PT399 Bennet Zelner, Ph.D. & Giles Hayward Vital Psychedelic Conversations
In this episode, David hosts another Vital Psychedelic Conversation, this time with Bennet Zelner, Ph.D.: Vital instructor who teaches economics at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business; and Giles Hayward: Vital student and Co-Founder of Woven Science (a company backing and building psychedelic and wellness tech companies) and El Puente, which focuses on Indigenous biocultural preservation.
Zelner believes that the traditional capitalist system we\u2019ve grown accustomed to is an extractive and predatory one directly in opposition to a natural system we should be striving to emulate \u2013 one that circulates resources and exits largely in equilibrium with its different parts. His concept of the Pollination Approach (or regenerative economics) is about developing economic structures that are capable of balance: where communities are built to directly benefit each other and where businesses are structured to share resources and capital to all involved. In a hyper-individualistic system where loneliness and never feeling good enough are key drivers of depression, anxiety, and trauma, how could we not benefit from feeling more connected to each other, our communities, and the businesses that exist within them?\xa0
They talk about different ways the pollination approach could be applied; how psychedelics disrupt these broken systems; how we can make these treatments affordable; and why we should be focusing on the delivery and integration of substances rather than creating new ones. And since Hayward is about to graduate from Vital\u2019s inaugural run, he shares his feelings on the program and how it fell into this concept of regenerative economics.\xa0
The application deadline for this year\u2019s Vital has been extended to March 26, but that will be the last extension. So if you\u2019re interested, now is the time to apply!
www.psychedelicstoday.com