Volunteer

Volunteer Sign-up

The Vervaeke Foundation is aiming to build a team that can index John Vervaeke’s work in a way that makes it accessible to a diverse range of audiences across disciplines, demographics, and diasporas. It is our hope that this team could come together in a fellowship that is meaningful and developmental to both the Vervaeke Foundation as well as each individual.

Name*

Email*

What are some aspects of your skills/experience that you find relevant to the Vervaeke Foundation’s Mission through which you’d be able to contribute?*

E.g. work experience, side projects.

Can you send us some work samples or a portfolio that you feel would give a good sense of your capabilities?

Optional.

How did you first come to encounter John Vervaeke’s work? Can you tell us more about yourself and what drew your interest?*

Can you describe the impact, if any, that John Vervaeke’s work has had on your life or perspective?

Are there particular domains or areas of John Vervaeke’s work that you find yourself drawn to?

E.g. 4E Cognitive Science, The Meaning Crisis, AI, After Socrates, Artificial Intelligence.

How many hours a week could you realistically contribute to VF without sacrificing existing obligations (e.g. family, work, relationships)?*

Would you be open to contributing alone or as part of a team?*

What are the existing practices you regularly engage in (if any)?

Do you foresee any prior obligations that could affect the consistency of your contribution?*

To get a better sense of your interests and capabilities, we’ve prepared a few tasks listed below that we’d like to invite you to complete. You can do as many as you like, although we’d request that you complete at least one that you feel most aligns with your expectations of how you’d like to contribute.

Task 1

Can you watch 1 episode of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis and collate all the books mentioned incl. timestamps?

E.g., 00:31:12 – Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved by Matt Rossano

Can you identify a set of keywords for each book?

E.g., Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved by Matt Rossano
Evolution, Religion, Ritual

Can you summarize the key idea in short (3 sentences) of how this book is relevant to John’s work?

E.g., Rituals formed the basis for the skill of taking a perspective other than one’s own. This afforded social coherence across large networks of cognition and enhanced the capability of mindsight (See Mindsight by Daniel Siegel).

Can you find a link to buy the book which would be accessible to the public (if possible)?

E.g., https://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Selection-How-Religion-Evolved/dp/0195385810

Task 2

Can you watch an episode of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis and draw up a “Table of Contents” of the key arguments laid out in the episode with timestamps?

E.g., In Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Ep 1:
00:00:00 – 00:10:15
Rise of Interest in Wisdom vs. Prevalence of the Meaning Crisis

Can you identify the key concepts introduced in the episode?

E.g., De-centering, Exaptation, Shamanism

How would you explain these concepts to an academic or a Ph.D. student who has no prior knowledge of 4E cognitive science?

E.g., De-centering is the ability to take on a non-egocentric perspective, sometimes in relation to a group.

How would you summarize each of those concepts into short sentences that can be understood by an undergraduate student?

E.g., De-centering refers to the capacity to adopt a viewpoint that isn’t solely focused on oneself, often in the context of or alongside a group.

How would you explain this to an “everyman” you met at the gym or a colleague who has never studied philosophy or the sciences?

E.g., De-centering is taking a step back and looking at things from a different angle, like when you consider what’s best for your family, instead of just yourself. It’s about being in touch with other people’s feelings and needs.

How would you explain each of those concepts to a 10-year-old?

E.g., De-centering is like using your imagination to see things from someone else’s point of view, just like when you pretend to be a character in your favorite story. It helps you understand how they feel and think, not just how you do.

Task 3

Pick an episode of Awakening From The Meaning Crisis and identify one key concept (E.g., Opponent Processing, Agent-Arena Relationship, Transjectivity).

Propose a (series of) graphic(s) that can represent this concept in a clear and concise fashion. It does not have to be a final product.

We are more interested in your process at this point, rather than the precision of the outcome. To that end, can you include work-in-progress iterations of it with a few short lines about why/what changes are being made?

Please submit any and all tasks.