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In this episode, I discuss maintaining professionalism in contracting environments, emphasizing integrity and the need to respect boundaries in potential romantic situations. I analyze "The Great Gatsby," critiquing its portrayal of wealth and moral complexities. The conversation touches on the importance of 'faith' versus 'good works,' empathy towards picky eaters, and supporting individuals in emotional transitions.

I address family dynamics and the caution needed when confronting past issues, highlighting the role of therapy. Finally, I explore the irony of religious biases and the implications of universal basic income on individual freedom versus government control, encouraging listeners to reflect on their values and moral frameworks.

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Transcript
00:00Well, alrighty-righty, hope you're doing well, Stephen Molyneux from Free Domain and
00:06questions from freedomain.locals.com.
00:09First off, the senior business partner and I are currently hiring contractors for our acquisition startup
00:14and scheduled an interview with a promising candidate next week.
00:18He gave me a heads up that it is common for female contractors to seek romantic relationships with clients.
00:23Caution me to expect to face romantic interest from all of them
00:27and advise me to either not get romantically involved or
00:31wait until three months after concluding their contract before agreeing to a personal relationship.
00:35Any tips for addressing advances from a new contractor as the hiring client
00:40when both parties are currently single and aiming to found a family on a bedrock of virtue?
00:45Well, do you want to date these women?
00:49Right? Do you want to date these women?
00:52So, a woman of integrity will not ask you to violate any foundational professional ethics
00:58in pursuit of a relationship, right?
01:00Because you want to have a woman with integrity and virtue and so on,
01:03so she's not going to put you in an awkward position, right?
01:06So, if there's some interest in each other,
01:10then you have to wait until the contract is concluded
01:14and then you can be in contact with each other.
01:16But any woman who kind of pursues you in contradiction to basic professional ethics
01:22and best practices with regards to this stuff,
01:24any woman who pursues you in this way or is too open and too forward against professional ethics
01:31will make a terrible wife and you should...
01:37In terms of avoiding it, I'm very much a broken record, right?
01:41I mean, if someone wants to do something with me and I don't want to do it with them,
01:45I'm just like, oh, I'm not available, oh, I can't, I'm not busy.
01:48And, you know, most reasonable people who aren't funny boiler-stalkers will get the hint.
01:53So, you know, just be unavailable and so on.
01:58All right, Steph, do you have any philosophical thoughts or analysis on the book The Great Gatsby?
02:04Well, I mean, there's a reason why it's taught in schools,
02:09or I don't know if it still is, but it was for many, many years.
02:11I remember reading it when I was in grade 9 or 10 or something like that.
02:16And it's very dense, it's very abstract.
02:19It is very sort of anti-Western, it's very anti-wealth and so on.
02:24And it doesn't differentiate between wealth that is acquired through trade
02:29and wealth that is acquired through criminality.
02:32And that, to me, is far from ideal.
02:37So, you know, and there's racial elements that are pretty obvious and clear.
02:43So, it's put forward, so the way that propagandistic art generally works is
02:53you don't make good arguments, you simply attach perspectives you don't like
03:00to unpleasant or unappealing characters.
03:04And then you attach the perspectives that you do like to attractive and appealing characters.
03:12It's about as, you know, there's this old Simpsons clip where this guy is at a boat show,
03:20a bunch of guys at a boat show, and there's a very pretty girl who is showing off the boat.
03:25And a man comes up and he says, do you come with the boat? And she just giggles.
03:30And then the next man comes up and says, do you come with the boat? And she giggles.
03:33It's just a repetitive thing, right?
03:35So, I mean, I think in general, obviously in general, we understand that people,
03:43that she doesn't come with the boat, right?
03:45We understand that she does not, does not come with the boat, right?
03:50And we also understand, obviously, that it's a very cheap marketing technique
03:57to have a pretty girl and a boat, right?
04:01So, it's like for beer, for beer commercials, right?
04:06It's all kind of ridiculous, right?
04:08Because they have all of these people with absolutely fantastic physiques trying to sell beer.
04:14Now, beer may have some herpy qualities, it may have some dizzy qualities,
04:19but one quality it does not have is providing regular beer consumers with a great physique.
04:26It does not. It, you know, makes beer guts and cellulite and all kinds of horrible, carby, sugary, alcoholy stuff.
04:34So, what The Great Gatsby is all about is you have unappealing characters
04:43and they have certain perspectives that don't really have anything to do with arguments or personality.
04:51So, you just make the least pleasant or the most unpleasant personality say the thing that you don't like,
04:59and then you have the most appealing personality say the things that you do like.
05:04We've seen this a million times, that the person who's restless and vainglorious
05:10and overly painted and overly made up and has ridiculous clothing and is just, has negative characteristics,
05:17they spout off stuff that the writer doesn't like,
05:21and then the warm-hearted, pleasant characters spout off the stuff the writer does like.
05:25It's not an argument at all, it's just a form of slander.
05:29It's a form of defamation against an argument to have an ugly person spout it in a novel.
05:35So, it is fairly typical stuff.
05:37That hadn't been said, I did find, many years ago.
05:40And so, we're born ceaselessly back against the tide,
05:44like this sort of rowboat thing going back, born ceaselessly back into the past.
05:48Well, that is a very powerful line, and at some point I thought this was sort of psychological,
05:55you know, in that it's sort of about your own life and your own history.
06:03Let me just get, I'm not doing the quote justice because it is really, really a lovely line.
06:10A really lovely line.
06:12So, the last line, yes, here we go.
06:16Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.
06:22It eluded us then, but that's no matter.
06:24Tomorrow we will run fast to stretch out our arms farther.
06:27And then one fine morning, so we beat on, boats against the current,
06:32born back ceaselessly into the past.
06:34So, this is not just about personal psychology, this is not just about the people.
06:40In the book, this is about society as a whole.
06:43This is about society as a whole.
06:46So, if you have a highly revered prophet or holy man,
06:51people will try to wedge their statements or have the holy man's statements reinforce what they want.
06:58So, then it gets the additional credibility of being said by the holy man.
07:02And for arguments that they dislike, usually for emotional reasons or financial reasons or political reasons,
07:10arguments that they dislike, they will put into the devil character or the negative character or something like that.
07:19And so, it's not arguments, but holiness that resolves the dispute.
07:25It's not sort of reason and evidence and facts and rhetoric, it is the holiness.
07:30And so, you make characters attractive and you put your perspective into the mouths of those characters and people believe it.
07:36Why? Because the characters are attractive, right?
07:40And it is rare to have a good speech from a bad character, right?
07:47There was a line, I think, in Air Force One with Gary Oldman talking to the president,
07:52and he says, you go to war for 10 cents a gallon for the price of gasoline and yet you call me the terrorist, right?
07:59So, it is usually to, and I've really tried to do this in my own novels when I write evil characters or malevolent characters and so on,
08:11I really try to give them good arguments and perspectives that you can empathize with.
08:15Because otherwise, you're just cheating, right?
08:17Otherwise, you're just cheating.
08:20So, when it comes to accepting arguments, we have these contradictions, right?
08:26So, on the one side, we want to reproduce, which means we're drawn to attractive people.
08:32And so, an artist who puts a particular perspective into the dialogue of an attractive person is at war with our reason, right?
08:42He's using our lust, our genes, our desire to reproduce and copy-paste our DNA.
08:51And so, we nod along with the character, with the bad ideas, but the great face and figure because of genetics.
09:00And this is the general rule of modern art, that ugly people have ugly ideas and beautiful people have beautiful ideas.
09:11And this is a war of lust and biological aesthetics against reason and evidence.
09:20Because ugly people can have wonderful ideas and beautiful people can have absolutely appalling, wretched and corrupt ideas.
