• 6 months ago
This lecture delves into character development in literature and everyday life, exploring the influence of unconscious moral principles on behaviors. Challenging conventional morality, it emphasizes self-awareness, authenticity, and honest dialogues. The importance of moral courage, authenticity, and inner virtues is underscored, urging listeners to cultivate genuine connections and virtues in interactions.

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Transcript
00:00 Good morning, everybody. Hope you're doing well. Get ready for something deeper meaningful now. This is
00:05 Something that sounds like it may not be super applicable to you, but I promise you that it is because the question is
00:12 of an artistic
00:15 nature
00:16 But the answer is life as a whole
00:20 So this is a little bit of philosophy, but it's a lot of strategy
00:25 I've negotiated some pretty challenging situations and environments in my life and I've done so with a fair degree of success at least I've satisfied
00:32 My own conscience about how I've lived so far so far so good and I wanted to share with you
00:40 some of the
00:43 strategies or
00:45 methodologies that I have
00:47 used to navigate life as a whole so the question and
00:52 It helps if you have read my novels. It's not essential. So yeah, just nip off read them and then come back but
00:59 The question was how do I create characters? How do I create?
01:04 Sort of deep and believable characters. This is somebody who said that the story arc of Rachel in my novel the present was so
01:11 Powerful that you know, it sort of haunts him and and my characters do absolutely haunt me. I am
01:18 populated by the ghosts of people I've co-created so it is a very deep and meaningful thing for me and
01:25 I do have an approach to art
01:28 That is unusual in many ways. I try not to be limited by
01:35 Standard convention. So of course in my novel the future I go from first person to third person for the same character and
01:46 Usually enough in my novel the present
01:50 There's no antagonist
01:53 Right the protagonist right somebody who's working to achieve the good but there's no antagonist. There's no evil bad guy
02:01 Now there's an evil bad guy in my novel the future which is sort of the main character
02:05 Louis Staten but in my novel the present
02:09 There are no antagonists, of course in my novel
02:12 almost
02:15 there is a protagonist Tom and an
02:18 Antagonist his older brother Reginald. I mean they are fighting for opposite things and
02:23 Reginald is willing to have the entire world burn to try to destroy his brother which is
02:29 some powerful stuff in my view, so
02:33 How do you create characters?
02:36 Now the question of how you create characters. I mean you probably aren't a novelist who's working to create characters
02:42 but
02:44 The skill that a novelist has in creating characters is a skill that you desperately need which is to understand
02:52 Characters to understand the natures and personalities of those around you art in general
02:58 oversimplifies
03:01 antagonist and protagonist
03:03 So what art does which I find offensive deeply offensive and occludes or obscures immorality far more than it reveals it
03:11 what art does is it either makes
03:13 cartoony good guys and bad guys like literally Batman and the Penguin or
03:17 Superman and Lex Luthor they make cartoony
03:20 Good guys bad guys, which really?
03:23 happens in life rarely shows up in life or
03:26 What they do what artists do artists with a quote sometimes is
03:31 they get all relativistic and
03:36 Everybody has their own motivations. There ain't no good guys. There ain't no bad guys. There's only you and me and we just disagree they
03:43 get all relativistic and subjective and
03:47 Everybody has their own motivations sometimes there's tragic collisions, but there is only personality there is no morality
03:55 but almost all personality structures are built on moral principles, which is why
04:00 the unpacking of
04:02 Personality is the revealing of morality people run on foundational
04:07 moral principles
04:09 selfishness altruism
04:11 They run on collectivism or individualism
04:14 They run on a commitment to tell the truth or a commitment to quote be nice polite and get along
04:19 People don't they don't have moral principles
04:23 moral principles have them right and the purpose of philosophy is to
04:28 help you have a
04:31 personality rather than just inheriting a sense of a set of unconscious principles to
04:36 Actually have you person have a personality by choosing your principles
04:40 So in this way you choose who you are, otherwise, you just inherit who you are from circumstances and maybe some genetic
04:47 predilections and
04:49 history and you but what you happen to be exposed to what you happen to like
04:52 so
04:54 Most people are possessed by moral principles and don't even know what's going on. I'm by moral principles. I don't mean good, right?
05:01 There can be moral principles
05:03 that are immoral or immoral principles, so
05:06 Sorry, I know it's a little confusing to use the same word for both but
05:10 exploit others is a moral principle like everyone's a sucker. They're either gonna
05:16 Rob from you or you rob from them and only an idiot lets himself get robbed from this sort of Nietzschean will to power stuff
05:25 That's a moral principle. It's a principle of universally preferable behavior
05:30 Right if it's eat or be eaten
05:32 Well, you want to eat the other guy you don't want him to eat you, right?
05:36 So that's a moral principle in
05:39 business
05:41 If it's like well, everyone's gonna chisel you so you might as well chisel them first
05:46 Everyone's gonna lie to you. You might as well lie to them first. Everyone's gonna fool you
05:52 You're gonna right that becomes a moral principle. Now, it's not you believe it's universal. So you strike first, right?
05:58 It's it's an animal kind of
06:00 universality be a lion because the zebras are never gonna eat you so
06:05 most people are possessed by moral principles that run their personalities and
06:12 Those moral principles that run their personalities it's really like a form of demonic possession or angelic possession and
06:20 Those moral principles that possess people's personalities want to replicate or reproduce themselves
06:28 So nice people
06:30 trying to create a world in which other people are nice and
06:34 That way niceness spreads right? This is a love your enemy stuff, right?
