Cognition, Religion, and the Trust Apocalypse Are More Connected Than You Think

Why is it becoming impossible to study the human mind without studying religion? In this conference talk, John Vervaeke argues that cognitive science has spent decades treating religion as either broken science or an evolutionary accident, and both assumptions are collapsing. He traces how religion and human cognition emerged together, why "the imaginal" is not the same as "the imaginary," and how altered states, the psychedelic renaissance, and non-propositional knowing are pulling religion back into the center of cognitive science. John also unpacks the "trust apocalypse," the collapse of confidence in religious institutions, science, journalism, and the courts, and the strange fact that some of the most traditional religious institutions (Eastern Orthodoxy, Latin Mass Catholicism) are growing while looser forms of religion decline. He closes with a genealogy of how the biblical God emerged from older deities merging together, a reading from the play Equus, and a case for why cognitive science needs religious studies as a full partner. Chapters 0:00:00 The Trust Apocalypse and the Paradox of Religious Revival 0:02:10 Conference Theme: Synoptic Integration 0:02:30 Why You Cannot Study Cognition Without Studying Religion 0:02:50 Religion and Human Cognition Emerged Together 0:03:20 The Imaginal, Not the Imaginary 0:04:20 Altered States, Psychedelics, and Non-Propositional Knowing 0:05:10 Wisdom Traditions and the Demarcation Problem 0:06:10 Spiritual But Not Religious 0:07:00 The Cognitive Science of Religion Since the 1980s 0:07:20 Three Assumptions of Early Cognitive Science of Religion 0:11:20 Gould's NOMA and the Vertical Versus Horizontal Divide 0:13:30 The Postmodern Critique of Clean Dichotomies 0:18:40 Three Books That Change the Conversation 0:19:40 Religions Are Heterogeneous and Porous 0:21:40 The Genealogy of God: El, YHWH, and Ahura Mazda Merge 0:27:00 Equus and the Sacred 0:30:20 Is Capitalism a Religion 0:31:30 Belief Versus Trust and the Science of CRED 0:35:50 Religion as Skill, Not Just Belief 0:41:00 Religion as a Colonial Construct 0:43:30 Why Cognitive Science Needs Religious Studies 0:44:00 Audience Q&A Begins 0:46:20 Institutional Trust and the Return to Tradition 0:49:00 Is This Just Fundamentalism 0:50:10 Beauty, Wonder, and the Cognitive Science of Mystical Experience 0:53:30 Closing Applause Key Takeaways Religion and human cognition co-emerged, so treating religion as a late add-on to the mind gets the history backwards. The imaginal (metaphor, metacognitive space, fictive language) is real and load bearing for reasoning, even though it is not literally true. The "trust apocalypse" is not unique to religion. Science, journalism, and the courts are losing trust too, which is part of why traditional religious institutions are seeing paradoxical growth. People often become religious, and become rational, the same way: by imitating people they trust who model something that does not yet make sense to them (credibility enhancing displays, or CRED). Religion is better understood as an ecology of practices and a process, not a fixed set of beliefs with one essential definition. Explore courses and teachings from The Lectern https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/ Support the Lectern and join a growing community of wisdom seekers https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke John Vervaeke: https://johnvervaeke.com/ https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke