Much contemporary thinking tries to address this by focusing narrowly: on neuroscience alone, or philosophy alone, or spirituality alone. But meaning doesn’t live at just one level. It unfolds across time—biological, psychological, cultural, and historical.
This course takes that challenge seriously by asking a deeper question:
What has mattered, how it has mattered, and how meaning itself has evolved over time.
Matters Over Time traces meaning across multiple scales—without reducing it to any single one.
The journey begins at first principles: meaning as information, relevance, and thermodynamic constraint—grounding human sense-making within the broader story of life and learning systems. From there, the course zooms inward to the individual, exploring how meaning-making unfolds across the human lifespan through developmental models and lived examples.
Then the lens widens again—to the collective. You’ll examine how individual justification systems interlock into worldviews, religions, and cultures, shaping how entire societies understand reality, value, and the Sacred.
Finally, the course turns fully historical—tracking how meaning has transformed across:
early human societies
agrarian civilizations
the Axial Age
modernity, postmodernity, and emerging metamodern frames
Throughout, the same guiding thread remains: how meaning complexifies, stabilizes, fractures, and reforms over time.
FAQ
Are these courses like other online philosophy or spirituality courses?
Not exactly. These courses are not designed as content dumps or self-help programs. They are structured learning journeys that integrate philosophy, cognitive science, history, and spirituality to cultivate deeper understanding, clearer sense-making, and existential relevance, not hacks or techniques.
Do I need prior background in philosophy, cognitive science, or religion?
No formal background is required. The courses are carefully scaffolded and assume curiosity rather than expertise. If you’re willing to read attentively, reflect seriously, and sit with difficult questions, you’ll be able to engage the material meaningfully.
Are these courses practical, or purely theoretical?
They are intellectually rigorous, but never merely abstract. Each course is oriented toward how ideas shape perception, meaning, identity, and lived experience. While these are not “how-to” programs, they are a conceptual foundation for practice, transformation, and orientation in life.
Is this therapy or spiritual direction?
No. These courses are educational and philosophical in nature. They may be personally challenging and transformative, but they are not therapy, pastoral counseling, or clinical intervention. Growth here comes through understanding, dialogue, and reflection.
How much time should I expect to commit?
Most courses are designed to be manageable alongside work or study. Expect time for watching lectures, doing assigned readings (where applicable), and reflective integration. The depth you get out of the course will largely reflect the care you bring to it.
Are these courses connected to one another, or can I take them independently?
Each course stands on its own, but they are also part of a larger, coherent intellectual and pedagogical arc across The Lectern. Many learners find that taking multiple courses deepens understanding as ideas recur, evolve, and interconnect across contexts.
Will this challenge my beliefs?
Possibly. These courses do not aim to persuade you toward a particular ideology or worldview, but they do invite you to examine assumptions, inherited frameworks, and habitual ways of making meaning. Challenge here is a feature, not a flaw.