Ep. 1 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Introduction 

When you strike gold in the Mines of RU-vid.. It's rare and an ecstatic experience.

Coming to this from Lex Fridman, thank you to everyone who listens to this kind of thing, these times are so difficult on so many levels but it is discussions and peoples interest in things like this that gives me hope.

Ignorance is a lack of knowledge, foolishness is a lack of wisdom - that hit me

The deeper I get into these videos, the more convinced I become that they represent one of the greatest resources and public goods available to people, and remain relevant for any age. For anybody who has struggled with the Meaning Crisis, the lethargy, aimlessness, or frustration of depression, a pointless job, or chronically experienced pathology of any intensity - you can appreciate the sheer amount of lost ‘productive’ people hours, and the future ones that are at stake. Without reducing it to pure utilitarianism, think simply of the consequences of the compounding effects of knowing this when you’re 30 vs when you’re 40; a life sidetracked even temporarily by aimlessness and despair has a cost that we are often at a loss to accurately quantify, but if it is already enormous in an individual life, it is pure tragedy when added up among the many it affects, not to mention the complimentary effects that are lost by having many people committed to their own self-actualization available to network and cooperate together. This compilation should be considered Nobel-level stuff, IMHO. Thank you, Mr. Vervaeke. (Though, on the other hand, if everybody suddenly became bullshit-proof, the entire economy might collapse, but that’s another story…)

First pass: I'm doing things around the house, listening on headphones. Second pass: Still listening on headphones, sitting still, taking notes.

Book List: 1:21 - The Mindfulness Revolution by Boyce 2:15 - The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom by Ferrari & Weststrate 2:32 - How To Be a Stoic by Pigliucci 4:26 - Meaning in Life by Wolf 4:58 - Transformative Experience by Paul 6:43 - Zombies in Western Culture by Vervaeke, Mastropietro & Miscevic 7:07 - On Bullshit by Frankfurt 31:06 - Supernatural Selection by Rossano 36:38 - Mindsight by Siegel 39:55 - After Phrenology by Anderson 42:53 - Shamanism (2nd edition) by Winkelman 44:27 - The Mind In The Cave by Lewis-Williams 45:30 - Natural-Born Cyborgs by Clark 51:00 - Waking From Sleep by Taylor This is a great lecture, and his high energy/enthusiasm makes it easy to follow along. He knows where to punctuate his points, and where to offer analogies to strengthen understanding. This man is one of the great professors.

It's unbelievable that we have access to these "wells" of wisdom at the click of a button. For free!!!!! What!!!!!!?????

"I can't be unbiased that's not a thing." LOL the honesty is refreshing

And I’m ecstatic that Jordan Peterson made me aware of you! Deeply grateful.

Dear Prof. Vervaeke I've listened to whole series 6 months ago and it completely undermined my "bubble of ignorance". I am 20 years old and I felt as if my fundamental beliefs and ways of perception has been changed, but it was too much information overload for me to vitaly absorb everything and make a organized whole of it and I rather felt into kind of chaos conflicting worldviews. But I am going through all the lectures again bit by bit with notebook, writing down core concepts, reflecting and integrating. Thank you SO MUCH for your work, you have my unspeakable admiration. This has been the most "awe inspiring" series I've ever listened too. Greetings from Czech Republic With gratitude Jakub

I cannot thank you enough! Nothing has excited me as much as this for many years. It's like having Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts and a dash of Carl Sagan all together.

Just came here from your JBP conversation. *cracks open a drink and takes out a notebook* If you see this message John, your introducing Peterson to the difference of propositional and participatory helped me so much to make a huge breakthrough in my perspectives. I have been stuck where Jordan seemed stuck and, in my case, coping with my own feelings towards God eality. I was so happy to now have a new way to view what I was wrestling with that aligned so many things that seemed to be at odds. For that alone, thank you thank you thank you thank you! I feel more confident than ever about teaching my son about the world and to continue my journey of understanding. Time to start your series from the beginning.

WOW when Mr. Vervacke described how the shaman became the deer I got goose bumps. I am retired, but in my job in tool & die they would often bring me in to diagnose a machine that was malfunctioning. I know it sounds crazy but if I could feel/become the machine. I could see in my mind why the machine could behave in the manner it was. Never heard anyone describe the feeling so well.

Dear John, after having listened to 50 hours, I feel close enough to call you by your first name. You have been a great influence in my life and I am grateful that you made these videos available to everyone here. May all your wishes come true. You have a follower in me for life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤

Wow… it never ceases to amaze me how all this knowledge is free. Thank you sir!!

Jordan Peterson sent me here. - Thanks John for making this available publicly!

I have no idea what Jordan's motivation was having you on his podcast, but the fact that he did not let you speak inspired me to listen to your work. Your patience and levelheadedness despite being cutoff and dismissed was inspiring.

As a U of T alumni and former student of Prof. Vervaeke, I cannot express how glad I am that Prof. Vervaeke has moved and continues to move into this space.

You had me at Gymnopédies. Really looking forward to this series. Thank you, Mr. Vervaeke.

Politics are corrupt, values are cast aside, community is lost, interactions are contentious. It would drive anyone mad. People need meaning in life and community bonds. Someone, something, has to be trustworthy. So we seek anything to bring life back into balance.

What an incredible thing this democratisation of academia is. Thank you for your sincere efforts to excavate these difficult topics, what a fantastic process it is to be involved in!

Wow. Really thought Third Eye Drops podcast was overselling this series. 59 mins felt like 15 and I've got chills. This is how you lecture. Especially with a topic that can be terrifying yet uniquely bland and boring. I love it but if you play this type of video for a friend they are like zzzzz. His energy is great and you can tell he's not just teaching some shit he memorized in some monotone lecture but he feels what he's saying. Passion, that's the word.

This is the type of stuff thats constantly looping in my head and the future of our society. Most of the time I feel like I am the only one whos thinking about this stuff and I constantly get depressed because I feel like I am alone. I also know there are social and worldly hints and I see patterns. All this is supernatural and interconnected somehow. But if you mute the bullshit, sit silently and listen to the world, your eyes will open and you will see. Thank you for making these series.

Coming back to episode 1 after listening my way through the whole series! It’s so good! This might need to be an annual ritual for me.

Fifth time is a charm. One episode at a time, nice and slow, taking notes...

