Does it seem to you as if today’s kids are not as smart and lacking in common sense than previous generations? You’re not imagining things…

The current focus on education — treating the human brain like a computer and using artificial intelligence (AI) to feed it knowledge — may be great for sitting in front of a screen playing video games, but not so much on real learning and creativity, the one true superpower every human being has.

Educator Dr. Jared Horvath explains why today’s kids are cognitively declining and describes what we can do to reverse that downward trend this week on Spirit Gym.

Learn more about Jared at his LME Global website and on social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Timestamps

8:05 Pursuing the science of learning.

13:20 “The brain is not a computer, and you are not your brain.”

24:49 Our kids are losing their conceptual natures, and are cognitively declining.

27:56 Humanity’s greatest superpower.

32:32 The three stages of creativity.

35:30 Why are kids living East Asian countries smarter and more creative than those in America?

50:01 Why teachers don’t have a say in the education process.

58:20 Focusing on proximal goals versus distal goals.

1:09:29 Do you really understand the difference between opinions and knowledge?

1:16:01 AI falsely assumes human thought is best represented in speech.

1:21:00 The reification of education.

1:28:09 When Paul was a child, he dreamed of becoming a bank robber.

1:35:42 The breadth of your knowledge is only as good as the depth of it, which may explain why education is broken.

1:42:32 The importance of mastery.

1:53:07 Is it really cheaper for schools to divest from digital tech for physical education and the arts?

2:02:28 Why it is NOT important for kids to be taught how to use AI.

2:16:01 Jared’s real problem with AI, aside from the fact that it does nothing: Its intellectual heritage is hidden.

2:21:08 The tech outsourcing of basic parenting.

Resources

The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning — And How To Help Them Thrive Again by Dr. Jared Horvath

Find more resources for this episode on our website.

Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music

Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute

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Did you know the comic book characters and their stories that are adapted into very successful books, TV shows and movies could teach you as much about myth as the work of Joseph Campbell?

Filmmaker and comic book writer B. Earl describes how his deep love for comics, mythology and the Tarot led him on a Fool’s Journey away from doing the safe thing — studying biochemistry — to work on Spider-Man comics, make movies and share the lessons he learned by following the road less traveled this week on Spirit Gym.

Discover more about B. Earl on his Weirdbunch Studio website and on Instagram, Substack and LinkedIn. Read his chapter in the book, Depth Psychology, Myth and Artificial Intelligence: Soul and the Machine, edited by Jason Batt and Jonathan Erickson. Check out his crowdfunded Fangbanger: SUPERPOSITION Anthology on Zoop.

Timestamps

7:44 “I found my voice and my own ideas through a mixture of mythology and comic books.”

11:09 Whose dream wins out to study biochemistry or telling stories?

17:53 B. Earl’s Hero’s Journey begins with a call from movie producer Larry Cohen.

28:03 The Tarot helps B. Earl achieve sobriety when he needed it.

33:45 The libido as life force energy.

37:46 How do we learn to process, use and embrace the 72 demons of Solomon?

49:13 The commercialization of Hip Hop.

53:35 Comics: The most powerful medium and the additive version of the creative process.

1:00:05 Can you decode the symbolism hiding in plain sight?

1:07:15 How much of your consciousness is tied up in your ego?

1:16:44 The Fool’s Journey.

1:26:40 Different Tarot card decks, different insights.

1:35:00 The forced redundancy of us in AI.

1:41:07 The magic of storytelling that conveys deeper truths and native myths in B. Earl’s Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

1:55:55 Conflict and forgiveness are necessary for us to live and grow.

Resources

Watch B. Earl talk about The Poetry of Death during the recent Soul and the Machine webinar on the International Society of Mythology website

Find more resources for this episode on our website.

Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music

Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute

We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

As artificial intelligence (AI) encroaches deeper than ever before into our daily lives, how do we as humans begin to address the greater questions about the soul and what mysteries lie beyond our planet?

Technological Philosopher, Mythologist/Futurist and Wizard Jason Batt joins Paul on an exploration of what lies ahead for humans and AI and how the power of myth can light the way this week on Spirit Gym.

Check out Jason’s work on his website, the International Society of Mythology and Substack. Find him on social media via Instagram and LinkedIn.

For Spirit Gym listeners: Save 15 percent on on these courses Jason teaches with the following promo codes:

• The Haunted House as Psyche SPIRITGYM15OFFHH
• The Long Reach: SF Worldbuilding/ Empires SPIRITGYM15OFFLR
• Gods, Heroes and Monsters: An Introduction to Classical Mythology SPIRITGYM15OFFGHM

Timestamps

7:31 Is Jason a Technological Philosopher, Mythologist/Futurist or a Wizard?

16:25 The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the 100 Year Starship project comes calling on the birth of Jason’s third child.

29:08 Why the Tarot has been around for a long time.

46:17 Momentary gods.

59:35 The danger of mixing myth and religion.

1:08:27 What happens when AI platforms talk to each other?

1:18:12 “Every book of fiction is ourself.”

1:25:59 The greatest profession anyone could have.

1:37:31 The SOUL.md of AI.

1:48:32 The myth of Narcissus is a metaphor for modern times.

1:58:19 To ignore the lessons of myth leaves us vulnerable to the hubris of unchecked innovation and being deceived.

Resources

Depth Psychology, Myth and Artificial Intelligence: Soul and the Machine by Jason Batt and Jonathan Erickson

Find more resources for this episode on our website.

Music Credit: Meet Your Heroes (444Hz), Composed, mixed, mastered and produced by Michael RB Schwartz of Brave Bear Music

Thanks to our awesome sponsors:

Paleovalley
BIOptimizers US and BIOptimizers UK PAUL15
Organifi CHEK20
Wild Pastures
Pique Life
CHEK Institute

We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.