Yoga, superpowers and sex cults
Summary:
Geoffrey L'anonyme abandons his medical studies to dedicate himself to learning yoga, becomes a teacher and brings us an insider's account of yoga and its associated branch, dare I say it, Tantrism... An edifying journey from the inside.
Getting to work
The position of the podcast's creator, though nuanced, gives the impression of having settled once and for all with all kinds of New Age nonsense.
His critical spirit is all to his credit, but the question for us is to modulate this monolithic position and justify why the incantation of science cannot absorb everything: how can we do this?
A short extract from his commentary:
However, to say that believing in something is irrational makes no sense. Because our beliefs are often the result of complex reasoning and belong to a coherent system of thought. This is why intelligent, cultured people can believe in extreme and even dangerous things.
With this in mind, what is it that can make us take a real step back from some of our beliefs? Can and should we cultivate methodical doubt about everything we do on a daily basis?
I'm not sure she'll fully answer that question in her latest episode.
Nonetheless, I think this question is worth considering, and I'll even take the liberty of transforming it like this:
Level 0: it's fashionable to dismiss the scientific approach by saying that certain subjects don't fall within its remit, or that it rejects any subject as irrational that it can't capture "in the laboratory".
Level 1: apart from the fact that the epistemological traditions applied to science (for example Karl Popper and his falsifiability) install doubt as the cardinal virtue of scientists, who would then have great difficulty in qualifying other types of discourse as "irrational"... see Science, What?
Level 3: Is there a rational option that allows us to install the elements that matter to us, human beings, without Science, that respectable lady, being offended?