Post by shaunyata on Aug 26, 2019 1:57:16 GMT
John Vervaeke is a Prof. of Psychology at University of Toronto and creator of the YouTube series 'Awakening from the Meaning Crisis'. Vervaeke defines the 'crisis of meaning' in many ways, but the primary crisis is our immersion into the scientific world view, which tells us 'how reality operates' but does not give us a meaningful connection or purpose within that world view.
Vervaeke offers a dialectic between 'meaning' and 'bullshit'. He defines 'bullshit' as a cognitive state in which one ignores or doesn't care about the veracity of a communication, but prioritizes the 'salience' or emotional relevance of the communication over its rationality or factual truth. 'Confirmation bias' is a form of self-deception or self-induced 'bullshit.' In the beginning of this interview with Jordon Hall, Vervaeke talks about 'bullshit' and confirmation bias. (Note: Hall's contribution is interesting but not that relevant.)
I offer this as a possible exploration of the 'meaning' offered by Buddhism, and whether that 'meaning' holds up under investigation. My take on this is that Buddhism offers a philosophical ideology consisting of particular questions and pre-determined (orthodox) answers. That ideology limits what kinds of questions you ask and what kinds of answers you devise. Buddhism tells you what is 'salient' and therefore meaningful, and what is not salient. That limits what you might find as salient or meaningful in your experience. It also tends to induce 'confirmation bias' in which you only seek out that which reinforces what you already believe or experience.
This is, again, what I mean by 'ditching the raft.' I had to get out of the endless loop of buddhemes like 'emptiness' and 'non-self' because it limits the kinds of questions I can ask and the kind of answers I can imagine. I'm still exploring this, but it seems like Vervaeke is offering (to me) a way out of the very narrow limits of orthodox Buddhism by elevating the discussion to a 'meta-analysis' of cognition, meaning-making, bullshit and truth.
More on Vervaeke and the Crisis of Meaning at the Soulspace Podcast:
www.soulspacepodcast.com/2019/02/24/episode8/
In this interview, Vervaeke links the cognitive skills of 'salience' and relevance to 'connectedness' to others and the world, which he defines also as 'spirituality.' Vervaeke says that mindfulness and other 'psycho-technologies' are being misused as 'relaxation' and 'wellness' techniques, rather than as methods of obtaining existential truth, wisdom and transformation.
[Podcast Notes]
Speaking to the meaning crisis, John Vervaeke's work is centred around bridging the gap between science and spirituality. He talks to us about psycho-technologies such as meditation and psychedelics as tools to help us overcome self-deception and move towards wisdom. We also navigate the world of altered-states and transformative experiences. John has been with the University of Toronto since 1994 as an Assistant Professor teaching courses in the Psychology department, Cognitive science program, and the intersections between Buddhism and Mental Health. He has won numerous teaching awards. John is the first author of the book “Zombie in Western Culture: A 21st Century Crisis”. You can find his most recent series on YouTube titled “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.”
Knowledge vs Wisdom
Overcoming Self-Deception
Meditation and Psychedelics as Psycho-technologies
Convergence of Cognitive Science and Spirituality
Vervaeke on the attainments spiritual practice:
—radical transformations of consciousness and cognition, community and communing with others, designed to bring about enhanced relevance, realization, enhanced insight, wisdom, cognitive flexibility, changing. The very patterns of co-identification, how they identify others and their world and themselves.
—tell me what you practice and tell me how those practices are making you more wise and more compassionate or capable of self transcendence and more capable of transforming the world to deal with the situations we’re dealing with.
Vervaeke offers a dialectic between 'meaning' and 'bullshit'. He defines 'bullshit' as a cognitive state in which one ignores or doesn't care about the veracity of a communication, but prioritizes the 'salience' or emotional relevance of the communication over its rationality or factual truth. 'Confirmation bias' is a form of self-deception or self-induced 'bullshit.' In the beginning of this interview with Jordon Hall, Vervaeke talks about 'bullshit' and confirmation bias. (Note: Hall's contribution is interesting but not that relevant.)
I offer this as a possible exploration of the 'meaning' offered by Buddhism, and whether that 'meaning' holds up under investigation. My take on this is that Buddhism offers a philosophical ideology consisting of particular questions and pre-determined (orthodox) answers. That ideology limits what kinds of questions you ask and what kinds of answers you devise. Buddhism tells you what is 'salient' and therefore meaningful, and what is not salient. That limits what you might find as salient or meaningful in your experience. It also tends to induce 'confirmation bias' in which you only seek out that which reinforces what you already believe or experience.
This is, again, what I mean by 'ditching the raft.' I had to get out of the endless loop of buddhemes like 'emptiness' and 'non-self' because it limits the kinds of questions I can ask and the kind of answers I can imagine. I'm still exploring this, but it seems like Vervaeke is offering (to me) a way out of the very narrow limits of orthodox Buddhism by elevating the discussion to a 'meta-analysis' of cognition, meaning-making, bullshit and truth.
More on Vervaeke and the Crisis of Meaning at the Soulspace Podcast:
www.soulspacepodcast.com/2019/02/24/episode8/
In this interview, Vervaeke links the cognitive skills of 'salience' and relevance to 'connectedness' to others and the world, which he defines also as 'spirituality.' Vervaeke says that mindfulness and other 'psycho-technologies' are being misused as 'relaxation' and 'wellness' techniques, rather than as methods of obtaining existential truth, wisdom and transformation.
[Podcast Notes]
Speaking to the meaning crisis, John Vervaeke's work is centred around bridging the gap between science and spirituality. He talks to us about psycho-technologies such as meditation and psychedelics as tools to help us overcome self-deception and move towards wisdom. We also navigate the world of altered-states and transformative experiences. John has been with the University of Toronto since 1994 as an Assistant Professor teaching courses in the Psychology department, Cognitive science program, and the intersections between Buddhism and Mental Health. He has won numerous teaching awards. John is the first author of the book “Zombie in Western Culture: A 21st Century Crisis”. You can find his most recent series on YouTube titled “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.”
Knowledge vs Wisdom
Overcoming Self-Deception
Meditation and Psychedelics as Psycho-technologies
Convergence of Cognitive Science and Spirituality
Vervaeke on the attainments spiritual practice:
—radical transformations of consciousness and cognition, community and communing with others, designed to bring about enhanced relevance, realization, enhanced insight, wisdom, cognitive flexibility, changing. The very patterns of co-identification, how they identify others and their world and themselves.
—tell me what you practice and tell me how those practices are making you more wise and more compassionate or capable of self transcendence and more capable of transforming the world to deal with the situations we’re dealing with.