Is there a singular cause of the meaning crisis or is it a cumulative effect? And also is there a moment in human history when it began or when it started to get worse? It does seem right now, sort of since 2008 the financial crash, maybe just because that was when all the bullshit was revealed to be exactly. So I think the meaning crisis has multiple causes and there's two broad types of cause it has. One are historical forces and one are perennial problems.
John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist at the University of Toronto and world renowned thinker, bridging science and spirituality in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness: how to cultivate it and why it’s crucial for human beings.
John joins me to discuss “the meaning crisis”—the global phenomenon of modern humans having access to so much, and yet so little profundity. Referencing neurobiology, faith and behavioural science, John explains the impact the meaning crisis is having on individuals all around the world, and what to do about it.
We then explore its intersection with the metacrisis, and the historical traditions which are the root of our global energy, economic and climate crisis. Critically, John says we cannot solve the climate crisis without addressing the cultural forces driving the meaning crisis
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it.
© Rachel Donald
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