Massimo’s new book on the nature of philosophy ... The distinctive way philosophy makes progress ... Are philosophers really more like artists? ... Has philosophy “gotten better”? ...

Karl Jaspers and the “Axial Age” theory of history ... The “world religions" paradigm ... Jack: The Axial Age theory has racist vibes ... Does it make sense to talk about “progress” in history? ... Jack avoids vapid moral relativism ... Does the Axial Age theory find unity where none exists? ...

Bob’s love for the supercosmic ... “Design” and “purpose”: Bob explains... ... …and Dan objects ... Is there a direction to natural selection? ... Nobody understands consciousness ... Is humanity making moral progress? ...

David’s recent research on "self-transcendent experiences" ... Causes and effects of self-transcendence ... Is the loss of self real? ... Evolutionary explanations of mystical states ... The neurology of meditation ... Revisiting the mind-body problem ...

Understanding Saddam Hussein ≠ sympathy for Saddam Hussein ... The ethics of punishing bad people ... Dan vs. evolutionary psychology ... Is religion really behind Sunni-Shia conflict? ... The good side of tribalism ... What does “mindfulness” actually mean? ...

Virginia's new book, Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art ... The seductive realism of our online lives ... The angry poetry of Twitter ... Lamenting the loss of analog communication ... Why Virginia was proclaimed #WorseThanISIS on Twitter ...

The Cliff Notes version of Bob's first four talks ... Must a spiritual worldview include a “higher purpose”? ... How non-zero-sum games shaped religion ... Is God like an electron? ... Everyone is deluded (but salvation is possible) ... An ancient theology compatible with a modern mindset ... Questions from the audience ...

Why Jo wrote Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body ... The rift between alternative and traditional medicine ... The real effects of "fake" medicine ... Jo: Science needs to take alternative treatments seriously ... The problem with focusing on pharmaceuticals ... Bringing science and alternative medicine together ...

Mahasi Sayadaw, grandfather of the modern mindfulness movement ... How he opened meditation to lay people ... Mahasi’s approach to “insight meditation” ... Focusing on the breath and the practice of "noting" ... The process—not progress—of insight ... Pitfalls on the path ...

Dina's startup The Path teaches meditation in a modern way ... Meditation sessions as networking events ... Does God need to be involved? ... Dina's path to founding The Path ... Dina's personal practice ... The best meditation app may be a timer ...