Is there a hack for enlightenment?

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Science, Technology, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

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Summary

Vox's Sigal Samuel talks with scholars and authors Wesley Wildman and Kate Stockly about their book, Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering. They discuss high-tech tools like brain stimulation and neurofeedback-guided meditation that purport to enrich our spiritual lives, what possible risks they may pose to our psyches, and the ethical implications of technology-induced shortcuts to transformative meditative states. They also talk about whether such spiritual experiences are authentic rather than simulated, and whether brain-based spirit tech might help humans evolve as a species. Host: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), Senior Reporter, Vox Guests: Wesley Wildman (@WesleyWildman) and Kate Stockly (@KateJStockly), authors and researchers References: Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering by Wesley Wildman and Kate Stockly (Macmillan; 2021) SEMA (Sonication Enhanced Mindful Awareness) Lab, University of Arizona Center for Consciousness Studies (Dr. Jay Sanguinetti & Shinzen Young, co-directors) VR Church; Bishop D.J. Soto Enjoyed this episode of Vox Conversations? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode of Vox Conversations was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Can we get an authentic spiritual experience from technology?
0:06.0	I'm Segal Samuel and I write for Vox about the intersection of technology with ethics and religion.
0:14.0	And today, I'm your host for Vox Conversations.
0:26.0	Imagine that you're walking into a supermarket.
0:30.0	It looks kind of unusual.
0:34.0	The banner over the door says,
0:37.0	the scattered supermarket of special spiritual services.
0:41.0	When you walk through the aisles, you don't see food or drinks.
0:45.0	You see dozens and dozens of cutting-edge technological devices.
0:50.0	Each one claims to offer you a shortcut to enlightenment,
0:54.0	a higher, more spiritual state of consciousness.
0:58.0	One is full of virtual reality headsets.
1:02.0	Another is full of psychedelics synthesized in a lab.
1:08.0	Another is packed with neurofeedback headbands that guide you through meditations.
1:15.0	And another contains EEG caps meant to stimulate your brain into a peak experience.
1:25.0	This supermarket is a fiction for now.
1:31.0	There's currently no one place where you can go to buy all these devices.
1:36.0	But all these devices are in development,
1:39.0	if not already hitting the market.
1:42.0	Kids Dockley and Wesley Waldman are researchers at Boston University's Center for Mind and Culture.
1:47.0	They call these devices SpiritTech.
1:50.0	That's also the title of their new book.
	...

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