Thanks John and hello everyone, I decided to write a VOCABULARY after the 30th. video. It is getting more abstract and difficult to understand. Some concepts of the vocabulary don´t have its definition because they are mentioned, but not explained; those will on further videos. Nevertheless you can already search them and be more prepared for next videos. I will make more dynamic my posts, adding more material. I was wondering abour self-transcendence in such a violent world. I think we are connected in a way that doesn´t make sense for our survival and it induces different mental states like depression, drug abuse, suicides, etc. Of course, As you said, John! There is a historical evolution of this meaning crisis and self-destructive practices. On the other hand, I find very selfish to only focuse on myself and stay there. I disagree with the system that we have created and I am thinking to build a commune. This video is a summary of the series but not my post. Many terms will be explained later. I encourage you to contribute to this post and add new elements, analysis, arguments, related writers and reviews of the books for a deeper understanding. This video is about a summary of the next videos and The Upper Paleolithic Transition (25:50) from a social cognitive perspective and a Introduction to Shamanism. KEY WORDS: Upper Paleolithic Transition - Rituals - Psychotecnologies - Introduction to Shamanism VOCABULARY: 1. Buddhism: religion 2. Stoicism: philosophy 3. Psychodelics: it is a drug that causes thought and visual/auditory changes and altered state of consciousness via serotonin receptor agonism (agonists for the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors) include LSD (also known as "acid"), psilocin (the active constituent of psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms"), mescaline (the active constituent of peyote), and DMT (the active constituent of ayahuasca and an endogenous compound produced in the human body. 4. Contentedness: 5: Meaning: 6. Transformative Experience or quatum change: it is a radical transformation of life. 7. Mystical Experience: it is a spiritual experience that is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a sacred or religious framework. 8. Mental Health Crisis: Increasing of depression, loneliness, suicides. 9. Nihilism 10. Cynicism: 11. Futility: pointlessness or uselessness. 12. Wisdom: it is about realizing in both senses of the word, becoming aware and making real, it is about realizing meaning in life in a profound way. 13. Self-trascendence: 14. Altered states of consciousness: 15. Shamanism: it is a cultivated practice for altering states of consciousness, enhancing indsights and the ability to manipulate and control mental and emotional states. This set of disruptive and attentional practices are designed to disrupt everyday framing in insight and mindsight ways, triggering the placebo effect that can improve cognition. 16. The Flow State or "the zone": 17. Awakening experience: it is a subset of mystical experiences, in which a person comes back and says "I need to change my world. 18. Enlightenment: 19. Endimicity: condition regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. 20. Ignorance: It is a lack of knowledge 21. Foolishness: it is a lack of wisdom. When your capacity to engage your agency and to pursue your goals are undermined and threatened by the self-deception and self-destructive behavior. That is like a perennial vulnerability to cognition. 22. Absurdity: 23. Alienation: 24. Meaninglessness 25. Mindsight: it is the ability to pick up on other people´s mental states, developing the ability to pic up on the own mental states; it is going to be part of the origin of metacognition and mindfulness. 26. Trade Rituals: 27. Metacognition 28. Mindfulness 29. Initiation Rituals: Rituales that are designed to show right our commitmment to the group. 30. Exaptation: it is an evolutionary mechanism in biological terms in which a structure was made for a purpose and is able to exact it and use it for another. For example, the tongue wasn´t made to speak. 31, Shamanic rituals 32. Archetypal Figure: Term related to collective unconscious of Carl Jung´s Theory. 33. Psychotechnology: it can fit the brain and enhance the software of your cognitive machinery, for example: literacy helps to standardize a set of tools to process information, Shamanism is also a psychotechnology. 34. Natural-Born-Cyborg: Humans has the ability to turn things into tools. It means the brain can exapt things. 35. Participatory knowing: 36. Salience 37. Relevance 38. Things can make you adaptive o self deceptive 39. How to reframe (reality): Going outside the box, Altering attention, Changing perspective and what´s salient and relevant for a person. 40: Placebo effect. 41. Shaman: Person who can do insight and mindsight through disruptive and attentional practices, that becomes rituals; with the purpose to find patterns in the world. That enhances the capacity for cogniton. 42. Participatory Knowing: IMPORTANT: Connection of Meaning making, altered States of Consciousness and enhanced capacity to be in touch with the world; and what is the connection with wisdom. LIST OF BOOKS (accoding to the sequence of the video) 1. Boyce, Barry (editor). The mindfulness revolution: leading psychologists, scientists, artists and meditation teachers on the power of mindfulness in daily life. 2. Ferrari, Michel. The scientific study of personal wisdom: from contemplative traditions to neuroscience: 3. Pigliucci, Massimo. How to be stoic: using ancient philosophy to live a modern life 4. Wolf, Susan. Meaning in life: and why it matters. 5. Paul, L. A. Transformative experience. 6. Verveake, Mastropietro & Miscevic. Zombies in Western Culture; twenty-first century crisis. 7. Frankfurt, Harry G. On Bullshit. 8. Rossano, Matt. Supernatural selection: how religion evolved. 9. Anderson, Michael L. After phrenology: neural reuse and the interactive brain 10. Winkelman, Michael. Shamanism: a biopsychosocial paradigm of consciousness and healing. 11. Lewis-Williams, David. The mind in the cave: consciousness and the origin of art. 12. Siegel, Daniel. Mindsight: the new science of personal transformation 13. Clark, Andy. Natural-born cyborgs: minds, technologies and the future of human intelligence. 14. Taylor, Steve. Walking from sleep: why awakening experiences occur and how to make them permanent.

Just starting out (thanks, Rebel Wisdom!) - a half-hour in and I feel like I'm embarking on a unique adventure...

Got to episode 26 and realized i needed to start over and pay closer attention in order to absorb this message entirely. Its beyond worth it. Here we go!

Wonderful. I am currently at episode 25. It has been a long and hard way thorough half of the material, but I am starting to feel and act out the changes in my perspective and participation in the world, as well as a change in what things and how things are relevant to me. I also happen to be a professor at the university teaching technology-related material, and I am starting to change the way I teach thanks to John. The flow state is more readily available to me by mirroring John's passion. The way John teaches is a transformative experience by itself, and I can feel the humbleness and compassion in his words.

I found this very interesting. It's a striking idea that being around so many strangers is unnatural and requires much cultural infrastructure to make it stable.

Man I needed this so badly. I’m 23 and this existential crisis is hitting me so hard that it’s ruining my life in every small fabric. I hope this helps me in any way

A random person on an online forum referred to this a few years ago, and now I am here and ready to watch all episodes

One of my all-time favorite lecture series. I'm going through it again. I'm also proud to share it. I miss Joseph Campbell, and it's wonderful that there are always people bringing knowledge to us through new communication platforms. Wisdom is indeed required. Technology without wisdom brings more challenges brought about by unintended consequences and negative externalities. It seems to me that wisdom is a loving thing.

