Ep. 2 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Flow, Metaphor, and the Axial Revolution

[@chrismotsu4232]

I just wanted to post a comment to convey my gratitude for making this series of lectures available and free of charge. This is what the internet was designed for! Thank you Dr. Vervaeke.

[@BeauSmithFtl]

I am grateful for this being available to us, as well. Thank you.

[@inthepocketbass]

What a privilege it is to live in a time where this information is available to us for free. Thousands of hours of collective research and study manifested in a series that would take us all an individual lifetime (if not longer) to compile ourselves - let alone read and understand. There's a case for optimism, and it's the rise in media such as this that gives me hope.

[@pewnis]

The fact that this is free for all of us to listen and watch is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.

[@jamesbarlow6423]

Please.....

[@MattFRox]

@@jamesbarlow6423 If U and I were sitting down into therapy, I would be so tempted to ask u, "Why do U hate yourself?" But I'M NOT A THERAPIST and U r not in therapy so perhaps U might have the courage to ask the question but also demand the CORRECT ANSWER.

[@NicholasDunbar]

It's not really free. It's ad supported and I pay for yt without ads. I hope John gets a cut of my subscription.

[@abejar99]

It's pretty free for me, you just gotta watch 5 seconds of an add and time isn't money

[@jamescox5297]

Speed walking helps with flow state for me. At some point it becomes dance. Walking fast makes deep demand on awareness spacial mapping, and tracking of other walkers...

[@RealTextAppeal]

I have watched Sapolsky Lectures, Peterson lectures, and now discovered this. Gosh am I fortunate to live in a time where these people are offering such a high quality education for free on my mini tv screen computer

[@lizellevanwyk5927]

Another benefit of this digital age: one can come back - after a period of "incubation" - and attend the lecture series again :-) It's even more profound the second time around.

[@matthewparlato5626]

I'm on round 2

[@captiantoastytm6436]

@@matthewparlato5626 right behind ya

[@scarletohary]

Same.

[@thinkwhileeatingpasta5217]

@@captiantoastytm6436 Have any suggestions on how to properly comprehend the lectures? Having hard time understanding it

[@gvcyggfyhggg3404]

@@thinkwhileeatingpasta5217 Maybe try taking notes. Pick out important concepts ('Upper Paleolithic Transition', 'Exaptation', etc) and try the Feynman technique, try to explain it in your own words as if you were explaining it to someone else. Where you run into a gap in your understanding, try reviewing. Just takes time and persistence to expand your comprehension, and as you do it definitely pays off. Years ago I read Steven Pinkers 'The Denial of Human Nature' and it was a daunting task at that time as my first more serious intellectual book, being confronted with unfamiliar philosophical notions, verbiage, and the like. I put it away initially because of the burden but returned to it later and pushed through it..... today it's not so difficult. It gets easier with practice, like anything. Hope you don't get discouraged, wishing you well on your learning journey 🙃

[@tylermckee907]

Listening to these lectures is like being continually infused with high quality narcotics... Getting buzzed off this pure knowledge and wisdom. Thank you for your contribution to the world John!

[@Jide-bq9yf]

True , he’s clearly in the business of mind expansion .

[@segasys1339]

I believe the buzz is from Vervaeke explicitly articulating ideas we implicitly understood but did not really even know were there. It's like the strange rush of discovering something hiding in plain sight.

[@tensevo]

The difference is, no downer.

[@blakeobeans]

This is powerful because it tells me what I already know to be true.

[@karin6927]

