0:05 - First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
7:25 - Economic Insights and Tariff Talks
14:37 - Val Kilmer: A Tribute
15:36 - Parenting Reflections
25:09 - The Nature of Lying
35:54 - Relationships and Truth
47:44 - Indiana Jones Controversies
53:00 - AI in Art and Creation
In this episode, we dive into a lively discussion on various socio-economic issues and current events, reflecting on the implications of tariffs and trade barriers as we explore listeners' questions and comments. Drawing from a chart of tariff rates among G20 nations, including a comparison of the United States’ rates to those of Argentina, South Korea, and others, we tackle the complexities behind the perception of America being at a disadvantage in global trade. Echoing sentiments from decades past, I express some ambivalence about the appropriateness of these tariffs, considering recent adjustments from allies like Canada and India in response to U.S. policies.
We then shift our focus to market reactions to ongoing tariff discussions, while I highlight Peter Schiff’s observations on the downturn in risk assets following unexpected tariff announcements. Here, I hypothesize on the misconception that accurate change can occur without any economic fallout, stressing the sometimes harsh realities of financial adjustments. This serves as a springboard into a more remote reflection – remembering the late Val Kilmer, who dedicated immense passion and authenticity to his roles, leading to introspections about dedication in our personal and professional lives.
Later in the podcast, the conversation transitions toward examining human behavior, particularly regarding the ideological stances people hold regarding tariffs. I urge listeners to question the motivations behind such beliefs, evaluating whether they stem from pure political theory or a desire to avoid confrontation. Complementing this, we discuss the alarming statistics surrounding crime in society, noting the disproportionate rate of crime attributed to a small fraction of the population, and reflect on public policies that often overlook these realities.
As the dialogue progresses, I share insights into the nature of personal relationships, particularly regarding truth and integrity within them. There lies a reflection on the consequences of dishonesty, with tales and examples illustrating how falsehoods can shape one's reality and damage connections with others. I ponder whether liars ever realize the cost they pay for lack of sincerity, and what pathways exist for healing broken trust once lies have proliferated.
Transitioning to the lighter side of things, we explore various cultural references including Val Kilmer's films and continuing trends in media, questioning the evolution of franchises like Star Wars and their reception by longtime fans. This culminates in a more animated tech discussion about gaming, instigating nostalgia and pondering the viability of quality in new releases compared to the classics.
Closing the episode, I reaffirm my commitment to fostering meaningful conversations, urging the audience to remain engaged and thoughtful about societal issues and personal connections. I express gratitude for the audience's involvement, encouraging ongoing dialogue as we navigate these complex terrains together. As always, I invite listeners to keep contributing their thoughts and questions for future episodes, ensuring that the conversation continues to evolve and resonate.
[0:00] Let's just get started right away with our Wednesday night live late night in Berlin.
[0:06] First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin. I hope you guys are doing well. And let's get into your questions, comments, issues, challenges.
[0:23] I don't know if you're interested in the economics of tariffness, tariffing. This is from Cain Coa the Great. In 2023, the United States had the lowest trade barriers among G20 nations and imposed lower tariffs than most of them. Trump's right. We don't have free trade and America is getting ripped off. So this is something he was talking about. I remember him talking about this stuff in the 80s back in the day, right? Yeah, so, I mean, Argentina, 25%, South Korea, 23%, United Kingdom, 22%, Japan is even at 12%, Mexico at 10%, United States is 6%, 6% or 7%. It seems reasonable, to be honest with you. It seems kind of reasonable. Now, of course, Canada, according to some reports, has agreed to drop some of the tariffs based upon retaliatory tariffs. Um, from America. And so this is what we were talking about way back in the day, right? Way back in the day. Um, so yeah.
[1:44] Peter Schiff, of course, is writing, uh, the risk assets are tanking after hours as Trump's tariffs are worse than expected. Dow futures are already down over a thousand, which is 2.5%. S&P futures are down 4%. And NASDAQ futures are down 4.5%. Bitcoin is only down 3.5%. Gold, however, the true safe haven hit a new record high. Yeah, you know, it's a funny thing that people have this belief that you can get some sort of progress and change, or a sort of realignment of the whole economic system without there being dislocations and change.
