Leo D.M.J. Aurini - How to Cope with Universal Skepticism [Requested Video]

00:00:00.000 This requested video comes from Jochen, and it's a question I think that most of us, all of us actually, but only some of us are aware that we're dealing with it.

00:00:15.280 It's a very omnipresent question. In this age of absolute doubt, what are we supposed to believe in? Where are we supposed to find our faith?

00:00:30.000 And it comes, the question comes, ironically enough, from Christianity itself, because Christianity started, it started with the premise, the promise that everything in the world is understandable, it is discoverable, that we can figure out how the world works.

00:00:56.280 You know, like, if you've done any, I know I use the auto mechanics metaphor quite a bit, but this is one of the things I find, because when I go in to fix my car, when my car's broken, and I have to fix it, well, it's a very depressing feeling.

00:01:12.840 It's, while the car's being fixed, you don't have transportation. You know, it almost feels like the universe could potentially come to an end if you can't fix the car.

00:01:24.560 And when you go to fix it, you don't know exactly what the problem is. You might have a really good guess, you might have some thoughts as to what you could do, but you don't know how to fix the problem.

00:01:34.740 And so this is, anytime I approach it, I know, though, despite this, as much as it worries me, on a deep level, I know I can fix it.

00:01:46.880 It's going to be painful. I'm going to bleed. I don't really want to do it. It's going to be mentally difficult, as well as physically difficult, but I know that I can fix it.

00:02:00.100 And there is a moment of doubt in the process, but thus far, I have yet to be proven wrong.

00:02:07.160 And so this, this confidence that Christendom had, that the physical world was comprehensible, that we could figure it out, that we could, you know, make, that we could develop the scientific method,

00:02:27.000 But, ironically enough, this is what taught us to doubt.

00:02:35.460 Because this confidence that we can figure out the world makes us doubt our current understanding of it, our current theory of how the world works.

00:02:47.500 And so rather than the old pagan faiths, which said, this is how the world works, just believe in it, go die for your country. 0.88

00:02:57.000 And that's just learning a theory.

00:03:01.620 With Christianity, with the Western civilization, it became about learning to formulate theories, which means doubting your current theory. 0.93

00:03:16.120 And so this universal era of doubt, you know, this is what Nietzsche and Dostoevsky were writing about.

00:03:31.120 They predicted the 20th century quite accurately.

00:03:34.400 And so, ironically enough, ironically enough, this is a product of Christendom, a result of that faith that we could find the answers. 0.86

00:03:45.780 And now, the interesting thing about the present day is that the vast majority of people, certainly the more pig-headed Christians, but especially the atheists, 1.00

00:04:03.800 they no longer know how to formulate theories, they no longer know how to formulate theories. 0.96

00:04:11.880 They just memorize theories.

00:04:16.220 You know, it used to be, again, in this medieval setting, that we would memorize facts, grammar.

00:04:22.500 We would memorize historical events, dates.

00:04:28.300 But theories we were constantly generating.

00:04:31.360 We learned how to build theories.

00:04:34.500 Whereas now, we ignore facts because we can Google them.

00:04:38.440 We can just pull out our smartphone and Google any fact we need.

00:04:41.420 Instead, we memorize theories without understanding how to generate theories, where they come from.

00:04:52.680 And so, in a funny sense, this existential dread, this existential doubt that I think a lot of us feel,

00:05:02.040 is largely absent from the atheist.

00:05:06.000 And yet, the atheist lifestyle, it does tend towards misery, doesn't it? 1.00

00:05:23.160 Because we're talking about suffering.

00:05:27.040 And you might be able to tell, I've been listening to a lot of Jordan Peterson,

00:05:29.820 to try and formulate the answer to this question.

00:05:34.380 The question is suffering.

00:05:36.000 How do we deal with the issue of suffering?

00:05:43.820 Now, on the one hand, you get the Christians, and this was Nietzsche's critique,

00:05:49.500 the Christians that use religion as a way to forestall fear of death, 0.76

00:05:57.140 fear of failure, fear of suffering.

00:05:58.960 And you still see this.

00:06:06.220 It's actually very strong in America, amongst Christianity there.

00:06:10.560 The pre-rapture, the doctrine of prosperity,

00:06:14.620 these are all ways that the people that follow this,

00:06:17.980 they convince themselves of some tenet, some set of beliefs,

00:06:22.400 so that they don't have to address the problem of their own suffering.

00:06:28.480 Yeah, I think I might actually go into this a bit more in depth in another video,

00:06:32.880 discussing heresies and why they're heresies and what sort of damage they do.

00:06:38.000 Well, they latch onto these beliefs and constantly reaffirm these beliefs

00:06:46.140 because it saves them from having to deal with darkness, with chaos, with danger.

00:06:55.260 And yet these beliefs become very fragile in the process.

00:07:02.220 And so if they experience any trauma, any suffering,

00:07:05.000 it threatens to completely destroy their faith.

00:07:07.500 Because it was never faith to begin with,

00:07:09.860 it's just belief in an axiom, belief in a theory.

00:07:15.000 If I am righteous, then I will become rich and I will never suffer.

00:07:19.400 And then your child dies in a car accident.

00:07:23.320 What do you do then?

00:07:25.260 Now, the atheists, meanwhile, 1.00

00:07:33.000 they try and boil down suffering

00:07:38.160 to a question of utilitarianism, of utility.

00:07:44.740 How do we reduce suffering in the world?

00:07:52.160 But see, what happens when we do that?

00:07:53.700 What happens when we completely eliminate suffering?

00:08:00.000 Think of the trust fund kid.

00:08:04.140 Okay, everything's paid for.

00:08:06.120 All right, gets to eat the best food in the world. 0.98

00:08:09.940 It gets to have all the sex they want. 0.84

00:08:12.540 It gets to do whatever.

00:08:13.580 What do they immediately go and do?

00:08:17.580 Yourself.

00:08:18.120 Think about yourself.

00:08:22.280 What would you do?

00:08:23.200 Now, if you included the fact that you have this desire,

00:08:35.320 desire, and you recognize this desire,

00:08:39.220 and you're reaching for faith, even though we doubt so much,

00:08:43.060 you'd pursue virtue.

00:08:45.980 You'd discipline yourself.

00:08:47.920 Maybe you'd become an author, or a musician, or a bodybuilder, or something.

00:08:52.700 You would pursue some form of excellence that required suffering to achieve.

00:09:00.300 You'd play the guitar until your fingers bled.

00:09:02.380 Or, you'd reject it, and you'd seek destruction.

00:09:12.680 Because even in that lap of luxury,

00:09:16.780 even when you have so much, you have everything you want,

00:09:20.420 now what?

00:09:21.000 Think of the spiritual hangover that you get

00:09:27.740 if you spend several days playing video games,

00:09:33.180 or going on a alcohol bender.

00:09:37.880 You do it, but you're not satisfied.

00:09:41.260 You get frustrated.

00:09:43.460 You get angry.

00:09:44.440 And if you keep seeking out

00:09:49.480 a sense of accomplishment,

00:09:51.080 a sense of pleasure

00:09:52.500 in the real world,

00:09:55.600 if that's your definition of virtue,

00:09:58.080 seeking out that source of pleasure,

00:10:01.480 it doesn't lead to a good place.

00:10:05.340 It actually leads you straight to hell.

00:10:07.840 Because pleasure is unsatisfying.

00:10:15.160 We aren't meant

00:10:16.500 to feel happy all the time.

00:10:27.180 Another thought experiment.

00:10:28.500 If you say to somebody,

00:10:29.640 what if I installed a microchip in your brain

00:10:32.760 that gives you the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment?

00:10:36.560 Would you click that button to have that feeling?

00:10:41.600 And, you know, most people would say no,

00:10:43.540 and then the question is then,

00:10:44.520 what do you want?

00:10:49.160 And see, that's what the video games are.

00:10:51.920 You know, it gives you this sense

00:10:53.600 of an artificial accomplishment,

00:10:56.060 and it doesn't make us happy.

00:10:58.040 You know, that's what all of this meaningless sex is, 0.93

00:11:02.020 and it doesn't make us happy.

00:11:03.500 That's what drugs are.

00:11:04.420 And you just need to look at drug addicts.

00:11:10.040 You know, this is the thing

00:11:11.000 that really terrifies me

00:11:11.980 about the opiate addiction.

00:11:17.080 Because it's massive right now.

00:11:19.160 There are so many people taking opiates.

