Chapters

0:18 - Rant on Laziness and Cowardice
4:21 - The Cost of Abstract Nonsense
8:23 - Clarity in Times of Crisis

Long Summary

In this episode, I express my deep frustration with those who prioritize abstract philosophical discussions while neglecting urgent real-world issues. We are submerged in a crisis where malevolent forces wield increasing power through technology, education, and media manipulation. As we face threats to civilization and our freedoms, I challenge the relevance of highbrow philosophical inquiries when our society resembles a sinking ship in desperate need of lifeboats. Rather than engaging in meaningful dialogue, too many people are fixated on the intricacies of philosophical problems that seem trivial in the context of pressing issues.

I highlight the absurdity of discussing the philosophical nature of concepts while tangible dangers loom. Every moment lost to irrelevant debates can mean the difference between life and death in a society facing existential threats. I emphasize that philosophy should serve as a guide for action rather than a distraction from it. When faced with crisis, we must be willing to take decisive steps, even if they involve making tough choices or adopting flawed answers, rather than remaining paralyzed by uncertainty or indecision.

Addressing the "hard problem of consciousness," I argue that while such questions are intellectually stimulating, they bear little significance when juxtaposed against the horrors perpetrated by those who seek to undermine our freedom. The problems of consciousness and free will can wait while we contend with immediate dangers that threaten our way of life. It's not that these philosophical discussions aren't worth having; it's that the urgency of our current situation demands clear and actionable thought.

I wrestle with the notion that philosophical pursuits can become an escape for some, allowing them to feel clever while they ignore the very real suffering occurring around them. The failure to address pressing societal concerns and the tendency to get lost in unanswerable questions can appear cowardly, a form of intellectual vanity that ultimately serves only to obscure the way forward amidst chaos.

Throughout this discourse, I highlight the imperative for action over abstraction. The urgency of our circumstances requires that we confront our fears and reclaim our agency. I express my disdain for those who, under the guise of philosophical inquiry, impede the very progress that is essential in these trying times. Instead of getting lost in the weeds of theoretical discussions, we must band together, confront the evil around us, and work toward promoting virtue, truth, and moral courage. The time for philosophical waffling has long passed; it's a call to lead, to follow, or step aside and allow those willing to act to move forward unimpeded.

Transcript

[0:00] So, just a straight-up rant here. One of the things that really, really pisses me off is when people mask their laziness and cowardice in the pursuit of unimportant, quote, solutions to unimportant problems.

[0:18] Rant on Laziness and Cowardice

[0:18] So, it's kind of like the boat is sinking, and we need to get people to the lifeboats, and we need to maybe find a way to bail the water out. Somebody's got a radio for help, or we're all going to fucking drown. And people are like, ah, but what is the philosophical nature of water? There's pompous fucking windbags. Jesus. Ah, God above give me strength with assholes like this. See, human society right now is undergoing a massive crisis. Evil is gaining power day by day through technology, through education, through propaganda, through the media, through the internet, through deplatforming and funding of all kinds of terrible causes from all kinds of nefarious sources. And we're kind of fighting here to hang on to civilization and the remaining vestigial remnants of our freedoms. And people are like, well, but there's a hard problem of consciousness, you know, consciousness actually is.

[1:18] Well, consciousness rights that resides in your brain, and your brain is going to be splattered against a wall if the bad guys win. Oh, but what, what, what, what, what, what? Do you know that there have been brain scans that show that, that, by God, don't you understand? There are brain scans that show that you have an impulse before you have an actual decision, and that impulse often cut as the actual, Shut up! Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Oh, Bob, hang on. We got a customer on the line, and he's really, really angry. Well, what is the philosophical origin of the word customer? It's like, no, like, Bob, you're in customer service. Can you just take this call?

