Why are extreme beliefs exploding? | Freethink

Summary

Jamie Wheal, founder of the Flow Genome Project, discusses the collapse of traditional meaning structures in society, including organized religion and modern liberalism. He highlights the rise of fundamentalism and nihilism, and the vulnerability to rapture ideologies. Wheal suggests creating Meaning 3.0, a blend of traditional and modern values, that is open-source, scalable, and anti-fragile. He emphasizes the need for tools to heal trauma, inspire, and connect, aiming to restore a sense of belonging and purpose.

Takeaways

• 🕒 The speaker humorously reminds us of our place in the grand scheme of Earth's history, suggesting that anatomically modern humans have been around for only a tiny fraction of Earth's day-long timeline.
• 🌐 We are currently experiencing exponential change in various aspects of life, which is overwhelming and causing a sense of instability.
• 💔 There's a perceived collapse in traditional organized religion, often referred to as Meaning 1.0, with many people finding it no longer aligns with their identity or community.
• 🏛️ Modern liberalism, or Meaning 2.0, is also faltering, with institutions like academia, media, and corporations facing crises of trust and integrity.
• 📉 The erosion of trust in established institutions has led to a rise in fundamentalism and nihilism, as well as an increase in conspiracy theories.
• 🌪️ People are seeking rapture ideologies that promise a clear narrative and a path to salvation, often at the expense of the world's well-being.
• 🌱 The concept of Meaning 3.0 is introduced as a blend of traditional religion and modern liberalism, aiming to provide healing, inspiration, and connection.
• 🌟 Meaning 3.0 should be open-source, scalable, and accessible to all, reflecting the inclusive values of modern liberalism.
• 💪 It should also be anti-fragile, strengthening and becoming more effective in the face of adversity, as opposed to simply surviving.
• 🌈 The speaker advocates for using evolutionary drivers like breathing, sexuality, embodiment, substances, and music to foster personal and communal well-being.
• 🔗 By leveraging these tools, we can mend trauma, reconnect with inspiration, and enhance our connections with one another, potentially recapturing a sense of bliss and belonging.

Q & A

What is the main point Jamie Wheal is making about the human experience in the context of Earth's history?

Jamie Wheal emphasizes that anatomically modern humans have existed for only a tiny fraction of Earth's history, suggesting that our current societal structures and challenges are very recent developments in the grand scheme of things.

What does Wheal suggest is causing a sense of overwhelm and grief in modern society?

Wheal attributes the sense of overwhelm and grief to the exponential changes occurring in various aspects of life, such as education, technology, economics, and the environment, which are challenging our traditional ways of understanding and coping with the world.

How does Jamie Wheal describe the current collapse in meaning?

Wheal describes the collapse in meaning as complex and multivariable, involving a decline in traditional organized religion (Meaning 1.0) and the weakening of modern liberalism's institutions (Meaning 2.0), leading to a search for new structures that can provide a sense of stability and purpose.

What is the 'largest and fastest growing religious movement' in North America according to Wheal?

The 'none of the above's,' which includes people who identify as spiritual but not religious, is the largest and fastest-growing religious movement in North America, indicating a shift away from traditional organized religion.

What are the two extremes that Wheal mentions have emerged in the collapse of meaning?

In the collapse of meaning, Wheal mentions the emergence of fundamentalism and nihilism as two extremes, reflecting a societal divide in how people are coping with the loss of traditional meaning structures.

What are 'rapture ideologies' as described by Jamie Wheal?

Rapture ideologies are belief systems that promise a radical transformation or escape from the current world's problems, often with a focus on an imminent inflection point and a select group of individuals who will be 'saved' or rewarded.

What are the three key components Wheal believes should be included in Meaning 3.0?

Meaning 3.0 should include healing, inspiration, and connection, drawing from the best aspects of traditional religion and modern liberalism to create a more inclusive and adaptable approach to finding meaning.

How does Wheal suggest we create an anti-fragile solution for Meaning 3.0?

Wheal suggests creating an anti-fragile solution by focusing on evolutionary drivers like breathing, sexuality, embodiment, substances, and music, which can serve as tools for individuals to discharge trauma, achieve peak states, and find inspiration.

