Becoming Conscious

What is the gift economy and why does it matter? In what ways is our current economy flawed? I recorded this episode about a year ago and my ideas have changed so much since I recorded them. A lot of ideas in the initial rant were inspired by Charles Eisenstein, and a lot of my ideas have changed since then. This commentary is on the topic of what a more generative economy could look like the supports the gifts of each individual. Enjoy :) Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Eric and I riff on the necessity of a balance between internal psychological development and external-facing action in the world. We also touch on the meta-crisis and how the various problems in the world are all co-arising and none of them are entirely separate from the others, which we like to describe using the cymatic frequency analogy. We also touch on rerouting one’s life if it’s in a downward spiral and how to start cultivating more agency and sovereignty. We then riff on how a systems view of life can remedy cosmic insignificance and nihilism. This is just the tip of the iceberg, listen to the full episode now.Read Eric’s Musings at The Edge of Being and find him on Twitter. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

A good friend of mine, Joe Faulkner, joins me for my first IRL podcast interview. Joe is pursuing a master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling and has tons of experience with the integration of altered states of consciousness and embodiment practices. This conversation is multi-faceted hovering around the topics of relationships, psychedelics, and the psychological/relational difficulties that arise in seeking community and spiritual connection to others. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

I’m joined by the wonderful Lawrence Toye. He’s currently co-creating YES&, a conscious living startup with the big picture mission of “Shifting Consciousness for a Generative Human Presence on this Planet.” I had the pleasure to work with Lawrence on co-creating their podcast for the launch of the YES& Festival. Lawrence continues to inspire me with his dedication to the embodiment of ecological consciousness and connection to land/nature. Enjoy this podcast :) Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

* Why is advertising inherently corrupted, and what are some alternatives?* How do we create We-spaces that reduce the degree that we delude ourselves?* Steelmanning modernism, postmodernism & metamodernism.* Core insights of the metamodern approach to politics & a summary of Hanzi Freinacht’s Listening Society* Supporting the internal needs of everyone in society* Mass manipulation of people’s attention on social media* the importance of reaching global empathy* How can we act from our core values in deeper and more profound ways?* Wisdom = overcoming fear* Most of the evil in the world is a byproduct of insecurity and fear. * What is wisdom? * and how it relates to integrity* congruence with one’s deepest values and not easily be swayed by bullshit* as self-knowledge* wisdom as the degree to which one can reconcile their conflicting identities Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Jake Ruiz is a filmmaker and fellow integralist. He recently released the acclaimed Game B Film (on Youtube here) in collaboration with Jim Rutt, Daniel Schmactenberger, and other leading thinkers. You can find more of his work at Futurity (his production company) and on Twitter. In this conversation, we touched on: Game B vs. the Dark Renaissance, the nature of competition, the fall of integral communities, win-lose dynamics vs. win-win dynamics, class dynamics in regards to the Game B vision, pathos, and sexual energy as it relates to the development of society, the importance of darkness and difficult shadow re-integration. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

