Iain McGilchrist and John Vervaeke: God and the Meaning Crisis

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2022

⏱️ 131 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Iain McGilchrist and John Vervaeke explore the meaning crisis, the limits of technology‑driven rationality, and the deep questions of God, consciousness and being, contrasting non‑theistic and religious perspectives while debating how community and practice shape our understanding.0:00 Introduction5:44 Iain on the "meaning crisis"9:29 John on the "meaning crisis"15:10 Technology amplifies our lack of wisdom18:26 Rationality and Belief (Iain vs. John)28:35 Imaginary vs. Imaginal37:03 Non-theism vs. Religion (against meditation as spiritual redress)53:38 Not doing vs. Un-doing vs. Being passive vs. Un-Knowing1:09:22 The way God sees us vs. The way we see God1:22:06 Sam Harris, Closing yourself off to the Divine, and Terror1:29:20 The importance of Sangha (community), and how can John's neoplatonism work?1:40:43 Faith, Whitehead, and Reciprocal Opening1:47:56 Against "being present"1:54:58 Marrying a religion2:04:24 Should we certainly give up on certainty?2:06:06 On not speaking and the un‑making of TOE2:08:14 John and Iain summateSPONSORS:- Brilliant: 20% off at https://brilliant.org/TOE- NordVPN: exclusive deal at https://nordvpn.com/theories (risk‑free 30‑day guarantee)- Manscaped: 20% off and free shipping with code [EVERYTHING20] at manscaped.com (use code [EVERYTHING20])- Wren: sign up at https://wren.co/theories to plant 10 extra trees- Trade Coffee: $30 off first order plus free shipping at https://drinktrade.com/everything- ButcherBox: two steaks and lobster claw free at https://butcherbox.com/THEORIESRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzT4tcC-aag- http://theoriesofeverything.org- New TOE Website (early access to episodes): https://theoriesofeverything.org/- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything- Matthew's Adopt Responsibility podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwP_qFSXmDs-79VMFmcQQw- Garrett's This Could Be Interesting podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThisCouldBeInteresting- Physics Contest: https://youtu.be/V93GQaDtv8w- John Vervaeke: https://youtu.be/3p8o3-7mvQc- John and Bernardo: https://youtu.be/UWcTmeAs44I- John and Joscha Bach: https://youtu.be/rK7ux_JhHM4- Iain McGilchrist on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgOwc6Pe4- Iain's book (Master and His Emissary): https://amzn.to/3r7L064- Iain's book (The Matter With Things): https://amzn.to/3LELdak Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ian McGilchrist is a psychiatrist, a writer, and a former Oxford literary scholar who came to
0:05.1	prominence with his work, The Master and His Emissary, subtitled The Divided Brain and the Making of
0:10.1	the Western World. We've spoken last year regarding that very topic and the link is in the
0:13.9	description. His new book, The Matter with Things, Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the
0:19.2	World, and the links to both books are in the
0:21.2	description.
0:22.2	John Verveke is a professor of cognitive science at the University of Toronto, my former home,
0:27.4	who's one of the few scholars taking an extensive and meticulous cognitive scientific
0:31.3	approach to wisdom, Buddhism, and consciousness.
0:34.3	John and I have also spoken several times on this podcast, and you can see the
0:38.0	thumbnails here, and the links to each will be in the description as well. It's that latter topic,
0:42.5	consciousness, that in more ways than one, binds us here today. As usual, click on the timestamp
0:47.5	in the description to skip this intro. My name is Kurt Jai Mungle. I'm a Torontoian filmmaker
0:52.2	with a background in mathematical physics, and this
0:54.9	channel is dedicated to the explication of the variegated terrain of theories of everything. That is,
1:00.8	primarily from a theoretical physics perspective, so for example, grand unification and quantum
1:06.1	gravity, but as well as understanding the role consciousness has to play to the fundamental
1:10.4	laws, provided these laws exist at all in a form know has to play to the fundamental laws,
1:14.0	provided these laws exist at all in a form knowable to us.
1:15.0	Two quick announcements.
1:18.8	Firstly, there's a physics and consciousness contest on this channel.
1:22.0	The link to which will be in the description as well as the thumbnail is over here.
	...

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