The Creative Stoic Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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My Website Santi Younger

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Today's we are talking with Ruben Chavez  creator of Think Grow Prosper and the Think Grow Podcast (highly recommend listening to his podcast!)

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My links:

My Website Santi Younger

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Show Notes (easier to navigate on the YouTube video)

- 01:04 on social media

- 02:16 what is Ruben's podcast about 

- 05:28 what started Ruben's journey into philosophy?

- 09:49 the philosophy of politics

- 11:59 landscape of humans thoughts and ethics

- 12:28 how to live in the world

- 13:51 there are no new problems

- 15:07 Jordan Peterson

- 15:24 clean up your room

- 16:51 Jordan Peterson as a psychometrician 

- 18:03 personality vs political beliefs

- 18:46 the big 5 personality traits

- 19:37 Jonathan Haidt

- 20:52 there's wisdom in different political views

- 22:33 on goals and desires

- 23:52 on being a philosophical generalist 

- 24:37 big history & sapiens 

- 25:23 Jonathan Haidt - the righteous mind

- 26:30 desires and the 2 two schools of thought

- 27:05 Tao Te Ching (Dàodé jīng)

- 28:08 Jim Rohn quote: “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn

- 28:24 flexibility in our goals to adapt

- 30:04 how to deal with contradictions, two opposing views that both make sense. The answer there is in "balancing" both

- 30:40 quote by Khe Hy @khemaridh "The paradox of goals: If you achieve them, you get bored. If you don't, you're unsatisfied. Ergo, you bounce between being bored and unsatisfied."

- 32:22 chaos and order

- 33:44 flow modern version of Wu wei "non-action"

- 35:36 on truth

- 35:47 Jordan Peterson vs Sam Harris conversation

- 37:06 pragmatic view: what's true is what is useful

- 37:11 Yuval Noah Harari: intersubjective reality

- 39:04 religion as an intersubjective reality

- 41:29 lobsters

- 42:00 the laws of nature, vs human laws

- 43:34 truth in fiction books

- 45:01 different fields of study describing a mountain

- 45:34 various sources of truth, different fields, different perspectives

- 48:34 why do we call fiction fake?

- 49:39 good stories are like statistics

- 51:13 Harry Potter is relatable because we see ourselves in him

- 52:56 parenting and teaching kids about scary emotions

- 58:53 what does it mean to become an adult

- 01:02:01 life stages and feeling like an adult

- 01:04:48 parenthood is like programing

- 01:05:44 does parenthood changes life philosophy?

- 01:06:43 On having an obsessive personality

- 01:08:19 how to deal with contradictions?

- 01:09:16 the ability to change beliefs

- 01:09:52 Quote: “This is how humans are: We question all our beliefs, except for the ones that we really believe in, and those we never think to question.”  ― Orson Scott Card

- 01:11:03 A Theory of Everything Book by Ken Wilber

- 01:13:45 things are in constant change

- 01:14:58 on Ruben's book

- 01:18:28 we trick ourselves to rationalize our beliefs

- 01:22:41 the overlap across philosophies

- 01:25:12 where to find more of Ruben's work

Phil's Book: philhagspiel.com/you

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Intro and Outro music:

Shore by KV  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported  — CC BY 3.0 ... Music provided by Music for Creators 

Phil's Book: philhagspiel.com/you

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Time Stamps

1:00 Intro Phil

5:00 Philosophy vs Self-Help

7:00 The Universe and Philosophy

14:00 Memento Mori

21:00 Do I want this?

Do I want this?

Do I WANT this?

Do I want THIS?

26:00 Consumer Behavior, Fake needs

26:30 needs vs wants

29:00 Moving the goal further always wanting more.

31:00 Minimalism

35:00 The Pixel Life Analogy

37:00 Deliberate lives, question everything.

38:00 What we think we want might come from deeper needs.

Show notes at: santiyounger.com/48

Intro and Outro music:

Shore by KV  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported  — CC BY 3.0 ... Music provided by Music for Creators 

Newsletter: santiyounger.com/newsletter

Instagram: instagram.com/santiyounger

Full Show Notes: santiyounger.com/47

Show notes

Podcast listener question:

I definitely struggle with keeping my emotions in check when dealing with all aspects of life, but even more so when it comes to relationships.

• We cannot get rid of negative emotions.

Podcast listener question:

I have been working on avoiding unnecessary attachment and accepting the things that happen around me of which I have no control…

• Dichotomy of Control
• Trichotomy of Control

Podcast listener question:

But it is hard. Takes concerted, focused effort each day. And some days are better than others

-Memento Mori.

Podcast listener question:

Dealing with disappointment / rejection in a healthy, constructive manner. Not to discount the pain or hurt, but also not allowing yourself to wallow in that place of negativity for longer than is necessary to release any attachment and move forward.

• Suffering
• Grief morning Seneca
• Masculinity
• Perspective

Story of astronaut’s perspective

Perspective from space

Source: Stillness is the key, chapter All is One.