00:11:21.820 You know, they've got radio commercials

00:11:23.200 saying that, oh, be careful,

00:11:24.660 your kids are going to steal your opiates. 1.00

00:11:26.440 Because you got them on a prescription,

00:11:28.520 so it's okay,

00:11:29.080 hey, but your kids are going to steal your opiates. 1.00

00:11:32.980 Well, just because you got them on a prescription

00:11:36.720 doesn't mean they're good for you.

00:11:38.240 And, you know, I see these people

00:11:39.340 that are on opiates.

00:11:40.980 I've had far too many encounters with them.

00:11:44.680 And these people,

00:11:45.980 they become progressively

00:11:47.520 more dissociated from reality.

00:11:50.740 You can tell that they're on opiates

00:11:56.020 because of how unpredictable they are.

00:12:00.480 When you try and speak to them,

00:12:02.220 when you watch them move,

00:12:06.840 there isn't this consistency.

00:12:09.680 There isn't a predictable pattern.

00:12:11.500 And they're generally pretty calm.

00:12:13.920 They're not violent.

00:12:15.240 But the unpredictability of them

00:12:18.180 means that they could potentially be very violent

00:12:23.620 for no particular reason.

00:12:25.600 And that there's no way,

00:12:27.640 if they become angry,

00:12:28.920 if they become violent,

00:12:29.780 there's nothing you can do

00:12:31.080 that will necessarily work to calm them down.

00:12:35.220 Because they don't know what...

00:12:36.400 Because they're not angry.

00:12:37.480 They're not going to be getting angry at you

00:12:39.040 because, hey, why are you smoking in my house?

00:12:42.180 At which point you say,

00:12:43.180 oh, I'm sorry, and you stop smoking.

00:12:45.780 No, they're going to be getting angry at you

00:12:49.000 because they are unsatisfied by the opiates.

00:12:52.800 The opiates have given them

00:12:54.040 everything they think they want,

00:12:56.320 and they are not satisfied.

00:12:59.380 They have no catharsis, no meaning.

00:13:09.140 And the opiates are really just...

00:13:10.720 This is just the path we've been on for so long.

00:13:21.000 Because we've been trying to construct

00:13:22.840 our own realities,

00:13:24.500 our own systems of meaning.

00:13:28.500 And they're not providing us meaning.

00:13:29.920 And so people devolve into extreme sexual perversion.

00:13:36.780 They devolve into extreme politics,

00:13:38.740 trying to find meaning through the political process.

00:13:42.620 They try and find meaning from their sex, 1.00

00:13:45.700 or their race.

00:13:47.340 Or alternatively,

00:13:48.540 they try and destroy their sex and their race. 1.00

00:13:50.600 You know, the feminists that absolutely hate femininity. 1.00

00:13:55.920 They're trying to find meaning by destroying that. 0.95

00:13:59.140 The same thing with the popularity of transsexualism 0.99

00:14:02.180 and the ethnomasochism that we see.

00:14:05.040 They're just desperately trying to find this meaning

00:14:07.500 in something constructed by men,

00:14:10.640 in our own self-made theories.

00:14:13.280 Because of this omnipresence of doubt.

00:14:19.140 Because we've learned how to make theories,

00:14:21.720 which makes us question the very theory

00:14:23.880 that taught us how to make theories in the first place.

00:14:26.160 It's really, it's a catch-22 that we found ourselves in.

00:14:40.200 And really, this catch-22,

00:14:42.160 this is the nature of man

00:14:43.700 all the way back throughout time.

00:14:48.580 The present iteration of it

00:14:50.760 is that faith in God taught us to doubt God.

00:14:54.420 taught us to be able to think beyond

00:14:57.560 a world with God.

00:14:59.380 To think all these different possible worlds.

00:15:01.480 And it's led us to nothing.

00:15:06.700 Alleviation of suffering

00:15:07.720 does not alleviate our suffering.

00:15:14.100 So what the hell are we supposed to do about that?

00:15:16.640 Those that really pursue virtue,

00:15:24.880 or pursue hedonism,

00:15:27.280 whether it's intellectual or drug-based,

00:15:31.120 as I said, they come to resentment.

00:15:36.240 They become angry.

00:15:37.800 They become destructive

00:15:39.160 of themselves and of the world around them.

00:15:45.980 And,

00:15:46.640 it becomes particularly bad

00:15:50.220 when this drug addiction

00:15:55.020 or this vice

00:15:56.560 that you are pursuing

00:15:58.360 harms somebody else.

