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

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

Curated from: John Vervaeke

Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:

6 ideas

·

567 reads

18

4

Explore the World's Best Ideas

Join today and uncover 100+ curated journeys from 50+ topics. Unlock access to our mobile app with extensive features.

Archaic Learning: Implicit, Intuitive, Metaphorical

Archaic Learning: Implicit, Intuitive, Metaphorical

Implicit learning refers to the process of acquiring knowledge about the structure of the environment without conscious awareness. Like how we learn to ride the bike. Explicit learning is a conscious operation where the individual makes & tests hypotheses in a search for structure. Like how we learn math.

During the Palaeolithic times, knowledge was 100% implicit. There was no abstract thought, patterns were recognised intuitively and expressed in metaphors. Shamanic rituals was how knowledge was passed around. 

The Axial Revolution will introduce abstract thought & explicit learning.

19

124 reads

The power of metaphors

The power of metaphors

Creativity is when different parts of your brain connect. It's what happens when we are in a state of flow, during meditation or in psychedelic experiences.

Metaphors is how we do that in language. Most of our language is metaphorical. We ask "Do you see what I am saying". We say "Hope this is not hard for you" or "This is the middle of my talk". Most of what we say are metaphors.

Metaphorical thought, your ability to make analogies, is a measure of a good problem solver. The smart people make interesting connections.

21

105 reads

Axial Revolution

Axial Revolution

Is the period after the Bronze Age, when at the same time around the world, the great intellectual, philosophical, & religious systems that came to shape subsequent human society emerged—with the ancient Greek philosophers, Indian gurus (creators of of Hinduism & Buddhism), Persian Zoroastrianism, the Hebrew Prophets, the “Hundred Schools” (Confucianism & Daoism) of ancient China.

The phrase originated with the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, who noted that during this period there was a shift—away from more predominantly localized concerns and toward transcendence.

19

74 reads

Transcendence during the Axial Revolution

Transcendence during the Axial Revolution

Transcendence means “to go beyond.” In the case of the Axial “revolution”, “going beyond” has several meanings:

  • a shift to thinking about the cosmos and the way it works rather than taking for granted that it works
  • the rise of second-order thinking about the ways that human beings operate, realising both that we are lying to ourselves and that we can improve ourselves. 

It's why the transcendent thinkers of the Axial Age: Buddha, Plato etc ... are still relevant today.

19

73 reads

Second Order thinking

Second Order thinking

Second order thinkers ask themselves the question “And then what?” It is a form of meta-cognition that allows for investigation of our own thinking.

It became a thing during the Axial Revolution, when writing allowed us to store our thoughts, reflect on them and communicate with others across time and space.

19

90 reads

Money as a psycho-technology

As people started trading more and more during the ancient times, money became used. And coinage was a massive cognitive upgrade:

  • Money popularises abstract thought. Accepting an abstract representation of value was a massive shift for the time.
  • Money makes people think mathematically. 

17

101 reads

IDEAS CURATED BY

vladimir

Life-long learner. Passionate about leadership, entrepreneurship, philosophy, Buddhism & SF. Founder @deepstash.

CURATOR'S NOTE

The second part of this amazing course. It discusses the transition from Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. At the end of which we get the Axial Revolution when get the likes of Buddha and Plato. Abstract thought. Second order thinking.

Vladimir Oane's ideas are part of this journey:

Centers of Progress

Learn more about psychology with this collection

The historical significance of urban centers

The impact of cultural and technological advances

The role of urban centers in shaping society

Related collections

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Personalized microlearning

100+ Learning Journeys

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates