Emergentism : The Religion That's Not a Religion

Emergentism : The Religion That's Not a Religion

We discuss metamodernism and author Brendan Graham Dempsey's Emergentism, a religion of complexity. Brendan's work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity.

​He earned his bachelors in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and his masters in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. ​He lives in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, where he runs the holistic retreat center Sky Meadow. 

❶ Brendan's Origin Story

0:00 Highlights

6:56 Calls to Adventures (Raised in Vermont, Evangelical Christian)

8:35 Postmodern cultural influence & Nietzsche at 10 years old

13:45 Religious upbringing, apologetics colliding with critical exploration

20:35 Religious studies & classics in college

22:00 Turning point: Historical Jesus studies (an apocalyptic prophet) 

25:10 Faustian, nihilistic plunge

❷ Metamodernism

28:00 Brendan's aesthetic epoch (Acolyte in Cult of Beauty)

36:00 What is metamodernism?

42:15 Carlos is a metamodern newb, halp! (+opponent processing)

45:20 Postmodernity all critique, Modernity all utopian naive idealism, Metamodernism holds in check

48:00 Postmodernism is to Seinfeld as Metamodernism is to...

52:25 Outlining Brendan's 6 books in his Metamodern Spirituality series

❸ Emergentism

1:02:45 Carlos' book review

1:03:50 What is emergence? 

1:07:25 Reductionism can lead to nihilism... all is "just xyz"

1:09:25 Bobby Azarian's The Romance of Reality (non-equilibrium thermodynamics)

1:22:05 Proto-Darwinian dissipatitive adaptation (Jeremy England)

1:30:25 The Edge of Chaos lost its juice?

1:32:55 What is Emergentism? Religion of complexity...

1:40:35 Defining Emergentism as a grand narrative of reality...

1:43:00 Goals for The Truth channel

1:45:05 What about secular people who claim they don't have a spiritual need?

1:51:30 How do you make Emergentism accessible to everyone? (Brendan goes to bed every night thinking of this!)

2:00:25 What does an Emergentist lifestyle look like?

2:08:00 How does Brendan live by Emergentism?

2:13:55 On vegetarianism

2:16:55 Omega by Julian, a mythopoetic complexity narrative

2:22:00 If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what'd it be?

🚩Links to Brendan 🚩

Website: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/

Channel:   

 / @brendangrahamdem...  

Emergentism: A Religion of Complexity for the Metamodern World https://www.amazon.com/Emergentism-Re...

🚀 What is this channel?

Exploring Truth in philosophy, science, & art. We'll uncover concepts from psychology, mythology, spirituality, literature, media, and more. If you like Lex Fridman or Curt Jaimungal, you'll love this educational channel.

p.s. Please subscribe! Young channel here. =)

#metamodern #emergence #mythos #postmodern #modernity #logos #complexity

Fear of The Dark

Night is the time of 

The Evil Curse,

and No Man is safe alone;

The Waters are most 

Dangerous….

"Manchester's Origins are all based on, like 

'I wanna pick someone who's kind of 

The Opposite of Superman, but 

also [just] as Powerful; so, 

his having telepathic powers and 

telekinetic powers, as opposed to

physical powers, 

unlike Superman, 

kind of represents (for me) —

'Okay, I was a guy 

who was picked-on -- so, 

in My Head, 

I'm Looking at People, that 

were picking-on Me, 

and going, : —

“I WISH YOU WOULD DIE! 

I WISH YOU WOULD DIE! 

I WISH YOU WOULD DIE !!”

and one day, They finally DID --

This, I Think, is 

a pretty relatable kind of 

Dark Fantasy that 

most people have, so -- Manchester IS That Guy.

Manchester's upbringing 

was very Dark -- he comes from 

an abusive Home where 

there's just Him and His Sister.

His Sister is a bit of 

a source Hope and 

some Light for him; 

she's put in a position where 

she has to work in a Sweat Shop and she loses her arms in 

an Industrial Accident and 

that snaps Manchester -- 

that's when His Powers unleash, 

that's when he starts 

executing Bloody Revenge 

on anybody who's near him, 

who ever Hurt Him, 

who ever did anything to him. 

He starts to explore what 

Those Powers mean and 

what they allow him to Do.

I also wanted him 

to Be charismatic 

and funny, with just 

NO regard for Sensitivity, 

Political-Correctness --

In the comics, and in the film, too, there were jokes that we had to pull BACK on, because they were even pushing it TOO far...

Yeah, he was just a complete MESS, says absolutely whatever's on his mind and.... 

Kill Ya as soon as look at ya.. :)

After Superman and Manchester meet in 775, Superman sort of finds The Centre of The Power in His Brain and uses a little, er, X-Ray/Heat Vision Microsurgery to essentially sort of paralyse that bit that gives him His Power.

THEN, he decides to make another go at Superman -- 

He CAN'T get over this idea that Superman is as Wholesome and as Pure as he seems to be -- because if Superman's that Pure, that means that he's really that EVIL.

He starts throwing all of these Supervillains at Superman, and it's a ruse to get him far enough away from Lois, so that when he returns to Metropolis, she's DEAD.

But, he DID NOT kill Lois -- because, he had hoped that [Superman] would kill HIM, and, when The Illusion broke, he had killed a man under false pretences, and that REALLY was going to be his "SCREW YOU!!" To Superman -- but, er.... It didn't happen.

And so he just goes off into The World,  and essentially commits suicide, as a result of that event -- when he decides it's time, he's going to end his own life, he basically turns his own power against himself, he sort of literally makes his hand like a gun and sort of telekinetically shoots himself in the head...”

-- Joe Kelly

Postmaster General

Too bad The Post Office isn't as

efficient as The Weather Service.

Meades, Remember the Future, 1997

"I remember it as if it were Yesterday....

But it didn't LOOK like Yesterday --

It looked like Tomorrow."

Old Grandfather :

So that's it!

Dorothea :

What? Oh, The Tower.

It's finished!

(The brand new Post Office Tower

rises high above central London.)

Old Grandfather :

Isn't that interesting.

Very interesting.

Dorothea :

It's great, isn't it. Stephen

would have liked it here....

Old Grandfather :

.....You know there's something ALIEN

about that Tower. I can scent it.

Dorothea : (inhaling deeply)

Smells okay to me.

Good old London smoke.

Old Grandfather :

I can feel it's got something sort of powerful. It's..... Look at my skin. Look at that....

I've got that pricking sensation again, the same --

Just as I had when I saw the Daleks,

those Daleks were near....

Dorothea :

Daleks? Who are They?

Old Grandfather :

Oh, er, yes, of course, you, er, you didn't meet them, did you, child? No. No, and I pray that you never will -- ....I really must investigate this. (The Doctor and Dodo set off for Cleveland Street.)

Stanley Uris

 

"Reflecting on The Meaning of what I just read, 

the word "Leshanot" comes up a lot which 

means "to change, to transform." 

Which makes sense I guess, because today 

I'm supposed to become A Man. 

It's funny, though. 

Everyone, I think, has some memories 

they're prouder of than others, right? 

And maybe that's why Change is so scary. 

Cause the things we wish 

we could leave behind... 

the whispers we wish 

we could silence... 

the nightmares we most 

wanna wake up from... 

the memories we 

wish we could change... 

the secrets we feel like we have to keep... 

are the hardest to walk away from. 

The good stuff? 

The pictures in our mind 

that fade away the fastest? 

Those pieces of you it 

feels the easiest to lose. 

Maybe I don't want to forget. 

Maybe if that's what today is all about... 

forget it, right? 

Today I'm supposed to become A Man, 

but I don't feel any different. 

I know I'm a Loser. 

And no matter what... 

I always fucking will be."

― Stanley Uris' 

speech on Change 

at his bar mitzva

"Dear Losers... 

I know what this must seem like... 

but this isn't a suicide note. 

You're probably wondering 

why I did what I did. 

It's because I knew I was 

too scared to go back. 

And I knew if weren't together... 

if all of us alive weren't united... 

I knew we'd all die. 

So, I made the only logical move. 

I took myself off The Board. 

Did it work? Well, 

if you're reading this, 

you know the answer. 

I lived my whole life afraid. 

Afraid of what would come next. 

Afraid of what I might leave behind. 

Don't. Be who you 

want to be. Be proud. 

And if you find someone 

worth holding on to...  

never ever let them go. 

Follow your own path. 

Wherever that takes you. 

Think of this letter as A Promise. 

A promise I'm asking you to make. To me. 

To each other. An oath. 

See the thing about being a Loser 

is you don't have anything to lose. 

So... Be true. Be brave. Stand. 

Believe. And don't ever forget... 

We're Losers... 

and we always will be."

― Stan's posthumous letter to the other Losers

Trivia

Was a strong baseball player.

Despite having 'jet black' hair, he is said to also have ginger pubic hair. This may be due to vitiligo affecting his scrotum.

Seemed largely unaffected by Richie's antisemitic jokes, even replying that his father had killed Jesus, not him.

Stan is one of the two members (alongside Eddie Kaspbrak) of the Losers Club to die, although Stan committed suicide due to his fear of Pennywise, while Eddie is killed by Pennywise.

Was upset with doctors for suggesting that he and Patricia were unable to conceive due to stress, and advising them to 'not think about conceiving' when having sex, as he said he "never thought about it during."

Was a fan of Paul Anka.

Stan is diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Complusive Disorder).

Maman

Picard's Mother 

TNG Older Explained 

Star Trek Picard

Picard and his mother.

Yeeeers -- That'll be 

The Trauma : He's clearly not 

remembering Her 

very well.....

 our son.

[Chez Picard]

(Picard is making inroads into a bottle of the family produce when Robert comes in with flowers for the house) 

BOB : 

Careful. You're not used to drinking the real thing. This synthehol never leaves you out of control, is that so? 

Johnny : That's so. 

BOB : This will. (pours himself the last dregs) Now there is something I'd like to see. 

Johnny : What's that? 

BOB : 

The gallant Captain out of Control. Mind if I ask you 

A Question? What the devil happened to you up there? 

Johnny : 

Is this brotherly concern? 

BOB : 

No. Curiosity. What did 

They Do to you? 

Johnny : 

You know what happened. 

BOB : 

Not precisely. I gather you were hurt. Humiliated. I always thought you needed 

a little humiliation. 

Or was it humility? 

Either would do. 

(Jean-Luc storms out of the house) 

[Garden]

BOB : Why do you walk away? That isn't your style. 

Johnny : I'm tired of fighting with you, Robert. 

BOB : Tired? 

Johnny : That's right. 

BOB : Yes. Tired of the Enterprise too? The great Captain Picard of Starfleet falls to Earth, ready to plunge into the water with Louis. That isn't the brother that I remember. Still, I suppose it must have seemed like the ideal situation, hmm? Local boy makes good. Returns home after twenty years to a hero's welcome. 

Johnny : I'm not a hero. 

BOB : Of course you are. Admit it. You'd never settle for less than that and you never will. 

Johnny : That's not true. 

BOB : Cancel the parade? In your favour? 

Johnny : No! I never sought that rubbish. 

BOB : Never sought? Never sought president of the school, valedictorian, athletic hero with your arms raised in victory? 

Johnny : Valedictorian? Arms raised in victory? Were you so jealous? 

BOB : Yes, damn it. I was always so jealous, I had a right to be. 

Johnny : Right? 

BOB : I was always your brother, watching you receive the cheers, watching you break every rule our father made and get away with it. 

Johnny : Why didn't you break a few rules? 

