Interesting. Must listen now for all the good details. 🤘
The "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" is a lecture series by John Vervaeke that explores the modern crisis of meaning, despair, and disconnection that many people are experiencing. Here are the key points about it:
The meaning crisis refers to the increasing sense of meaninglessness, bullshit, disconnection from self, others, the world, and a viable future that people are feeling today.[2] This is tied to crises in mental health, environment, politics, and culture.
Vervaeke argues this crisis stems from the breakdown of our "two-worlds mythos" - the worldview separating the everyday world from a higher-order, truer reality that gave meaning and purpose. This mythos arose from the Axial Age revolutions but is no longer tenable in our modern scientific worldview.[4]
To solve the meaning crisis, Vervaeke aims to re-engineer enlightenment and wisdom within a scientific framework, allowing us to cultivate self-transcendence, insight, and deep meaning again.[4] This involves addressing our "perennial problems" - the vulnerabilities that make us susceptible to meaninglessness.
A key part is Vervaeke's theory of "Relevance Realization" - the cognitive machinery that helps us skillfully connect and cohere with reality in a participatory way to make sense of our experiences and find relevance.[4][5]
The series draws from ancient figures like Socrates and the Buddha, as well as modern thinkers like Jung and Heidegger, to provide a coherent path for awakening from the meaning crisis through rational reflection and transformation.[2][3]
Sources
[1] Ep. 20 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Death of the Universe https://www.meaningcrisis.co/ep-20-awakening-from-the-meaning-crisis-death-of-the-universe/
[2] What is the Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Series https://www.meaningcrisis.co/the-introduction-to-the-meaning-crisis-series%E2%80%8B/
[3] Ep. 1 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Introduction - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54l8_ewcOlY
[4] Full Summary of John Vervaeke's “Awakening from the Meaning ... https://www.themortalatheist.com/blog/awakening-from-the-meaning-crisis-john-vervaeke
[5] Awakening from the Meaning Crisis || John Vaervaeke https://scottbarrykaufman.com/podcast/awakening-from-the-meaning-crisis-john-vaervaeke/
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