09:28But you put bad ideas or your own preferred ideas into the mouths of beautiful people so that you trigger people's desire to reproduce and thus nod along.
09:36This is the old thing about why are women into more than men, into numerology and astrology and all other kinds of woo-woo nonsense.
09:46Because men want to sleep with them and therefore don't want to contradict them, right?
09:49So, bad ideas use beauty to reproduce.
09:53And this is the history of our species.
09:56And so, in the line from the great Gatsby where he said, born ceaselessly back into the past, that is the past of how we made decisions,
10:06which was through aesthetics and lust rather than reason and philosophy.
10:11Somebody says, at the risk of improperly using philosophical tools for a theological conversation,
10:17can you provide some insight as to why there's an emphasis on by faith alone versus good works as a prerequisite for virtue?
10:25As I understand it, we can only know what someone believes by observing what they do.
10:29And so, one has no valid claim to virtue unless they have proof of behaving virtuously,
10:34earning that credibility and inspiring love in others, themselves likewise virtuous.
10:40Bonus points if you can incorporate a fitness analogy. Ah yes, the bonus points, we do love them.
10:47So, faith alone versus good works.
10:51This is a distinction in men theological systems, right?
10:58And to me, it is a very interesting set of ideas to unpack.
11:06And I think it has more to do with income than anything else.
11:09So, can you be saved by faith, right? Or do you have good works?
11:17Now, because I'm hungry for the points, in the fitness analogy, then this would be something like,
11:25if you believe fervently that you are fit, does that make you fit and healthy?
11:32Or do you have to practice fit and healthy habits in order to be, right?
11:38So, if I think, if I picture myself, you know, with V-shaped wiper back, deltoids, triceps, biceps and abs, right?
11:50If I really visualize that and I really have faith in that, does it change my body?
11:54Well, no, right? But on the other hand, how can I achieve those things if I do not visualize them ahead of time?
12:03In other words, is faith necessary but not sufficient?
12:11Now, if a person, Bob, let's call him Bob, if Bob can do good without faith in God, right?
12:22If Bob can do good, can be good, can be virtuous without faith in God,
12:28then the goal of virtue, which is a societal good, is achievable without faith.
12:36And this is the Dawkins argument, the Dennett argument, the Harris argument, the Hitchens argument,
12:44that we can be a perfectly good without God.
12:48So, if you can be good, which is perceived of as a value and as a social good,
12:53can you respect property rights without the biblical injunction, thou shalt not steal?
12:59Well, UPB says that yes, you can and you should.
13:02It's universally preferable behavior to respect property rights because the opposite is impossible,
13:07both practically and because it results in insurmountable contradictions to say thou shalt steal.
13:12So, faith or good works?
13:17Now, I think for most religious people the ideal would be faith that leads to good works.
13:24Faith that leads to good works.
13:25And they would also say that good works are not good without faith
13:31because belief in God is belief in morality,
13:35and you cannot be good without a belief in God because God is the ultimate good.
13:40God is the fountainhead of the source from which virtue springs.
13:43So, it would be like saying you can eat well and exercise well
13:49without believing in any nutritional or exercise best practices.
13:57You couldn't.
13:59You would just randomly do things and then you'd injure yourself and then you'd get fat
14:02and then your muscles would get soft and then you'd hurt yourself again.
14:05It would just be kind of random, right?
14:07Like you see some people if they're trying to deal with some health issue
14:10that keeps nagging away at them and bothering them,
14:13they just try a whole bunch of random different things and, you know,
14:16it's really kind of catch as a catch can.
14:19So, you do have to have principles in order to achieve the good.
14:24Another analogy would be, since maybe we'll get more points this way, is science.
14:29Can you achieve scientific certainty without adhering to the scientific method?
14:37And I'm going to talk to you about certainty as a whole, scientific certainty.
14:40I know that sounds almost tautological, but it's important.
14:42I mean, animals are certain of gravity.