BOB : Because I was the elder brother, the responsible one. It was my job to look after you. 

Johnny : Look after me? You? You were a bully. 

BOB : Sometimes. Maybe. Sometimes I even enjoyed bullying you. 

Johnny : All right. Try it now. 

BOB : Did you come back, Jean-Luc? Did you come back because you wanted me to look after you again? 

Johnny : Damn you! 

(And he punches his brother, sending him flying over some barrels into the vineyard proper. There they fight in the muddy irrigation ditches, through the vines until they finally fall back laughing) 

Johnny : 

You were asking 

for it, you know. 

BOB : 

Yes, but you needed it. 

You have been terribly 

hard on yourself. 

Johnny : You don't know, Robert. You don't know. They took everything I was. They used me to kill and to destroy, and I couldn't stop them. I should have been able to stop them! I tried. I tried so hard, but I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough. I should have been able to stop them. I should! I should! 

BOB : 

So, my brother is a human being after all. This is going to be with you a long time, Jean-Luc. A long time. You have to learn to live with it. You have a simple choice now. Live with it below the sea with Louis, or above the clouds with the Enterprise. 

Johnny : You know, I think you were right after all. I think I did come back so that you could help me. 

BOB : You know what? I still don't like you, Jean-Luc.

[Chez Picard]

(There's mud, and muddy boots, on the carpet, and drunken voices singing 'Aupres de ma blonde, qu'il fait bon, fait bon, fait bon' dum, dum, dum. Marie enters from outside) 

Mrs. BOB : What in the world? What happened here? 

BOB : Ah 

Johnny : It's entirely my fault, Marie. 

BOB : Yes, I fell down, then he fell and then 

Johnny : We both fell down. 

BOB : We both fell down. 

Johnny : Together. 

BOB : We both fell down together. 

Mrs. BOB : Have you two been fighting? 

BOB : Fighting? No, certainly not. 

Mrs. BOB : Shame on you both. What would your father say if he saw you like this? 

Johnny : He'd probably send us both to bed without our supper. 

Mrs. BOB : Well, perhaps it's just as well you got it out of your systems. 

Johnny : Perhaps it was, Marie. Perhaps it was. I'll contact Louis and cancel the meeting with the Board of Governors. It's time that I was going. 

Mrs. BOB : 

Already, Jean-Luc? 

Johnny : 

The ship will be ready to leave orbit soon, and I belong on board. If I should ever doubt that again, I know where to come. 

Picard - Sheer Fucking Hubris

[Patio]

(Arranging flowers in a vase in the evening.)

MORITZ: 

He said I'd find you out here.

Johnny : Moritz.

MORITZ: Hello, Jean-Luc.

Johnny : It's been a very long time.

MORITZ: Too long.

Johnny : I know there was a bit of trouble with the remote medscan, but I hardly expected a house call. Let me just er... (picks up tea tray) Your office told me they would be forwarding the certificate for interstellar service as soon as you had seen the results. (silence) Oh, I see.

MORITZ: You might want something stronger.

(A little later.)

MORITZ: Your medscan came in at or above Starfleet minimums in every category. Cardiovascular, metabolic, cognitive. For a relic, you're in excellent shape. Just that little abnormality in the parietal lobe.

Johnny : I was told a long time ago that it might cause a problem eventually.

(Irumodic Syndrome? See All Good Things.)

MORITZ: Loss of appetite, mood swings, unsettling dreams? Inappropriate displays of anger on interplanetary news holos?

Johnny : What do you think it is?

MORITZ: I'd need to run more tests. It could be one of a number of related syndromes.

Johnny : Prognosis? Come on. Let's have it, Doctor Benayoun.

MORITZ: A few are treatable, but they all end the same way. Some sooner than others.

Johnny : I see. I need you to certify me to Starfleet as fit for interstellar service. Now, will you do it?

