The Lobotomy of History: Reclaiming Our Extraordinary States (w/ Jeffrey Kripal)

About this episode

Douglas Rushkoff and Jeffrey Kripal discuss the need to reclaim extraordinary experiences in the humanities to enrich our understanding of reality.

Can we decolonize reality itself? Rushkoff is joined by Jeffrey Kripal, Associate Dean and Professor at Rice University, to discuss his book The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities Kripal argues that by stripping away the impossible parts of our history - visions, precognition, and altered states - we have essentially lobotomized the humanities, leaving us with a depressing, purely political version of ourselves. Together, they explore: The Secular Flatland: Moving beyond a strictly materialist worldview that reduces human beings to data points. The Vertical Dimension: Why extraordinary experiences are more common than we admit and how they serve as a first-person way of knowing the world. The Marketing Problem: Why the humanities should embrace the "Superhuman" to reclaim their transformative, ecstatic power. Reality Hacking: How literature and art function as non-specific amplifiers for consciousness. It’s time to put the weird back on the table and acknowledge that the human experience is far more fantastic than our current systems allow. Support Team Human for access to exclusive Q&As with Rushkoff, early show premieres, bonus webinars…

People in this episode

Host: Douglas Rushkoff

Guest: Jeffrey Kripal

Topics covered

• decolonization of reality
• humanities
• extraordinary experiences
• materialist worldview
• consciousness

Keywords

• The Superhumanities
• visions
• precognition
• altered states
• literature
• art

Mentioned in this episode

Products: The Superhumanities

Books & works: The Lobotomy of History: Reclaiming Our Extraordinary States, The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities

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