Virtuosity as a Way of Life | Ethan Hsieh and the Tiamat Process

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Oct 17, 2025

In this conversation, Ethan Hsieh, a facilitator and the mind behind the Tiamat process, shares insights on how virtuosity can transform not just artistic endeavors but personal growth. He introduces his three-tier developmental framework, blending actor training with cognitive science. They discuss the importance of perspectival metacognition, exploring how deep practices can enhance wisdom and resilience. With connections drawn between ancient rituals and modern transformative practices, Ethan emphasizes that these methods are beneficial for everyone, not just actors.

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INSIGHT

Tiamat: Ecological Transformative Practice

Ethan frames Tiamat as an ecology of transformative practices blending 4E cognitive science and actor training.
He describes it as play-based participation aimed at embodied spiritual and developmental growth.

INSIGHT

Performance As Spiritual Technology

Performance practice connects ritual, storytelling, movement, and music into a deeper spiritual function.
Ethan argues these practices trace anthropologically to animistic and shamanic traditions with social and spiritual aims.

ANECDOTE

COVID Pivot From Nihilism To Rigor

Ethan recounts hitting nihilism during COVID and turning to rigorous study to avoid pseudoscience.
He pursued a master's and discovered John Vervaeke's work, which helped him parse plausible claims and structure practice.

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Something is coming: https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/p/whatnext

What if mastery isn’t about perfection—but about transformation?

In this episode of The Lectern, John Vervaeke is joined by Ethan Hsieh to explore how the cultivation of virtuosity—typically associated with the arts—can become central to philosophical and existential growth. Ethan introduces his Tiamat process, a three-tier developmental framework integrating performance training, cognitive science, and dialogical practice.

Together, they explore what it means to live a deliberately developmental life, moving beyond therapy into embodied transformation. Ethan draws from his background in acting, pedagogy, and philosophy to offer a new model of self-cultivation rooted in agency, feedback, metacognition, and trust.

Ethan Hsieh is a facilitator, educator, and philosophical practitioner whose work bridges performance, cognition, and transformative pedagogy. As the creator of the Tiamat process, he integrates insights from embodied practice, developmental psychology, and dialogical philosophy to help individuals cultivate virtuosity as a way of life. Ethan is also a co-founder of Five to Midnight, a community of practice that fosters relational, developmental growth through shared inquiry.

Learn more: http://5tomidnight.org

00:00 – Opening and intentions

03:00 – Ethan’s background in theater and philosophy

07:30 – What is Tiamat? Three-tiered developmental model

11:00 – Mapping metacognition through embodied practice

14:00 – Why “meta-maps” matter

17:00 – Habituation and interrupting automaticity

20:00 – Tiamat vs traditional therapy

24:00 – Participatory transformation and co-regulation

29:00 – Why agency must be distributed

1:00:00 – Where transformation lives: tier two dynamics

1:05:00 – Closing reflections

Tiamat Process – Ethan’s developmental model blending performance, cognition, and feedback

Meta Maps – Tools for mapping metacognition and lived experience

Postures of Presence – Ethan’s term for enacted, relational awareness

Five to Midnight – Ethan’s practice-based community: http://5tomidnight.org

Deliberately Developmental Civilization – Concept by Ken Wilber & Dustin Dene

Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) – Metatheoretical cognitive framework: https://unifiedtheoryofknowledge.org

Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned: Tiamat process Virtuosity and virtue Meta maps and metacognition Postures of presence Embodied transformation Relational ontology Distributed agency Participatory knowing Deliberately developmental civilization Complexification and growth Therapy vs. transformative practice Feedback and co-regulation Performance and philosophy Five to Midnight Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) Ken Wilber Dustin Dene John Vervaeke

Follow John Vervaeke: https://johnvervaeke.com https://twitter.com/DrJohnVervaeke https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke