John Vervaeke is a professor of philosophy and cognitive science. He’s the mastermind behind the lecture series: ‘Awakening from the meaning crises.’ We explore, in this episode, the wonder of the human cognitive system; why our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses and how we’ve lost the society-wide ability to resolve this. You can find John on Twitter @vervaeke_john, check his ‘diologos’ series, called ‘Voices With Vervaeke,’ out, join his ‘Cultivation of Wisdom’ course, and community, or join his Discord community server.

(4:07) Do you pass through deserts often? Does it feel like they play tricks on your cognition when you pass through?

(5:26) Why the world feels alien to us.

(11:12) The potential role of the virtual world (social media and internet culture) in bringing an axial age about.

(16:22) Why everyone is actually seeking wisdom, even though it seems our society sees wisdom as irrelevant.

(19:51 – 27:25) The most exhaustive description of wisdom, from a sensemaking perspective, you’ll hear this week

(28:00) The mythos of crazy wisdom: what neural network techniques and transformational psychotechnology have in common.

(38:41) The relationship between psychedelics and insight.

(40:40) Why drugs should be decriminalized and yet treated with sacred respect.

(43:27) Psychedelics and cognition cannot be reduced to the reductionist view that life is just the movement of atoms; how having an open mind towards the mechanics of these phenomena honors the ideals of science.

(51:58) How do most people get postmodernism wrong?

(57:52) Opponent processing: Why you always appear to be at war with yourself and why this is a good thing. Contradictory acceptance of self and others.

(1:02:54) Spirituality is not just about the inside; inside and outside are one and the same; minds are group efforts