.png)
Beyond the Loss: Life and Identity After a Child Dies
Over time, the conversations we choose to have begin to reflect what matters most.
If you’ve been part of this podcast, you’ve heard me speak about human development, systems thinking, and the ways we make meaning of our lives and work. That work continues—and remains at the core of my coaching and professional practice.
What has changed is the space where I am choosing to have a different kind of conversation.
After the death of my son, Michael, I felt called to create a more personal place—one that speaks directly to the experience of loss, and to the questions that emerge when life no longer looks the way it once did.
That space is now Beyond the Loss.
This podcast is for parents who have lost a child, and for those who support them. It is not about fixing grief or finding closure, but about understanding how we continue to live, to make meaning, and to become—after loss.
If you are looking for my current podcast,
you will now find me there.
I invite you to join me on Beyond the Loss.
You are welcome.
Beyond the Loss: Life and Identity After a Child Dies
Episode 244: Spirituality and Evolution with Dr. Schmookler
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Being the intriguing guest that he is, we have invited Dr. Andrew Bard Schmookler back on the podcast for a fourth time! This time, to talk about spirituality as it relates to evolution. Dr. Schmookler claims that it is a matter of fact that humans have spiritual experiences and that our spirituality is an evolutionary attribute. In this episode, we delve into what it means to be life-serving and how our spiritual downloads are interpreted through the lens of our culture and psychological structure, thus don’t always lend to wholeness. This leads to the convergence of brokenness that Dr. Schmookler is tracing in America and the ironic disorder of civilization. Tune in to hear our guest’s thought-provoking worldviews and his predictions for the plight of human civilization.
What you’ll learn about in this episode:
- Dr. Schmookler defines the term ‘spiritual dimension’ and shares his worldview.
- Spirituality in relation to human evolution.
- How people’s spiritual experiences align with their cultures or belief systems.
- Dr. Schmookler’s own spiritual experiences and how they have informed his life.
- An overview of evolution and what it means to be life-serving.
- Dr. Schmookler challenges the secular idea that values are simply matters of opinion.
- The impact of broken people, rather than spiritual ideology, on indigenous cultures.
- The damage of civilization and its ironic role in disorder.
- How we have internalized moralities that are, in fact, hostile to human nature.
- The ongoing battle between forces of wholeness and brokenness and why Dr. Schmookler believes “the spirit of the gangster prevails.”
- Dr. Schmooker points to the patterns of brokenness in America and how our spiritual downloads are interpreted through the lens of our culture and psychological structure.
- Dr. Schmooker’s prediction for the fate of human civilization and what it will take for humanity to survive.
Transcript: Here
Additional Resources:
Website: abetterhumanstory.org
Twitter: @andyschmookler
‘The Fate of Human Civilization’
Links Mentioned:
Sharon Spano:
Website: sharonspano.com
Facebook: facebook.com/SharonSpanoPHD
Instagram: instagram.com/drsharonspano/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sharonspano/
Book: thetimemoneybook.com
Contact: sharon@sharonspano.com
Twitter: twitter.com/SharonSpano
The Other Side of Potential Podcast: sharonspano.com/podcast/