The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast


321. A Conversation So Intense It Might Transcend Time and Space | John Vervaeke


Summary

In this episode, Dr. John Vervke joins Dr. Jordan B. Peterson to discuss his new series, The Meaning Crisis . Dr. Vervck is an associate professor in cognitive psychology and cognitive science at the University of Toronto. His work constructs a bridge between science and spirituality, which we ll talk about in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness and the cultivation of wisdom, so as to afford awakening from the meaning crisis. Dr. Peterson has decades of experience helping patients with depression and anxiety, and offers a unique understanding of why you might be feeling this way. In this series, he provides a roadmap towards healing, showing that while the journey isn t easy, it s absolutely possible to find your way forward. If you re suffering, please know you are not alone. There s hope, and there s a path to feeling better. Go to Dailywire.plus and start watching Dr. B.P. Peterson s new series on Depression and Anxiety. Let s take the first step towards the brighter future you deserve. - Dr. P.S. Please be sure to share this episode with a friend, colleague, or family member who needs to know about this new series. or share it on social media if you re struggling with depression or anxiety. Thank you for listening and sharing it with a loved one who needs a good night out! Peace, Blessings, Eternally, EJ & Jordan - Caitlyn and Jon Vervak, PhD ( ) - . . . . - Jon Verveck, PhD, C.A. (PhD. (C.D., C.D.E. ) - C.J. (A.J.) , Dr. J.V. (D.V.) (B.M. (M.R. (S.D.) ) . , C. ( ) (P.J., M. (R.A., D. (C.) (C). (J.E.) (A) (A). (A.) (P). (R.) ( ) (P) (D.) (B.) (R). ( ) . . (P.) (D). (C) & P. (P)? (A (A?) (Q. (J.) (Q.) (S) (P?) ) ( ) & J. (F.) (F. (Q).


Transcript

00:00:00.940 Hey everyone, real quick before you skip, I want to talk to you about something serious and important.
00:00:06.480 Dr. Jordan Peterson has created a new series that could be a lifeline for those battling depression and anxiety.
00:00:12.740 We know how isolating and overwhelming these conditions can be, and we wanted to take a moment to reach out to those listening who may be struggling.
00:00:20.100 With decades of experience helping patients, Dr. Peterson offers a unique understanding of why you might be feeling this way in his new series.
00:00:27.420 He provides a roadmap towards healing, showing that while the journey isn't easy, it's absolutely possible to find your way forward.
00:00:35.360 If you're suffering, please know you are not alone. There's hope, and there's a path to feeling better.
00:00:41.780 Go to Daily Wire Plus now and start watching Dr. Jordan B. Peterson on depression and anxiety.
00:00:47.460 Let this be the first step towards the brighter future you deserve.
00:00:57.420 Hello everyone watching and listening on YouTube and associated platforms.
00:01:14.140 I'm here today in person, so that's nice, with Dr. John Verveke.
00:01:20.340 He's a professor at the University of Toronto, like I am or was, depending on how you look at it.
00:01:25.880 But our work has run in parallel for a long time, probably 20 years, maybe longer than that.
00:01:31.720 And we had a lot of students at the University of Toronto in common.
00:01:36.040 And we've had a lot of discussions on YouTube.
00:01:38.680 John and I are both interested in this issue of the issue of relevance realization,
00:01:44.040 which is a very abstract way of pointing to something extremely fundamental,
00:01:48.740 which is the fact that certain things announce themselves to your perception as primary.
00:01:54.980 Things attract your attention and attract your focus.
00:01:57.400 And that's a great mystery. It's an immense mystery.
00:02:00.000 It might be the immense mystery in some real sense.
00:02:03.520 And so John has made a tremendous amount of progress on that front,
00:02:07.580 using sources different than the ones that I've relied on.
00:02:10.600 And so that's made our conversations, for me, extremely interesting,
00:02:13.440 because we're trying to address the same problem,
00:02:17.460 which is really the problem of meaning, whatever meaning is.
00:02:20.820 But he draws on literatures that are distinct from those that I've drawn on.
00:02:26.020 And so our conversations are reproductive because of that.
00:02:28.940 I'm going to provide a brief bio of John and his work,
00:02:33.800 and then we're going to jump right into the topics at hand,
00:02:36.640 because there's lots to talk about on this front.
00:02:38.600 So John Vervecki is an associate professor in cognitive psychology and cognitive science
00:02:43.240 at the University of Toronto.
00:02:45.380 His work, as I alluded to,
00:02:47.980 constructs a bridge between science and spirituality,
00:02:51.840 which we'll talk about,
00:02:52.900 in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness
00:02:55.420 and the cultivation of wisdom,
00:02:58.200 so as to afford awakening from the meaning crisis.
00:03:01.900 And the meaning crisis is a phrase that John's popularized
00:03:04.380 and that many of you may be familiar with.
00:03:06.020 So, welcome.
00:03:07.900 Good to see you.
00:03:08.620 It's good to see you, too, again.
00:03:09.640 It's nice to be here in person with you.
00:03:10.120 You're looking great.
00:03:11.060 Well, thank you, sir.
00:03:12.020 It's my Twitter suit.
00:03:13.080 Let's do it.
00:03:13.880 So, I wanted to start...
00:03:16.260 I'm going to jump right into this.
00:03:17.280 Please, please.
00:03:17.580 Because there's some very complicated and essential issues
00:03:21.980 that I want to talk to you about.
00:03:23.100 I talked with Carl Friston a while back,
00:03:25.520 and for those of you watching,
00:03:26.920 Friston is one of the world's premier neuroscientists,
00:03:29.200 and he's very interested in categorization and AI.
00:03:32.120 And he said something to me that was extremely illuminating,
00:03:35.840 and I think it's related to your notion of through-line
00:03:38.500 and also oneness.
00:03:40.560 Because one of the questions John's interested in, by the way,
00:03:43.180 is what is it that allows us to presume
00:03:45.960 that any given thing is one thing,
00:03:48.540 especially when it's made out of parts,
00:03:50.300 and what does it mean for two things
00:03:52.740 to be similar or identical,
00:03:55.440 given that they're separate?
00:03:56.700 And so, all of this is lurking in the background
00:03:59.700 as problems that need to be solved.
00:04:01.260 So, Friston is very interested in the use of cognitive categories
00:04:06.520 to constrain entropy.
00:04:07.960 And so, entropy is the proclivity of things
00:04:10.820 to move in multiple directions, I would say.
00:04:12.900 And I've always construed entropy, regulation, and constraint
00:04:22.700 as constraint of negative emotion.
00:04:25.460 But he pointed out to me
00:04:26.720 that it's importantly associated with positive emotion.
00:04:30.180 So, there's a huge neuropsychological literature
00:04:33.480 that indicates that you experience positive emotion
00:04:36.100 when you see yourself moving towards a valued goal.
00:04:39.440 That's what the dopaminergic tract responds to.
00:04:42.160 And he pointed out that that's also entropy reduction.
00:04:46.080 Because entropy, which is disorder,
00:04:49.960 in some sense,
00:04:50.940 and this is something I'd figured out a while ago,
00:04:52.460 but hadn't associated it with positive emotion,
00:04:54.700 entropy is something like path length to a destination.
00:04:58.960 And so, if you see the path length shrink,
00:05:03.800 which means you're getting closer to your destination,
00:05:06.040 you're reducing entropy.
00:05:07.560 But that reduction, which is an advance,
00:05:10.440 a pragmatic advance,
00:05:12.220 is actually signaled by the positive emotion system.
00:05:14.820 So, the negative emotion system
00:05:16.620 signals an explosion of entropy,
00:05:19.360 which might be part of combinatorial explosion,
00:05:22.740 and part of, what's the,
00:05:25.920 well, the mere fact that things can be perceived
00:05:27.760 in a multi-frame problem,
00:05:29.040 and it can be perceived in a multitude of ways.
00:05:31.020 So, that accounts for negative emotion.
00:05:33.000 But to construe positive emotion
00:05:35.400 as a response to a decrease in entropy
00:05:38.680 that's associated with voluntary action
00:05:41.060 struck me as, well, it's another form of unification, right?
00:05:43.840 Because it brings both emotional channels
00:05:45.780 under the rubric of entropy reduction.
00:05:49.080 And so, that relates them as well
00:05:50.380 to a very fundamental physical reality,
00:05:53.240 insofar as entropy is a physical reality.
00:05:56.000 Yeah, I mean, that's, I mean,
00:05:58.240 first of all, I haven't met Carl Fursten.
00:06:00.780 I've worked with a lot of his students,
00:06:02.960 and I have met and talked with Andy Clark.
00:06:07.060 But for me, just before we get into the content,
00:06:11.140 what Carl Fursten is doing
00:06:12.720 represents the big picture cognitive science
00:06:15.600 that I think we need, right?
00:06:17.440 The attempt to give, get a synoptic integration,
00:06:20.980 like, he thinks of it as a unifying framework
00:06:24.120 across many different sub-disciplines.
00:06:27.520 And so, I see one of the jobs of cognitive science
00:06:29.960 is overcoming the fragmentation within psychology
00:06:32.620 and then overcoming the fragmentation
00:06:34.360 between the various minded disciplines
00:06:36.580 like psychology, AI, neuroscience.
00:06:40.040 And his work is doing that.
00:06:41.540 And that is the kind of work I aspire to doing as well.
00:06:45.400 So, first of all, I think that's really important.
00:06:48.100 I would argue, it's not the sole cause,
00:06:50.020 but I would think, I would argue,
00:06:52.060 a contributing factor to the replication crisis
00:06:54.160 is the fact that we're overprivileging innovation
00:06:58.660 as opposed to integration in psychology.
00:07:02.800 So, what we're getting is we're getting
00:07:04.280 these very narrow, very almost effect-specialized,
00:07:09.000 I have a theory about this effect.
00:07:10.620 I have a theory about this effect.
00:07:11.920 And so, the controlled theoretical framework you need
00:07:19.440 in order to make sure that these,
00:07:21.760 the constructs are plausible,
00:07:23.780 they're clear, that you...
00:07:25.800 They're intelligible.
00:07:26.640 They're intelligible.
00:07:27.520 You don't have, you know,
00:07:28.160 the jingle-jangle problem in psychology,
00:07:30.260 get rid of all of that kind of thing.
00:07:32.420 And so, I think that that kind of work is exemplary.
00:07:35.500 And I think he's also,
00:07:37.280 I think it's also really good work.
00:07:38.580 I think it's careful.
00:07:39.300 It's mathematically rigorous.
00:07:40.300 You know, I work...
00:07:43.300 He has a student, Mark Miller,
00:07:47.260 who's also one of my former students,
00:07:48.860 and I work a lot with Mark.
00:07:51.460 He actually got a huge CERT grant to come to Toronto,
00:07:53.740 and we're going to work together on a lot of this stuff.
00:07:56.280 And Mark has been one of the people, in fact,
00:07:58.260 just to bring it back around,
00:07:59.840 who has been really trying to integrate
00:08:01.660 the predictive processing framework with affect.
00:08:04.120 Right.
00:08:04.560 Right, right.
00:08:05.360 Well, there's...
00:08:06.260 Yeah, well, it's very...
00:08:07.240 So that...
00:08:08.040 Because it isn't obvious that the AI models,
00:08:11.420 for example,
00:08:12.060 experience anything that you might consider akin to emotion.
00:08:15.160 But if you can relate negative emotion
00:08:17.160 to an explosion of potential pathways...
00:08:19.400 I think...
00:08:20.080 ...and relate positive emotion to a reduction,
00:08:22.280 then you're starting to make a very tight connection
00:08:25.180 between information processing and emotional experience,
00:08:28.460 let's say,
00:08:28.860 or at least the meaning of emotional experience.
00:08:31.640 Right, but that's where his work
00:08:33.060 and my work starts to integrate.
00:08:35.360 Because a way of translating that reduction of entropy...
00:08:39.220 I do want to get back to the theme of, you know,
00:08:41.940 a shared grammar between cognition and reality.
00:08:44.220 Yeah, yeah.
00:08:44.740 But first, you know,
00:08:46.660 a psychological way of understanding that the affect
00:08:52.080 is around the notion of basically surprise reduction.
00:08:56.140 So the idea...
00:08:56.480 Right, right.
00:08:57.000 Right.
00:08:57.220 The idea is the brain is trying to predict...
00:09:01.020 I would argue a better term is anticipation,
00:09:02.860 but we can come back to that.
00:09:04.000 The brain is trying to predict the world
00:09:06.320 because the more it can predict the world,
00:09:08.600 the more adaptive capacity it has to be proactive.
00:09:11.500 It's very easy.
00:09:12.280 It's much better to avoid the tiger than to confront the tiger.
00:09:15.600 Right?
00:09:16.580 And then the thing about that is, you note...
00:09:19.980 When I first say this to my students,
00:09:22.100 I say, oh, so the brain is this massively recursive system
00:09:25.300 for reducing surprise.
00:09:26.680 A lot of them will say, but I like surprises.
00:09:28.520 Mm-hmm.
00:09:28.740 And you go, yeah, that's right.
00:09:31.520 And so then you start to get this question about,
00:09:33.820 well, you want to reduce surprise, right?
00:09:37.620 But it's not sort of absolute reduction.
00:09:39.920 It's more like the rate.
00:09:41.900 And then you're playing the rates
00:09:43.740 at different longitudinal scales.
00:09:46.260 Yeah.
00:09:46.460 So I might like the short-term surprise for my birthday party
00:09:51.300 because it's a long-term predictor of stable relationships.
00:09:56.020 So my long-term ability to predict the environment goes up
00:10:02.140 because all of these people have done all of this intricate work
00:10:04.840 to surprise me at the party.
00:10:06.640 So I just want to make it clear
00:10:08.960 because people easily get this confused with,
00:10:11.200 he's just proposing some simplistic,
00:10:13.320 just, you know, just make, just reduce surprise
00:10:16.660 across the board.
00:10:19.140 So then you get this very...
00:10:20.020 It's accidental surprise in some sense.
00:10:22.500 And I know that's not a complete solution to the problem either
00:10:26.560 because some accidental surprises are positive.
00:10:29.160 But we're much happier about surprise
00:10:31.420 if we encounter it voluntarily.
00:10:33.280 And then there's a rate problem there
00:10:35.700 that's proportionate to something like depth.
00:10:38.020 And that's associated with the phenomenon of meaning as well.
00:10:41.960 Yes.
00:10:42.240 So let me take Frith's argument apart a little bit more
00:10:50.300 because I asked him a very specific question.
00:10:53.060 So I asked him if he thought that basic perceptual categories
00:10:56.400 were micro-narratives.
00:10:59.440 Right?
00:10:59.920 So because one of the places that your work and I and mine dovetail
00:11:04.480 is in our observation
00:11:07.760 that the very categories of perception
00:11:11.540 that make themselves manifest to us
00:11:13.980 aren't simple objects.
00:11:16.560 No.
00:11:16.880 Right?
00:11:17.060 That's where you bring in the neoplatonic teleology.
00:11:20.040 Agent arena relationship.
00:11:21.120 Right, right.
00:11:21.800 And so what we seem to see in the world
00:11:24.640 are patterns that have functional utility.
00:11:28.380 And the functional utility is construed in relationship to a goal.
00:11:32.600 And of course then that brings up the question
00:11:34.460 of what should the goal be
00:11:35.620 and is there such a thing as an integrated goal?
00:11:38.700 Yeah.
00:11:38.880 And so there's a pragmatism
00:11:41.280 like the empiricists and the rationalists
00:11:44.280 but let's say the empiricists to begin with
00:11:45.960 seem to presume that what we see in the world are objects
00:11:48.740 and then we derive meaning
00:11:50.260 we impose a meaning on top of that
00:11:52.360 and that isn't how it works
00:11:53.600 is that the very things we see as objects
00:11:56.960 are tools that we use in relationship to goals.
00:12:02.160 And some of those can be described objectively
00:12:04.260 but that isn't the essence of perception itself.
00:12:07.560 No, I agree.
00:12:08.840 And if you get...
00:12:10.100 So if you look at even the history of the psychology
00:12:12.220 of categorization
00:12:14.980 there are sort of two fundamental presuppositions
00:12:20.100 that have been, were running through it
00:12:22.020 that point to exactly what you're talking about
00:12:24.060 that really sort of started to come into question
00:12:27.360 in the mid-80s, early 80s
00:12:30.700 and then gathered STEAM
00:12:31.640 while neural networks came
00:12:32.820 and now they're to the fore.
00:12:34.380 But there was the idea that
00:12:36.800 concepts are just lists of features.
00:12:40.180 Yeah, right.
00:12:40.920 Lists of features.
00:12:42.020 Yeah.
00:12:42.320 And that the primary function of a concept
00:12:44.060 is to label the world and describe it.
00:12:45.980 And that's turned both of those
00:12:48.520 which are sort of often...
00:12:51.960 It's interesting
00:12:52.980 because when you ask people
00:12:53.960 what they think concepts are
00:12:54.920 that's what they tell you.
00:12:55.680 You bet, you bet.
00:12:56.500 There's features, there's a list.
00:12:58.040 Two things are identical
00:12:58.980 if they share the same list of features.
00:13:01.040 Yeah, yeah.
00:13:01.240 Yeah, it's axiomatic.
00:13:02.440 Yeah, and that's what they think.
00:13:03.660 Yeah.
00:13:04.200 But that's not how they actually do the categorization
00:13:06.740 because that won't give you categorization.
00:13:08.220 Yeah.
00:13:08.900 Right?
00:13:09.320 And so the...
00:13:10.900 And Friston's work points to a fundamental
00:13:12.960 and it belongs to a much broader framework
00:13:16.360 about, no, no, what concepts are
00:13:19.800 is they're generative models.
00:13:22.580 They are a structural, functional organization
00:13:24.600 of features that allow us to predict
00:13:28.320 and explain how things are going to behave,
00:13:31.580 especially with relationship to us.
00:13:34.940 Right.
00:13:35.140 So, and then what you...
00:13:35.800 And that's the pragmatism element.
00:13:38.160 Right.
00:13:38.380 And the functional element.
00:13:39.500 Exactly.
00:13:40.020 And so you get a much different notion of similarity.
00:13:43.000 So instead of thinking of here's these two feature lists
00:13:46.520 and then you get Goodman's problem
00:13:47.960 of what goes on the features
00:13:49.120 and how do you...
00:13:49.720 Right, right.
00:13:50.180 Right, right.
00:13:50.620 And all that stuff we've talked about.
00:13:52.380 Here's another idea.
00:13:54.080 Let's say I have these two generative models
00:13:56.340 and could I...
00:13:57.560 How many steps can I go back
00:13:59.260 where I can trace them back
00:14:01.060 to a common shared generative model?
00:14:03.420 It's like an evolutionary.
00:14:04.240 So if two things are similar
00:14:07.300 if they have an ancestor generative model
00:14:10.160 that is close to them
00:14:11.500 and they're dissimilar
00:14:12.680 if you have to go through a lot of transformations
00:14:14.840 to get them back to a shared generative model.
00:14:18.340 So we're judging...
00:14:19.840 I thought of that actually,
00:14:21.560 a variant of that,
00:14:22.620 as a way of determining whether something was real.
00:14:26.520 You know, well, can you imagine two measurement methods
00:14:29.900 that are similar or different?
00:14:31.380 You might say, well, what makes them...
00:14:32.880 You want to measure the same thing
00:14:35.160 in as many different ways as you can
00:14:37.680 to calibrate its reality.
00:14:39.560 Yes.
00:14:39.780 But then you run into the thorny problem
00:14:41.380 of what makes two measurement systems different.
00:14:44.560 And one of the answers to that,
00:14:46.660 on the conceptual level at least,
00:14:49.120 is distance evolutionarily.
00:14:51.380 Yes.
00:14:51.540 Like there might be a domain of measurement
00:14:53.620 that emerged in physics
00:14:55.320 and a domain of measurement
00:14:56.440 that emerged in psychology.
00:14:58.380 And so they don't share
00:14:59.500 a lot of underlying axiomatic presuppositions.
00:15:02.540 Exactly.
00:15:02.900 And if you bring both of them
00:15:04.040 to bear on the problem
00:15:05.180 and they report the same pattern,
00:15:07.040 then you can be reasonably sure
00:15:09.000 that that pattern exists
00:15:11.000 independent of your projection.
00:15:12.760 Of course.
00:15:13.060 And it's kind of what your senses do too, right?
00:15:15.160 Because you have five senses
00:15:16.880 and they're really qualitatively different.
00:15:20.260 Vision and audition are extremely different.
00:15:22.640 And audition and vision and touch
00:15:23.960 are extremely different.
00:15:25.000 And we use,
00:15:26.780 it's not triangulation,
00:15:28.180 I guess it's quintangulation,
00:15:29.300 Yeah, yeah.
00:15:29.980 to zero in on patterns
00:15:31.780 to see if they're replicable
00:15:33.860 across all the sensory domains.
00:15:35.920 And that's also a form
00:15:37.680 of what would you call analysis
00:15:39.760 by optimally different measurement systems.
00:15:44.060 Okay.
00:15:44.520 And then that is a way,
00:15:47.300 and that connects to research
00:15:48.560 and work I do
00:15:49.420 that can help to supply
00:15:51.020 the missing normativity for pragmatism.
