#317 – John Vervaeke: Meaning Crisis, Atheism, Religion & the Search for Wisdom
Lex Fridman Podcast
Wisdom is the art of overcoming self-deception through recursive relevance realization
Wisdom emerges from navigating novel and complex situations that challenge our cognitive capacities. It involves the process of relevance realization, whereby individuals classify experiences in simplified, meaningful terms, such as identifying a dog without over-complicating the classification. Wisdom accumulates through a hierarchy of rationalities: from basic problem-solving intelligence to higher-level meta-cognition. While knowledge combats ignorance, wisdom addresses foolishness, defined as self-deceptive and self-destructive behaviors. Thus, wise individuals effectively employ their intelligence and rational thought recursively to refine their understanding and enhance decision-making. They possess the ability to discern the most pertinent information in messy situations, allowing them to intervene effectively. Self-deception suggests a cognitive manipulation where one alters knowledge for a specific intent, underscoring the importance of awareness and mindfulness in the pursuit of genuine wisdom.
