Now enrolling for J.F. Martel's Reclaiming Art 2E Release Party, 
May 22, at 8 p.m. EDT, 
featuring a special presentation by J.F. entitled, 
"What is 'Idiology'? Art and Politics in the 21st Century."
Scroll to the bottom of the page for more details. 
Address inquiries to [email protected].
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May 13 to June 14, 2025

MG101: How To Live In The Future

Views from the Horizon of Evolution, Technology, and Consciousness

Five weeks of lectures, readings, and group discussions
with paleontologist-futurist Michael Garfield,
Host of Humans On The Loop

Futures discourse offers two major narratives: a better world is coming, or the end is near. ¿Por qué no los dos? After all, we're living through the folding-over, twisting, rupturing, and remix of every familiar dyad — self and other, nature and technology, past and future, art and science, creation and discovery. In an age of artificial minds and Eldritch hyperobjects, it's easy to feel anxious; but there is another way to surf the psychedelic experience wrought by the effects of exponential information technologies... a playful, curious embrace of our metamorphosis anchored in deep time, psychedelic futurism, and the zones where science meets contemplative tradition. It's time to hack the mythic frameworks that no longer seem to cut it and make art with them.

Inspired by the work of scholars like William Irwin Thompson, Timothy Morton, Erik Davis, Richard Doyle, and Federico Campagna — and drawing on over twenty years of research into evolutionary dynamics, complex systems science, integral metatheory, and psychonautic high weirdness — Garfield will take us on a guided off-road romp through the bizarre and wonderful moirés of science, philosophy, and mysticism to help us make new sense of our century's metamorphoses and find stable features we can count on in the strange new worlds to come.

Where maps break down and "reality" gets twisted, we might call this:

• A psychedelic foray into evolutionary creativity and our place in it;
• A metascientific trip through hyperspace;
• A love song to mass hallucinations;
• A primer on "organizational development" for the turned-on;
• Preschool for mystical transhumans; or
• An immersive education in knowledge art at the edge of chaos.

Structured with extensive learning resources from a career of writing, art, and podcasts, Garfield's course will follow the evolutionary model of searching wide and hot, exploring adjacent possibilities, getting pluralistic, and dissolving paradoxes in a higher logical order.

Enter with questions, leave with better questions. Garfield’s course will help us stay awake and curious as what we take for granted falls away and new things blossom in their place.

Format

The course consists of:

• Five "Lecture Hall" sessions, each consisting of a 45-minute lecture and 45 minutes of discussion
• Weekly reading and listening suggestions
• Five “Office Hours” sessions, where we will synthesize, speculate, and sense-make together

As with all Weirdosphere offerings, the course includes a dedicated Course Community where the instructor and students can post reflections, share links, and exchange thoughts between lectures.

Schedule

The course begins Tuesday, May 13, and ends Saturday, June 14. All meetings will take place over Zoom via the Weirdosphere learning platform.

• Lecture Hall sessions will take place on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. PDT / 6 p.m. MDT / 8 p.m. EDT. The meetings are recorded to allow students in more distant time zones to attend asynchronously.
• Office Hours sessions will take place on Saturdays at 11 a.m. PDT / 12 p.m. MDT / 2 p.m. EDT / 8 p.m. CEST. This time slot is chosen to allow students from as many time zones as possible to attend live. Like the lectures, these sessions are recorded.

Recorded sessions will remain available to registered students after the course is over in video and audio format.

Homework

Each week, Michael will assign essays, stories, and other works in view of upcoming discussions — as well as copious extra optional links and rabbit holes. Whenever possible, these will be made available on the course platform. For copyright reasons, students may need to access certain works on their own.

Instructor Bio

Michael Garfield is the author of the forthcoming book How To Live In The Future, an artist, musician, and independent scholar exploring wisdom in the age of magical technologies at Humans On The Loop. His nonlinear resumé links vertebrate paleontology, scientific illustration, public speaking, innovation research, community management, fine art, and stints at The Santa Fe Institute, Mozilla, and The Long Now Foundation. He works as a freelance consultant and welcomes collaborations with anyone who can benefit from working with a weirdo visionary multitool.

Why Take this Course?

Students will get to:

• Attend five lectures investigating agency and wisdom in our age of technological metamodernity.
• Meet Michael and participate directly in five weekly Office Hours discussions with him and fellow students over Zoom.
• Gain permanent access to recordings of the lectures and discussions.
• Post, share, discuss, and exchange direct messages with instructors and students on the Weirdosphere platform.
• Become members of a growing learning community, with a permanent discount on all future Weirdosphere classes by Phil Ford, J.F. Martel, and other thinkers of things strange and astonishing.

Cost

Registration is $200 for New Members of Weirdosphere.

If you are a paid member of Michael’s Substack or Patreon community, you are eligible for a discount. Please use the registration link provided on his socials to get this benefit.

By enrolling in MG101: How To Live In The Future, you will automatically become a member of the Weirdosphere learning community and receive a discount on all future offerings on the platform. Existing Members should enroll from within Weirdosphere to receive this benefit.

If your circumstances are such that paying full price is an obstacle, please write us at [email protected] to arrange a reduced rate.