In 1971 the astronaut Edgar Mitchell saw the planet from a distance of over 350,000 km (217.000 miles) and felt an overwhelming sense of connection, this is the place where all suffering and joy comes from.

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan pale blue dot Escalation of commitment To have a sense of foolish consistency in a behavior that has no benefits. Yet, we find it hard to quit because we feel we’ve already committed and we must stay consistent at all cost. Also known as The sunk cost fallacy (or Concorde fallacy) We must learn to free time to gain clarity. We feel guilty about saying no to something we don’t want to do, because we don’t want to hurt the feelings of whoever invited us to do it. We find it easier to tell someone. I can’t do your thing, because I already committed to something else. Instead of. No I don’t want to do that because I’d rather have free time instead. Selfishness Taking control of your own time and saying no to things without guilt is not selfishness. Selfishness is wanting other people to do what we want when we want it. Source: Anthony DeMello Awareness What are you willing to suffer for. Having better problems.

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Show Notes And Blog: santiyounger.com

Ted Talk: Your Elusive Genius

Jordan Peterson - Wishes | Meaningwave | Akira The Don

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Timestamp and Show Notes

0:30 Every creative craft start with writing.

1:00 Organization of ideas for content creators.

2:00 Zettlekasten box of index cards Niklas Luhmann's system to organize ideas.

3:00 How the system works in paper.

4:00 Personal Wikipedia for organization of ideas.

5:00 How to put ideas together to write books.

5:30 Niklas Luhmann room was full of drawers and paper.

6:00 Get early access to the online course I'm creating for this note-taking philosophy. Support me on: Patreon.

8:00 Note-taking philosophy.

8:20 The power of simplicity.

8:30 NASA's Pen Story.

The story says that NASA spent a decade and $12 billion to build a ballpoint pen that works without gravity. By 1965, scientist found a way to create such pen with a pressurized ink cartridge and compressed nitrogen.

The Russians simply solved this problem by using a pencil.
The takeaway is not to over-complicate things, and to look for what's obvious.

9:30 Unfortunately, the story is not true.

The people at NASA are not that dumb. They where fully aware of the pencil as an alternative.

It turns out that pencils are dangerously flammable in space. If the tip breaks and gets lost in the spaceship it can cause serious problems.

Paul C. Fisher developed the zero gravity pen which was approved by NASA and used in space. Fisher now sells his very expensive pens online.

10:30 What does this story say about simplicity?

10:45 Simplicity takes work, but it's always worth to achieve.

11:10 Take time and energy setting up systems that will pay off in the future.

11:30 The problem of traditional notetaking apps.

12:30 Making notes help you reach your work.

13:00 Plain Text Files.

13:20 Paper vs Digital.

14:00 Files from proprietary software expires and dies.

14:30 Vim the powerful way to take notes. It's complicated and it has a difficult learning curve, but it's worth it.

15:00 Trying open source fee apps to start.

Check out episode 35 of the podcast, for an interview with the owner of QOwnNotes.

15:30 Note taking app Zettlr that uses plain text files.

16:00 If you are interested to learn more about these things send me a message. If you want early access to my online course support me on Patreon and let me know how can I help you specific needs.

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Show notes And Blog: https://santiyounger.com/44

I just watched Joker (2019) for the second time and it got me thinking about a classical philosophical debate of good and evil.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s an amazing film and I will avoid spoilers here. I started questioning weather it’s possible for someone to overcome such suffering and become virtuous on the other side. I started thinking about two different approaches towards Joker’s life situation.

The first one is from the ancient Stoic philosophers.

The second one is from Aristotle.

Marcus: Yeah guys no spoilers, sorry I haven’t had time to watch it yet. I’ve been busy running an empire and stuff.

Epictetus: Hey man, did you watch Joker?
Aristotle: I’ve seen in 4 times already, damn that guy went through some tough shit. I like how we empathize with him and understand his motivations.

Epictetus: Nah dude, it’s messed up, super unvirtuos, he definitely could have chosen to overcome his suffering.

Aristotle: No man, apart from the mental illness and some spoilers I don’t want to give away because Marcus hasn’t seen it yet. It would be nearly impossible for him to overcome all of that shit.

Epictetus: I disagree dude, but we’ll talk about it properly once Marcus watches it.

Stoic Perspective

Stoics say that the source of virtue is almost completely based upon the choices we make with the life circumstances we have.

According to this view. A real Stoic could overcome the suffering that the character of Arthur in Joker goes through, and the Stoic would say that these external circumstances do not control the ability to live a virtuous life.

Aristotle Is Less Drastic

Aristotle would say that in extreme circumstances of suffering, it does make sense for the individual to struggle towards virtue or even a happy life.

Not saying that Aristotle would justify the actions of Joker, but from his perspective, his internal suffering makes more sense, than it does for a Stoic.

Overcoming The Darkness

Is it possible to have a life as messy, complicated and messed up as the character of the Joker and turn out okay.