00:16:03.100 You know, when your

00:16:04.100 drug addiction

00:16:05.880 harms your child

00:16:08.180 or a loved one

00:16:09.300 or your ideology

00:16:10.800 forces you away from your parents.

00:16:13.020 And so what do you do then?

00:16:18.220 What do you do?

00:16:18.940 You've been pursuing hedonism

00:16:20.460 to alleviate suffering.

00:16:23.120 And your pursuit of hedonism

00:16:24.540 has increased suffering.

00:16:26.400 So what the hell do you do then

00:16:30.400 except double down

00:16:31.880 and focus on creating more suffering?

00:16:35.160 Hurt as many people as you can,

00:16:37.220 including yourself. 0.99

00:16:38.040 Hurt yourself to hurt other people.

00:16:39.300 And, you know, you've seen this. 0.94

00:16:48.480 I've seen this.

00:16:51.020 We don't want to become that.

00:16:52.360 Because there's never a

00:16:57.400 just or correct target.

00:17:00.060 Is there?

00:17:02.280 When we're angry,

00:17:03.360 when we're frustrated,

00:17:05.280 there's never somebody

00:17:08.180 that we can take it out

00:17:09.440 on directly

00:17:10.980 who deserves it.

00:17:11.780 You know, maybe we can

00:17:13.120 delude ourselves

00:17:13.820 into thinking they deserve it,

00:17:14.880 but there's always going to be

00:17:15.560 collateral damage.

00:17:27.840 And this is the fundamental

00:17:29.280 nature of man,

00:17:30.320 is that we know

00:17:31.540 that we suffer,

00:17:33.220 but we can't explain

00:17:34.340 why that we suffer.

00:17:36.140 And even alleviating

00:17:37.360 that suffering

00:17:37.940 does not make us happy.

00:17:38.840 You know, this is the price

00:17:42.700 of eating that apple.

00:17:48.040 In one sense,

00:17:49.320 we're like deities,

00:17:50.300 that we can construct

00:17:51.280 our own reality,

00:17:52.340 our own theories.

00:17:56.000 But the only way

00:17:56.840 we can make them true

00:17:57.740 is by force.

00:18:05.040 You know, somebody

00:18:05.740 pointed this out to me

00:18:06.560 recently.

00:18:07.160 Now, the words

00:18:09.120 dialogue and diabolic.

00:18:12.500 Dialogue

00:18:13.020 from the Greek

00:18:15.700 through

00:18:17.200 the logos,

00:18:19.800 through

00:18:20.260 the word.

00:18:23.660 Diabolic

00:18:24.260 bolos

00:18:26.120 through

00:18:26.900 being thrown.

00:18:27.840 And so when we

00:18:31.160 try and make

00:18:32.700 ourselves,

00:18:33.400 when we try and

00:18:34.660 achieve

00:18:35.480 that deific

00:18:36.600 quality,

00:18:37.680 when we come up

00:18:38.600 with our

00:18:39.100 theory of

00:18:40.320 perfection,

00:18:41.980 our utopian

00:18:43.160 reality,

00:18:44.300 the only way

00:18:46.400 to make it a reality

00:18:47.640 is through

00:18:49.560 throwing it

00:18:50.500 at other people,

00:18:51.640 is to become

00:18:52.380 diabolic,

00:18:53.800 and to force

00:18:54.700 others

00:18:55.340 to accept

00:18:56.760 our utopia,

00:18:57.940 our definition,

00:18:59.060 our theory of utopia.

00:19:04.180 Dialogue

00:19:04.880 requires

00:19:06.740 the logos.

00:19:08.260 It requires

00:19:09.840 that faith

00:19:11.100 in the ability

00:19:11.960 to communicate.

00:19:14.400 it is only

00:19:17.180 through God

00:19:18.460 that we

00:19:20.540 can

00:19:21.020 speak

00:19:22.000 to one

00:19:22.700 another

00:19:23.100 and have

00:19:24.120 meaningful

00:19:24.700 statements

00:19:25.320 and come

00:19:26.360 to

00:19:26.760 understand

00:19:28.360 reality

00:19:29.620 and try

00:19:32.480 and hurt

00:19:33.320 others less,

00:19:35.000 try and

00:19:35.780 understand

00:19:36.360 the other

00:19:37.260 person.

