3min chapter

#657: Professor John Vervaeke — How to Build a Life of Wisdom, Flow, and Contemplation

The Tim Ferriss Show

notes

CHAPTER

Is There a Connection Between the Flow State and Propositional Processing?

The flow state is an example of in our experience, a prioritization of the procedural, the perspectival, and the participatory over the propositional. In fact, one of the things people reliably report is that whole propositional processing drops out. There's this enlivening enriching of a sense of contact. And what's really important to him is that the flow state is optimal for people. They think they're at their best, with good reason. So much so that asking people how frequently they get into the flowState is a good predictor of their sense of well-being.

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John Vervaeke (@vervaeke_john) is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He currently teaches courses on thinking and reasoning with an emphasis on cognitive development, intelligence, rationality, mindfulness, and the psychology of wisdom.

Vervaeke is the director of UToronto’s Consciousness and Wisdom Studies Laboratory and its Cognitive Science program, where he teaches Introduction to Cognitive Science and The Cognitive Science of Consciousness, emphasizing the 4E model, which contends that cognition and consciousness are embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended beyond the brain.

Vervaeke has taught courses on Buddhism and Cognitive Science in the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health program for 15 years. He is the author and presenter of the YouTube series “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” and his brand new series, ‘After Socrates.’

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[05:31] The four ways of knowing (4P).

[10:15] Affordances.

[13:04] Semantic memory.

[13:37] Flow.

[27:03] Did John find Tai Chi, or did Tai Chi find him?

[29:46] Leaving Christianity.

[34:42] Wisdom vs. knowledge.

[36:54] Self-deception.

[41:53] When is logic the illogical choice for solving a problem?

[46:05] The powers and perils of intuition.

[55:05] Spotting patterns that need breaking.

[59:18] Meditation vs. contemplation.