This speaks so true to my entire life atm. How? I’m not even in the same country & yet every key word you use. I’ve stated at one point or another. Feel like I’m stuck unable to fight against this current of culture that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Trapped. Watching zombies. There’s no use fighting against it either. If you point it out. The zombies turn on you. Tired of it all. Empty conversations. Empty relationships. Being treated like an object & punished socially if I dare think for myself out loud. Friends determined to ruin my life if I don’t obey. I can go on. I feel like I’m the only one that notices the world has gone completely mad, people are barely conscious. I feel as though I live in 1984. Life is a living hell, this is not a happiness centric culture.

My favorite thing about science/philosophy, it's in the business of arguments not absolute truths.

Your patience with Jordan was awesome. He's almost back to 100%. When he finally relaxes again he will be. Thank you for that. My two favorite researchers of the frontier. You should teach him Tai Chi. What a blessing.

Onboard so far. And please don't pull the use of technical jargon. As Peterson discovered, the people tuning in are a lot smarter than we've been given credit for and we're here to learn more.

It took me a full year to watch this series right through. I'm now starting it for a second time. Thank you John

Brought here by Sisyphus55. Glad this series is here, looking forward to digesting it.

THANK YOU!!!! omg.... Speechless.

I came here from Rebel Wisdom. I look forward to the series. Thanks

I heard about episode one from a Jordan Peterson tweet, but I stayed because the quality and presentation were great, unique, and interesting. The speaker has an Apocalyptic seriousness then goes back to the dawn of mankind to start the class, that's an intriguing scope. Shamanism using the placebo effect for a productive purpose is new to me, my first exposure to this concept being this episode one. I need to try the Connect the dots with four lines test on my friends. I was having trouble seeing what was written on the whiteboard, on my iPhone. Thanks for a great episode one!

Mr. Vervaeke words are insufficient to express my gratitude for you and your colleagues life’s work. I just took in this first lecture and I am thrilled and moved by what I have just experienced. Thank you for your kindness

God this is beyond brilliant. It'a a miracle that someone put all this together. Thank you prof. Vervaeke ♥️ we are forever in debt to you

The profound generosity of teaching that is so inherent in humans is strong in you. Your clarity of communication, and ability to induce "mindsight" in your audience is incredible and a mark of a great teacher. I am young, still cultivating this skill, but in my eyes quite good at it too. I would love a dialogue; conversation between people, even strangers, adept at that skill resembles telepathy, and is incredibly fulfilling to everyone involved and watching.

Who else is here because of the discussion between him and Peterson?

The passion with which you talk about these subjects is so enchanting and is rare these days, you really love what you do, thats the reason for learning, to marvel at the world!

These lectures have had a profound impact on me… and I can’t get past lecture 7. I keep re-listening.

At last an academic who has drawn together evidence and analyses the meaning crisis from a multi-disciplinary perspective. His work is path breaking. He may not have viable solutions to the crisis but at least he is heading in the right direction.

I'm back for a second viewing of the series to firm up on the details. Thank you for sharing all these clear, profound and contemporary ideas. I have no psycology background and your content is very accessible.

I am 25 episodes in and your series is literally and actively shaping my thought. Thank you so much for putting this together. I am convinced that I will be a different person on the other side. You have my greatest respect and admiration and now I'm annoying everyone I know about how they should listen to this.

Hello dr vervaeke I would like to share my brief life story in hopes you see it, I grew up in the cult known as Jehovah witnesses, after finally detaching myself from the organization I found myself spiritually lost. I found little hope in politics and my passions seemed empty I had lost my spiritual home. Then I fell on psychology. This gave me the clarity needed to begin to understand myself and others around me. Through this I found Jordan Peterson and through his podcast you…. And in turn the awakening to the meaning crisis, this very episode. I have now gone through this entire series twice ( I have adhd it’s really hard to Grasp things) and I have now gone through episodes 123 after socrates twice in a row and am implementing your meditation practice daily. I just wanted you to know that through your teachings of relevance realization and how we form the world around us snd make it our home, you have given me a home when I was lost and I am forever in your debt for that knowledge. Keep doing this life changing work and I will keep following you on the journey.

