Man's Search for Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl: A Lesson for All Humanity
Hello internet. It has again been some time. I come back to you imbued with a new sense of purpose in life. Soon I will have a new season of this podcast out, this time on moral philosophy. But first I wanted to make this special on the most important book of our time: this one right here. Man’s Search for Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who survived the system of Nazi concentration camps spread across Europe; including within the overarching systems of infamous Auschwitz and Dachau. More than any other, this is the book we must be teaching to every single child in public education. I don’t care what Christian conservatives think; it’s not the Bible, it’s this book. My reasons as to why this book ought to be taught to every child constitute much of the remainder of this special…
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera | Review and Analysis
…One thing I find remarkable is that, as far as I can tell, one of these realities has to be true. Either everything is light or everything is heavy, there is no in between. And it’s not necessarily the eternal return that has to make it heavy as we’ll see later in the novel, but rather there being in a cosmic sense some ultimate impact of our lives, something that survives into eternity in one form or another. Even if we are reincarnated into nine hundred trillion lives, our actions become light if we fail to come back for nine hundred trillion and one…
SIIIEIV Artificial Intelligence: The Ethics and the Future of Humanity
…And if you’re a cynic who thinks true creativity can only ever be accomplished through a human brain, who views AI art as mere copies or imitations of other people’s art, let me ask you this: where do you think artistic inspiration comes from? To imagine a nonexistent object, say, a mountain made entirely of gold, you need to already have the concepts of gold and mountains floating around in your brain. Inspiration does not come from thin air - it comes from experience and observations. My entire podcast is an amalgamation of the things I’ve learned over the course of my brief existence, combined in an idiosyncratic way to represent the things I want to represent. There is a good example in the concept of the muse - such as Calliope from Greek mythology, who supposedly inspired Homer. How is artificial intelligence trained on data sets any different from a human drawing inspiration from a muse?…
SIIIEIII Artificial Intelligence: Probability and Inevitability
…We now stand at the crossroads of yet another fork in our history: artificial intelligence and the general direction or discontinuance of our future. If we make it just a little bit farther, we may reach a new golden age for all of humanity.
But to get there is the challenge. Future-minded people can’t afford to lose pragmatism or realism on the path to a more civilized age. It’s important that we know where we want to go, and also that we don’t speed to get there without checking for existential-threat-level landmines…
SIIIEII Artificial Intelligence: Emergence From Nothingness
Hello world. The news is, uh, dramatic, at this point in time. The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to be horrific. It seems we are still not over the genocide phase of humanity, as the soviets genocided Ukrainians through the hunger famine of the 30s and in ways large and small through the years. Uh, what else. There’s a still ongoing global pandemic, food, gas, and energy crises, and humanitarian and human rights issues across the world.
And what a time to be a law student in America. We’ll see if Roe v Wade is for sure overturned in a few weeks, but if it is…well, for better or worse this will essentially become my generation’s fight for civil rights - specifically, the civil rights of women to bodily autonomy in America…
SIIIEI Artificial Intelligence: Life is Weird
Life is a weird thing. It’s so very hard to predict how things will change moment to moment and year to year. In the past couple years I’ve gone through transformations of my own. Um, I’m now back in school, I’m pursuing a law degree. This podcast started as a side project of mine experimenting with search algorithms and neat programs. I like it overall. I’ll continue to do whatever I want with it pretty much. My own little microphone to broadcast my thoughts.
There’s a lot that’s been on my mind. A world in lockdown. Geopolitical tensions are possibly the highest since the cold war. It feels like world history is about to converge on a new paradigm. I can’t predict what will shift the balance of power. A technology may do it, or outright war…
SIIEVII Political Philosophy: Voltaire and Freedom of Speech
One of the foundational principles of a liberal democracy, one that many take for granted, is freedom of speech. The ability to speak your mind, and following from that the ability to believe what you want, to express yourself as you want, and for there to be a fundamental divide between matters of belief and matters of state.