14:44Cats are. That's why they twist themselves around,
14:46but they don't have science to establish or prove it or to analyze it in an abstract fashion.
14:53So, can you achieve mathematical truth or mathematical validity
14:59without using principles of mathematics?
15:01Can you achieve scientific certainty without using the scientific method?
15:04Can you achieve the good without a belief in principles?
15:09And the answer generally would be no,
15:11because even if you do happen to land on some scientific truth
15:15without using the scientific method, it's not reproducible.
15:18It's sort of just by accident.
15:20It's like the wind carving the phrase E equals MC squared into a sand dune.
15:24That's not scientific knowledge.
15:27That's just a sort of coincidence, right?
15:29Someone might hit upon a diet that really works for them,
15:32but they don't know why, and they can't reproduce it for others.
15:35So, faith is a belief in the virtue and validity and principles of goodness.
15:43And can you have consistently good actions?
15:46Because in order for something to be virtuous, it has to be consistent, right?
15:51In order for something to be the good, it has to be consistent.
15:56I mean, even a blindfolded guy might once in his lifetime hit a hole in one
16:00on a golf course, but he couldn't reproduce it.
16:03And because he couldn't reproduce it, he's not a good golf player.
16:06He's just lucky.
16:07Like my daughter, when we would occasionally play pool,
16:09she just would randomly whack things or roll the ball,
16:11hoping for a cool sink shot.
16:13It drove me a little crazy because, like I said to her,
16:15you're not good if it just randomly goes in.
16:17And she's like, yeah, but it's fun.
16:19And it's like, okay, well, you have me.
16:20If the purpose is fun, that's one thing.
16:22If the purpose is to be a good pool player, that's a different matter.
16:26And she was right. It was fun.
16:28Once I gave up that standard.
16:30So somebody has the virtue of honesty if they are consistently honest,
16:35not if they tell one truth a year, right?
16:38They're not like a liar, liar, liar, honest liar, liar, liar, right?
16:42I mean, it has to be consistent.
16:45So can you achieve consistent virtue without the principles?
16:51Now, the principles in religion are conformity to the will and wisdom of God,
16:56which is why you don't just consult the Bible and look up the Ten Commandments.
17:00What you do, of course, is you pray for guidance and God guides you,
17:06and that's the north star by which you navigate your path to virtue
17:09and heaven and paradise and so on, right?
17:12So you can't just look up the answers because it is the continual guidance
17:16of what God would do, what Jesus would do, that gives you your consistent virtue.
17:22In other words, you have to deeply, deeply understand the scientific method
17:26and how to apply it, even to new situations or novel situations.
17:30You can't just follow, you know, five steps to science
17:35because there's going to be things that deviate
17:37and you won't necessarily be able to apply it to new things and so on, right?
17:41So if it's good works, then you can just look up the answer.
17:44If it is faith, then the good works manifest.
17:48The good works manifest from your consistent relationship
17:52with the all-knowing, all-virtuous God, right?
17:57So that is, I think, very important.
18:03So a Christian, I don't want to obviously speak for the faith,
18:07but my understanding would be that a Christian would say
18:09that a man is consistently virtuous to the degree to which he manifests
18:14the will of God that he continually consults through prayer,
18:18not because he's following a recipe, right?
18:23I mean, that's one more analogy.
18:25A cook, is someone a good cook because they can follow a recipe
18:30with no particular understanding of what they're doing?
18:33Well, no.
18:34A good cook is someone who really understands, you know, spices and temperatures
18:38and cooking and consistency and flavors and, you know, can mix and match
18:42and really has tried everything under the sun and moon.
18:45Because even somebody who's not a good cook can cook a fairly complicated meal
18:51just by following the instructions.
18:53So you're a good cook if you understand the principles of cooking
18:57rather than simply following a recipe.
19:00So to be a virtuous person means you understand the principles of virtue,
19:04you don't just do good works, and you can't be considered virtuous
19:09if you just do good works.
