Parallax

Alex Ebert at the Stoa:

After listening to Alex Ebert’s fantastic presentation ‘Dead Cool’ at the Stoa we thought we would invite Alex, who like Alexander Bard, is a pop star turned philosopher for a discussion on ‘The Philosophy of Cool’.  What is cool in the age of attentionalism?  What is fake cool and what is real cool? How is cool related to Réne Girard’s theories of mimetic desire.  Originally part of the Sweeny vs Bard podcast, we thought it exemplified a lively round table and should be part of the Strange Attractor series.  After all ‘cool’ is a strange attractor and mysterious enough to merit a serious conversation.

Alex Ebert is an erstwhile multiplatinum songwriter and Golden Globe-winning film composer now taking up philosophy in New Orleans.   He is currently finishing his first book, Dead Cool, an analysis of sociodynamics and status anxiety in the age of Cool.

Alexander Bard: Alexander Bard is a Swedish author, lecturer, artist, songwriter, music producer, TV personality, philosopher and political activist, and one of the founders of the Syntheist movement along with his co-author Jan Söderqvist. His books include “The Futurica Trilogy”, “Digital Libido” & “Syntheism”.

Thomas Hamelryck is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Bioinformatics Centre at the University of Copenhagen Biocenter. His academic research interests revolve around  Machine learning, Bayesian statistics, Protein Structure Prediction, Probabilistic Programming, Deep Learning.  He is also an enthusiast of Réne Girard, and denies all rumours that he was once the keyboard player for Depeche Mode.

Jonathan answers some of my questions about The traditional schools, Jordan Peterson and God, makes a critique of modern art, spiritual materialism, and woke; he talks about the marginalia of medieval art, the meaning of Icons, Covid, the state of the world, and the city of God, and so much more.  A man of great clarity and ability to articulate the hidden meaning of things.

Here is his bio:

Jonathan Pageau is a professional artist, writer and public speaker, giving workshops and conferences all around North America. He teaches carving, speaks on art, but mostly explores symbolic structures that underlie our experience of the world.

Through his YouTube channel and podcast, The Symbolic World, he also furthers the conversation on symbolism, meaning and patterns in everything from movies, to icons, to social trends.

Articles on the The Symbolic World are contributed by several writers engaged with Jonathan in the exploration of Symbolism across all fields.

To see the Jonathan’s art, please visit his carving website, his Patreon Art page or follow him on social media.

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Dr. Chris Ryan is a bestselling book-author and podcaster. He wrote 'Sex at Dawn' and 'Civilized to Death', and is host of the 'Tangentially Speaking'-Podcast.

I had the distict pleasure to talk with him about our love of Spain, the pitfalls of civilization, civilization as a self-replicating superorganism, living the Nomad-life, developmental psychology and the developmental age of us humans today. Maybe we all are just sixteen. Which might explain our problems.

His homepage

Since the system of politics in its modern and postmodern iteration is obviously not fit to deal with the manifold problems (meta-crisis), how could a ‘post-postmodern’ approach to politics look like? What new narrative is needed to legitimize a new (metamodern/post-postmodern/post-progressive) approach to politics?

Thaddeus Russell: American professor of history, author and creator of the renegade university

Daniel Görtz: Swedish sociologist, 'meta-modern' philosopher and author of 'The Listening Society' and 'The Nordic Ideology'

Steve McIntosh: American 'integral' philosopher and author of 'Developmental Politics'

John Bunzl: British entrepreneur, economist and author of 'The SIMPOL Solution'

Max Borders: author of 'The Social Singularity' and 'After Collapse'; he is also Executive Director at 'Social Evolution' and Co-founder of the Future Frontiers Conference

HOSTED BY

Tom Amarque: Founder of Parallax

Dennis Wittrock: Holacracy Coach, Philosopher and Co-founder of the Integral European Conference www.denniswittrock.com

About the Strange Attractor Series

In the last couple of years, we have witnessed the emergence of different meta-models, theories, and future visions which try to go beyond the worldview of postmodernism: a strange attractor that seems to run on new and exciting algorithms. But what—if anything—do all of these models and movements have in common? Is there a shared deep-structure that is expressing itself, not only in new and more complex ways of thinking and cognition, but also in geopolitics, science, industry, religion, ecology, sexuality, parenting, culture, technology, architecture, the arts—and in every other area of contemporary life. Is there a strange attractor that emerges after postmodernity? What are its shape and characteristics? What new and exciting vistas and opportunities do these new vistas open up for us? Can they contribute to solving the existential problems of the current meta-crisis? What are the moral and ethical injunctions that we could infer from the present emergence of these meta-tribes.

In this Roundtable-series - hosted by PARALLAX - we invite a multitude of ‘post-postmodern’ pioneer—thinkers, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, educators, economists, and artists—to have an interdisciplinary discussion about the essence of Post-Postmodernity – given there is such a thing. More precisely, this podcast-series is an experiment which seeks to find out whether these movements and models after Postmodernity have something in common. Can these movements leave their respective bubbles and contribute something essential to the development of the world we live in? That is our primary question.

