Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

Bishop Barron is another figure I think worth listening to, who spoke at ARC in London, alongside Jordan Peterson. Like Peterson, he simultaneously leaves me as wary as enthused. I’ve explained where that took me with Peterson in another short talk. Here’s where I’ve ended up in response to Barron, which interesting is also, in my view, with a richer, fuller sense of Christianity untamed, unleashed.In short, you might say that Barron has his diagnosis right but his antidote wrong. And like Peterson, the misstep turns matters such as freedom and responsibility, and the side-lining of forgiveness and love.My thoughts in response to Jordan Peterson are in this podcast. A written version of this talk can be found at my website, www.markvernon.com

All in all, there is much to consider in Jordan Peterson’s latest passionate suggestions. I think he is right to present a vision of the human good coming from the future, thereby calling us and shaping a meaningful life now. The human self needs a sense of itself that exceeds an otherwise atomised, lonely individualism.However, in may view, Peterson celebrates faith and responsibility at the risk of losing love and response. In this talk, and in the spirit of dialogue, I try to show why the full Christian vision matters, and the inclination to secularise is risky. Distortions inevitably appear. Love and response is reduced to faith and responsibility. Judgment is replaced by an exertion of will. Forgiveness is sidelined. And grace becomes the assertion of moral order.A written version of the talk is online here - http://www.markvernon.com/faith-responsibility-or-love-response-thoughts-on-jordan-peterson-at-arc-in-london

Thinking carefully, not just apocalyptically, about AIs requires a combination of skills - technological, sociological, psychological, philosophical, organisational. So I was delighted to talk with Eve Poole, who is a rare individual capable of bringing all these elements into her work. Our central question was how to build AIs so as to design out risk and design in love. It turns out that the two elements are deeply connected.We began by thinking about the nature of the threat and opportunity. In her book, Robot Souls, Eve draws attention to the "junk code" that, ever since the Enlightenment, has been designed out of artificial thinking processes but which it is increasingly clear, needs to be designed back in. Quality decisions, let alone careful world-building, needs emotional, embodied and loving intelligence, alongside the purely transaction and rational.We consider how virtue ethics can inform the debate, and may do better than the purely utilitarian calculus that shapes things now. Similarly, we ask about the centrality of cooperation, too, as opposed to the competitive assumptions that tend to dominate. We think about how AIs are born in particular cultures and so reflect the cultures of technology companies and wider society.And we are never far from the deep question of the nature of intelligence, proposing that love and judgement are actually more central than reason and free will. For AIs to work in the real world, they will need those qualities. Therein lies hope.For more on Eve's book, Robot Souls, see https://www.routledge.com/Robot-Souls-Programming-in-Humanity/Poole/p/book/9781032426624For more on Mark's work see www.markvernon.com

Churches are in decline, certainly in the western world. People tend not to think to turn to a priest for spiritual insight or advice. But is a lived relationship with the sacred and wisdom traditions denuded as organised religion disappears? In this Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon talk about religious institutions for good and ill. Rupert picks up on a new book by Alison Milbank, Once and Future Parish, to ask how churches can maintain connection with the seasons, place and community, and speak to the whole of our humanity in its rituals and rites of passage. The conversation explores the wariness of organised religion, from its moralising and hierarchical manifestations, to its distorted message, inclined to treat religion more as a fearsome threat than a visionary promise. The perils of a privatised spiritual questing are set alongside the paucity of contemporary church life, though if it can be hard to live with organised religion, it seems also hard to live fully without it.For more conversations between Rupert and Mark see https://www.sheldrake.org/audios/sheldrake-vernon-dialogues and http://www.markvernon.com/talks

At the beginning of Idler Drinks (see www.idler.co.uk), I offer a thought. Here's the one from this week.

Owen Barfield talked of an evolution of consciousness towards final participation. But what is that state or quality awareness? How does it relate to the life of Christ? How was it described by Rudolf Steiner? Can we see and know intimations of it now?In this second discussion with Landon Loftin and Max Leyf, we explore the ideas of freedom and individuality, modernity and language, kenosis and romanticism come of age to press Barfield’s great insight and see whether we can help give it voice.For more on Landon and Max’s book see https://wipfandstock.com/9781666736762/what-barfield-thought/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLoftin%20and%20Leyf%20have%20provided,on%20his%20fellow%20Inklings%2C%20C.%20S.For more on Mark’s book see http://www.markvernon.com/consciousness

In a thought-provoking discussion, Robert Rowland Smith, an expert in love and attachment styles, teams up with Mark Vernon, a philosopher exploring love's deeper meanings. They tackle intriguing questions about why we love, navigating between Freud's and Lacan's theories. The duo delves into how early experiences shape adult relationships and the interplay of love and suffering. They explore love as both idealization and a profound realization of reality, ultimately questioning the balance between individual desires and collective connections.

What golden thread might link these writers across the centuries? Why might each matter now?Taking a lead from Valentin’s book, Shakespeare and the Grace of Words, we explore how the finite and infinite meet in dialogue, analogy, play and contrary, arguing that Plato, Nicholas of Cusa, Shakespeare and William Blake directly address our times of crisis and separation.For more on Valentin’s book see www.routledge.com/Shakespeare-and-the-Grace-of-Words-Language-Theology-Metaphysics/Gerlier/p/book/9781032121406He teaches an MA in Poetics of Imagination: https://campus.dartington.org/poetics-of-imagination/ His substack is https://graceofwords.substack.com/For more on Mark see www.markvernon.comThe book on Plato I mention is Plato: A Very Short Introduction by Julia Annas.For more on The Temenos Academy see www.temenosacademy.org

What is meant by the unconscious? Is it even a "thing"? Why does it seemingly originate with Freud? How useful is the concept? How can it be worked with?In this discussion, Robert Rowland Smith and Mark Vernon explore the history of this central notion in psychoanalysis. They look at the different articulations of it, particularly in Freud and Jung, and ask how it links to other ideas such as the field, inspiration and the divine.Are vertical metaphors the right metaphors, as when people talk of "depth psychology"? Is the subconscious just the unconscious lite? What is the difference between the personal and the collective unconscious? Is there really a difference?Will a time come, as a time once was, when human beings felt no need to refer to this surprising, alluring and pervasive dynamic?For more on Robert - https://www.robertrowlandsmith.comFor more on Mark - https://www.markvernon.com

Rupert Sheldrake, a renowned biologist and author known for his theories on morphic resonance, joins the discussion on prayer. They explore the contrasts between prayer and meditation, revealing the challenges in teaching prayer. Personal experiences highlight the roles of angels and saints, raising intriguing questions about spiritual intermediaries. The conversation also touches on the nature of prayer, including its implications in healing and connection to the divine. Sheldrake emphasizes the universal human desire to pray, inviting deeper exploration into this spiritual practice.