I assumed that this was filmed recently in the last few weeks. When I checked the description and found out that this was filmed pre covid I was really shocked. I really appreciate how this material is being presented. Thank you.

50 seconds into Ep. 1. First time listening to John, aside from his JP appearance. At a particularly low point in my life and currently struggling to find meaning. Leaving this comment for myself, as something to hopefully come back to after finishing the 50 hour journey through this series.

The meaning of life is simple. It took me years to find it, it became revealed to me at the lowest point in my life. An old timer told me, “son, we are not human beings seeking for a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings experiencing an human experience”. We can only find wholeness and meaningful lifestyle that consist of spiritual principles, and doing our best to each day to practice them and apply them. Things like, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, service, humility, and self control. You never have to teach a child how to lie or steal, but you do have to teach him to share and be kind and to be honest as much as possible. There is something to that, we naturally choose unspiritual ways of living. Remeber yall! Your Ego is not your amigo!!!

I was interested by you in the convoluted conversation with Jordan. I am going to watch the next video.

If you haven't already, get an exercise book out and start taking notes. This isn't a casual ride! Back here after 17hrs of lectures to take notes on these concepts he refers to throughout. Thanks John! Love your work and heart

What a series, after 4 or so weeks, I'm just entering into my second reading. So grateful, this should be taught at schools.

Just what you need to overcome crisis of purpose....another RU-vid video....genius

John. you are a complete genius. a modern day Freud, you will be known for your understanding well beyond your life.

Only 4 mins into the video. And I can already tell that this series is going to be amazing to go through.

I've been pretty familiar with these concepts most of my life but I really kind of needed to be reminded during tough times. I'm not alone in that I've had a rough go of it over the winter and this is a great prompt to re center and move forward. Thank you.

I liked his appearances on podcasts but here I can see how he really shines as a teacher/professor.

What a good teacher!

I can tell this is going to be a great series. Can't wait for the rest!

Wow! I'm so excited to see new stuff here, I'll be watching when I get home, thank you!!!

Dear professor Vervaeke, your lectures have been such a great inspiration. I stumbled on your video with Zevi as I was doing some research for a paper I am writing on Sufism, Perennialism and Mysticism. Finding out about your work has been motivating me greatly to keep going in my studies, which I just decided to pursue after traveling around the world for 7 years. The last few days I was questioning where I was headed with these studies, but coming back to some of your discussions and lectures has been reminding me why I am doing this and to keep going forward. Thank you dearly. I am now even considering heading into cognitive science, I would love to be your student one day.

I enjoyed this a lot. Been practicing mindfulness on steroids for 2 years it's unbelievable how my life has changed.

much love. much gratitude. thank you.

I love it when people express themselves enthusiastically! So much more of an impact. Thank you!

I got as far as about episode 45 then realised I needed to go back to the beginning and refresh my knowledge of the basic concepts. Don't whizz through the early episodes, folks - careful listening pays off.

This needs way Way more views. I am very excited for the other videos. Thank you for your precision and directedness. It's refreshing to have a teacher beginning at the point of- let's make this practical and useful. This work is very .. meaningful!

23:30- I am moved to tears as I feel so welcomed. Thank you for creating this and inviting me to the journey.

It has been very interesting being raised in the United States Catholic by older parents from the baby boomer generation. I am 24 now and I have had the meaning crisis unfold within my own life and struggled to make sense of it until discovering the work of people like Jordan Peterson and John Vervaeke. The collapse of my faith in God, my stable worldview, left me both numb and exposed. I became wildly interested in both cognitive science and Buddhism after succumbing to the nihilism of our times and am still drawn to this material despite the amount of time I have spent with it. Absolutely fascinating stuff and I am so glad to have the opportunity John is presenting us with here. Thank you and I look forward to discussing this material with everyone in these comments

IM HERE AT 31.2k SUBSCRIBERS.... Just making that known because this guy is about to blow up. Great to see a true intellect final get the recognition he deserves

Awesome, thank you very much. The addition of the book cover pictures was great.

This is an impressive framing of an immensely important topic. Heck of a fascinating and awe-inspiring start to the series. I’m excited for subsequent talks.

Great video! Absolutely love it. Kudos to Dr. Vervaeke!

We're in confused times but truth will prevail. Let's pray for our country and the leaders. Teachers are committed and need our support and input.

It is been such amazing journey since I started it two years ago. Thank you so much for every single word.