06:38 That if you love your enemies, your enemies will become nice. They won't be your enemies anymore
06:43 There are no strangers. They're only friends. I haven't met yet
06:46 Have a sort of positive benevolent approach to life and in this way the positive and benevolent
06:53 Mindset transfers from one person to another or you have a malevolent and predatory
06:59 Mindset in life forget them before they get you someone's gonna get someone it might as well
07:04 you'd be you being the predator rather than the victim because that's predator prey is the only way that
07:09 people interact is sort of a belief system that people have and
07:11 so
07:13 when you
07:15 prey on others
07:17 that predator prey mindset is
07:21 Going to spread
07:22 so the
07:24 moral approaches to life
07:26 Which again doesn't mean virtuous. It just means that you have a universally preferable behavior moral approaches to life
07:31 Are trying to replicate in this way
07:34 bullies are
07:36 trying to
07:38 punish victims
07:39 in some ways to
07:41 Provoke the victims into no longer being victims
07:44 It's a form of attempted strength training if you come across as a victim while you're either gonna be a bully or a victim
07:50 So I'm gonna make being a victim uncomfortable for you to the point where hopefully you'll become a bully and stop whining and start taking
07:56 Right, that's the approach that that people have now and this is why philosophy is the enemy to almost all
08:04 existing
08:07 unconscious morality based personality structures
08:09 including the nice and the kind and the benevolent and the this that and the other people who want to get along and
08:14 People who want to be diplomatic and so on
08:17 so the reason why philosophy is the enemy of
08:21 Unconscious morality is because when you make unconscious morality
08:28 conscious
08:30 then
08:31 It no longer transmits through behavior. It transmits through reason
08:36 No longer transmits through behavior. It transmits through reason you can reason other people
08:43 So you don't have to model the behavior in the hope of replicating it the unconscious hope of replicating it
08:48 You can reason people now when you reason with people
08:53 about morality
08:56 you
08:58 Push them close to a terrifying void at the center of their own
09:03 personalities
09:05 so people who say well, I'm good because I
09:10 I'm nice. I I get along with people. I'm positive. I'm I'm helpful
09:14 I'm whatever it is, right and they say I'm good because of that
09:16 well when
09:19 you bring
09:21 UPB to people who are of the opinion that they're good and nice because they're kind of generous and
09:26 You point out the deficiencies in this
09:30 right, I
09:32 mean if people say well
09:33 I'm good and nice and kind of generous because I support the welfare state and then UPB
09:37 Reveals that the welfare state is built on coercion
09:39 Then you know gosh, I guess they're not so nice and kind and generous and and so on
09:44 Right if people say I I want to do good in the world
09:47 I'm I'm really interested in in helping
09:51 I don't know refugees from X Y & Z Micronesia country or you know
09:56 I want to do all of this good in the world and then
09:59 You ask them about their childhoods and you ask them about
10:03 What happened and whether they were nice to their brothers you you?
10:06 Ask if there are any children that they know of who might be being mistreated and and so on right?
10:11 Then you know as it turns out they're not not so good
10:15 They they want to posture as being good by avoiding the moral challenges in their midst and focusing only
10:23 on
10:25 Quote moral challenges that usually other people have to fund by force
10:29 That pose no personal risk to the virtuous right? They are not a moral they are
10:35 virtue signaling right
10:38 Have you everybody knows some child in the orbit that's being mistreated to have you done anything about it?
10:43 Well, I mean that's something you can do something about it's more immediate. It's more visceral
10:47 It's like that. It actually might cost you something to confront that rather than spouting off about wind farms in in
10:54 Tahiti or something like that your deep concern for the ecology of the Amazon and there's nothing wrong with those things, but
11:02 You should start your moral journey with that which is local
11:06 Visceral and you can have an effect on right? That's where you should start your moral journey, right?
11:11 You know if a if a morbidly obese man is worrying himself sick over obesity rates in
11:19 The Dominican Republic we might say that his focus was somewhat misplaced right and if your moral focus is not on
11:27 The children in your environment that you can actually work to help or be better
11:32 Or of course, you know if you were mean to other people as a child or a young person
11:37 I'm generally most of us are I mean think everyone is at one time or another if you mean to other children when you were
11:43 little or
11:44 Medium, I guess a teenager then you know probably worth
11:48 taking responsibility for that figuring out why it happened and
11:50 Now making apologies and and restitution, you know all of that like stuff that's actually morally
11:58 Morally yours right that you have done and you have created and then sort of figuring out if you had parents who say hit you
12:04 Talking to them about it. You know, these are moral things that you can do that
12:08 Actually will have an effect on
12:11 the world and certainly on your world and will make
12:14 things better in your life and
12:17 You know, there's there's a lot of people of course who claim to care about
12:22 Others I I wake up with a deep love for for humanity and so on right and then they they had
12:28 Family members who were cruel and they haven't confronted and talked to those family members about
12:34 Cruelty, which is of course letting people persist in
12:38 moral error and immorality
12:41 Which is not kind right? It's not kind
12:45 If you know someone who is addicted
12:48 to
12:51 Cigarettes is it kind to buy them cigarettes and light their cigarettes up for them and buy them
12:59 Ashtrays and you know praise them for smoking. Well, that's not kind right? I mean you you're half killing them, right?