MORITZ: I don't suppose you'd condescend to tell me why. Secret mission? We certainly had our share of those on the Stargazer, didn't we? Remember that time in the fireforest on Calyx, we

Johnny : Doctor Benayoun. Forgive me.

MORITZ: You really want to go back out into the cold, knowing

Johnny : More than ever, knowing.

MORITZ: I don't know what kind of trouble you're planning to get into. Maybe if you're lucky, it will kill you first.

[Starfleet HQ]

(Picard beams in through one of a line of arches in the plaza. Humans and aliens with a mixture of DS9 and Voyager style uniforms throng the area.)

COMPUTER: All visitors must report to the main security desk. All visitors must report to the main security desk.

(A large hologram of NCC1701 hangs over the foyer, then it changes to NCC1701D.)

MAN [OC]: Admiral Gurdy, please report to Conference Room B. Admiral Gurdy, please report to Conference Room B.

Johnny : Hello. I er, have a meeting with the CNC. I have an appointment.

ENSIGN: Of course, sir. May I have your name, please, sir?

Johnny : Oh. Er, Picard. P-I-C-A-R-D. Jean-Luc.

(The Ensign puts a visitor badge on the reception desk.)

ENSIGN: Ah. It's nice to see you up and around, Admiral. Welcome back.

[Admiral Clancy's office]

(Doorbell.)

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

Come. (door opens) 

Ah. Jean-Luc.

Johnny : 

Kirsten. Hello. 

May I? (he sits)

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

Apparently, you have 'urgent 

Federation Business'. 

I understood you to have left 

affairs of state behind.

Johnny :

 I am staying as far 

from it all as I can.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

So then what can I do for you?

Johnny : 

Bruce Maddox.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

What about him?

Johnny : 

I believe that he is using neurons 

from the late Commander Data 

to create a new race of

organic synthetics.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

Well, that's not far from all 

of it, it is all of it.

Johnny : 

The Romulans are involved.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy, 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

This gets better and better.

Johnny : 

Commander Data was 

not only my colleague, he was 

my dear friend, and he gave 

his life, body and soul, 

to The Federation.

 And if there is a chance that some part of him 

still exists, then I think we have 

an obligation to investigate.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy,

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

There is no 'We', 

Jean-Luc --

Johnny : 

Kirsten, I know we have not always seen eye to eye. Nevertheless, I have a request to make. Based on my years of service, I want you to reinstate me, temporarily, for one mission. I will need a small warp-capable reconnaissance ship with a minimal crew, and if you feel that my rank makes me too conspicuous, well then, I am content to be demoted to Captain.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy ,

 C-in-C, Starfleet : 

....sheer fucking hubris --

You think you could just waltz back in here 

and be entrusted with taking men 

and women into space? 

Do you think I wasn't 

watching the holo 

the other day along 

with everyone else 

in The Galaxy?

Johnny : I should not have spoken in public.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , C-inC, Starfleet : The Romulans were our enemies, and we tried to help them for as long as we could, but even before the synthetics attacked Mars, 14 species within the Federation said, cut the Romulans loose, or we'll pull out. It was a choice between allowing the Federation to implode or letting the Romulans go.

Johnny : 

The Federation does not get to decide 

if a species lives or dies...!

.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

Yes, We Do. 

We absolutely Do. 

Thousands of other species depend 

upon Us for unity, for cohesion. 

We didn't have enough ships left. 

We had to make choices. 

But The Great 

Captain Picard didn't 

like His Orders.

Johnny : 

I was standing-up 

for The Federation, for 

what it represents, for what 

it should still represent!!

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

How dare you 

lecture me?

Johnny : 

Ignore me again 

at your cost.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

My cost?

Johnny : 

You are in 

peril, Admiral.

Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy , 

C-in-C, Starfleet : 

There's no peril here...!!
Only the pitiable delusions 

of a once-great man 

desperate to matter. 

This is no-longer Your 

House, Jean-Luc. 

So do What You're

Good at : Go Home. 

Request Denied.