16 October 2025
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MeaningofLife.tv videos
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Sep 29, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Roger Petersen
TAGS Donald Trump | economics | empathy | fear | human nature | identity | Islam | moral imagination | nationalism | politics | psychology | tribalism | violence
Sep 26, 2016 —
Josh Summers & JP Sears
- Meet JP Sears, the New Age Stephen Colbert
- Josh receives ultraspiritual guidance from JP
- Shining a light of satire on the “shadow side” of spiritual practices
- Where JP’s comedy comes from
- Stepping out of the comfort zone, and other spiritual disciplines
- Watch Josh transform into an ultra-ultra-post-spiritual guru
Sep 21, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Erik Braun
- Erik’s book The Birth of Insight and its hero, Ledi Sayadaw
- Three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and not-self
- Origins and characteristics of American Buddhism
- How Burmese politics shaped Western Buddhism
- Ledi’s take on how meditation leads to enlightenment
- The ethical side of Buddhist practice
- Erik’s meditation practice
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | enlightenment | history | human nature | meditation | mind | mindfulness | philosophy | politics | psychology | religion | science | self
Sep 12, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Robert George
- Why Robby refuses to support Trump
- Is history shaped more by social forces or human agency?
- Robby gives an insider’s view on why Appalachia is Trump country
- The declining influence of religion
- How a lack of humility poisons politics
- Contempt in current political rhetoric
- Robby: Politicians need to get out of the identity politics game
TAGS Christianity | ethics | free will | history | moral imagination | philosophy | politics | psychology | religion | tribalism
Aug 23, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ogilvie
TAGS ancient philosophy | death | ethics | history | monotheism | New Atheists | philosophy | psychology | religion | Richard Dawkins | science | soul
Aug 8, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Susan Schneider
TAGS cognitive science | compassion | consciousness | death | free will | human nature | identity | mind-body problem | philosophy | physics | psychology | science | technology | the future | transhumanism
Jul 27, 2016 —
Oliver Burkeman & Susan Piver
TAGS anger | Buddhism | compassion | Donald Trump | empathy | evil | fear | happiness | love | meditation | mindfulness | moral imagination | psychology | tribalism
Jul 13, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Cristina Bicchieri
- What is a social norm?
- Why do norms like genital mutilation exist?
- Ways to change norms (and ways to fail)
- Change we have seen: smoking, gay marriage, bullying
- Fear disrupts norms and helps people like Trump
- The internet as a tool against “pluralistic ignorance”
- Why the political establishment is in trouble
TAGS crime | Donald Trump | economics | game theory | nationalism | politics | psychology | violence
Jul 10, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Kenneth Folk
TAGS altruism | Buddhism | consciousness | drugs | enlightenment | ethics | happiness | meditation | mindfulness | perception | psychology | religion | sadness | self | spirituality
Jun 25, 2016 —
Robert Wright & David Bryce Yaden
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | meditation | mind-body problem | psychology | science | self | spirituality
Jun 24, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Kaufman
TAGS Christianity | ethics | Islam | meditation | mindfulness | moral imagination | philosophy | psychology | religion
Jun 18, 2016 —
Suzanne Koven & Jo Marchant
- Why Jo wrote Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body
- The rift between alternative and traditional medicine
- The real effects of “fake” medicine
- Jo: Science needs to take alternative treatments seriously
- The problem with focusing on pharmaceuticals
- Bringing science and alternative medicine together
Mar 6, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
- What is it like to be an arhat?
- Perspectives on the self: It’s nothing, it’s everything
- What enlightenment is, and what’s so great about it
- Dwelling in enlightenment is easy, but getting there can be hard
- Does enlightenment entail moral improvement?
- Can meditation save—or impede salvation of—the world?
TAGS Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | enlightenment | happiness | Hinduism | meditation | mysticism | psychology | religion | self | spirituality
Feb 13, 2016 —
Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
- What constitutes an explanation in the natural sciences?
- Looking for a categorical difference between natural and social sciences
- Biological and social explanations of human behavior
- The difference between the narratives of social and physical sciences
- Does social science explain events or their interpretations?
- Must a science have “laws”? Are there social scientific laws?
Feb 7, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Paul Froese
- What do we mean by a meaningful life?
- Finding purpose in being a part of something bigger
- How social context determines our understanding of meaning
- Fantasies about uniting humanity: one cause, one God, one reality
- Are we making moral progress?
- Is it empowering or terrifying to think we create our own meaning?
TAGS atheism | happiness | human nature | mindfulness | philosophy | psychology | religion | spirituality
Dec 13, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Donald Hoffman
- Natural selection doesn’t build brains to see the truth
- How perception is like a graphical computer interface
- Don’s theory: It’s consciousness all the way down
- Is there a chicken-and-egg problem with this theory?
- Don describes his consciousness formula, sans math (phew)
- With this theory, life is more interesting—and painful
Nov 15, 2015 —
David Bryce Yaden & David Vago
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | meditation | mindfulness | psychology | religion | self | spirituality
Oct 20, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Jay Michaelson
- Jay’s new book on sadness, The Gate of Tears
- The most common mistake we make in dealing with sadness
- Examining the contours of your negative emotions
- Connections between Jewish and Buddhist teachings
- Jay: Pushing away the difficult is 90% of the difficult
- Spirituality and the power of negative thinking
TAGS Buddhism | foreign policy | happiness | Judaism | meditation | psychology | sadness | spirituality
Oct 19, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Jorge Ferrer
- Do all religions have the same “esoteric core?”
- The psychedelic origins of transpersonal psychology
- Aligning your instincts, consciousness, and heart through “participatory spirituality”
- Constructing reality through “embodied cognition”
- Why Jorge would object to making participatory spirituality a religion
- The complicated morality of “enlightened” spiritual teachers
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