Thanks for your wonderful gift and taking the time to share it, John! I wrote a vocabulary. Well, I am wondering if the flow state is irrational? And how intelligent could a person be risking her/his own life? SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS VIDEO: Key words: Meaning making - Enhanced cognition - Altered states of consciousness - Wisdom. Upper Paleolithic transition was probably driven by the way shamanism was a set of psychotechnologies for altering states of consciousness to cognitively exapt the enhanced abilities that trade rituals and initiation rituals and healing rituals had already been creating. Cognitive exaptation: changes in the software of the brain (functions) that were developed through evolution but its structures weren´t made with that purpose. VOCABULARY 1. Shaman: person who engaged in various disruptive strategies to alter his/her framing of reality in a different way. 2. Framing reality: it is to think out of the box that enhances the adaptability and the ability to find new or different patterns. 3. Shamanic ritual: it is a ritual for healing. 4. Disruptive strategy: it is a strategy that alters a state of consciousness because it causes significant change in the attention, for example, some of those are sleep deprivation, sex deprivation, social isolation, use of psychedelics, extended chanting , etc. 5. Different kinds of knowing: 6. Flow state: popularly describing as being in “the zone” in which a person is involved in task very demanding and his/her skill abilities can just through like sort of insight and restructuring . The flow state is much more connected to meaning in life and is universal. A kind of self-consciousness disappears and it is super salient. There is a kind of brightness and vividness through the experience. 7. Flow induction machines: the skills of a person are constantly improving and the demand of the environment is also improving in dangerous contexts or it can also be through video games. 8. Video game: it is a program that induce the “Flow state”, becoming an addiction. Problem is that it doesn´t belong to the real world. 9. Addiction: it is a condition to a particular substance, thing or activity that runs off machinery that is evolutionarily adaptive. 10. Shamanism: it can also be a way to induce the “flow state”. 11. Connectedness 12. Mindfulness training: it increases the capacity to get into the flow state 13. Phenomenology: 14. Cascade of insights: it is to have an insight that´s leadind to another insight and so on and so far. This chain of insights are going to improve skills of abilities 15. Implicit learning: it is the tremendous capacity outside our conscious awareness to pick up on very complex patterns in the environment without being aware of it. Implicit learning cannot be replaced by explicit learning. 16. Intuition: it is the result of implicit learning. 17. Bias: 18. Prejudice: 19. Correlational pattern: it is what any two or more variables are related to each other but sometimes those are not necessarily causal. Then it misleads to an illusory reality. 20. Causal pattern: it is the situation in which two or more variables maintain a cause-effect relationship in which one of those variables is independent and is the cause of, while the another variable is dependent and the result of the causal variable. 21. Science: it is a way of distinguishing causal patterns from correlational patterns. 22. Metaphor: it means to bridge and to carry over to connected things that are normally not connected. It is so powerful because it is how to make creative connections between ideas. 23. Metaphorical cognition: it is the heart of science and art. 24. Oversight: 25. Supervision: 26. Upper Paleolithic Revolution: it occurs around 40,000 BCE. And it is constituted by the Meaning-making machinery, altered states of consciousness, self-transcendence and cultivation of wisdom represented by the creation of the arts, calendars and some kinds of artillery. 27. Neolithic Revolution: it happened around 10,000 BCE. The agriculture was invented and because of agriculture, people don´t need to live as nomads. Larger groups were living together, that caused radical changes and the stone gives way to metal, appearing the Bronze Age. 28. Axial age or Axial Revolution: term coined by the German Philosopher, Karl Jaspers that is a period of the history around 800 BCE and 300 BCE. in which alphabetic literacy was invented, producing the second order thinking. It also happened that lots of armies were moving around and empires were being rebuilt; and coinage was also invented. 29. Alphabetic literacy: it is a much more learnable psychotechnology. That was invented in Canaan, taken to Phoenicians and then the Greeks. The Canaanite alphabet merges to archaic Hebrew and the Hebrew 30. Second order thinking: it is when a person internalizes a psychotechnology into his/her metacognition and it improves the capacity to critically examine and correct his/her own thinking. 31. Metacognition: it is the awareness of the own mind. 32. Coinages: physical thing made of metals that in our days is disappearing but that helped to think in an abstract symbol system and to mathematically thinking. 33. Double-edged sword of the cognition: indiscipline-discipline Indiscipline: behavior that leads to self-deception and illusion . Discipline: behavior that through self-correction and self-transcendence leads to wisdom and the ability to reduce violence and the suffering. LIST OF BOOKS (according to the sequence of the video): 1. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. 2. Reber, Arthur. Implicit learning and tacit knowledge: an essay on the cognitive unconscious. 3. Hogath, Robin. Educating intuition. 4. Schear, Joseph (Editor). Mind, reason, and being-in-the-world: the Mcdowell-Dreyfus debate. 5. Pinker, Steven. The better angels of our nature: why violence has declined. 6. Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. Metaphors we live by . 7. Jaspers, Karl. The origin and goal of history . 8. Armstrong, Karen. The great transformation: the beginning of our religious traditions. 9. Drews, Robert. The end of the bronze age: changes in warfare and the catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C. 10. Cline, Eric. 1177 B.C.: The year civilization collapsed. 11. Bellah, Robert and Joas, Hans (Editors). The axial age and its consequences 12. The Dhammapada.

[@fmontechristo]

Thanks!

[@محمدصلاحالفحل-و7ق]

@@fmontechristo Thanks

[@breathspinecore]

Thank you so much for this! I have been scribbling chicken scratch notes, but this is so professional.

[@vivekanandverma6034]

thanks

[@lkenn100]

Thank you so much!!

[@RebelWisdom]

This is brilliant - looking forward to the next episode.

[@CaesarReb]

Glad to see your interview with John, especially after JP and KW's take on JP.

[@paddykiernanmusic]

Thanks for exposing me to his work!

[@KarimaCynthiaClayton]

Watched this as you suggested in our current meditation class for understanding flow. Now when meditating and practicing flow I will think of what it must feel like to be a rock climber, shaman, to be embodied and yet have oversight.

[@AndyJarman]

Metaphorically brilliant. Or does metaphor appear to be a metaphor because we tend to view the world as a material subject? We are relating to the invisible world using the tools we developed for the visible. Don Hoffman give a talk on this on TEDx.

[@RomanDobs]

Yes 🙌 indeed

[@mesidonaa]

Short-form cliffs: 0:30 - 2:30 *recap of previous episode* --> origin of meaning making --> meaning making, enhancing cognition, altered states of consciousness, and wisdom --> Upper Paleolithic transition --> Psychotechnology , and psychological exaptation --> Shamanism --> Different kinds of knowing _________________________________________ 2:54 - *shamanic techniques* 3:30 - *the flow state* 5:13 - *Video games = one of most reliable ways of inducing flow state* 9:10 - *effortless effort* --> Altered sense of time --> Altered sense of self 9:44 - *burden of self-consciousness* 10:35 - *super salience of flow state* 13:30 - *breaking the framing (restructuring what you find salient)* 14:25 - *a sustained cascade of insights = flow* __________________________________________ 15:35 - *capacity for implicit learning (Reber)* 18:50 - *experiment on “psychic” abilities* 21:05 - *Hogarth’s Argument - Intuition is product of implicit learning* 22:30 - *(Hogarth) Distinction: “Intuition” vs. “Bias”* --> How does implicit learning go wrong? 23:11 - *Two Types of Patterns (Correlational vs Causal)* 26:20 - *Setting up the environment for good intuition (Hogarth) control the context* 32:50 - *Capacity for Metaphor* 37:20 - the reason the flow state is universal - _(it exapts some of our most basic machinery and enhances it in a powerful way)_ 40:00 - *Meaning Making Machinery and the Neolithic Revolution (agriculture)* 41:00 - *The Bronze Age* 45:23 - *The Late Bronze Age Collapse* 48:20 - *A new (alphabetic) kind of literacy emerges (important new psychotechnology)* 51:30 - *Second order thinking and metacognition* 53:20 - *Invention of coinage* _(teaches you 1: numeracy; 2: to think in abstract symbol system)_ 55:20 - *Increased awareness of capacity for self-transcendence / self-correction* ___________________________________________ Massive thank you Prof. Vervaeke once again for posting this seriously excellent content on KZbin for free. I wrote these cliffs for my own convenience, but I hope that others will find them useful as well. This is a more concise break-down, but I will also post a longer-form breakdown of the video with more notes, and more detailed timestamps that I felt would be useful.

[@ASMRGRATITUDE]

Thanks!

[@helyrambelo795]

Thx 🙏👍

[@wxkx4111]

Thanks!

[@baybarsk]

emege saygi

[@accadia1983]

amazing job, really. as someone who also structures video information using time notes quite often, I am sure you have also enjoyed writing these down second to second with proper words and this will help you remember this better. win win, kudos to you keep that flow going and stay well, namaste

[@samoneil8853]

I didn't know it was possible to bridge the biological evolution of man and cultural evolution of man in such elegant steps. This has really bridge two previously separate types of thinking for me, love it!

[@danweiss1974]

Every once in a while I hear someone speak and can feel my brain changing creating new folds as I listen. You are giving me that experience right now John. Thank you so much and I cant wait to listen to the rest of your content. Much love.

[@gertpietersen6287]

Yes, there's like this physical sensation when a certain engagement is demanded and an idea takes root

[@Beyondhumanlimits1]

I felt the same when I was listening to his conversation with Jordan. One hour into it I had to stop and did some digging. Ended up here, what a blessing.

[@ayushro4]

and its not just the teaching, but the teacher! John is one of the best teachers i have come across that explains sometimes diffficult to grasp concepts in such a simple digestible manner, that i think it is in my long term memory already.

[@_x__q]

When you have to pause the video to take in a sentence...

[@stvbrsn]

Neuroplasticity.

[@alisaruddell3484]

As I listened to your description of the flow state, I realized: THIS is exactly what I experienced during natural childbirth (4 kids, including twins). Intense engagement & physical pain, loss of the sense of time, ultimate significance & salience, some of the best experiences of my life, a sense of at-one-ment, nonverbal know-how, just past the boundary of my capacity and yet I managed it. I knew natural childbirth involved an altered state of consciousness, but now I see why so many women love, treasure, and seek it... for the flow!

[@freebird7017]

Alisa Ruddell A most powerful time of my life too! Glad someone else feels the same as I do about this.

[@spiralsun1]

Wow, thanks for this. It helped me understand why I am transgender believe it or not. I think very differently than normals. But still. A lot of people don’t even understand their own gifts to the world, or the cosmic significance of what they do or say. Echoes in eternity. Much much love to you. Thanks for sharing this meaning. Or basically thanks for sharing. ❤️ Basically this is beautiful.

[@odnilniloc]

Brilliant! What a time to be alive that we can stumble across presentations of this calibre while scrolling for funny cat videos.

[@cardbordeaux3724]

This is one of the best series of lectures I happily found by accident! Thanks so much for the incredible content

[@mr.timmons842]

And I thought it was hard watching Jordan Peterson, God damn this guy is good.

[@rengsn4655]

IMO John is less opaque than Jordan … at least I find John easier to understand

[@alexanderlindsey7134]

I'm glad I saw that podcast the other day where thes two talked. Once I heard this guys ideas I ordered his book and found this video series.

[@spiralsun1]

❤️👁👍🏻

[@emreatmaca33]

Vervaeke's himself - throughout the lecture - is a perfect example of being on the flow!

[@dr.terencelaverdure]

I have been practicing Buddhism (1st Nyingma now Bon) for 28 years and have been practicing Bagua for 24, 9 Ayahuasca ceremonies, one breakthough DMT experience. This channel is amazing for me! When you mentioned "there's knowing about knowing how to do something what its like to have a particular perspective and what its like to know something by identifying with it and participating in it". I was reminded of the Empty of Self (Rang Tong) and the Empty of Other (Shen Tong) controversy in Tibetan Buddhism. Not an expert...but the Rang Tong side states that everything is Empty of Self Nature while the Shen Tong side states that from out of direct experience (meditation) one realizes that for Buddha Nature that cognition is only Empty of Other. For me this means that too an Enlightened Mind there is no Other only Oneness. Trance states, lucid dreams and Ayahuasca put me in the Shen Tong camp. Nothing beats direct experience. Ayahuasca also showed me that we are Beings of Light, I have experienced all the Bardos with the help of this powerful medicine. Thank you so much for your channel Professor Vervaeke, I look forward to watching and learning from all of your videos.

