#40 Tom Morgan: Dark Night of the Soul and the Future of Intelligence

Welcome back to The Trip Report Podcast, a production of Beckley Waves.

Today, we’re speaking with Tom Morgan, a writer, thinker, and founder of Leading Edge, a community dedicated to exploring human transformation and the evolution of intelligence.

Tom’s journey began on the trading floors of Wall Street, where he built a successful career in finance before experiencing a profound and disorienting shift in consciousness—a spontaneous spiritual awakening that forced him to reconsider everything he knew about reality, mental health, and human intelligence.

His work synthesizes ideas from complexity theory, depth psychology, neuroscience, and spiritual traditions to explore how individuals and society at large can transition toward what he calls attractor intelligence—a hidden force guiding us toward wholeness and complexity.

In this conversation, we discuss:

* The role of spontaneous spiritual experiences in modern life

* The overlap between mental illness and spiritual crisis

* The risks of meditation, psychedelics, and other psychotechnologies

* His experience with the "Dark Night of the Soul" and how he emerged stronger

* The founding of Leading Edge and its mission to support high-agency individuals in personal transformation

* How the left and right hemispheres of the brain influence culture, capitalism, and our understanding of intelligence

* And much more.

And now, I bring you my conversation with Tom Morgan.

Listen to the episode on Substack, Spotify, Google or Apple.

Credits:

* Hosted by Zach Haigney

* Produced by Zach Haigney, Erin Greenhouse, and Katelin Jabbari

* Find us at thetripreport.com

* Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube

* Theme music by MANCHO Sounds, Mixed and Mastered by Rollin Weary

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thetripreport.com