Erik is joined by John Vervaeke (@vervaeke_john), a psychology and cognitive science professor at the University of Toronto.

They discuss:

- How John has been working on bridging the gap between cognitive science and spirituality.

- Why he says that we need to “awaken” from the meaning crisis, not “solve” it.

- What he wants people building virtual reality and social media platforms to know.

- Why he says that people these days don’t value democracy the way people did in the past.

- The biggest questions that he has been wrestling with in his research.

- How meaning is distinct from happiness or well-being.

- How “we’ve killed God and replaced it with a marketplace.”

- Whether we will see the emergence of new religions, or “upgrades” to the existing ones.

Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.

Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.