• 14 hours ago
FLASH Freedomain Live Chat 6 February 2025

In this episode, Stefan discusses hedonism in parenting with caller Mr. V, who shares personal stories about how parental influences can stifle children's passions. They explore the psychological impact of avoiding discomfort and the suppression of enthusiasm in society. Stefan emphasizes the importance of reclaiming personal passion for individual happiness and societal progress. The dialogue also includes a discussion on Universal Preferable Behavior (UPB), examining morality independent of divine frameworks. The episode advocates for embracing enthusiasm in a world that often discourages it.

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Transcript
00:00:001 o'clock on the 6th of February 2025. Got a little bit of time today.
00:00:05Wanted to check in with ye olde community, see how everyone's doing. If you have any questions
00:00:13or comments, issues, challenges, problems, criticisms, you name it, I am all ears.
00:00:21Like a donkey listening for a train on the train tracks.
00:00:27So if you want to talk, I'm happy to listen, overjoyed to listen.
00:00:35You can just do that raise hand thing.
00:00:39And yes, it looks like we have someone. Mr. V,
00:00:45you had something that you wanted to say, just remember to unmute yourself.
00:00:50Hello Seth.
00:00:51Hey, how's it going?
00:00:53I'm good. So my question is, do you think parents that are hedonistic
00:01:01also inflict hedonism as a means to control or curse their children?
00:01:06The reason is the pursuit of pleasure means, well that's, sorry, that's the question.
00:01:15Well, I like that you started getting into a definition for a second there. Do you want to
00:01:20tell me more about what you mean by hedonism?
00:01:25Right. Let's see.
00:01:35Sorry, I'm just, I had read this over, but I'm just a bit nervous. Sorry. Just one more second.
00:01:46Well, you don't have to look it up. Just tell me what you mean by
00:01:49hedonism. I mean, I get it's a general pursuit of pleasure, but
00:01:53I mean, so philosophy and morality's goal is happiness. So what do you mean by hedonism?
00:01:59I was emphasizing both with hedonism, the pleasure and the pain aspect. So the parents,
00:02:06since they have so much control over their children, define what is pleasurable and what
00:02:11is also painful. And therefore they have a control mechanism to both reward them and punish them.
00:02:18And if they're more on the hedonistic and then abusive side of things, then they can
00:02:24really torture the child as much as they want.
00:02:28Could you give me a sort of real world example of what it is that you mean? I always like to get it
00:02:32out of abstracts into the empirical. So what do you mean, like any example of what might happen
00:02:37with a parent and a child in that way? Well, I'll bring it to the personal of my own life
00:02:44with my father. I'm slowly trying to understand what my father would do to me. And so for example,
00:02:54I was really into space and astronomy, and my father would always put me down on that.
00:03:00And then he was really into the whole alien. I still call it a conspiracy because there's
00:03:05really not much evidence, but I haven't done too much research. So maybe there is.
00:03:10I haven't seen it. I haven't really bothered to look at it. So he's like, Oh yeah, plus NASA's
00:03:14fake anyways. And so he would, it was like, he's like, I'll reward you for liking space,
00:03:20but it has to be this kind. It has to be about aliens and such, but not about stars and astronomy
00:03:27and what SpaceX is doing. I found that quite amazing and I still follow what SpaceX is doing
00:03:38and such. Is that a good example? Okay. So he would get mad at you for being
00:03:44interested in astronomy, but he himself would have these conspiracy theories about
00:03:48like there was the moon landing was faked and NASA was not real and that kind of stuff.
00:03:54Essentially. Yeah. And he wouldn't, he would mock and belittle me for that.
00:03:58So what would he say about your interest regarding astronomy?
00:04:03Um, well, it wasn't specifically astronomy. It was more so like I would talk about the space
00:04:09telescopes because at the time there were, it was, uh, it was pre James Webb. It was, uh,
00:04:14it wasn't Hubble. There was another space telescope. It was launched by the Europeans.
00:04:19And I was talking about that and he was belittling me about that. We were driving
00:04:23and he's just like, well, you don't even know if NASA's telling you the truth about that.
00:04:27And so he was essentially trying to shut me up about it. Instead of just saying,
00:04:31you know, beta, I'm not interested in the subject. I'll just be frank with you.
00:04:36And he's been frank with me before. And so that was kind of the unusual, uh,
00:04:42aspect of that conversation. So he would just say he's not interested
00:04:47in this topic of the European telescope. Is that right?
00:04:51He should have done that, but he didn't. He decided to just belittle and, uh, and mock me
00:04:56for being interested in so to speak mainstream stuff.
00:05:04Right. Okay. I think I, uh, I think I understand.
00:05:07And, uh, if you can give me one more example, that would be helpful.
00:05:11Uh, all right. Let's see. Um, I think this is an example. Um, um, my father used to get
00:05:23very angry at me and I didn't really understand why until one day, uh, there was this incident
00:05:29where my stepmother, um, severely damaged the car. And, um, and, um, and I found out why my
00:05:38father got so angry. I mean, he was essentially kind of transferring his anger to like
00:05:44rejecting his anger to me. And like, I always just kind of took it. And I think the reason
00:05:50why I just accepted that aspect of our relationship goes back to that hedonistic
00:05:54thing where my father defined pain. He says, you have to accept this pain of mine.
00:06:00And, um, I think that's a good second example. Um,
00:06:05Okay. So he got mad at you for something that wasn't important because he was mad
00:06:08at his wife for damaging the car.
00:06:12Well, he, uh, from what I can recollect, it was more so like he was really angry and he
00:06:17needed to vent it towards someone. And so I was working at the time, he totally blew up on me
00:06:23about something else. And so, um, I just want to clarify that detail.
00:06:29Okay. Got it. Got it. So tell me about that. I don't disagree with you about any of this,
00:06:34but tell me how this is a manifestation of hedonism for you.
00:06:40Um, I, well, for me, I have, I, um, I have a problem with hedonism. And so I feel like this
00:06:47is kind of the, like my parents trying to curse me with it, but like, I feel a lot of pain,
00:06:52so I compensate it with pleasure. And, um, I think that, I think that answers your question. Does it?
00:07:01Okay. So the definition of hedonism, if I'm understanding what you're saying
00:07:06and correct me if I'm astray, of course, right. But your definition of hedonism
00:07:11is doing something which is pleasurable in the short run, but costly in the long run.
00:07:21Yes. I wonder if this, this, um, this bit of modification would be also the avoidance of pain.
00:07:30Um, maybe I'm being, um, just nitpicking. I'm not sure.
00:07:35Uh, okay. But it is pleasurable to avoid pain. I don't, I don't want to sort of subsume the
00:07:41two into the same continuum, but it is pleasurable to avoid pain. So a hedonism,
00:07:48hedonism might be something like, I'm nervous of going to the dentist.
00:07:52So I'll avoid going to the dentist because that's unpleasant for me in the short run,
00:07:57but in the long run, that's going to cause me to have, you know, cavities and,
00:08:02and, uh, gum recession or whatever might be happening. So hedonism then would be avoiding
00:08:09discomfort in the short run and causing discomfort in the long run. Does that, does that make sense?
00:08:18Yes, it does.
00:08:19Or if somebody's like, they eat because they're anxious and, uh, the only way that they can,
00:08:26or the way they choose to deal with their anxiety is to eat a lot of sort of salty,
00:08:29sugary, fatty foods, and then they gain weight and then they're anxious about their weight
00:08:36and therefore they eat more. Like there's a lot of that kind of
00:08:39stuff that happens. So that would be another potential example of hedonism. Is that right?
00:08:47Yeah.
00:08:49And so if your father, he's angry at his wife for damaging the car,
00:08:53but he's more scared of his wife than he is of his child because he has more power over his child
00:09:00than he has over his wife. And therefore what he does is he yells at his child to discharge his
00:09:09negative feelings by lying about what he's upset about. And this relieves his, uh, sense of
00:09:18frustration and helplessness in the short run. But in the long run, of course it damages
00:09:24his relationship with his child. Is it something like that?
00:09:28That's correct. And I would add another aspect to it if I may, which is he'll reveal to me
00:09:34what is anger, what has angered him later on. And so then I get the opportunity to connect the dots
00:09:39kind of like breadcrumbing. And, um, and that's what kind of makes it even more awful is like,
00:09:45he's, he's like making me aware of it. Or at least I, I feel like it's awful. Maybe,
00:09:50maybe it's not, but that's kind of how I know this information is because later on he reveals,
00:09:56Oh, can you believe what my wife did? Um, blah, blah, blah. And then I'm like, Oh,
00:10:02well, when did that happen? He gives me a timestamp. And then I put the two things
00:10:06together and I said, Oh, okay. So that's why, that's why he blew up on me.
