Zak Stein - Why Reclaiming Value Is Essential for Humanity's Survival

Zak is a writer, educator, and futurist whose work explores issues around existential risk and the meta-crisis. He studied religion and philosophy at Hampshire College and then later educational neuroscience, human development, and educational philosophy at Harvard. He is a co-founder of several organizations including Lectica, Civilization Research Institute, and the Center for World Philosophy and Religion. He is also the author of several books including “Education in a Time Between Worlds” and a co-author of “First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on Cosmoerotic Humanism, the Meta-crisis, and the World to Come.” In this episode we speak about the problems of post-modernity, why value & consciousness are fundamental aspects of reality, Cosmo-Erotic humanism, evolving perennialism, the problem of evil, the most powerful and dangerous religion in the world today and so much more.🔗[Links & resources] 🔗Zak Stein’s personal siteFirst Principles First Values by David J. Temple (Zak’s latest book)My first conversation with Zak on the Education CrisisMy second conversation with Zak on his approach to human developmentDavid Ray GriffinDavid HumeIain McGilchristJohn VervaekeNick LandDeep Utopia by Nick BostromPerennial PhilosophyJurgen HabermasKen WilberStuart KauffmanB.F. SkinnerNoam ChomskyRichard DawkinsRupert Sheldrake📝[Show Notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 1:55 - The Problems of Post-Modernity 12:31 - Why value & consciousness are fundamental aspects of reality 21:35 - What is Cosmo-Erotic Humanism?42:40 - Evolving Perennialism and The Problem of Evil 52:20 - Global Intimacy Disorder & Emotional Maturity 1:04:35 - Balancing advances in technology with ethical development 1:10:36 - Bringing the wisdom of religions to the scientific rationalist mind 1:26:26 - The most powerful & dangerous religion in the world today 1:32:30 - The difficulty of transmitting ethical leadership*Subscribe to the Insighter substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional lens