[@successpeter8380]

I wonder if this perhaps parallels the hesychastic doctrine of Metanoia (ego centredness -> ego transcendence), or the Sufist concept of annihilation (fāna) or Vedantic state of the jivān-mukta (Yogi).

[@kenhiett5266]

I, too, have explored the psychedelics. Achieving flow state in both altered and non-altered states has facilitated transcendence to a place where consciousness is ubiquitous. This now manifests as a profound change in motivational dynamics and a strong intuition that consciousness arises from the quantum realm. I think this accounts for the observations that don't seem to comport to the macro scale.

[@He.knows.nothing]

There's 50 of these!? So much wisdom! Im going to be watching and rewatching these forever

[@Sajteman]

That's exactly what I thought when I listened to this lecture

[@vo2897]

Was exposed to John's thought during the Peterson conversation. Mental dynamite ! TY sir for sharing.

[@TitanIapetus]

I cannot believe it took me this long to find this series. This is tremendously useful and I'm excited to listen (and re-listen) to the rest of this! Thank you!

[@cecilcharlesofficial]

I've sang all my life though honestly I just 'figured it out.' And the figuring it out came from paying very close attention to the sensations in my body when I would slip into effortless singing - which would happen from time to time over the years but never consistently and I never knew how to get back there. But I realized that there's a feeling in the body that correlates to that much-improved version of singing, and I started spending a lot of time feeling the sensations in my body to see if I could coax myself back into that relaxed thing. Alan Watts stated numerous times that the sensation of being an ego tends to feel like muscle strain behind the eyes, and that if we were to relax that strain, we'd experience life quite differently. In essence that's what I'm doing - allowing myself to feel the tension in my head, and the anxiety around the heart (and down to my feet) - unclenching and daring myself to feel all the sensations of anxiety. And in allowing myself to feel them, they become very different from the terrible thing I thought they'd be. We think they're bad, hence we clench, but turns out they're not. They feel more like good energy of hope and determination (when you let yourself feel the sensation itself, not what you think it 'means' or your attempt to figure out 'why' you're having it so it'll go away). Nope, just accept it. Say, "Ok body, show me this sensation." And it changes. Which is a great realization on it's own - it feels like I can transmute anxiety to a degree. But also since our brains can only consciously focus on one thing at a time, keeping my mind on the sensations in my body quiets my naming brain, and I start to flow. And then the singing is immediately improved, because I'm being spontaneous, not clenching against a note I'm worried about hitting, because I'm not really even thinking about it till it's there. And then I sing it without worry and the body does it. But as soon as I think about it all (even like, "Oh wow, that sounded awesome"), I can easily fall off the beam. But getting back on just takes this learned feeling of letting go (daring oneself to feel one's body), and allowing yourself to act spontaneously, trusting the flow. I've realized a) I have to practice it all the time to be able to do it onstage, but b) why the hell WOULDN'T I practice it all the time (I'm doing it right now), since whenever I remember to, I can slip into a state of rejuvenation, and my personality becomes the best version of me: playful, gregarious, hopeful but also calm. It's a version of the feeling you get when a song or a story or seeing a loved one moves you to tears. That's what it feels like. And you've had that feeling, we all have. So go toward that sensation, and do what brings you those good meaningful tears, and above all just feel the sensations of your body. All of them, physical and emotional. You'll be surprised.

[@kellyryanobrien1]

You are a rare treasure to some of us who need to see our reflection at this time

[@heimsein]

A chance to hear more than two full sentences of yours without Dr. Peterson interrupting. What a gift.

[@spiralsun1]

Yeah, Dr Peterson has trouble listening to things completely. I spoke with him for 3 hours straight once and noticed he did not have a complete picture on that. Anyway I also loved this 🥰🙏🏻👍🏻 But I still think Jordan Peterson’s work is enormously valuable. His “Maps of Meaning” is still on my top 10 list. This coming from someone who is transgender-which I know is irrelevant… which is kinda my point. Most people don’t know what is relevant.

[@Filthypagan]

@@spiralsun1 What is your top 10. I know your comment is old

[@LukeARenner1]

Every time I finish jotting down a note and then smack the spacebar to continue playing, I can feel my mind sparking as it feeds on real protein. The gift of your wisdom means more than you can know. Thank you so much for these lessons.

[@trevorcrone2178]

I’m so thankful there are people like Dr. Vervaeke to share so much knowledge, let alone for free. Truly a wonderful time to be alive

[@danbark4603]

Thank you so much for articulating this in your words, I find it very frustrating to explain to folks who are very comfortable in their lives with simple jobs why I risk my life towards art and I think the flow and that state of deep engagement with the world is a part of it. Much like you explain with videogames with comics and storytelling every second, every choice, every angle, every line is so important and I love it all. To be deeply into that place where my brain is trying to figure out what to do with all of this. Assembling, tearing apart, rebuilding, rethinking, scrapping it all and building it up again. Ordinary folks without the patience or care to understand such things discard people like me so quickly its unbelievable and I get called lazy and selfish. I wish so much for my success so I can give them all my earnings so I just dont listen to such words and I get to work in peace.

