The Living Philosophy – Details, episodes & analysis

Could Neuralink accidentally turn all its users into a hive mind? That’s what we’re going to be exploring in this episode where we take a look inside the brain and at the possibility for Neuralink’s high bandwidth and low latency to transform the nature of consciousness.

_________________

📚 Further Reading:

• Peter Watts' talk "Conscious Ants and Human Hives": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uwaw_5Q3I
• Further reading on split brain 1: https://www.nature.com/articles/483260a](https://www.nature.com/articles/483260a)
• Further reading on split brain 2: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/07/split-brain-research-sperry-gazzaniga/399290/

_________________

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy ▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9 ▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

_________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. A Garden Romance - Martin Landstrom (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
2. The Way of the Warrior - Yi Nantiro (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
3. Go that Extra Mile - Jay Varton (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
4. From the Past - DEX 1200 (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
5. Moon Child - Bonnie Grace (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
6. AAALRIGHT - Cospe (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)
7. Sometimes I’m So Happy - So Vea (courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com)

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:06 Split Brain Science

5:55 Watts Argument: Merging of Consciousness

9:14 The Age of BCIs

10:47 What Will a Super-Consciousness Look Like?

If an alien arrived on this planet having read only the writings of Marx, Proudhon and other great leftist socialist thinkers, they would be very surprised by the reaction to Rich Men North of Richmond. Oliver Anthony's song was loved by some and hated by others with the usual weird subtextual energies of the Culture Wars infusing both. This episode looks at why, from a historical theoretical it could have been otherwise. And why it wasn't.

____________________

📚 For Your Further Perusal:

- Oliver Anthony's Rich Men North of Richmond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSA-SY5Hro&pp
- Nicholas Kristof's article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/opinion/oliver-anthony-liberals.html
- Time article: https://time.com/6308121/oliver-anthony-country-music-divide-essay/
- Guardian "Punching Down" article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/16/rich-men-north-of-richmond-oliver-anthony
- The Independent's article: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/rich-man-north-of-richmond-lyrics-oliver-anthony-b2394954.html
- Keith Woods's video "The Great Awokening": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOh_Ng0v1WE

________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
2. Evening Fall Harp — Kevin MacLeod
3. Mind Scrape — Kevin MacLeod
4. Alone With My Thoughts — Esther Abrami

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction
2:42 Why the Left Should Love Rich Men North of Richmond
5:08 Why the Left Hated Rich Men North of Richmond
7:42 The Chthonic Populists and Pure Woke
11:31 What to do about the Oliver Anthonys?

In approaching the underworld there are a couple of terms that people use. Sometimes it can get a bit confusing who's using what and what we should be using. In this episode we look at the term subconscious vs unconscious and what the meaning and background is of each. As we'll see it wasn't always so clear cut — the French psychological heritage from Pierre Janet started with one term then with Freud it bounced to another and Jung and Adler followed in their direction now using unconscious instead of subconscious.

____________________

📚 Further Reading:

- Freud, S., 1969. _Questions Of Lay Analysis_. WW Norton & Company.

________________

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy

▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Overture  — Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

2. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeod

3. Dreams Become Real — Kevin MacLeod

4. Juniper — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:51 The Origins: Janet and Freud

4:03 A Tale of Two Usages

8:41 Which one is right?

In this palette cleanser we are going to talk about the philosophy of romcoms for a change. I reckon this should remove any accusations of important work being done on The Living Philosophy. We'll be looking at two romcoms — the classic Norah Ephron When Harry Met Sally and the lesser known Just Like Heaven starring Reese Wetherspoon and Mark Ruffalo.

One is reflective of a type of art that strives for psychological accuracy (Dostoevsky, When Harry Met Sally) category — while the second category (Just Like Heaven, Alexander Dumas's The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo) dispense with reality and works at the hyperreal level of the archetypal underworld.

