Why Reclaiming Value is Critical for Our Survival, Evolving Perennialism, & The Problem of Evil | Zak Stein

Zak Stein is a writer, educator, and futurist whose work explores existential risk and the meta-crisis. He studied religion and philosophy at Hampshire College before completing his doctorate in educational neuroscience, human development, and educational philosophy at Harvard. He is co-founder of several organizations including Lectica, the Civilization Research Institute, and the Center for World Philosophy and Religion. He is the author of "Education in a Time Between Worlds" and co-author of "First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on Cosmoerotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come."This is our third conversation. We've previously explored the crisis of education and Zak's model of human development. This time we go further — into the philosophical foundations Zak believes are necessary for civilization to survive what's coming.In this conversation, we explore the problems of postmodernity, why value and consciousness are fundamental aspects of reality rather than illusions to be explained away, and what is Cosmo-Erotic Humanism.We get into evolving perennialism and the problem of evil, Global Intimacy Disorder and emotional maturity, and how to balance rapid advances in technology with ethical development.We also explore bringing the wisdom of religious traditions to the scientific rationalist mind, what may be the most powerful and dangerous religion in the world today, and the difficulty of transmitting ethical leadership across generations.🔗 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🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Introduction 1:55 - The problems of postmodernity 12:31 - Why value and 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 and 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 and 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