[@derpwagon7317]

00:00 recap 4:00 the flow state 16:00 the implicit learning (of complex pattern) 23:00 types of pattern learning. 28:40 how flow works. 42:45 bronze age collapse impact 49:55 second order thinking

[@vicsummers9431]

Akira the Don, please make “ahhhhhh - that’s the flow state” into a funky tune.

[@ThePathOfEudaimonia]

Has this been made already?!

[@matthewcote5198]

Yo he made a badass song called "Steal the Culture" featuring Johnny V! Check it out

[@ShaneGillisClips]

@akirathedon get on it!

[@bumbklaatt4228]

Visiting JBP podcast was a great move, for all of us. I'm hooked- thank You, John.

[@michaelroseagain]

21:09 I really enjoy the point made about unconscious awareness and pattern recognition. As a Buddhist who’s trained in meditation retreat and heard stories of ‘clairvoyant powers’ I’ve always thought it more likely that you just get better at reading subtleties in the environment. Example: I was sitting in a group and then knew, somehow, that the door would open and certain person would arrive. It was like a vision. I saw it happen. Then it did happen. The door opened and the specific person came in. Spooky. OR I heard the creak of the stairs, the steps they made, I had a sense of who was missing from the room so, all in all, it was pretty easy to guess who was coming. It *felt* like psychic powers. Just like psychedelics make us *feel like* we are the entire cosmos. Are we? Maybe. On a poetic level. But are we really one with every atom in every quantum state in every universe.

[@HMALDANA]

What a privilege to be in your classroom, John! I love the way you explain things!

[@cristellewhite5351]

John, you have found a living path into the jhanas every bit as powerful as Zen. This is truly amazing wisdom you are sharing here. So grateful to you.

[@davidstys9734]

I’m coming back for a round 2 after listening to all of these lectures on Spotify. It’s so good to grow in this way.

[@algernoncalydon3430]

A person can get used to getting into the flow when they are doing something they love to do. Another, as mentioned, is music, especially a musical instrument like the highland bagpipe where it demands precise coordination of so many things just to play the instrument you must memorize the tunes completely to play. Most practice is frustrating and difficult, but there are days when it's perfect. The instrument is perfect, the reed is perfect, one's fingering is perfect and one's playing is perfect. Then it's like an altered state where one is "not-doing", or non-action.

[@cosmiccomedy7394]

I play guitar and know exactly what you're talking about. There's times when I'm able to play much better than I even know how to. Its complete bliss and worth all the hours of frustration.

[@jusapoet72]

So grateful for Professor Vervaeke who has made it his life's work to peer so deeply into the very fabric of reality and our relationship with it and one another.....on every level and scale; but also to care enough about humankind-to then share so eloquently and brilliantly this essential wisdom. Now to put these tools to work individually and collectively....this is the work of the next generations.

[@alodera]

I return to these lectures in tough times, and I feel better. Every time I found something I'd missed before, and then I go to investigate it for myself. Layer by layer, they are so rich! Thank you!

[@Kormac80]

First i'd like to say: Thank you Professor Vervaeke. I truly appreciate your work and contribution. My current theory is humanity in our modern culture (east and west, bc China and much of Asia is all-in on consumerism and materialism), is emotionally/spiritually adrift from the loss of 3 key pillars of meaning that have always informed a persons place in the world. 1. Connection to clan. 2. Connection to nature. 3. A unifying myth. Modernity has all but annihilated all 3 for a huge swath of people. That results in a disoriented psychic state. Neurosis, addiction, depression, etc. Who am I (?) was answered by looking around at your clan, and your environment and your rituals/beliefs. Those showed you all day every day. Connection to nature was the default state for humanity. Unifying myth is clearly gone. The rituals, the practices, the mythos that informs who we are and what our responsibilities are as a people. Take Christianity in America. When a devious character (Jungian term - trickster archetype) finds his political base amongst Evangelical Christians, clearly they don't believe the values they espouse or feign to embody. He embodies the opposite values of your myth and you follow him like a savior. My background: Besides a fair amount of reading and a lifelong obsession with myth, spirituality, neuroscience, psychology, I found the use of plant medicines to be the final piece of the puzzle. Not only were they healing, they are quite enlightening. I've done over 150 ceremonies between Aya and Huachuma, and for real seekers, there is no substitute. I've worked with other modalities also, but those 2 appear more efficacious. I recommend them for seekers, but do them respectfully with experienced practitioners/shamans. Thanks for reading.

[@ivanmyskowski49]

As someone familiar with Jordan Peterson's form of speaking, which seems to be heavily dosed with metaphor and abstract elements, it is interesting and captivating to hear someone speak about topics relating to those Peterson speaks on in a way that in some sense seems to less focused on the whole picture and uncovers the individual aspects clearly. Excited for part three!

[@mattbattaglia4694]

Hello from Texas, John, and thank you so much for your work. Never been more excited to watch 50 hours of something. It's like this was made just for me.

[@d.r.m.m.]

I take so much for granted…about practically everything I know. I didn’t realize it to this extent before embarking on these videos. Thank you, John, for sharing your erudition and your wisdom.