To overcome such darkness and make something virtuous with that suffering.

Of course it’s possible, there are many cases of people who have suffered great amounts and moved on with their lives with purpose and meaning moving them through life.

Just A Couple Of Examples

These are the people that pass on to history as role models, Maya Angelou, Viktor Frankl or Nelson Mandela.

-Maya Angelou You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise!

What happens to those who don’t make it through the darkness and get stuck in it?

We are taught to despise them, to blame them for society problems. Yet, what’s the difference between them and our heroes?

Is the answer as simple as a shift in perspective? Is it hope that moves heroes forward? Is it something more long lasting than hope?

What is it that drowns criminals into the darkness? Is it despair, fear, denial?

For those of us who

santiyounger.com

Instagram  Timestamps 0:30 New Year's Resolutions Expire by The End of January

0:50 Zero Alcohol for 2020

1:30 Reasons to do this challenge

1:40 Discipline
2:10 Healthier Relationships
3:21 Meaningful Work

3:45 Social Pressure
4:29 Escapism
5:19 Convention

6:30 Mathew's Principle
The bad gets worse.
The good gets better.

6:44 Habits
7:40 Clarity
8:20 Community

This year I'm committing to 0 alcohol for the whole year. More than anything is a challenge to test my discipline and to form healthier friendships and do more meaningful work.

I am excited for this challenge, it is going to be difficult, not because I don't think I have what it takes. I've been months without drinking much. I havn't gone to parties in over 6 months and I don't really feel the need to escape through alcohol. It's going to be difficult because I'm going back to Ecuador in 2 weeks.

Social pressure is the same everywhere in the world. When I came to live here in England I didn't have any friends. There was no one to impose their bad habits on me. I made a couple of good friends, but most of my time has been spent with my girlfriend or in a meaningful solitude that has allowed me to start writing everyday.

In Ecuador I have all type of friends, a lot of them are so used to drinking and doing drugs every week. I am known to always reject drugs, they know they shouldn't offer me drugs, I've never done them and they respect that, the same with cigarettes, but with alcohol they know they can convince me.

I've never been as bad as most people with alcohol, but like every teenager I did drink on parties. Apart from a couple times I don't tend to lose consciousness like most people, but I must admit I haven't been as good as I wish I were. Being here in England has allowed me to avoid alcohol almost completely.

The biggest reason I want to do this, is because I don't want to go back to Ecuador to spend time with the same bad influence friendships I had. Not drinking will help me see who tries to push me towards vice and who helps me become better a better person.

I wish you join me on this challenge so that we can keep each other accountable. Cheers for a year without alcohol.

Andrew Kearns' YouTube Channel

Andrew's Instagram

Moment YouTube Channel

If you have a change support Andrew by getting his photography book

How Does It Feel? A Photo Journal by Andrew Kearns

(not sponsored in any way, I'm just a fan of his work)

Hey There this is Santi welcome to the podcast, 

Today I had the honor of talking to one of my all time favorite photographers. Someone who's work I looked up to for years.

His name is Andrew Kearns he's been a YouTuber for many years and has created a large following online sharing his amazing photography and videos.

If you are not familiar with his YouTube channel or Instagram, I highly recommend you have a quick look before listening to this episode, just so you have an idea of the impact of his work.

I recently came across one of his latest videos where he discussed a lot of changes going on in his life. 

He mentioned Stoic philosophy and in that moment I sent him an email asking him to be on the podcast.

In these episode we discussed Andrew's introduction to Stoicism, we also touched topics like:

- the downside of online success

- social media

- hustling culture

Stoicism as well as the advantages of being a creator who relies on philosophy to guide ones decisions through life.

 Andrew also mentioned how an existential crisis can help you gain clarity.

If you've been a fan of Andrew's work, it's awesome to have you here. I am thankful to Andrew for all his honesty throughout this whole conversation, it felt like talking to an old friend.

If you've been following Andrew, I believe this is a great update on his life and I believe there's a lot of good advice for creators and people who want to follow their passions.

Hope you enjoy the interview

Show Notes

4:00 The link of creativity and philosophy.

6:00 Differences between self-help and philosophy.

8:00 Being honest with ourselves when we notice we are projecting a certain lifestyle.

9:00 Andrew's intro to Stoicism.

10:00 The importance of daily journaling.

13:21 quote from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

 "Examine your own motivations against you highest values because they impact your perception which impacts your behavior and the results that follow." -Stephen R. Covey

17:00 Social Media can easily turn into an ego fest.

22:00 The dark side of success.

23:00 Paradox of choice, too much food in the fridge.

26:00 Reflecting on how to make work sustainable.

33:00 Embrace the existential crisis

34:00 

“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”

 ― Franklin D. Roosevelt 

38:00 How to be a creator online, in an authentic way.

50:00 The uselessness of complaining.

50:30 The burners analogy. How to balance aspects of our life such as:

- Health

- Family

- Friends 

- Work

53:00 Enjoying the process.