13:06 and you know if your parents were cruel or
13:10 Neglectful or whatever right and and you go over there and oh, I love you and you're the greatest and
13:16 Let's hold hands and sing kumbaya over the Christmas turkey. Well, you're not
13:22 Talking to them about their immorality, which means that you are participating in the continuance of
13:29 moral corruption and and blindness, right
13:32 so
13:34 What happens is when people say well, I'm nice and I'm good
13:38 What they usually mean is
13:40 I like to be praised for morals that are for me consequence-free. I
13:47 Like to be praised for posturing and people say I'm nice and what they mean is I'm scared
13:54 Right. I mean the world is not a particularly moral place in
13:59 Some ways it's getting better in some ways. It's getting worse, but you know, it's the random movement of these kinds of things
14:05 It's like the weather
14:07 so the world is not a particularly moral place and that must be because
14:10 morality is very hard and
14:14 Telling the truth to people who've done immoral things particularly to children. It's not easy
14:20 Of course, right?
14:21 We're kind of programmed against it and we needed their parents to survive and I tried to survive when we evolved but that's fine
14:26 I mean, we didn't evolve with cell phones. We've managed to adapt
14:29 We didn't evolve for moral honesty, but surely we can adapt or at least stop lying to ourselves, right?
14:34 So people who say well, I'm nice. I
14:37 Want to do good in the world. I want to I want to help people and this that and the other it's like, okay
14:42 well
14:43 Have you talked to people in your life who've done wrong?
14:46 Have you confronted yourself when you've done wrong?
14:48 have you worked to bring moral clarity and principles to those around you and
14:53 Then as it turns out when people say that I'm nice what they generally mean is I don't want to provoke
15:00 Immoral people by talking about the immorality and I'm gonna call that being nice. Well, I don't upset my parents
15:07 They're old, you know, their life is past. What's the purpose like all of that is just cover-up for I
15:13 Don't want the discomfort of provoking
15:16 aggression from immoral people and
15:19 That's fine. Again. I whatever you do just don't lie to yourself about it. That's all right
15:25 Don't lie to yourself about yourself
15:29 That's that's the foundational cowardice everything else. I don't particularly care about
15:33 But if you don't want to confront
15:36 Immoral people because you're afraid that they'll get aggressive or volatile or punitive or they'll that's fine
15:44 Okay, then then don't confront immoral people but don't say it's because you're nice. Right? That's all don't don't
15:50 Don't say it's because you're nice. I
15:53 mean if you have an uncle who's drinking himself to death and
15:59 You don't talk to him about it don't say well
16:02 I don't want to disrupt the family gathering and I'm sure he's got it under control and I hear he's cutting back and
16:08 Right and just say you're afraid of his aggression if you talk to him about his drinking
16:13 I don't want him to get mad at me. I'm scared. He's gonna bully me. Okay, that's and again
16:19 That's you you can still make that choice, whatever right? But just don't lie to yourself about it
16:24 Right and I say this to myself to I not lie to myself about things. It's not like this massive constant battle. Oh my god
16:32 Every morning I must
16:34 Like but you know, I mean there are times where I've got to remind myself
16:37 You know, just make sure you're straight with yourself and and don't don't take what you haven't earned right don't steal
16:43 Right because saying that you're good
16:45 Because you're nice, but you're actually nice because you're afraid of blowback from
16:51 Confronting immoral people that's stealing right? You're saying you're good when you're actually not good. You are
16:58 frightened and
17:00 The immorality is not in being frightened the immorality is in lying to yourself that you're good or I'm good for that matter, right?
17:06 I mean can obviously I don't even
17:08 lecture you in some way I
17:10 mean this is
17:12 If you're attracted to someone physically then say yeah, I lust after this person
17:18 Don't say she's the greatest. I love her so much
17:21 She's I mean you've heard this a million times on my call-in shows, right and people say oh, yeah
17:25 No, I got together with my girlfriend five years ago, whatever. I love her this that and the other it's like oh
17:29 Was she pretty? Yeah, very very pretty. Oh what you love about her? What her virtues silent silent silence, right?
17:35 Okay, well just say look I'm I'm here for last time right but it's the lying
17:40 so philosophy
17:43 by making universe like by making morality universal and
17:48 applicable
17:49 right
17:50 universally preferable
17:52 behavior behavior
17:55 behavior
17:56 right
17:57 the B is
17:59 The part that gets people if I had to find a universal system of ethics that were entirely abstract and not actionable
18:05 Then that would be one thing right but the word behavior
18:08 I mean obviously is is no small clue as to the fact that it's supposed to be actionable and it is actionable, right?
18:15 It is actionable. You can tell the truth about virtue to people in your life and now you can prove it
18:20 It's not just opinion
18:22 so people
18:24 Think that they're wise or good or virtuous or cunning right if there are more than each in will the power stuff and that it's sensible
18:31 And so on right so the people who are like, well you get them before they get you
18:36 You know
18:37 My mother used violence with her children and then she ended up believing that the world was imminently about to use violence
18:45 Against her for the last many decades of her life. No, that's of course. That's a world you created right where?
18:50 disagreements are
18:53 masked by coercion
18:55 so those who are predatory are
18:57 Wounded right and they don't want to admit that they were preyed upon as children
19:04 So then they say well my parents weren't predators
19:07 Everyone is a predator
19:10 There are thus they're just those who don't admit it
19:13 If you're preyed upon as a child
19:15 Then you can either say gee my parents were pretty bad because they preyed upon me or you can say
19:22 The world is full of predation and anyone who thinks otherwise is just a sucker
19:27 Rolling over and exposing his belly to get feast or not. Well, so
19:31 That's the sort of principle. That's the sort of moral approach that they take
19:36 Morality being universally preferable behavior, which is we get them before they get you
19:42 Everyone's gonna lie to you. You might as well lie to them women wear makeup so I can fake my income
19:47 right says the men or I can lie about right to get in bed with women because
19:51 Women will lie to you take you to court. Whatever it is, right?