[2:21] Just crazy. Crazy. Factual. True. But a little crazy. Why people think that this is a thing, or that this is valid, or... Anyway. Val Kilmer died. Very good-looking guy. Good actor. And it was a... He did a... He spent like a year in character to play Jim Morrison in a film called, of course, The Doors. It was an Oliver Stone film. Not a great... Not a great movie. But he was fantastic in it. And... Played the character super well they had to basically peel him out of Jim Morrison's old leather pants and he spent a year in character to get ready for that movie man was dedicated I've never seen I've never seen Heat and I've never seen Tombstone but those are the two other, um movies that he's supposed to be quite good in um Top Secret was a very funny movie that he made when he was young he's a Juilliard graduate and ended up doing just kind of song and dance stuff Thank you, Donnie. Thank you, Anthony. I just kind of did this kind of funny, goofy song and dance stuff. It was by the guys who made Airplane Later. Very funny. Very funny movie. According to BRICS News, Canada has conceded to the President Trump and agrees to remove all tariffs if the United States does.
[3:39] Crazy. I mean, actually perfectly sane. Let's see here. Did you know that the sun, this is a fun, on the world of engineering, is a fun account on X. Space fact. The sun converts millions of tons of its mass into pure energy every single second by fusion, causing its gravitational pull to weaken over time. This means Earth is better able to escape. We're moving away from the sun at a rate of 1.5 centimeters every year every year isn't that wild.
[4:25] All right, what else do we have? If you have questions, comments, I'm certainly happy to put my brain that way, that way inclined. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now considering cutting $23 billion worth of tariffs on United States imports. That's quite something too. According to Autism Capital on X, Vietnam has cut all tariffs on American goods in response to Trump's reciprocal tariffs. So I wonder, I wonder how the libertarians are reacting to this. Tariffs are bad, tariffs are bad. It's like, okay, but it's a form of self-defense to say, I'm going to raise tariffs unless you lower yours. are they following this? Are they pursuing this? Are they accepting this or anything like that?
[5:31] This, um, Candace Horbacks, Horbacks, had a very, uh, a very big rant. I guess it was a rant about her marriage and how she almost divorced her husband. Now, I don't know, maybe it was an excess of hard manual labor when I was younger, but I do have kind of a tough time listening to people complain about how difficult it is to run a family in the modern world. You know i mean you know back in the day right back in the day there was.
[6:09] No laundry machines had to do it by hand you had to get your own water from the well there was no air conditioning no heating no vacuum cleaners no dishwashers, you have to go and get the wood by hand to make to make anything i just find it is it just me i just find it kind of tough to hear people talk about how difficult it is to raise a family and do these kinds of things at the moment ah crazy she's got four kids and her husband works as a line man which is i think an electrical guy can make good coin 250 300 with overtime and all of that. But she's getting mad at him because he didn't empty the dishwasher before going to work. And he says, well, I had to get to work. And she's like, well, but now you made me late for work. It turns out she's an influencer, basically, I think, working from home with a nanny. At least that's what I've read. I don't know the actual fact. But I don't know, man. There are just some people who can complain about just about anything. Just about anything.
[7:15] All right.
[7:25] Yo.
[7:37] Yeah, sorry for the slight murmur cast. I'm just on some ear meds. And it's buzzing a little bit when I talk, but I'm sure it'll be better. Very soon. Very soon. Yeah a lot of times a lot of times people are ideological purists because they don't want to swing any weight in a conflict or in a debate so they say well i'm against tariffs not because, you know, some absolute purity spiral in the abstract. But because they don't want to annoy people by threatening tariff escalation and causing conflict and all that kind of stuff. So I think that's a fairly big issue for a lot of people. But I wonder if the libertarians are saying, you know, if the tariffs end up being lowered, lowered, because of all of that, all of Trump's stuff, I wonder if they'll acknowledge that. I have doubts.
[8:51] All right, let's see what else I have for y'all. This is according to, Stuart Williams. And I've seen this kind of data before. I did The Truth of Back crime many years ago. Check this out. A small number of criminals commit the vast majority of crimes. One famous study found that just 1% of the population is accountable for 63% of all violent crime convictions. Isn't that wild? 1% of the population accountable for 63% of all violent crime convictions, which is why when you want to destabilize a society, you just keep people out of jail.
[9:36] I thought this is interesting. This guy, Darth Powell, wrote, don't forget you're worth, kings. If you're at least six feet tall, not obese, and you earn over $100,000 a year, you are, as a male, 0.45% of the U.S. Population are less than one in 200 American men. So that's not married, any race, at least six foot tall, not obese, earning at least $100,000 per year. And this is population ages 20 to 45. It's 0.45. Percent of the population isn't that worth.
