Reddit mentions of Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Try his other books as well. I've enjoyed the 2nd: Homo Deus and recently purchased the 3rd: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

First off, I think a person can develop/maintain a robust spiritual outlook on life, even while being skeptical of unsubstantiated supernatural claims. On the more extreme side (for a secular person), is the author of Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari, who claims to meditate for 2 hours every day, and goes on a meditation retreat for a month or more, which he claims has helped him to achieve the kind of focus he needed to write his ambitious books. On the less extreme side, you have people like Noah Rasheta who tends to spend maybe 5-15 minutes in set-aside meditation a day (from what I can gather) and often practices mindfulness as part of his day-to-day activities.

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What I do now (not as systematically as before, but when I feel like it) to cultivate useful spirituality in myself (mostly for how it can serve me and others, but to a lesser extent for its own sake):

1. Exercise regularly. Running, particularly at low speeds [so maybe we'd call that "jogging"], can be highly meditative.
   
2. At least one time per week I go on long walks with my wife (3-7 miles) where we talk and enjoy the neighborhoods or nature together.
   
3. Read and reflect on ancient or modern "wisdom" literature: meditations of Marcus Aurelius, aesop's fables, the triple path, the tao te ching, brene brown, sam harris, ted talks, etc, etc., etc. I also listen to lots of podcasts on topics of interest.
   
4. Spend time engaging with my children and/or wife. Try to listen to them and see what they're interested in.
   
5. Spend time thinking about or writing about mormon/exmormon issues.
   
6. Listen to transcendent music (lots of classical and old choral stuff, but sometimes newer stuff and crazy stuff, too).
   
   There seems to be a propensity for a checklist mentality in LDS culture, and I've enjoyed not doing the above things in any checklist kind of way. I just do them, but mostly when I feel like it. It's not to say I don't push myself to do some things on schedule or that are difficult (I woke up before 6am this morning to play racket-ball, for instance), but I am less worried that I will fall into the clutches of Satan if I neglect something for a day or even a week. Even if I forget or am too busy to shower for a day or two, I still always end up showering; the same can be said for all these kinds of spiritual activities. I should note that much of my current mindset and activities were derived from watching or being with my wife and seeing how she does spirituality.
   
   Also, I do almost everything barefoot (running, cycling, hiking, walking, racketball, around the house, driving, [but not mowing, because safety first] etc), which is a great way to connect with the world, at least for me. The thermo-tactile feedback as the world progresses through its seasons is really invigorating to experience on one's feet. Warning: if you choose to do this, please know it comes with risks (I broke a toe playing ultimate frisbee, and I've gotten frostbite running too long in the snow once--but the black tips fell off and my toes healed up very nicely) and give your feet time to build up to it (take it slow at first).
   
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   > I would also be interested in peoples theories on why prayer and scripture study can help you even if they are not "true".
   
   They (can) emphasize free-will (encourage pro-activeness), the inherent worth of other humans (one of the pillars of moral conscience), help a person to become more aware of the short and long-term consequences of their day-to-day actions, and give examples of self-deprecating behavior which can help a person swallow their ego when it is necessary or helpful. Reading classic novels and meditating are likely to achieve similar ends.
   
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   Keep us posted on how your spirituality develops!

Where? It's not even available in the US as a Kindle?! https://www.amazon.com/Homo-Deus-Brief-History-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B01BBQ33VE/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=

>So, if we can agree that being bereft of a shared language for discussing human dignity and flourishing is itself detrimental to human dignity and flourishing, then to that extent at least, I have made the case.

But you haven't. You're implicitly claiming that the center is, in fact, empty until and unless someone occupies it; while simultaneously claiming there is always, already a center.

From such a perspective, the statement:

>We can formulate the discrepancy as follows: the more the distribution of goods and status is centralized, the more vehemently we deny the existence of any center.

is reinterpretation of the lack of any such center's justification; or even more accurately, the meaninglessness of justification itself. This appears like Postmodernism 101.

>But the reliance of a political order on hysterical and escalating delusions is an indictment of that order.

According to whom? You're presupposing exactly what you've previously claimed doesn't exist:

>But we don’t have such a shared language, precisely because the effect of the direct relation between state and individual created by the system of rights makes any such shared language impossible: any assertion of shared values or virtues would inevitably privilege one group over others and therefore be the ground for a claim that the former were violating the rights of the latter.

In fact, assuming you agree with bobby’s statement:

>Language transcends the physical; we merely associate physical marks or sounds to "get" a meaning that inheres in nothing but shared conventions of attention.

This “shared language’s” absence is indicative of the dominance of your own perspective. Why would you expect language users to accept “shared conventions of attention” which mark such users as “hysterical” or “delusional?” Especially if these conventions prohibit the most grand resentment and desire.