We usually think of meaning as something deeply personal—a purpose we discover, a story we tell, or a value we choose. But what if meaning also has a much longer history?
In this launch conversation, Brendan Graham Dempsey talks with Nick Hedlund about The Evolution of Meaning, Vol. I: Cosmos to Culture. It is the first book in a trilogy and the first title from IAM Press. The book traces how meaning emerged and changed across the great transitions of cosmic, biological, psychological and cultural evolution.
It brings together insights from science, philosophy, consciousness studies and religion to explore a question that reaches beneath many of our present debates:
How did meaning become possible—and how has it evolved into the complex worlds of meaning we inhabit today?
Get the book: Amazon · About the book: evolutionofmeaning.com
Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Welcome and the launch of IAM Press
00:03:37 – Introducing Brendan Graham Dempsey
00:05:35 – The core idea: an evolving, learning universe
00:09:17 – The trilogy, from Cosmos to Culture to Modernity to Omega
00:17:12 – Brendan’s personal journey with meaning
00:23:43 – Matter, life, mind and culture: the continuity of meaning
00:31:14 – Can there be meaning without experience?
00:37:12 – Measuring how meaning develops in people
00:41:22 – How the sacred evolves
00:43:10 – From individuals to worldviews
00:45:49 – Audience Q&A: how do we measure complexity?
00:53:13 – Where to find the book
00:54:48 – Meaning and the metacrisis
00:59:22 – Practices for an integrated life
01:05:26 – Bringing these ideas to the next generation
01:10:08 – Smartphones, AI and the loss of depth
01:20:47 – Closing remarks