The video has been categorised as "entertainment" perhaps because ideas that stimulate the mind are indeed entertaining in a profound and satisfying way.

I found out about you, and this series in particular, from Jordan Peterson's podcast and I am so grateful for it. This episode gripped me deeply and I look forward to watching the next 50. Thank you so much for doing this.

Thank you - I love that you’ve put all this in RU-vid.

40:07 Especially a cat. JP was my gateway drug for your realizations, so glad I have come across you. thanks heaps!

Just arrived here from the JP podcast, this stuff is solid gold. The idea of the opportunity to pivot away from the 'victory game' and into a dance flow state when in combat was just amazing! Thanks for the content John!

I seek and I found♥️ thanks for making this series. It's not everyday I find something I not only can relate to but also understand!

ive been tryin to separate myself from my tendency to gratify myself with my intellectual musings. But this is the truth i like many people am heartbroken. My failure to navigate the unnecessarily complex pre requisites to aquire and sustain the basic things in life has left me empty. Its left me trying to make additional meaning and convince myself its as important as the things ive lost through ignorance. Im a human man when i was a child like most children i began to feel that beautiful excitement that comes with dreams of a love, a union with a partner. To behold your children with your spouse its life complete. The fulfillment of your commitments to your family that gratifying validating feeling of knowing you are man. And this feeling is so fundamental that once reminded of all other insecurities fall to the dirt as they were all just fears tied to this core human concern. Core timeless concern of life. When you grow up in a culture that fails to maintain sacred rites of passage and traditions that aim to facilitate the completion of this task for all members of the society lines get blurry. I messed up that part, i suffered for a lack of knowledge and wisdom. All i needed to know as young man is that the natural urges i experienced were the most important thing in life for my happiness, because im a human and im designed to feel completed through a woman. Where i went wrong was doubting this innate knowing and allowing the "progressive" modern alternatives to aquiring fulfillment creep into my mind. Im 37 years old and i would give anything to go back and know what i know now so that i could share the miracle of raising my son with the only woman ill ever love. I could only tell myself that i must have subconciously not wanted it and that i didnt love her and all that. I was foolish. Life has a lot of unknowns but the heart really only has one or 2 desires. Financial success and every other pursuit will occupy the mind but my advice for my son and any young male reading this is that love and attraction and romantic desire are the most magical feelings that you didnt choose to have for a reason. Because its everybit as important as it feels dont take it lightly.

I am appauled, I have translated many high acamedic online lecture but this is something different: an authentique flow of thoughts, ideas warmed with philia type of spirit. Amazing!

