Episode 02: The Meaning Crisis (and what to do about it)
Episode 2 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw award-winning lecturer Dr John Vervaeke come on to the podcast to talk about wisdom and the ‘Meaning Crisis’.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
How the ‘meaning crisis’ partly comes from information overload in the modern era.
The roles of religious and non-religious structures in finding deeper meaning.
The vital importance of cognitive distribution.
John Vervaeke, PhD is a professor of cognitive science at the University of Toronto. His deeply complex, 50-part YouTube series ‘Awakening from the Meaning Crisis’ integrate science and spirituality to explore the very essence of humanity.
Key takeaways:
The Meaning Crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
“You’re seeing another symptom of the Meaning Crisis because of COVID: the great resignation. People are refusing to go back to work. They’re willing to take a hit to their standard of living because they want to go back to a more meaningful existence than the one they had pre-COVID.”
Humanity requires certain structures in order to answer moral or philosophical questions.
”We need something like religion to address our lack of belonging, yet for most of us, the existing religions are no longer viable. For all kinds of historical, scientific and cultural reasons. That’s another way of saying what The Meaning Crisis is. We desperately need the functionality of religion, and yet we are are desperately terrified of moving to that place.”
Psychedelics are part of a long-standing tradition of using outside influence to shake up thinking.
“I think Aidan Lyon is right, that we shouldn’t reduce psychedelic experiences - which are mind-revealing experiences - just to the ingestion of substance. If you look across the traditions, wisdom traditions use all kinds of disruptive strategies: sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, food deprivation - to throw that noise into the system.”
The best place to find John Vervaeke is here.
See you next week!