00:10:10Right. Now, how old were you when this happened?
00:10:16Oh, that example specifically, I was actually, um, maybe 19 at the time.
00:10:21Okay. Now, if you were to say to your father, let's say you fig, let's say you figured it out
00:10:26at the time. If you were to say to your father, uh, come on dad, you're not, you're not mad at me.
00:10:31You're mad at mom damaging the car. Like go talk to her. What would he say?
00:10:40Uh, he would just walk away. That's what normally he does is he'll like attack me
00:10:46and then just kind of leave. So, um, I wouldn't really get the opportunity, but if I did,
00:10:52I think he would just be like, either he would do it a non-apology or he would, um,
00:11:00what else would he do? Oh, he would minimize it. He was like, Oh, you know, like, don't you see,
00:11:05like, I don't have a lot of money. This car got damaged. It's going to cost me because it was a
00:11:10bad, it was a bad, she badly damaged the, uh, the, uh, the door. It looked ugly. She's like,
00:11:15when am I going to pay for this? I'm working so much. So he would just minimize what he did to me.
00:11:22Oh, so if you said, dad, you're not mad at me, you're mad at your wife.
00:11:26He wouldn't escalate with you. He would just complain more about his wife.
00:11:30Yes. Okay. So if you were to say dad, you're mad at your wife, let's bring her in the room and you
00:11:35guys can have it out and let's not pretend this is about me. And then you'd go to get your mom
00:11:39or your step-mom, what would he say? Um, I think he would start to get visibly angry and, um, and,
00:11:49um, like, yeah, he would get very agitated, I think. Okay. And so would he, I mean, I was,
00:11:57okay. And so would he, I mean, I was scared of, I was scared of her too. Um, um, yeah, I think
00:12:05he would get more, more angry at me, but I wouldn't do that. Cause I'm also, I was also a
00:12:09bit scared of her too. Like, so I wouldn't go that far. I'm not saying whether you would or
00:12:18wouldn't, I'm just curious how that would, how that would play out. Oh, okay. I understand.
00:12:23Okay. I believe she, yeah. Sorry. Go ahead. Sorry. You go Steph.
00:12:29Go ahead. Oh, I was just, I was just going to say that, um, if I had, uh, done what you said,
00:12:37where I I'm like, let's go get, let's go get my step-mom. I, um, I think he would, he would
00:12:43really get like angry at me. Like I said, agitated, like it would, it would be a slow escalation
00:12:48because my father's very smart about that. He knows if you go too intense, too fast, um,
00:12:55you can be blamed for that later on. And for some reason his mind, there's no excuse about that.
00:13:01It's, it's, uh, um, yeah. Okay. And what would you say your general level of enthusiasm
00:13:10is in your life? Excitement, enthusiasm? Right now? Yeah. Right now it's like 200%,
00:13:17but in the past it was really like, I was unenthusiastic. I was, I think I was depressed.
00:13:23Um, um, but yeah. And what are you most enthusiastic about in your life now?
00:13:31Um, I'm, um, well, to name one of the big things I'm, I'm going, I'm, I'm going to,
00:13:39uh, I'm, well, I'm going to pursue a career that I'm interested in. I, right now I need to
00:13:45kind of have a, uh, a decent basic income. So I'm going to go to vocational school. I think I'm
00:13:50going to do something in regards to, um, coding. Um, I'm not sure of the specifics. I'm going to
00:13:55do the research coding, you know? Um, and, uh, and I, I want that to eventually lead to engineering,
00:14:05maybe aerospace engineer, but I'm not sure. Um, but that's the long and short. And that's why I'm
00:14:10enthusiastic because I've been making a bunch of, uh, intangible steps. Like I asked a family
00:14:15member of mine for some money to help me out with that. And they agreed. I also have been, uh,
00:14:22helping out that same family member with many, many things they needed to be, to get done in
00:14:27their house. And so that's been great. Like we're getting a new washer and dryer and we've needed
00:14:32that for a long time. And that's why I'm very enthusiastic. I'm 29 years old.
00:14:3729. Now, just out of curiosity, uh, we, we've talked before, have we?
00:14:44Yes. So when you hear yourself back, do you feel that you sound enthusiastic in your
00:14:51communication style? No, no, I don't. And what do you experience when you hear yourself back?
00:14:59I hear more like monotones and maybe, um,
00:15:04um, I think I, I think I hear like, um, like a mild sense of exhaustion. That's what I think
00:15:12I hear. Right. I mean, I think, I think that's probably quite, quite accurate. And I say this
00:15:17with all, all kinds of sympathy. No, thank you for your honesty. Yeah. So, uh, let me, let me
00:15:24ask you this. Um, this sounds like it's direct to you. It's not, it's just an abstract principle
00:15:29when people as a whole can chime in. Are slaves allowed to be enthusiastic and excited?
00:15:38No. No. Well, why not?
00:15:42Um, maybe out of jealousy, like, uh, the master isn't like seeing his own slaves having a better
00:15:50time than he does. Uh, that's kind of psychological. That's because the slave is a,
00:15:58is a political relationship, right? Like you are owned by another human being. So let's not go
00:16:03psychological. Let's talk about the practicalities of owning human beings. Right. Okay. Who do you
00:16:11think? I'm not sure. Sorry. Who have you met in your life or seen on TV that you would consider
00:16:16a great leader? Um, um, I, I mean, I think, I think, um, Donald Trump is becoming a great
00:16:29leader. Can we use him as an example? Sure. That's totally fine. Now is Donald Trump enthusiastic?
00:16:38Uh, I, I think so, but I think in particular, he seems passionate.
00:16:46Yeah. He's passionate for sure. And he has a calling, right? He feels that his life was
00:16:50spared by God during the repeat assassination attempts in order for him to lead America to
00:16:56a golden age. Right. Would you say that Elon Musk is enthusiastic and passionate?
00:17:04Yes. Absolutely. Very much so, right? Very much so. So the slave is not allowed to be enthusiastic
00:17:14because enthusiasm is an aspect of leadership and slaves are not allowed to be leaders.
00:17:26Right. Right. Slaves can't have leaders because if slave has leaders, there's someone to lead
00:17:32them out of slavery. Right. So when you speak in a relatively energy-less monotone,
00:17:45you are still communicating in the mindset of somebody who's been kind of beaten down.
00:17:50That would be accurate. Yeah. So what do you think, or what do you feel
00:18:01if you were given the challenge to be robustly enthusiastic for a week?
00:18:09That you would like jumping up and down, you'd be excited about things, you'd bubble over, you'd,
00:18:15you know, babble if you had to, but you're enthusiasms.
00:18:20What do you think that would feel like for you if you manifested that enthusiasm
00:18:27socially, professionally for a week?
00:18:35Well, I'm so sorry. You said that so eloquently, but it just kind of escaped me.
00:18:41Would you mind repeating? How would you feel
00:18:45if you took on the challenge to communicate with enthusiasm and passion for a week?
00:18:55I find that initially I feel terrified to do that, in particular to be rejected, but I'm willing.
00:19:04I'm willing to do that. Yeah. Okay. So tell me about your feelings of rejection.
00:19:12Oh, my feelings of rejection. When it comes to, because currently I still live with family
00:19:19members from my family of origin. And so with them, I feel as though, I guess I feel as though
00:19:32I know there's going to be excess hostility, or I'm not out hostility, passive aggression.
00:19:39And so I feel like when it comes to them, there's kind of a give and take where it's like,
00:19:44I can't be too enthusiastic, or they're just going to start making my life more difficult.
00:19:50But excluding them, I guess what comes to mind is school, like more middle school
00:20:01in elementary school than high school. I got along with people not better in high school, but
00:20:06in middle school, in elementary school, I had a very tough time in particular,
00:20:13fourth and fifth grade. So that's why I think the terrified feelings come from because
00:20:19it's like, sorry to ramble for a moment, but school is kind of, at least in my mind,
00:20:27in my life, because I didn't do too many extracurricular activities.
00:20:32Um, school was like my social life, and it really went
00:20:36bad, especially when I was in fourth and fifth grade.
00:20:44How much do you feel you communicated in that speech?
00:20:48Uh, oh, in terms of, uh, in terms of enthusiasm?
