John Vervaeke: Evil, Psychedelics, and the Roots of Consciousness
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John Vervaeke on the meaning crisis and integrating Buddhism with Christianity via psychedelics, weaving cognitive science and philosophy.
0:00 Introduction
2:43 "Affordance" in Cognitive Science
7:28 Uses of "meaning"
10:10 Materialism vs Physicalism
12:48 "Truth": Harris vs Peterson
17:43 Perspectival knowledge
21:13 Practicing narrative
27:13 The two-world model
31:13 Buddhism's influence on John
33:43 Frankfurt's "bullshit"
42:43 Addiction
45:48 Lucifer and Frankfurt's BS
55:23 What is the "meaning crisis"?
1:10:23 Poetry read aloud
1:11:53 Faith, love, participatory knowledge
1:18:23 Platonic/Aristotelian influence on Christianity
1:21:43 Reverse-engineering other points of view
1:32:13 "Reason" and "love"
1:47:43 Skepticism toward wisdom institutions, birth of narcissism
1:49:43 Vervaeke's use of "God" (transcendence)
1:54:53 Myth lost, grammar retained
2:00:43 Is the meaning crisis worsening?
2:07:45 Psychedelics vs meditation
2:18:00 Modelling truth across knowledge domains
2:21:40 "Interpretation crisis" vs "meaning crisis"
2:25:50 Relevance realization
2:38:50 Sacrificing wealth for meaning
2:43:50 Evil: Buddhism vs Christianity
2:49:35 Is Nihilism harmful or salutary?
2:50:00 What could "free will" mean?
2:57:20 Trolley Problem and Harris on evil
3:00:50 Jungian individuation and Big 5
3:05:50 Cultivating character
3:10:45 Self-deception
3:13:00 Tony Robbins and the placebo effect
3:14:15 "Being in the present moment" is bad advice
3:17:10 3rd generation Cognitive Science
3:24:40 Wisdom: knowing what you control
3:28:15 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 real
3:45:40 Audience: evil and the moral dimension
3:48:00 Audience: meditation and anxiety
RESOURCES:
- 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
0:00 Introduction
2:43 "Affordance" in Cognitive Science
7:28 Uses of "meaning"
10:10 Materialism vs Physicalism
12:48 "Truth": Harris vs Peterson
17:43 Perspectival knowledge
21:13 Practicing narrative
27:13 The two-world model
31:13 Buddhism's influence on John
33:43 Frankfurt's "bullshit"
42:43 Addiction
45:48 Lucifer and Frankfurt's BS
55:23 What is the "meaning crisis"?
1:10:23 Poetry read aloud
1:11:53 Faith, love, participatory knowledge
1:18:23 Platonic/Aristotelian influence on Christianity
1:21:43 Reverse-engineering other points of view
1:32:13 "Reason" and "love"
1:47:43 Skepticism toward wisdom institutions, birth of narcissism
1:49:43 Vervaeke's use of "God" (transcendence)
1:54:53 Myth lost, grammar retained
2:00:43 Is the meaning crisis worsening?
2:07:45 Psychedelics vs meditation
2:18:00 Modelling truth across knowledge domains
2:21:40 "Interpretation crisis" vs "meaning crisis"
2:25:50 Relevance realization
2:38:50 Sacrificing wealth for meaning
2:43:50 Evil: Buddhism vs Christianity
2:49:35 Is Nihilism harmful or salutary?
2:50:00 What could "free will" mean?
2:57:20 Trolley Problem and Harris on evil
3:00:50 Jungian individuation and Big 5
3:05:50 Cultivating character
3:10:45 Self-deception
3:13:00 Tony Robbins and the placebo effect
3:14:15 "Being in the present moment" is bad advice
3:17:10 3rd generation Cognitive Science
3:24:40 Wisdom: knowing what you control
3:28:15 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 real
3:45:40 Audience: evil and the moral dimension
3:48:00 Audience: meditation and anxiety
RESOURCES:
- 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.
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2020-09-15
238 min
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