Philosophy and Life
Recent writing and occasional thoughts on assorted matters.
- What is intelligence? A discussion with Dante as guide Nov 25, 2023 - What is the nature of artificial intelligence? How does it compare with human intelligence, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence? These are important questions to ask and understand as AI becomes more pervasive. Most of the people alarmed about advances in AI have little sense of what human intelligence is, as they live and operate in a world of patterning and… … Continue reading What is intelligence? A discussion with Dante as guide
- Love, power and public life. A conversation with Claire Gilbert & Mark Vernon Nov 23, 2023 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. What is the role of love in public life? Can it have a place given the scrutiny faced by leaders and the processes of bureaucracies? Or is love what we need to face the huge challenges of today, from distrust of public institutions… … Continue reading Love, power and public life. A conversation with Claire Gilbert & Mark Vernon
- Principles of love and the wisdom of constellations. With Robert Rowland Smith & Mark Vernon Nov 21, 2023 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Constellations, also called family systems, is a way of visualising the dynamics of love that operate in any group that has to do with creativity or life. A constellation workshop brings people together to look at predicaments with which people are wrestling, be… … Continue reading Principles of love and the wisdom of constellations. With Robert Rowland Smith & Mark Vernon
- Defying Darkness: Love’s Radical Rebellion Against Global Discord Nov 16, 2023 - This comment was written for the newsletter, published this week, of the Fetzer Institute. In the midst of the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas, it’s hard to make heads or tails of religion. The situation is complex and multifaceted, with faith playing only a part. But before jumping to the conclusion that humanity would be better off without religion, we… … Continue reading Defying Darkness: Love’s Radical Rebellion Against Global Discord
- The extension of mind through space and the sense of being stared at. Conversation with Rupert Sheldrake Nov 10, 2023 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast feed, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Do our minds reside solely inside our heads, or perhaps bodies? Or do they extend into the wider world, perhaps even reaching to the stars? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the extended mind theory,… … Continue reading The extension of mind through space and the sense of being stared at. Conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
- How to make friendship work. A conversation with Robin Dunbar Nov 9, 2023 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Robin Dunbar is an Oxford evolutionary psychologist who has written extensively about friendship, amongst other things, not least in relation to “Dunbar’s Number”. We talked about what friendship is, and how it differs from other loves. We explored the varieties of friendship that… … Continue reading How to make friendship work. A conversation with Robin Dunbar
- Desire is the way. Thoughts on Bishop Barron at ARC in London Nov 5, 2023 - An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Bishop Barron is another figure I think worth listening to, who spoke at ARC in London, alongside Jordan Peterson. And like Peterson, he simultaneously leaves me as wary as enthused. And so, like Peterson, I listened both to my felt response and what… … Continue reading Desire is the way. Thoughts on Bishop Barron at ARC in London
- Faith & responsibility or love & response. Thoughts on Jordan Peterson at ARC in London Nov 2, 2023 - Peterson celebrates faith and responsibility, at the risk of losing love and response. Jordan Peterson has been in London and making speeches with which, I think, there is a lot to agree. The heart of his message is a link between faith and responsibility, as he puts it. Human beings need faith that an horizon of what’s good lies… … Continue reading Faith & responsibility or love & response. Thoughts on Jordan Peterson at ARC in London
- Loving AIs. Reducing risk & building intelligence. Mark Vernon talks with Eve Poole Nov 2, 2023 - An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Thinking carefully, not just apocalyptically, about AIs requires a combination of skills - technological, sociological, psychological, philosophical, organisational. So I was delighted to talk with Eve Poole, who is a rare individual capable of bringing all these elements into her work. Our central… … Continue reading Loving AIs. Reducing risk & building intelligence. Mark Vernon talks with Eve Poole
- Can we do without organised religion? A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake Oct 21, 2023 - An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. Churches are in decline, certainly in the western world. People tend not to think to turn to a priest for spiritual insight or advice. But is a lived relationship with the sacred and wisdom traditions denuded as organised religion disappears? In this Sheldrake-Vernon… … Continue reading Can we do without organised religion? A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake