89. Complexifying Identity w/ God'swill Osa

Rufus Pollock of Life Itself explains what Life Itself is about before we dive into a deep and rich conversation about the heart of this new movement we're a part of that's dedicated to a different orientation to value and meaning. What is distinctly core and emergent about this new approach and way of seeing the world? Rufus speaks eloquently about this, articulating the spirit of a Second Renaissance with beauty and emotion. 0:00 Introduction1:47 What is 'Life Itself'?31:24 What are the Reeeeeeal Deep Structures?1:01:05 A New Kind of Deep Meaning Focused on the Primacy of Being1:27:15 Conclusion Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

God'swill Osa joins me to talk about his doctoral work exploring identity-formation and group consciousness, specifically in the American political context. We discuss the idea of political group consciousness and the significance of individuation and self-awareness for moving beyond the simplistic binaries of culture war acrimony. How does the current system hijack identity concerns for political gain and what healthier, more adaptive ways of thinking about identity are possible?0:00 Introduction1:00 Identity and Group Consciousness7:45 Individuation and the Complexification of Identity14:30 Who Are You When? Identity and Context18:56 Survival Strategies vs. Self-Awareness25:51 The Political-Identity-Industrial Complex34:30 Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Influences: The Better and Worse Angels of Our Nature42:41 Adaptive Diversity, Fluid Identity53:46 Saving the American Experiment1:06:51 Conclusion Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

The Spiritual Naturalist Society is for folks exploring spirituality beyond supernaturalism. Here I'm joined by Daniel Strain and Alex Cheruk to discuss the origins and goals of this awesome organization.0:00 Introduction1:35 What is Spiritual Naturalism?17:22 The Role of Community22:29 Daniel and Alex's Stories44:09 What is the Spiritual Naturalist Society?53:15 Can Christianity Naturalize?59:15 How to Get Involved1:02:50 ConclusionLearn more about about The Spiritual Naturalist Society here: https://www.snsociety.org/ Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

Developmental researcher Dr. Cheryl Armon discusses her work on the way different philosophical conceptions of the good life relate to psychological development.0:00 Introduction1:38 The Complexification of Value8:03 The 5 Philosophical Orientations:13:07 Hedonism: Classical22:24 Hedonism: Social29:54 Perfectionism: Functionalist41:22 Perfectionism: Unitarianist52:35 Perfectionism: Progressivist1:06:49 Are Some Orientations More Common among Higher Levels of Development?1:11:23 What Are the Next Steps for this Line of Research?1:15:52 Conclusion Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

Nish Dubashia walks through his new book, A Brief History of God: From Nature Spirits to Cosmic Consciousness, the newest offering from Sky Meadow Press. After laying out his framework for religion as a story of the self's aspiration to reunite with Spirit, Nish goes through the major stages of religion's evolution, from humanity's tribal origins to the rise of polytheism in early agricultural civilizations to the Axial Age transformation of transcendence to the modern shift to materialism and the postmodern emphasis on pluralistic harmony. We then explore post-postmodern forms of religiosity as an integral perspective before Nish's concluding speculations on the future of spirituality. 0:00 Introduction 1:12 A Brief History of 'A Brief History of God' 6:11 Religion's Archetypal Story: The Dance of Self and Spirit 11:25 Stage 1. The Beginning of Spiritual Awareness 16:11 Stage 2. The Rise of Individualism 25:27 Stage 3. Tradition and the Search for Order 34:08 Stage 4. Science and the Quest for Truth 41:59 Stage 5. The Path to Harmony 53:17 Stage 6. Bridging Perspectives 1:00:53 Stage 7. Holistic Spirituality 1:09:41 The Future of Spirituality Link for the book: https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-God-Spirits-Consciousness/dp/B0FH28Q63K/ Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Theo Linda Dawson, founder of Lectica, Inc., discusses the launch of MindLog, an unprecedented developmental tracking tool that charts the hierarchical complexification of skill capacities using high-precision Lectical scoring. She explains what it does and how it works before we dive into its two major applications for educators and for adult learners. 0:00 Introduction1:05 What is MindLog?5:51 Operationalizing Cognitive-Developmental TheoryMindLog for Educators14:23 Motivating Students for Growth20:13 Teaching Informed by Classroom Developmental Data30:52 How to Get InvolvedMindLog for Adults33:44 A Tool for Tracking Your Development37:16 Opportunity (and Pitfalls) for Coaching Integration42:11 "What Level You At, Bro?" Dangers of Identifying with Your Score46:04 Developing Our Relationship to Development50:02 Tracking Development in Different Skills54:14 Misuse Cases57:31 How the Data is Used1:03:10 Prospects of Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Mind1:06:33 The Time Has Come1:09:57 Course Offerings: FOLA, LAP-1, ViPMindLog will be launching in beta in June for those interested to get a glimpse of this cutting-edge technology. You can find more about MindLog, as well as the courses mentioned, at Lectica.org Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

