Today we welcome John Vervaeke. John is an award-winning professor at the University of Toronto in Psychology, Cognitive Science and Buddhist Psychology. His academic interests include wisdom, mindfulness, meditation, relevance realization, general intelligence, and rationality. He is the author of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Youtube series and co-author of Zombies in Western Culture: A 21st Century Crisis.
In this episode I talk to John Vaervaeke about the meaning crisis. There is a growing number of people who are struggling to find purpose in life. Society seems to be losing touch of its humanity. John argues that we can address the meaning crisis by appreciating and grounding ourselves in reality. We can find relevance by deepening our relationship with the world and the people around us. In turn, this reverence affords us peace of mind, while recognizing the interconnection of all things. We also touch on the topics of transcendence, mattering, narcissism, spirituality and artificial intelligence.
Website: patreon.com/johnvervaeke
Twitter: @vervaeke_john
Topics
03:30 Meaning and mattering
07:25 Relevance realization
13:33 Grounding and peace of mind
17:30 Horizontal and vertical transcendence
25:45 Wisdom is overcoming dichotomy
29:42 Measuring rationality
34:17 Zen Neoplatonism and Daoism
41:16 Spirituality is what remains
45:43 Care is essential to being human
49:20 The next Buddha is the Sangha
51:33 Reverence realization
58:45 The meaning crisis
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
From the Archives: Lisa Feldman Barrett || Surprising Truths about the Human Brain
David McRaney || How Minds Change
Neal Brennan || The Mind of Neal Brennan
Becky Kennedy || Good Parenting
Whitney Johnson || Smart Business Growth
Dan Tomasulo || Psychodrama & Learned Hopefulness
Sonja Lyubomirsky || The How of Happiness
Martha Beck || Living with Integrity
Laurie Santos || The Science of Happiness
From the Archives: Esther Perel || Love, Eros, and Infidelity
Jim Fadiman || Orchestrating Your Symphony of Selves
Gabor Maté || The Myth of Normal
Jordyn Feingold || Choose Growth
Tara Well || Mirror Meditation
Eric Barker || Plays Well With Others
Skye Cleary || Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Authentic Living
Colin Seale || Tangible Equity in Education
Josh Szeps || Thinking Freely
Hitendra Wadhwa || Inner Mastery, Outer Impact
Kristi Nelson || Wake Up Grateful
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Poetry of Science
Behavioral Grooves Podcast
Hidden Brain
Something You Should Know
The Science of Happiness