***

Damien's YouTube channel: "Science Fiction with Damien Walter": https://www.youtube.com/@DamienWalter
Patreon interview with Damien Walter:

***

📚 Learning Resources:

• When Harry Met Sally. (1989). [Movie] USA: Columbia Pictures.
• Just Like Heaven. (2005). [Movie] USA: DreamWorks Pictures.
• Dumas A (2014) The Three Musketeers. United States: Shine Classics.
• Dumas A (2004) The Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics.
• Dostoyevsky (1993) Notes from Underground. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

***

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy
▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

***

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

***

🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
2. Juniper — Kevin MacLeod
3. Overture — Pyotr Ilyich tchaikovsky
4. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

***

⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:30 The True vs the Fantastic
3:15 Just Like Heaven
3:56 When Harry Met Sally
6:12 The Unrealistic Just Like Heaven
7:31 The Fantastic As Archetypal Dynamism
10:52 The Power of Archetypal Storytelling

You can get "Become Who You Are" here: http://designingthemind.org/becoming

It's rare that you encounter a fresh take on a path as well-trodden as happiness. I've read a lot of books on the topic and I have to say that Ryan Bush's take is fresh and yet simultaneously ancient. I think this is part of the reason I'm so enthusiastic about it: it integrates a trend in academic philosophy that I've yet to see anyone else talk about: Virtue Ethics. This is an ethical approach to philosophy that goes all the way back to the ancients especially Socrates, Aristotle and the Stoics. Bush integrates this old esteemed tradition with very 21st century fields like Cognitive Science and neuroscience to produce a thought-provoking map of the good life that I can't recommend highly enough. 

____________________

📚 Further Reading:

- Pan W, Liu C, Yang Q, et al. (2016) The neural basis of trait self-esteem revealed by the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and resting state functional connectivity. _Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience_ 11(3): 367–376.

- Bush R. (2023) _Become Who You Are_. USA: DTM Press

- Davey CG, Pujol J and Harrison BJ (2016) Mapping the self in the brain’s default mode network. _NeuroImage_ 132: 390–397.

_________________ 

🎼 Media Used:

1. Letting Go  — Kevin MacLeod

2. Juniper — Kevin MacLeod

3. Dreams Become Real — Kevin MacLeod

6. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Gain and Loss 

2:45 The Third Dimension of the Good Life

4:00 How to Eudaimonia

5:21 The Spiritual Path

7:06 The Neuroscience of Self-Esteem

9:43 Virtue: the Royal Road to Eudaimonia

We modern serfs have forgotten something: we've forgotten how to live. You don't question the meaning of life when leisure is the heart of life rather than work. But with the rise of modern urban life, the intrinsic mode of living has died at the hands of the instrumental mode of life. Our entire lives have been colonised by "utility". We don't relax or rest for their own sake anymore — now we rest so that we are more productive. In this episode we explore these two relationships with time: the leisurely intrinsic mode and the future-oriented instrumental mode.

_________________

📚 Further Reading:

• Burkeman O (2021) Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. First edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Burnham, B. (2021) Inside. Los Angeles, CA: Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=81289483.
• De Botton A (2005) Status Anxiety. First Vintage International edition. New York: Vintage International.
• Seligman MEP (2013) Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. Atria paperback edition. New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi: Atria Paperback.

_________________

⭐ Support The Living Philosophy (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy ▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

_________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
2. Dark Times — Kevin MacLeod
3. Mozart's String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, MOVEMENT II, K. 421 — WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
4. Letting Go Ambient Background music

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod: https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

01:27 Modern Times

03:51 The Other Story

10:46 Conclusion

Before the Axial Age the religious archetypes were those of the Priest and the Magician. But with the increased complexity and evolution of society a new archetype emerged: that of the Prophet. This is the archetype of liminal transformation in the midst of a society paralysed by its own success. The Prophet comes in from the edge of inside and shows the society where it has lost its way.

____________________

📚 Further Reading:

- Szakolczai Á (2003) _The Genesis of Modernity_. Routledge studies in social and political thought 36. London ; New York: Routledge.

________________

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy

▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish  — Kevin MacLeod

2. Density & Time — Ether Real

3. Mind Scrape — Kevin MacLeod

4. Alone With My Thoughts — Esther Abrami

5. Shores of Avalon — Kevin MacLeod

6. Disquiet — Kevin MacLeod

7. Letting Go — Kevin MacLeod

8. Allegro — Emmit Fenn

9. Evening Fall Harp  — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

Subscribe to Emmit Fenn https://www.youtube.com/c/emmitfenn

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

01:14 Priests and Magicians

03:33 Prophets

04:13 Power and the Priest

06:11 Refusal of the Call

08:19 Personal Aspect and Revelation

09:16 Exemplary and Ethical Prophecy

11:31 Elitist Exemplarys

12:34 Conclusion

Philosopher and anthropologist Rene Girard once described justice and public vengeance. Nietzsche expressed the same in his Genealogy of Morals. Why then do we value justice so highly and look down so judgingly on revenge? And what, if this is true, is the purpose of justice? How is it in any way different from vengeance? The answer is that it is profoundly different and in this video we explore why.