If you want an entertaining biographical read, look up the life story of an 18th century Frenchman who referred to himself by the pen name Voltaire…
SIIEVI Political Philosophy: Plato's Republic, Revisited
In the wake of an attack on my own republic, the United States of America, I think it is incumbent on me to state in no uncertain terms that mob violence and political violence is abhorrent. The attack on the United States Capitol on January 6th of this year is the darkest day I have ever witnessed for my country. We’re going to talk about the nature of justice in this episode. I can tell you that the deadly riot in the heart of our democracy was not justice.
If you listened to my episode Democracy Killed Socrates, you may remember my mentioning The Republic as Plato’s attempt to discern the meaning of justice as it relates to a system of governance. However, given that this is one of the foundational texts of western civilization, I think it warrants a deeper examination here…
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse|Review and Analysis
Siddhartha was raised as the son of a Brahman, which in the culture is a sort of religious/priestly caste. I’m not an expert on the subject, but caste systems at least are fairly standard knowledge. He was privileged, and basically spoon-fed wisdom, old teachings of the Brahmans and such, from birth.
But as he grew older, he was not satisfied with what he had. He was not convinced that the world of the gods and men written on parchment is all there is. On one reading, this part isn’t all that profound. It’s the common trope of the hero’s journey, the hero must leave home and seek out the novel and the unknown in order to improve their own lives and the lives of those they care about…
SIIEV Political Philosophy: Take a Break From Politics
Hello my favorite listeners. I’ve been hitting the political bookshelf pretty hard lately in order to keep my facts straight and produce accurate and hopefully entertaining content on historical political philosophy.
Today I want to take an intentional break from that topic, both for my sake and yours as well. Of course you could just decide to skip this episode and move on to other news and things of a political nature, but I urge you to stick around. I’d like to argue for one basic premise: that there is more to life, much more, than politics. Because of the richness of the world around us and the incredible amount of uniquely individual experiences you are capable of, it would be a great tragedy to keep your mind locked in a one-dimensional pattern seeing everything in shades of grey. …
SIIEIV Political Philosophy: Capitalism, Adam Smith, and The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith. That’s about as generic an old-timey name as you can possibly get. But I assure you, the scotsman Adam Smith was anything but ordinary. Modern economics owes itself to this man’s philosophizing about the nature of human existence; specifically, existence within the context of a market. His magnum opus was titled, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”… or, more simply, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776. An important year on multiple fronts. Now please keep in mind while listening, I am no economist. I’m not really a numbers guy in general. The focus for me is not on the economics, but the philosophy, of a market system…
SIIEIII Political Philosophy: Read Me My Rights, John Locke
You, dear listener, have the right to remain silent. I mean, you don’t have to, but I think it would make listening to this show a little...easier?
Anyway, today let’s talk about rights: what are they, where do they come from.
No matter political leaning, it’s probably the biggest buzzword in the political sphere. Whether someone is advocating for rights they believe they already have, or lobbying to enact new rights not yet officially the law, it seems we would scarcely have political arguments if not for the concept of rights in the first place...
SIIEII Political Philosophy: Hobbes and the Sea Monster, Leviathan
Alright, so, strange title if you don’t know what it refers to. It’s a good thing you’re not being murdered at this very moment. It means you can listen to me!
But that’s kind of strange, isn’t it? The fact that you’re listening to me implies you have access to some sort of advanced electronic device and decent internet connection. And, sadly enough, that fact puts you in a better position than at least a billion people, probably closer to 3 billion.
Considering all available options, if someone has something that you want, and they don’t want to give it to you, one of the easiest ways to get it is to murder them and take their stuff. So why are you not dead? Now I can feel you recoiling a bit, but let’s consider this…
SIIEI Political Philosophy: Democracy Killed Socrates
Ahhh, democracy. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?.
The will of the people. Direct control over society’s destiny. Certainly preferable to the alternative. Right?
What is the alternative to democracy, exactly?
The short answer is, there isn’t just one. The slightly longer answer is, the alternative to democracy is usually some form of hell…
SIEVIII: Philosophical Pessimism, Buddhism, and...Hope?