19:12Because there has to be a deep understanding of the principles behind it,
19:14which you can only achieve in the theological sense from a deep communion with God.
19:19So I hope that helps.
19:21All right.
19:22Is the label picky eater neglectful in the sense that the parent does not wish to
19:27listen and empathize with the child's needs and preferences,
19:29or is there really such a thing as a picky eater in general
19:33when it comes to a parent-child relationship?
19:35Well, I don't like a picky eater because it's like a fussy baby.
19:39Babies aren't fussy.
19:41Babies are emotional.
19:42Babies are passionate.
19:43Babies are communicating.
19:44But fussy is a diminishment of what is going on emotionally for the baby, right?
19:53If your wife is really angry at you for some, you know, legitimate reason,
19:58you did something, you know, kind of wrong, thoughtless, or bad, or mean,
20:01or whatever, right?
20:02If your wife is really upset with you for a legitimate reason,
20:06and you say to your wife, oh, hey, you're just being fussy.
20:10You're just being fussy.
20:11You're just being whiny.
20:13You're just being overly picky.
20:15Well, your wife would be upset, and frustrated, and annoyed,
20:18and all these kinds of things, and it would be pretty hard to argue with that.
20:22So fussy, and picky, and all of that, whiny, and so on,
20:27these are just ways of diminishing the validity and value of a child's emotions.
20:33Now, of course, there are children who are, you know,
20:36maybe they have particular constellations of taste buds,
20:39or maybe they have allergies, or maybe they have digestive issues,
20:45or maybe they're lactose intolerant.
20:47But those are genuine things.
20:49They're not just being picky eaters.
20:51They are responding to the physiological cues that they have.
20:54Now, the other thing, of course, that happens is if a child is bullied,
20:58or aggressed against, or diminished, or insulted,
21:02then what happens is the child will resist in passive-aggressive ways.
21:09So I remember when I was a student, every now and then,
21:14if a class was bad, and they're boring, or the teacher was being annoying,
21:19people would cough, and then everyone would start coughing at once.
21:23And sometimes the coughs would last for a couple of minutes.
21:27Now, this was a rebellion, because the teacher can't get mad at everyone for coughing,
21:32because every individual can say, well, I really did have to cough,
21:35but you can't all have had to cough at the same time.
21:37But they would look petty that way, right?
21:39So it would start, it would last, and it would last just long enough
21:42for the teacher to get upset, but not get really mad.
21:45And so you'll get these resistances.
21:47So if a child is over-controlled, then the child will push back by exercising control.
21:54Now, what control can the child exercise if the child feels pushed around and bullied?
21:58What control can the child exercise?
22:00Well, the child can exercise control not over his environment,
22:05he's got to stay home, not over whether he goes to school,
22:08not when he goes to bed necessarily,
22:10but the child can exercise control over what he puts in his mouth.
22:13So it often is a sort of passive rebellion against over-control.
22:19Somebody says, do you think it would be beneficial for a listener of Free Domain
22:22to upload your videos to a YouTube channel, all the classics as well as the new shows?
22:26I mean, if you want to give it a shot, you can certainly try.
22:29I think that they might take you down, but I certainly have no objection to it.
22:33All right, I managed to make a question here,
22:36beg for more advice from the Love Master after a recent development.
22:39Yeah, so this is a couple of shows back.
22:41I, 31, this is a guy who's got a matchmaker who might be interested in him.
22:47I, 31, attended a social dance organized by my friends with a new young lady,
22:5127, from my Catholic group.
22:53While dancing and talking together for a while, we seemed to have good chemistry.
22:58As the night progressed, I eventually asked her out,
23:00and she informed me she had a long-term relationship that ended a few weeks ago.
23:03However, she said she really enjoyed the night
23:05and would love to continue getting to know one another at events like these.
