The Evolution of Religion

“We want to be careful when we’re in conflict on the internet.”– Tadaaki Hozumi

Tadaaki Hozumi, member of Japan’s oldest surviving lineage of royal Shinto priests, is back for the second part of our three-hour conversation on animism in the ancient-future technological construct-wilderness of the 21st Century! In this episode we discuss the ongoing battle between the spirits of the analog “realm of circles” and the digital “realm of squares,” the blurry boundary between humans and artificial intelligences, the deep commonalities between UFO lore and nature spirit myths, inspirited robots, the simulation hypothesis, and more. Just as with part one, this is not for the epistemically over-determined or the philosophically faint of heart! I don’t cling to a point of view for this podcast and I suggest that you don’t either. But if Tada and his collaborator Georgie Rein Lo are right, we may all be the player-characters in a dragon’s endless dreaming. And honestly, that would explain some things…

Strap in and turn on for a discussion we hope will help you navigate the very weird-to-modern-Western-minds few years to come!

(Once again, pardon the delay — I’ve been eager to get the entirety of this profound and illuminating discussion out for over a month!  Never a dull moment in my home with two small kids.  Thanks for your patience and understanding over the last few years as Future Fossils has swayed but not fallen in the strong winds of my suddenly-a-householder life…)

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✨ Mentioned & Related Media:

Future Fossils 197 with Tadaaki Hozumi (Part 1)

More info on the Hozumi clanlunmu.io (Tada's new project with Rein Lo)

“Arts and AI: ‘You May Live To See Man-Made Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension’” by Jamie Curcio

High Weirdness by Erik Davis

Liminal Dreaming by Jennifer Dumpert

“The Holy Spirit Board” (Christian Ouija Board)

Improvising out of Algorithmic Isolation by Michael Garfield

Kerri Chandler (reel-to-reel DJ)

A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing The Universe by Michael S. Schneider

“The Story of Calculus” SFI Community Lecture by Steven Strogatz

Programming The Universe by Seth Lloyd

The Infoboros by Vidur Mishra

Rich “M0b1us” Doyle

“Aphanopoiesis” by Nora Bateson

Future Fossils 65 & 71 (on Blade Runner 2049)

Future Fossils 14 (on Westworld HBO)

Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Never Told by David Icke

Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallée

Supernatural by Graham Hancock

“When The Orbit Curtain Falls” by Michael Garfield (song)

Tom Montalk

Graham Hancock on Underwater Japanese Temples & The Great Sphinx

Future Fossils 124 with Norman Katz

Sense8 (Netflix)

“How Stories Last” by Neil Gaiman at LongNow.org

“The Evolution of Covert Signaling” by Paul Smaldino et al.

“The 100 Oldest Companies” by Kevin Kelly at LongNow.org

“Unlikely Historical Events” by Jason Kottke

aibo (robot dog by SONY)

Future Fossils 57 - Conner Habib & Mitch Mignano on Occult Biology

Theme Music: “Olympus Mons” off the Martian Arts EP by Michael Garfield

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