Ep 108: Up in the Air: Reducing Polarization, with Jakub Ferencik

Running Wild with Christine

Hello friends! Change of pace today! Meet Jakub Ferencik, author of upcoming debut book titled “Up in the Air: Christianity, Atheism, & the Global Problems of the 21st Century”. Jakub just arrived in Slovakia, his homeland, to weather this COVID storm and we catch up on his travels, background and interests before taking a deeper dive. We explore where the inspiration to write came from and what he hopes to accomplish. Join us on this epistemological adventure in the fight against certainty.

Topics: Christianity, blogging, human connection, values & epistemology, the reality of nuances and the bypassing of reality in political discourse, reducing polarization, morality, the thought exercise of defending "the opposition", drawing lines where empathy ends, the discomfort of preaching radical vulnerability vs. human rights battles, going beyond the self-affirming echo chambers, progress and regress, the meaning of life, the experience of suffering, mindfulness and guilt, social taboos and many more light topics.

Reference: Chris Erickson's (from Ep. 9) The Poetics of Fear: A Human Response to Human Security, Jonathan Gottschall's The Storytelling Animal, Stephen Fry quote mentioned: "I believe one of the greatest human failings is to prefer to be right than to be effective."

More from Jakub at: IG @jakub.ferencik.official, medium.com/@jakubferencik, Twitter @JakubFerencik and watch out for the book this fall! Shout out to the Vancouver Podcast Community!

Thanks so much for listening. As always, feedback is welcome as I am but a human in progress. The schedule might start to change for next few episodes as my work life begins again, but stories will always find their way here. Because stories are all we have. I love you. C. xo

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