00:20:52No, just in terms of answering the question.
00:20:54Oh, um, I think-
00:21:00I asked what your feelings of fear would be, and you said that things went bad for
00:21:03you socially in the fourth and fifth grade.
00:21:07Right, yeah.
00:21:07With all due respect, what the hell does that have to do with my question?
00:21:12So who in your family of origin are you living with when you're pushing 30?
00:21:17Uh, my grandmother on my mother's side, and my mother lives with her, as well as my sister.
00:21:22Okay, so you're living with three women.
00:21:27Would you say that they're healthy and functional, or not so much?
00:21:31Not so much.
00:21:32So you're living with three matriarchs, or three dysfunctional females?
00:21:36Yes.
00:21:37And you're almost 30?
00:21:40Uh, yes.
00:21:42So why are you doing that?
00:21:44Because beforehand I was living with my father, and so I moved out of that, and this was a
00:21:51better situation, and that's kind of one of the things I've been doing the last couple
00:21:54of weeks.
00:21:55I've been, um, I've been, uh, reorganizing my finances so that I can move out as soon
00:22:01as possible.
00:22:02And so, um, I've, uh, um, that's why I'm, that's why I'm here now, what, uh, with the
00:22:09three matriarchs.
00:22:10That's why I'm here now, what, uh, with the three matriarchs, because it was either that
00:22:14or homelessness, because at the time I didn't have a job.
00:22:17I did have savings, but I didn't think my savings would last too long.
00:22:19Well, sorry, but you've been an adult for close to 12 years, and how many of those 12
00:22:25years have you spent working?
00:22:29Um, let's see, uh, 10 and a half?
00:22:36Okay, so if you've worked for over a decade, and you've lived with family members, in other
00:22:41words, they've been paying your rent, right?
00:22:45That's correct.
00:22:47So if you've been working for over a decade, and your rent, and I assume a good portion
00:22:50of your food, has been paid for you, why don't you have it?
00:22:54Uh, the food wasn't paid for me.
00:22:56The food wasn't paid for you?
00:22:58No, I paid for that, and I wasn't paid that much by my father.
00:23:00He, um, but, um, um, you're asking about why I don't have savings.
00:23:06Well, that's because the last year and a half I have been working, and I've been using my
00:23:11savings.
00:23:12You haven't been working for a year and a half?
00:23:15Yes.
00:23:15Okay.
00:23:15So when I left my father's restaurant, I stopped working, because I wanted to figure out
00:23:20why, um, why my 20s turned out the way that they did.
00:23:25And so I was, uh, I took time off.
00:23:29Okay, and remind me if you're dating, or love life situation?
00:23:36Uh, I haven't dated since I was, I believe it was 22.
00:23:40So it's been a while.
00:23:42Okay, got it.
00:23:46So, have your grandmother, and your mother, and your sister, if I remember the,
00:23:53the tripod here, have they, uh, talked to you about your life and its direction,
00:24:00or some of its stagnation, or any of that?
00:24:03Not at all.
00:24:04They totally avoid that.
00:24:05So they don't care?
00:24:07Yes, that's correct.
00:24:08Okay, got it.
00:24:09Yes, indeed.
00:24:10All right, so you're surrounded by people who really don't give a shit about you.
00:24:16Totally, yeah.
00:24:17All right, so I think I've gathered enough information, because I want to make sure that
00:24:21I tailor my response to the question of hedonism to your situation in particular, because the
00:24:26closer I connect with you, in fact, generally, the closer I connect with the audience as
00:24:31a whole, if that makes sense.
00:24:33It does to me, and thank you.
00:24:36So I'll tell you everyone, everyone, you need to massage this into your fucking bone marrow.
00:24:42If you get into philosophy, God help you.
00:24:47If you get into philosophy, it's leadership or nothing.
00:24:53Because you are now thinking for yourself.
00:24:59And if you are thinking for yourself, it's be a leader, or there's nothing for you.
00:25:08Be a leader, or there's nothing for you.
00:25:16Original thought from first principles is the foundation of leadership.
00:25:27So if you're in the Middle Ages, and you're interested in, say, religion and science,
00:25:33and you start really thinking about science, and you get into your Baconian first principles, and
00:25:39empiricism is the key, and rational consistency is the key, then you can't be
00:25:48blindly religious anymore.
00:25:52You've left that.
00:25:55I mean, you can have some compatibility with the religious folks, you can share some of
00:25:58the same morals.
00:26:00But you can't live in both worlds, opposing worlds, simultaneously.
00:26:12So you can't be a scientist and a theologian with any real consistency.
00:26:21Now, of course, I know the guy who runs a genome project and so on is very religious,
00:26:24I get that.
00:26:25And there's people who are very able to split themselves in two and take these opposing
00:26:31methodologies of faith and reason, of prayer and science, but rationally it cannot be reconciled.
00:26:41So this is for everyone.
00:26:44So you start to get into philosophy, you start to reason from first principles, you start
00:26:49to see through the lies, propaganda, bullshit, and matrix of the world.
00:26:53I mean, we can see this coming out of the USAID stuff right now.
00:26:58Thousands of journalists all on the take from the centralized money printing squid monsters
00:27:06of the state.
00:27:08My god, America's even paying a significant portion of the budget of the publicly funded
00:27:13BBC.
00:27:16Wow, Politico, all these subscriptions, eight million dollars, I've heard.
00:27:21So, taxpayers are being charged to fund the hit pieces on the heroes trying to save them.
00:27:30It's monstrous.
00:27:31Wow, wow.
00:27:33Monstrous.
00:27:35So you start thinking to yourself, you start reasoning from first principles,
00:27:41you can no longer be a follower,
00:27:44be a follower,
00:27:49and you can no longer be an NPC,
00:27:52which means it's leadership or nothing.
00:27:56It's leadership or isolation.
00:28:02Because if you start thinking for yourself, you can no longer fit into
00:28:07the NPC
00:28:09normie
00:28:11barely there
00:28:13fools
00:28:15of the general unthinking horde, which means you have to be a leader.
00:28:22Now, being a leader is being enthusiastic.
00:28:31You cannot lead if you're not enthusiastic.
00:28:38There was an interview with, it's an old interview with
00:28:42a guy, you know, obviously not the most moral man in the known universe,
00:28:45but obviously a very effective business leader and creator, Steve Jobs from Apple.
00:28:50And when he was young, someone said, hey, what does it feel like to become rich?
00:28:54And he says, you know, it's interesting.
00:28:56So when I was 21, I was worth a million dollars.
00:29:00When I was 22, I was worth 10 million dollars.
00:29:02When I was 23 or 24, I was worth 100 million dollars.
00:29:05And he said, it's interesting, but it's not about the money.
00:29:08It's about being able to create great products.
00:29:12And for me, there's always been a very interesting story
00:29:17about a guy who was working on the Apple II.
00:29:21It's an old personal PC, somewhat at the level of the Atari or the Commodore 64.
00:29:26He was working on the Apple II and Steve Jobs wanted to come
00:29:30and work on the Lisa, the Mac graphical interface.
00:29:36And he comes over to this guy and says, I need you on this new Lisa project.
00:29:43And the guy's like, well, I mean, I'm working on some disc boot up sectors work here.
00:29:47So, you know, I can finish this up in a couple of weeks.
00:29:51And I'd be, you know, be happy to join you.
00:29:54And Steve Jobs is like, no, no, I need you to come work on this new project.
00:29:59And the guy's like, OK, well, at least give me a week or two
00:30:04to try and transfer my knowledge to someone else who can take over.
00:30:07And Steve Jobs is like, I'm sorry, I'm not being clear.
00:30:10And he reached over and he unplugged the guy's machine
00:30:12and he tucked it under his arm and he walked off.
00:30:17And the guy just followed him.
00:30:19And Steve said, I need you to work.
00:30:21And he took the computer and he plugged it into the new
00:30:24lab where they were working on the GUI interfaces that evolved from the Lisa into the Mac.
00:30:30Now, that's a level of enthusiasm.
00:30:32I need you on this project.
00:30:33I'm going to unplug your computer and you're going to come with me.
00:30:36Right, right.
00:30:40If you look at Elon Musk, I mean, what he did with Twitter was absolutely extraordinary.
00:30:45Cutting the workforce 80 percent earnings before interest taxes,
00:30:50depreciation and amortization, which is called EBITDA, went up like 48 percent.
00:30:57It's absolutely astonishing.
