, many "ingredients" are necessary. First and foremost, scientists who feel that their spiritual beliefs cannot be "lived out" in their lives as scientists (for various reasons) have to network and discuss their ideas about a true and viable alternative to Stage-2-Science and come up with ideas, how to gradually evolve to a Stage-3-Science.

In this process, the exchange about ideas and experiences between the scientists and researchers is important to reflect about the developments and changes that are happening.

Some of the questions that I feel have to be (constantly) asked and considered in this process are:

• How could science look like if the CWG principles were to be lived?
• What are the main obstacles to move forward in this direction?
• How can an evolutionary transition to a New Science be accomplished?
• What is the purpose of science in society?
• Dialogue between scientists and non-scientists about scientific ideas and developments
• Personal experiences in applying CWG principles as a scientist

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