[10:12] I thought this was interesting. Again, this is World of Engineering. The first powered flight by Orville Wright was slightly shorter than the wingspan of the largest planes today. Isn't that wild? Isn't that wild? This was a science. There are more hydrogen atoms in a single molecule of water than there are stars in the entire solar system. Took me a moment. BlackRock CEO and appropriately named Larry Fink says the U.S. Dollar is at risk of losing its reserve status to Bitcoin. Wowzy, that's really something. Things I don't particularly believe. Argentinian President Javier Millet has declassified documents confirming that Adolf Hitler survived World War II, escaped to Argentina with the aid and assistance of the U.S. And its allies, lived for another 20 years, and fathered two daughters. I have doubt. I have significant doubt.
[11:23] All right. Carl Hendrick on X wrote, this is an extraordinary post from a college professor about their students' lack of ability to focus and read books, incredibly depressing. He wrote, most of us students are functionally illiterate. This is not a joke. By functionally illiterate, I mean, unable to read and comprehend adult novels by people like Barbara Kingsolver, Carlson Whitehead, and Richard Powers. I picked these three authors because they're all recent Pulitzer Prize winners, an objective standard of a serious adult novel. Furthermore, I've read them all and can testify that they're brilliant, captivating writers. We're not talking about Finnegan's Wake here, but at the same time, they aren't young adult romanticy or Harry Potter either. Wow. It must be kind of depressing, I think, to deal with the digital, digital kids, the digital kids. It must be very tough. It must be very tough.
[12:32] I think, I think, I'm trying to think among my friends when I was sort of a teenager, I think I was the only one really plowing through serious literature. Yeah, I think so. But it must be really tough now. It must be really tough now for teachers as a whole. Drive me crazy it's like a whole different set of language or all right darth powell also wrote, a household needs to make a minimum of 140 228 to afford a median home that means only 27 percent of households can afford a median home 80 percent of households owning 140 228 already own so 50 percent of the housing market is chasing 5.4 percent of the home buyers that can afford a home that does not already own one this ends exactly like you think it would yeah.
[13:31] Fx hedge wrote a couple of days ago 6.1 million americans are in default on their mortgages 6.1 million americans the delinquency rate for fha insured loans have reached 11.3 percent the highest in years. I think we've seen this movie before. Elon Musk did call for an end to the Federal Reserve. It is a consummation devoutly to be wished.
[14:05] All right, let's see here. This is very true. This is from Nietzsche. He wrote, Marriage as a long conversation. When entering into a marriage, one ought to ask oneself, do you believe you are going to enjoy talking with this woman up into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory, but most of the time you are together will be devoted to conversation. That is absolutely true. Absolutely true.
[14:37] This is also interesting um i'm noticing this of course as my daughter gets gets older right she'll be 17 this year uh sahil bloom wrote 95 of the time you have with your children is gone by the time they turn 18 just just put that through your noggin just work that through your noggin right 95 of the time you have with your children is gone by the time they turn 18, isn't that wild no matter how many times you do something that will come a day when you do it for the last time there will be a last time your kids want you to read them a bedtime story the last time you'll go for a long walk with your sibling a last time you'll hug your parents at a family gathering a last time your friend will call you for support that's very true you know people think oh i have you know maybe 20 years left with my parents but if you only visit them 10 times a years. It's not 20 years. Right? It's just 20 visits. It's not time.
[15:37] It's proximity that matters, I think. And people forget that, I think, a lot. ...
[15:57] All right, let me just see here. I think we did all of that, so let me just dip back in here. Let's see, do we have questions, comments, issues, challenges? Sorry, again, I'm just murmuring a little, but I'm sure it'll be a better sin. All right. Sorry I normally would come with more but I thought we'd have some questions and maybe my, lack of visceral energy is killing the conversation I'll just give people a couple more minutes in case there's any other comments or questions but I have reached deep into my bag of tricks and don't have much more so if you have a question or comment I'm certainly happy to help and answer as best I can. Otherwise we'll have to do an early night. Going once, once, twice. Is it, um, I'm just going to refresh here.
[17:14] Maybe I'm just not getting comments. Oh, maybe we are. Ah, good. Sorry. I just, they weren't showing up. Okay. Good, good, good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh yeah. Boy, a lot of comments. My apologies. I felt like, my God, I'm the most boring podcaster in history.
[17:39] Hey Stef, I had a really great weekend going to see my kids. Genuinely had an awesome time. Glad to catch your stream while I'm manually scanning a bunch of paperwork on a flatback scanner. Thank you. All right.
[17:55] Yeah dark holiday in tombstone i'm in my prime, yeah the director was asked if val kilmer was difficult to work with he's like i never met val kilmer i only met um dark holiday um let's see here, hi Stef i have a tongue-in-cheek question slash comment have you ever noticed that business owners seem to have a stronger immune system than the typical W2 employees. Entrepreneurs never seem to get sick, push through minor ailments, whereas others always seem to use all of their leave year in and year out. But business owners always seem to be demonized and not appreciated for their hard work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, there's a lot of people, and I kind of get it, right? But there's a lot of people who are just trying to, you know, get through life on the bare minimum. Right and you know it's like hey man if i have five six sick days before the end of the year i gotta take them you know they're just trying to get by on the bare minimum it's not a kind of life that i've really wanted to live in that kind of way but it definitely is a thing it's definitely a thing for a lot of people.
[19:11] All right. Thank you for the tip. I appreciate that. It's just a matter of stakes, too. One of the big challenges with being a business manager, owner, entrepreneur, is to get people to invest in the business as if it's their business. If that makes sense to get people you know I'm not laying I'm not laying stones I'm building a cathedral that kind of thing right, people are only saying tariffs are bad because it's bad for multinationals so they've disseminated that sentiment down to the plebeian masses yeah yeah, arbitrage right which is where there's different values in different countries is a really tough part of free market economics, right? It's a really tough part of free market economics is that there's just people out there in the world who are willing to work for a lot less. I understand the libertarian arguments is someone, but it only makes sense if both parties refrain from tariffs. Yeah. Yeah.
[20:31] All right somebody writes last week i was witness to a trash planet woman who cried wolf, uh we're doing tree work in a semi-rural area suddenly over my chainsaw muffs we hear a woman screaming help help i need a neighbor over and over again it was the kind of screaming you expect from a broken leg or trapped under a car i quickly He marched through the woods, phone in hand, 911, ready, and just as I emerge from the bushes, it stops. Turns out that it was a row between a woman and her boyfriend. That's not good. He says, I made sure that she was okay and told her and her 130-pound nearly naked boyfriend that you make that kind of racket and the cops are going to get called. I hate Trash Planet. Yeah. Hello, Astraeus. Welcome. Welcome. My boss usually pushes through sickness, but he got COVID for three weeks, and it laid him low. Let me ask this question of you guys. I was thinking about this earlier this week. Let me ask this question of you guys. How many really good liars do you know? How many really good liars do you know? People who can just, you know, spin it off and spin it yarn, spin the yarn and push it forward. How many really good liars do you know?
[22:01] I used to know quite a few. I mean, I worked in the business world. I used to know quite a few. And they really, they do feel to me very much like a different species. You know, a debate, and it's an argument or a debate or something that I have with myself on a regular basis is, do liars suffer from their lying? Do liars suffer from their lying? I don't honestly know. I don't honestly know. I mean, I know it costs them in some sort of abstract way. They can't fall in love. They can't get close. They can't be vulnerable. They can't be, obviously, very reliably honest. So they can't really have good relationships. But, you know, if I had the ability to fly but didn't know it, I wouldn't miss it. So do they do they suffer are they aware that they're lying that they feel humiliated because to me lying is largely an act of cowardice i mean it can be manipulation and exploitation it's largely an act of cowardice but man do they do they suffer you know i have you have you had this experience have you had this experience where you know there's somebody in your life you've known for a long time, they're not particularly virtuous, to put it mildly. And.
[23:31] As you get older, you kind of wait for the punishment to come, if that makes sense. You kind of wait for the punishment to come. Otherwise, it's sort of like watching somebody be a chainsmoker and continuing to run their marathons or something like that. It's crazy. Will you divulge who you're going to vote for in a candidacy's election and why? I don't think so. Let's see here. One, my mother-in-law is a great liar. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Rachel. At least two, off the top of my head. She does suffer. Oh, your mother-in-law does suffer because her three sons have no respect for her. I'm sorry about that. Maybe my dad, says someone. I have cut them all out of my life. One I grew up with and another I work with currently, the guy at work does it with no obvious trouble or remorse. Yeah. Isn't that wild? Isn't that no friction? We can tell every time she's lying, it's written all over her face.
[24:40] Yeah, it's wild. It's just people who, and there are, I mean, what is the percent of pathological liars? It's not small. I think we saw that over COVID, right?
[25:09] Pathological lying lacks a consensus definition that appears to be compulsive and without reason. Let's see here. I'm just trying to think if there's a percentage here. Yeah there certainly is some uh um there's some physical markers for it in brain matter for sure, does it say i think it says, everything you need to know will it give me a percentage is that everything i feel it is, yeah but they can really drive you crazy and it is it is such a profitable um it is such a profitable approach to things that i would be surprised if it was less than five percent of the population.
