Contemplating Human Purpose in Nature's Scheme

Exploring the limits of human understanding in deciphering the purpose of existence amidst nature's grandeur, cautioning against equating technological progress with true wisdom and emphasizing the humility needed in the pursuit of knowledge.

Transcript

chevron_right

Play full episode

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy and another Ph.D. in computer engineering. As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for CERN and Philips Research Laboratories. Bernardo's 11th book, coming in 2024, is 'Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century's only plausible metaphysics.'

This is me listening to Bernardo and asking him questions so as to better understand the world as mind. To do this, we explored what it means to be human. Bernardo explained the work of Nietzsche, Frankl, Schopenhauer, and Jung to me as well as how a bourgeoise has sought to wrest control of our culture away from the church and ultimately leave us stranded, meaningless, and seeking solutions elsewhere.

Bernardo taught me that we should not seek answers or solutions. These will never appear to us and we simply don't have the capability to understand what is going on. Instead, like the apple blossom in his garden, we should just be. We should listen to the noumena, the will inside us. We can describe it as duty, as calling, as fate, or as many other things. But ultimately, we are a violin and we should allow ourselves to be played by nature rather than seeking to force ourselves on the world. We should seek service instead of personal happiness. These ideas will stay with me for a while.

At the end, I asked him to recommend a movie, a book, and a song. The movie he suggested was The Double Life of Véronique (1991) by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski. The song was Song to the Siren by Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. The book was Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation.

Bernardo's Website: https://www.bernardokastrup.com/

The Essentia Foundation: https://www.youtube.com/@UCHKZdDf09_8vVHm102fu0sg

Bernardo's upcoming book: https://www.amazon.com/Analytic-Idealism-Nutshell-straightforward-metaphysics/dp/1803416696

Discussion Outline:

0:00 The importance of service

7:40 The bourgeoisie capture of culture

12:33 Immanent meaning

25:35 Spiritual but not religious

31:00 Carl Jung and our two stages of life

41:58 Introspection as the royal path to knowledge

48:15 Schopenhauer and the will inside us

54:52 Synchronicity 1:05:03 Religion and science