[2:03] But service is such an abstract concept, and it's like, oh, my God. You just don't want to answer the call. You just want to get paid, and you don't want to answer the call. In philosophy, bad answers are worse than no answers. If you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, you've got to go somewhere. Like if you're lost in the middle of the wilderness, you've got to go somewhere. So a bad answer is better than no answer, which is just staying there and freezing to death. In the realm of philosophy, a bad answer is worse than no answer. And an irrelevant problem is worse than just shutting up and getting out of the way. Because it's people like this who make philosophy seem abstract, pointless, and useless. Dust in the wind, man. We're just like dust in the wind. So the problem of consciousness, well, but what is consciousness? And how does it operate? And how can we truly understand the nature of blah, blah, blah? Who cares? Maybe in a free society 500 years from now, we can fuck around with this bullshit. But right now, we've got bad guys who want to enslave the whole fucking planet. Oh, but, but, but, but while it's true that, that consciousness involves electrical, electrical currents, I mean, but by gosh, not all electrical currents are consciousness.

[3:30] Jesus Christ. Oh, my apologies for blasphemy. Oh, my God. Hey, we need some ammo. The enemy's coming over the ridge. Ah, but philosophically speaking, not everything that is made of bullet material is a bullet. You're going to get us all killed. My God. Code Blue, he's going into anaphylactic shock. You're going to need to do some CPR. Ah, now what's interesting is that the heart runs on electrical signals, but not everything that has electrical signals is a human heart. I am very smart. Boo, flatlined, he's dead.

[4:21] The Cost of Abstract Nonsense

[4:22] While you waffle burger yourself into obscurity, it's all vanity. It's all.

[4:32] You just get to feel smart while cock-blocking everyone's ramward-thrusting forward motion of actual practical thought. I have bottomless rage and contempt for the people who clog up the necessary art of practical action in the realm of philosophy with abstract bullshit nonsense. Well, but who has to say what the origins of free will from an atomic standpoint are? I'm very smart. Oh my God. It's fine to have hobbies, there's nothing wrong with having hobbies, but asking questions for which A, there is no possibility of an answer at the moment, and B, even if it were answered, it would not help in the fight against evil and the promotion of virtue. You see the problem? So, the problem of consciousness, which is how do the neurons and electricity and chemicals in our brain give rise to consciousness? We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. But let's say we found out tomorrow. How would that thwart one evildoer or promote virtue, truth, goodness, moral courage, and the promotion of moral behavior in society?

[5:54] So, we can answer the question. If the brain was simple enough that we could understand it, of course, we'd be too simple to even think of the question. We don't know. It's like there's a fucking sniper shooting children, and the security guard is like, well, but we don't technically know what makes someone unalived versus lived. I mean, it's obviously some combination of energy, electricity, and cell activity, but these things can occur in things that, oh, can you do something to help the kids who are getting shot.

[6:33] No, I would rather waffle about unanswerable questions about the nature and processes of life itself, and I would not care to partake in anything that might, threaten the interests of evildoers, because you see, evildoers, well, they can by their very name, you can guess that they actually do some evil, and therefore, because they are evildoers and might do some evil, they might do some evil to me. Now, I don't want to confront that I'm a rank absolute fucking coward, so what I'll do is waffle on about unanswerable questions that even if they could be answered would not dislodge any aim-goal or motive of any evildoer in this or any other world.

[7:12] Oh, it's wretched. It's triage where people are dying by the score. There's been a plane crash and 500 people are in the ER and they're dying by the score. And you're waffling on about whether the electrical system in the hospital more or less closely resembles a human heart. Oh, my God. Just clock it up the place. You know, lead, follow or get out of the way. Anything else is just absolutely wretched and kind of murderous in a way, right? So somebody who is claiming to help in an ER, but is simply getting in the way and waffling on and distracting people and not following orders to get plasma or necessary supplies to keep people alive, it's just getting people killed. It's just getting people killed. He's a sadist, really. A vainglorious sadist, two sides of the same coin. He just, or she, just bought a waffle on, looked smart, stymied other people, get their stupid sick satisfaction out of asking questions. Oh, I guess you don't know the answer to the question. But it's a very interesting question. Why, I guess you don't know. It's like, I'm saving lives, bro. Saving lives.

[8:23] Clarity in Times of Crisis

[8:23] And you're just clogging up shit and getting people harmed because you're scared of evil and won't admit it and just want to look clever. Oh, it's wretched. Okay.