Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Is civilization making us smarter while disconnecting us from what matters most?
In this episode, John Vervaeke speaks with Kyle, a deep nature connection practitioner and new father living in an intentional community in northern British Columbia, about applying Vervaeke’s work to raise children with belonging and connectedness. They explore cognition as a dynamical developmental process, how culture “raises” children increasingly through screens, and how capitalism functions as a dominant religion shaping salience and meaning. Drawing on McGilchrist and 4E cognitive science, they discuss left-hemisphere dominance, relevance realization, extended families and credible role models, narrative as “keeping track of tracking,” and the need for a meta-narrative beyond a chaos of stories. They consider kinship and indigenous worldviews, personhood as promise-making, the “spirit of place,” pilgrimage as transformative theoria, and a civium model combining Dunbar-scale communities with a more virtuous virtual world, including retreats like Reconnecting with the Real.
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome to the Lectern
02:00 Fatherhood and meaning
05:00 Questions on development
06:30 Cognition as dynamic
07:30 Culture raises kids
09:00 Capitalism as religion
11:00 Alloparenting and nature
13:00 Becoming self and person
17:30 Trust and role models
22:00 Narratives and consumption
26:00 Spirit of place
31:30 Promises and personhood
33:30 Narrative practice tracking
39:30 Meta narrative challenge
43:00 Why we cannot return
43:30 Synergy of civilization
44:30 Civium at Dunbar scale
46:30 Making the virtual sacred
49:30 Can the virtual be virtuous
51:00 Keeping civilization's gifts
57:30 Hospicing modernity shift
01:00:00 Capitalism and demographic collapse
01:02:30 Pilgrimage and theoria
01:09:00 Apprenticeship to sages
01:11:30 Eldership and sage symphony
Kyle Koch
Nature Connection Expert: He bridges the gap between philosophical concepts and embodied reality through tracking, bird language, and nature-based core routines.
Embodiment Practitioner: Coming from a background in Evolve Move Play, he focuses on reclaiming our innate sense of belonging within the natural world.
To learn more about Kyle’s work or inquire about working with him, visit ecologyofconnection.com or contact him at kyle@ecologyofconnection.com
The Matter With Things: channelmcgilchrist.com/the-matter-with-things
Evolve Move Play: evolvemoveplay.com
Follow John Vervaeke
johnvervaeke.com
https://x.com/DrJohnVervaeke
youtube.com/@johnvervaeke
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
Thank you for watching!
Is civilization making us smarter while disconnecting us from what matters most?
In this episode, John Vervaeke speaks with Kyle, a deep nature connection practitioner and new father living in an intentional community in northern British Columbia, about applying Vervaeke’s work to raise children with belonging and connectedness. They explore cognition as a dynamical developmental process, how culture “raises” children increasingly through screens, and how capitalism functions as a dominant religion shaping salience and meaning. Drawing on McGilchrist and 4E cognitive science, they discuss left-hemisphere dominance, relevance realization, extended families and credible role models, narrative as “keeping track of tracking,” and the need for a meta-narrative beyond a chaos of stories. They consider kinship and indigenous worldviews, personhood as promise-making, the “spirit of place,” pilgrimage as transformative theoria, and a civium model combining Dunbar-scale communities with a more virtuous virtual world, including retreats like Reconnecting with the Real.
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome to the Lectern
02:00 Fatherhood and meaning
05:00 Questions on development
06:30 Cognition as dynamic
07:30 Culture raises kids
09:00 Capitalism as religion
11:00 Alloparenting and nature
13:00 Becoming self and person
17:30 Trust and role models
22:00 Narratives and consumption
26:00 Spirit of place
31:30 Promises and personhood
33:30 Narrative practice tracking
39:30 Meta narrative challenge
43:00 Why we cannot return
43:30 Synergy of civilization
44:30 Civium at Dunbar scale
46:30 Making the virtual sacred
49:30 Can the virtual be virtuous
51:00 Keeping civilization's gifts
57:30 Hospicing modernity shift
01:00:00 Capitalism and demographic collapse
01:02:30 Pilgrimage and theoria
01:09:00 Apprenticeship to sages
01:11:30 Eldership and sage symphony
Kyle Koch
Nature Connection Expert: He bridges the gap between philosophical concepts and embodied reality through tracking, bird language, and nature-based core routines.
Embodiment Practitioner: Coming from a background in Evolve Move Play, he focuses on reclaiming our innate sense of belonging within the natural world.
To learn more about Kyle’s work or inquire about working with him, visit ecologyofconnection.com or contact him at kyle@ecologyofconnection.com
The Matter With Things: channelmcgilchrist.com/the-matter-with-things
Evolve Move Play: evolvemoveplay.com
Follow John Vervaeke
johnvervaeke.com
https://x.com/DrJohnVervaeke
youtube.com/@johnvervaeke
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
Thank you for watching!