19:55 Mom divorced my dad and he ended up living in his car
19:58 And so you end up with this. I said this the other day, of course in a call-in show that
20:03 every man who sleeps around with women is
20:07 angry at his mother
20:10 Until that anger is resolved
20:12 The predation will continue right a woman hurt me. So I'll hurt women back
20:17 so
20:20 philosophy real philosophy and what we talk about here it
20:24 exposes
20:26 people's theft of morality if
20:28 You're good. If you want to be moral
20:32 then you should
20:35 Tell moral truths to those around you first and foremost, right?
20:41 first and foremost
20:43 we wouldn't particularly believe a
20:45 Wellness guru
20:48 Whose entire family and extended family were morbidly obese including himself. I mean that would not be at all credible, right?
20:56 I remember some years ago
20:58 There was a picture of a woman posing with her three kids and she had a great figure and she's like you don't have to
21:03 Stay fat after you give birth blah blah blah blah blah
21:05 All right, so
21:07 But if she was morbidly obese saying you don't have to stay fat after you give birth, it would be like it'd be confusing, right?
21:12 so
21:13 When it comes to everything but morality and politics, I guess we expect people
21:19 To act locally before they prescribe universally, right?
21:24 You you should buy my supplements and do my exercises
21:28 Says the ripped guy, right so you can look like me look at these
21:31 pecs and delts and abs and right
21:35 triceps and biceps you should you should you should eat my supplements and you should
21:39 X and exercise the way that I do so that you can look like me
21:43 Whereas, you know some guy who's 350 pounds saying you should eat my supplements and exercise
21:49 So you can look like not me, but that guy over there who's really ripped who's not doing what I'm doing
21:54 Like that would be ridiculous, right?
21:56 so in everything but morality, we expect people to act locally before they prescribe universally and
22:02 So, of course, you know all of these people who were like, well, I'm concerned about this geopolitical thing and that thing in the Middle East
22:07 And I'm concerned about this migrant and that overseas and foreign aid and right it's like, okay. Well gosh if
22:13 you're concerned about
22:16 the fitness levels of
22:18 people 6,000 miles away
22:21 Then everybody closer to you than 6,000 miles must be really fit because that's where you are
22:27 That's where you've gotten to I have I've dealt with everyone in
22:31 699 miles
22:32 So now I'm you know, obviously I'm at the water's edge 6,000 miles away. That's where my focus is, right?
22:38 But people leap over acting honestly and morally in their own personal lives
22:43 So that they can windbag about abstract topics that they need to pay for nor face any risk for promulgating
22:50 It's moral posturing. They're stealing because they're claiming morality
22:54 without
22:57 Actually acting to improve the morals in their environment which they have
23:01 effect and control over a lot of these people of course were mistreated by their parents or teachers or others, right?
23:08 When they were children and they haven't talked to them about that
23:11 Okay, so where you actually were the victim of corruption and immorality you won't say a thing
23:16 But when it comes to windbagging about geopolitical stuff on the other side of the world, you're very very passionate
23:23 Right, so you're stealing it's a form of theft. It's a theft a virtue
23:28 it's a theft to self-esteem and you know thieves don't like to be caught and UPB catches them and
23:33 of course usually because the source of their virtue is
23:36 borrowing or
23:38 Coercion or money printing then they literally steal. They're literally stealing
23:43 You must be forced to do the good that I want is not virtuous. Obviously, it's not virtuous. I
23:49 mean
23:51 Some guy robbing a woman a gunpoint saying he really wants to give the money to charity on the other side of the world
23:57 It's not doing any good right virtue without cost is theft
24:01 virtue without risk is theft virtue without honesty is theft and
24:06 philosophy exposes that so people have
24:09 moral preferences to be nice or to be predatory or to be self-sacrificial or you know, and the self-sacrifice
24:17 You know often always ends up with a price tag, right? I always end up with a price tag if it's perceived to self-sacrifice
24:24 You know this
24:25 As a mother who maybe wasn't particularly nice, but then later claims. Well, I I gave up everything for you
24:31 I sacrifice everything for you. It always ends up being a demand, right?
24:34 It's not self-sacrifice if there's a demand right and it's like me saying I have completely
24:39 Sacrificed myself to my employer now give me a paycheck. It's like okay
24:45 Well, if it's sacrifice, then you ain't getting paid if you're getting paid it and a sacrifice tomorrow. It's a economic exchange, right?
24:51 So why I'm saying all this so the reason I'm saying all of this is when you come to develop
24:56 Characters and and this means if you're artistic it means developing characters in a fictional sense
25:01 But if you are not artistic in particular or you have no interest in writing novels or plays or you know
25:07 Scripts where they there are characters
25:09 Then the the consolation prize is you get to really understand the people in your own life and and yourself if you want
25:17 Right, you can stand the people in your own life
25:19 so the way that I approach characters is
25:22 With this one fundamental principle and this is characters in my novels. This is characters in my life. This is often
25:28 people I'm
25:30 talking to in calling shows if you want to know the
25:32 mechanics behind the conversations is
25:35 that
25:37 the choice
25:38 to think or not is
25:40 a moral
25:43 crossroads
25:44 The choice to think or not is a moral crossroads everything after that is
25:50 A triumph or a tragedy. So let's take the people the majority people who don't think right? They just avoid they manipulate they
25:57 Are like little video game Luigi's going after the shiny coins of social approval. So people who don't think
26:06 the choice to not think is
26:08 Immoral
26:11 right because
26:13 It is a lie
26:15 Right people don't sit there and say wake up and say well
26:18 I've decided not to think for the rest of my life
26:20 But simply seek social approval and disapproval and be programmed to turn on whoever does think right that they don't say that
26:26 They lie to themselves about not thinking and it's immoral
26:31 It's not evil evil as the result of not thinking but the choice to not think is immoral
26:36 Or to be more precise the choice to lie about yourself about not thinking is
26:40 immoral
26:42 Right if you lust after a woman, that's fine. Whatever lust is good
26:46 But if you lie to yourself and say well, no, she has all these great wonderful positive qualities
26:51 That's the lie, right?
26:54 so the choice not to think is a moral choice everything that follows is a tragedy and
27:00 that's where for me at least I get the empathy for my characters or
27:06 For people I've known who are immoral. I mean like most of us I grew up with people who chose not to think I
27:13 Chose not to think
27:15 To avoid thinking to lie to themselves
27:18 So the choice to lie to yourself is a moral choice
27:21 Everything after that is a tragedy
27:24 So my mother of course
27:27 chose to roll the dice on her primary value being her physical beauty, which was considerable and
27:34 She made that choice
27:36 I'm going to found the value of myself on
27:40 physical beauty
27:42 but then when she turned 40 she couldn't get out of bed and she ended up being institutionalized because
27:46 her physical beauty was declining, of course, you know as it always does and
27:51 She hadn't received the kind of security that she needed from her looks
27:56 Now my mother of course again being a beautiful woman
28:00 wanted wealthy
28:04 Playboy guy or a wealthy guy who would keep her in comfort and
28:09 Even if she didn't stay married to him, she would divorce him and take half his stuff
28:14 and so she rolled her dice on finance on on beauty as
28:18 the ticket to financial security and
28:21 It didn't work
28:23 It didn't work because if you put yourself on the market, I mean, I hate to sound harsh
28:28 But if you put yourself on the market as a piece of meat, guess what? You'll be treated like a piece of meat
28:32 you'll be consumed not kept and
28:34 So my mother was unable to translate
28:38 her beauty physical beauty into financial security now she had to have an answer as
28:44 To why why why was this not happening? Why was this not working? And
28:48 This I mean, it's a very very sad situation and it's very very common
28:53 so what happens is and of course my mother was a single mother, so what happens is a
28:58 Very attractive single mom and my mother was not just was not just pretty
29:04 I mean she had a kind of a theory of beauty to her and she also had some class
29:09 I mean my mother was very smart. She was quite well read
29:12 She was quite witty at times. She was a decent
29:16 conversationalist
29:18 She was high status. She wasn't just pretty or hot or whatever, right?
29:22 But she was she had a certain elegance to her. She had a certain bearing. I mean she comes from a very
29:28 artistic and philosophical and intellectual family, so she wasn't just you know
29:33 Meth for breakfast kind of hottie, right? She was she had a certain elegance a certain grace
29:39 And a class to her without a doubt without a doubt
29:42 so she
29:45 Wanted to do the Grace Kelly
29:47 becoming princess of Monaco thing and
29:50 She she went all in on that right? She I won't say she dieted obsessively, but she barely ate
29:57 she she exercised to to stay trim and
30:00 She
30:04 cultivated an air and of course, you know, I mean getting into her 40s and 50s in the
30:09 Austro-german
30:11 Community she was I mean slender and and beautiful
30:15 So she went all in on that and she's like I'm gonna I'm gonna cash in my physical beauty to gain financial security
30:22 But it didn't happen
30:24 She got dates, of course, but the relationships never lasted
30:27 now
30:30 Then the question is why?
30:32 So the first thing which my mother did to not think was to place
30:37 her value on her looks
30:40 Right and and to not be honest about that to say well, I'm not gonna work on my personality. I'm gonna work on my looks
30:47 I'm not gonna work on being a good person. I'm not gonna work on ethics. I'm not gonna work on virtue
30:52 I'm not gonna work on integrity. I'm not gonna work on honesty. I'm gonna work on
30:56 Keeping my legs slender. No, I ran style or whatever, right?
30:59 Because she thought that she was a good nice wonderful person and that being beautiful was a bonus
31:06 but that wasn't
31:08 the
31:09 reality of the situation
31:11 So she thought I bring all of this to the table
31:14 I'm so wonderful and beautiful and slender and great and funny and
31:21 Well read and a good conversation is why won't a man marry me?
31:25 right
31:28 Incredibly frustrating, right?
31:30 So like most single mothers, she turned her cold beady eyes on her children, right?
31:35 And she said ah, well the reason you see that I'm not getting married is because of my children
31:42 Because I'm burdened and weighed down by my children
31:46 and of course, I can't get rid of my children because I'm not married and I need the
31:51 Child support and I need the I guess it welfare after a while. So so yeah, so she was so the answer
32:00 Was not well, there's something about me that men don't want to commit to maybe it's my vanity
32:07 Maybe it's my shallowness. Maybe it's the fact that I'm not a particularly good person. Nope. Nope. None of that
32:13 None of that now she couldn't turn on men and say well men just you know
32:18 Hate a strong independent blah blah blah because then that would be to give up her dream of financial security through her looks
32:24 She couldn't do that. So she couldn't blame herself or accept responsibility for herself as to why men wouldn't commit to her
32:31 She couldn't blame men because that would be to cut off her future source of financial security. So who's left to blame her children?
32:37 Right, this would be why she'd scream in the middle of the night. I hate these effing children
32:42 because
32:44 That was the only answer she could come up with as to why men wouldn't commit to her
32:48 Even though men do commit to women who have children, of course, it didn't change it didn't change after we were gone, right?