____________________

📚 Further Reading:

- Prisoner abuse data: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0032885500080004004

- Death penalty data: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/death-penalty-international-poll

- MP support of death penalty: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/big-differences-on-economic-and-social-values-between-mps-and-voters-new-academic-survey-finds/

- Recidivism in Norwegian prisons - 1 year: https://medium.com/wagovernor/how-norwegian-prisons-prepare-inmates-to-become-better-neighbors-534409a90f33

- 3-year Norwegian recidivism: https://www.firststepalliance.org/post/norway-prison-system-lessons

- 1980s Norway recidivism: https://www.firststepalliance.org/post/norway-prison-system-lessons

- Nietzsche, F. (2000) *Genealogy of Morals* in _Basic Writings of Nietzsche_ ed. by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Modern Library.

- Girard R. (1979) _Violence and the Sacred_. Baltimore: Hopkins Univ. Press.

________________

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy

▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod

2. Mind Scrape — Kevin MacLeod

3. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeod

4. Dreams Become Real — Kevin MacLeod

5. Dark Times — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

01:33 Rehabilitation vs Punishment

06:29 The Dark Side of Justice

10:15 The Hegemony of Justice

13:26 Further Avenues for Research

Would you rather live in a better world or a happier one? In this video we are going to explore how equality has made the world a better place but also how, like the Edenic apple of knowledge, it has come with a cost. The world looks better from the outside but seen from the subjective side it seems that things have only gotten worse.

This is following up on the recent episode on Nietzsche's concept of ressentiment that we examined in the previous episodes and follows along our explorations in to the social and political radical theme of modern times.

____________________

📚 Further Reading:

- De Botton A (2005) _Status Anxiety_. First Vintage International edition. New York: Vintage International.

- Nietzsche FW (2000) *The Genealogy of Morals* in _Basic Writings of Nietzsche_. ed. by Martin Kaufmann. New York: Modern Library.

- Orlowski, J. (2020) _The Social Dilemma_ Netflix.

- Scheler M (1915) Ressentiment. 1915.

- Seligman MEP (2013) _Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment_. Atria paperback edition. New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi: Atria Paperback.

- Tocqueville A de, Bevan GE, Kramnick I, et al. (2003) _Democracy in America: And Two Essays on America_. Penguin classics. London: Penguin.

________________

⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy

▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy

_________________

💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9

▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/

________________

🎼 Media Used:

1. Mesmerize  — Kevin MacLeod

2. Despair and Triumph — Kevin MacLeod

3. Long Note Three — Kevin MacLeod

4. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod

5. Dreams Become Real — Kevin MacLeod

6. Letting Go — Kevin MacLeod

7. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

2:07 Democracy in America

5:21 The Shadow of Equality

8:21 In the 21st Century

9:59 Medieval Eden

12:00 What to do with Equality

13:48 The Limitations of Meritocracy

In The Ritual Process the anthropologist who put Liminality on the map Victor Turner gave a list of contrasts between Liminality and Structure. There is an uncanny resemblance between these values and the values of Leftism. That is what we are going to explore in this episode which in the final episode in our exploration of Victor Turner's work in this field. 

____________________
📚 Further Reading:

- Szakolczai Á (2003) _The Genesis of Modernity_. Routledge studies in social and political thought 36. London ; New York: Routledge.
- Turner VW (1995) _The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure_. The Lewis Henry Morgan lectures 1966. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

________________
⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)

▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy
▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy
_________________ 
💬 More from The Living Philosophy

▶ Discord https://discord.gg/XNd4gTpfu9
▶ 📨 Subscribe with email: https://thelivingphilosophy.substack.com/
________________
🎼 Media Used:

1.  Long Note Three  — Kevin MacLeod
2.  Dreams Become Real  — Kevin MacLeod
3. Evening Fall Harp — Kevin MacLeod
4. Despair and Triumph — Kevin MacLeod
5. Permafrost — Scott Buckley
6. There’s Probably No Time — Chris Zabriskie
7.  Ether Real - Density & Time — The Grey Room

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic
Subscribe to Chris Zabriskie https://www.youtube.com/c/chriszabriskie
Subscribe to The Grey Room https://www.youtube.com/@TheGreyRoom
Scott Buckley - https://www.scottbuckley.com.au

_________________

⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
01:31 Liminality
03:39 Leftism
05:09 The Liminal Left - Economic/Political
07:10 Authority and Liminality 
10:07 The Cultural Left and Liminality
13:39 Conclusion