Scripts of Desire

About this episode:

 What if the universe isn't just a collection of matter, but a story being written? But not just any story, a story that’s fundamentally driven by the evolution of desire itself?

In this dialogue, Dr. Marc Gafni and Dr. Zak Stein explore how scripts of desire are a fundamental structure of reality. They reveal how these scripts are visible everywhere—from the devotion in sacred texts like the Song of Songs to the very laws of chemistry and biological evolution.

They argue that every entity in the cosmos, from an atom to a human being, is following an innate script of desire, seeking deeper contact and greater wholeness. The dialogue concludes with reflections on attachment theory and identity formation, emphasizing how important it is to clarify one's own unique script.

Note on Source Material and Citation:

Parts of the material covered in this podcast is drawn from Marc Gafni’s Codes of Desire: On the Nature of Reality: The Answer to Who, Where, and What and David J. Temple’s First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come.

If you deploy any material from this episode, please cite directly using the following reference:

Temple, David J., Conversations with David J. Temple, World Philosophy and Religion Press, January 2026, Episode: “Scripts of Desire”

About the Authorial Voice of David J. Temple:

David J. Temple is a pseudonym created for enabling ongoing collaborative authorship between Dr. Marc Gafni, Dr. Zak Stein and Ken Wilber at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion, a leading international think tank whose mission is to address existential risk by articulating a shared universal Story of Value for global intimacy and global coordination. The Center focuses its work on a world philosophy, Cosmo-Erotic Humanism, as the ground for a global vision of value, economics, politics, and spiritual coherence.

Get the book: "First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come" - https://www.amazon.com/First-Principles-Values-Propositions-CosmoErotic-ebook/dp/B0CWYDGFZY

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