32:55 So it wasn't that right, but that's that's so her choice not to think was a moral choice
33:01 Everything after that is a tragedy
33:04 By a guy's decision to not quit smoking is a choice
33:11 Everything after that is a tragedy right the coughing the wheezing the can't climb the stairs the emphysema the lung cancer the painful death the
33:18 Horror to the family everything after that is a tragedy like you you can choose to flick over those first dominoes
33:23 Well that first one first domino after that
33:25 everything happens of its own accord and
33:28 Thought is a muscle which passes it fades it disintegrates it atrophies
33:37 Responsibility is a muscle
33:41 and
33:42 To use a physical analogy that I think is actually very accurate if you choose not to think it is like choosing not to exercise
33:49 now I mean
33:51 Not to exercise
33:52 Really at all, right? Okay. So if you choose not to exercise what happens?
33:56 I'm no expert, but my understanding is that of course your muscles atrophy first and then eventually your skeleton weakens
34:02 I'm a weight lifting in particular
34:06 strengthens the bones
34:08 So if you don't exercise
34:10 initially your soft tissue
34:13 weakens, but then eventually
34:16 your bones weaken and
34:18 You know, maybe that can happen to the point where exercise has become functionally impossible because your bones are too weak
34:24 So eventually you're just kind of cripples, right?
34:26 Maybe I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure the physics of it
34:29 Maybe you can do lightweights or whatever, but it's pretty pretty harmful
34:31 and it's written very tough to get back to where you could have been if if it's possible at all if
34:38 you choose
34:39 Not to get educated
34:41 Then everything that happens after that
34:44 It's kind of like a tragedy like I think of course of all of the people who are
34:48 You've got a young lot of young people who are complaining about
34:51 Oh
34:52 the rent is too damn high and and I can't make any money and taxes are too high and I
34:57 can't get my life started and so on and it's like well, but I
35:00 mean you want the vote right and
35:04 People who want the vote but won't educate themselves about politics or in particular economics, right?
35:10 I mean if the rent keeps going up it's because
35:14 There's lower demand or sorry, there's higher demand or lower supplier both. It's not that hard. It's not hard at all
35:20 so people who want the vote and
35:24 Will fight to keep their vote. Okay fine
35:29 But you know the price of the vote is you gotta learn something about economics in particular and politics as a whole
35:35 All right
35:36 So if you want to vote but you want to scroll endless reaction tik-tok videos rather than I don't know
35:43 reading a basic book on economics
35:46 The choice to not think I want the vote. I don't want to learn anything about what I'm voting for
35:52 Right. I want the vote, but I don't want to learn anything about what I'm voting for
35:58 I'm mad at interest rates are up, but I will never study
36:00 About interest rates like the people who you know, they vote for soft on crime policies and then they complain that crime is going up
36:07 well, I mean why
36:09 Right. So the choice not
36:11 To think that's a moral choice everything after that is just a tragedy
36:16 Now people of course will always try and sell you on the tragedy without
36:19 Selling you on the origin story of the tragedy, which is their choice to not think right? I
36:24 Mean somebody who's passionate about I don't know some political thing this that or the other and some policies
36:30 I asked them some basic questions on economics. Where does money come from? What determines interest rates?
36:34 Right. How was government funded? I mean just basic questions
36:38 That a five-year-old could understand. I mean if you say to a five-year-old give me a candy bear. I'll give you two candy bars tomorrow
36:45 They'll do that
36:47 You know because that's a real real good that they'll double by delaying gratification. That's
36:53 Receiving interest, right?
36:54 If you say to a kid give me a candy bar and I'll give you two candy bar wrappers tomorrow
36:59 Well, that's via currency exchanging something real for something
37:02 That's only a wrapper and they wouldn't take that right so they all understand everybody knows it's it's dirt simple. It's ridiculously simple
37:10 There are introduction to economics videos for kids for teenagers. So and it's like 20 minutes, right?
37:15 So over the course of your entire life, you haven't been bothered to spend 20 minutes learning some basic economics blah blah blah
37:20 well
37:22 the choice to avoid knowledge the choice to not think that's a moral choice and
37:27 the moral choice is
37:30 Not the avoidance of knowledge. I mean I avoid the knowledge of how to learn Polish
37:36 Right. I'm not studying Polish
37:38 That's not the moral choice. The moral choice is
37:41 lying to yourself
37:43 Right. Well, I I deserve the vote because I need to I want to have a say in the direction of the country
37:50 I want to vote on policy, but you don't know anything
37:52 you don't know anything and
37:55 You haven't really studied anything
37:57 Well, like the people who study only one side of an issue never look at the counter side never look at the other person's perspective
38:03 Never look at counter narratives. It's boring. All right, it's just confirmation bias blah blah blah blah blah, right?
38:08 so
38:10 the choice
38:12 To not think is a moral choice
38:14 And people who don't study anything about economics or the reality of politics or currency or whatever, right?