[@BrigandiFilms]

What a great lecture! I can't thank you enough for making this available for free. Most of my life I have been a first responder, as a paramedic we hit flow state and it's a time when the culmination of everything you knew gave way to something else, something deeper and more meaningful. I guess like the rock climber and the shaman its about getting out of your own way and being the medicine. Lots to think about. Thanks again Dr. Vervaeke.

[@leedufour]

Thanks John. I am coming from Jordan Peterson. I think your views will grow as more like me see you. Please keep it up. I very much appreciate your effort

[@EdStark22]

Flow state: the border between Chaos and Order.

[@roarblast7332]

I like that, but I might use the word bridge instead.

[@arthurdarko3702]

This lecture has been a powerful psychotechnology for me. The way you connect the dots keeps sending shivers up my spine. Near the end I found myself involuntarily tearing up. How can something scientific, supposedly cold and objective, feel so personal?

[@jusapoet72]

That this profound wisdom (and genius in how it has been correlated and presented) is also free to the public worldwide (on this platform and others).......this is the most meaningful part of this collective awakening. With all inclusive access.....a fledgling global collective awakening is born simply in all of us attending this entire series. And every year a new wave is added! For this is already 4yrs old, but all new to me and the others I've invited here.

[@DavidJones-rc9ek]

Thank you John, You deliver this in such a palatable manner that it’s staggering how it creates new thinking and ideas in my brain simultaneously whilst listening. It’s like cognitively walking together side by side down a winding path and illuminating all sorts of previously unseen terrain. Thank you for sharing this.

[@jaron9978]

These are the kinds of talks I believe every family should have together. Thank for providing clarity to those seeking truth.

[@michaellezama1398]

I never really knew or understood the feeling you describe as the flow state. It's not something I could consciously trigger, but u know it when you have it. It sort of just happens to you when you're daydreaming, having a good conversation, exercising, or dancing.

[@spiralsun1]

I friggin love dancing. I am writing a book right now and I was listening to music and I just got up and danced for like 20 minutes for no reason… 😂🤷‍♀️ but I had the feeling it was doing something, saying something 🤔 I was deep in flow writing too… interesting. 🧐

[@NoOneAtAll666]

I've always been fascinated with these kind of esoteric topics, which has led me to try and cultivate practices that help me explore my own mind and the world. But I've never listened to anyone as brilliant and well-rounded as John. Such a beautiful and engaging way of explaining these concepts that makes you feel excited to go on a journey. Thanks so much, John :)

[@janouliu5856]

Thank you prof Vervaeke. This series has been greatly beneficial to me. I even get this urge of watching all other episodes left overnight. Again, my greatest gratitude and appreciation for your work.

[@ElenaRoche]

I have discovered being in the Flow State when I was 12 while learning hand- embroidery. Loved it. I became a painter. One of my recent works was chosen among world’s top 39 plein air paintings of 2022, the one that I painted in the deep flow state, for three days, four-hour sessions outdoors, hiking with all supplies on my back. It was the most impressive flow state I experienced so far. I didn't want to leave, I literally just set there by my finished painting, not wanting to go home.

[@amandawease1900]

Wow!!!! I am so grateful to be able to listen to such a wise man!

[@thewanderer37]

Oh boy. When you discover a new favourite sage. I already know I'm going to be absorbing dozens and dozens of hours of this man's brains.

[@thegoatstore7814]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you as I create my farm with your words which allows me to understand what my mind is doing. Thank you sir! Also thank you to Dr. Jordan Peterson as well.

[@trentp151]

My favorite flow-state is recording my own music. I have over 360 songs that I've recorded over the years. I finally decided I was good enough to produce my own albums, so I have 2 full-length albums and one six-track EP now, and working myself up to releasing them. The problem is that I haven't figured out how to transfer the flow-state over to marketing and advertising. Just not my area of expertise!

[@mateoromo5587]

Amazing lecture! I learned so much. I love living in a time when content like this is accesible to everybody. Thank you so much.

[@fromthegroundup271]

Not the shaman we deserve but the shaman we need. Thank you professor John Vervaeke.

[@onelifehealthwellnessltd.-9799]

… Ends with a heartfelt, thank you for your time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your time and this lecture series. Thank you for your time!

[@Retiredbee179]

Yıllardır internette gördüğüm en iyi , en derin şey 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻… Dücane Cündioğlu hocanın videolarından bile iyi …

[@marinalynn5509]

Had to stop many times, just to prolong the pleasure of listening, which was a real flow!

[@trevorable04]

Thank you for this mind-expansive series. I would like to contribute an example of a modern-day shaman: Steve Jobs. The founder of Apple was a man who thought “outside of the box.” When Jobs discovered the first Apple computer, he saw the great potential utility it held for humanity. This insightful perspective on the device was something even the creator, Steve Wozniak, couldn’t see himself. Although the co-founder of Apple was a computer engineering genius, he did not have the intuitive ability like Jobs. One possible reason why Jobs held this unique ability was because he used LSD. In the past, Jobs himself credits LSD for helping him develop his motto/mentality: “Think Differently.” This motto/mentality became the philosophy behind Apple's great success as a company. Because of Apple, the human race has completely changed how we communicate with one another. I hope this can add some insight into this fascinating subject; thank you. I’m sorry if this comes across as confusing or misleading. I just have a lot to share about this fascinating subject.