I was very hesitant to create and release this episode. What I’m talking about today is bleak, to put it mildly. The bleakest outlook imaginable, as far as I can tell. Philosophical pessimism. The mere act of mentioning it and sharing the ideas with others is something I’m very conflicted about. Because, even if the outlook described by philosophical pessimism is a glimpse into the truth of the universe, it probably doesn’t do anyone any good to have that view. Let me be clear: the views expressed by the following writers and thinkers are not views I share. They were one part of my philosophical journey, and through the passage of pessimism I think I gained useful wisdom. Do me a favor, and don’t listen to this episode halfway. If you start it, listen to the end. I mention the darkness, but also the light…
SIEVII: What Even Is Philosophy?
Philosophy. I’ve said that word a lot on this show.
What...is it? Why do I care so much about it? Why does anyone care?
Firstly, I don’t think my life experience is anything approximating a universal standard. I’m sure there are cultural traditions where philosophy is the absolute first subject taught to anyone. For someone coming from that kind of culture, what I’m about to talk about could be the most obvious of things, as if I were explaining in detail the ABCs and 1,2,3s of the universe.
But I can say a philosophical background is definitely not how I grew up. I had no idea it was even a thing until I got to college, where I happened to stumble on it and fell into it, really, as my major and primary objective. I was in academia for a long time, where philosophy is held in fairly high regard at least in my experience. But it’s still pretty common even now in my life for me to be asked “What do you do with a degree in philosophy?”…
SIEVI: The Socratic Approach to Death (Featuring a Good Helping of Alan Watts)
Death and taxes. The two certainties we know in life, right? Though one of the certainties gets mentioned much, much more than the other, particularly around this time of the tax year.
So let’s talk about death. What is it, why is it, and perhaps most importantly, what does it mean?
It’s actually pretty hard to pinpoint when death occurs. Hospital soap operas often use it as a trope: time of death - 4:12 p.m., as the patient’s ekg flatlines. But is death specifically when the heart stops beating? That doesn’t seem right - hearts can be restarted, not always, but sometimes with electrical shocks and whatnot. Is death rather when brain function ceases? The brain is complicated. Very complicated. It seems in some way to contain us - whatever we are. But cells and brain cells specifically can carry on working for minutes or longer after all our critical organs shut down. These cells will die eventually, but not at that moment…
SIEV: Being Like Socrates / I Know That I Know Nothing (and I’m content)
What do you know? If you’re a normal, well-adjusted human being, I’m sure you think you know a good number of things. What you learned in school, what you learned at work, what seems so obvious to you on a daily basis. The sky is blue. Rain is wet. Puppies are adorable.
There’s a great mystery that comes from asking too many questions. Children do this all the time. Adults by and large lose their sense of wonder in the process of growing up, but children will ask “why” until you can’t give an answer. “Why do fish live in the water?” “because they have gills, which let them breathe water”. “Oh. Why do fish have gills?” “Um, because fish adapted gills over looooong long periods of time to survive”. “Oh. Why did fish adapt?” “*sigh* because life adapts to survive.” “Aaaaahh. *pause* Why does life survive?” “Because that’s what life does. It exists, so it survives.” “Oh. Why does life exist?”
And at this point, you really can’t give an answer to that little nuisance…
SIEIV: Brains and Zombies: The Location of Consciousness (Or Is It?)
Good morning/afternoon/night...
If you’re wondering, consciousness is still a mystery. No recent nobel prize winners for a solution to it. Let’s talk further about what it is to be a body and mind with consciousness, which at first glance is what we seem to be.
Does the body rule the mind or does the mind rule the body? -Morrissey, that melancholy and somewhat controversial English singer-songwriter is fond of that question.
To clarify and hopefully address any confusion in the last episode, let’s define as best we can the terms mind, body, and consciousness…
SIEIII: The Very Basics of Consciousness: What is a Mind?
Question: What is a mind?
Answer: I am? You are? Or am I a body? Are you an embodied mind or a body with a mind?
What in the name of God is going on here? What is all this nonsense of existence?
That was seven questions in a row. This is going to be a fun episode, dear listener…