From: jimruttshow8596
The concept of relevance realization is central to John Vervaeke’s work, particularly his “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” series [01:58]. It is described as a fundamental cognitive process that helps agents navigate a complex and ever-changing world [00:09:35].
Nature of Relevance Realization
Vervaeke emphasizes that relevance does not possess an essence [00:02:20]; rather, it is fundamentally a process [00:02:23]. This idea is influenced by Wittgenstein, who noted that many categories lack an essence in the Aristotelian sense (i.e., a set of necessary and sufficient conditions) [00:02:40], using the example of a “game” [00:02:47].
While science aims to discover categories that do have essences (as argued by Quine, such as gold, which possesses stable, homogeneous, and intrinsic properties that support broad explanatory generalizations) [00:03:10], relevance does not fit this model [00:06:17]. The things an individual finds relevant are not homogeneous (they can be big, small, fast, slow, near, far) [00:06:29], nor are they stable (something relevant one second might be irrelevant the next) [00:06:42]. Furthermore, relevance is not intrinsic to an object; it depends on the presence of organisms [00:06:49]. Therefore, the brain does not discover the essence of relevance [00:07:10].
Analogy to Darwinian Fitness
Vervaeke draws a strong analogy between relevance and Darwinian fitness (or “fittedness”) [00:07:41]. Similar to how there is no single essence to what makes an organism “fit” for survival (it could be bigness, smallness, speed, complexity, or simplicity) [00:07:58], there is no essence to relevance [00:08:09]. This makes sense because the environment itself is dynamically complex and constantly changing [00:08:11]. Darwin did not propose a definition of fittedness but rather a universal process—evolution by natural selection—that continually redefines and redesigns it [00:08:47].
Similarly, Vervaeke proposes that relevance realization occurs through a process where relevance is constantly evolving without a final definition or perfection [00:09:00]. It acts as a lens for maneuvering in a highly complex and co-evolutionary world [00:09:15], serving as a key tool in human cognition for making sense of a combinatorially explosive and constantly changing environment [00:09:35].
Connection to Meaning and Sacredness
Relevance realization is deeply connected to spirituality [01:02:10] and meaning in life. The “meaning in life” literature suggests that meaning is about the realization (awareness and actualization) of connectedness [01:11:01]. If this connectedness is fundamentally our cognitive fittedness, then, like Darwinian fitness, there is no perfection or finality to it [01:11:17].
Vervaeke redefines sacredness as the “inexhaustibility of our reality” [01:03:03]. He proposes that spiritual experiences involve a profound enhancement of our relevance realization and connectedness to self, others, and the world [01:10:48]. The experience of sacredness involves an inexhaustibleness in the way more sense can be made [01:12:54]. When something affords an ongoing “fount of new intelligibility” in a relationship, it is found to be more meaningful, transformative, and spiritually deep [01:13:11].
Relationship to Religio and Perennial Problems
Religio, as defined by Vervaeke, is the realization (awareness and actualization) of the fundamental connectedness that is at the core of our cognitive agency [02:11:04]. A key feature of relevance realization is its inherent self-correction, recursively functioning upon itself [02:11:30]. Therefore, anything that corrects, improves, or enhances our relevance realization (and thus our realization of connectedness) is highly positive for us [02:11:44].
While relevance realization by itself can “run amok” [02:22:20], religio acts as a cultural superstructure that guides, constrains, and “seduces” relevance realization towards a better life [02:25:31]. It is a “meta-meaningful system” that steers religio away from foolishness and towards flourishing [02:26:00].
Religio is positioned as a significant part of the answer to the perennial problems faced by humanity [02:22:20]. These problems (such as modal confusion, absurdity, alienation, parasitic processing) arise from the very processes that make us adaptively fitted to our environment, also making us vulnerable to self-deceptive and self-destructive behavior [02:23:32]. Vervaeke argues that we need to cultivate ecologies of practices that address these perennial problems and enhance the connectedness at the core of meaning in life [02:24:51].
Role in Symbols
Symbols are viewed in a rich, literary sense, not just as mere signs [02:24:42]. Examples include the Christian cross or the American flag, which carry extensive nuance and influence how individuals perceive and interpret the world [01:14:47].
Vervaeke asserts that symbols are culturally and cognitively indispensable [01:15:20]. Just as English is indispensable to his cognitive agency as a monolingual speaker, certain symbols are essential to an individual’s or group’s cognitive functioning [01:15:41]. However, he distinguishes this from metaphysical necessity [01:15:10]. While a symbol might be indispensable to one, it is not metaphysically necessary for all cognitive agents [01:16:21]. The conflation of cognitive indispensability with metaphysical necessity is a common issue [01:17:27].
In the context of mythos, symbols are used to activate and augment our realization of religio [01:16:41]. They help make us aware of and enhance our experience of connectedness, leading to an experience of sacredness [01:17:00]. This symbolic use aims to increase sapiential wisdom and integrate different kinds of knowing to enhance religio [01:17:52].