Jeff Russell on growing up in Texas; religiosity and rationalism; studying classics; serving in the military; BAP and the online vitalists; John Michael Greer's work; psychedelic dabblings; spiritual breakthroughs; grief; the limits of rational thought; ecstatic states; remaining sober while others are tripping; adopting a spiritual practice; rationalism as defence against false psychedelic awakening; Western esotericism; the
Interesting conversation. It strikes me that quite a few of the men I hear on podcasts talk about taking psychedelics. The way they are casually dropped into conversations is quite surprising to me. If the battle is for our minds as well as our bodies, I bet the government will encourage their use as mental health seems to get a lot of official attention.All part of linking us to the ant computer, I guess.
On another point that was mentioned, Peak Oil, do you think running out of cheap fossil fuels is the main reason for this push for a 4th Industrial Revolution?
I can't speak for Luke, of course, but for my part:
1) I think a lot of the appeal for psychedelics these days is that they offer a materially-understandable way to have decidedly non-ordinary experiences that can feel very meaningful. To an atheistic materialist, this sounds pretty good - get spiritual experiences without all of that vague God stuff and long practice. At least, I think that was part of what drew me at the time. As I said in the talk, these days I think there's better ways to get what I was after.
2) Well, considering that everything I've heard of as part of the 4th industrial revolution relies on lots of cheap energy, that would be a fairly strange direct cause, but it might be causal in a less obvious way. As folks start catching on that fossil fuels might not be cheap forever, but still want the technological growth and abundant material ease that they have brought for the last 300 years, they are frantically searching for anything that will keep the good times rolling, and some might see the 4th Industrial Revolution in that light, likely assuming fusion or a wildly optimistic take on what renewables can provide. I'm fairly skeptical on all of the above, so I don't see all that much coming from the 4IR, at least in the long run.
Thank you Jeff for replying to my musings. On the 4th IR, maybe they know more than we do about energy. Or they will simply ration what we use while integrating us with each other and everything else so we can be monitored and exploited. That sounds like a plan!
This was a great conversation! It's always helpful to hear about the journey of a fellow seeker, especially one with such wide-ranging experiences and interests and such rigorous honesty and self-awareness, like Jeff demonstrates!
Interesting conversation. It strikes me that quite a few of the men I hear on podcasts talk about taking psychedelics. The way they are casually dropped into conversations is quite surprising to me. If the battle is for our minds as well as our bodies, I bet the government will encourage their use as mental health seems to get a lot of official attention.All part of linking us to the ant computer, I guess.
On another point that was mentioned, Peak Oil, do you think running out of cheap fossil fuels is the main reason for this push for a 4th Industrial Revolution?
I can't speak for Luke, of course, but for my part:
1) I think a lot of the appeal for psychedelics these days is that they offer a materially-understandable way to have decidedly non-ordinary experiences that can feel very meaningful. To an atheistic materialist, this sounds pretty good - get spiritual experiences without all of that vague God stuff and long practice. At least, I think that was part of what drew me at the time. As I said in the talk, these days I think there's better ways to get what I was after.
2) Well, considering that everything I've heard of as part of the 4th industrial revolution relies on lots of cheap energy, that would be a fairly strange direct cause, but it might be causal in a less obvious way. As folks start catching on that fossil fuels might not be cheap forever, but still want the technological growth and abundant material ease that they have brought for the last 300 years, they are frantically searching for anything that will keep the good times rolling, and some might see the 4th Industrial Revolution in that light, likely assuming fusion or a wildly optimistic take on what renewables can provide. I'm fairly skeptical on all of the above, so I don't see all that much coming from the 4IR, at least in the long run.
Thank you Jeff for replying to my musings. On the 4th IR, maybe they know more than we do about energy. Or they will simply ration what we use while integrating us with each other and everything else so we can be monitored and exploited. That sounds like a plan!
This was a great conversation! It's always helpful to hear about the journey of a fellow seeker, especially one with such wide-ranging experiences and interests and such rigorous honesty and self-awareness, like Jeff demonstrates!