[@carolyncolinhogarth8732]

I have the capacity for Implicit learning when based on Empirical Science, and in a structured way. This implicit learning does go into tacit knowledge, and sometimes you just do, and believe your intuition after many years of meditating. After meditation and the flow you speak of, it keeps you centered and easily able to re-frame, restructure and reuse. Reuse through wash, reuse, regroup and grow. It is true the more insight you have the easier this becomes, however, that flow from my perspective, has to come from a sense of center. The more people that have mindfulness, do meditation, flow, and psycho-technology, the more chances we have for a world peace. That is a goal. Universals are important. Thanks so much John for all your hard work. I so appreciate you all. It will help reformulate, restructure, and help me do a U-turn....Cyber tools help enhance the cognitive machinery by being a great tool for sharing Science. That 9 point diagram, I am out in space.....LOL CDHx2

[@goyonman9655]

What is science?

[@ChangeTruth]

Thanks for breaking down the study of people knowing they're being stared at. That's something I've heard about so much, but never about the pattern recognition aspect of it.

[@consciousexplorer8118]

See biologist Rupert Sheldrake’s work and the non-local consciousness explanation as an alternative.

[@tobycrisp1215]

This is the best thing I've ever heard! Unmatched mastery sewing the thread of so many pieces of the known.

[@Ratty2480]

I am no shaman, but what I do have is a special set of skills. Skills that are effective towards people like you; skills I have acquired over the 36 years of my life. Skills that make me a dream for people like you. If you approach me at random, and engage me in conversation, I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. However, if you do not, I will pursue you, I will find you; and I will converse with you.

[@collinkeahey1]

This intrinsic ability to recognize complex patterns in our environment must be in part why “schizophrenics” make connections that lead to paranoia. It’s important that John articulates this ability to me, I have experienced my own intuition taking dark turns and been unable to explain why I believe what I believe. Excellent videos!

[@spiralsun1]

The internal world is also full of scary things-just like the external world. Emotions are put there by the unthinking mistakes of ancestors and they should be read out as such. If you read a book full of violence, and death, you don’t (uh hopefully) act it out. You are entertained and enlightened. You should look at your emotions and fears that way too. (I don’t literally mean you-I mean people in general, schizophrenic people in particular, so stop being paranoid 😂🤷‍♀️).

[@altruex]

I find it so wonderful that these are the concept and ideas i have contemplated during my depression/deep existential inquiries as a teenager to now. Often i stumbled upon “flow state” without knowing of about it until moment of coincidence (synchronicities) that lead me to recognize flow as a term being used to describe experience of deep focus and attention on an activity that is highly intuitive, which is very similar to deep meditative experiences and often times, moments of enlightenment (as i would call it). Its wonderful to hear the explant behind phenomenon of intuitive knowledge being explained and valued outside of our contemporary over saturated value of mainly logical and intellectual rationale. That intuition has a rationale. I often was curious to how symbolism and meaning often was left behind in the past and neglected in our day and age. Hence why this series seems to be important to answering why i had assumed we were living in a “meaning crisis” Years later stumbling on this series is resonating with something i had been struggling to fully make coherent as a non-academic/intellectual. Great way to explain difficult ideas in a more casual/informal manner. Looking forward to how this all ties up into practical means and applying it to everyday.

[@thoth2377]

You Sir are exhibiting groovy peak flow as you present. Incredible concentration and beautifully relaxed holding of the shared cognitive space. So clear and precise. Thank You!

[@desireegreen653]

Thank you for making this available

[@emblackbird]

I just found this channel and I love it so much already. Thank you for posting these. I've been needing to find more of such content on KZbin

[@MatthewSingapore]

remember watching this a year ago and feel fortunate to be able to return to these ideas now. thank you John

[@matthiasstaber9216]

love it, this is right up my alley - I shall study them ALL!!!!!

[@demonview6075]

Well this is just bloody fantastic, thanks so much John Varvaeke.

[@mihaiscorp]

Thank you for your time!

[@ahimsa79]

Wow, the timing of this video is great. Thank you for sharing your understanding.

[@eunsilkindley6302]

A great lecture that helped me awaken from a little humdrum daily life. I learned to explore about myself and others in the world as human being.

[@tylerbaxley789]

I earned my Masters in Sport Psychology and spent a whole year studying Flow State in-depth; this is hands-down the best explanation of it. Love this series! Good on ya John!

[@ivannegri7724]

I think there is an intrinsic interference problem between the flow state and informational combinatorial explosion. For example, when you are rock climbing there is a tight coupling between the climbing task and the amount of sensory information that is relevant to the task such that there is little ambiguity between the amount of information in your head and what subset of information is useful for the completion of the task, contrast that with social problem solving where all the information in your head could very well be relevant to solving the social problem task. Thus, it seems like what we are calling a "flow state" could very well be inapplicable to tasks that contain a large search space, such as anything that isn't a primarily motoric problem, or in other words, flow seems more tightly coupled to the function of the cerebellum over the function of the cerebrum. Sorry, if I didn't frame my argument in a cogent fashion.