[26:38] Yeah, I don't think there is. Over a one-week span, about 95% of people report telling at least one lie. Yeah, I think that's fair. Ah, yes. The first person to write about pathological lying, was the first person to earn a PhD in psychology in the US, G. Stanley Hall. In 1890, Hall published an article about dishonesty in a group of 300 children he studied. In discussing the various types of lies that the children told, he mentioned that about 7% of them seemed to exhibit pathological lying. He argued that some children would take on entirely fraudulent personas, often in seek of attention. Others would develop very sophisticated tricks, cons and lies. Hmm. He went on to make the case that if these pathological liars were not treated properly and drastically, the children would move into adulthood becoming impostors, charlatans, and adroit liars. Let's see here. I'm just trying to think if there's any obvious pretty old data. Yeah but they really can drive you crazy and it's a it's a big heavy it's a heavy price that you have to pay in terms of human trust having those kinds of people around right.
[28:04] Somebody writes, my best friend through grade school was a compulsive liar, mostly to look cool or get admiration. Ultimately, it led to no one really trusting or respecting him. Really smart guy, but seemed almost an addiction to him. Still keep in touch from time to time, but he's married and divorced with a child now. Are NPCs lying to themselves, avoiding truths or investigation. Speaking of Canada, how crazy are they actually over the tariffs? Tim Pool reported that his security reported he had the highest number of death threats ever coming from Canadians, stemming from his joke tweet about America annexing Canada. Of course, that's not going to happen, right? It's not going to happen. But I remember reading many years ago that canada has sort of a younger sibling relationship to america which means kind of testy and always looking to one up and uh kind of um wanting to level up or over level so anytime there's any aggression coming from america it bonds canadians together in a bond of wholly resentful younger sibling steel yeah.
[29:18] Rachel says, lots of influencers on social media constantly lie to their audience. Yeah, I think that's true. And there doesn't seem to be much circling back, you know? Oh, yeah, that reminds me, speaking of circling back, I made a comment a while ago about how the railways in America, as they were developing, ended up with a similar gauge for trains. And somebody pointed out that this was, in fact, a government mandate. And I looked it up and I was wrong. It was in fact a government mandate. That having been said, I think it would have been much more efficient for there not to be a government mandate because what happens when the government gets control of the railroads, the politicians, right? Then they buy votes by having the railroad go all over the place. Thomas DiLorenzo, was it Tom Woods or Thomas DiLorenzo wrote about this, that rather than having a fairly straight line, you end up with these trains winding all over the place because the politics get in. So There's a certain amount of efficiency that came out of the state, which is the same gauge, which does reduce competition, which is not great. But you do end up with these sort of lower intestine spaghetti strap train routes. So there is a certain amount of inefficiency, but I just wanted to be clear about that. Somebody did point that out, and I appreciate that correction. Thank you.
[30:41] Somebody says, I find it wicked how seamlessly my co-worker lies. Yeah, when you see it happening, it's wild, eh? It's like this hollow glass empty soul thing going on. Somebody says, if we're counting people we've cut off, my ex-boyfriend long distance, not doing that ever again, lied about his immigration status for at least a few months, possibly longer. Still not sure what his end game was with that exactly. I assume it's to get married and try and get his citizenship that way. But strange, right? I'm afraid to refresh over here, but let me see, I just want to make sure I'm not missing any comments elsewhere.
[31:44] All right sorry people are just typing so i'm just gonna wait for those comments to catch up but yeah i don't i don't know i mean i think i think that people do suffer i think people do suffer but i don't think they know that they suffer.
[32:00] Um there's a i mean a pretty terrifying book as a whole is the catcher in the rye and in it, holden caulfield is told by a rather creepy older teacher that uh he he's the kind of guy i remember there'd be sort of two bits and i did a show on this many years ago and uh one is uh he's shooting rubber bands from the corner in an office and the other is that he's falling and doesn't even know, that he falls he doesn't even know you're falling, and you don't even know that you're falling? If you have, you know, no particular honesty or connection or correction or dedication, truth and openness and directness, if you don't have any of that, do you even miss or know what you don't have? Again, to me, it's terrifying. I mean, maybe there's a bit of an old vengeful Old Testament God part of me that's just like, but they should suffer. But they should suffer, oh yes um james did some great work this week um, freedomain.com forward slash playlist.