23:08Any tips for delicately nurturing relationship potential with someone
23:11who has implied mutual attraction but is still processing a breakup?
23:15I don't want to seem too eager, Beaver,
23:18because I've listened to enough of your shows on the tripwires
23:20that come with pursuing newly single women,
23:22but I won't wait for her if another romantic prospect comes along in the meantime.
23:27Well, if you want to be a little bit of a player,
23:30then you would ask her lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots
23:35of questions about her relationship.
23:38What went right? What went wrong?
23:41What red flags she missed? Why it went on so long?
23:44If it was bad, why it ended badly?
23:46And also, what did her parents think of the guy?
23:51What did her friends think of the guy?
23:53So you can map out her entire social life and standing
23:58with regards to this relationship.
24:03Now, that will help her process it, which maybe will accelerate.
24:07Your relationship's over when there's nothing more you can learn from it.
24:11And the reason why relationships tend to go on and on after the breakup
24:15in people's minds is because they haven't learned what they need to learn
24:19from the relationship.
24:21So relationships end, really end, not just sort of we've broken up,
24:25but they end in terms of your mind when there's nothing else to learn
24:28from the relationship.
24:31So if you, with regards to, I don't know, my mother or whatever,
24:36like I don't really think about my mother anymore,
24:38I can go a week or two without thinking about her,
24:41because there's nothing else I need to learn about the relationship.
24:44There's no landmines that are screwing me up in the future.
24:47There's not interfering with my current relationship.
24:49So there's nothing else I need to know.
24:52It just becomes automatic, right?
24:54Like you have to really concentrate when you're learning a new skill,
24:57a piano or I guess when you're walking on it.
24:59You have to really work hard when you're learning a new skill.
25:03But after you've learned it well, it just becomes automatic.
25:07So if you help her get to the true lessons, right,
25:11people have a tough time letting go of relationships
25:13because deep down they understand that they're still in danger
25:16because they haven't learned all of the real foundational lessons
25:19of those relationships in order to avoid repetition in the future.
25:22So you can't commit to someone new
25:24if you don't know why you committed to someone wrong.
25:26You can't love the right person
25:27if you don't know why you, quote, fell in love with the wrong person.
25:30So just talk to her about a relationship.
25:32All right, also another question.
25:35If you've distanced yourself from someone toxic
25:38but still find the thought of them painful,
25:40isn't that a sign you haven't processed it properly?
25:42My therapist once said that certain pain points never really go away
25:45and you just have to learn to live with that feeling.
25:48But I wanted to see what you think, so I think I just answered that.
25:51Can you speak more about your approach to homeschooling Izzy?
25:53Did you have certain subject you insisted upon teaching
25:56even if she wasn't very interested?
25:58Did you always have her enrolled in online classes in some form
26:00or was there something she naturally grew into when she got older?
26:03Yeah, so there's certain things that she does sort of have to work on and complete
26:06and she's very good at doing those things.
26:09I would say that most of her education has occurred in conversation,
26:14oddly enough, or maybe not oddly enough, often when we're driving somewhere.
26:17So I would say that it is in conversation
26:21where you just talk about things that kids learn the most
26:24and certainly the most useful stuff as a whole.
26:27Somebody says, I've got a few questions related to defooing.
26:31You've mentioned in the past how you've brought forth issues,
26:34grievances, and moral problems with your family
26:36with the genuine goal of having those problems confronted,
26:39while I assume not expecting much.
26:41I'm curious as to if you had worries or problems after the fact,
26:46legal issues, harassment, did they show up to your work,
26:49show up to your home, contact the police, etc.
26:52If so, how did you deal with these profobial thorns in your side?
26:56I would say not in particular.
26:59Yeah, not in particular.
27:02Because I gave everyone every conceivable opportunity to say and do the right thing,
27:09they really didn't have much of a leg to stand on.
27:12If you've given somebody every conceivable opportunity to do the right thing
27:16and they don't, they tend to avoid you
27:19because they're really avoiding their own conscience.
27:22If that is short-circuited, then there's a sense of incompleteness
27:25that can bring kind of stalky stuff.
27:27Somebody goes on to say,
27:29I'm going to be confronting family members on similar topics,
27:31looking for some restitution and resolution to how I was parented,
27:35the abuse I faced from them directly,
27:37and how the neglect and abuse led me to me being sexually abused
27:41repeatedly from the age of 4 or 5 to 12.
27:44I'm so sorry, I just like, heart-breaking, absolutely heart-breaking.
27:47I'm so, so sorry.
27:48The extreme bullying I received in school,
27:50how my father was my original bully, amongst others,
27:53all with the goal of giving myself a future free of trashy and dysfunctional people,
27:56especially for when I start my own family.
27:58I'm gravely afraid of my family, an extended family,
28:01trying to make my life a living hell for standing up for myself
28:04and potentially separating from people I know aren't good people at best
28:07and outright abusive at worst.
28:10I'm worried they may show up at my workplace claiming I'm crazy,
28:13hand off my meds, I don't take any medication, I've never been prescribed any,
28:17spreading lies and so on.
28:20So, I've always sort of said, and I don't have any expertise in this area,
28:26so you really do have to engage with a good therapist
28:29who's gone through this kind of stuff and really work with the therapist on this.
28:33But in general, I've always said,
28:36confront your parents honestly and openly if it is safe for you to do so.
28:41I don't want anybody walking into a lion's den
28:43with ketchup all over their shoulders, right?
28:46So, if your family is this volatile or this aggressive,
28:51I would consult with a therapist and try to figure out a way to not confront
28:55because really, I mean, is there really any restitution that's possible
28:59for all that you suffered, especially the sexual abuse,
29:02which is, I mean, just absolutely so sad and I'm so, so sorry.
29:06Is there really any restitution that's possible?
29:08It's hard to imagine.
29:09So, certainly don't do anything to put yourself in risk.
29:12I know that this is like one of these things that's just kind of obvious to say,
29:14but it bears repeating.
29:15Don't put yourself at risk.
29:18If your family is this volatile and aggressive,
29:21then maybe confrontation might not be the best thing
29:24because the purpose is to get closure.
29:27And given all that's happened, it sounds so appalling
29:30that maybe closure can come simply through talking with a therapist about it
29:33rather than talking to people directly.
29:34It's possible, right?
29:35All right.
29:38Let's do one more.
29:39All right.
29:40What are your thoughts on the irony of religious and group preferences
29:43ignoring the immorality and misery all around them
29:45and at the same time choosing to accept that in order to be successful
29:48it's necessary to ignore the misery?
29:50This is one of the most unfortunate double standards many people have to face.
29:53Often the religions, sorry, often the religious
29:56piled on people who faced misfortune socially and verbally
30:00with additional disrespect and insults
30:02instead of just choosing to ignore it.
30:04It's like the crime and punishment double standard.
30:06It's definitely a thing, but ironically it has a big piece of the answer
30:10to ignore the misery.
30:11Well, it's tough.
30:13One of the issues that I had with organized religion in the past
30:16was how many children were mistreated right under the noses
30:21of very religious people in institutions.
30:24I've talked about this before, and so I won't go into it a great deal.
30:29But one of the ways that some, this is not foundational to religion,
30:33but certainly some religious people will take this approach.
30:36One of the things that religion can do for people
30:41is they can say I'm not going to fight evil
30:46because evil is a punishment for the corrupt
30:50or evil is a test of character that I should not interfere with.
30:55If you're a coach and you're coaching somebody,
30:58you don't go and do the sport for them.
31:01You give them encouragement from the sidelines,
31:03but you don't go and do the sport for them.
31:05If somebody's trying to bench press 300 pounds,
31:07and that's their goal, when they're ready to do it,
31:10you don't help them lift 50 of those 300 pounds
31:15and they haven't done it themselves.