38:20 Those people, you know, they've watched every Star Wars movie, but they've never watched any G Edward Griffin on the Federal Reserve
38:28 All right. Well, then, you know a lot about George R.R. Binks and you don't know anything about the economic forces shaping your entire life
38:35 Okay, but that's that's a choice, but they say I am informed right they say I do know I do understand
38:41 I deserve the vote because I know things but that's a lie. You know anything I know anything
38:46 They know what they've been told they swallow what they've been told which is not thinking at all. It's not thinking at all
38:53 It's a parrot can repeat
38:55 And a parrot does not think
38:58 so with regards to my characters if
39:00 you look at
39:03 Rachel well Rachel has put her faith in
39:07 Vanity how she looks the career she likes saying and I said this right at the beginning
39:13 She likes saying that she's a feminist. She likes saying that she's a journalist. She doesn't really
39:16 Right doesn't really understand these things. Nobody's ever asked her to define
39:20 She wants to she says I want to be a change
39:22 I'm a change agent right and she I'd say right at the beginning of the book
39:26 She's secretly relieved that nobody's ever asked her to define what that means
39:30 right, it's just just buzzwords and nonsense, right and she chooses her a boyfriend based on
39:37 vanity
39:38 not virtue and
39:40 Arlo her boyfriend has thrown his lot in also with vanity and looks and
39:47 So they look good together
39:50 Right everything about Rachel when she enters the novel in the restaurant to meet her sister
39:54 Everything about Rachel is external. She likes looking at herself in the mirror
39:58 she likes admiring how people she likes thinking about how people are looking at her it's all outside in and
40:03 She's not honest about that because she does talk about being a journalist and a change agent and though she barely writes anything, right?
40:09 and then she meets someone who's genuine and authentic and
40:12 He implicitly
40:16 Repudiates her false self and you'll see this when Oliver and Rachel interact whenever she lies
40:20 He cuts off like he literally when she's lying to him. He'll hang up on her because he knows
40:26 And when she finally does tell the truth to escape the city
40:29 She finally tells the truth finally open honest and vulnerable finally tells the truth
40:33 Then she breaks out of the artificiality of the city and gets into the reality of the country
40:38 So she has chosen to not think
40:40 And everything after that is a tragedy
40:44 now Oliver has chosen to think and
40:47 therefore he flourishes and survives and
40:50 Tortures both positively and negatively the people around him who don't think
40:54 Ian
40:56 Cassie's husband is in the process of starting to think
40:59 Right. He's shedding excess body fat as you shed as you shed excess
41:04 wasteful inherited opinions and he's thinking he's trying to take a leadership role in that which he's good at which is economics and
41:11 parenting
41:13 So he survives
41:15 Arlo
41:17 Does not think Arlo says the purpose of my life is to hide out to live small and
41:24 Of course what happened to him as a child, right? What happened to him as a child in his
41:29 creepy parents creepy condo full of the creepy
41:33 Pedo art is never discussed and Rachel never shows any curiosity
41:38 Never asks him about his childhood
41:41 right
41:43 She doesn't want to know I
41:45 mean
41:46 Socrates says the unexamined life is not worth living in my novels the unexamined life means you don't survive
41:53 if you look at crystal a
41:55 crystal
41:57 Staked all of her dice rolls on ambition. I
41:59 Don't need a man. I
42:02 Am gonna be famous. I am going to be a wealthy. I'm going to be successful and she achieved all of those things
42:09 she achieved all of those things and
42:11 because
42:13 she lived for adulation she lived for success in the eyes of others and
42:18 When she was younger, she was very pretty which helped her career
42:22 She's hollowed out
42:24 she has no internal engine and
42:26 so she then
42:28 can't create in the present or the future so she dives into the past and
42:33 Wants to drag Rachel who has no future into her own illustrious past
42:39 saying
42:42 to Rachel in effect
42:43 don't build your own house full of children, but come and live with me to explore the dusty museum of my own personal history and
42:51 because
42:52 Crystal had such an effect on Rachel in terms of provoking vanity
42:57 Rachel has merged to some degree with crystal and therefore cannot say no to crystal
43:03 because
43:05 they have
43:07 both they're both living on the principle that
43:10 Value in the eyes of others is value in the self
43:16 right, I mean this is Rachel is attractive and has good physique and
43:22 So, you know men
43:24 lust after her and she's got the most handsome or beautiful boyfriend and and all of that and
43:30 That means that she's saying I have value because I'm attractive
43:35 right, I mean when
43:38 Crystal thinks that Arlo is coming over
43:40 She says I cleared a section of my condo so that he could do his sit-ups
43:43 because he can't even socialize without doing sit-ups because he needs to maintain his abs and
43:47 because he has value because
43:50 He's pretty
43:52 but that's
43:54 externalizing value
43:55 Into the programmed needs and lusts of others right to think that you have value
44:00 Because people lust after you well, you did not create your body. You did not create your shape
44:05 you've obviously had some influence on it based upon exercise, but
44:09 you exercise because if it will draw value and
44:13 You did not create hormones or lust or the desire to reproduce
44:17 These are all things inherited from blind nature and therefore do not confer value upon you in any way that is direct
44:24 these are just some
44:27 examples and
44:30 Oliver of course thinking is
44:33 Constantly wrestling with those around him who refuse to think he keeps telling people bad stuff is coming
44:39 Get your food bad stuff is coming to make your preparations bad stuff is coming, right?
44:43 So then when his mother confronts him in New Eden about his mother's sister and the fact that they're stuck behind he's like
44:51 Even the gods cannot interfere with the rule take what you want and then pay for it
44:57 Thinking is painful thinking is difficult thinking is ugly not innately
45:02 But because of the unthinking around us, right?
45:04 Would you want to put on a pair of permanent glasses that revealed most people around you to be brain hungry zombies?
45:10 Well, no, that would be living from a fantasy to living in a horror movie in the world
45:16 That is and we have to I mean, I think it's worth having the stomach
45:19 To put on the glasses that reveal the zombies around you because it can also reveal the angels around you, right?
