“The Funeral” — Creating a Big Story That Makes Sense of the Human Condition
Recorded by Grant Gehrlich.
We need a New Story. A big one. One that humans can agree on, that addresses no less than our place in the universe, and what constitutes right action in our rapidly accelerating future. Right now, religions of various stripes have the only significant claim to overarching Stories. Nonbelievers have pointed out the flaws in religious claims, but they have no counter Stories to offer. It is not enough to reject outmoded Stories; what we really need are better and even more compelling Stories. We urgently need a new Story about the origin of life and mind that explains why we exist, what our lives mean, why suffering happens, and where we’re headed as a species. It has to be grounded in observation and reason rather than superstition and dogma, and it has to be one that can be widely accepted as a guide to meaning and action. We’re going to take a big swipe at creating that Story in this workshop.
Workshop: Creating a Big Story That Makes Sense of the Human Condition. This three day workshop sought to answer how humans will perceive humanities place in the universe and how we will reconcile our mortal lives in the future. Are we given purpose? Do we define our own purpose? What is our connection to others, the planet, and universe?