The Meaning
of Life
Reserve My Seat — $100
Seats are limited to keep the conversation intimate
I've done this 50 times.
I still learn something new every time.
I first ran this conversation in 1997, in a management consulting firm in England, on a Saturday morning with a few colleagues. We went through it for half a day. At the end they said, "That was way too long — but there was something there we've never seen before."
Since then I've run it at Singularity University, at Peter Diamandis's Abundance 360, at Singularity Summits around the world, and most recently as a global online conversation with over 150 people joining from every continent — including folks in Australia and New Zealand who were on at 3am.
This isn't a lecture. I don't have answers. What I have is a set of frameworks — drawn from physics, metaphysics, evolutionary biology, consciousness research, and a lifetime of asking uncomfortable questions — that seem to make the big questions easier to hold, and easier to think about together.
We'll talk about truth, and why we can't agree on it. About what a soul actually is, and whether an AI could have one. About how luck works, and whether you can engineer it. About what growth means at the deepest level of reality. And then we'll go wherever the room takes us.
By the end, you won't have answers. But I promise you'll have better questions — and you'll probably never think about the world quite the same way again.
Join me on July 21st.
— Salim Ismail
Co-Founder, OpenExO · Author, Exponential Organizations
- ✓ Live access to the full session with Salim
- ✓ Post-session resource pack — slides, references & reading list
- ✓ Open Q&A and live discussion throughout
- ✓ Invitation to the follow-up serendipity session (next morning)
- ✓ Connection with a global community of extraordinary minds
We're living through the most consequential moment in human history — and still asking the same questions.
AI is rewriting what intelligence means. Technology is dissolving institutions built over centuries. The pace of change has outrun every framework we were handed. And yet the oldest questions — why are we here, what is real, what should we do with our lives — have never been more urgent or more unanswered.
Science without meaning
We have more data than any civilization in history and still struggle to answer why any of it matters.
Complexity without compass
The frameworks we inherited were built for a slower world. Most of us are improvising our worldview in real time.
Connectivity without depth
We are more connected than ever and yet rarely have conversations that go below the surface of things.
Purpose without structure
Many people sense there is something deeper to understand — but have no structured space to explore it together.
We follow the questions — not the agenda.
The structure below is a spine, not a script. Every session finds its own shape depending on who is in the room.
- 01The Purpose of Life — We begin not with an answer but with the question. What do bacteria, startups, stars, and human consciousness have in common?
- 02Truth & How We Know It — A working framework for navigating scientific truth, personal truth, religious truth, and the kinds that resist justification altogether.
- 03The Human Condition — Soul, subconscious, and conscious layers. Why some people live in flow and others feel completely blocked. An original Salim framework.
- 04Creating Luck — The Salim & John Hagel framework for engineering serendipity. Passion, fear, abundance, scarcity — and how to move between them deliberately.
- 05Metaphysics of Growth — What growth actually looks like at the level of reality itself. Cycles, hierarchies, energy, chaos theory, and dynamic vs. static quality.
- 06Consciousness, AI & the Unknown — Quantum computing, parallel universes, plant sentience, DMT, near-death experiences, reincarnation, and what any of it means for how we live.
- 07Open Dialogue — The final stretch belongs to the room. No agenda — just the questions that matter most to the people present.
Words from those who've been here.
★★★★★
I came in wanting to learn. I left having questions I didn't know how to ask before. That's rarer than any answer.
Lawrence B.
London, UK
★★★★★
Six hours in and my brain was still catching fire. I've been to every kind of conference. Nothing comes close to this format.
Greg M.
United States
★★★★★
I woke up at 3am in New Zealand for this. I would do it again without a second of hesitation.
Diane H.
New Zealand
★★★★★
This isn't spiritual tourism or philosophical posturing. It's the most honest, wide-ranging conversation I've ever been part of.
Tom G.
Australia
This is not a webinar.
It's a live, collective inquiry.
Salim sets the frame
Each topic opens with a short framework or diagram from Salim — a lens for thinking, not a position to defend.
The room responds
Participants from every discipline — science, business, philosophy, art — add their perspectives. The conversation is genuinely shaped by who shows up.
We go where it leads
The agenda is a spine, not a cage. The best moments in every session have been the ones nobody planned for.
July 21, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT
Live on Zoom
Find your local time below. The session runs live only — see the section below on why there's no replay.
No recording. Total openness.
This session is not recorded and no replay is distributed. That's intentional — it creates the psychological safety for everyone to speak honestly, ask anything, and go further than they would if a camera were running.
What we actively encourage is sharing everything you take away. Write about it. Post about it. Talk about it with your team, your family, your community. The thinking in this room belongs to the world — it just needs to be heard live to be at its best.
The questions matter.
Show up for them.
July 21, 2026 · 7:00 PM EDT · Live on Zoom
Seats are limited to keep the conversation real.
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A few things people ask.
Do I need a background in philosophy or science?
Not at all. The session works precisely because people arrive from completely different disciplines — scientists, founders, artists, parents, monks. What you need is genuine curiosity and a willingness to sit with hard questions.
Why is there no recording?
Because the best conversations happen when nobody's performing for a camera. No recording means people speak freely, ask the questions they'd normally keep to themselves, and go further than they otherwise would. You need to be there live.
Can I share what I learn?
Absolutely — we actively encourage it. Share the ideas, the frameworks, the questions that land hardest. Write about your experience, post about it, talk about it. The thinking belongs to the world.
How long does the session run?
This is a long-form conversation. Come prepared to go deep — there will be breaks along the way. Previous attendees consistently report that time disappears once the conversation gets going.
What platform is used?
The session runs on Zoom. You'll receive full joining instructions immediately after registration. A stable internet connection and headphones are all you need.
What is OpenExO?
OpenExO is a global community of 42,000 consultants, entrepreneurs, and technologists built around exponential thinking — helping individuals, companies, and institutions navigate accelerating change. This conversation is part of that broader mission.