Educator and philosopher Brad Kershner joins me to discuss the crisis facing our civilizational frameworks and educational institutions, with considerations of what the path out of this cul-de-sac looks like and how we get there.0:00 Introduction3:54 Designing a World for Value13:58 A Trans-Partisan Issue20:03 The Modern Breakdown of Value32:19 The Failure of the Postmodern Response38:38 Metamodernism and/or Perennialism 48:01 The Multi-Dimensional Nature of Value Alignment52:15 An Evolutionary Story1:00:04 Epistemic Humility and an Embodied Taste for Wisdom1:14:38 The Value of AttentionCheck out Brad's recent lectures on his YT channel @bradkershner52 ​ Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

How do we do the most good? Answers popular in the Rationality and effective altruism spaces can be helpful in some ways, but could also be radically misframing the issue in others. Here Anna Riedl joins me to discuss more of what she means by an "autopoiethics" approach to the topic, which takes seriously the implications of complex systems science for understanding "doing the right thing" in context. 0:00 Introduction1:51 Autopoiethics5:34 On "Doing the Right Thing" at Different Scales11:01 Metamodern Ethics beyond the "View from Nowhere"17:01 The Normative Primacy of Self-Maintenance 20:55 The Relation of Self to Others28:56 Autopoiethics and Intersubjectivity: The Other in the Self34:58 Does Complexity Have Intrinsic Value?40:17 Complexify Self to Complexify Other47:21 Your Starbucks Receipt and Schindler's List 51:20 Moral Foundations Theory and Opponent Processing58:36 Ethics and Relevance Realization1:05:42 Bottom Up or Top Down? A Counter-Argument from Emergent Causality1:17:29 Summing Up1:23:47 Conclusion Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

Boaz Feldman joins me to talk about an important conference he's helped to organize at Harvard. The Education for Flourishing Conference, AKA Human Transformation in a Time of Metacrisis, is happening at the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Friday, May 2nd, followed the next day by the Unconference featuring workshops, panels, and opportunities for further connection. 0:00 Introduction1:21 Boaz's Background3:26 Overview of the Conference and Unconference8:21 The Liminal Coming to the Center: Realizing Metamodern Paradigm Change15:08 Setup to a Second Renaissance18:54 Itinerary and Speakers25:03 Brendan's Offering for the Unconference28:51 Is This for You?36:31 From Thinking to DoingLink to conference info: https://news.lifeitself.org/p/education-for-flourishing-conference Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe

I'm joined by professor Gary Cziko, author of Without Miracles: Universal Selection Theory and the Second Darwinian Revolution, to discuss the universal learning process driving adaptive complexification across cosmic scales. We get into the issue of "puzzles of fit" and how they've tended to be accounted for, the scope and power of selectionist theories for understanding evolution and knowledge generation, and relationships of the theory to a number of important topics, including how we make meaning in life. 0:00 Introduction2:22 Puzzles of Fit and Universal Selection Theory8:55 A Metatheory for Meaningful Knowledge Generation16:23 The Universe Learning, & Learning How It Learns23:02 Transcending Constraints of Knowledge Structures31:22 History of the Theory40:31 Adjusting Experience for Meaning47:17 Piaget and Universal Selection Theory55:52 Hegel?57:08 The Miracle 'Without Miracles'59:44 The Existential Basis of Purpose1:06:27 Conclusion Get full access to Brendan Graham Dempsey at brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/subscribe