What is the role of design thinking in Wheal's vision for Meaning 3.0?

Design thinking plays a role in Meaning 3.0 by supporting the development of accessible, scalable, and effective tools and practices that can help individuals and communities navigate and adapt to the challenges of finding meaning in a rapidly changing world.

What are the goals for the tools and approaches in Meaning 3.0 according to Jamie Wheal?

The goals for the tools and approaches in Meaning 3.0 are to mend trauma, reconnect with inspiration, and better connect with each other, ultimately aiming to recapturing a sense of rapture, bliss, contentment, belonging, and passion.

Outlines

00:00

🌌 The Collapse of Traditional Meaning Systems

Jamie Wheal, founder of the Flow Genome Project, discusses the rapid changes in various aspects of life, from education to geopolitics, which are overwhelming and causing a sense of loss of meaning. He notes that modern humans have had a very brief time in the grand scheme of Earth's history, suggesting our current societal structures are struggling to adapt. Wheal points out the decline in traditional organized religion (Meaning 1.0) and the creaking modern liberalism (Meaning 2.0), which have failed to provide a sense of stability and identity for many. He describes the rise of fundamentalism and nihilism, along with diseases of despair, as a result of this collapse. Wheal also touches on the vulnerability of people to rapture ideologies that promise a clear narrative and escape from the chaos, which can be found in both religious and secular contexts. He poses the question of how to create a new system (Meaning 3.0) that combines the best of traditional religion and modern liberalism, offering both salvation and inclusion.

05:04

🌱 Creating Meaning 3.0: A Path to Healing and Connection

In the second paragraph, Wheal outlines the components necessary for creating Meaning 3.0, a new system that can help restore a sense of meaning and purpose. He emphasizes the need for healing, inspiration, and connection, which are fundamental to human well-being. Wheal suggests that this new system should be open-source and accessible to all, implying that it should be scalable and affordable. Furthermore, he stresses the importance of anti-fragility, meaning that the system should become stronger in the face of adversity. He proposes using evolutionary drivers such as breathing, sexuality, embodiment, substances, and music as tools to help people discharge trauma and achieve peak states of inspiration. Wheal believes that by leveraging these tools, individuals can mend their trauma, reconnect with their inspiration, and better connect with one another, ultimately recapturing a sense of bliss, contentment, and belonging.

Keywords

💡Exponential change

Exponential change refers to a rapid and accelerating rate of growth or development. In the context of the video, it is used to describe the swift and overwhelming transformations occurring across various sectors such as education, quantum computing, cryptocurrency, and more. The speaker implies that these changes are challenging our cognitive abilities, leading to a sense of being overwhelmed and contributing to a collapse in meaning.

💡Collapse in meaning

The collapse in meaning is a concept that suggests a loss of shared values, beliefs, or a sense of purpose in society. The speaker argues that we are currently experiencing such a collapse, which is complex and multifaceted. This collapse is characterized by a loss of faith in traditional institutions and ideologies, leading to a search for new ways to find meaning and stability.

💡Meaning 1.0 and Meaning 2.0

These terms are used to represent different eras or versions of meaning in society. Meaning 1.0 refers to traditional organized religion, which is described as being in decline. Meaning 2.0 pertains to modern liberalism, including institutions like academia, media, and corporations, which are also portrayed as faltering. The speaker suggests that both have failed to provide a solid foundation for meaning in the current era.

💡Rapture ideologies

Rapture ideologies are极端的信仰体系，它们承诺一个即将到来的转折点，之后选中的人将获得救赎或特别的好处。在视频中，这些意识形态被用来说明一些人如何被提供简单答案和确定性的承诺所吸引，尤其是在面对混乱和不确定性时。这些意识形态在极端宗教团体和某些商业实践中都有所体现。

💡Anti-fragile

Anti-fragile is a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, which describes systems or entities that not only withstand shocks and stresses but actually grow stronger as a result. In the video, the speaker advocates for creating anti-fragile solutions to restore meaning, which would become more effective and resilient in the face of adversity, rather than simply surviving or remaining static.