This is the second podcast I’ve recorded with Daniel Garner. In this episode, we talk about the meaning crisis as a sign of hope, game theoretics, critical thinking, and the dark renaissance. The Meaning Crisis as a Sign of HopeThe meaning crisis is a sign of hope because we have higher moral and ethical standards than we did in the past. In the past, we solved the meaning crisis through ideologies like nationalism, racism, fascism, totalitarianism, etc. Instead of responding to the meaning crisis with apathy, we can instead become enlivened by it becomes a heroic act of maintaining moral standards and developing new approaches to meaning in the 21st century. Part of the problem is that we don’t know what new solutions to the meaning crisis may look like. Yet many people are actively engaging with this systemic crisis — see the work of John Vervaeke. Critical Thinking Doesn’t Entail Being CriticalWords have a way to capture our thinking without our realizing that’s what’s happening. Garner introduces the perspective that being a good thinker is not synonymous with being critical. And that the impulse to be critical engenders a culture of deconstruction — or perhaps a postmodern, deconstructive culture engenders an environment of breaking down and being critical as opposed to developing new mental models and ways of thinking. Reconstruction is just as important as deconstruction. The reason that we like critiquing everything without building our own theories is that it positions us as superior. Whereas constructing new theories puts us in a vulnerable space, at risk of people breaking our prized mental framework down. And perhaps the reason that deconstruction is so endemic in our culture is because the game-theoretic environment of our culture is conducive to positioning ourselves as intellectually superior to the ideas of others. We are rewarded by critiquing the ideas of others and thus incentivized to continue doing it. The Dialectic Between Freedom & ControlO.G. Rose has a fascinating and long-time running series titled Belonging Again, which we discuss in this episode of the podcast. In it, they dive into how belonging and feeling connected to a community is often in direct tension with freedom and lack of social-legal order. These are just a few of the topics that Daniel and I discuss in this episode. For the full episode listen to the audio above or search Becoming Conscious on your podcast player of choice!You can find Daniel and Michelle (together O.G. Rose) on substack, youtube, Twitter, and Instagram. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Zoe Curzi is an actress, writer, filmmaker and has an active interest in trauma-informed introspection, manipulation dynamics, healing journeys, and adult development. In this episode we have a fascinating conversation about the psychological dynamics of mind control, what it looks and feels like to have your reality distorted by a charismatic person or organization, and how to listen to and sense into the signal that our psyche is communicating to us in every moment and in how we’re relating to other people. You can find her on twitter @curzirose Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Colin Wright is a world traveler, writer, journalist, and entrepreneur. He’s written (and self-published) numerous books on topics ranging from world travel and minimalism to relationships and fictional stories.In this episode, Colin and I discuss his journey from starting a corporate media agency to quitting and traveling the world full-time to where he’s at now. We then dive into what it really means to be a minimalist (hint: it doesn’t mean owning few things), and the fruits and difficulties of cultivating relationships on the road. As we speak on relationships, we speak on the different ways to explore the cross-cultural context and why it’s so important to be okay with looking dumb. We then turn the conversation to focus more on his current pursuits in online journalism (including the multiple podcasts and newsletters he publishes). Colin talks about what Interwingularity is and how to manage the insane amount of information in the media today with an air of epistemic humility. Finally, we twist things up with a bit of Lifspeki talk :)I hope you enjoy this wonderful podcast as much I enjoyed the conversation! Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Cadell Last is a philosopher (Ph.D.) with an interest in anthropology and psychoanalysis, and the author of Global Brain Singularity, Sex, Masculinity, God. In the conversation, we discuss everything from the practicality of philosophy to libido to the dialectical relationship between wholeness and lack.A more expansive list of topics discussed includes:* Breaking down the myth of armchair philosophy* Flow states as a dropping of self-identity* the philosophy of lack* the most extreme version of wholeness is ideology* the most extreme version of lack is suicide* the dialectical relationship between lack and excess* instincts are difficult for the mind because the mind doesn’t control instincts* repressing evil leads to committing evil* the energy that we call evil is energy that if you look at it and work with it can produce the highest good* long term relationships can be the most adventurous because the perception of other and what love is, is constantly dying and changing.* the paradox of dating* being adventurous and having sex with a lot of people and going out all the time actually becomes boredom and repetition and avoidance of deep feeling and emotion* a 5-10 year relationship is risky because it could end* now the problem is that no one is putting their heart on the line and thus we’re becoming cold and our relationships are shallow* the key to long term relationships is cultivating sexual desire and long term love* and the real you is constantly changing and shifting, the libido/life-force is constantly in motion* when do polarity and differences turn into incompatibility* why something is of value to me is because if I act in contradiction to that thing then I find myself in pain* what’s missing in this metamodern space is a discussion about how all of this meaning crisis stuff is sexual in nature Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe