This is a video for sharing ideas that I sense are worth sharing. Some of it is ideas i've found in the world that feel widely useful or interesting, some of it is ideas i've built over time and practiced with. Topics I cover: collaboration, teamwork, leadership, meaning.
Great video. I really appreciate it! Something I've been wondering about is how can I tell if I have a good ecology of practices? I there a certain number which is better (like a small enough number to where I can practice each of them consistently?)? Are there any questions to be asked to see if I'm going along the right path? Any and all responses are appreciated 😊
I think "good" is a moving target and maybe "good enough for now" is where we want to be. JV talks about an "ecology" having things that pull in different directions (opponent processing i think he calls it - giving example of meditation vs contemplation as opposing forces i think in one talk) so a good question might be: are my practices a proper "ecology" in this way? And if you get the sense that something might be missing - instead of a particular number or frequency, a good question might be: what do I want to be cultivating more of? Want to cultivate a warmer heart? Maybe move towards relational practices like circling, or meta/heart meditation, or service in the community. Want to cultivate more awe and wonder? Maybe contemplative practices, or walking in nature, or breathwork. Want to cultivate more resolve and determination? Maybe martial arts or distance running or lifting weights. etc etc My own practices have waxed and waned with changing times - currently trying to keep a toddler alive so meditation and exercise are only finding small windows of time - my overwhelming thought really is - don't beat yourself up about it - remember its something to play with not get right :-)
@@richardwatkins Thanks for the reply. I feel like I probably should be cultivating a greater sense of interconnectedness so maybe things like more authentic dialogue or something. Yeah, I'm about to have my first child, so I'll probably have my hands full 😅
If you want more interconnectedness then a baby is the perfect practice partner! Becoming a parent is a wild ride too and i had some real ups and downs - another opportunity to keep coming back to practice kindness (to yourself and the other parent). My favourite practice for the first few years was carrying my daughter in a sling for an hour or so every morning while my partner caught up on sleep.
Yes interested in how teams work. I did experiential work with the counselling agency I worked for and this was based on the work of Bion. I did buy his book and found it difficult to follow so looking on the internet and found this. So thanks for this.
Thanks for the comment - this video builds on his “basic assumptions” and also connects to a way to understand groups called the Let’s Go model that’s the heart of my work with teams
This is amazing! I referred to this concept clumsily in my podcast with Vickie Pham, and now I can put this in my show notes! So clear and concise! More please!
Thank you so much for saying that and referencing - did you see the other one on JV? Here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jWLUVyMthkU.html
Rich - I've just watched John Vervaeke with Jordan Petersen and I've now subscribed to you as you have made his conclusions more 'accessible' to me. FYI - I am a Problacist so I follow the Guidelines of Problacism.
Great job, Rich! Excellent summary. I'm trying to relate/integrate the 4Ps of knowing with the 4Es of 4E cognitive science (+ the 2 more from John). Can you recall if he's done this anywhere? Thanks.
Interesting. I hadn't thought to integrate them and (to me) they don't seem straightforwardly linked.... perhaps we could say that a broader and fuller view of cognition (4E) is a way to move us past an addiction to the "Propositional" way of knowing. But the 4Es seem all related and interwoven. Our cognition is related to the fact that we exist in situations (embedded), are influenced by our whole biological system (embodied), use tools (extended) and understand by doing things (enacted). And, for example our procedural knowing (eg our ability to ride a bike or play tennis) is related to ALL of these 4E factors - and id say the same of our ability to inhabit a perspective (perspectival knowing) or our "at home"ness in particular situations (participatory knowing). But then, thinking it through for the first time as i write, even our ability to grasp propositions seems related to all of the 4Es too. What was your take? Where is your line of enquiry going?
@@richardwatkins ah what a wonderful journey to have embarked on, congratulations! You’ve already planted your seeds and it’s clear you can create quality work. So I’ll be here if you choose to continue! ❤️
Do you have any advice on not going it alone? I feel like this one is what I struggle with the most out of the 5. I am in my last year of highschool, and in many ways, I feel stuck.
Hey - sorry i missed this - i just came to review comments. Feel to give an attempt at a proper answer since you had to wait. High school can be a tough place to find kindred spirits and im certanly not a guru on any of that. I think it took me time to find folks and also i went through a number of phases of life with different people - learning a bit from everyone but also finding a flow of new folk as i grew. If you are a year away from finishing, maybe thinking about what you do next through the lens of "where might I meet new folk who care about some of the same things I care about or challenge me in interesting ways" - sometimes this is with further study or work or just the kind of events you go to - especially where there are "scenes" (i was on the london poetry scene for a few years and it was a very stimulating phase of my life). But at the same time, sometimes just taking a step back and really feeling into "who in my life already do I love to be around? who do i feel alive with?" there are no perfect people out there and sometimes the answer is closer to home and not always exotic. Doing a combination of "exploring for new folks" and "investing in people you already have" is the imperfect work we all do to not go it alone...
Nothing is absolute - all is relative. Especially, perspectival and participatory knowledge will overlap and merge and complement one another. The boundaries are clearer and more readily grasped when contrasting propositional and procedural categories.
Yes, i see it that these four ways of knowing are DISTINCT (you can distinguish each way of knowing) but not SEPARATE (as you say, they merge and overlap - or as JV might say "interpenetrate") - thanks for the comment
This might now be the go-to summary that I share with people to explicate Four P Knowing. With deep thanks for the way in which you've bottled all of this up, Rich. Great summary here of one corner of John Vervaeke's work!
Great, I was looking to learn more about perspectival and participatory knowing and here you have such a great video that sends people in the right direction. Your tone and pace were great. Really matching the content! Cheers, keep up!
2:15 There is a path to a more meaningful life 1) Relate beyond the Intelectual: Ideas and beliefs are insufficient Pay attention to quality of relationships We are not just logical thinkers living inside our heads, we are embodied beings 4:40 2) See how you see Insights Finding better ways to see the world 6:10 3) Cut through bullshit Truth doesn't matter Cause of the meaning crises Ego trap Admit the bullshit that happens in your life 7:15 4) Don't go alone If meaningful life is about relating we are going to need good relationships And good relationships are mutually transformational. We open each other up to more and more wisdom and we can experience way more genuine experience together rather than alone. And this happens in diverse communities. Cultivating this kind of relationships, this kind of conversations is vital for a meaningful life. Bad relationships also narrow our perspective and narrows our frame, but the answer to this isn't to go it alone. 8:20 5) Put life into practices How do we do it? a more meaningful life isn't cultivated by thinking about meaning but by the habits and practices that make up our daily lives and bring about that sense of aliveness into it. If you look at religious traditions they do this well, they don't just have ideas they also encourage habits and practices and rythms and for by john vervaeke we build meaningful life supported by an ecology of practices 8:50 Martial arts Meditation A group process called circling These dialogos conversations Playing a musical instrument Climbing Walking in nature or Sunday lunch with your family The point is not just what you do but how you do it, the intention and attention with which you participate turn activities into practices that support you to live meaningfully WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR FINAL OR PERFECT SETS OF PRACTICES WE ARE LOOKING TO PLAY WITH PRACTICE. Play like we are with how we play an instrument or game where you're serious without being server and sincere without being dogmatic. And ultimately this serious play is how we learn things, is how we enjoy the process of living meaningfully without stressing whether we get it perfectly because MEANINGFUL LIFE IS NOT THE KIND OF THING THAT CAN BE PERFECT.
After exploring some of John's work and the work of people connected to him, I think that a brighter future with more likelihood of survival lies in philosophically exploring theoretical foundations of social media that are virtuously structured somehow with extreme free speech, extreme physiological safety, and extreme communication between the two, towards a decentralized and exponential mutual objective discovery of truth, goodness, and beauty. World leaders have the power to block out the sun with soot and cause a global food shortage, so I think that making sure some of the most popular social media is an exponential probability and morality deduction machine is a step towards stopping catastrophes like that from happening. And I also think that Thomas Sowell's book Intellectuals and Society is a book that's offers a big puzzle piece for understanding this on a deeper level.
Many millennia of philosophy and wisdom boiled down to 50h by John Vervaeke and then to 10 min by you Rich. That is an astonishing achievement! Thank you!
@@richardwatkins when the reduction of details is done right, it allows you to see what is at the core. It undresses the archetype, gives you a perspective that allows you to stand closer to the truth and to see further than before.
Disagree at present conjuncture with point 4. , Dia-Logos is now impossible for vast majority, including University which have become ideologically wedded to neo-liberalism etc. Aloneness is now the only route/ path for insight Also, point 5. Not all practices are equal, One can practice mindfulness meditation for years and merely become a Meditation requires a central prominence given to what Ramana Maharishi called Self Inquiry if it’s to lead to “enlightenment”- that is to say, the hard and fast “knowledge” that what I am is pure infinite consciousness.
Not for me to say for sure - we all find our own way - but my take: Aloneness is important part of life/practice, but it’s insufficient. A meaningful life means participating with people - engaging even if it’s challenging and when it’s challenging it’s not just because of the other people. As for practices, agree with broader point - it’s not that all are equal - it’s that none are sufficient - need an ecology.
More intellectual masturbation, that does not help. its well done, its fascinating, its captivating, but it doesn't help. Try going through these four Ps when your feet are in the proverbial flames, and see for yourself.
I take your point that frameworks are not valuable for Their own sake and often get stuck in the abstract. But I think you’ve missed the point in this one - you’ve basically just said “this as a concept ( propositional knowing) isn’t helpful” which is kind of the whole point of the framework which actually points you away from “intellectual masturbation” and towards things that do help. I agree that we don’t need to “go through the ps” when we are under pressure but we’d be good to remember (like you say) that ideas won’t help us and that we would do better to bring your full presence (perspectival knowing) and notice how you are participating (participatory knowing). Some frameworks are shit but this one is good.
