The Meaning Crisis and Silicon Valley with John Vervaeke

Erik is joined by John Vervaeke (@vervaeke_john), a psychology and cognitive science professor at the University of Toronto.They discuss:- How John has been working on bridging the gap between cognitive science and spirituality.- Why he says that we need to “awaken” from the meaning crisis, not “solve” it.- What he wants people building virtual reality and social media platforms to know.- Why he says that people these days don’t value democracy the way people did in the past.- The biggest questions that he has been wrestling with in his research.- How meaning is distinct from happiness or well-being.- How “we’ve killed God and replaced it with a marketplace.”- Whether we will see the emergence of new religions, or “upgrades” to the existing ones.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.