In this presentation delivered at the "Metaphysics and the Matter with Things: Thinking with Iain McGilchrist" conference—a collaborative event by the Center for Process Studies (CPS) and the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in March 2024—John Vervaeke explores the concept of "mattering" and its critical role in understanding the meaning of life. He contrasts "meaning in life" with the broader "meaning of life," emphasizing the importance of connectedness and belonging over mere purpose. Vervaeke draws on research to introduce "religio," a deep sense of connectedness that underpins our existence, and critiques materialism for overlooking the relational aspects of human life. Through cognitive science, biology, and philosophy, Vervaeke demonstrates how our intelligence and problem-solving abilities are deeply intertwined with our capacity to find what truly matters.

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Metaphysics and the Matter with Things: Thinking with Iain McGilchrist was a collaborative conference put on by the Center for Process Studies (CPS) and the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in March of 2024. This three-day conference brought leading process thinkers across various disciplines, including physics, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and theology, into critical dialogue with McGilchrist’s work in a collegial effort to assess, question, extend, and apply it. For more information on the conference and to purchase recordings, please visit https://ctr4process.org/mcgilchrist-conference/

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0:00 Introduction to the Metaphysics of Mattering

1:05 Meaning in Life: Purpose, Coherence, Significance, and Mattering

6:40 Connectedness and Religio

10:10 Relevance Realization and General Intelligence

12:45 The Problem of Relevance Realization

21:20 Formalization and Ill-Defined Problems

27:10 Relationality and the Sacred

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Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

Matthew Segall

Richard Tarnas

Kelly-Ann Allen

Evan Thompson

Read Montague

Michael Levin

Aristotle

Zak Stein

Nietzsche

Iain McGilchrist  

Christopher Cherniak

Jerry Fodor

J.L. Schellenberg

Relevance Realization

Religio

Conformity theory

Duhem–Quine thesis,

Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters

John Searle, The Rediscovery of the Mind

Catherine Pickstock, Aspects of Truth: A New Religious Metaphysics

Harold Brown, Rationality 

James Filler, Heidegger, Neoplatonism, and the History of Being: Relation as Ontological Ground

J. Jaeger, A. Riedl, A. Djedovic, J. Vervaeke, and D. Walsh, Naturalizing relevance realization: why agency and cognition are fundamentally not computational

Frank Martela and Michael F. Steger, Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance

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