[@Szpulenso]

I really liked your insight but it is likely that we can find numerous mathamaticians, philosophers, poets, scientists and especially writers and craftsmen, who are not necessarily involved in bodily movement, but they engage in the rather mor cerebral activity and experience the flow state nonetheless. I remember that i experienced it once as i wrote my bachelor's thesis. Normally I struggled to write even 1 to 2 pages in one sitting. The flow state induced in me a sense of lack of self consciousness. I suffered self consciousness in how I was painfully aware of my stupidity and lack of understanding, how what I wrote might have been unclear and not comprehensive enough, how I lost my conviction in the topic of my thesis and validity of writing dull academic paper. The flow state that I experienced after a profound heartbreak, awoke within me a sense of meabingfulness in the task at hand... I wrote about 30 to 40 pages in 2 days which required editing of course afterwards... It was incredible how clear focus unmuddled by continuous self doubt and criticism of my work heightened by disbilief in validity of the task increased my productivity manifold! I suspect that many writers are experiencing similar thing: they are immersed in their fictional world and postpone their judgement until later shen they revise what they wrote in a creative phase.

[@michaelparsons3007]

Certain books can put me in a flow state.

[@Alex.Kalashnik]

Writing a paper or engaging in deep conversation puts me into a flow state. There is a great variety of pieces of information that one can pull on to engage in either task. In fact, it is precisely in the process of finding the right next thing to put into it that the flow state seems to emerge from.

[@SuperAlex512]

I think this is what book 'Deep Work' is about - finding that most of what seems to be 'useful' technology-available inputs are irrelevant to our tasks. They provide illusion of usefulness but in reality deep focus is what is required, not information overload

[@Sopranohooper]

SO MUCH THIS. You're on to something, and so is John Michael Greer, talking about how we need a canon.... www.ecosophia.net/the-choice-of-a-canon/ as well as Jordan B. Peterson , trying to revivify or at least justify the old canon we used before. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nF7aiHV9pJuUaNk

[@JodyLeeSchroeder]

Beautifully put John, i would love to meet you and sit and go through my practices that lead me to samadhi and loving kindness. You are a brilliant mind and beautiful heart. Keep the illumination going so folks can gain an insight and learn to see into these beautiful things

[@ausi1189]

Wow! This is truly groundbreaking holistic work. Thank you

[@shauna3057]

Excellent lectures, I’m looking forward to going through them all.

[@microapple97]

What a privilege, to have this at our fingertips. Thank you.

[@Beederda]

I appreciate YOUR time JV ❤️🍄

[@TheNynax]

One of my big takeaways from this video: "The expansion of human consciousness into the ability to conceptualize at the level of the modern mind was never inherent in our physiology and required much of human history to develop." It's mind blowing to consider how much time and energy has been spent learning how to overcome our more primal natures...and how much energy is spent today trying to legitimize those primal natures.

[@spiralsun1]

I’m not sure it was an “overcoming” but maybe more of a re-interpretation. As support of this view I offer the DNA of all life forms. We share 50% of our DNA with a banana. Also the human cortex residing over the “older” structures. There’s a distinct pattern there. It’s meaningful. The idea of “overcoming” as in enemies, is probably the actual primal urge and way of seeing that it might be wise to reinterpret. Thanks for this thoughtful comment regardless. ❤️🙏🏻

[@goyonman9655]

Define "inherent" and "primal" in that context

[@grrlgd3835]

what an absolute joy this is ... thank you sir

[@Raapadap]

Brilliant lectures. Cutting edge perspectives. Teachers like these fuel the advancement of modern psycho technologies. Thank you so much John.

[@jacobjorgenson9285]

I spend years traveling in Latin America and went to 100’s of ceremonies . He makes a lot of sense

[@hadedanewspaper2256]

So very very insightful , simplistically explained and a slow beat as the onion reveals each layer, a true delight and has to be heard more than once....we salute you sir

[@thePSYCHcollective]

Just found this. Mind blown. Thank you.

[@felipedezan1924]

I attempted to stay in the flow state, while having insights about the flow state. Absolutely amazing. Thank you very much.

[@SamuelWalker-bv4gh]

Another awesome break at work. These help and I will watch them all. Thank you so much sir.

[@TheAlcheMaze]

These are the best lectures I've found on KZbin. If you like this, Pierre Grimes has some great ideas as well. Unfortunately, a lot of his lectures were filmed prior to digital cameras...so the film quality isn't great.

[@tamtitamti]

So good, I am rewatching for the second time!:)

[@triplea657aaa]

Every time i start listening to this series i gain new insights. Great work.

[@jcooper2373]

This is so exciting, thankyou thankyou thankyou John!

[@Golgibaby]

Timestamp: 12:57 Rock climbing and how they get unstuck, framing, noting what is relevant and salient; 14:17 description and definition of insight and flow, a cascade of insights

[@kalsprite]

i developed the ability to 'embody' mechanical systems and how they move. i thought i just gained it via internalizing abstract analysis methods. i took several shamanic training years ago and practiced it for some time. i never made the connection that that experience is what i can do today. incredible.

[@rudar11000]

It is great that You put the books related to lectures..thanks from Belgrade, Serbia.

[@natepolidoro4565]

This is an incredible story. It makes sense that it resonates with us, because the self you never knew was you can be the most profound person to relate to.

[@keithwins]

55:20 second order thinking and the enhancement of the awareness of our internal errors. Capacity for self-correction and self-deception

[@AC-sb4ms]

So blessed to have found you. Really helping me make sense of it all. ❤️