#657: Professor John Vervaeke — How to Build a Life of Wisdom, Flow, and Contemplation

Brought to you
by Wealthfront high-yield
savings account, Basecamp
refreshingly simple project management, and
Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping
solution for dynamic cooling and heating.


John Vervaeke (@vervaeke_john) is a professor of
psychology at the University of Toronto. He currently teaches
courses on thinking and reasoning with an emphasis on cognitive
development, intelligence, rationality, mindfulness, and the
psychology of wisdom.


Vervaeke is the director of UToronto’s Consciousness and Wisdom
Studies Laboratory and its Cognitive Science program, where he
teaches Introduction to Cognitive Science and The Cognitive
Science of Consciousness, emphasizing the 4E model, which
contends that cognition and consciousness are embodied, embedded,
enacted, and extended beyond the brain.


Vervaeke has taught courses on Buddhism and Cognitive Science in
the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health program for 15 years.
He is the author and presenter of the YouTube series “Awakening
from the Meaning Crisis” and his brand new series, ‘After
Socrates.’


Please enjoy!


This episode is brought to you by
Basecamp! Basecamp combines
everything you need to manage your team and projects into one
simple platform. Optimize your business with Basecamp and cut
your inboxes and calendars in half. You can save time and
money. Right now, Basecamp
is offering a free 30-day trial. Plus, listeners of The
Tim Ferriss Show get an exclusive
discount: get 10% off your first year’s annual
subscription when you sign up at
Basecamp.com/Tim.


*


This episode is also brought to you
by Wealthfront! Wealthfront
is an app that helps you save and invest your money. Right
now, you can earn 4.05% APY—that’s the
Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account.
That’s more than twelve
times more interest than if you left your money in
a savings account at the average bank, according to
FDIC.gov. 


It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you’ll
immediately start earning 3.8% interest on your savings. And
when you open an account today, you’ll get an extra
fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit
of five hundred dollars or
more.  Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to
get started.


*


This episode is also brought to you
by Eight
Sleep! Eight
Sleep’s Pod Cover is
the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect
temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with
biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly)
solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Cover to
your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as
hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner
can choose a totally different temperature.


Go
to EightSleep.com/Tim and
save $250 on the Eight Sleep Pod Cover. Eight Sleep currently
ships within the USA, Canada, the UK, select countries in the EU,
and Australia.


*


[05:31] The four ways of knowing (4P).


[10:15] Affordances.


[13:04] Semantic memory.


[13:37] Flow.


[27:03] Did John find Tai Chi, or did Tai Chi find him?


[29:46] Leaving Christianity.


[34:42] Wisdom vs. knowledge.


[36:54] Self-deception.


[41:53] When is logic the illogical choice for solving a problem?


[46:05] The powers and perils of intuition.


[55:05] Spotting patterns that need breaking.


[59:18] Meditation vs. contemplation.


[1:05:30] Misunderstanding love.


[1:06:36] Circling.


[1:12:28] “God is related to the world the way the mind is
related to the body.”


[1:14:34] A non-theist in the no-thingness.


[1:24:03] Responsive poiesis and Sufism.


[1:27:31] Neoplatonism.


[1:29:16] Seminal moments.


[1:31:36] Pierre Hadot.


[1:32:43] Two books.


[1:34:38] Potent poetry.


[1:37:40] The four Es.


[1:42:38] Two bonus Es.


[1:45:24] Heretical beliefs.


[1:54:12] Panpsychism.


[2:00:56] Most unusual modes of cognition.


[2:02:37] Jordan Peterson.


[2:10:27] Opponent processing.


[2:13:53] How to support friends endeavoring to lead meaningful
lives.


[2:17:50] After Socrates.


[2:21:44] Western words.


[2:25:11] John’s changing perspective of experienced reality.


[2:28:01] Something old, something new.


*


For show notes and past guests
on The Tim Ferriss Show,
please
visit tim.blog/podcast.


For deals from sponsors of The Tim
Ferriss Show, please
visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors


Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday)
at tim.blog/friday.


For transcripts of episodes, go
to tim.blog/transcripts.


Discover Tim’s
books: tim.blog/books.


Follow Tim:


Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss 


Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss


YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss


Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss 


LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss


Past guests on The Tim Ferriss
Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh
Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin
Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew
McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah
Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine
Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary
Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael
Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria
Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de
Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick
Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren
Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter
Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah
Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California
Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.