00:19:38.100 Through

00:19:38.360 God,

00:19:39.420 we can

00:19:39.780 see and

00:19:41.080 understand

00:19:41.780 the other

00:19:43.360 person

00:19:43.800 and through

00:19:45.400 that

00:19:45.580 communication

00:19:46.100 be naked

00:19:46.680 in front 0.92

00:19:48.000 of one

00:19:48.220 another,

00:19:49.240 which then

00:19:54.160 impacts you

00:19:54.700 as well.

00:19:58.680 When you

00:19:59.280 open up a

00:19:59.740 dialogue with

00:20:00.360 somebody,

00:20:00.660 when you

00:20:00.880 truly open

00:20:01.800 yourself to

00:20:02.280 dialogue,

00:20:03.240 you don't

00:20:03.800 know what's

00:20:04.020 going to

00:20:04.160 come out

00:20:04.400 the other

00:20:04.660 side.

00:20:05.580 You don't

00:20:05.860 know what

00:20:06.180 you're going

00:20:06.660 to be

00:20:07.000 on the

00:20:08.540 other side

00:20:08.960 of that.

00:20:09.320 you become

00:20:10.660 vulnerable.

00:20:13.520 Whereas the

00:20:14.340 diabolic,

00:20:15.420 when you

00:20:15.640 throw your

00:20:16.280 ideology at

00:20:17.820 somebody else,

00:20:18.440 when you

00:20:18.680 force them

00:20:19.360 to accept

00:20:20.060 your theory,

00:20:21.260 you remain

00:20:22.360 separate.

00:20:23.760 You remain

00:20:24.680 prideful.

00:20:25.900 so what

00:20:37.820 are we

00:20:38.640 supposed to

00:20:38.980 do in

00:20:39.200 this age

00:20:40.300 of endless

00:20:41.740 questions,

00:20:44.960 endless

00:20:45.220 depth?

00:20:45.560 I would

00:20:51.440 say that

00:20:51.980 the answer

00:20:52.540 is to

00:20:56.820 open up

00:20:57.440 dialogue with

00:20:59.320 other people,

00:21:00.560 is to

00:21:02.980 not get

00:21:04.040 lost in

00:21:04.880 your internal

00:21:05.560 doubts and

00:21:07.160 questions,

00:21:08.180 but rather

00:21:09.920 to look at

00:21:11.820 the other

00:21:12.340 people around

00:21:13.080 you and

00:21:13.900 through the

00:21:14.940 logos,

00:21:15.560 to speak

00:21:18.000 to them

00:21:18.340 and to

00:21:19.600 experience

00:21:20.140 the

00:21:20.340 conversation

00:21:20.900 and to

00:21:22.640 be honest

00:21:24.420 with them

00:21:25.960 and see

00:21:28.460 what happens

00:21:29.260 to you

00:21:29.720 when you

00:21:31.600 are honest

00:21:31.980 with them.

00:21:40.980 In a way,

00:21:42.120 you need

00:21:42.420 to accept

00:21:43.880 that doubt

00:21:44.540 you need

00:21:46.400 to accept

00:21:46.980 that it

00:21:47.840 is

00:21:48.220 there

00:21:49.560 and not

00:21:50.420 try and

00:21:50.800 eliminate

00:21:51.240 it

00:21:51.640 with

00:21:52.720 certitude.

00:21:53.380 certitude

00:22:01.120 upon yourself

00:22:02.720 and upon

00:22:03.400 the world

00:22:03.840 around you

00:22:04.560 that you

00:22:05.440 become

00:22:05.740 diabolic 1.00

00:22:06.380 and you

00:22:07.500 fall into

00:22:08.300 a pit

00:22:08.800 of suffering

00:22:09.400 that has

00:22:10.160 no ladder

00:22:10.660 out.

00:22:11.100 but when

00:22:15.540 you

00:22:15.860 engage

00:22:16.740 in

00:22:16.920 dialogue

00:22:17.860 even

00:22:22.440 if you

00:22:22.780 are

00:22:23.020 suffering

00:22:23.680 there is

00:22:26.500 a path

00:22:26.840 upwards.

00:22:27.320 stay

00:22:34.060 strong

00:22:34.440 folks

00:22:34.940 deus

00:22:36.080 bolt

00:22:36.400 this is

00:22:38.340 burrini

00:22:39.240 out.

00:22:39.840 out.

Leo D.M.J. Aurini - January 15, 2017

How to Cope with Universal Skepticism [Requested Video]

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