John Vervaeke: Evil, Psychedelics, and the Roots of Consciousness

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2020

⏱️ 240 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 John Vervaeke on the meaning crisis and integrating Buddhism with Christianity via psychedelics, weaving cognitive science and philosophy.0:00 Introduction2:43 "Affordance" in Cognitive Science7:28 Uses of "meaning"10:10 Materialism vs Physicalism12:48 "Truth": Harris vs Peterson17:43 Perspectival knowledge21:13 Practicing narrative27:13 The two-world model31:13 Buddhism's influence on John33:43 Frankfurt's "bullshit"42:43 Addiction45:48 Lucifer and Frankfurt's BS55:23 What is the "meaning crisis"?1:10:23 Poetry read aloud1:11:53 Faith, love, participatory knowledge1:18:23 Platonic/Aristotelian influence on Christianity1:21:43 Reverse-engineering other points of view1:32:13 "Reason" and "love"1:47:43 Skepticism toward wisdom institutions, birth of narcissism1:49:43 Vervaeke's use of "God" (transcendence)1:54:53 Myth lost, grammar retained2:00:43 Is the meaning crisis worsening?2:07:45 Psychedelics vs meditation2:18:00 Modelling truth across knowledge domains2:21:40 "Interpretation crisis" vs "meaning crisis"2:25:50 Relevance realization2:38:50 Sacrificing wealth for meaning2:43:50 Evil: Buddhism vs Christianity2:49:35 Is Nihilism harmful or salutary?2:50:00 What could "free will" mean?2:57:20 Trolley Problem and Harris on evil3:00:50 Jungian individuation and Big 53:05:50 Cultivating character3:10:45 Self-deception3:13:00 Tony Robbins and the placebo effect3:14:15 "Being in the present moment" is bad advice3:17:10 3rd generation Cognitive Science3:24:40 Wisdom: knowing what you control3:28:15 Which theory of consciousness is correct?3:32:50 Are intelligent people more conscious or wise?3:39:00 "Reason" vs "rationality"3:41:30 Audience: objectivity / the real3:45:40 Audience: evil and the moral dimension3:48:00 Audience: meditation and anxietyRESOURCES:- Prof. John Vervaeke's info: https://www.youtube.com/user/johnvervaeke- "Meaning Crisis" series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ- John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john 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	All right, hello, toe listeners, Kurt here.
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1:03.6	Last year I interviewed Professor John Verveke,
1:06.3	and many of you thought it was one of the best interviews that you've seen,
1:09.4	so why not combine them and re-release, given that we've had a slew of new subscribers?
1:14.6	John Verveke is a professor of cognitive science at the University of Toronto, and he deserves
1:19.7	the highest superlatives I can give.
1:22.1	His ability to integrate cognitive processes with how we construct meaning is peerless, and
	...

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