Conscious Evolution is a podcast about the meaning of life. Today many people find themselves without a story that can point to their place and purpose in the universe, and yet can withstand the test of rational scrutiny. Without a narrative that can speak to the deep need we all have for meaning and purpose many people are lost. The mental health crisis isn’t just a medical crisis. It’s a crisis of meaning. All of us are different, and so all of us will find meaning and purpose in different things. But what if I told you there was something which ties all these different purposes together, that explains why they are meaningful, and which has the potential to unite all of humanity in great common enterprise. Welcome to the dawn of Conscious Evolution. Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/evoconscious
Do you want to know the meaning of life? For full show notes and links go to: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/episode-05-consciousevolution
Humans find great meaning in transcending our physical and mental limitations and tapping into enhanced states of consciousness. When we do so we are expressing an impulse that has been inherent in the evolutionary process from the big bang onwards. From cosmological, to biological, to cultural evolution, the evolutionary process has continually transcended its limitations, breaking free from the determinism of blind laws and mechanisms. But what does that have to do with consciousness? For full show notes go to: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/episode-04-transcendence
Creativity is one of the enduring mysteries of the universe. How does something more keep coming from something less? From cosmological to biological to cultural evolution the universe appears to be getting more and more creative as it evolves, and human creativity is just the latest expression of that trajectory. Can this explain why humans find creativity meaningful? For full show notes go to: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/episode-03-creativity
We’ve been taught that evolution is a cruel and vicious struggle in which only the ruthless survive. But if you look a little more closely, the natural world is teeming with cooperation. Not only that, but from single celled organisms right the way through to human civilisation, the scale of cooperation has been steadily increasing. Can this shed any light on why humans find cooperation meaningful? For full show notes go to: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/episode-02-cooperation
The pursuit of happiness is one of the founding American ideals. But the overwhelming evidence from the field of positive psychology points to the conclusion that pursuing happiness for its own sake doesn't actually work. What can work, however, is to cultivate a meaningful life, because in doing so, happiness tends to follow as a by-product. What are the things that humans find meaningful? How do they differ from simple hedonism? And what does this tell us about life? For full show notes and links go to: https://www.consciousevolution.co.uk/episode-01-meaning
For much of human history, most people have been far too pre-occupied with the question, "How can I stay alive?" to have any time to think about the question "How should I live?" But as billions of people have been raised out of poverty, and, particularly in the Western world, living standards have improved, more and more people have found themselves confronted with the question, how should I live in order to be happy? I think it's about time we had an answer.
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