💡Evolutionary drivers

Evolutionary drivers are fundamental aspects of human biology and psychology that have been shaped by evolution and can be harnessed to influence behavior and experience. The speaker mentions drivers such as breathing, sexuality, embodiment, substances, and music, suggesting that these can be used as tools to help people cope with trauma, achieve peak states, and find inspiration.

💡Design thinking

Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and iterative prototyping. In the context of the video, the speaker suggests using a design thinking approach to create new structures for meaning that are accessible, scalable, and adaptable to individual needs, allowing for a more personalized and effective restoration of meaning.

💡Diseases of despair

Diseases of despair refer to a range of health issues that are often associated with a lack of hope or a sense of despair, such as substance abuse, depression, and suicide. The speaker mentions these as consequences of the collapse in meaning, indicating that the loss of a sense of purpose and community can have severe impacts on mental and physical health.

💡Fundamentalism and nihilism

Fundamentalism and nihilism are two extreme responses to the collapse in meaning. Fundamentalism is a strict adherence to a set of beliefs, often religious, with little tolerance for other viewpoints. Nihilism is the belief that life has no inherent meaning or purpose. The speaker suggests that these ideologies are on the rise as people grapple with the loss of traditional sources of meaning.

💡Meaning 3.0

Meaning 3.0 is a concept proposed by the speaker for a new era of meaning that combines the best aspects of traditional religion (Meaning 1.0) and modern liberalism (Meaning 2.0). It aims to provide the healing, inspiration, and connection of religion with the openness, inclusivity, and accessibility of modern liberalism. The speaker outlines criteria for Meaning 3.0, including being open-source, scalable, and anti-fragile.

Highlights

We're just monkeys with clothes, and our existence in the grand scale of life on Earth is minuscule.

Anatomically modern humans appeared very recently in Earth's timeline, suggesting our civilization is in its infancy.

Change is exponential across various sectors, overwhelming us and leading to a sense of collapse in meaning.

The traditional organized religion, or Meaning 1.0, is experiencing a decline as it no longer resonates with many people's identities.

The spiritual but not religious demographic is the largest and fastest-growing 'religion' in North America.

Modern liberalism, or Meaning 2.0, is showing signs of decay with institutions losing credibility.

Examples of institutional decay include Goldman Sachs' role in the 2008 financial crisis and Purdue Pharma's OxyContin scandal.

Trust in traditional information sources like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal is eroding.

The replication crisis in academia and corruption in peer review processes undermine the reliability of scientific knowledge.

Fundamentalism and nihilism are emerging as responses to the collapse of traditional meaning structures.

Conspiracy theories are on the rise as people seek simple explanations for complex societal issues.

Rapture ideologies offer a false sense of security and belonging, promising an escape from current chaos.

Meaning 3.0 is proposed as a blend of traditional religion and modern liberalism, aiming for a more inclusive and healing approach.

Meaning 3.0 should be open-source, scalable, and anti-fragile, strengthening in the face of adversity.

Evolutionary drivers like breathing, sexuality, embodiment, substances, and music can be tools for personal transformation.

Design thinking can support the development of accessible and effective tools for healing, inspiration, and connection.

The goal is to provide tools that help mend trauma, reconnect with inspiration, and foster better connections with others.

By recapturing our rapture, bliss, contentment, belonging, and passion, we can redefine our collective story and purpose.

Transcripts

JAMIE WHEAL: It's really easy to forget,  that we're just monkeys with clothes.  

If you took all of life on Earth and  you compressed it into one 24-hour day,  

anatomically modern man shows up at four  seconds before midnight, cave paintings at  

one second before midnight. We've been playing  at civilization for a fraction of a second.

Everything is going into exponential change, from  education to quantum computing, to cryptocurrency,  

to transport, to macroeconomics, to  geopolitics, to climate crisis, to everything.  

It's breaking our brains. We're overwhelmed,  we're collapsing in grief. It does feel that  

the handrails, the things that we used to  look to for stability and security, have just  

evaporated. If we've experienced a collapse  in meaning how do we go about restoring it?