[33:15] So freedomain.com forward slash playlist uh james we should also mirror that to playlists plural right because it's more than one or there will be um yeah freedomain.com slash playlist we are and we have resurrected those playlists they're really really good peaceful parenting ones iq ones just a wide variety of playlists that you can also go to fdrpodcasts.com under the playlist container.
[33:46] Yeah, and there was a fan of the show who did all the original curating of the podcast, and we really do thank him for that. It was great. Jared says, I was always struck with Holden's contemplation about punching the toothbrush into his roommate's throat. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he... Well, J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield had a lot of sublimated murderous rage. Um i always remember the the the the roommate with the pimples and squeezing the pimples and it's just so visceral and vile um a lot of a lot of what people do when they get really angry get sort of venomously bitterly ragefully angry is they surround themselves with more and more ugliness until they just lose lose their minds and then give themselves permission to do terrible things. Surrounding yourself with ugliness is one way to end up loosing your temper in unholy ways on the world.
[34:58] Sorry, just making sure that I still got... Yeah, okay. We're still getting that text coming in, but they seem to be a little slow today. And again, thank you for your patience as I recover my, voice freedom.com slash donate to help out the show chris says i think you're right staff i don't think liars like that even know what they're missing or they have lost their true selves in the midst of the lies they've spun through time yeah, you know certainly and this is i think that would give this piece of wisdom for sure that certainly in the second half of your life all of your relationships are defined by what you did in the first half. I mean, you can change, and there's options to change, but it's really hard as you sort of move forward. But...
[35:54] If you've based your marriage on lies, if you've based your relationship on your children with lies, if you've based your career on lies, I mean, really, for the second half of your life, I mean, are you going to start telling the truth? You'd have to uproot everything, rewind everything, and start all over again. All right. Uh so i mean no canada does have some free speech uh i mean i know that america has the first amendment but there seems to be a fairly endless number of ways around all of that um, that jordan peterson's issue was not foundationally around free speech if i understand this correctly but because he's a psychologist he has certain professional obligations that he has to fulfill and that's a little bit different from just pure free speech if that makes sense, i'm not justifying what was done to jordan peterson but there's a different matter than just pure sort of legal free speech.
[36:56] Somebody says i rented from a guy that i was worried about as a liar and the second worst landlord in my county he never took advantage of me but i was on guard he was a multi-millionaire but lived in one of his run-down tenements. I think he spent so much of his life tricking and scheming, he's never enjoyed his wealth. Yeah, yeah. A lot of people become wealthy, and obviously it doesn't bring them connection, love, joy, happiness. It certainly doesn't bring them virtue, especially if they got their money in less than honorable ways. What was I going to say?
[37:46] I really can't believe that they're still making Star Wars movies. It's amazing to me. And you know what's wild? I didn't realize this, but it kind of makes sense in a way. Val Kilmer in the original Top Gun had only 10 minutes of screen time. Isn't that wild? Talk about owning the minor role, right? It's something that I remember from theater school. I had a director tell me, there are no small roles, only small actors. It's kind of true. All right. It's funny to think that, I think it was probably 12 years ago that I did an entire show on the difference between male and female sports abilities. It is so difficult to be so far ahead of your time, so to speak.
[38:58] All right. Do you guys do Nintendo at all? Sorry, just completely yank topics from side to side. Do you guys um do nintendo at all the switch my daughter was going to buy one many years ago when she was little we were giving you half these but she ended up she liked a game called sound shapes i think it was called sound shapes she wanted to be able to play in the car.
[39:29] All right um, Zim says, liars honestly believe they're geniuses, like they've breached some great secret of reality that lying has advantages. Why would they give up a superpower so they can do something as disgusting as tell the truth? That's a very good way to put it. And also, yeah, thanks, James, for the update. We have a chatbot for the StefBOT AIs, which are fantastic, by the way, and I think have more inflection than I do at the moment. But the CephWatt AIs, we had trouble with the provider. There were some technical hiccups up there. And so we've got them all resurrected and running up, running up. So yes, if you're a supporter, you can go to premium.freedomain.com and be sure to check out the AIs. We've got Peaceful Parenting AI. That's also available at peacefulparenting.com. With the StefBOT AI, which is the general one. We've got the Bitcoin AI. We've got the call-in AI. Like, really, really good stuff.
[40:41] Somebody says, my kids have a Switch, but we don't use it very often. Oop, I lost it. Mario Kart with my kids is a lot of fun. Yeah. Stop playing games for the time being, but I have a Switch. Yeah, I haven't played, I think Baldur's Gate was the last game that I played, and I mostly did that to play with my daughter, who had a lot of fun with that. But I haven't played a game and I can't find anything that just seems fun.