00:31:00If you look at, you know, people are mad because
00:31:04there are a bunch of young guns drilling through
00:31:09the turbo opaqueness of the USAID funding databases.
00:31:15And these guys are all like 21, 22, 24.
00:31:18One of them was a guy who trained AI to decipher an ancient Roman scroll in his teens.
00:31:25The average age, the average age of the people who put the young men,
00:31:30who put mankind on the moon was 27.
00:31:3827.
00:31:41The average age of the American revolutionaries was early 20s.
00:31:49It is remarkable what young people and in particular young men can do.
00:31:55The average age of the people working on the bomb, the Manhattan Project, was mid 20s.
00:32:08So you are ruled by being punished for enthusiasm.
00:32:17You know, I remember when I was really into sharks when I was younger and I remember being
00:32:21in grade six, the guy was talking about sharks.
00:32:23I had my hand up.
00:32:24I really wanted to add a whole bunch of stuff.
00:32:26I had my hand up until my arm ached.
00:32:33I wasn't allowed to be enthusiastic.
00:32:38You're not allowed to be table-thumping enthusiastic.
00:32:40See, that's called cringe.
00:32:44It's embarrassing.
00:32:46You're wearing your heart on your sleeve.
00:32:47Don't show people you care.
00:32:50Keep it repressed.
00:32:51Keep it down.
00:32:51Keep it hidden.
00:32:54It is part of the general enslavement of the brilliant young minds of the world
00:33:00to make you embarrassed of enthusiasm.
00:33:04So you were punished for being into astronomy.
00:33:06Well, I remember being very much into astronomy, even bought a telescope
00:33:11with some of my meager income from being a newspaper delivery boy.
00:33:18And I tracked the sunspots for a while.
00:33:22It was very interesting to me.
00:33:25And nobody cared.
00:33:28Nobody wants to know what you're enthusiastic about because they all are in there programming
00:33:32you to remain a big fucking slave.
00:33:38Enthusiasm.
00:33:42What do people do when you're enthusiastic?
00:33:46What do they do?
00:33:46They're cynical.
00:33:47They roll their eyes.
00:33:49They don't care.
00:33:51You're embarrassing.
00:33:52It's cringe.
00:33:54Shut up.
00:33:55Curl into a ball.
00:33:57Murder your energy.
00:34:00Be a fucking slave.
00:34:03It happens.
00:34:03Yeah, excuses like that.
00:34:04Yeah, it happens in school.
00:34:07It happens in families.
00:34:08It happens in social life.
00:34:10And the one thing that I'm most proud of is guarding my capacity for enthusiasm
00:34:20despite endless, cold, hostile, rage-filled rejection of my enthusiasms.
00:34:29This is from when I was a little kid.
00:34:35I've been very enthusiastic about things, been very fired up.
00:34:39About things.
00:34:41And you just face this endless.
00:34:43To me, it's like mentally, it's like this giant fucking combine harvester of guillotines.
00:34:48They just want to slice down your enthusiasms and have you turn into one of these,
00:34:55you know, like in prison, right?
00:34:56You just shuffle along.
00:34:58Look at the ground.
00:34:58Don't show any feeling.
00:35:01Don't show any passion.
00:35:02Don't show any enthusiasm.
00:35:04Because whatever you care for, this is the basic equation of the world since its inception.
00:35:10Whatever you care for will be used to fuck you up.
00:35:14That's exactly what happened to me.
00:35:16Yeah, whatever you want will be used against you.
00:35:21Oh, do you care for your hamster?
00:35:23Oh, I'm so sorry.
00:35:25I accidentally killed your hamster.
00:35:28Oh, do you care about this particular music?
00:35:33Well, I'm just going to mark it.
00:35:36Oh, are you enthusiastic about this particular topic?
00:35:38I'm going to tell you it's useless and trash and garbage.
00:35:42And the real answer is in wild conspiracy theories.
00:35:46Whatever you care about will be used to fuck you up.
00:35:51Whatever you're enthusiastic about will be the rope that is used
00:35:56for the noose to hang you high and dry.
00:35:59And we have this with girls.
00:36:03Oh, do you like this girl?
00:36:05Well, we're going to tell her friends and they're all going to laugh at you.
00:36:12Whatever you want will be used against you.
00:36:17I mean, we saw this play out with my show.
00:36:19What did I want most of all?
00:36:21To have a giant conversation with the world about philosophy.
00:36:24And I worked my fucking ass off to make that happen.
00:36:28To make that happen.
00:36:29And then, because everybody knew who was in power, who had power over me,
00:36:35everybody knew how much I wanted to have a worldwide conversation about philosophy.
00:36:40So, what did they do?
00:36:43Well, they took it away.
00:36:47Because I had worn my heart on my sleeve about how passionate I was
00:36:51about reason, evidence, morality and philosophy.
00:36:53This is what I want the most.
00:36:54This is what I'm most passionate about.
00:36:55This is what I care about the most.
00:36:58And because the various two-bit fucking sadists in the world
00:37:06saw and knew what I wanted, what I was most enthusiastic about,
00:37:11they took it away.
00:37:14With a smirk.
00:37:14With a smile.
00:37:18With joy.
00:37:19With happiness.
00:37:21Castrate the enthusiastic.
00:37:23Keep everyone a slave of vague depression.
00:37:29That's the, uh...
00:37:33That's the deal.
00:37:35Elon Musk openly states
00:37:40that human life needs to become interplanetary
00:37:44because civilization is hanging by a thread.
00:37:46So, he's quite enthusiastic about all of this.
00:37:51When Trump was shot,
00:37:56he stood up with his fist clenched, blood pouring off his head.
00:38:00Fight, fight, fight.
00:38:04Enthusiasm.
00:38:07Passion.
00:38:09Wanting something.
00:38:10So, now that you have stumbled into the most productive corner of philosophy
00:38:15in the world,
00:38:19you are going to have to
00:38:22conquer your fear of being enthusiastic.
00:38:30I wanted to
00:38:32show you
00:38:34how to do it.
00:38:36I wanted to make my mark in academia.
00:38:43People were angry and hated me for that.
00:38:46I wanted to make my mark in the arts, in acting, in playwriting, in directing.
00:38:50People got mad at me and hated me about that.
00:38:53And novels.
00:38:55In the business world, I wanted greater integrity.
00:38:58In the companies that I was working with, people got pretty mad and upset about that.
00:39:04And then I spent 15 years building up the world's greatest philosophy conversation.
00:39:09And people say, oh, is that what he cares about?
00:39:11Well, we'll take that away too.
00:39:14And it's a public humiliation ritual called
00:39:19don't ever show people what you want.
00:39:21Don't ever show people what you need.
00:39:23Don't ever show people what you're really enthusiastic about.
00:39:26Because that's like saying to the torturer,
00:39:29Jesus, it really hurts when you do that.
00:39:30It really hurts when you do that.
00:39:32He's like, well, thank you for telling me.
00:39:34Does more.
00:39:38So, this is my challenge.
00:39:41Deep felt, deep seated, gauntlet down before all of us.
00:39:50Can you get out into the world and be enthusiastic?
00:39:56Now, it's one thing if you're able to make a lot of money for people, right?
00:39:59So, you know, Steve Jobs made a lot of money for people.
00:40:02So, his enthusiasms were economically productive.
00:40:07So, you're allowed to have enthusiasm if you're making people money hand over fist.
00:40:14But can you be out there in the world and openly love and praise and worship something,
00:40:22philosophy, abstractions, principles, virtues, morals, communication, clarity.
00:40:30Can you push through the scar tissue of being punished for your enthusiasms,
00:40:35for caring about things?
00:40:37Because the various omnipresent blank-eyed sadists are always scanning
00:40:41for anyone who cares about anything and fucking them up based upon their preferences.
00:40:48The tall poppy syndrome, it's the hammer that sticks up that gets nailed down.
00:40:55Are you willing to be enthusiastic?
00:41:00Are you willing to wear your heart on your sleeve and openly proclaim to a
00:41:04significantly sadistic world, here's how you can hurt me?
00:41:11It happens in love.
00:41:14It's a power play, often in the early dating game or sometimes later on,
00:41:18sometimes even in the marriage.
00:41:20Who needs who more?
00:41:23Well, if you really tell this woman how much you're devoted to her,
00:41:28she'll mock you, she'll take advantage of you.
00:41:31She'll rob you blind, bleed you dry,
00:41:35laugh at you with her friends while you simp and buy her flowers and jewelry.
00:41:44Oh, looks like that guy is really into me.
00:41:48I guess I can take advantage of that.
00:41:51And that is how your passion for another human being
00:41:57is threatened, robbed and exploited.
00:42:03So, the way that you are kept from leadership is through hedonism.
00:42:10It's through people saying to you,
00:42:16well, I'm going to make you hurt for being enthusiastic.
00:42:21I'm going to make it painful for you to be enthusiastic.
00:42:27I'm going to call you cringe and embarrassing
00:42:31for openly showing what matters to you and what you care about.
00:42:41And that way, because you care, particularly if you care about philosophy,
00:42:47because you care, see, society needs to isolate you.
00:42:53And how do you get isolated if you're enthusiastic about philosophy?
00:42:59Well, you can't join with the herd because you're thinking for yourself.
00:43:07So, the best way to keep you isolated and keep the glorious health of philosophy
00:43:13out of the virus and bacteria-ridden phlegm tube called the social throat
00:43:17is to make you uninspiring,
00:43:29to make you unenviable,
00:43:35to give you a life and an attitude that nobody is really drawn to.
00:43:47And that's a challenge.
00:43:50It's a big challenge.
00:43:51If you're into philosophy, it's leadership or bust.
00:43:53And if you're into philosophy and you say, well, I'm pushing 30,
00:43:58I'm living with granny and mommy, and I'm broke,
00:44:05and I don't have a girl or prospects.
00:44:09Well, you are saying to people, hey, look where philosophy gets you.
00:44:24Look where philosophy gets you.
00:44:30And I have always felt, this is just my particular feeling,
00:44:34I have always felt that if I'm going to promote philosophy,
00:44:40one of the things that I absolutely need to do
00:44:47is to have a life that other people might want.
00:44:55And I mean, I've been very joyfully married for pushing a quarter century.
00:45:04And my wife and I have been married for like over 100 years
00:45:10in real time because we spend most of our days with each other.
00:45:15Right?
00:45:15I work from home, she's at home.
00:45:18So we spend a lot of time with each other.
00:45:22I have a great relationship with my wonderful daughter.
00:45:27And we've homeschooled her.
00:45:29So we've had a lot of time together.
00:45:34I've achieved reasonable degrees of professional success
00:45:40with the inevitable blowback.
00:45:42But I did my job, and that's what matters.
00:45:50So you have, like it or not, you have a responsibility to philosophy.
00:45:58Which means you've got to uncork your enthusiasm
00:46:02and use it in some sort of leadership capacity.
00:46:05But the first thing you have to do is you have to build a life that people will want.
00:46:10Everybody knows this, right?
00:46:14If someone says, I have a diet and exercise regime that produces a fantastic physique,
00:46:22the first thing that people are going to do is not look at the diet and exercise regime,
00:46:28but they're going to look at your physique.
00:46:32And if you're a fat slob, you are discrediting that diet and exercise routine.
00:46:40And I know it's tough, man.
00:46:43It is like carrying a candle through a fucking blizzard to hold on to your enthusiasm
00:46:48in this cruel world.
00:46:51But what is the alternative?
00:46:53To kind of talk in a monotone and not be very enthusiastic and not really have a life that
00:46:58anybody wants and, you know, try and hide.
00:47:00And it's like, that's all right.
00:47:03Philosophy doesn't allow for that.
00:47:06If you're thinking for yourself, you have a responsibility to philosophy, to the world,
00:47:11to the truth, to be enthusiastic.
00:47:17I mean, my God, everybody knows the history of how I've sort of been kicked up and down
00:47:21the alleys of this world.
00:47:25Bomb threats, death threats, personal threats,
00:47:30being hunted through the streets, threats, de-platforming.
00:47:35Have I retained my enthusiasm?
00:47:39I think so.
00:47:42Have I retained a life, you know, there are some people, I guess, in alternative media,
00:47:47who had documentarians follow them around.
00:47:53Mike Cernovich was one, Lauren Southern was one, and so on, right?
00:47:58And I think I got one offer for that, but nobody really wants to do it because
00:48:09I have a great life.
00:48:12And I have a great life not because I'm a good person.
00:48:16And I have a great life not because of philosophy,
00:48:19although that certainly is necessary, but not sufficient.
00:48:22I have a great life because I won't let anyone take away my enthusiasm.
00:48:28Anyone!
00:48:29At all!
00:48:32That is mine!
00:48:35Mine!
00:48:38That is my fire!
00:48:41My soul!
00:48:42My life!
00:48:46Nobody!
00:48:48I don't care if you threaten.
00:48:49I don't care if you warn.
00:48:51I don't care if you take away my audience, my money.
00:48:55I don't care!
00:48:58You will never take away my enthusiasm because that is mine.
00:49:10And I will not surrender that which is precious and great
00:49:13to that which is petty and vicious.
00:49:18And that's your challenge, my friends.
00:49:22That is your challenge.
00:49:25Hold on to that flickering fire in a fucking blizzard in a windstorm.
00:49:30Hold on to that flickering fire until you can puff and blow it into something visible from space.
00:49:39Hold on to that enthusiasm.
00:49:41Hold on to that excitement.
00:49:46Hold on to that thrill of discovery and joy in reason.
00:49:52And I get that the fission of my enthusiasm is scalding to people.
00:50:00I get that.
00:50:01I don't care.
00:50:03I don't care.
00:50:04I will not give it up.
00:50:06I will not give it up and I've made it to 58 years of age.
00:50:10Be 59 this year.
00:50:14Been kicked, rejected, ostracized, defamed, lied about and threatened for decades.
00:50:23Have I given up my enthusiasm?
00:50:28No.
00:50:28That's why you're here.
00:50:31If I was depressed and monotone and kind of given up and right, you'll be gone.
00:50:37You come here, as I do to others, to warm your hands in the fires of my enthusiasm, of my passion.
00:50:47And that's good.
00:50:49We all need our recharges.
00:50:50I mean, one of the things I really got from
00:50:54reading about Ayn Rand's life was how for the last, you know, 40 years of her life,
00:51:00she got the living shit kicked out of her enthusiasm.
00:51:07I mean, there was a brutal review of Atlas Shrugged,
00:51:10saying that you could almost hear her screaming to the gas chambers, go.
00:51:16And that really killed her enthusiasm.
00:51:22I think that's a mistake.
00:51:26People will apply negative pressure to your enthusiasm.
00:51:29Come home, jump up and down, be excited about something and take a look in the eyes
00:51:37of the people around you.
00:51:39Have a look.
00:51:40Look deep into the eyes of the people around you when you're really fired up and enthusiastic
00:51:48about something.
00:51:50I love this.
00:51:51I'm so pumped.
00:51:53I'm thrilled.
00:51:53I'm excited.
00:51:54I can't wait to look.
00:51:57Look around.
00:51:58Look.
00:51:58Absorb.
00:52:00What's happening in the eyes of the people around you?
00:52:03Are they thrilled and excited that you're thrilled and excited?
00:52:07Or are they cautious and hesitant and dead-eyed and vampiric?
00:52:13Well, you know, you got to be careful because, you know, caution.
00:52:21Got to be so careful.
00:52:26I mean, I remember I had a fairly prominent intellectual, as I had from time to time,
00:52:31call me up when I was talking about various controversial subjects.
00:52:36He's like, well, you've got to be so careful about these things.
00:52:40It's like, well, I'm very careful to be accurate.
00:52:43Beyond that, I don't give a shit.
00:52:47But you've got to think about the ramifications and you've got to care about this and you've
00:52:50got to care about that.
00:52:51And what if people misinterpret?
00:52:53It's like, my job is to tell the truth.
00:52:56I'm not going to hedge and censor myself because people might misinterpret basic facts.
00:53:01That's to mean that I have, as a fairly raging intellect, I have, as the limit to what I can do,
00:53:10the willed ignorance of volitional fools.
00:53:18Got to be so careful.
00:53:19No, I really don't.
00:53:21Okay, well, if you're not careful, you'll get punished.
00:53:23Okay, so I get punished.
00:53:25But I won't punish myself by taking away my enthusiasm.
00:53:31Okay, so you can try this.
00:53:35Try this.
00:53:35Honestly, try this.
00:53:36I recommend this to everyone because I get to listen to this by just listening back to
00:53:43myself.
00:53:43But try this.
00:53:44Seriously.
00:53:46Think about the thing you're the most enthusiastic about.
00:53:51Bring up a little recording app on your phone.
