Established religion has been on the decline in the West for more than a century, but of those who claim to be not religious 40% believe in 'some form of the supernatural'. From horoscopes to TikTok psychics, we see these alternatives as harmless new-age fantasies. But a recent UCL study found that people who were not religious but had "a spiritual understanding of life "were 77% more likely to be dependent on drugs, 72% more likely to suffer from a phobia, and 50% more likely to have a generalised anxiety."
Are new-age spiritual beliefs leading us into a post-enlightenment dark age? Or was Wittgenstein right when he said "the facts of the world are not the end of the matter', and Deleuze when he proposed we should "bring something incomprehensible into the world?" Should we see sprituality and mysticism as a dangerous spiral to dystopia or a positive outcome of challenges to scientific truth?
Award-winning psychologist John Vervaeke, founder of The Skeptics Society Michael Shermer, and philosopher Sophie-Grace Chappell, delve into the rise of alternative spirituality and its potential implications. Barry C. Smith hosts.