[41:14] Yeah, freedomain.com slash playlists. Yeah, so plural. Playlist or playlists will work. Somebody says, I used to love Star Wars. Disney murdered it so hard that I no longer care and have sold off all old books, comics, games, etc. You make enough horrible sequels and the love of the original is ruined. Yeah. The only way to remain pure is to skirt success. I think I've done a pretty good job of that. Overall. I'd love to play some Zelda games, but I don't have any time for goofing off. Yeah. I mean, I used to be able to, I just pick up a tablet and, you know, if I've got 20 minutes to while away. But I just don't. I mean, I'll play the new Doom just because I already know the weapons. That's about it. That's about it. It's really hard to find the new goods. I just play the old Halo games from time to time. Don't want to learn any new games. Yeah, yeah, I get that. Yeah, I think most people are just playing old games, right? Metal Gear Solid was my game series, waiting for Hideo Kehomas Death Stranding 2. Yeah, I think I used to play some World War II games, but I think white people were shot enough in the 20th century that they don't need me faking it as well.
[42:32] I'm sure, somebody says, I'm sure you would not find this child-friendly, but I saw Novocaine at the drive-in with my kids. It was a fun movie, a bit graphic, but at least it was entertaining. Paths of Exile 2 is great. Paths of Exile 2. Oh, thanks, I'm making note of that. Also, now that I'm working on a new book, I don't really have much time for gaming.
[42:59] Um i did see um oh gosh um demy moore's horror movie, she was in striptease, I really should know this one. Cocoon? No, not Cocoon. Gosh.
[43:39] It was a pretty, pretty bad movie. It was an interesting idea, but a pretty bad movie, and it just went completely nuts. After all of that, I'd like to watch the end. The Substance. That's right, The Substance. Yeah it was an interesting idea but they didn't know what to do with it and they just went completely nuts and over the top towards the end and it became sort of boring, have you ever played any of the ultimate games um yes i did i played ultimate three and i played some of ultimate four i enjoyed those i thought they were very good lord british i like the fact that it started off with a moral quiz. I thought that was very cool. That was very cool. Stef, did you review Black Bag, Michael Fassbender's new film? I have not, but I will make a note of that. Thank you.
[44:42] I recently started, somebody says, I recently started a new job within the same organization with a former co-worker. He's friendly and cordial, however, not very good at teaching slash sharing work knowledge. He was previously laid off 15-ish years ago and seems to be still bothered by it, what advice would you give for breaking the ice? I mean, honestly, if you want to talk to people at work, the best place to start is their hobbies. What do you do outside of work? What do you do for fun? You get to know a lot about a person by the hobbies that he's chosen. George Lucas says somebody, and Steven Spielberg, are the peanut butter and jelly of great movies. Lucas himself unrestrained, has bad writing. You know what I always think about? What I always think about with those two is the really creepy Indiana Jones lines. Yeah, let me just see if I can find it. I talked about this some years ago, but I always think about this.
[46:07] Indy turns up at Marian's bar in Nepal. It's the first time the characters have seen each other in a decade. After Marian greets Indy by slugging him across the face, a vague and sinister conversation ensues between the two that alludes to a heated past. "'I've learned to hate you in the last ten years,' Marion tells Indiana after sucking him. When Indiana says he never meant to hurt Marion, she responds, "'I was a child. I was in love. It was wrong, and you knew it.'" Indiana then counters with, "'You knew what you were doing.'".
[46:42] Later, Indiana learns that Marion's father, and Indy's mentor, Abner, has died. Upon the news, Indiana tries to console Marion, but she snaps, Do you know what you did to me, to my life? But I think that there was a, let's see here. They were going to make it even younger, I think, originally. So somebody writes, watching Indiana Jones for the first time. And one of the earliest scenes indicates Indy had a relationship with Marion while she was a minor. a bit of googling in math has these specific ages coming out to Indy being 27 and marrying being 15, that's very strange right, that's a very strange thing to put in right.
[47:44] Yeah, somebody wrote that Marion was 15 in the original script and novelization for Raiders. Since it wasn't specified in the movie, this was later retconned in Indiana Jones, The Ultimate Guide, making a 17. Yeah. I mean, I was just a child could mean any number of things, of course, right?