00:53:54Think about the thing you're most enthusiastic about.
00:53:57And then try explaining it, imagining that you're explaining it to someone,
00:54:01why you care about it, why you're so passionate about it, why it matters so much to you.
00:54:08Record that little speech, then play it back.
00:54:12How do you sound?
00:54:14Are you animated?
00:54:15Are you enthusiastic?
00:54:16Are you communicating clearly how passionate you are about what you care about?
00:54:22Or are you like, yeah, you know, this thing is really, you know, I really like it.
00:54:25You know, this thing is really, you know, I really care about this thing.
00:54:28It's really, really positive to me.
00:54:29And I just, I can't wait to like, are you...
00:54:33Do you have slave voice?
00:54:35I'm not talking about the caller earlier.
00:54:38I'm just talking in general.
00:54:40Do you have slave voice?
00:54:42Slave voice is when you cannot be enthusiastic.
00:54:48Slave voice is hold yourself down, hold yourself back, constantly tap down, don't let it show.
00:54:55Don't let anyone see the furnace fire of your deepest passions.
00:55:00Hold yourself back.
00:55:02Hold yourself down.
00:55:04Don't let rip.
00:55:04Don't be spontaneous.
00:55:05Don't be passionate.
00:55:07Don't be enthusiastic.
00:55:08Don't be angry.
00:55:10Don't be outraged.
00:55:16Because every enthusiasm has a dark side, and that's necessary.
00:55:22You can't find a fire if it's not surrounded by darkness.
00:55:29And everything you care about has implicit within it anger at what you care about being
00:55:37suppressed.
00:55:37I care about philosophy, which means I'm angry at people who suppress philosophy.
00:55:43I'm enthusiastic about rational civil discourse, which means censorship and
00:55:48deplatforming arouses great anger within me.
00:55:52So, with all enthusiasms, you know, if you care about people not dying of lung cancer,
00:56:04you're probably not big fans of cigarette companies.
00:56:09Every enthusiasm comes embedded within it, and anger at the opposite.
00:56:14If you're a fan of rational, self-critical, empirical exploration of the world, the
00:56:26universe, and ideas, then people who just land on conspiracy theories and won't
00:56:32accept counter criticisms are not your friends.
00:56:37I'm not saying that every counter-cultural idea is a, quote, conspiracy theory.
00:56:41Of course, that's just a cheap label.
00:56:45But if you're interested in rational, critical thinking, and then what people do is jump
00:56:51straight into a brain-dead, the conclusion is the addiction, conspiracy theories, then
00:56:58they are your enemies.
00:57:00To have enthusiasms is to have enemies, which is the enemies, not just of your specific
00:57:05enthusiasm, but of enthusiasm in general.
00:57:09Now, when was the last time you saw a movie?
00:57:12I'm not watching a lot of movies these days.
00:57:14I really, I just can't stand them.
00:57:16They're just too, too vile and programming-based.
00:57:20But when was the last time you saw a movie?
00:57:24Somebody who had real enthusiasm for a very positive, passionate cause, not for, like,
00:57:31I don't know, social justice or equality or other synonyms for brutal things, but for
00:57:37a very positive, passionate cause, not for, like, I don't know, social justice or equality
00:57:43or other synonyms for brutal things, but for a very positive, passionate cause, not for
00:57:50or equality or other synonyms for brutal totalitarian communism, doesn't exist.
00:57:59The young people, it's all like the Superbad, right?
00:58:03McLovin, you sound like an Irish soul singer.
00:58:06Like, the big deal, what they really passionately care about is getting booze and getting stoned
00:58:13and getting laid.
00:58:14Programming young people to rank hedonism.
00:58:22Now, hedonism is to say, I take pleasure only in the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance
00:58:30of pain as like an animal.
00:58:35And I don't care about principles.
00:58:41I don't care about principles.
00:58:43I don't care about morals.
00:58:44Don't care about abstractions.
00:58:48But you understand, most people retch up their souls long before they die.
00:58:58Most people die in their early to mid-twenties, but have to wait 60 years to get buried.
00:59:07And you die when you give up your enthusiasms.
00:59:13And I don't mean your enthusiasms like some secret thing in your head and your heart.
00:59:19But when you act and manifest on your enthusiasms, do you have a dream project?
00:59:25Do you have a dream business?
00:59:26Yeah, I've always wanted to make this, that, or the other.
00:59:30Okay, are you willing to be enthusiastic about it?
00:59:33Are you willing to care about it?
00:59:38I built entire companies because I was very passionate about the potential of computers
00:59:46to keep the world unpolluted, to keep people safe.
00:59:50I did environmental health and safety stuff.
00:59:53I was very passionate about that.
00:59:57Drew other people into my passion.
00:59:59But to be passionate, you have to build a life that people want.
01:00:04If you come up with some great diet and exercise regime, you need to apply it to yourself
01:00:08for at least a year or two before you go public, because you need to get your abs and your
01:00:15V-shoulders, narrow waist, whatever it is you're looking for, you need to get all of that.
01:00:19And what you need to not do is go out into the world without enthusiasm.
01:00:36Ah, but enthusiasm puts a mark on me.
01:00:41It's like a laser tag that allows the satellites to nuke me from orbit.
01:00:46Yeah, and that happens.
01:00:49Yeah, absolutely.
01:00:52That happens.
01:00:56And you know what?
01:00:56You just pick yourself up, you dust yourself off,
01:00:59and you march off with great enthusiasm to the next potential disaster.
01:01:09And you will get lasered, you'll get nuked, people will roll their eyes,
01:01:12they will abandon you, they will betray you,
01:01:14they will undermine you, they will sabotage you, backstab you,
01:01:19unless they can profit from you, which is not the most common effect of enthusiasm.
01:01:26And that will happen, absolutely.
01:01:31And you will get betrayed and fucked over,
01:01:34and people will use your enthusiasms against you,
01:01:37and you'll lose sometimes.
01:01:44You'll lose a lot.
01:01:45I know I have.
01:01:47And then you just get up and you just start again.
01:01:54But you never ever surrender your passions and your enthusiasms
01:01:59to the cynicism and sabotage of the dead-eyed mob.
01:02:04What a ridiculous loss that is.
01:02:06You give up your enthusiasms for the sake of reducing your punishment
01:02:12from the dead-eyed soulless mob, they don't get to be more enthusiastic.
01:02:19You just lose your light.
01:02:20That's all that happens.
01:02:21You just lose your light.
01:02:23Doesn't work, doesn't save anyone, doesn't solve anything.
01:02:29You just expire on the vine.
01:02:31You just expire on the vine, and you join the zombie horde,
01:02:37and the world is minus one fiery positive soul.
01:02:42Try this.
01:02:42Try this.
01:02:43Try being out in the world and say, you know what?
01:02:45Today I'm going to be enthusiastic.
01:02:50Shit, start off small.
01:02:51I don't care.
01:02:52Maybe there's some coffee place that makes a great coffee.
01:02:56Have you ever said to them, this is fantastic coffee?
01:02:58I got to tell you, I don't know what ambrosia you're putting in here,
01:03:01but it is a nectar of the gods.
01:03:06Something.
01:03:10I mean, you get a great product.
01:03:12Online can you say, man, this is fantastic.
01:03:15This is like incredible.
01:03:16This is the greatest thing.
01:03:18Can you be enthusiastic?
01:03:20Try it.
01:03:21Scan the people around you.
01:03:23How do they respond to enthusiasm?
01:03:26My marriage was built on enthusiasm.
01:03:29I met my wife.
01:03:30The same day I got my first novel published.
01:03:33She said, how was your day?
01:03:34I said, it was incredible.
01:03:38I've been writing for like 20 years.
01:03:39I finally got a book published.
01:03:44It's the best day ever.
01:03:46And she totally warmed up to that.
01:03:52And we are, we've been madly enthusiastic.
01:03:56With each other for almost a quarter century.
01:03:58Every day with her is a privilege.
01:04:00Because you understand, if you give up enthusiasm, you give up love.
01:04:04This love is just another form of enthusiasm.
01:04:08If you can't be enthusiastic about your goals and ideas
01:04:10and what you're passionate about,
01:04:11how the hell can you be enthusiastic about someone else?
01:04:20Enthusiasm is pair bonding.
01:04:22Enthusiasm is love.
01:04:23It is attachment.
01:04:25Enthusiasm is integrity.
