The Wes Cecil Podcast

Krishna introduces a series of key points that will be repeated throughout the rest of the Gita: Action is better than inaction, Sacrifice, and the renunciation of Ends. With these concepts, the Gita weaves key ideas from Buddhism back within the structure of Vedic Hinduism by re-imagining the foundations of the sacrificial economy.

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Hello everyone! I want to share the audio of my live lecture from Maastricht, the Netherlands a couple Wednesdays ago, April 29.

The lecture is on the phenomenology of AI in the mytho-poetic mind. Hope you enjoy. Here's the write-up:

AI, in itself, may not actually be that interesting. However, the way we perceive and respond to the idea of AI marks a central tendency of human civilization, spanning the rise of the mytho-poetic outlook, to centralized religions through digital technology and, now, AI. By reflecting on how the narrative of AI is presented and distributed we learn much about our deeply ingrained cultural outlooks.

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Almost completely forgotten as a value today, it was THE central value of a series of different philosophical systems across several different civilizations over 1,000s of years. Without Wisdom as a value, we have less capacity to develop nobility, joy, or beauty as discussed in earlier episodes. Yet, we still seek to understand ourselves and our world and likely wisdom will never truly go away.

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Krishna explains that the soul is immortal and that rebirth is unending so there is no need to worry about killing one’s family as you aren’t really doing anything that matters. Instead, focus on wisdom and duty to achieve one’s dharma and everything else that follows will be right.

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Unlike the other values discussed, Heroism would seem to be a central value of contemporary society. However, upon closer inspection, it is clear that traditional notions of heroism - of which there are a range - are not all that represented. While the idea of suffering and sacrifice remain, the overall vision of transformation, agency and a transcendent goal seem to largely be ignored. While a prominent ideal, our current understanding would be met with derision by many thinkers of the past.

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Plus, gain access to bonus lectures, peer discussions, additional course materials, and audio diaries from France. Only $2 / month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.