31:17So it's a way of avoiding the responsibility to stand up
31:23for those suffering under the slings and arrows of outrageous corruption
31:28and say, well, it'll build character.
31:30It's their job to face down their own devils
31:33and the people are being attacked as punishment for some immorality.
31:38So it is tough.
31:40And I'm not saying many or most,
31:42but certainly some religious people do take that approach
31:45and it does not, it does not help.
31:48What are your thoughts on universal basic income
31:51as a potential tool of government overreach,
31:53especially when tied to systems like WorldCoin and its biometric orb?
31:57To me, it feels like another push towards nightmarish centralized control.
32:00Yeah, yeah, for sure.
32:02UBI, it's just vote buying.
32:04That's all it is.
32:05It's just vote buying.
32:06It's just vote buying.
32:09And, you know, pour your energies into explaining Bitcoin to people
32:13and I think that's the best you can do.
32:15I met a whole group of people tonight and spent an hour
32:17talking to them about Bitcoin.
32:19Do you have any struggles when writing the inner dialogue of dumb characters?
32:23It's obvious that it's easy for you to write both good and evil people,
32:26but they're always smart and witty,
32:28as that's the kind of people you've been exposed to a lot throughout your life.
32:31Well, the problem is that dumb characters don't have internal dialogues or monologues.
32:37They just act.
32:38They have a feeling and they just act.
32:40And then they will come up with some hamster justification after the fact.
32:44So I'm interested in more erudite and intelligent characters' inner lives
32:48because they have an inner life.
32:50Like you'd be, I think, desperately shocked at how little inner life
32:54a lot of people have.
32:55I mean, I think a third of people don't even have an inner dialogue or monologue.
32:58They don't hear their own thoughts.
32:59They don't debate with themselves.
33:00They don't argue with themselves.
33:02So I certainly have written less intelligent characters.
33:05Farmer Jigger comes to mind.
33:07But Farmer Jigger has no internal life.
33:10He simply acts out.
33:11So there's nothing.
33:13It's like saying, you know, what is inside a solid clay figurine?
33:20Well, clay.
33:21There's nothing inside.
33:23There's no inside to it.
33:24You could say what's inside a hollow figurine?
33:27Well, air, right?
33:29What's inside a robot?
33:30Machinery.
33:31What's inside a computer?
33:32Chips and so on, right?
33:33There's something inside.
33:34But people without an inner dialogue or monologue,
33:37they have no sense of, they have no observing ego.
33:40They can't compare proposed actions to ideal standards,
33:42whether that's through choice or corruption or just lack of intelligence.
33:46They just act out.
33:48They just act out.
33:51And so there's nothing really to write about.
33:54All you can do is show how they act.
33:57You can't actually get inside their minds because it's just a chaos of impulses
34:02and vague justifications and lusts and aggressions and so on.
34:06So there really isn't much to write.
34:09Somebody replied, said,
34:10reading through Just Poor gave me a sense that Steph could write a dumb
34:13character's actions.
34:14But it is a good point.
34:15How often is the point of view an interiority from a dumb character's
34:19perspective?
34:20Although, you know, it's a very interesting thought.
34:23Maybe I'll give it a shot.
34:25Listen, and I was not raised around all of these smart and witty people.
34:29I mean, I grew up in a, you know, to a fairly significant degree,
34:33single mother welfare slums.
34:35So I was surrounded by people who weren't smart for sure.
34:37So, yeah, maybe I'll take on a challenge in a future novel.
34:41I really do appreciate that.
34:42All right.
34:43Well, thanks, everyone, for these great questions and comments.
34:45I really, really do appreciate that.
34:46Freedomain.com slash donate to help out.
34:49If you subscribe at freedomain.locals.com or subscribestar.com
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34:57and bonuses and benefits that you get.
34:59All right.
35:00Lots of love, everyone.
35:01Take care.
35:02Bye.