[48:15] But the writers, yeah, Indiana Jones. Do-do-do-do-do-do. Yeah, it's not good. it's not good it seems like a it's like the orgy in Stephen King's novel It it just seems a bit obviously beyond gratuitous and just kind of horrible like why why why does it need to be, People say, somebody says, co-workers always appreciate sweet pastries, donuts, cookies, candy, etc. They'll tell you anything you'd like to hear to keep the gravy train rolling into the office. Somebody says, is it pointless to try and help liars so they'll otherwise damage to heal? There are so many people with unhealthy mindsets in this world. I find it hard to believe it can be fixed without dealing with the people blind to truth.
[49:22] Well, I'll just... Um, I don't call people up randomly for call-in shows, right? Freedomain.com slash call, by the way, freedomain.com slash call. I don't, uh, I don't call people up randomly for call-in shows, right? I wait for them to call and contact me, right? I don't think your doctor, you know, comes by every day and says, hey, how you doing? You okay? Any problems? Right, he waits for you to, usually, I mean, he'll wait for you to, or she'll wait for you to come in and talk, right? So for the most part um my general my general belief is more than a belief but but my general approach is that uh 90 of people uh don't think for themselves it's not any big negative it's not any big hate it's just having read a bunch of psychological experiments having studied psychology at the university level having um you know spoken to to i don't know countless people over the course of my life. In general, as a whole, 90% of people, I don't really think for themselves. I mean, even when it seems sort of like the COVID vaccine mandate, and it was like, with the COVID vaccine mandate, I mean, a lot of people, you know, two thirds to three quarters, sometimes 80% of the population just did it. And of course, a lot of people didn't take the vaccine, but not because of necessarily independent thought, but because of other sort of prejudices and so on, right?
[50:50] So in general, I view 90% of people as not really thinking for themselves. Again, I say this with sympathy, and I've certainly worked my best to try and help people think for themselves as I try to help myself think for myself. But in general, I think that people don't think for themselves. If people aren't going to think for themselves, you have no hook or purchase or traction or grip by which you can cause them to change their course. It's like trying to grab a greased pig, right?
[51:28] All right so i i don't uh try to change people unless you know i get a strong sense that they very much want to change and are willing to do what it takes and of course if people want to change you know generally like they really want to change in the long term send them to, the therapist and if they'll go to a therapist maybe they'll listen to you, uh chris says thanks Stef for the jesus brings a sword and dealing with bad emotions episodes i found a lot of value in both in both identifying bad emotions as a response to negative stimuli clarified a toxic environment i'm in or aps i'm not sure what aps i am still going to church how do you provide excellent content for free freedomend.com slash donate to help that oh rtr ai yeah rtr ai it's also yeah you can send them to the real-time relationships ai as well um there is a huge price to pay if you think for yourself i don't blame them i just wish they couldn't vote well i mean i would rather people voted in the marketplace of ideas and economics rather than the political realm but i hate what you're saying yeah.
[52:47] Oh, I saw proximity syndrome. That's what APS. Yeah, sorry. I think that's, I think that was mine, right? Thank you for the reminder. I thought it had something to do with the power supply, asymmetric power supply.
[53:00] But no, I was wrong. You quoted me and I missed the, I missed the quote. Sorry about that. All right. Any of the last questions, comments? All right, see here. One weird side effect of all of the art ai generation is the filth mongering fetish artists will have to get real jobs because no one is going to pay commissions for what they can get for free yeah yeah yeah just out of curiosity today i did run a variety of plot, thoughts through ai and uh i it's interesting i don't find it obviously it's not particularly original. Actually, it's interesting. Let me just see if I can find this. There's a website, where you can look up, find out what books chat GPT was trained on.
[54:10] Yeah. I can't find it right now, but you can look it up. There's a, um.
[54:20] Uh you can um look up on a website which books chat a chat gpt was uh, was trained on and you can uh you can look up see if your favorite books are in there it's interesting i certainly did.
[54:44] Uh thanks again as always staff strongly considering a paid call then i think it would be important to do soon. Sooner rather than later, I'm sure. It's not like your money's getting more valuable over time, right? All right. Any other last questions, comments, issues? I appreciate your hour with me tonight, and I will get back on the schedule of regular bellow calls soon, I'm sure. I'm just waiting for the last question to come in. Type away, my friend. APC is common brand of UPS uninterrupted power supply. Thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Well, again, sorry for a bit of a murmur cast, but we'll get that all sorted out soon. And have yourself a beautiful, wonderful, lovely evening. Thank you so much for dropping by tonight it is such a delight and a pleasure if you're listening to this later of course freedomain.com slash donate to help out the show and um i will talk to you on friday night have yourself a wonderful wonderful couple of days my friend bye.
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