45:25 Otherwise humanity is just an undifferentiated blob of arms and legs
45:29 But no moral content you put on the glasses that reveal the horror it also reveals the beauty
45:33 You put on the glasses that revealed
45:35 the dead it also reveals
45:39 the living and the beautiful
45:41 You put on the glasses that have you afraid
45:44 The same glasses make you capable of love. It's worth worth it to me
45:50 It's like absolutely worth it. The fear is going to be there either way
45:53 You can either see the fear and deal with it and get the love or let the fear rule you and avoid
45:59 Love forever. It's not worth it
46:01 But you know by the time the price shows up as the devil always says by the time the price shows up
46:05 It's too late
46:08 By the time you know, the plane is gonna crash you're already 10,000 feet in the air and there's nothing you can do
46:12 Other than make your texts and make your peace with the good Lord
46:16 So when you look at the people around you, you'll see that they're
46:20 animated by foundational principles and those foundational principles are usually inherited their unthinking and they
46:26 result from the avoidance of thought because
46:29 personality structures
46:32 Can only replicate if people don't think and those personality structures want to replicate
46:36 My mother tried to drive her madness into me
46:38 I had a call yesterday with a guy who was incredibly frustrated with his life and kept contradicting himself and stonewalling me which
46:45 Was his unconscious attempt to transfer his frustration to me
46:49 Which I sympathize with but I won't have
46:53 so if you look at
46:56 the people around you there are personally personality structures that are trying to replicate all the time and
47:03 What prevents their replication is thought philosophy self-knowledge honesty?
47:07 The personality structures say I'll give you an identity, but you have to take the unearned of virtue and not think
47:14 I'll bribe you with feeling good in return for you not thinking so I can inhabit you right? It's a drug. It's a demon
47:22 I'll make you feel good at the price of your soul, right?
47:26 Isn't that what the ancient bargain is right then?
47:29 That's what it represents the personality structures reproduce by bribing you with feeling good rather than being good and the only price
47:36 That you pay for this pretend identity for this false self is not to think
47:41 But then when someone comes along who does think?
47:45 then
47:47 You turn most people turn predatory right they turn into predators
47:50 because
47:53 thinking
47:54 Prevents the transmission of the unthinking false self it blocks it and the unthinking false self wants to reproduce it
48:02 Possesses almost all of humanity for almost all of human history it has been the dominant
48:07 Demon of the species and thinking false self the anti thinking false self unthinking becomes anti thinking very rapidly
48:13 because unthinking gives you short-term dopamine and
48:17 Thinking reveals a that it's short-term or after a while be that it was a bad deal because now you can't be happy
48:24 Because deep down you know you've lied right can't stop our reality processing except by going fully psychotic
48:29 Most men live lives of quiet and desperation as the old saying goes right the old analysis
48:37 So if you look around you'll see that people and you know if it's parents usually it's before you were born
48:43 They made a choice
48:45 everyone has this fork in the road right truth or
48:47 comfort
48:49 reality or conformity thinking or
48:52 vanity the pride of real achievement or the vanity of
48:57 praise and of course people are trained with punishments and rewards to avoid thinking and these days the
49:03 Punishments and the rewards are escalating because thought is escalating
49:06 increasing censorship is because of increasing thought and
49:10 Censorship is a way of preventing the transmission of reason so that the false self can replicate
49:16 without resistance
49:19 The false self says this feels good philosophy says is this true?
49:23 It's bribery with dopamine to avoid the discomfort of thought
49:27 If I give you enough drugs will you promise to never think well?
49:32 That's a lot of what happens in what is called culture and and other things right?
49:37 so if you look at the people around you and this is sort of the
49:40 How I build characters you look at the people around you there's a fundamental decision
49:44 that is made and
49:47 the fundamental tragedy in
49:49 Rachel's life is not Rachel, but her parents
49:51 the elder generation right her parents did not expose or
49:56 Oppose her vanity right her parents
50:00 have not talked to her about
50:03 honesty and truth and authenticity and
50:07 Crystal her aunt has not warned her of the dangers of ambition
50:13 ambition for
50:16 Achievement success recognition fame and money delivered by others rather than a good conscience and contentment with your own soul
50:23 Look at the people around you. What are their foundational principles?
50:27 For men, it's often dominance for women. It's often
50:30 conformity
50:32 But ask them rational questions. How do you know what you know? What is good? What is true and
50:37 That will often cause the Cobras of the false self to strike out
50:42 To drive the honesty away that kills their possibility of transmission and remember a lot of parents
50:49 Will retain their false selves into their old age
50:53 So that they get the opportunity to replicate their false selves on their grandchildren
50:57 I mean you've heard me talk about this a bunch of time with the callers right now your parents if they're dysfunctional
51:02 are your parents gonna be exposed to and have authority over your grandchildren because
51:08 They don't the false selves don't particularly care
51:12 If it skips a generation as long as they get to reproduce. I mean lots of
51:16 lots of genes skip a generation they're
51:20 latent
51:22 So yeah, look at the people around you and try to identify their the principles that possess them the habits that possess them the
51:30 Personality structures that they have been bribed into accepting instead of the truth and the clarity of thought
51:36 to be real is
51:39 to be
51:41 hunted by reproductive ghosts
51:43 to be a barrier to
51:45 The transmission of an illness called unthought is to be attacked by the illness called unthought
51:51 anti-thought
51:53 if you stand between the predator and
51:55 His prey the predator will attack you and if you bring reason to the mindless
52:02 They will attack you or to be more precise
52:06 The mindless memes that have taken possession of them will attack you so that you don't interfere with their transmission
52:13 And that's a lot of what I'm doing in my fiction. So I hope that helps
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