I'm Jamie Wheal, founder of the Flow Genome  Project, and author of "Recapture the Rapture:  

Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World  That's Lost Its Mind." The collapse in meaning,  

that I think you can at least argue we're in the  midst of right now, is complex and multivariable.  

We've had a collapse in traditional organized  religion, what you could call kind of Meaning 1.0.  

For the first time ever, the nuns, the spiritual  but not religious, like the "none of the above's,"  

is the largest and fastest growing  religious movement in North America.  

There are increasingly folks that feel like, "Hey,  those stories, those codes, those ways of being,  

don't match my identity. Don't match my choices.  Don't match my community." So organized religion  

is no longer a place to hang our hats.  And at the same time, modern liberalism  

has also been getting a little creaky. That's  Meaning 2.0. Think of the ivory tower in academia,  

news media, businesses, and corporate titans  and leadership, potentially even medicine. And  

you just take those and you just go one by one.  You're like, oh, well, Goldman Sachs sold middle  

America down the river in 2008. And McKinsey  helped Purdue Pharma sell more OxyContin well  

after the negative effects were demonstrated.  The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal,  

which used to be considered the journals of  record are now imploding. And the same thing  

with doctors, the same thing with corruptions  in peer review, and the replication crisis.  

Basically everything you've ever seen  on a TED Talk is probably not true.

So all of the places that we  used to use rules of thumb  

or decision-making shortcuts,  that's just evaporated.  

So in that collapse, we're getting fundamentalism  on one side, and we're getting nihilism  

on the other. We're getting diseases of despair.  We're getting real heartbreak. I think you could  

make a case that that is why we're seeing this  uptick in conspiracy theories of all stripes.  

Will anybody make sense of all of this nonsense  for me? If you can give me a happily ever after,  

if you can tell me that I'm one of the good guys,  and you promised to get me to the other side,  

hundreds of thousands of people these days, are  deeply vulnerable to that promise. These are  

rapture ideologies. We can see examples of  that with ISIS and Christian Zionism. But I  

think what is equally important to note is that  they show up in Wall Street, in Silicon Valley.

All of these rapture ideologies  share the same structure. Number one,  

the world as we know it is screwed. Number  two, there's an inflection point coming soon.  

Number three, as soon as we get to that inflection  point, me and mine, the elect, the saved,  

are going to score one of the golden tickets to  the other side. Number four, so let's get there as  

fast as possible. Don't worry about the collateral  damage of the world we're leaving behind.  

So the question then is, how do  we create liberating structures  

so that a lot of people all around the world,  can experiment, innovate and adapt their own  

approaches to finding and restoring meaning,  without it coming tops-down? If we want to create  

Meaning 3.0, which is a blend of traditional  religion, and modern liberalism, how do we  

have the salvation that religion promises, and the  inclusion that modern liberalism is committed to?  

From Meaning 1.0, we need healing, inspiration  and connection. From the modern liberal side,  

we want this to be open-source. We want  anybody anywhere to have access to this,  

needs to be scalable, really cheap  or outright free. And then the third,  

is it has to be anti-fragile. But as Mike Tyson  said, "everybody's got a plan until they get hit,"  

right? So the idea of an anti-fragile  solution is one that actually digs in  

and get stronger, more rooted, more  effective as things deteriorate around it.

If you want to do things that everybody has access  to that are effective, start with evolutionary  

drivers like breathing, sexuality, embodiment,  substances and music. Our nervous systems and our  

bodies can actually be profoundly potent tools  to discharge trauma, and to prompt peak states  

and inspiration. Bringing that design thinking  approach is an attempt to support that.  

So that would be the hope for Meaning 3.0.  It doesn't promise an out for an escape.  

It doesn't promise a happily ever after that is  structurally different from right here, right now.  

We need tools to mend our trauma,  

tools to reconnect with inspiration, why we're  here and what it all means, and tools to better  

connect with each other. And if we can do that,  then we stand a chance of recapturing our rapture,  

our bliss, our contentment, our belonging, our  passion, and the story of who we are, the story of  

where we're going, and the commitment to  figure out together what do we do now.