01:04:28Because if you're hedonistic and you work on the pain principle,
01:04:32then people will just apply pain to you
01:04:36until they kill your enthusiasm.
01:04:39But integrity is having an allegiance to your own enthusiasms
01:04:46and not letting other people take them away.
01:04:49Because eventually, foundationally and fundamentally,
01:04:51it comes down to your choice.
01:04:56Your choice alone.
01:05:00Are you going to let people take away that
01:05:02which you're enthusiastic and passionate about?
01:05:05Are you going to join the general shuffling along the sidewalk,
01:05:09staring at the ground, slope-shouldered,
01:05:12prisoner, slave walk?
01:05:16Or are you going to have the fiery passions of a free soul?
01:05:20So, I think that's what you're going to have to work at and focus on, my friends.
01:05:27Because all this shit that you hoard,
01:05:30I mean, I have been severely fucked up in life by being enthusiastic.
01:05:34I don't care.
01:05:35I don't fundamentally care about it.
01:05:37Because the shame in that is on the people who attack the enthusiastic,
01:05:43not on the people who have enthusiasms.
01:05:45That's their shame.
01:05:46And I don't take it personally.
01:05:48That's their shame.
01:05:49And I don't take guilt for things that I haven't done, right?
01:05:52That would be ridiculous.
01:05:55So, the shame is on those who attack passions.
01:05:58Because passions attack hierarchy.
01:06:02I mean, most of what goes on in the modern world
01:06:07is a humiliation ritual of having to repeat bullshit.
01:06:12Ah, this person thinks that they are a unicorn.
01:06:15Well, you have to agree, or we will attack you.
01:06:19It's a humiliation ritual to get you to repeat falsehoods.
01:06:25Enthusiastically, it is a mark of territorial conquering.
01:06:32It is a mark of being owned.
01:06:34It is like a dog peeing in a region to mark its territory.
01:06:42If I can get you to enthusiastically bleat what you do not believe,
01:06:47and which cannot be true, I own you.
01:06:51And the only way to fight that kind of ownership is to be a dog.
01:06:57And the only way to fight that kind of ownership is to be a dog.
01:07:02It is with an enthusiasm for the truth.
01:07:06Fuck the liars and the manipulators.
01:07:08They pass through history like shit through a pipe.
01:07:14Those with some fiery sense of integrity and enthusiasm,
01:07:17you liberate others with your own enthusiasm, right?
01:07:22You liberate others with your enthusiasm.
01:07:23If you want to free people,
01:07:26forwarding them the latest doge achievements is fine.
01:07:30I guess.
01:07:32But what you really need to do is be enthusiastic.
01:07:36All right.
01:07:37Thank you for those comments.
01:07:38I hope that that helps.
01:07:39And I'm happy to take another question.
01:07:41I have another call in a little while, but not for a little, little, little bit.
01:07:46So if you have any other questions or comments, I'm certainly happy to chat.
01:07:50Hey, Tzi, yeah, if you just want to unmute yourself,
01:07:54I'm enthusiastic to take your questions.
01:07:58So how are you today?
01:07:59I'm not too bad.
01:08:00I'm not too bad.
01:08:01How you doing?
01:08:03I'm doing pretty well.
01:08:05I have a question about UPB.
01:08:08Yes, sir.
01:08:11How does UPB get an art from an is I know you answered this before,
01:08:16but I'd like to ask again, how does UPB get to how one should behave in the absence of
01:08:26a deity?
01:08:29We had some questions about this in the telegram chat.
01:08:33Right.
01:08:33Okay.
01:08:34So very briefly, the is-ought dichotomy was brought about by the philosopher David Hume,
01:08:40a Scottish cynic, and he said, you cannot get an ought from an is,
01:08:45and this was in direct repudiation to religion, which says that God creates the oughts
01:08:53in his commandments, and therefore, the fact that the universe is means it was created by God.
01:08:58God is all good.
01:08:58Therefore, we have to do what God wants, and the is and the ought are simultaneous because
01:09:05of God's existence.
01:09:09So the argument would be, if I push a rock and it lands on your car,
01:09:14I'm responsible for the damage.
01:09:16I have to fix your car.
01:09:17If a rock just dislodges on its own, then it's just an accident and nobody has to pay.
01:09:24Well, I guess you have to pay, but nobody's causal to it.
01:09:26So if God has consciously created the universe and God is all good,
01:09:30then you get virtue from the nature of the existence of the universe.
01:09:34God, in a sense, has pushed the rock and therefore the ought comes out of that.
01:09:38So with regards to UPB, I accept the Humean distinction
01:09:43that you cannot get an ought from an is.
01:09:48And again, it's one of these things that seems remarkable to me that people don't see this.
01:09:54But when you say you cannot get an ought from an is, that's an ought statement.
01:10:01You ought not get an ought from an is because there is no ought in the is.
01:10:07Okay, so that's an ought statement.
01:10:09I mean, tell me if I need to explain that more, or if you accept that.
01:10:17No, I accept that.
01:10:19I know you answered this before.
01:10:22But compared to something like, well, you ought to behave like this or you go to hell,
01:10:29how does UPB make behavior preferable in the absence of divine punishment?
01:10:43How does UPB make behavior preferable in the absence of divine punishment?
01:10:49Okay, interesting.
01:10:52I think I follow what it is that you're saying.
01:10:54Of course, I know that these things are fraught with misinterpretations.
01:10:57So if I go astray from your particular thoughts, please let me know how I can do better.
01:11:05But that's the general issue.
01:11:07So how does UPB make behavior preferable in the absence of divine punishment?
01:11:12Is that your question?
01:11:15Yes, as well as I can phrase it.
01:11:17It's actually not my question personally.
01:11:18Yeah, no, no, I saw those questions floating around.
01:11:23I was hoping that the guy who objected would call in, but
01:11:27unfortunately, the UPB critics are very, very tough and very assertive online,
01:11:33but they never actually want to call in.
01:11:35They're just fear uncertainty in FUD, right?
01:11:38Fear, uncertainty and doubt.
01:11:41Because to me, the question is not phrased well, and I'm not accusing you of that,
01:11:48but it's not a very clear question.
01:11:50So UPB doesn't make behavior good or bad, right or wrong.
01:11:59It simply says that morality is defined as universally preferable behavior.
01:12:08And so, if you want to claim a moral rule, then your moral rule has to be universal.
01:12:17It has to be based upon behavior, because we cannot pierce the veil of thought.
01:12:25And it has to be something that is preferred versus not preferred,
01:12:28because that which is moral is generally considered better than that which is
01:12:31immoral.
01:12:32So if you're going to say that something is a moral rule, then it has to be universal.
01:12:40It can't be specific to one particular location or one particular race or
01:12:44agenda or anything like that.
01:12:45It has to be universal.
01:12:47It has to be based upon behavior, because there's no such thing as thought crimes.
01:12:56And that's because it has to be empirical and testable, and thoughts can't be
01:12:59empirically tested or even perceived, because you have to rely upon the person
01:13:04telling you their thoughts.
01:13:07So if you're going to claim that there's such a thing as morality,
01:13:10then what you claim has to be universal, it has to be behavior, and it has to be
01:13:20preferable.
01:13:23Now, I'm not saying do you agree with that as a final proof, but do you agree
01:13:26with everything I've said so far?
01:13:31Yes, I do.
01:13:32Okay.
01:13:33Now, then some people will say, but Steph, you can't get an ought from an
01:13:37is, therefore UPP is false.
01:13:44Okay.
01:13:46So they're saying, I'm saying UPP is preferable to superstition, mysticism,
01:13:53and nihilism.
01:13:55I'm saying that UPP is universal, it's based upon behavior, and it's
01:14:00preferable.
01:14:01And they're saying, but Steph, it is bad and wrong for you to say things
01:14:11that are false, to get an ought from an is, and to talk about it, because
01:14:16clearly if I hadn't talked about it or written about it, they'd have nothing
01:14:18to criticize.
01:14:21So they're saying, it is bad and wrong for you to promote UPP.
01:14:28And I would say, well, why not?
01:14:29You say, well, because it's false.
01:14:31Okay.
01:14:31So what that person is saying is that being accurate, truthful, and
01:14:37consistent is better than being inaccurate, false, and inconsistent,
01:14:41because that person is correcting me.
01:14:46So somebody who says there's no such thing as morality is saying it's bad
01:14:49to say things that are false, right?
01:14:52It's kind of funny, right?
01:14:54It is literally a kind of comedy.
