Rapid Advancements in VR and AI: Understanding Opportunities and Necessary Boundaries With David Christopher Lane, PhD

Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan

Dr. Steven Hassan

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Our brain is a like a VR headset. That’s what it is. It renders incoming data streams to interpret different worlds,” David explained. He proposed that we already live in a symbolic universe, such as the trash can on a desktop being merely a symbol of an action taken on a computer. “VR is a much better model to explain what our brains do,” he continued. David Christopher Lane, PhD and I discussed his experiences with the worlds of Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and neuroscience. I noted that technology could be used for good or evil and that it is essential to have responsible, ethical guidelines for such tools. David agreed, “The bad actors using AI, just like the internet, allowed lots of people to have voices that probably should never have had voices.” He then mentioned how podcasters such as Joe Rogan broadcast a lot of messages that are “not credentialed, not great historians, believing in all sorts of weird stuff.” We spoke about developmental psychology and ideas of mature self-knowledge, including values and beliefs that allow us to investigate and evolve our systems of consciousness and decision-making. David noted that in his critical thinking class, they discussed how one becomes a good critical thinker. “It is our ability and willingness to admit to being wrong or mistaken.” This is a fascinating discussion. AI is here and will get more prominent. Come listen and learn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Stephen Hassan with another episode of my podcast, Cult Conversations,
0:09.6	The Influence Continuum, with me, Dr. Steve Hassan.
0:14.2	I have a part two with my colleague and friend David Christopher Lane, who has been helping me for decades with Indian
0:24.9	guru cults and other interesting shaman, weird people who are taking advantage of people.
0:33.6	And we've reconnected. We went to a brainmind.org conference in Menlo Park had an awesome time learning about neuroscience.
0:46.0	And I wanted Dave to do a part two because Dave, you've been really interested in the connection of the brain, mind, spiritual problem or paradox.
1:00.8	And you've been doing groundbreaking research in the neuroscience using virtual reality
1:09.4	headsets. And you have some fascinating takes on that.
1:14.8	But let me just say that you are professor of philosophy and sociology at Mount St. Antonio College,
1:22.1	and you're widely recognized for your pioneering work in philosophy, consciousness study,
1:29.0	artificial intelligence, and virtual reality education.
1:32.3	And you've written numerous books, including the making of a spiritual movement, the untold
1:37.6	story of Paul Twitchell and Eckenkara, the Radzwami tradition exposing cults
1:45.0	when the skeptical mind meets the mystical,
1:48.4	the unknowing sage,
1:50.3	the virtual reality of consciousness.
1:52.6	And man, oh man, you have done 530 books,
1:57.9	3,000 audiobooks, 200 mini films.
2:01.6	You are a monster academic in my mind.
2:06.6	I'm so impressed by you, and you're a world champion body surfer for many years.
2:13.6	But I really want to get into the topic of, you know, what we're now realizing
2:21.2	every major social media digital platforms using AI. I'm personally overwhelmed by the choices.
	...

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