In the last couple of years, we have witnessed the emergence of different meta-models, theories, and future visions which try to go beyond the worldview of postmodernism: a strange attractor that seems to run on new and exciting algorithms. But what—if anything—do all of these models and movements have in common? Is there a shared deep-structure that is expressing itself, not only in new and more complex ways of thinking and cognition, but also in geopolitics, science, industry, religion, ecology, sexuality, parenting, culture, technology, architecture, the arts—and in every other area of contemporary life. Is there a strange attractor that emerges after postmodernity? What are its shape and characteristics? What new and exciting vistas and opportunities do these new vistas open up for us? Can they contribute to solving the existential problems of the current meta-crisis? What are the moral and ethical injunctions that we could infer from the present emergence of these meta-tribes.

In this Roundtable-series - hosted by PARALLAX - we invite a multitude of ‘post-postmodern’ pioneer—thinkers, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, educators, economists, and artists—to have an interdisciplinary discussion about the essence of Post-Postmodernity – given there is such a thing. More precisely, this podcast-series is an experiment which seeks to find out whether these movements and models after Postmodernity have something in common. Can these movements leave their respective bubbles and contribute something essential to the development of the world we live in? That is our primary question.

Greg Kaminski is a man of gravity, learning, and dedication. In our wonderful two hour conversation, the creator of the podcast ‘Occult of Personality’ and author of the new book ‘Pronaos: Reflections on the Preliminary Practices of Buddhist Tantra from a Western Perspective’, shared something fantastic:  that a particular series of preliminary practices in Buddhist Tantra known as ngondro is now openly available to people in the west, in glorious and poetic english—in full and unabashed form.  These practices, which are usually associated with traditional Tibetan Buddhism and thought to be too arcane, too difficult, and too ‘eastern’, can now be done by westerners.  Just ping brother Greg and he will set you up here:

https://www.ngondro.org/

https://www.tanagana.com/welcome

Ok, let me slow down here.  These practices are hard and they might fuck you up, Greg tells me.  They are not for everybody.  On the other hand, they are extraordinarily beautiful and transformative.

Greg’s book - Pronaos: Reflections on the Preliminary Practices of Buddhist Tantra from a Western Perspective:

J.P. is a philosopher and editor at Johnathan Pageau's 'The symbolic world':  He is also part of John Vervaeke's 'Voices with Vervaeke’ series and has contributed to articles Maniphesto Men’s movement.

https://thesymbolicworld.com/contributors/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh8TPRarb1FpwP7FSaUILC9

Part 2 in an expansive and deep conversation about Christian and Buddhist symbolism, miracles, magic, and alchemy.

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Tammy Peterson grew up in the Canadian prairies (Fairview, Alberta) on a plateau she called ‘the top of the world’; she now lives in Toronto, Canada.  She is a mother of two, a massage therapist, an artist, and the wife of the famous author and controversial professor Jordan Peterson.  She is also a great storyteller with a subtle sense of humor, and is a profoundly wise person, I discovered in this interview. I spoke to her about her near-death experience and various trials and tribulations she endured over the past couple years and her subsequent spiritual ‘rebirth’ and decision to serve God as a result.  She expressed gratitude for her husband’s work and serving him during his whirlwind world tour, but also trying to find meaning beyond her maternal role. Her big question during the tour was: 'what am I doing here'? Today she seems to have answered this question pretty definitively.  Not only has she found new meaning and spiritual direction in her life, but she has also rediscovered her love for painting. Tammy Peterson is now a pretty cool grandmother and is speaking out fearlessly on zoom thanks to the deal she made with God! I hope she will be an important voice alongside her husband in the future. We need more matriarchs like her!

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Catching up with Zak Stein and exploring how his recent work—especially on education—resonates with John’s.  A too short but very sweet conversation between these two amazing and life generating thinkers.  Essential spiritual and intellectual guides for our tragic and confused times.

John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular online YouTube Series ‘Awakening from The Meaning Crisis’, which is a rich feast of cognitive science, philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas.  What makes Vervaeke special in my opinion is the breadth of his work, but his courage descend the ivory tower and talk to people ‘on the street’—and to exemplify his ideas.  His hero is Socrates, and he embodies the living dialogue and courage that Socrates represents.

Zak Stein is philosopher of education working at the interface of psychology, metaphysics, and politics. He has published two books, including Education in Time Between Worlds, along with dozens of articles. This writing was done as he worked co-founding a non-profit and think tank, as well as teaching graduate students at Harvard, and consulting with technology start-ups. Zak is a long time meditator, musician and caregiver, which has shaped him more than any professional engagements.  (Source: https://www.systems-souls-society.com)

Link:

John Vervaek’s Awakening from the Meaning Crisis 

Zachary Stein: Covid 19: A war in heaven