01:14:56How dare you lie and say that there's such a thing as morality, because
01:15:03lying is really bad.
01:15:06It's like, you know, you just made a moral rule called tell the truth,
01:15:11right?
01:15:13So you cannot, you cannot criticize UPP without using UPB.
01:15:26Steph, you can't get an ought from an is.
01:15:30Therefore, UPB is false.
01:15:33Therefore, you should stop advocating it because it's bad to say things
01:15:36that are false.
01:15:38Okay.
01:15:39So is it universally preferable behavior to say things that are true
01:15:42and consistent or false and inconsistent?
01:15:44Well, it's UPB to say things that are true and consistent.
01:15:47Okay.
01:15:48So that's my entire point.
01:15:49You cannot attack UPB without utilizing UPB.
01:16:00It's like trying to take a picture of a camera with a camera in order
01:16:03to say the cameras don't exist.
01:16:06It's self-detonating foundationally.
01:16:09UPB is wrong and therefore you should stop advocating for it.
01:16:14Okay.
01:16:15So it's universally preferable behavior to not advocate for
01:16:18universally preferable behavior.
01:16:20It's a kind of joke.
01:16:21It's not a serious criticism because it is deploying UPB to try and
01:16:30take down the concept of UPB.
01:16:33You Steph, you should not say things that are false because there's
01:16:36no such thing as moral standards.
01:16:40Of course, if there's no such thing as moral standards, why should I
01:16:44not say things that are false?
01:16:45If we look in the realm of aesthetics, we each understand that we can
01:16:50have a preferred color and it does not contradict each other.
01:16:56If I like blue and you like red, am I going to tell you that you're wrong?
01:17:02No.
01:17:05So there is no universally preferable color.
01:17:09Now, if we were to talk about wavelength, that might be, that would
01:17:12wavelength, that might be, that would be a different matter, right?
01:17:15Red and blue have different wavelengths.
01:17:19So if you were to try and make an objective statement, then you're
01:17:22talking about physical properties, it's a different matter.
01:17:27So if my preference for UPB, and there's no such thing as morals, my
01:17:31preference for UPB would then be like my preference for blue.
01:17:36Now, if you don't like UPB, in other words, your preference is not blue
01:17:39but red, why on earth would you tell me I'm wrong?
01:17:43If I say I like blue and you say you like red, would you ever come to me
01:17:47and say, Steph, you're absolutely wrong about liking blue.
01:17:57Because you can't get an ought from an is and you should absolutely
01:18:01stop advocating or telling anyone that you like blue.
01:18:08No.
01:18:09They move UPB from the category of subjective preferences into the
01:18:15universal good, the universal good being
01:18:20you must not advocate for things that are false.
01:18:24You cannot get an ought from an is, therefore it is wrong to get an ought
01:18:29from an is.
01:18:29Okay, you just got an ought from an is, which is you ought not get an
01:18:32ought from an is, and an ought not is just as powerful as an ought.
01:18:35It's just a flip side of the same coin.
01:18:40So when people say UPB is false, it's wrong, Steph should stop advocating
01:18:46for it, it's a con, it's a joke.
01:18:50It's people who are manipulative and in fact, if you want to understand
01:18:54the emotions behind it because it's so flagrantly anti-rational, they
01:18:58can only have psychological motives.
01:19:00The reason why people don't like UPB is that UPB is the moral and
01:19:07philosophical codification of the conscience.
01:19:14It's the moral codification, the philosophical codification of the
01:19:18instinctual moral sense in the mind called the conscience.
01:19:25So when people get mad at UPB, they're not getting mad at UPB.
01:19:30Because then they would notice the rank contradiction of telling me
01:19:37that there's no such thing as morality and I should not say things that
01:19:40are false, which is a complete contradiction.
01:19:47It's their own relationship with their own conscience.
01:19:50Listen man, there's a lot of people in the world who've done some
01:19:53really, really, really bad stuff.
01:19:54A lot of people in the world, they've done some really bad stuff.
01:20:01They pushed and promoted propaganda.
01:20:05They have attacked the enthusiastic.
01:20:08They have lied consistently.
01:20:10They have falsified their way into sexual relationships.
01:20:16They have cheated.
01:20:19They have stolen.
01:20:21They may have raped.
01:20:23They may have even worse crimes on their conscience.
01:20:28And so when they come across a proof, a universal proof of morality,
01:20:35why would they get so skeevy and manipulative?
01:20:40You can't get an R from an S, you just did.
01:20:42Try again.
01:20:44No, you don't understand, right?
01:20:46Why would they get so mad?
01:20:47Well, because UPB, as a theory, is giving strength to their conscience,
01:20:52which they have repressed.
01:20:56I can't even imagine, maybe I'll read David Hume's biography at some point,
01:21:02but I can't even imagine what David Hume did that he felt it's so absolutely necessary
01:21:07to come up with a piece of self-contradictory garbage like,
01:21:09you cannot get an R from an S, you just did.
01:21:12So now that we accept that, let's just keep going.
01:21:17Working on the aughts.
01:21:20So, does that help?
01:21:22Is there anything else that I can do to clarify that?
01:21:28No, not really.
01:21:29I just think it's a bit of a waste that the guy doesn't ask these questions himself.
01:21:34It's a perfect opportunity right here and apparently he's not enthusiastic enough.
01:21:40Yeah, I mean, honestly, I've been doing this for decades at this point.
01:21:44It's inevitable that the people who come on the strongest
01:21:48online never show up to the actual conversation.
01:21:52It's kind of inevitable.
01:21:54All right, thank you for the question.
01:21:56Any other last comments or questions or criticisms or issues that we can get into before
01:22:02I get me a little lucky lunch and then do a call-in?
01:22:04Yes, sorry, I heard a bellow there from someone.
01:22:07Hello, Stefan, do you hear me?
01:22:09Yes, sir.
01:22:11Hi, Stefan, my name is Witek.
01:22:13I'm really happy that I can talk with you.
01:22:18I have a question.
01:22:19I know you don't do politics anymore, but I would like to ask a question because in the current
01:22:30situation, what do you think, how long do we have before we see really radical changes
01:22:39within society and we actually see the fall?
01:22:45Okay, tell me what you mean and where because Western civilization, sorry.
01:22:52Okay, so we need to do this thing where when I'm talking, you don't talk.
01:22:57I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really do, but it's really annoying, right?
01:23:01So I'm trying to ask a clarifying question and you immediately start over-talking me.
01:23:06Can we just have that civil distance where when I'm talking,
01:23:08you don't talk and I'll try to do the same thing?
01:23:12Yes.
01:23:13Okay, so where in the West are you talking about?
01:23:16Because America is on a very different and opposing trajectory as of
01:23:21early January than, say, Europe or Canada.
01:23:25So where is it that you're talking about when you talk about the fall?
01:23:29And help me understand what it is you mean by the fall.
01:23:31I just want to make sure that we're talking about the same things.
01:23:33Sorry, go ahead.
01:23:36I'm talking about Europe, Western Europe and,
01:23:41well, Eastern Europe as well because I don't think
01:23:44Eastern Europe is learning from the mistakes of the West.
01:23:50And, oh, I'm nervous now.
01:23:55I'm really sorry.
01:23:57No, that's fine.
01:23:58So you're talking about, let's talk about Western Europe for the moment
01:24:02and what do you mean by the fall?
01:24:06I mean, like, deterioration of governments, countries.
01:24:13I mean, we can see it in real time, obviously.
01:24:19But I'm talking about central banks falling.
01:24:24I'm talking about basic, modern times, basic services falling.
01:24:36I'm talking about, you know, okay, I'm living in UK, but I am not from UK.
01:24:44I moved to UK in 2006.
01:24:48My life changed a lot in the United Kingdom.
01:24:52No, you said Calais or UK?
01:24:54Sorry, I wasn't sure.
01:24:54UK.
01:24:55UK.
01:24:56So you moved to the UK, okay, in 2017, did you say?
01:25:002006.
01:25:002006.
01:25:01Sorry.
01:25:01Okay, go ahead.
01:25:03Um, I am, my life has changed since then a lot, and my relationships fall, break,
01:25:15and I am thinking about what time, ah, that's stupid.
01:25:21I'm sorry, Steph.
01:25:24I will disconnect myself because I'm wasting your time.
01:25:27I'm sorry.
01:25:28All right.
01:25:29Okay.
01:25:30All right.
01:25:31All right.
01:25:31Anybody else with any other questions or comments?
01:25:36Going once, going twice.