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🎶 *Introduction to the Series* - The series aims to unify various topics and present an overall argument. - Exploring the confluence between Buddhism and cognitive science, the mindfulness revolution, and the interest in wisdom. 01:22 🧘‍♂️ *Mindfulness and Its Explosive Growth* - The mindfulness revolution and its explosive growth. - The intersection between Buddhism and cognitive science. - The exploration of what mindfulness means. 02:18 📚 *The Growing Interest in Wisdom* - Increasing interest in wisdom and ancient philosophies like Stoicism. - The role of wisdom in contemporary culture. - The connection between wisdom and well-being. 03:47 🍄 *The Rise of Psychedelics* - The increasing public and academic interest in psychedelics. - The transformative potential of psychedelics. - The use of psychedelics in therapy. 04:41 😊 *The Pursuit of Happiness and Meaning* - The cultural emphasis on happiness. - The importance of meaning in life. - The predictive power of meaning for well-being. 05:35 😟 *Dark Factors Converging* - The mental health crisis and the increase in suicide rates. - The sense of losing touch with reality. - The decline in trust in public institutions. 07:01 💻 *The Impact of Virtual Environments* - The increasing time spent in virtual environments. - The connection between social media and mental health. - The influence of virtual environments on our culture. 08:26 🧟‍♂️ *Mythologies and Cultural Sense* - The prevalence of mythological themes in popular culture. - The cultural sense of being stuck or in crisis. - The appeal of apocalyptic narratives and zombie themes. 09:53 🤯 *The Unifying Explanation: Meaning Crisis* - The idea that a meaning crisis underlies these phenomena. - The interdependence of the meaning crisis with other crises. - The exploration of what meaning means and how to cultivate wisdom. 11:18 🌍 *Interactions with Other Crises* - The connection between the meaning crisis and environmental, socio-economic crises. - The exploration of how these crises are interdependent. - The importance of addressing the meaning crisis. 12:48 🌌 *Altered States of Consciousness* - The human tendency to seek altered states of consciousness. - The relationship between altered states and wisdom. - The significance of mystical and awakening experiences. 15:36 🤔 *The Perennial Threat of Self-Deception* - The prevalence of self-deception and self-destructive behavior. - The distinction between foolishness and ignorance. - The vulnerability of human cognition to self-deception. 17:01 😱 *Exploring Existential Topics* - Examining existential topics like absurdity, alienation, and futility. - The experience of real horror and its impact. - The increasing sense of meaninglessness and despair. 18:31 🧠 *Expanding Notions of Knowing* - The need for a broader understanding of knowing. - Different kinds of knowing beyond justified true beliefs. - The role of therapy in recovering lost kinds of knowing. 20:01 🤯 *Structural and Functional Account of Meaning* - Developing a structural and functional account of meaning. - Unpacking the metaphor of meaning in life. - The importance of understanding how meaning works in cognition. 21:30 🌟 *Awakening from the Meaning Crisis* - The series' goal of awakening from the meaning crisis. - The commitment to rigorous and responsible argumentation. - Acknowledging the complexity and depth of the meaning crisis. 25:24 🏹 *The Upper Paleolithic Transition* - Exploring the Upper Paleolithic transition around 40,000 BCE. - The emergence of art, music, and enhanced cognition. - The development of projectile weapons and its cognitive implications. 30:08 🌟 *The Upper Paleolithic Transition and Meaning* - During the Upper Paleolithic transition, various forms of human expression like art, music, calendrics, and projectile weaponry experienced significant development. - This era marked an expansion in the human concept of meaning, encompassing aspects of art, time, space, and more. 32:04 🌍 *Human Response to Environmental Challenges* - In the face of environmental challenges, such as climate change and volcanic activity, early humans diversified their diets and expanded their trading networks. - Broader trading relationships led to the development of various rituals, enhancing communication and trust with strangers. 35:18 🤝 *Rituals and Enhanced Perspective-Taking* - Rituals, like handshakes and greeting inquiries, emerged to facilitate interaction and build trust among individuals from different social groups. - These rituals required humans to improve their ability to take the perspective of others, enhancing their capacity for understanding and cooperating with unfamiliar people. 37:34 🪙 *Initiation Rituals and Group Commitment* - Initiation rituals, often involving risk and sacrifice, showcased an individual's commitment to their social group. - Engaging in these rituals required emotional regulation, de-centering from one's ego, and a shift of focus from self to the group, impacting cognitive development. 39:30 🌌 *Shamanism and Cognitive Enhancement* - Shamanism introduced psychotechnologies aimed at altering consciousness and enhancing cognition. - Shamanic practices, including sleep deprivation, chanting, isolation, and sometimes psychedelics, disrupted normal patterns of perception and cognition. 41:52 🔄 *Exception and Psycho-Technological Evolution* - Exception, a biological concept, relates to repurposing existing mechanisms for new functions, analogous to how the brain can reuse cognitive processes. - Shamanism is considered a set of psycho-technologies that harness enhanced mental abilities developed through trading and initiation rituals, facilitating profound cognitive changes. 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Draw a metaphor in your mind, keep it, hold it (must be a peaceful one), and draw symbols in the sand and catch a wave while it's fresh in your mind. Send it a la gravitas. I don't do it often at all honest, but when I do ....

I aspire to be an intellectual with the likes of this man.

I can't believe I hadn't watched this before! Completely convergent with my work. Thanks John!

That was absolutely incredible. I feel as though my brain has been soaked with the most wonderful information. I am so excited to think about what has been said. Even more so to enjoy the rest of the series. Thankyou doesn’t even cover it

"Real horror is when your grip on reality is being undermined". Thirty minutes later, he proceeds to illustrate the consequences of having literacy ripped from your mind. The horror I felt required I pause the video and recover before proceeding.

beautiful start to a series , Thanks John , This shaman is quite enjoying your view on shamanism and you are not wrong , it all happens through your awareness, heart energy and one pointed concentration .

Professor, please dont stop ever lecturing, this lesson is mind blowing and your way of teaching is very engaging. From a random psychology major in Brazil, thank you

Paging Paul VanderKlay... Paging Paul VanderKlay

Amazing work professor... This is what we needed.

I wanted to thank you for all the work you and your crew put into these videos. Thank you very much.