00:15:52.840 The problem with pragmatism
00:15:54.080 is they had this very nebulous concept
00:15:55.700 of utility,
00:15:56.760 which was very hard
00:15:57.940 to get any sort of,
00:16:00.620 you know,
00:16:01.560 normative guidance.
00:16:03.180 But what you just described,
00:16:04.940 this goes towards
00:16:05.880 a lot of the literature,
00:16:07.640 I'm sort of punting here,
00:16:08.940 that's converging
00:16:09.600 on the notion of plausibility.
00:16:11.940 Now, there's two senses of plausibility.
00:16:13.660 One is just a synonym
00:16:14.980 for highly probable.
00:16:16.280 But another is
00:16:17.060 when we invoke things like,
00:16:18.260 say, that makes good sense,
00:16:19.540 or that stands to reason,
00:16:21.120 right?
00:16:21.420 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:16:22.380 I get that.
00:16:23.100 Yeah.
00:16:23.420 Those kinds of judgments.
00:16:24.740 And what it's turning out is,
00:16:26.900 what you're getting in plausibility
00:16:28.080 is half of plausibility is that.
00:16:31.800 Like you said,
00:16:32.520 when you have convergence
00:16:33.480 from many difference,
00:16:35.140 and they converge
00:16:35.800 to the same source.
00:16:37.320 And the reason,
00:16:38.280 that gives you what
00:16:39.140 Resher calls
00:16:41.140 trustworthiness.
00:16:44.060 Yeah.
00:16:44.320 Because the chance,
00:16:45.420 so if I have just
00:16:46.000 one information channel,
00:16:48.160 the chance that my conclusion
00:16:49.560 is being affected by bias
00:16:51.100 in the system
00:16:51.620 is significant.
00:16:52.300 Right.
00:16:52.660 But if I have
00:16:53.160 multiple converging ones,
00:16:54.920 the chance of them
00:16:56.340 sharing all of those biases
00:16:57.800 is very low.
00:16:58.760 Very low.
00:16:59.180 Yeah, and it probably
00:16:59.780 decreases exponentially
00:17:01.040 as the number of measurements
00:17:02.280 that you use
00:17:03.020 to assess the reality
00:17:06.000 of a given phenomenon
00:17:06.960 increases.
00:17:08.260 Right, but you hit
00:17:08.880 a lot of diminishing returns
00:17:10.000 at some point.
00:17:10.600 Right, right, right.
00:17:11.360 At some point,
00:17:12.560 you know,
00:17:12.940 a friend of mine says,
00:17:14.240 you know,
00:17:14.360 for human beings,
00:17:15.040 one is,
00:17:15.440 I'll think about it,
00:17:16.060 two is,
00:17:16.400 maybe three.
00:17:17.240 Three.
00:17:17.920 Well, three or four.
00:17:19.160 It's like,
00:17:19.440 yeah, yeah.
00:17:19.960 Yeah, yeah.
00:17:20.600 Sort of the working
00:17:21.320 memory capacity
00:17:22.180 kind of thing.
00:17:23.080 Right.
00:17:23.580 But that's not all
00:17:24.580 you want for plausibility.
00:17:25.560 You also want
00:17:26.300 the thing here
00:17:27.300 to have that
00:17:28.260 structural functional
00:17:29.100 organization.
00:17:29.940 You want it to
00:17:30.560 not just be a feature list.
00:17:32.400 You want it to be
00:17:33.140 a generative model,
00:17:34.400 things that can predict
00:17:35.240 counterfactuals,
00:17:36.700 because what you want
00:17:37.720 that construct also to do
00:17:39.140 is you want it to be able
00:17:40.060 to go in
00:17:41.660 to many different domains
00:17:43.160 and find
00:17:44.420 and formulate problems well.
00:17:45.720 So it has to have
00:17:46.280 this elegance.
00:17:47.440 So it has convergence.
00:17:49.140 So that would be
00:17:49.720 multi, multi...
00:17:51.020 Aptness, yeah.
00:17:52.040 Right, right.
00:17:52.680 So, yeah,
00:17:53.220 so that would be utility
00:17:54.260 across a broad range
00:17:55.380 of potential applications.
00:17:56.860 That's right.
00:17:57.120 That makes a nice tool,
00:17:58.400 right,
00:17:58.640 is that you can use it
00:17:59.500 for more than one thing.
00:18:00.620 So, you know,
00:18:01.500 force equals
00:18:03.220 mass times acceleration.
00:18:03.980 You can use it
00:18:04.740 for talking about
00:18:05.360 whales floating in the water.
00:18:06.840 You can use it
00:18:07.480 for talking about,
00:18:08.220 you know,
00:18:08.820 planets circling a sun.
00:18:10.400 You can use it
00:18:10.860 to talk about bullets.
00:18:12.200 Right.
00:18:12.220 So cross situational
00:18:13.520 generality.
00:18:14.900 Right.
00:18:15.300 So, and so,
00:18:16.300 and then the third thing
00:18:17.600 you want is
00:18:17.980 you want balance.
00:18:19.840 Right?
00:18:20.860 And so,
00:18:22.040 if I give you
00:18:23.200 a tremendous amount
00:18:24.840 of convergence
00:18:25.480 to something that
00:18:26.500 has very little elegance,
00:18:28.620 well, that's trivial.
00:18:29.540 Right, right.
00:18:29.840 You don't say it's false,
00:18:30.760 you say it's...
00:18:31.540 Right, right.
00:18:32.320 Well, and that's actually
00:18:33.700 the fate of most facts,
00:18:35.160 and this is related
00:18:36.180 to this problem
00:18:36.860 in psychology.
00:18:37.840 It's always struck me
00:18:38.720 in relationship
00:18:40.180 to the social sciences
00:18:41.780 is that
00:18:42.300 our method
00:18:43.680 of movement forward
00:18:44.840 is incremental
00:18:46.140 fact gathering.
00:18:47.400 But the problem
00:18:48.100 with that is
00:18:48.700 that there's an infinite
00:18:49.460 number of facts.
00:18:50.480 Yes.
00:18:50.840 And most of them
00:18:51.440 are irrelevant.
00:18:52.380 And so without
00:18:52.840 these unifying theories,
00:18:54.400 Exactly.
00:18:54.820 then you can't
00:18:56.180 integrate across
00:18:57.360 the facts
00:18:58.120 in any coherent manner.
00:18:59.480 And you just get
00:19:00.080 the endless generation
00:19:02.100 of, well,
00:19:03.360 valid in some sense,
00:19:04.640 but pointless facts.
00:19:05.720 Right, and that goes
00:19:07.140 to the point
00:19:07.620 we were talking about
00:19:08.380 with Tristan's work,
00:19:09.680 about generating
00:19:10.880 those frameworks
00:19:11.540 that bring all
00:19:12.800 the things together,
00:19:13.660 and you're getting
00:19:14.040 a generative model
00:19:14.980 rather than just
00:19:15.720 a feature list of facts.
00:19:16.760 Right, right.
00:19:17.580 But you also,
00:19:18.820 like I said,
00:19:19.320 you get triviality.
00:19:20.580 You also get the reverse.
00:19:22.100 If I have very little
00:19:22.880 trustworthiness,
00:19:23.840 but the promise
00:19:24.520 of a lot of elegance,
00:19:25.860 that's when we think
00:19:26.500 of something as far-fetched.
00:19:28.060 Like, if you just believe
00:19:29.140 that the British monarchy
00:19:31.300 are lizard peoples
00:19:32.220 from space,
00:19:33.200 look at all the things
00:19:33.960 I can explain.
00:19:34.740 And so you get that,
00:19:36.200 you can get far-fetchedness.
00:19:37.640 Right.
00:19:37.960 And if you actually
00:19:38.940 pay attention,
00:19:39.940 and this is some...
00:19:40.380 That's where the conspiracy theories
00:19:41.500 in some sense
00:19:42.160 make themselves manifest.
00:19:43.480 That's exactly right.
00:19:44.100 Except when they're true.
00:19:45.180 Right.
00:19:45.720 And then you can also
00:19:46.780 equivocate.
00:19:47.480 You can do Mott and Bailey
00:19:48.560 and a lot of things
00:19:51.500 where you,
00:19:52.240 like you seem to be doing this,
00:19:54.820 but you're actually
00:19:55.320 equivocating.
00:19:56.200 Like a deepity.
00:19:57.660 So then,
00:19:58.260 you know,
00:19:58.860 love is a four-letter word.
00:20:00.360 Okay,
00:20:00.680 on the graphic side,
00:20:01.860 that is highly convergent,
00:20:03.340 but it's absolutely trivial.
00:20:04.420 Who cares?
00:20:05.500 But then you think
00:20:07.020 that they're not talking
00:20:09.000 about the grapheme,
00:20:10.400 right?
00:20:10.980 You think they're talking
00:20:12.020 about the concept of love,
00:20:13.660 so you equivocate,
00:20:14.780 and then you think
00:20:15.640 something important
00:20:16.480 is being said
00:20:17.240 about this phenomena
00:20:18.040 that ramifies
00:20:19.180 for your whole life.
00:20:20.220 So you've got
00:20:20.840 convergence to triviality
00:20:22.620 that then equivocates
00:20:24.100 to something
00:20:24.860 that's profound,
00:20:26.860 that would promise,
00:20:28.120 but there's nothing
00:20:29.320 being said
00:20:29.980 when you say
00:20:30.460 love is a four-letter word.
00:20:31.660 Like,
00:20:32.160 how could,
00:20:32.740 how,
00:20:33.340 is that sort of proving
00:20:35.300 that love
00:20:35.840 is an inconsequential phenomenon?
00:20:37.240 Of course not,
00:20:37.960 but it sounds.
00:20:39.740 So you can get
00:20:40.420 all kinds,
00:20:41.840 this,
00:20:42.560 I'm trying to show
00:20:43.300 the way the plausibility
00:20:44.500 machinery just gets
00:20:45.620 misused
00:20:46.720 and misled
00:20:47.600 pervasively
00:20:48.480 in our culture.
00:20:49.500 So you want
00:20:50.320 that balance.
00:20:51.160 Going online
00:20:53.500 without ExpressVPN
00:20:54.460 is like not paying
00:20:55.560 attention to the
00:20:56.220 safety demonstration
00:20:56.960 on a flight.
00:20:58.080 Most of the time,
00:20:58.820 you'll probably be fine,
00:21:00.140 but what if one day
00:21:01.280 that weird yellow mask
00:21:02.520 drops down from overhead
00:21:03.540 and you have no idea
00:21:05.040 what to do?
00:21:05.840 In our hyper-connected world,
00:21:07.300 your digital privacy
00:21:08.260 isn't just a luxury,
00:21:09.600 it's a fundamental right.
00:21:10.940 Every time you connect
00:21:11.740 to an unsecured network
00:21:12.920 in a cafe,
00:21:13.860 hotel,
00:21:14.400 or airport,
00:21:15.220 you're essentially
00:21:15.780 broadcasting your
00:21:16.660 personal information
00:21:17.480 to anyone with a
00:21:18.580 technical know-how
00:21:19.360 to intercept it.
00:21:20.280 And let's be clear,
00:21:21.020 it doesn't take
00:21:21.880 a genius hacker
00:21:22.540 to do this.
00:21:23.480 With some off-the-shelf
00:21:24.460 hardware,
00:21:25.040 even a tech-savvy
00:21:25.960 teenager could
00:21:26.760 potentially access
00:21:27.600 your passwords,
00:21:28.620 bank logins,
00:21:29.400 and credit card details.
00:21:30.860 Now, you might think,
00:21:32.100 what's the big deal?
00:21:32.980 Who'd want my data anyway?
00:21:34.520 Well, on the dark web,
00:21:35.680 your personal information
00:21:36.820 could fetch up to $1,000.
00:21:39.140 That's right,
00:21:39.680 there's a whole
00:21:40.300 underground economy
00:21:41.220 built on stolen identities.
00:21:43.180 Enter ExpressVPN.
00:21:44.940 It's like a digital fortress,
00:21:46.420 creating an encrypted tunnel
00:21:47.600 between your device
00:21:48.620 and the internet.
00:21:49.620 Their encryption
00:21:50.120 is so robust
00:21:51.220 that it would take
00:21:51.860 a hacker with a supercomputer
00:21:53.100 over a billion years
00:21:54.500 to crack it.
00:21:55.280 But don't let its power
00:21:56.260 fool you,
00:21:57.000 ExpressVPN is incredibly
00:21:58.440 user-friendly.
00:21:59.420 With just one click,
00:22:00.440 you're protected
00:22:00.900 across all your devices.
00:22:02.480 Phones, laptops,
00:22:03.540 tablets, you name it.
00:22:04.640 That's why I use
00:22:05.420 ExpressVPN whenever
00:22:06.480 I'm traveling
00:22:07.160 or working from a coffee shop.
00:22:08.760 It gives me peace of mind
00:22:09.840 knowing that my research,
00:22:11.160 communications,
00:22:11.940 and personal data
00:22:12.920 are shielded
00:22:13.620 from prying eyes.
00:22:14.760 Secure your online data
00:22:15.900 today by visiting
00:22:16.940 expressvpn.com
00:22:18.400 slash jordan.
00:22:19.280 That's
00:22:19.840 E-X-P-R-E-S-S
00:22:21.560 vpn.com
00:22:22.620 slash jordan
00:22:23.280 and you can get
00:22:23.920 an extra three months free.
00:22:25.780 Expressvpn.com
00:22:27.060 slash jordan.
00:22:27.780 That's another form
00:22:31.760 of triangulation
00:22:33.000 in some sense.
00:22:33.520 Yes, yes.
00:22:34.240 So I wanted to explain
00:22:35.500 to everybody
00:22:36.000 who's listening
00:22:36.760 a little bit more
00:22:37.520 about this idea of entropy
00:22:38.680 just so that
00:22:39.460 it can be made
00:22:40.340 more understandable.
00:22:41.280 So imagine that you're
00:22:42.260 driving to work
00:22:43.600 and you're in your car
00:22:45.760 and your car
00:22:46.340 isn't bothering you.
00:22:47.860 You're not attending
00:22:48.640 to your car
00:22:49.220 apart from the fact
00:22:50.000 that you have to drive it.
00:22:51.340 And the reason
00:22:52.040 that you're not attending
00:22:52.880 to your car
00:22:53.520 is because it's performing
00:22:54.800 its proper function
00:22:55.940 as a car
00:22:56.620 in relationship
00:22:57.280 to your goal
00:22:57.940 which means that
00:22:58.860 it is moving you
00:22:59.660 down the road
00:23:00.480 reliably.
00:23:02.220 Now imagine what happens
00:23:03.640 in your imagination
00:23:04.540 when your car stops.
00:23:06.980 Let's say it stops
00:23:07.760 on a busy highway.
00:23:09.220 Now what's happened
00:23:10.200 is the path length
00:23:11.400 to your destination
00:23:12.860 and to also
00:23:14.680 other multiple
00:23:15.720 potential destinations
00:23:16.920 has now become
00:23:18.080 indeterminately large.
00:23:20.040 So, and then imagine
00:23:21.120 that the search space
00:23:22.120 opens up.
00:23:22.860 It's so like
00:23:23.300 now you're off
00:23:24.620 to the side of the road
00:23:25.620 with your car.
00:23:26.840 Well, your first set
00:23:27.880 of problems
00:23:28.300 is your whole day
00:23:29.720 is now messed up.
00:23:31.300 How are you going
00:23:31.860 to get to work?
00:23:33.200 Right?
00:23:33.460 So you have to compute
00:23:34.700 a whole variety
00:23:35.620 of potential pathways
00:23:36.800 in the world
00:23:37.480 just in relationship
00:23:38.760 to your day.
00:23:39.980 And then,
00:23:40.560 well, you have
00:23:40.920 the broader problem
00:23:41.740 of the fact
00:23:42.280 that your car
00:23:43.080 is now no longer
00:23:44.640 a car.
00:23:45.420 It's a useless
00:23:46.120 chunk of metal
00:23:47.280 that you're trapped
00:23:48.120 in in a dangerous
00:23:49.280 situation.
00:23:50.220 And you have no idea
00:23:51.480 how to fix it
00:23:52.260 and maybe you have
00:23:53.140 no idea
00:23:53.600 where to take it.
00:23:54.440 And so,
00:23:55.480 the collapse
00:23:56.420 of the simplicity
00:23:57.660 of your car
00:23:58.520 as an affordance
00:23:59.560 in relationship
00:24:00.280 to a proximal goal
00:24:01.520 has exposed you
00:24:02.680 to entropy
00:24:03.380 and entropy
00:24:04.280 is the multiplication
00:24:05.280 of the problems
00:24:06.300 that now beset you.
00:24:08.000 And category collapse
00:24:09.060 does that.
00:24:10.280 And so,
00:24:11.340 if you understand this,
00:24:12.640 if you understand
00:24:13.680 that your perception
00:24:14.660 of car
00:24:15.540 is dependent
00:24:16.500 on the maintenance
00:24:17.360 of its function
00:24:18.980 in relationship
00:24:19.600 to a goal,
00:24:20.520 you start to understand
00:24:21.480 something very fundamental
00:24:22.620 about categories
00:24:23.400 themselves
00:24:23.940 because everything
00:24:24.960 you see in the world
00:24:26.040 has this nature.
00:24:27.660 It's a unity of form
00:24:29.780 which is something
00:24:31.420 that the empiricists
00:24:32.500 can concentrate on
00:24:33.580 but it's a unity of form
00:24:35.080 in relationship
00:24:36.120 to a goal
00:24:36.900 and that's built
00:24:37.600 right into the perception
00:24:38.700 of the so-called
00:24:39.780 object itself.
00:24:41.320 And so,
00:24:42.320 your object perception
00:24:44.480 is constraining entropy
00:24:45.920 by organizing
00:24:46.920 the world
00:24:47.600 into categories
00:24:48.920 that are functionally
00:24:49.820 relevant
00:24:50.260 to goals
00:24:51.280 that you maintain
00:24:54.220 either explicitly
00:24:55.320 or even more importantly
00:24:56.960 implicitly.
00:24:58.860 And category collapse
00:24:59.760 produces this increase
00:25:00.800 in entropy.
00:25:01.560 Now,
00:25:01.800 you feel positive emotion
00:25:02.920 when you see yourself
00:25:03.820 moving towards
00:25:04.680 a valued goal
00:25:05.520 and you feel
00:25:06.360 negative emotion
00:25:07.200 when some uncertainty
00:25:08.960 with relationship
00:25:09.860 to that goal
00:25:10.520 is manifested itself
00:25:11.720 or when you encounter
00:25:13.120 say a determinate obstacle
00:25:15.460 that you have to walk around.
00:25:17.300 And so,
00:25:17.720 that's part of the way
00:25:18.660 that to go back
00:25:20.080 to an earlier section
00:25:21.140 of this discussion
00:25:21.860 that you can relate emotion
00:25:23.080 to both cognition
00:25:24.460 and categorization.
00:25:25.860 So,
00:25:26.200 this issue of entropy reduction
00:25:27.480 is crucially important
00:25:28.640 because it's,
00:25:29.720 well,
00:25:30.320 it's at the basis
00:25:31.080 of categorization itself.
00:25:32.860 Now,
00:25:33.360 the reason I'd asked
00:25:35.140 Friston
00:25:36.620 about
00:25:37.480 categories
00:25:39.800 as micro-narratives
00:25:40.980 is because
00:25:42.160 I was very curious,
00:25:44.140 I'm very curious
00:25:45.060 and this is probably
00:25:46.680 more relevant
00:25:47.280 to your work
00:25:47.820 on spirituality.
00:25:49.320 So,
00:25:50.500 one of the things
00:25:51.180 you point out
00:25:51.680 in the recent lecture
00:25:52.360 you did
00:25:52.760 for Ralston College
00:25:54.140 is that
00:25:55.240 even the perception
00:25:57.340 of a given object
00:25:58.220 is dependent
00:25:59.540 on some sense
00:26:00.780 of oneness.
00:26:01.940 Yes.
00:26:02.160 And so,
00:26:02.980 Piaget was very interested
00:26:04.140 in this.
00:26:04.580 It's like,
00:26:05.180 why is this one thing?
00:26:06.800 Yes.
00:26:07.540 Right?
00:26:07.760 Because it's not.
00:26:08.820 There,
00:26:09.160 you know,
00:26:10.360 now it's two things.
00:26:11.880 And things don't have
00:26:12.660 to be physically contiguous
00:26:14.020 to be one thing.
00:26:15.220 Right,
00:26:15.660 right.
00:26:15.940 And so,
00:26:16.380 the question is
00:26:17.020 what constitutes
00:26:18.260 the oneness
00:26:19.080 of the thing
00:26:19.900 given that it's
00:26:20.860 fractionable
00:26:21.540 in an infinite
00:26:22.220 number of ways?
00:26:23.180 Yeah.
00:26:23.580 And so,
00:26:24.600 and then another question
00:26:26.160 that emerges out of that
00:26:27.040 is what makes two
00:26:28.280 cell phones
00:26:30.240 in the same category?
00:26:32.300 Mm-hmm.
00:26:32.540 Okay,
00:26:32.880 so let me run
00:26:34.380 a hypothesis by you.
00:26:35.660 Sure.
00:26:35.820 Tell me what you think
00:26:36.600 about that.
00:26:37.160 Okay.
00:26:37.180 So,
00:26:37.540 I think that
00:26:38.520 things are one.
00:26:42.040 First of all,
00:26:42.860 they're one
00:26:43.300 if you can use them
00:26:44.160 for a specific purpose
00:26:45.360 with a specific
00:26:46.760 sequence of actions
00:26:47.960 in relationship
00:26:48.560 to a given goal.
00:26:49.580 But they're
00:26:50.440 interspersable,
00:26:52.280 so they're the same,
00:26:53.640 if you can replace
00:26:54.840 them functionally
00:26:55.680 in the same
00:26:56.320 pattern of operations
00:26:57.420 with no
00:26:58.720 transformation
00:26:59.720 of the path.
00:27:01.940 Yeah.
00:27:02.040 So,
00:27:02.320 so,
00:27:03.000 they're,
00:27:03.420 they're,
00:27:04.060 they're the same
00:27:05.020 because they're
00:27:05.520 functionally equivalent
00:27:06.280 in relationship
00:27:06.900 to a goal,
00:27:07.480 not because they
00:27:08.160 share a set of features.
00:27:09.680 Mm-hmm.
00:27:09.820 So anything
00:27:10.280 that's swappable
00:27:11.240 is the same.
00:27:12.680 Yeah.
00:27:13.100 But that is dependent
00:27:14.160 on a teleology.
00:27:15.380 It's necessarily
00:27:16.200 dependent on a teleology.
00:27:17.700 Yeah,
00:27:18.060 I mean,
00:27:18.560 this is the,
00:27:19.820 this is the,
00:27:21.540 and this is not
00:27:22.400 a criticism,
00:27:23.440 this is a classical
00:27:24.200 notion of multiple
00:27:25.000 realizability.
00:27:26.020 So I can have
00:27:26.740 the same program,
00:27:28.660 Excel,
00:27:29.600 and I can run it
00:27:30.320 on many different
00:27:30.980 machines.
00:27:32.080 So the actual
00:27:33.600 physical instantiation
00:27:35.200 can be different
00:27:36.460 as long
00:27:37.560 as I'm getting
00:27:38.440 the reliable
00:27:39.180 same generative model,
00:27:40.380 as long as I,
00:27:41.880 I've got the same
00:27:42.800 formal system running.
00:27:44.900 That's why you,
00:27:45.600 that's,
00:27:45.960 in fact,
00:27:46.260 you don't think
00:27:46.740 that there was
00:27:47.440 one pattern,
00:27:48.340 one program here
00:27:49.360 and one program there.
00:27:50.960 Think about it.
00:27:51.680 Think about this
00:27:52.440 abstract entity,
00:27:53.840 a computer program,
00:27:55.000 or even a file.
00:27:56.700 You can,
00:27:57.160 you move it.
00:27:58.180 Yeah.
00:27:58.440 You move,
00:27:59.140 like,
00:27:59.500 what space
00:28:00.740 are you moving it through?
00:28:01.800 Like,
00:28:01.980 the languages
00:28:02.460 come so readily to us.
00:28:03.580 Yeah.
00:28:03.920 You're doing this thing
00:28:04.620 where you're moving it
00:28:05.660 from one computer
00:28:06.540 to another
00:28:07.100 because of exactly that.
00:28:09.660 Because you say,
00:28:10.380 the generative model
00:28:11.820 here and here,
00:28:13.360 there's no,
00:28:14.160 and this is
00:28:14.600 an important qualification,
00:28:15.900 there's no relevant difference.
00:28:17.680 Yes.
00:28:18.460 Like,
00:28:18.740 for example,
00:28:19.480 this one might run
00:28:20.400 a little bit slower
00:28:21.500 on this computer
00:28:22.520 than here,
00:28:23.280 but if it doesn't impact
00:28:24.760 on how you can use it,
00:28:26.060 right,
00:28:26.520 then...
00:28:27.060 Then it's,
00:28:27.780 then it's,
00:28:28.400 it's the same enough.
00:28:29.940 Yes.
00:28:30.400 Now,
00:28:30.900 I wanted to introduce,
00:28:32.320 and this will help
00:28:33.140 get us into
00:28:35.100 a little bit more,
00:28:36.560 I recently published
00:28:37.720 a paper with
00:28:38.340 Brad Anderson
00:28:38.920 and Mark Miller
00:28:39.640 on integrating
00:28:41.560 the relevance
00:28:42.020 realization framework
00:28:43.000 and the predictive
00:28:44.080 processing framework.
00:28:45.520 You want to do
00:28:46.240 entropy reduction,
00:28:47.540 but if you,
00:28:48.680 if you look at
00:28:49.500 network theory,
00:28:50.440 you,
00:28:51.220 and the way you explain it
00:28:52.600 in terms of path reduction
00:28:54.120 is really important here.
00:28:55.180 So,
00:28:55.740 there's three basic
00:28:56.500 kinds of networks.
00:28:57.620 Networks are just ways
00:28:58.500 in which things are connected,
00:28:59.720 like sequences,
00:29:00.800 or the way an airline
00:29:01.960 is connected,
00:29:02.740 or the way the internet
00:29:03.520 is connected,
00:29:04.340 or the way neurons
00:29:05.560 are connected,
00:29:06.900 functional connectivity.
00:29:08.500 So,
00:29:09.000 there's a regular network,
00:29:10.460 which is,
00:29:10.980 nodes are just things
00:29:11.700 that are connected.
00:29:12.600 You have,
00:29:13.260 all the connections
00:29:14.120 are just one step away,
00:29:15.740 node to node,
00:29:16.920 right?
00:29:17.840 And then there's
00:29:18.560 what's called
00:29:19.300 a random network,
00:29:20.220 is where you can have
00:29:21.080 long distance connections,
00:29:23.140 very long distance connection,
00:29:24.640 right?
00:29:24.840 So,
00:29:25.300 I don't have to fly,
00:29:26.660 you know,
00:29:27.000 from Savannah
00:29:27.540 to Atlanta to below,
00:29:28.820 I can just fly directly
00:29:29.680 from Savannah to Toronto,
00:29:31.340 something like that.
00:29:32.140 Yeah.
00:29:32.480 Right.
00:29:32.980 So,
00:29:34.480 the regular network
00:29:35.420 is highly inefficient.
00:29:37.740 The way you measure efficiency
00:29:38.780 is called mean path distance.
00:29:40.500 You take all the distance
00:29:41.580 from all possible combinations.
00:29:43.400 How many steps
00:29:44.040 do I have to go
00:29:44.520 from this point
00:29:45.140 to that point?
00:29:46.260 And then you take all of them
00:29:47.240 and you average them together.
00:29:48.460 You get the mean path distance,
00:29:50.100 the average path distance
00:29:51.120 between any two points.
00:29:52.720 In a regular network,
00:29:53.800 it's very,
00:29:54.460 very,
00:29:54.940 it's very,
00:29:55.720 very high.
00:29:56.800 You have to go through
00:29:57.500 a lot of steps.
00:29:58.740 And a regular network
00:29:59.660 is one where
00:30:00.240 they're all connected.
00:30:01.220 They're all local connection.
00:30:02.200 So when you look at it,
00:30:03.360 it looks beautiful.
00:30:04.060 It's highly ordered
00:30:04.760 because all the lines
00:30:06.220 are the same length
00:30:07.020 and everything.
00:30:08.520 But it's highly inefficient.
00:30:11.000 The random network
00:30:13.300 is highly efficient
00:30:14.120 because you have
00:30:14.560 a lot of these
00:30:15.260 long distance connections
00:30:16.320 that collapse
00:30:17.060 your path,
00:30:19.040 your mean path distance.
00:30:20.980 But you don't,
00:30:21.620 the brain doesn't go
00:30:22.260 for either one of those
00:30:23.060 because there's
00:30:25.220 a trade-off relationship.
00:30:26.620 As I make the network
00:30:28.420 more random
00:30:29.020 to make it more efficient,
00:30:30.060 which sounds like
00:30:30.640 a contradiction
00:30:31.140 in our terms
00:30:31.720 but it's not.
00:30:33.040 I lose,
00:30:33.960 I lose,
00:30:34.640 I lose robustness
00:30:35.740 in the system.
00:30:37.880 So think about it.
00:30:38.840 When you're,
00:30:39.360 when you're,
00:30:40.100 when you have a lot
00:30:40.680 of these little connections,
00:30:41.860 they're often,
00:30:42.500 there's lots of redundancy.
00:30:43.860 Right, yeah.
00:30:44.180 And so I can lose
00:30:45.420 a lot of stuff
00:30:46.560 and I get graceful degradation.
00:30:48.200 I only get a small reduction
00:30:49.740 in functionality.
00:30:51.000 I have this random network.
00:30:52.160 I can take out one link
00:30:53.180 and entire nodes
00:30:54.620 can become isolated
00:30:55.500 from each other.
00:30:56.180 Right,
00:30:56.360 so that's the danger
00:30:57.180 of efficiency
00:30:58.160 versus redundancy.
00:30:59.660 Well, yeah,
00:31:00.040 and so what you,
00:31:00.800 what the brain does
00:31:01.800 is what's called
00:31:02.280 small world networks.
00:31:03.720 Yeah.
00:31:04.320 So a small world network
00:31:05.220 is mostly regular
00:31:06.440 and then one or two
00:31:07.800 long distance connections.
00:31:09.120 Yeah.
00:31:09.540 So I've pointed this out before
00:31:10.780 and,
00:31:11.220 and is that associated
00:31:12.320 with the manner
00:31:13.580 in which the cortical columns
00:31:14.800 organize themselves?
00:31:15.760 Because there's,
00:31:16.300 there's a lot of micro connections
00:31:18.400 within cortical columns
00:31:19.680 that are very fast
00:31:20.520 and efficient
00:31:20.980 and relatively sparse connections
00:31:23.000 between cortical columns.
00:31:24.400 Yeah, yeah.
00:31:24.980 The cortex,
00:31:25.860 by the way,
00:31:26.180 the cortex is made up
00:31:27.120 of these cortical columns
00:31:28.120 which are replicated units
00:31:30.340 of about,
00:31:31.140 I think it's 100,000 neurons
00:31:32.980 each with 10,000 connections
00:31:34.860 per neuron,
00:31:36.040 something like that.
00:31:36.900 And then that structure
00:31:37.620 is replicated.
00:31:38.320 That makes up
00:31:38.800 the cortical sheet.
00:31:39.960 So,
00:31:40.560 I mean,
00:31:40.860 everything we're talking
00:31:41.520 about right now
00:31:42.060 is in one sense
00:31:43.920 controversial.
00:31:44.660 There's lots,
00:31:45.120 I'm not saying anything
00:31:46.080 that doesn't have
00:31:46.580 a lot of good
00:31:47.200 empirical evidence for it.
00:31:48.720 But,
00:31:49.220 you know,
00:31:49.340 we're relying on technologies
00:31:50.780 that are still
00:31:51.660 like fMRI
00:31:52.860 and dense EEG
00:31:53.840 that don't give us
00:31:55.040 the kind of precision,
00:31:56.300 like,
00:31:56.640 so I want to say that,
00:31:58.300 I'm not saying anything
00:31:59.180 ridiculous here,
00:32:00.520 but I don't want to claim,
00:32:01.900 like,
00:32:02.100 we've concluded.
00:32:02.520 Subject to revision.
00:32:03.660 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:32:04.420 Right.
00:32:04.880 But it looks like
00:32:06.160 the brain is organized
00:32:08.160 at multiple levels
00:32:09.820 of analysis,
00:32:10.540 not only top down
00:32:11.720 but back front
00:32:12.500 and in out
00:32:13.240 in small world network formation.
00:32:15.260 And here's some
00:32:16.200 really interesting things.
00:32:17.820 So,
00:32:18.100 you give somebody
00:32:18.740 propofol
00:32:20.120 and you take them
00:32:20.840 into unconscious,
00:32:21.960 the brain will go
00:32:22.580 from being a global
00:32:23.520 small world network
00:32:24.380 into,
00:32:25.200 it'll break up
00:32:25.840 into small local
00:32:26.660 regular networks.
00:32:28.040 And then as you bring
00:32:29.000 them back into consciousness,
00:32:30.320 it'll go from those
00:32:31.020 local regular networks
00:32:32.240 back into
00:32:33.360 a comprehensive
00:32:34.640 small world network.
00:32:35.060 So,
00:32:35.360 Carhartt Harris talks
00:32:36.480 about criticality
00:32:37.420 in consciousness.
00:32:38.320 And so,
00:32:38.680 how do you understand...
00:32:39.780 Totally,
00:32:41.040 totally,
00:32:41.400 yeah.
00:32:41.780 So,
00:32:42.000 how do you understand
00:32:42.860 the relationship
00:32:43.660 between...
00:32:45.020 So,
00:32:45.660 Carhartt Harris
00:32:46.320 and other people,
00:32:47.100 and I talked about this
00:32:47.900 in Maps of Reading,
00:32:48.580 it's right on the edge
00:32:49.120 of criticality.
00:32:49.520 Yeah,
00:32:49.760 exactly.
00:32:50.340 And it's on the border
00:32:51.420 between chaos and order.
00:32:52.720 Totally, totally.
00:32:53.520 Okay,
00:32:53.760 so how is that related?
00:32:54.780 How do you understand
00:32:55.420 the relationship
00:32:55.900 between that connectivity?
00:32:57.320 It's great.
00:32:57.860 Okay.
00:32:58.280 And then I want to bring it
00:32:59.780 to a phenomenon
00:33:00.340 of insight
00:33:00.940 because insight
00:33:01.520 has that combination
00:33:02.420 of initial surprise
00:33:04.740 and then long-term gain.
00:33:08.060 Yeah, yeah.
00:33:08.720 We talked about it.
00:33:09.300 Is it long-term
00:33:09.980 or iterable gain?
00:33:11.820 It depends.
00:33:12.360 I mean,
00:33:12.660 you can have a systematic insight.
00:33:16.340 You can have the kind of insight
00:33:17.320 that Piaget talks about
00:33:18.280 which is not an insight
00:33:19.040 into this problem.
00:33:20.460 It's an insight
00:33:21.060 into a system.
00:33:22.000 Yeah, yeah.
00:33:22.640 Or you can have just
00:33:23.340 an insight into this problem
00:33:24.520 like the nine-dot problem
00:33:25.520 and it's just in the future
00:33:26.980 you'll know how to do that.
00:33:27.920 And the first insight
00:33:29.060 would be a deeper insight
00:33:30.120 than the second one.
00:33:30.840 Yes.
00:33:31.200 And that's like
00:33:31.660 a technical definition
00:33:32.600 of deep.
00:33:33.360 Yes, yes, exactly.
00:33:34.460 Which is a fun thing.
00:33:35.360 That's something
00:33:35.760 we should talk about too
00:33:36.720 is what it means technically
00:33:37.880 for something to be deep.
00:33:39.120 Okay,
00:33:39.340 so back to consciousness
00:33:40.280 and network organization.
00:33:42.040 Right, okay,
00:33:42.680 so we talked about
00:33:43.280 small world network
00:33:44.220 and so what the brain
00:33:46.240 seems to be doing is
00:33:47.120 and especially the work
00:33:49.600 I've done recently
00:33:50.200 with Brad and Mark,
00:33:51.420 it's not just redundancy.
00:33:53.080 The brain is training
00:33:54.460 between,
00:33:55.320 and this is helpful
00:33:55.980 because it's now two E's,
00:33:56.860 between efficiency
00:33:57.540 and evolvability
00:33:59.080 in the technical sense
00:34:00.480 that's coming out of biology
00:34:01.860 which is,
00:34:02.920 the term is degeneracy
00:34:04.120 but I don't like to use
00:34:05.160 the term degeneracy
00:34:06.160 because it means
00:34:06.800 it's degenerate away from a,
00:34:08.360 because when the average person
00:34:10.600 hears that,
00:34:11.160 it's degeneracy,
00:34:12.100 what the hell?
00:34:12.580 Wrong connotations, man.
00:34:13.780 Yeah, bad naming,
00:34:14.640 bad naming.
00:34:15.540 So evolvability is,
00:34:17.120 you want enough redundancy
00:34:19.100 and overlap
00:34:19.940 in your system.
00:34:21.300 To be resilient.
00:34:22.140 Right,
00:34:22.420 so just quick,
00:34:23.320 just very quick,
00:34:24.360 you have the robustness problem
00:34:26.020 in biology
00:34:27.060 which is,
00:34:28.020 you want a lot of variation
00:34:29.000 in the species
00:34:29.680 but you don't want to be
00:34:31.020 the individual
00:34:31.560 that has the variation
00:34:32.560 because you're,
00:34:34.000 chances are
00:34:34.580 you're going to get killed.
00:34:36.040 Right?
00:34:36.560 So what you do is you,
00:34:38.380 and this is the work
00:34:39.180 of Andreas Wagner,
00:34:41.060 you,
00:34:41.640 at the level
00:34:43.140 of the genotype,
00:34:45.020 you have quite a bit
00:34:46.220 of this degeneracy
00:34:48.620 and overlap
00:34:49.400 and evolvability
00:34:50.080 in,
00:34:51.520 right,
00:34:52.000 in the genome
00:34:53.380 but it doesn't show up
00:34:55.120 in phenotypical differences
00:34:56.340 so there's not
00:34:56.900 significant behavior
00:34:57.860 but soon as there's
00:34:58.680 a change in the environment
00:34:59.660 the genome is ready
00:35:01.440 to shift
00:35:02.140 and produce
00:35:03.120 a new phenotypical behavior.
00:35:05.680 So that's what I...
00:35:06.660 Do you know
00:35:06.780 that the older
00:35:07.580 the,
00:35:07.960 the older
00:35:09.300 the,
00:35:10.280 the,
00:35:11.500 the,
00:35:11.840 the gene structure
00:35:13.400 that codes
00:35:14.440 for morphology
00:35:15.560 the less likely
00:35:16.380 it is to avoid
00:35:17.660 correction
00:35:18.420 if it's mutated?
00:35:19.520 Yes.
00:35:20.120 Yes,
00:35:20.420 that's a relatively
00:35:21.080 new finding.
00:35:21.940 So it looks like
00:35:23.000 even at the,
00:35:23.680 at the mutation level
00:35:25.000 that biology will,
00:35:26.960 will play
00:35:27.840 with the fringes
00:35:28.880 but leave the,
00:35:29.640 center intact.
00:35:30.420 So mutations
00:35:31.520 are basically random
00:35:32.460 and they can occur
00:35:33.220 anywhere in the genome
00:35:34.100 but if it's a fundamental
00:35:35.520 element of the genome
00:35:36.560 the error correction systems
00:35:37.980 replace it back
00:35:38.760 to exactly what it was.
00:35:39.960 Yes.
00:35:40.340 So I think that's
00:35:41.320 analogous to this issue
00:35:42.380 we're getting at
00:35:42.960 in terms of optimized learning.
00:35:44.300 starting a business
00:35:46.920 can be tough
00:35:47.600 but thanks to Shopify
00:35:48.720 running your online storefront
00:35:50.280 is easier than ever.
00:35:51.980 Shopify is the global
00:35:53.200 commerce platform
00:35:53.960 that helps you sell
00:35:54.740 at every stage
00:35:55.500 of your business
00:35:56.080 from the launch
00:35:57.060 your online shop stage
00:35:58.140 all the way to the
00:35:58.860 did we just hit
00:35:59.660 a million orders stage
00:36:00.800 Shopify is here
00:36:01.940 to help you grow.
00:36:03.080 Our marketing team
00:36:04.100 uses Shopify
00:36:04.680 every day
00:36:05.340 to sell our merchandise
00:36:06.140 and we love how easy
00:36:07.500 it is to add more items
00:36:08.680 ship products
00:36:09.640 and track conversions
00:36:10.600 with Shopify
00:36:11.820 customize your online store
00:36:13.240 to your style
00:36:14.160 with flexible templates
00:36:15.260 and powerful tools
00:36:16.320 alongside an endless list
00:36:18.020 of integrations
00:36:18.740 and third-party apps
00:36:19.700 like on-demand printing
00:36:20.940 accounting
00:36:21.440 and chatbots
00:36:22.380 Shopify helps you
00:36:23.600 turn browsers
00:36:24.220 into buyers
00:36:25.000 with the internet's
00:36:25.720 best converting checkout
00:36:26.800 up to 36% better
00:36:28.500 compared to other
00:36:29.240 leading e-commerce platforms
00:36:30.660 no matter how big
00:36:31.960 you want to grow
00:36:32.600 Shopify gives you
00:36:33.560 everything you need
00:36:34.300 to take control
00:36:35.040 and take your business
00:36:36.040 to the next level
00:36:36.980 sign up for a $1
00:36:38.520 per month trial period
00:36:39.620 at shopify.com
00:36:40.940 slash jbp
00:36:42.080 all lowercase
00:36:43.120 go to shopify.com
00:36:44.780 slash jbp now
00:36:45.940 to grow your business
00:36:46.960 no matter what stage
00:36:48.200 you're in
00:36:48.580 that's shopify.com
00:36:50.200 slash jbp
00:36:51.340 yeah so you want
00:36:55.740 you want your system
00:36:56.720 like you know
00:36:58.980 in the 80s
00:36:59.980 when they did the downsizing
00:37:01.120 in the corporations
00:37:01.800 to make them very efficient
00:37:03.060 and the problem
00:37:03.580 right the problem is
00:37:04.920 they became brittle
00:37:06.160 they couldn't
00:37:07.540 if there was a sudden
00:37:08.760 change in the market
00:37:09.460 because everybody's
00:37:10.220 working at their max
00:37:11.120 well Bob can you do
00:37:12.420 this as well
00:37:12.840 no I'm sorry
00:37:13.560 I'm working
00:37:13.980 there's no evolvability
00:37:16.640 in this system
00:37:17.320 and so there's
00:37:19.040 a lot of work
00:37:19.620 coming out now
00:37:20.320 that natural selection
00:37:22.440 doesn't just select
00:37:23.520 for traits
00:37:24.360 it selects for the
00:37:25.380 meta trait
00:37:25.840 of evolvability
00:37:26.680 because
00:37:27.500 if you and I
00:37:29.780 are basically equal
00:37:30.840 and we have more
00:37:31.680 evolvability
00:37:32.220 as long as the
00:37:32.920 environment's stable
00:37:34.200 nothing's gonna
00:37:35.240 right
00:37:36.300 differentiated
00:37:37.700 yeah
00:37:38.120 but if there's
00:37:39.040 a sudden change
00:37:39.700 in the environment
00:37:40.320 I'll get what's called
00:37:41.360 I'll get the innovator
00:37:42.500 advantage
00:37:43.700 yeah
00:37:44.140 I will evolve faster
00:37:45.760 and then I will go
00:37:46.620 into the new niche
00:37:47.620 and I might not be
00:37:48.720 optimally fitted
00:37:49.440 for that niche
00:37:50.240 right
00:37:50.840 but I will propagate
00:37:52.120 and fill that niche
00:37:53.100 so much
00:37:53.920 that it's
00:37:54.580 that's general
00:37:55.100 cognitive ability
00:37:56.000 yes
00:37:56.420 yes
00:37:56.900 yes
00:37:57.340 okay so
00:37:58.220 right
00:37:58.940 so what you're doing
00:38:00.240 now back to
00:38:01.060 self-organizing
00:38:01.640 criticality
00:38:02.060 so
00:38:02.760 what you're doing
00:38:03.980 is
00:38:04.360 and this is
00:38:06.040 it goes to a paper
00:38:06.740 I published with
00:38:07.360 Leo Ferrara
00:38:07.860 way back in 2013
00:38:09.220 we actually
00:38:10.060 talked about this
00:38:11.140 at one point
00:38:11.600 you used to have
00:38:12.020 the metapsychology group
00:38:13.100 that eventually
00:38:14.020 came up to publication
00:38:14.920 so by the way
00:38:15.680 thank you
00:38:15.980 good good good
00:38:16.940 good
00:38:17.280 so again
00:38:18.780 subject to revision
00:38:20.680 but what looks like
00:38:21.740 happening
00:38:22.120 the brain is
00:38:23.200 oscillating between
00:38:24.340 two different states
00:38:26.120 there's
00:38:27.020 the neurons fire
00:38:28.240 in synchrony
00:38:28.940 and that seems
00:38:30.160 to do something
00:38:30.800 like data compression
00:38:31.880 and data compression
00:38:32.780 is like when you
00:38:33.460 draw the line
00:38:33.940 and best fit
00:38:34.520 on a scatter plot
00:38:35.380 you're basically
00:38:36.640 you're throwing out
00:38:37.960 a lot of variants
00:38:39.520 so that you get
00:38:40.440 clean interpolation
00:38:42.080 and extrapolation
00:38:43.080 so you get
00:38:43.780 generalizability
00:38:44.520 that's gist
00:38:44.940 in some sense
00:38:45.560 yes
00:38:45.760 you get
00:38:46.100 gist allows you
00:38:47.320 to generalize
00:38:47.920 the two g's
00:38:48.540 right
00:38:48.700 gist allows you
00:38:49.660 to generalize
00:38:50.220 okay
00:38:50.840 right
00:38:51.720 now
00:38:52.640 but then
00:38:53.420 the brain
00:38:54.600 avalanches
00:38:55.960 all the neurons
00:38:58.140 will fire
00:38:59.100 in asynchrony
00:39:00.040 now what that does
00:39:01.180 is that
00:39:01.680 mutual predictability
00:39:03.140 goes down
00:39:04.440 entropy
00:39:05.120 is going up
00:39:06.020 why would the brain
00:39:06.700 do that
00:39:06.980 because when it
00:39:07.740 does that
00:39:08.540 that opens up
00:39:09.500 an opportunity
00:39:10.400 for it to evolve
00:39:11.560 anew
00:39:12.360 that's what the
00:39:13.060 psychedelics are doing
00:39:13.900 then
00:39:14.060 yes
00:39:14.360 yes
00:39:14.840 right
00:39:15.200 and so what the
00:39:15.840 brain is doing
00:39:16.360 is it's constantly
00:39:17.220 right
00:39:18.320 it self-organizes
00:39:21.220 and then it goes
00:39:22.280 critical
00:39:22.820 it breaks up
00:39:23.540 not too much
00:39:24.660 it breaks up
00:39:25.460 enough
00:39:26.080 so that it can
00:39:27.160 now reconfigure
00:39:27.900 in something different
00:39:28.960 and so what you're doing
00:39:30.680 is you're not just
00:39:31.240 getting a one shot
00:39:32.160 you're actually
00:39:33.440 exploring
00:39:34.120 different generalizations
00:39:35.560 that are possible
00:39:36.260 within the state space
00:39:37.640 did that make
00:39:39.480 so if you can get
00:39:41.560 the brain
00:39:41.960 on that edge
00:39:43.260 right
00:39:43.700 where it's constantly
00:39:44.560 doing this
00:39:45.120 and there's been some
00:39:46.120 okay so now
00:39:46.880 that also
00:39:47.460 well that takes us
00:39:48.440 very interestingly
00:39:49.200 so and people
00:39:50.340 should attend to this
00:39:51.200 because I think
00:39:51.640 it's crucial
00:39:52.140 is that
00:39:52.640 we have a
00:39:55.500 debate in our
00:39:56.640 society
00:39:57.320 probably since
00:39:58.460 the enlightenment
00:39:59.320 about whether
00:40:00.200 the phenomenon
00:40:01.200 of meaning
00:40:02.180 is real
00:40:03.180 in any real sense
00:40:04.560 and it tends
00:40:05.780 to be downplayed
00:40:06.540 by empiricists
00:40:07.320 because it's not
00:40:08.020 objective
00:40:08.500 but it seems
00:40:10.120 to me highly
00:40:10.700 probable
00:40:11.240 that the sense
00:40:12.320 of meaning
00:40:12.820 most fundamentally
00:40:13.780 is a signal
00:40:15.280 of the operation
00:40:16.640 of the optimization
00:40:17.400 of this process
00:40:18.660 is that
00:40:19.540 right
00:40:19.800 is that
00:40:20.200 we want to put
00:40:20.980 ourselves
00:40:21.360 on the edge
00:40:22.640 where things
00:40:23.840 are predictable
00:40:24.480 enough so that
00:40:25.160 we get what
00:40:25.680 we need
00:40:26.040 and want
00:40:26.600 but so that
00:40:27.540 at the same time
00:40:28.360 we're expanding
00:40:29.160 our adaptive
00:40:29.880 competence
00:40:30.420 in a variety
00:40:31.120 of domains
00:40:31.620 simultaneously
00:40:32.240 right
00:40:32.740 and I think
00:40:33.360 meaning
00:40:33.720 so here's a way
00:40:35.100 of thinking
00:40:35.420 about this
00:40:35.860 existentially
00:40:36.580 so imagine
00:40:37.700 that you're
00:40:38.600 pursuing a given
00:40:39.380 goal
00:40:39.800 whatever it is
00:40:40.680 maybe you want
00:40:41.240 to get married
00:40:41.760 you want
00:40:42.240 to have children
00:40:42.780 and then you think
00:40:43.860 well who the hell
00:40:44.800 cares in a hundred
00:40:45.520 thousand years
00:40:46.060 what difference
00:40:46.640 is it going
00:40:47.020 to make anyways
00:40:47.700 and then all
00:40:48.500 your motivational
00:40:49.240 energy is drained
00:40:50.220 out by that
00:40:50.920 sort of nihilistic
00:40:51.680 thought
00:40:52.060 now one thing
00:40:53.580 you can think
00:40:54.160 in relationship
00:40:54.700 to that is
00:40:55.380 well that nihilistic
00:40:56.860 thought is accurate
00:40:57.740 because that's a
00:40:58.620 superordinate time frame
00:40:59.900 and if you had any sense
00:41:00.920 that's the time frame
00:41:01.980 across which you
00:41:02.660 would evaluate things
00:41:03.640 and you just have
00:41:04.680 to pay the price
00:41:05.540 of the non
00:41:06.240 of the meaninglessness
00:41:07.700 of your life
00:41:08.700 or you could say
00:41:10.000 well wait a second
00:41:11.320 if I'm pursuing a goal
00:41:13.560 and I use a frame
00:41:14.520 of interpretation
00:41:15.140 that renders it
00:41:16.320 amotivational
00:41:17.960 one possibility
00:41:19.240 is that I'm using
00:41:20.760 a counterproductive
00:41:22.020 frame of reference
00:41:22.740 and that's actually
00:41:23.500 what my nervous system
00:41:24.440 is signaling to me
00:41:25.460 so one of the
00:41:26.600 discussions we could have
00:41:27.940 is like
00:41:28.320 is it reasonable
00:41:29.680 epistemologically
00:41:30.680 and even ontologically
00:41:32.000 to use your sense
00:41:33.920 of deep meaning
00:41:34.720 as a guide
00:41:35.840 to optimal functioning
00:41:37.520 in the world
00:41:37.900 I think it's the instinct
00:41:39.220 that is literally
00:41:40.180 that guide
00:41:41.020 so I think
00:41:42.920 there's like
00:41:45.080 seven things
00:41:45.800 I want to say
00:41:46.380 that's really powerful
00:41:47.440 first thing
00:41:49.040 I think Thomas Nagel
00:41:50.620 is right
00:41:51.060 nihilism
00:41:53.200 is not generated
00:41:55.140 by argument
00:41:56.480 because the arguments
00:41:57.360 are actually
00:41:57.920 technically not valid
00:41:59.120 so if someone says
00:42:00.900 well 100,000 years
00:42:02.340 from now
00:42:04.080 it won't matter
00:42:04.580 it's symmetrical
00:42:06.060 what's happening
00:42:07.580 100,000 years
00:42:08.860 from now
00:42:09.740 doesn't matter to you
00:42:11.020 right
00:42:11.580 it has no normative
00:42:12.820 demand
00:42:13.160 why is that
00:42:13.720 why is that
00:42:14.920 a relevant fact
00:42:15.800 exactly
00:42:16.340 yes yes
00:42:16.800 because you're making
00:42:17.500 an implicit presumption
00:42:18.580 exactly
00:42:18.880 that the wider
00:42:19.440 time frame
00:42:20.020 exactly
00:42:20.600 yeah yes
00:42:21.340 exactly
00:42:21.860 exactly
00:42:22.340 so that's the first point
00:42:23.440 right
00:42:23.960 and so for him
00:42:25.240 and I agree with him
00:42:26.140 it's not a matter
00:42:26.780 of a propositional argument
00:42:28.040 it's a matter of
00:42:29.220 you haven't learned
00:42:29.980 how to properly
00:42:30.860 integrate
00:42:31.680 your different perspectives
00:42:33.300 you're a medium
00:42:34.280 first person perspective
00:42:35.560 the cosmic
00:42:36.080 and you know
00:42:36.900 this is why I think
00:42:37.620 things like
00:42:38.500 you know
00:42:38.780 40 cognitive science
00:42:39.800 and neoplatonism
00:42:40.500 are about
00:42:41.180 how do we properly
00:42:42.920 cultivate the virtues
00:42:44.660 for managing
00:42:45.560 and improving
00:42:47.100 the relationship
00:42:47.900 between our perspectives
00:42:49.600 yes
00:42:49.980 that's the
00:42:50.780 Jacob's Ladder problem
00:42:51.800 yes yes
00:42:52.480 so that
00:42:53.480 second thing
00:42:54.260 is
00:42:54.740 and this goes towards
00:42:56.200 you know
00:42:56.480 and this is something
00:42:56.980 you and I
00:42:57.340 have both talked
00:42:57.960 in common
00:42:58.380 and I
00:42:58.680 you know
00:42:59.520 we have in common
00:43:00.820 we've talked a lot about
00:43:01.560 and I was privileged
00:43:02.520 to work with John Kennedy
00:43:03.840 is the notion
00:43:05.520 of you know
00:43:06.260 real relationship
00:43:07.120 Gibson's notion
00:43:07.880 of affordance
00:43:08.560 is a crucial one
00:43:09.460 right
00:43:10.020 is that
00:43:10.420 no no no
00:43:10.940 let's go to
00:43:12.100 you know
00:43:12.980 biology
00:43:13.880 and adaptivity
00:43:15.020 is adaptivity
00:43:15.840 in the organism
00:43:16.720 of course not
00:43:17.300 that doesn't make any sense
00:43:18.180 is the great white chart
00:43:18.980 adaptive
00:43:19.900 well not if you put it
00:43:21.000 in the Sahara desert
00:43:22.220 like is the adaptivity
00:43:24.020 in the environment
00:43:24.680 well that doesn't make any
00:43:25.660 it's a real relationship
00:43:27.440 between
00:43:28.280 it's the way
00:43:28.860 they're really coupled
00:43:29.620 and there are real couplings
00:43:30.900 that make a real difference
00:43:32.520 right
00:43:33.060 and so
00:43:33.940 we have to get away
00:43:36.180 from
00:43:36.780 like
00:43:37.640 we have to get away
00:43:38.980 from that Cartesian
00:43:40.040 exhaustive
00:43:40.720 the problem with the
00:43:41.560 Cartesian exhaustive divide
00:43:42.800 is it gives you nothing
00:43:43.560 that relates the subjective
00:43:44.600 to the objective
00:43:45.340 which means truth
00:43:46.320 is not possible
00:43:47.800 right
00:43:48.200 but it also means
00:43:49.000 that meaning evaporates
00:43:50.020 in some real sense
00:43:50.800 because it's reduced
00:43:51.560 to the subjective
00:43:52.360 and then that's reduced
00:43:53.680 to the arbitrary
00:43:54.440 and then that just
00:43:55.680 disintegrates
00:43:56.400 and that doesn't work
00:43:57.560 because
00:43:57.880 well I don't think
00:43:59.000 it works biologically
00:43:59.860 either
00:44:00.240 because
00:44:00.640 meaning does appear
00:44:03.160 to me to be
00:44:03.880 something akin
00:44:04.860 to a profound instinct
00:44:06.000 and
00:44:06.740 even from an objective
00:44:08.820 perspective
00:44:09.440 you have to make
00:44:10.780 the supposition
00:44:11.980 that
00:44:12.380 an actual
00:44:14.200 biological instinct
00:44:15.460 is real
00:44:16.280 and so
00:44:17.220 the idea
00:44:18.480 of the object
00:44:19.400 eats itself
00:44:20.240 in that regard
00:44:21.040 in some fundamental sense
00:44:22.200 this is kind of the argument
00:44:23.000 that I always tried to have
00:44:24.060 with Sam Harris
00:44:24.760 it's like
00:44:25.200 there's a contradiction
00:44:26.720 between
00:44:27.280 the Darwinian notion
00:44:28.860 of reality
00:44:29.420 and the Newtonian
00:44:30.900 or Cartesian
00:44:31.940 idea of reality
00:44:33.140 because there's a reality
00:44:34.400 that has something to do
00:44:35.480 with this notion
00:44:36.180 of fit
00:44:36.840 right
00:44:37.420 of relationship
00:44:39.260 between the subjective
00:44:40.280 and the objective
00:44:41.000 right
00:44:41.260 and the Newtonian
00:44:43.220 and the Cartesian
00:44:43.900 are formal systems
00:44:45.100 Darwin's theory
00:44:46.580 of evolution
00:44:47.060 is the first
00:44:48.020 significant
00:44:48.820 and important
00:44:49.380 dynamical systems
00:44:50.480 theory
00:44:50.840 within science
00:44:51.940 in which
00:44:52.500 the self-organization
00:44:53.940 of the system
00:44:54.620 and its coupling
00:44:55.740 to the world
00:44:56.740 are constitutive
00:44:58.040 of the kind
00:44:58.800 of entity
00:44:59.660 it is
00:45:00.320 right
00:45:00.720 including as
00:45:01.660 entities
00:45:03.500 of categorization
00:45:04.540 and perception
00:45:05.140 yes
00:45:05.600 now
00:45:06.060 let's go back
00:45:07.320 to the adaptivity
00:45:08.400 and the self-organizing
00:45:10.660 so the self-organizing
00:45:11.560 criticality
00:45:12.140 think about what it's doing
00:45:13.100 think about how it is
00:45:14.700 Darwinian
00:45:15.800 right
00:45:16.560 so you get
00:45:17.240 you get the avalanche
00:45:18.460 that introduces variation
00:45:19.800 and then you get
00:45:20.600 the compression
00:45:21.160 that selects from it
00:45:22.300 and then a new variation
00:45:24.200 and
00:45:24.960 so what the brain
00:45:26.320 is doing
00:45:26.780 Mike
00:45:28.520 is it's implementing
00:45:29.600 the same grammar
00:45:31.820 by which biological
00:45:33.380 evolution across species
00:45:34.800 are fitting them
00:45:35.640 to the environment
00:45:36.240 your brain is doing
00:45:37.240 this self-organizing
00:45:38.020 criticality
00:45:38.720 that is constantly
00:45:39.820 evolving
00:45:40.820 your adaptive
00:45:41.760 your cognitive
00:45:43.100 adaptive fit
00:45:43.960 to the environment
00:45:44.520 so that's also why
00:45:45.720 just to point out
00:45:46.540 to everyone
00:45:46.860 that's actually also
00:45:47.900 why zero-sum
00:45:48.820 economic models
00:45:49.760 are false
00:45:50.500 is because
00:45:51.540 the zero-sum
00:45:52.300 economic model
00:45:53.220 presumes a fixed
00:45:54.760 reality in relationship
00:45:56.060 to affordances
00:45:56.980 and there is no
00:45:57.980 fixed reality
00:45:58.660 and the way that
00:45:59.560 we've
00:46:00.760 superseded
00:46:01.840 the limits
00:46:02.860 to growth
00:46:03.380 in perhaps
00:46:04.260 not an absolute
00:46:04.900 sense
00:46:05.280 but in some
00:46:05.700 very important sense
00:46:06.620 is that we do
00:46:07.320 have this capacity
00:46:08.180 I think it was
00:46:08.580 Alfred North Whitehead
00:46:09.460 said that we can
00:46:10.480 let our ideas
00:46:11.020 and concepts
00:46:11.600 die instead of us
00:46:12.680 right
00:46:13.260 and so
00:46:13.660 we can
00:46:14.820 you might say
00:46:15.820 well it's a zero-sum
00:46:16.760 game
00:46:17.240 economically speaking
00:46:19.060 there's only so much
00:46:20.080 that you and I
00:46:20.600 can share
00:46:21.160 but there's an
00:46:22.740 implicit part of
00:46:23.500 that argument
00:46:23.920 which is
00:46:24.460 well given
00:46:25.460 the manner
00:46:25.960 in which we've
00:46:26.560 structured our
00:46:27.020 relationships
00:46:27.500 and the environment
00:46:28.300 that might be true
00:46:29.840 but then
00:46:30.440 it's an open
00:46:31.060 question
00:46:31.480 how much
00:46:32.020 restructuring
00:46:32.780 of those
00:46:33.140 a priori axioms
00:46:34.000 can we do
00:46:34.660 and the answer
00:46:35.480 is
00:46:35.800 well an indefinite
00:46:37.020 amount
00:46:37.360 we're unbelievably
00:46:38.160 good at that
00:46:38.900 and we can do
00:46:39.420 more with less
00:46:40.040 all the time
00:46:41.020 yes
00:46:41.240 I agree with that
00:46:42.740 and
00:46:43.180 and
00:46:43.800 and
00:46:44.700 and that
00:46:46.680 I mean
00:46:47.340 because we can
00:46:48.320 take it up
00:46:48.740 into levels
00:46:49.360 of symbolic
00:46:50.660 abstraction
00:46:51.520 well you know
00:46:51.980 this
00:46:52.180 you get
00:46:52.780 you put
00:46:53.560 person in
00:46:54.080 saying
00:46:54.260 I'll give you
00:46:54.940 five dollars
00:46:55.480 will you take it
00:46:56.180 of course
00:46:56.660 now you put them
00:46:57.600 in this situation
00:46:58.260 I'll give you
00:46:58.940 five dollars
00:46:59.500 and I give you
00:47:00.240 ten dollars
00:47:00.760 but you only
00:47:01.620 get to keep
00:47:02.080 your five
00:47:02.520 if you let him
00:47:03.140 keep his ten
00:47:03.700 I don't want it
00:47:05.380 even though
00:47:06.280 they could get
00:47:06.900 the five dollars
00:47:07.620 they don't want
00:47:08.820 to belong
00:47:09.340 to the system
00:47:10.220 that is
00:47:11.400 right
00:47:11.820 right
00:47:12.080 right
00:47:12.280 so they move
00:47:12.960 up a level
00:47:13.460 of abstraction
00:47:14.000 they don't want
00:47:14.740 to participate
00:47:15.340 in what they see
00:47:16.000 as perceived
00:47:16.560 unfairness
00:47:17.300 and that's I think
00:47:18.360 because they're
00:47:18.820 playing a metagame
00:47:19.660 in that situation
00:47:20.640 right
00:47:20.920 and what I was
00:47:21.440 going to say
00:47:21.840 is like
00:47:22.320 the degree
00:47:23.420 to which we can
00:47:24.000 abstract the metagames
00:47:25.540 we're playing
00:47:26.140 I don't know
00:47:30.560 of any formal
00:47:31.420 argument that says
00:47:32.320 it stops at this
00:47:33.300 level
00:47:33.960 to go towards
00:47:34.720 your point
00:47:35.060 now bring it
00:47:36.220 back one more
00:47:36.820 thing around
00:47:37.320 so the brain
00:47:38.240 is evolving
00:47:39.100 it's
00:47:40.100 and I think
00:47:41.320 this has a lot
00:47:41.900 this is what
00:47:42.420 basically is going
00:47:43.480 on in relevance
00:47:43.960 realization
00:47:44.320 you can see it
00:47:45.000 in your attention
00:47:45.620 you know
00:47:46.540 default mode
00:47:47.320 and task center
00:47:48.460 default is making
00:47:49.600 you mind wander
00:47:50.340 and you introduce
00:47:51.140 variation
00:47:51.680 and then task
00:47:52.520 selects
00:47:53.780 and then you vary
00:47:54.600 you kill off
00:47:55.240 most of the variations
00:47:56.020 but some of them
00:47:56.800 come in
00:47:57.300 because you mind
00:47:58.080 wandered enough
00:47:58.540 you can do this
00:47:59.740 in Stephan and Dixon
00:48:00.800 you give people
00:48:01.580 a problem
00:48:02.180 like an insight problem
00:48:03.060 and they're impassing
00:48:03.880 they can't solve it
00:48:04.720 and you just introduce
00:48:05.820 a little bit of entropy
00:48:06.680 into the system
00:48:07.360 like you put some static
00:48:08.340 on the computer screen
00:48:09.620 or you shake it
00:48:10.320 and then they'll have
00:48:11.060 the insight
00:48:11.560 because it puts in
00:48:12.560 enough criticality
00:48:13.520 right
00:48:13.760 so they stop
00:48:14.460 this unidimensional
00:48:15.420 task focused attention
00:48:16.920 right
00:48:17.320 and it allows
00:48:17.820 the spread of activation
00:48:19.600 right
00:48:19.840 and then
00:48:20.180 and then they reselect
00:48:21.420 and they evolve
00:48:22.280 a new way of framing
00:48:23.460 the problem
00:48:24.260 you get the
00:48:24.640 right
00:48:24.960 well so that would mean
00:48:26.020 in some sense
00:48:26.740 okay so imagine
00:48:27.540 that you snap out
00:48:28.460 of goal focused attention
00:48:29.880 this reminds me
00:48:30.900 of the psychoanalytic idea
00:48:32.120 so Freud would put
00:48:33.000 his clients
00:48:33.840 into a state
00:48:34.520 of free association
00:48:35.260 right
00:48:35.760 and so Freud's
00:48:36.880 tack was
00:48:37.560 when a woman experiences
00:48:40.780 an unplanned pregnancy
00:48:42.000 she often feels
00:48:43.040 alone and afraid
00:48:44.060 too often
00:48:45.100 her first response
00:48:46.060 is to seek out
00:48:46.760 an abortion
00:48:47.240 because that's what
00:48:48.520 left-leaning institutions
00:48:49.600 have conditioned her
00:48:50.640 to do
00:48:51.080 but because of the
00:48:52.360 generosity of listeners
00:48:53.400 like you
00:48:54.000 that search may lead
00:48:55.260 her to a pre-born
00:48:56.000 network clinic
00:48:56.840 where by the grace
00:48:57.940 of God
00:48:58.320 she'll choose life
00:48:59.360 not just for her baby
00:49:00.580 but for herself
00:49:01.840 pre-born offers God's
00:49:03.440 love and compassion
00:49:04.340 to hurting women
00:49:05.100 and provides a free ultrasound
00:49:06.520 to introduce them
00:49:07.460 to the life
00:49:07.960 growing inside them
00:49:09.080 this combination
00:49:10.100 helps women
00:49:10.840 to choose life
00:49:11.800 and it's how pre-born
00:49:13.060 saves 200 babies
00:49:14.320 every single day
00:49:15.320 thanks to the
00:49:16.400 daily wire's
00:49:16.980 partnership with pre-born
00:49:18.060 we're able to make
00:49:18.900 our powerful documentary
00:49:20.140 choosing life
00:49:21.260 available to all
00:49:22.460 on daily wire plus
00:49:23.520 join us in thanking
00:49:25.160 pre-born for bringing
00:49:26.120 this important work
00:49:27.160 out from behind
00:49:27.860 our paywall
00:49:28.440 and consider making
00:49:29.660 a donation today
00:49:30.500 to support their
00:49:31.180 life-saving work
00:49:32.220 you can sponsor
00:49:33.280 one ultrasound
00:49:34.020 for just $28
00:49:34.940 if you have the means
00:49:36.540 you can sponsor
00:49:37.180 pre-born's entire
00:49:38.160 network for a day
00:49:39.100 for $5,000
00:49:40.020 make a donation today
00:49:41.860 just dial pound 250
00:49:43.180 and say the keyword
00:49:44.180 baby
00:49:44.560 that's pound 250 baby
00:49:46.520 or go to
00:49:47.620 pre-born.com
00:49:48.620 slash Jordan
00:49:49.380 that's pre-born.com
00:49:51.140 slash Jordan
00:49:51.980 try just to say
00:49:57.020 whatever comes
00:49:57.860 into your mind
00:49:58.480 or describe your
00:49:59.360 fantasies
00:49:59.980 and just let yourself
00:50:01.440 talk right
00:50:02.080 no self-censorship
00:50:03.040 and so really
00:50:03.660 what he meant
00:50:04.120 by that was
00:50:04.820 abandon any
00:50:06.380 instrumental goal
00:50:08.040 focused attention
00:50:08.980 for the moment
00:50:09.640 and let your mind
00:50:10.600 wander
00:50:11.020 Jung did a lot
00:50:11.720 of this too
00:50:12.120 because he did
00:50:12.660 a lot of
00:50:13.480 purposeful fantasizing
00:50:15.420 right
00:50:15.620 he just let his
00:50:16.260 well
00:50:16.580 that's a contradiction
00:50:18.220 in terms
00:50:18.740 he let his mind
00:50:19.860 wander
00:50:20.300 he would have
00:50:20.780 discussions with
00:50:21.540 the characters
00:50:22.120 of his imagination
00:50:22.900 for example
00:50:23.640 it's very hallucinogenic
00:50:24.700 in some real sense
00:50:25.720 but you can imagine
00:50:27.160 that
00:50:27.420 imagine there's
00:50:29.560 a hierarchy of goals
00:50:30.780 yeah
00:50:31.180 and
00:50:32.380 you move from
00:50:34.420 a unity
00:50:34.820 at the top
00:50:35.340 of the hierarchy
00:50:35.880 to a plurality
00:50:36.840 yes
00:50:37.240 at any given
00:50:38.180 moment when you're
00:50:38.820 focusing your attention
00:50:39.780 you're using
00:50:41.360 the center focus
00:50:42.980 of your attention
00:50:43.700 as the main source
00:50:44.820 of unity
00:50:45.300 and that's reducing
00:50:46.480 everything to an
00:50:47.360 a priori set of
00:50:48.360 perceptions and principles
00:50:49.380 but then you let
00:50:50.340 that go
00:50:50.900 well now you have
00:50:51.760 these diverse networks
00:50:53.000 in your brain
00:50:53.620 that can
00:50:54.040 they all have
00:50:55.320 a slightly different
00:50:56.480 way of looking
00:50:57.180 at the same situation
00:50:58.300 and you can let
00:50:59.240 them have
00:50:59.640 an internal
00:51:00.240 dialogue
00:51:00.800 essentially
00:51:01.140 and some of those
00:51:02.360 one of the things
00:51:03.080 the psychoanalysts
00:51:04.000 pointed out
00:51:04.480 is some of those
00:51:05.060 can be
00:51:06.120 id-like
00:51:06.720 so imagine
00:51:07.880 for example
00:51:08.400 that you're angry
00:51:09.060 at someone
00:51:09.640 and so
00:51:10.520 you allow yourself
00:51:11.920 to notice
00:51:13.140 the fantasies
00:51:14.000 that you're generating
00:51:14.900 as a consequence
00:51:15.580 of the anger
00:51:16.280 right
00:51:16.800 and you'll see
00:51:17.300 maybe you have
00:51:17.780 a very violent
00:51:18.500 fantasy
00:51:19.100 and something
00:51:20.660 that's highly
00:51:21.160 aggressive
00:51:21.660 well you're being
00:51:22.600 informed that
00:51:23.500 part of your
00:51:24.440 category system
00:51:25.380 has that
00:51:26.220 vengefulness
00:51:26.920 say as a goal
00:51:28.060 and that actually
00:51:29.200 might be
00:51:29.740 relevant in some
00:51:31.100 sense if you
00:51:31.740 could figure out
00:51:32.260 how to integrate
00:51:33.000 that id-related
00:51:34.080 goal to a higher
00:51:34.980 set of principles
00:51:35.720 right
00:51:36.020 you don't want
00:51:36.900 to produce
00:51:37.980 absolute bloody
00:51:38.840 mayhem
00:51:39.200 because that
00:51:39.680 doesn't iterate
00:51:40.360 well across
00:51:41.100 instances
00:51:41.620 but that doesn't
00:51:42.920 mean you should
00:51:43.440 ignore the input
00:51:45.000 of these subsidiary
00:51:46.060 systems
00:51:46.680 exactly
00:51:47.500 so you
00:51:49.780 introduced
00:51:50.180 the very
00:51:51.080 so when you're
00:51:52.120 variation
00:51:53.020 differentiation
00:51:53.800 right
00:51:54.540 and then
00:51:54.980 but differentiation
00:51:55.860 that has the
00:51:56.520 potential to
00:51:57.100 reconverge
00:51:58.140 that's right
00:51:58.840 and so you get
00:52:00.380 a system
00:52:00.940 simultaneously
00:52:01.640 differentiating
00:52:02.620 and integrating
00:52:03.360 it becomes
00:52:03.900 what Kelso
00:52:04.400 and others
00:52:04.740 call
00:52:05.200 metastable
00:52:06.160 the system
00:52:06.660 is complexifying
00:52:07.660 it can do
00:52:08.500 a greater variety
00:52:09.760 of things
00:52:10.240 while remaining
00:52:11.060 integrated as an
00:52:12.080 agent
00:52:12.380 it doesn't
00:52:12.800 yeah right
00:52:13.240 right
00:52:13.520 right
00:52:13.820 right
00:52:14.140 right
00:52:14.380 and so what
00:52:14.960 you want
00:52:15.660 that's what
00:52:16.580 happens by the
00:52:17.320 way in the
00:52:17.820 Chartres Cathedral
00:52:18.480 when you wander
00:52:19.120 the maze
00:52:19.660 so that's the
00:52:20.620 symbolic representation
00:52:21.560 there right
00:52:22.200 so the idea
00:52:22.840 is you go
00:52:23.520 into the maze
00:52:24.420 in one section
00:52:25.340 and then you walk
00:52:26.460 all four quadrants
00:52:27.680 of the world
00:52:28.380 right
00:52:28.640 so you have to
00:52:29.060 cover all the
00:52:29.820 territory
00:52:30.260 and that way
00:52:31.040 you get to the
00:52:31.580 center
00:52:31.860 and so the idea
00:52:33.040 there is
00:52:33.700 maximum
00:52:34.660 differentiation
00:52:35.340 as a consequence
00:52:36.320 of voluntary
00:52:37.180 experience
00:52:38.000 that pushes
00:52:39.060 together towards
00:52:39.940 a unity
00:52:40.440 exactly
00:52:41.340 and so
00:52:41.840 what you get
00:52:43.420 is a system
00:52:45.240 that is
00:52:45.540 complexifying
00:52:46.440 and if it's
00:52:46.900 done right
00:52:47.580 it's
00:52:48.340 because of this
00:52:49.360 real adaptive
00:52:50.100 fittedness
00:52:50.800 its
00:52:51.540 complexification
00:52:52.260 is increasingly
00:52:53.400 conforming
00:52:54.320 to the
00:52:54.700 complexity
00:52:55.180 of the
00:52:55.580 world
00:52:55.840 yeah
00:52:56.080 right
00:52:56.320 that's the
00:52:57.260 scientific
00:52:57.600 enterprise
00:52:58.160 in some
00:52:58.560 sense
00:52:58.900 right
00:52:59.160 that's
00:52:59.480 that's
00:52:59.720 that calibration
00:53:00.260 against
00:53:00.820 real world
00:53:01.680 patterns
00:53:02.120 good synoptic
00:53:02.840 integration
00:53:03.380 and not
00:53:04.060 just
00:53:04.700 differentiation
00:53:05.820 over innovation
00:53:07.020 for your
00:53:07.460 career
00:53:07.840 yes
00:53:08.460 right
00:53:08.720 yes
00:53:09.040 yes
00:53:09.340 yes
00:53:09.620 yes
00:53:09.840 there is
00:53:10.220 that
00:53:10.500 okay
00:53:11.540 so
00:53:12.020 that's
00:53:12.680 self-organizing
00:53:13.200 criticality
00:53:13.780 now here's
00:53:14.200 the thing
00:53:14.680 self-organize
00:53:15.600 when a system
00:53:16.220 is
00:53:16.440 let's
00:53:16.880 I'll use
00:53:17.320 the
00:53:17.460 Hebb's
00:53:17.980 firing
00:53:18.320 wiring
00:53:18.680 distinction
00:53:19.180 when it
00:53:19.860 fires
00:53:20.500 in self-organizing
00:53:22.000 criticality
00:53:22.600 it tends
00:53:23.020 to create
00:53:23.600 a small
00:53:24.180 world
00:53:24.440 network
00:53:24.860 wiring
00:53:25.340 because
00:53:26.040 it's
00:53:26.280 mostly
00:53:26.740 it's
00:53:27.420 organized
00:53:27.840 right
00:53:28.840 and when
00:53:29.740 it's
00:53:29.880 organized
00:53:30.260 that
00:53:30.480 orders
00:53:30.800 it
00:53:30.940 but when
00:53:31.200 it
00:53:31.360 breaks
00:53:31.820 apart
00:53:32.180 that
00:53:32.460 opens
00:53:32.780 up the
00:53:33.060 possibility
00:53:33.520 of one
00:53:33.820 of these
00:53:34.020 long distance
00:53:34.540 connections
00:53:35.080 now if a
00:53:36.280 system starts
00:53:36.960 to wire
00:53:37.740 as a
00:53:38.800 small world
00:53:39.200 network
00:53:39.500 what's
00:53:39.760 mostly
00:53:40.020 regular
00:53:40.380 connections
00:53:40.840 keeping you
00:53:41.340 in the
00:53:41.740 norm
00:53:42.040 but it
00:53:42.540 has a few
00:53:43.020 long distance
00:53:43.820 connections
00:53:44.240 that can
00:53:44.640 suddenly
00:53:44.880 snap you
00:53:45.720 out
00:53:46.560 that's
00:53:47.040 like the
00:53:47.300 balance
00:53:47.560 between
00:53:47.900 conservatism
00:53:48.600 and
00:53:48.740 liberalism
00:53:49.260 there
00:53:49.520 it is
00:53:50.700 and so
00:53:51.760 if it
00:53:53.140 fires
00:53:53.540 as a
00:53:53.860 small
00:53:54.100 world
00:53:54.440 it
00:53:54.720 fires
00:53:55.140 as
00:53:55.360 self-organizing
00:53:55.920 criticality
00:53:56.460 it tends
00:53:57.040 to wire
00:53:57.680 as a
00:53:58.000 small world
00:53:58.380 network
00:53:58.820 and if it
00:53:59.580 wires
00:53:59.940 as a
00:54:00.240 small world
00:54:00.620 network
00:54:00.960 it tends
00:54:01.380 to fire
00:54:01.960 as self-organizing
00:54:02.760 criticality
00:54:03.380 so these
00:54:04.000 two things
00:54:04.780 can actually
00:54:05.820 mutually
00:54:06.280 inform
00:54:06.880 each other
00:54:07.880 and so
00:54:08.620 if you can
00:54:09.300 get it
00:54:09.620 right
00:54:10.160 you can
00:54:11.020 be
00:54:11.360 right
00:54:11.740 you can
00:54:12.200 be
00:54:12.400 organizing
00:54:12.880 your brain
00:54:13.460 so that
00:54:14.060 you make
00:54:14.500 it more
00:54:14.880 capable
00:54:15.240 of this
00:54:15.900 evolving
00:54:16.880 of framing
00:54:17.460 and as
00:54:18.100 you get
00:54:18.320 better
00:54:18.580 at doing
00:54:18.960 that
00:54:19.320 that will
00:54:19.740 tend to
00:54:20.140 reinforce
00:54:20.720 you
00:54:21.120 organizing
00:54:21.680 your brain
00:54:22.060 so there's
00:54:22.700 a real
00:54:22.940 possibility
00:54:23.400 here
00:54:23.980 for people
00:54:24.860 to do
00:54:25.300 that
00:54:25.600 right
00:54:26.020 to get
00:54:26.400 that
00:54:26.740 sort of
00:54:28.560 reciprocal
00:54:29.400 opening
00:54:29.960 of a
00:54:30.540 virtuous
00:54:30.880 cycle
00:54:31.420 going on
00:54:31.840 and it's
00:54:32.420 interesting
00:54:32.720 that we
00:54:33.020 have
00:54:33.220 that
00:54:34.420 self-organizing
00:54:35.240 criticality
00:54:35.900 theory
00:54:36.180 of insight
00:54:36.700 so insight
00:54:37.880 is
00:54:38.180 you
00:54:38.720 have to
00:54:40.660 break
00:54:40.960 out
00:54:41.320 of
00:54:41.740 an
00:54:41.980 inappropriate
00:54:42.380 frame
00:54:42.860 that's
00:54:43.440 the
00:54:43.600 criticality
00:54:44.180 and it
00:54:44.480 reorganizes
00:54:45.400 into the
00:54:45.860 better
00:54:46.040 you do
00:54:46.680 that
00:54:46.860 evolution
00:54:47.380 and better
00:54:49.740 would be
00:54:50.140 something like
00:54:50.880 both efficient
00:54:52.320 and capable
00:54:52.920 of performing
00:54:53.460 a broader
00:54:53.860 range of
00:54:54.300 actions
00:54:54.640 that was
00:54:55.180 like a
00:54:55.520 Piagetian
00:54:56.140 description
00:54:56.660 of what
00:54:57.140 constituted
00:54:57.780 a better
00:54:58.120 theory
00:54:58.520 a better
00:54:59.140 theory
00:54:59.520 allows you
00:55:00.080 to do
00:55:00.360 everything
00:55:00.820 the previous
00:55:01.400 theory
00:55:01.700 allowed
00:55:02.000 you to
00:55:02.240 do
00:55:02.460 plus
00:55:03.260 something
00:55:03.740 more
00:55:04.160 hopefully
00:55:04.840 with a
00:55:05.300 gain
00:55:05.580 of
00:55:05.720 efficiency
00:55:06.260 and that's
00:55:07.000 a definition
00:55:07.560 of better
00:55:08.180 so a good
00:55:10.600 theory
00:55:11.080 is efficient
00:55:13.480 in that
00:55:13.940 sense
00:55:14.240 but a good
00:55:14.660 theory
00:55:14.880 is also
00:55:15.220 generative
00:55:15.700 so you're
00:55:16.660 always trying
00:55:17.140 to optimize
00:55:17.620 between
00:55:18.080 efficiency
00:55:18.800 and
00:55:19.120 evolvability
00:55:19.760 and so
00:55:21.200 like you
00:55:21.680 said
00:55:21.860 you don't
00:55:22.860 just do
00:55:23.540 compression
00:55:24.140 that's
00:55:24.880 epilepsy
00:55:25.180 if your
00:55:25.660 brain
00:55:25.820 just fires
00:55:26.380 in a
00:55:26.640 completely
00:55:27.140 synchronous
00:55:27.640 thing
00:55:28.120 that's
00:55:28.680 epilepsy
00:55:29.060 right
00:55:29.520 because you
00:55:30.340 just locked
00:55:31.000 the system
00:55:31.460 down
00:55:31.680 it has
00:55:31.960 no
00:55:32.420 capacity
00:55:33.060 to
00:55:33.660 adaptively
00:55:34.200 refit
00:55:34.600 itself
00:55:34.860 to the
00:55:35.080 world
00:55:35.180 so the
00:55:35.620 brain
00:55:35.800 is constantly
00:55:36.520 I think
00:55:37.340 of this
00:55:37.600 actually
00:55:37.900 as mapping
00:55:38.360 on to
00:55:39.720 Piaget's
00:55:40.360 notion of
00:55:40.960 assimilation
00:55:41.400 accommodation
00:55:41.800 assimilation
00:55:42.820 is compression
00:55:43.460 making everything
00:55:44.240 integrated
00:55:44.800 accommodation
00:55:45.520 as I introduce
00:55:46.380 and then
00:55:47.140 the calibration
00:55:47.980 is this
00:55:48.640 dynamical
00:55:49.480 constantly trading
00:55:50.940 between them
00:55:51.620 so you don't
00:55:52.760 come to any
00:55:53.300 kind of
00:55:53.720 stable thing
00:55:54.740 you're constantly
00:55:55.980 evolved
00:55:56.700 and the theory
00:55:57.560 you don't find
00:55:58.220 the final theory
00:55:58.900 right
00:55:59.360 you're constantly
00:56:00.060 moving to a theory
00:56:01.020 that grabs
00:56:01.980 more differences
00:56:02.600 and yet brings
00:56:03.600 them into
00:56:03.960 an integration
00:56:04.680 and then
00:56:05.400 the theory
00:56:05.700 has to
00:56:06.020 one of
00:56:06.640 Piaget's
00:56:07.180 points
00:56:07.580 in his
00:56:08.380 writing
00:56:08.720 and he said
00:56:09.280 this explicitly
00:56:09.960 was that
00:56:10.480 the task
00:56:11.540 of genetic
00:56:13.020 epistemology
00:56:13.800 was to
00:56:14.340 specify
00:56:14.900 the process
00:56:15.680 by which
00:56:16.360 the balance
00:56:16.920 between
00:56:17.240 assimilation
00:56:17.780 and accommodation
00:56:18.440 occurs
00:56:18.880 exactly
00:56:19.300 and that
00:56:20.060 has something
00:56:20.560 to do
00:56:20.900 with
00:56:21.120 okay
00:56:21.560 so two
00:56:22.000 questions
00:56:22.520 so we've
00:56:24.100 already
00:56:24.360 put forward
00:56:26.060 the hypothesis
00:56:26.740 that the
00:56:27.420 instinct
00:56:27.820 for meaning
00:56:28.340 is something
00:56:28.940 like a
00:56:29.400 marker
00:56:29.700 for the
00:56:30.160 proper
00:56:30.580 expansion
00:56:32.120 and organization
00:56:32.820 of the
00:56:34.100 category
00:56:34.620 system
00:56:35.040 of the
00:56:35.300 brain
00:56:35.500 itself
00:56:35.880 maybe
00:56:36.220 even
00:56:36.660 related
00:56:37.060 to
00:56:37.300 health
00:56:37.640 but then
00:56:38.300 there's
00:56:38.880 another
00:56:39.080 interesting
00:56:39.540 thing
00:56:39.840 that
00:56:40.140 Carhart Harris
00:56:41.140 and people
00:56:41.900 like him
00:56:42.280 have been
00:56:42.560 concentrating
00:56:43.060 on
00:56:43.360 which is
00:56:43.700 that the
00:56:44.060 phenomenon
00:56:44.520 of consciousness
00:56:45.400 itself
00:56:46.320 which is
00:56:47.320 being itself
00:56:48.200 in some real
00:56:48.760 sense
00:56:49.140 in so far
00:56:49.760 as you have
00:56:50.520 to be
00:56:50.800 conscious
00:56:51.120 of things
00:56:51.720 for them
00:56:52.100 to be
00:56:52.600 is like
00:56:53.280 I still
00:56:53.740 don't
00:56:53.980 understand
00:56:54.540 how this
00:56:55.300 gets us
00:56:55.920 out of the
00:56:57.180 so-called
00:56:57.820 zombie
00:56:58.260 problem
00:56:58.740 it's like
00:56:59.120 why is it
00:57:00.140 that
00:57:00.360 consciousness
00:57:01.140 itself
00:57:02.160 and this
00:57:02.860 sense
00:57:03.180 of being
00:57:03.600 is associated
00:57:04.300 with operation
00:57:05.120 on this
00:57:05.540 meaningful edge
00:57:06.260 okay
00:57:06.520 and it's a
00:57:07.400 great question
00:57:08.180 to ask
00:57:08.760 right
00:57:09.380 because
00:57:09.820 I've already
00:57:10.340 said
00:57:10.620 there are
00:57:11.260 relationships
00:57:11.800 between
00:57:12.200 small world
00:57:12.660 network
00:57:12.940 formation
00:57:13.440 and
00:57:14.020 how conscious
00:57:14.960 you are
00:57:15.400 and there's
00:57:16.020 also
00:57:16.240 relationships
00:57:16.740 between
00:57:17.060 self-organizing
00:57:17.780 criticality
00:57:18.480 so you
00:57:19.280 can get
00:57:19.640 you can
00:57:21.420 present people
00:57:22.420 to visual
00:57:22.940 stimuli
00:57:23.360 that are
00:57:24.080 put on
00:57:24.600 the visual
00:57:24.860 system
00:57:25.180 so the
00:57:25.480 brain is
00:57:25.800 constantly
00:57:26.100 flipping
00:57:26.500 between
00:57:26.840 them
00:57:27.040 like a
00:57:27.300 triangle
00:57:27.580 square
00:57:27.980 and what
00:57:28.620 you can
00:57:28.880 see is
00:57:29.880 self-organizing
00:57:30.480 criticality
00:57:31.080 moving
00:57:31.360 between
00:57:31.880 areas
00:57:32.720 as the
00:57:33.440 brain is
00:57:33.760 flipping
00:57:34.100 in
00:57:34.360 consciousness
00:57:34.800 between
00:57:35.240 the triangle
00:57:35.920 and the
00:57:36.560 square
00:57:36.840 right
00:57:37.200 so two
00:57:37.540 different
00:57:37.860 patterns
00:57:38.220 of perception
00:57:38.840 each associated
00:57:39.740 with their
00:57:40.120 independent
00:57:40.540 consciousness
00:57:41.120 okay
00:57:41.480 so here's
00:57:42.520 like
00:57:43.340 I've been
00:57:44.120 alluding to
00:57:44.880 that I think
00:57:45.600 a lot of
00:57:46.160 this stuff
00:57:46.580 is how
00:57:47.360 we're
00:57:47.560 implementing
00:57:48.040 if I can
00:57:48.500 put one
00:57:48.940 more piece
00:57:49.440 on this
00:57:49.760 I can get
00:57:50.160 to your
00:57:50.380 consciousness
00:57:50.780 okay
00:57:51.180 let's go
00:57:51.720 back
00:57:52.000 that's worth
00:57:52.600 it then
00:57:52.940 I'm willing
00:57:53.560 to wait
00:57:54.020 around for
00:57:54.440 that
00:57:54.640 so
00:57:54.900 you're
00:57:55.800 trying to
00:57:56.060 do
00:57:56.320 you're
00:57:57.980 predictive
00:57:58.460 processing
00:57:58.980 and
00:57:59.540 they pick
00:58:01.320 up on
00:58:01.880 Hinton's
00:58:02.720 insight
00:58:03.140 and then
00:58:03.500 Friston
00:58:03.740 has it
00:58:04.080 too
00:58:04.220 the brain
00:58:04.540 doesn't
00:58:04.760 try and
00:58:05.040 predict
00:58:05.360 the world
00:58:06.060 it tries
00:58:06.400 to predict
00:58:06.980 itself
00:58:07.560 in its
00:58:08.160 interaction
00:58:08.640 with the
00:58:08.980 world
00:58:09.140 which is
00:58:09.480 this really
00:58:10.280 really profound
00:58:10.960 idea
00:58:11.460 right
00:58:11.980 and prediction
00:58:13.440 this is why
00:58:13.840 I say
00:58:14.080 a better term
00:58:14.780 is anticipation
00:58:15.320 it's not
00:58:15.700 just predicting
00:58:16.180 it's attempting
00:58:16.660 to complete
00:58:17.380 so right
00:58:18.560 it's trying
00:58:19.080 to predict
00:58:19.440 it's also
00:58:19.900 something
00:58:20.380 by the way
00:58:20.880 that's
00:58:21.340 the problem
00:58:21.980 I've always
00:58:22.380 had with
00:58:22.720 the prediction
00:58:23.180 models
00:58:23.580 is there's
00:58:24.020 a cold
00:58:24.500 cognitive
00:58:25.020 element
00:58:25.420 to it
00:58:25.740 because we
00:58:26.180 really want
00:58:26.800 we really
00:58:27.800 want to
00:58:28.160 have
00:58:28.400 happen
00:58:28.740 in the
00:58:29.000 world
00:58:29.160 what we
00:58:29.540 desire
00:58:30.100 so it's
00:58:30.920 not just
00:58:31.280 cold
00:58:31.640 prediction
00:58:32.180 right
00:58:32.660 and this
00:58:33.320 is a
00:58:33.920 slogan
00:58:34.880 I've been
00:58:35.400 putting
00:58:35.920 relevance
00:58:36.760 realization
00:58:37.200 is not
00:58:37.640 cold
00:58:38.040 calculation
00:58:38.700 right
00:58:39.080 okay
00:58:39.420 okay
00:58:39.760 I didn't
00:58:40.120 know you
00:58:40.460 had
00:58:40.600 formulated
00:58:41.080 that
00:58:41.420 yes
00:58:41.500 so
00:58:42.220 so
00:58:43.080 predictive
00:58:45.200 processing
00:58:45.740 you're doing
00:58:46.100 all this
00:58:46.380 stuff
00:58:46.580 but the
00:58:47.060 question
00:58:47.380 and you've
00:58:48.380 bumped into
00:58:48.800 it already
00:58:49.140 is well
00:58:49.420 what do I
00:58:49.740 predict
00:58:50.080 right
00:58:50.840 and you
00:58:51.360 can't do
00:58:51.800 you can't
00:58:52.260 do initially
00:58:52.880 teleological
00:58:53.520 answers
00:58:53.960 because they
00:58:54.320 pursue
00:58:54.740 they
00:58:55.060 presume
00:58:55.940 right
00:58:56.520 that you've
00:58:56.840 got some
00:58:57.180 capacity to
00:58:57.820 represent the
00:58:58.360 environment
00:58:58.760 so you
00:58:59.780 have to
00:59:00.340 there's a
00:59:01.460 long argument
00:59:01.900 here I'll
00:59:02.260 just I'll
00:59:02.660 just sort
00:59:03.100 of deke
00:59:03.460 around it
00:59:03.880 what you
00:59:04.980 have to
00:59:05.480 do is
00:59:05.940 you have
00:59:06.300 to have
00:59:06.640 the system
00:59:07.840 has to have
00:59:08.360 an internal
00:59:08.880 way of
00:59:10.060 deciding
00:59:10.540 which
00:59:11.520 which
00:59:12.880 error
00:59:13.600 signals
00:59:14.240 and generative
00:59:15.320 models it's
00:59:15.980 going to
00:59:16.180 prioritize
00:59:16.620 right
00:59:17.300 yes
00:59:17.640 yes
00:59:17.960 it certainly
00:59:18.380 needs that
00:59:18.920 yes
00:59:19.180 so that's
00:59:19.760 called
00:59:19.920 precision
00:59:20.340 weighting
00:59:20.760 within
00:59:21.120 predictive
00:59:21.500 and their
00:59:22.600 theory of
00:59:23.440 precision
00:59:23.880 weighting is
00:59:24.380 explicitly that
00:59:25.360 that is what
00:59:26.060 selective
00:59:26.520 attention is
00:59:27.380 and this maps
00:59:28.100 onto the
00:59:28.620 models of
00:59:29.620 a lot of
00:59:30.020 people like
00:59:30.280 Watson and
00:59:30.740 others that
00:59:31.120 what attention
00:59:31.620 is it's this
00:59:33.560 really nested
00:59:34.580 dynamical
00:59:35.200 prioritization
00:59:36.120 thing and
00:59:36.600 it's constant
00:59:37.120 it gives you
00:59:37.760 this flowing
00:59:38.480 salience
00:59:39.080 landscape
00:59:39.580 right that's
00:59:40.180 what attention
00:59:40.640 is doing
00:59:41.700 okay so
00:59:42.500 where the
00:59:44.180 two where
00:59:44.820 in the paper
00:59:45.900 that Brett
00:59:46.940 and Mark
00:59:47.500 and I
00:59:47.700 published is
00:59:48.600 you got
00:59:48.920 predictive
00:59:49.780 processing
00:59:50.340 comes down
00:59:51.080 to the
00:59:51.740 centrality
00:59:52.600 of this
00:59:54.040 precision
00:59:55.200 weighting
00:59:55.580 and then
00:59:55.840 you get
00:59:56.120 Clark in
00:59:56.960 2017 saying
00:59:58.080 well that's
00:59:58.440 task relevance
00:59:59.140 and then
00:59:59.920 oh then
01:00:00.780 we're back
01:00:01.100 to the
01:00:01.320 relevance
01:00:01.520 but what's
01:00:02.780 happening is
01:00:03.580 the convergence
01:00:04.600 is relevance
01:00:05.080 realization says
01:00:05.840 you know
01:00:06.300 what you're
01:00:06.980 actually doing
01:00:07.740 is you're
01:00:08.240 doing something
01:00:08.680 like this
01:00:10.280 evolution
01:00:11.320 and what
01:00:11.840 evolution
01:00:12.400 that cognitive
01:00:13.300 evolution is
01:00:13.960 doing is
01:00:14.380 it's finding
01:00:14.800 these important
01:00:15.460 trade-off
01:00:15.940 relationships
01:00:16.480 between
01:00:17.180 efficiency
01:00:17.760 and
01:00:18.100 evolvability
01:00:18.760 between
01:00:19.360 exploiting the
01:00:20.260 here now
01:00:20.840 and exploring
01:00:21.680 the there then
01:00:22.460 between being
01:00:23.300 at the level
01:00:23.880 of the features
01:00:24.620 zooming in
01:00:26.360 and being at
01:00:26.900 the level
01:00:27.440 of the gestalt
01:00:28.360 between looking
01:00:29.480 out into the
01:00:30.220 world and
01:00:30.700 stepping back
01:00:31.480 and looking
01:00:31.800 and so there's
01:00:32.460 all so you can
01:00:33.080 think about each
01:00:33.660 one of these
01:00:34.040 as a domain
01:00:34.860 of opponent
01:00:35.420 processing
01:00:36.000 like in your
01:00:37.640 autonomic nervous
01:00:39.120 system
01:00:39.380 and there's
01:00:43.260 meta
01:00:43.520 opponent
01:00:43.860 processing
01:00:44.360 all of the
01:00:44.880 opponent
01:00:45.120 processes
01:00:45.660 are also
01:00:46.320 pulling in
01:00:46.900 and so you
01:00:47.640 get this
01:00:47.960 multi-dimensional
01:00:48.760 state space
01:00:50.000 that
01:00:50.160 here
01:00:50.840 that's like
01:00:51.440 a hierarchy
01:00:51.980 of dialogues
01:00:52.740 yes
01:00:53.100 yes
01:00:53.420 yes
01:00:53.740 and they're
01:00:54.020 all intersecting
01:00:54.940 and so
01:00:55.660 the idea
01:00:56.440 was that
01:00:57.220 that
01:00:57.940 is
01:00:58.640 primarily
01:00:59.260 what's
01:00:59.700 coming out
01:01:00.420 in the
01:01:01.080 predictive
01:01:01.360 like that's
01:01:02.280 how
01:01:02.820 so you know
01:01:03.700 precision weighting
01:01:04.880 is working
01:01:05.240 it's basically
01:01:05.800 doing this
01:01:06.960 multi-dimensional
01:01:08.100 opponent
01:01:08.820 processing
01:01:09.460 this multi-dimensional
01:01:11.120 complexification
01:01:12.120 this multi-dimensional
01:01:13.560 evolution
01:01:14.180 of your
01:01:14.500 adaptive fit
01:01:15.020 and then the
01:01:15.380 two models
01:01:15.780 come together
01:01:16.340 and they
01:01:17.020 fit together
01:01:17.580 and it's like
01:01:18.160 it's like the
01:01:18.920 marriage between
01:01:19.640 Darwinian
01:01:20.840 natural selection
01:01:21.920 and Mendelian
01:01:22.760 genetics
01:01:23.220 the two theories
01:01:24.160 dovetail
01:01:25.220 and come together
01:01:26.780 and they converge
01:01:27.840 on a solution
01:01:28.660 to the frame
01:01:29.200 problem
01:01:29.600 okay so
01:01:30.740 and then
01:01:31.940 I'll be able
01:01:32.420 to use that
01:01:32.780 to talk about
01:01:33.180 consciousness
01:01:33.520 okay well
01:01:34.000 I wanted to
01:01:34.840 just make a
01:01:35.420 segue here
01:01:35.960 that people
01:01:36.380 might find
01:01:36.820 interesting
01:01:37.300 I think all
01:01:38.480 that's modeled
01:01:39.140 extremely well
01:01:40.060 particularly by
01:01:40.820 symphonic music
01:01:42.040 because what you
01:01:42.900 have if you
01:01:43.860 listen to
01:01:44.460 symphonic music
01:01:46.660 what you see
01:01:47.200 is there's
01:01:47.660 dialogues at
01:01:48.360 the level
01:01:48.700 of the
01:01:48.980 instrument
01:01:49.400 right so
01:01:50.160 there'd be a
01:01:50.520 proposition
01:01:50.920 and then a
01:01:51.480 counter response
01:01:52.240 and then all
01:01:53.120 those dialogues
01:01:53.720 are structured
01:01:54.340 hierarchically
01:01:55.180 in relationship
01:01:55.860 to a higher
01:01:56.680 order structure
01:01:57.580 and that's
01:01:58.100 the melodic
01:01:58.960 integrity
01:01:59.320 of the entire
01:01:59.980 piece
01:02:00.320 and people
01:02:00.960 will align
01:02:01.560 themselves
01:02:02.020 with that
01:02:02.500 right
01:02:02.760 and so
01:02:03.360 you can see
01:02:03.800 this multi-dimensional
01:02:04.940 processing
01:02:05.780 occurring
01:02:06.340 in a musical
01:02:07.280 piece
01:02:07.760 that speaks
01:02:08.800 to the core
01:02:09.880 issue of reality
01:02:10.700 which is actually
01:02:11.560 the harmony
01:02:12.380 and the beauty
01:02:12.980 of the piece
01:02:13.820 itself
01:02:14.340 and so
01:02:15.280 and that means
01:02:16.540 that that deep
01:02:17.280 meaning that you're
01:02:18.100 describing is
01:02:18.780 pointing to
01:02:19.280 something like
01:02:19.780 the optimized
01:02:20.440 balance between
01:02:21.460 multiple levels
01:02:22.300 of processing
01:02:22.920 simultaneously
01:02:23.560 and some of
01:02:24.660 that is also
01:02:25.180 temporal
01:02:25.680 right balancing
01:02:26.640 the here and
01:02:27.140 now as you
01:02:27.820 said with the
01:02:28.360 what did you
01:02:28.820 call it
01:02:29.120 that they're there
01:02:29.640 they're there
01:02:30.240 and then
01:02:30.580 right
01:02:30.900 right
01:02:31.220 and so
01:02:31.760 the reality
01:02:32.540 is the
01:02:33.000 emergent
01:02:33.420 balance
01:02:33.980 between all
01:02:34.640 those different
01:02:35.160 viewpoints
01:02:35.680 rather than
01:02:36.180 any given
01:02:36.640 viewpoint
01:02:37.020 and it flows
01:02:37.680 right
01:02:38.920 like
01:02:39.500 so think
01:02:40.360 this is perfect
01:02:41.480 because you know
01:02:43.860 music is basically
01:02:45.080 playing with our
01:02:45.940 salience landscaping
01:02:46.980 for the sake
01:02:47.580 of playing
01:02:48.060 it's completely
01:02:48.760 it's for me
01:02:50.440 it's the being mode
01:02:51.720 it's not the having mode
01:02:52.440 we're not trying
01:02:53.080 to do anything
01:02:53.660 we're in pure
01:02:54.760 development
01:02:55.660 because we're
01:02:56.200 doing pure
01:02:56.800 play
01:02:57.120 we play
01:02:57.600 pure play
01:02:58.380 pure play
01:02:59.320 music is the
01:03:00.460 closest
01:03:00.780 what Rex Murphy
01:03:01.680 said
01:03:01.980 all music
01:03:02.740 all art
01:03:03.820 aspires to the
01:03:04.560 condition of music
01:03:05.340 right
01:03:05.600 and notice how
01:03:06.220 music is not
01:03:07.240 in you
01:03:07.660 it's between
01:03:09.320 it's fundamental
01:03:10.240 the resonance
01:03:11.300 the betweenness
01:03:12.440 the connectedness
01:03:13.380 the fitting
01:03:14.180 you see that
01:03:14.480 in dancing
01:03:15.000 right
01:03:15.460 and then
01:03:15.840 Rusin
01:03:16.280 John Rusin
01:03:17.140 in bearing
01:03:18.740 witness to
01:03:19.200 epiphany
01:03:19.620 and I got to
01:03:20.080 talk to
01:03:20.360 John Rusin
01:03:20.840 he said
01:03:21.940 and this is
01:03:22.560 so
01:03:22.920 and he admits
01:03:23.540 it
01:03:23.660 because he's
01:03:23.940 deeply influenced
01:03:24.540 by player
01:03:24.900 this is such
01:03:25.480 a platonic
01:03:26.020 thing
01:03:26.660 think about
01:03:27.940 how intelligibility
01:03:29.080 is basically
01:03:30.020 there's a musicality
01:03:31.700 to intelligibility
01:03:33.100 right
01:03:33.180 so there are
01:03:34.920 rhythms
01:03:35.680 right
01:03:36.660 and then there's
01:03:37.380 melodies
01:03:37.780 everything has
01:03:38.680 its through line
01:03:39.580 which is like
01:03:40.060 a melody
01:03:40.600 and then the
01:03:41.440 melodies
01:03:41.800 and the rhythm
01:03:42.540 go together
01:03:43.140 with an
01:03:43.580 overarching harmony
01:03:44.780 and you're getting
01:03:45.660 all of this
01:03:46.340 salient
01:03:46.760 and so music
01:03:49.180 and that's all
01:03:50.560 pointing to something
01:03:51.360 like an ultimate
01:03:52.400 unity
01:03:52.880 in some fundamental
01:03:53.740 sense
01:03:54.000 one
01:03:54.240 in neoplatonism
01:03:55.180 right
01:03:55.560 right
01:03:55.920 and I want to
01:03:56.580 talk to you
01:03:56.960 about that
01:03:57.360 one idea
01:03:58.000 too
01:03:58.220 so we'll get
01:03:58.960 into that
01:03:59.280 a little bit
01:03:59.620 later
01:03:59.920 but to return
01:04:00.780 to consciousness
01:04:01.420 yes
01:04:02.040 okay
01:04:02.340 so
01:04:03.020 and consciousness
01:04:04.660 is closely
01:04:05.180 associated
01:04:05.740 with
01:04:06.220 of course
01:04:07.760 with attention
01:04:08.300 with working
01:04:09.140 memory
01:04:09.600 and with
01:04:10.380 fluid
01:04:10.980 intelligence
01:04:12.120 yes
01:04:12.480 yes
01:04:12.700 right
01:04:13.060 and of course
01:04:15.260 there's
01:04:16.220 quite high
01:04:18.000 levels of
01:04:18.760 correlation
01:04:19.180 between working
01:04:19.840 memory
01:04:20.220 and standard
01:04:21.220 measures
01:04:21.540 of G
01:04:21.960 yes
01:04:22.500 they might
01:04:22.880 be the
01:04:23.160 same
01:04:23.360 thing
01:04:23.700 even
01:04:24.020 maybe
01:04:24.540 maybe
01:04:24.860 maybe
01:04:25.260 or
01:04:25.760 very close
01:04:26.460 they're close
01:04:27.140 yes
01:04:27.480 so here's the idea
01:04:30.060 and I'm going to do
01:04:31.520 that plausibility argument
01:04:32.820 so if you take a look
01:04:34.140 at many
01:04:34.500 so there's two different
01:04:35.540 well there's three
01:04:36.400 questions
01:04:36.680 I did this at the
01:04:37.720 there's three questions
01:04:38.540 about consciousness
01:04:39.100 okay
01:04:39.480 one is
01:04:40.080 what's the nature
01:04:41.020 of consciousness
01:04:41.460 how does this weird
01:04:42.240 non-physical
01:04:43.060 thing exist
01:04:44.440 in the physical universe
01:04:45.540 that's the
01:04:45.940 right
01:04:46.820 there's
01:04:47.240 but there's
01:04:48.320 the function
01:04:48.760 problem
01:04:49.060 what does
01:04:49.360 consciousness
01:04:49.700 do
01:04:50.000 since you
01:04:50.740 can do
01:04:51.140 so much
01:04:51.820 behavior
01:04:52.300 as an
01:04:53.100 intelligent
01:04:53.540 zombie
01:04:53.960 right
01:04:54.660 why not
01:04:55.460 all of it
01:04:55.900 yeah
01:04:56.080 why not
01:04:56.320 all of it
01:04:56.560 yeah
01:04:56.640 absolutely
01:04:57.120 okay
01:04:57.380 because you do
01:04:58.300 well
01:04:58.620 your
01:04:59.020 cerebellum
01:04:59.960 is a good
01:05:00.220 example
01:05:00.580 of that
01:05:00.800 right
01:05:00.920 I think
01:05:01.140 there's
01:05:01.300 more neurons
01:05:01.840 in the
01:05:02.120 cerebellum
01:05:02.540 than in the
01:05:02.960 cortex
01:05:03.240 and it's
01:05:04.240 not conscious
01:05:05.240 by any
01:05:05.800 normal
01:05:07.240 measures
01:05:07.700 so it's
01:05:08.120 like
01:05:08.360 obviously
01:05:09.140 consciousness
01:05:09.660 isn't a
01:05:10.260 mere
01:05:10.580 consequence
01:05:11.460 of neural
01:05:12.000 activity
01:05:12.500 no
01:05:12.840 no
01:05:13.100 so much
01:05:13.680 of that
01:05:13.940 is unconscious
01:05:14.480 and then
01:05:15.100 it does beg
01:05:16.820 it is unconscious
01:05:17.480 why not
01:05:18.200 all of it
01:05:18.780 right
01:05:19.140 and then the
01:05:20.240 third question
01:05:20.700 is a meta
01:05:21.080 question
01:05:21.320 what's the
01:05:21.600 relationship
01:05:21.920 between the
01:05:22.360 nature
01:05:22.580 and the
01:05:22.780 function
01:05:23.020 question
01:05:23.460 here's where
01:05:25.160 I actually
01:05:25.560 agree with
01:05:25.980 Descartes
01:05:26.340 I disagree
01:05:26.740 with a lot
01:05:27.180 of current
01:05:27.560 philosophy
01:05:28.100 Descartes
01:05:29.660 tries to
01:05:30.300 answer those
01:05:31.460 two questions
01:05:31.960 in an
01:05:32.260 integrated
01:05:32.560 fashion
01:05:32.960 the nature
01:05:33.380 question
01:05:33.720 and the
01:05:33.940 function
01:05:34.200 question
01:05:34.520 should be
01:05:34.880 answered
01:05:35.240 together
01:05:36.040 what we
01:05:37.520 tend to do
01:05:37.980 in modern
01:05:38.360 academic
01:05:38.780 philosophy
01:05:39.240 as we
01:05:39.760 tend to
01:05:40.060 separate
01:05:40.380 them
01:05:40.640 we talk
01:05:42.060 about just
01:05:42.360 the function
01:05:42.720 problem
01:05:43.040 or just
01:05:43.440 the heart
01:05:43.860 problem
01:05:44.200 which is
01:05:45.080 the nature
01:05:45.400 problem
01:05:45.800 and that
01:05:47.220 if you just
01:05:47.860 think about
01:05:48.160 it for a
01:05:48.460 minute
01:05:48.560 that's very
01:05:49.000 problematic
01:05:49.400 trying to
01:05:49.860 talk about
01:05:50.180 function
01:05:50.620 without talking
01:05:51.060 about nature
01:05:51.580 is very
01:05:52.660 very problematic
01:05:53.340 and vice
01:05:54.240 versa
01:05:54.480 trying to
01:05:54.840 talk about
01:05:55.120 the nature
01:05:55.480 of something
01:05:55.880 without talking
01:05:56.340 about how
01:05:56.560 it functions
01:05:57.080 with respect
01:05:57.860 to other
01:05:58.180 things
01:05:58.480 very very
01:05:59.000 problematic
01:05:59.460 there's a
01:06:00.560 longer
01:06:00.760 argument
01:06:01.120 there I'm
01:06:01.360 just giving
01:06:01.660 you the
01:06:01.940 gist
01:06:02.200 you want
01:06:02.700 to
01:06:02.800 so
01:06:03.500 but if
01:06:04.400 you take
01:06:04.680 a look
01:06:05.160 right
01:06:05.500 if you take
01:06:05.940 a look
01:06:06.140 at some
01:06:06.420 of the
01:06:06.680 leading
01:06:07.180 theories
01:06:07.780 let's
01:06:09.240 take the
01:06:09.860 global
01:06:10.100 workspace
01:06:10.500 theory
01:06:10.940 for example
01:06:11.600 and what's
01:06:12.860 the
01:06:13.020 function of
01:06:14.960 consciousness
01:06:15.380 in the
01:06:15.720 global way
01:06:16.140 so the
01:06:16.640 idea is
01:06:17.040 your
01:06:17.160 consciousness
01:06:17.460 is something
01:06:17.860 like your
01:06:18.220 computer
01:06:18.500 desktop
01:06:18.920 and your
01:06:19.640 unconscious
01:06:19.980 has all
01:06:20.320 the files
01:06:20.780 and what
01:06:21.100 consciousness
01:06:21.500 is I can
01:06:22.660 bring anything
01:06:23.460 onto the
01:06:24.120 desktop
01:06:24.480 and I can
01:06:25.000 manipulate it
01:06:25.620 and then I can
01:06:26.020 broadcast it
01:06:26.700 back to
01:06:27.120 whatever I need
01:06:27.760 right
01:06:28.280 and you can
01:06:28.800 you update
01:06:29.760 your unconscious
01:06:30.360 doing that
01:06:30.960 too
01:06:31.180 right
01:06:31.400 because part
01:06:31.960 of what
01:06:32.220 consciousness
01:06:32.640 does seem
01:06:33.300 to do
01:06:33.680 is to
01:06:34.540 assess
01:06:35.380 faulty
01:06:36.340 unconscious
01:06:37.160 actions
01:06:38.000 recalibrate
01:06:39.240 them
01:06:39.440 and rejig
01:06:40.000 them
01:06:40.200 so
01:06:40.460 consciousness
01:06:41.140 is this
01:06:41.660 thing
01:06:41.840 that moves
01:06:42.240 up and
01:06:42.540 down
01:06:42.700 the
01:06:42.860 hierarchy
01:06:43.360 of
01:06:43.580 unconscious
01:06:44.000 and regulates
01:06:44.900 it
01:06:45.100 right
01:06:45.380 but here's
01:06:45.960 the thing
01:06:46.560 and this
01:06:46.940 of course
01:06:47.240 is the
01:06:47.440 frame
01:06:47.600 problem
01:06:47.860 you can't
01:06:48.740 check
01:06:49.060 all of
01:06:49.600 the
01:06:49.700 possible
01:06:50.100 error
01:06:50.280 right
01:06:50.560 that's
01:06:51.460 definitely
01:06:51.740 a problem
01:06:52.220 so
01:06:52.440 and this
01:06:53.120 is
01:06:53.300 I'm not
01:06:53.820 imposing
01:06:54.280 this
01:06:54.640 on
01:06:55.060 Bars
01:06:55.580 Shanahan
01:06:55.960 and Bars
01:06:56.520 right
01:06:57.260 and Bars
01:06:59.260 has explicitly
01:06:59.960 argued
01:07:00.360 Shanahan
01:07:00.780 has gone
01:07:01.220 and Shanahan
01:07:01.800 is important
01:07:02.180 because Shanahan
01:07:02.620 is literally
01:07:03.420 the person
01:07:03.900 who like
01:07:04.340 you know
01:07:05.140 writes the
01:07:05.800 Stanford
01:07:06.100 encyclopedia
01:07:06.660 article
01:07:07.100 on the
01:07:07.620 frame
01:07:07.820 problem
01:07:08.200 right
01:07:08.780 and so
01:07:09.840 they argue
01:07:10.800 that one
01:07:11.240 of the
01:07:11.540 functions
01:07:11.980 of consciousness
01:07:12.600 is to
01:07:13.220 help solve
01:07:13.940 the issue
01:07:14.440 of relevance
01:07:14.940 realization
01:07:15.540 the problem
01:07:16.160 of relevance
01:07:16.620 now I don't
01:07:18.140 think their
01:07:18.460 solution works
01:07:19.200 but that's
01:07:19.760 not the
01:07:20.660 issue
01:07:20.920 they're saying
01:07:21.900 look the
01:07:22.220 function of
01:07:22.720 consciousness
01:07:23.180 is to
01:07:23.840 do enhanced
01:07:24.720 relevance
01:07:25.140 realization
01:07:25.780 then you
01:07:26.520 look at
01:07:26.800 the work
01:07:27.120 of
01:07:27.260 Bohr
01:07:27.520 and Seth
01:07:27.940 and they
01:07:28.240 say
01:07:28.380 well what's
01:07:28.760 the function
01:07:29.100 of consciousness
01:07:29.560 the function
01:07:30.040 of consciousness
01:07:30.580 is like
01:07:31.500 think about
01:07:32.060 the relationship
01:07:32.560 to working
01:07:33.000 memory
01:07:33.260 it's to
01:07:33.660 reorganize
01:07:35.360 and restructure
01:07:36.140 like chunking
01:07:37.560 so we can
01:07:37.960 right
01:07:38.440 but then
01:07:40.520 and why
01:07:41.820 when do we need
01:07:42.620 that
01:07:42.740 well we need
01:07:43.220 it in situations
01:07:44.020 compare when you
01:07:45.320 can drive your car
01:07:46.140 like a zombie
01:07:46.760 and when you
01:07:47.320 can't drive your car
01:07:48.060 like a zombie
01:07:48.540 right
01:07:49.080 when I need
01:07:50.980 consciousness
01:07:51.500 when something
01:07:52.160 axiomatic
01:07:52.740 has moved
01:07:53.340 well
01:07:53.780 yeah
01:07:54.180 yes
01:07:55.060 and it
01:07:55.960 caches out
01:07:56.460 in this
01:07:56.760 way
01:07:57.060 the problem
01:07:57.660 I'm facing
01:07:58.120 is now
01:07:58.440 ill-defined
01:07:58.980 rather than
01:07:59.640 a well-defined
01:08:00.260 problem for me
01:08:00.900 the problem
01:08:01.460 is messy
01:08:02.020 there's sudden
01:08:03.120 that's a
01:08:03.720 path length
01:08:04.220 multiplication
01:08:04.800 problem
01:08:05.140 yes
01:08:05.420 and
01:08:06.460 right
01:08:07.180 there's
01:08:08.540 novelty
01:08:09.060 there is now
01:08:10.300 stuff that I
01:08:10.880 was previously
01:08:11.480 able to discard
01:08:12.620 as irrelevant
01:08:13.660 error
01:08:14.060 that I can't
01:08:15.200 discard as
01:08:15.820 irrelevant error
01:08:16.500 anymore
01:08:16.820 and that would
01:08:18.140 be associated
01:08:18.700 with the fact
01:08:19.220 that you'd have
01:08:19.680 an automatized
01:08:20.420 solution to
01:08:21.240 whatever set of
01:08:21.900 problems was
01:08:22.360 making themselves
01:08:23.020 manifest
01:08:23.400 that's right
01:08:24.180 you don't have
01:08:24.740 to attend to
01:08:25.360 it because
01:08:25.740 you've already
01:08:26.640 taken it into
01:08:27.340 account
01:08:27.660 even your
01:08:28.080 perceptions
01:08:28.520 have taken
01:08:29.020 it into
01:08:29.400 account
01:08:29.700 and allow
01:08:30.120 a lot of
01:08:30.600 little regular
01:08:31.180 networks
01:08:31.780 to run it
01:08:33.060 yes
01:08:33.600 right
01:08:34.040 but now I get
01:08:34.900 into this
01:08:35.260 situation
01:08:35.660 and I need
01:08:36.940 to go into
01:08:37.840 right
01:08:38.800 a small world
01:08:39.960 network
01:08:40.360 I need to
01:08:40.840 have the
01:08:41.160 system
01:08:41.480 I need to
01:08:41.940 evolve
01:08:42.580 and enhance
01:08:43.580 my relevance
01:08:44.440 that's why you
01:08:45.440 get a flash
01:08:46.100 of consciousness
01:08:46.600 when you have
01:08:47.240 insight
01:08:47.620 you actually
01:08:48.080 get that
01:08:48.940 and so
01:08:49.460 you get that
01:08:50.180 or when
01:08:50.700 something goes
01:08:51.220 wrong
01:08:51.620 it's like
01:08:52.420 uh oh
01:08:52.900 that's
01:08:53.340 consciousness
01:08:53.860 who wants
01:08:54.860 that
01:08:55.240 okay so
01:08:56.420 there's a longer
01:08:58.260 argument here
01:08:58.760 but you can
01:08:59.080 take a look
01:08:59.580 at you know
01:09:00.460 Clearman's
01:09:01.160 radical plasticity
01:09:02.060 hypothesis
01:09:02.580 Tononi's
01:09:03.520 integrated information
01:09:04.180 basically they all
01:09:05.460 converge on
01:09:06.300 what consciousness
01:09:07.440 is doing
01:09:08.180 is its higher
01:09:09.220 order relevance
01:09:09.900 realization
01:09:10.420 which of course
01:09:11.020 is what working
01:09:11.560 memory is doing
01:09:12.260 like the stuff
01:09:13.620 that our colleague
01:09:14.700 Lynn Hasher
01:09:15.320 was talking about
01:09:16.260 it's not just
01:09:17.420 Miller's
01:09:17.880 holding space
01:09:19.040 because that doesn't
01:09:20.220 really account for
01:09:20.820 why chunking
01:09:21.540 is so important
01:09:22.300 no no
01:09:22.860 it's functional
01:09:23.860 it's sort of
01:09:26.260 the last ditch
01:09:27.240 survey of
01:09:29.420 how good is my
01:09:30.160 relevance realization
01:09:31.000 before I commit
01:09:32.000 to action in the
01:09:33.180 world
01:09:33.520 right
01:09:34.080 I think salience
01:09:35.260 is actually just
01:09:35.940 relevance to your
01:09:36.640 working memory
01:09:37.340 in that fashion
01:09:38.620 so
01:09:39.300 the functionality
01:09:41.500 okay so
01:09:42.560 let's say that
01:09:44.140 there's a growing
01:09:44.880 convergence
01:09:45.400 remember plausibility
01:09:46.360 from many different
01:09:47.140 people onto
01:09:47.980 the function of
01:09:49.120 consciousness
01:09:49.540 is higher order
01:09:50.520 recursive
01:09:51.200 relevance realization
01:09:52.440 your unconscious
01:09:53.920 has done some
01:09:54.520 preliminary relevance
01:09:55.360 realization
01:09:55.860 and then you do
01:09:56.460 the yes
01:09:57.040 but this is
01:09:57.520 the demanding
01:09:58.040 and you ratchet up
01:10:00.060 the relevance
01:10:00.480 realization
01:10:00.920 is that plausible
01:10:02.480 okay
01:10:03.160 now if you give me
01:10:04.220 that
01:10:04.700 right
01:10:05.700 I can start to
01:10:06.780 talk a lot
01:10:07.260 about the
01:10:07.620 phenomenology
01:10:08.580 of consciousness
01:10:09.940 beyond the
01:10:10.560 functionality
01:10:11.060 but I need to
01:10:12.280 make a distinction
01:10:12.980 I need to make
01:10:14.000 an important
01:10:14.480 distinction
01:10:14.960 that has not
01:10:15.860 been
01:10:16.180 well I would
01:10:18.740 argue hasn't
01:10:19.180 been made very
01:10:19.920 well and therefore
01:10:20.520 there's a deep
01:10:21.060 equivocation and
01:10:21.820 confat
01:10:22.320 you need to make
01:10:23.180 a distinction
01:10:23.620 between adjectival
01:10:24.840 qualia are the
01:10:25.840 felt experience
01:10:26.440 things
01:10:26.860 you need to make
01:10:27.900 a distinction
01:10:28.300 between the
01:10:28.860 adjectival qualia
01:10:30.060 and the
01:10:30.460 adverbial qualia
01:10:31.640 adjectival qualia
01:10:32.860 are greenness
01:10:33.840 blueness
01:10:34.780 you know
01:10:35.260 the ones that
01:10:36.320 philosophers love
01:10:36.880 to talk about
01:10:37.420 adverbial qualia
01:10:38.940 are things like
01:10:40.540 here-ness
01:10:41.440 now-ness
01:10:43.120 together-ness
01:10:44.920 now you say
01:10:46.200 well why would
01:10:46.780 I ever need that
01:10:47.500 okay so
01:10:48.220 politicians
01:10:49.360 why are those
01:10:49.940 adverbial
01:10:50.580 because they're
01:10:51.280 modifications of
01:10:52.460 how you are
01:10:53.020 connected to the
01:10:53.760 world
01:10:53.960 they are not
01:10:54.780 specific properties
01:10:56.000 okay so
01:10:56.440 does that
01:10:58.080 correspond to
01:10:58.900 a noun
01:10:59.720 that's a noun
01:11:00.320 verb distinction
01:11:01.100 in some sense
01:11:01.860 so it's
01:11:02.500 what things are
01:11:03.580 versus
01:11:04.240 what would you say
01:11:06.520 modification
01:11:07.060 qualities of
01:11:07.680 their function
01:11:08.220 how they could
01:11:09.340 co-emerge in
01:11:10.300 being and in
01:11:11.120 your consciousness
01:11:11.760 so
01:11:13.020 let's talk about
01:11:14.240 two pieces of
01:11:14.780 empirical evidence
01:11:15.440 that support what
01:11:16.060 I'm saying
01:11:16.320 I'm not just
01:11:16.680 drawing this as
01:11:17.320 speculation
01:11:17.640 one is
01:11:18.380 and I've been
01:11:19.880 in this state
01:11:20.580 and it's widely
01:11:21.980 reported
01:11:22.420 many different
01:11:23.340 people across
01:11:25.040 many different
01:11:25.660 variables
01:11:26.140 culturally
01:11:27.220 history
01:11:27.600 you can get into
01:11:28.600 what Foreman
01:11:29.380 calls the pure
01:11:29.980 consciousness event
01:11:30.860 so you're not
01:11:31.940 conscious of
01:11:32.740 anything
01:11:33.060 you're not even
01:11:33.500 conscious of
01:11:34.000 consciousness
01:11:34.360 you're just
01:11:34.780 purely conscious
01:11:35.740 it's
01:11:36.600 memory where we
01:11:37.380 talked about
01:11:37.680 you can step
01:11:38.160 back
01:11:38.480 you can step
01:11:39.640 back until
01:11:40.180 you can't
01:11:41.220 step back
01:11:41.580 any further
01:11:41.960 because you'd
01:11:42.300 be trying to
01:11:42.680 step back
01:11:43.260 in consciousness
01:11:44.200 into unconscious
01:11:45.120 consciousness
01:11:45.480 right
01:11:45.820 and when the
01:11:47.300 pure consciousness
01:11:47.780 event
01:11:48.100 there are
01:11:49.620 there is no
01:11:50.180 greenness
01:11:50.780 there is no
01:11:51.300 blueness
01:11:51.800 there is no
01:11:52.240 blackness
01:11:52.800 there are no
01:11:53.720 objects
01:11:54.240 there are no
01:11:54.620 things
01:11:55.100 but you don't
01:11:56.500 black out
01:11:57.080 what there is
01:11:59.340 is there's a
01:11:59.900 sense of
01:12:00.340 hereness
01:12:00.820 but it's pure
01:12:01.760 hereness
01:12:02.120 eternity
01:12:02.600 right
01:12:03.500 and presence
01:12:04.680 I should say
01:12:05.320 and nowness
01:12:06.500 is that
01:12:07.900 sense of
01:12:08.940 eternity
01:12:09.340 and then
01:12:10.500 everything is
01:12:11.380 one
01:12:11.660 unity
01:12:12.240 togetherness
01:12:12.940 so the
01:12:13.480 hereness
01:12:13.840 and the
01:12:14.080 nowness
01:12:14.420 and the
01:12:14.680 togetherness
01:12:15.280 don't go
01:12:16.460 away
01:12:16.800 even though
01:12:17.600 the adjectival
01:12:19.520 qualia do
01:12:20.140 which tells you
01:12:20.840 the adjectival
01:12:21.500 qualia are
01:12:22.600 not necessary
01:12:24.100 for consciousness
01:12:25.600 but the
01:12:26.200 adverbial ones
01:12:27.000 so do you
01:12:27.360 think of that
01:12:27.840 as an
01:12:28.100 experience
01:12:28.520 of something
01:12:29.040 akin to the
01:12:29.620 ground of
01:12:30.040 being
01:12:30.340 yes
01:12:30.740 because here
01:12:31.920 when you're
01:12:32.720 like when
01:12:33.660 you're doing
01:12:34.420 is that what
01:12:34.940 is that the
01:12:35.620 name of
01:12:36.060 is that the
01:12:37.160 name of God
01:12:37.980 that was
01:12:38.240 announced to
01:12:38.700 Moses
01:12:38.980 is that the
01:12:39.840 same idea
01:12:40.320 because
01:12:40.640 well the name
01:12:41.980 is I am
01:12:42.880 that I am
01:12:43.560 I was
01:12:44.300 that I am
01:12:44.960 I want to
01:12:45.680 try and answer
01:12:46.120 that and I
01:12:46.540 want to try
01:12:46.880 and so I
01:12:47.380 was at
01:12:48.000 I went to
01:12:49.820 I went to
01:12:53.600 the respond
01:12:54.200 retreat
01:12:54.660 and in
01:12:55.720 Vermont
01:12:56.100 and I was
01:12:56.980 giving my
01:12:57.340 talk on
01:12:57.720 relevance
01:12:57.980 realization
01:12:58.440 and I was
01:12:59.040 getting great
01:13:00.120 questions from
01:13:00.680 monks
01:13:01.000 and I was
01:13:01.560 actually
01:13:01.940 interacting with
01:13:02.760 other theorists
01:13:03.520 and I came to
01:13:04.780 what I think is
01:13:05.440 an important
01:13:05.820 insight
01:13:06.180 so your
01:13:07.400 system is doing
01:13:08.040 relevance
01:13:08.420 realization
01:13:09.060 and that is
01:13:10.900 giving you
01:13:11.560 the complexification
01:13:12.740 of the world
01:13:13.460 it's giving you
01:13:14.120 the world
01:13:14.740 of things
01:13:15.580 but as you
01:13:16.540 said
01:13:16.760 organized
01:13:17.540 so it's
01:13:18.980 giving you
01:13:19.380 this
01:13:19.640 but you can
01:13:20.520 come to
01:13:20.840 and one of
01:13:21.600 the things
01:13:21.860 relevance
01:13:22.200 realization
01:13:22.620 is interested
01:13:23.860 in
01:13:24.140 is relevance
01:13:24.660 realizing
01:13:25.020 that's what
01:13:25.500 an insight
01:13:25.900 is
01:13:26.160 you realize
01:13:27.080 oh my way
01:13:27.880 of realizing
01:13:28.500 what's relevant
01:13:29.020 was actually
01:13:29.780 wrong
01:13:30.520 I have to
01:13:31.000 restructure
01:13:31.600 so it's
01:13:32.640 intrinsically
01:13:33.140 because it's
01:13:33.700 intrinsically
01:13:34.280 evolving and
01:13:35.020 self-correcting
01:13:35.840 it is intrinsically
01:13:36.920 interested in
01:13:37.640 itself
01:13:38.020 okay
01:13:38.880 so I can do
01:13:40.100 relevance
01:13:40.440 realization
01:13:40.840 on the world
01:13:41.720 and that's
01:13:42.840 that is
01:13:43.940 relevance
01:13:44.360 realization
01:13:44.920 of beings
01:13:46.220 but relevance
01:13:48.340 realization
01:13:48.800 has to realize
01:13:49.700 its own
01:13:50.220 irrelevance
01:13:51.000 with respect
01:13:52.200 to
01:13:52.720 being
01:13:54.340 it has to
01:13:55.660 let
01:13:55.800 you have
01:13:56.180 to stop
01:13:56.740 trying to
01:13:57.780 thingify
01:13:58.280 your experience
01:13:59.680 that's movement
01:14:00.740 up Jacob's
01:14:01.400 okay so
01:14:01.800 in the Exodus
01:14:03.140 story
01:14:03.680 what happens
01:14:04.600 with Moses
01:14:05.080 is that
01:14:05.640 he's walking
01:14:06.600 through the desert
01:14:07.280 so he's confused
01:14:08.240 in some sense
01:14:09.000 and something
01:14:09.920 attracts his
01:14:10.520 attention
01:14:10.920 yes
01:14:11.320 right it's
01:14:11.800 the burning
01:14:12.160 bush
01:14:12.540 and it doesn't
01:14:13.360 like announce
01:14:14.280 itself in some
01:14:15.440 magnificent way
01:14:16.380 it glimmers
01:14:17.240 in the shadows
01:14:18.100 of his
01:14:18.580 perception
01:14:19.160 but then he
01:14:19.980 investigates it
01:14:20.840 so imagine
01:14:21.380 this imagine
01:14:22.080 that something
01:14:22.580 glimmers to
01:14:23.160 attract your
01:14:23.620 attention
01:14:23.880 that's mercury
01:14:24.940 by the way
01:14:25.540 yes yes
01:14:26.080 he's the wing
01:14:26.600 messenger of the
01:14:27.400 gods
01:14:27.660 Hermes yeah
01:14:28.580 trying to
01:14:29.040 attract your
01:14:29.520 attention
01:14:29.900 so now you
01:14:30.880 pursue that
01:14:31.800 and now you
01:14:32.800 pursue it
01:14:33.240 deeply
01:14:33.660 and the deeper
01:14:34.520 you pursue it
01:14:35.260 the farther
01:14:35.840 you get away
01:14:36.580 from the
01:14:37.000 particulars of
01:14:37.700 the phenomenon
01:14:38.260 itself
01:14:38.900 and the closer
01:14:39.820 you get to
01:14:40.360 something like
01:14:40.980 generalized
01:14:41.700 being
01:14:42.260 and that seems
01:14:43.100 to be the idea
01:14:43.980 that's implicit
01:14:44.580 in that story
01:14:45.260 of the burning
01:14:45.720 bush
01:14:46.020 and the
01:14:46.260 announcement
01:14:46.600 of the
01:14:46.880 name of
01:14:47.180 God
01:14:47.460 yes
01:14:47.800 but so what
01:14:48.400 happened
01:14:48.600 this is
01:14:49.020 you know
01:14:49.440 this is
01:14:49.760 from Gregory
01:14:50.300 of Nyssa
01:14:50.780 and his
01:14:51.980 work on
01:14:52.400 Moses going
01:14:52.960 up
01:14:53.300 right
01:14:53.860 at the
01:14:54.400 mountain
01:14:54.680 and all
01:14:56.100 the way
01:14:56.340 to Nicholas
01:14:56.860 of Cusa
01:14:57.380 right
01:14:57.740 the burning
01:14:58.440 bush is
01:14:58.900 inherently
01:14:59.400 paradoxical
01:15:00.980 right
01:15:01.240 yes
01:15:01.640 right
01:15:01.960 because it's
01:15:02.400 something that
01:15:03.660 is destroying
01:15:04.240 itself
01:15:04.640 but is
01:15:04.940 maintained
01:15:05.300 right
01:15:05.620 right
01:15:05.880 right
01:15:06.200 and so
01:15:06.800 it's
01:15:07.120 underneath
01:15:07.840 generation
01:15:10.260 and destruction
01:15:10.920 it's
01:15:11.380 underneath
01:15:11.840 all of the
01:15:12.860 mechanisms
01:15:13.340 by which
01:15:14.080 being is
01:15:14.840 particularized
01:15:15.820 it is
01:15:16.460 trying to
01:15:16.860 point
01:15:17.200 I am
01:15:17.720 that I
01:15:18.000 am
01:15:18.140 or actually
01:15:18.740 I will be
01:15:19.280 what I
01:15:19.560 will be
01:15:19.960 right
01:15:19.980 right
01:15:20.260 right
01:15:20.540 and so
01:15:21.160 it is
01:15:21.640 trying to
01:15:22.020 point
01:15:22.280 to the
01:15:22.740 ground
01:15:23.260 of being
01:15:24.020 as opposed
01:15:24.800 to the
01:15:25.060 world
01:15:25.200 and what
01:15:25.780 yeah
01:15:25.960 what
01:15:26.160 does
01:15:26.880 Moses
01:15:27.240 try and
01:15:27.720 comprehend
01:15:27.900 and it's
01:15:28.140 it's a paradox
01:15:28.580 as you
01:15:29.020 said
01:15:29.240 it's so
01:15:29.580 interesting
01:15:30.020 because a
01:15:30.580 paradox is
01:15:31.160 pointing the
01:15:31.540 way to
01:15:31.800 that
01:15:32.020 that sort
01:15:32.700 of you
01:15:33.260 you talked
01:15:33.820 I think
01:15:34.100 in your
01:15:34.340 lecture
01:15:34.620 at Ralston
01:15:35.180 about the
01:15:35.660 idea that
01:15:36.140 the parables
01:15:36.620 in the
01:15:37.100 New Testament
01:15:37.800 are basically
01:15:38.600 zen cones
01:15:39.360 right
01:15:39.620 they're paradoxes
01:15:40.840 that are designed
01:15:41.400 to produce a
01:15:42.040 state of
01:15:42.400 insight
01:15:42.840 and that's
01:15:43.680 the grip
01:15:44.180 of imagination
01:15:45.000 by relevance
01:15:45.860 realization
01:15:46.320 and a pointer
01:15:47.100 to something
01:15:47.620 that's beyond
01:15:48.320 at the same
01:15:48.820 time
01:15:49.120 exactly
01:15:49.220 you get
01:15:50.000 gripped
01:15:50.500 by the paradox
01:15:52.120 and does
01:15:52.720 Moses try to
01:15:53.880 comprehend it
01:15:54.500 no he takes
01:15:55.160 off his shoes
01:15:55.920 and he goes
01:15:56.460 into reverence
01:15:57.420 right
01:15:57.860 that's why
01:15:59.400 he takes
01:15:59.720 off his
01:16:00.100 shoes
01:16:00.360 because now
01:16:01.120 he knows
01:16:01.440 he's standing
01:16:01.940 on holy
01:16:02.400 ground
01:16:02.780 and so
01:16:03.220 the attempt
01:16:03.720 to name
01:16:04.500 is abandoned
01:16:06.060 even
01:16:06.460 that doesn't
01:16:07.140 mean you
01:16:07.400 stop naming
01:16:08.100 it's ridiculous
01:16:09.040 yeah well that
01:16:09.680 would be the
01:16:10.100 abandonment
01:16:10.660 of sanity
01:16:11.740 in some real sense
01:16:12.920 but there is
01:16:13.720 there's a moment
01:16:14.960 when the relevance
01:16:15.760 realization
01:16:16.640 right
01:16:17.400 can point
01:16:18.480 to its own
01:16:19.400 irrelevance
01:16:20.060 when you are
01:16:20.700 trying to not
01:16:21.840 grip anything
01:16:23.360 yeah
01:16:23.940 you're trying
01:16:24.840 to be opened
01:16:25.680 to the ground
01:16:26.400 of everything
01:16:27.100 right
01:16:27.440 so that's
01:16:28.520 how I would
01:16:28.840 answer
01:16:29.080 and the utility
01:16:29.960 okay so now
01:16:30.960 the utility
01:16:31.600 of being open
01:16:32.580 to the ground
01:16:33.160 of everything
01:16:34.220 let me lay
01:16:35.200 this out
01:16:35.540 you tell me
01:16:35.920 what you think
01:16:36.280 about this
01:16:36.640 so you might
01:16:37.840 say well
01:16:38.320 does everything
01:16:40.460 have to converge
01:16:41.320 on one
01:16:42.020 that's the
01:16:42.640 monotheistic question
01:16:43.620 in some real sense
01:16:44.440 well let's say
01:16:45.520 forget that question
01:16:46.420 for a minute
01:16:46.720 let's look at
01:16:47.320 the alternative
01:16:47.920 things don't
01:16:49.260 converge
01:16:49.820 yes
01:16:50.160 okay so
01:16:50.700 what's this
01:16:51.680 psychological state
01:16:52.880 associated with
01:16:53.780 non-convergence
01:16:54.620 well there's two
01:16:55.600 if I have a multitude
01:16:57.340 of goals
01:16:58.080 and if they're a multitude
01:17:00.140 that means they conflict
01:17:01.700 because if they didn't
01:17:02.680 conflict they'd be a unity
01:17:03.780 so I have a multitude
01:17:04.740 of goals
01:17:05.240 okay so that's an
01:17:06.500 entropy problem
01:17:07.500 and I'm going to be
01:17:09.080 chaotic
01:17:09.640 confused
01:17:10.240 and anxious
01:17:10.780 as a consequence
01:17:11.540 so that's one consequence
01:17:13.220 and the second consequence
01:17:14.720 is
01:17:15.120 if positive emotion
01:17:16.920 is associated
01:17:18.200 with movement
01:17:18.820 towards a goal
01:17:19.680 but I have multiple
01:17:21.240 fractured goals
01:17:21.940 then the intensity
01:17:23.480 of my positive emotion
01:17:24.800 that's my enthusiasm
01:17:25.880 and that's possession
01:17:26.780 by God by the way
01:17:27.800 then my enthusiasm
01:17:28.860 is diminished
01:17:29.660 so the alternative
01:17:30.920 to the vision
01:17:31.780 of a monotheistic unity
01:17:33.220 is a chaotic
01:17:34.660 plurality
01:17:35.600 that's associated
01:17:36.480 with the decrement
01:17:37.320 in motivation
01:17:38.280 and enthusiasm
01:17:38.900 yes
01:17:39.320 now that doesn't
01:17:40.100 answer the question
01:17:41.160 of what that
01:17:42.080 ultimate unity
01:17:43.220 might be
01:17:44.080 right
01:17:44.420 but it does at least
01:17:45.480 point out the consequences
01:17:46.760 of not assuming
01:17:48.180 that such a thing exists
01:17:49.260 it's basically
01:17:49.900 you could call it
01:17:51.900 the psychopathology
01:17:52.940 of polytheism
01:17:54.180 it's something like that
01:17:55.320 and when that's
01:17:56.540 manifested socially
01:17:57.460 this is also
01:17:58.060 something interesting
01:17:58.820 if you and I
01:17:59.940 cannot agree
01:18:00.560 on a unity of vision
01:18:01.640 now in the moment
01:18:03.100 we're both exploring
01:18:05.140 and we agree on that
01:18:06.240 so we can sit here
01:18:07.300 without conflict
01:18:08.040 if we cannot agree
01:18:09.240 on a unity of vision
01:18:10.240 then we are in conflict
01:18:12.000 yes
01:18:12.340 those are the only options
01:18:13.420 so now we have this problem
01:18:14.920 there has to be a unity
01:18:15.960 or else
01:18:16.680 these are the consequences
01:18:17.660 and then the mystery is
01:18:19.080 well
01:18:19.300 what constitutes that
01:18:20.680 unity
01:18:21.060 yeah I totally agree
01:18:22.580 I mean
01:18:23.060 you see arguments
01:18:24.240 from Plotinus and Spinoza
01:18:25.460 basically doing that
01:18:27.000 that move
01:18:27.580 which is
01:18:28.460 I think
01:18:29.700 I mean
01:18:30.460 there are some things
01:18:31.260 you can say about the unity
01:18:32.300 it can't be at any level
01:18:34.100 below ultimate reality
01:18:35.320 right
01:18:35.580 right
01:18:35.800 it has to be
01:18:36.520 because
01:18:36.740 that's sort of the definition
01:18:37.820 of ultimate reality
01:18:38.680 yes exactly
01:18:39.400 exactly
01:18:39.760 and then you get
01:18:41.520 it's
01:18:42.140 so I could add to
01:18:43.520 the psychological
01:18:44.240 the epistemic
01:18:45.120 right
01:18:45.660 to understand something
01:18:46.860 and to grasp it
01:18:48.340 its reality
01:18:49.140 is
01:18:49.580 is an act
01:18:50.700 of integration
01:18:51.500 it's an
01:18:52.400 you know
01:18:53.240 yeah
01:18:53.580 right
01:18:53.960 and so
01:18:54.600 think about what science does
01:18:55.860 here's all these disparate phenomena
01:18:57.180 and I get
01:18:57.840 have a unifying understanding
01:18:59.420 and then here's two different theories
01:19:01.020 here's Darwinian natural selection
01:19:02.940 here's Mendelian genetics
01:19:04.080 and I get
01:19:05.060 I get modern evolutionary theory
01:19:07.480 the grand synthesis
01:19:08.520 right
01:19:08.860 and why
01:19:09.620 what
01:19:10.040 and why are scientists
01:19:10.940 trying to find
01:19:11.820 the ultimate
01:19:12.160 yeah and those are profound
01:19:13.320 syntheses
01:19:13.920 and they're profound
01:19:14.680 because they point to a deep
01:19:16.120 underlying unity
01:19:17.140 exactly
01:19:17.720 exactly
01:19:18.260 and this is the neoplatonic argument
01:19:19.640 and then
01:19:20.020 and then you add in
01:19:21.260 the argument I did at length
01:19:22.880 in Ralston
01:19:23.360 if reality isn't
01:19:25.100 or if that fundamental grammar
01:19:26.760 of intelligibility
01:19:27.720 doesn't conform
01:19:29.220 to a fundamental grammar
01:19:30.720 yes
01:19:31.600 right
01:19:31.940 right
01:19:32.220 we are doomed
01:19:33.220 we are doomed
01:19:34.400 to a radical solipsism
01:19:36.020 a radical
01:19:36.440 so it's not
01:19:37.500 you can't
01:19:38.100 I would argue
01:19:39.520 I would ask people
01:19:40.860 to look at the longer argument
01:19:42.000 at Ralston
01:19:42.440 but you can't take
01:19:43.720 the Kantian position
01:19:44.560 that yes
01:19:45.300 that is the grammar
01:19:46.080 of intelligibility
01:19:46.860 but reality
01:19:47.580 is somehow
01:19:48.040 fundamentally different
01:19:49.020 because
01:19:49.520 like just
01:19:50.740 like Clark's argument
01:19:52.020 different Clark
01:19:52.900 Samuel Clark
01:19:53.380 like Kant presupposes
01:19:55.220 the existence
01:19:55.680 of other minds
01:19:56.400 with an epistemology
01:19:57.280 that gives him
01:19:57.840 no way of acknowledging
01:19:59.060 the existence
01:20:00.000 of other minds
01:20:00.560 why is he writing
01:20:01.200 the damn critique
01:20:02.600 if he doesn't think
01:20:03.280 why is he upset
01:20:04.320 when he doesn't get
01:20:05.420 the reception
01:20:05.860 because he believes
01:20:06.860 that there are other minds
01:20:08.100 right
01:20:08.640 that
01:20:08.860 and they're
01:20:10.000 and they're real
01:20:10.820 and they're out there
01:20:11.720 and he somehow
01:20:12.640 has access to them
01:20:13.900 and they have
01:20:14.820 alternative frame
01:20:15.540 like
01:20:15.880 right
01:20:16.080 so his implicit
01:20:16.860 presuppositions
01:20:17.680 and his explicit
01:20:18.500 presuppositions
01:20:19.260 don't match
01:20:19.840 he's in a performative
01:20:20.600 contradiction
01:20:21.120 like Whitehead
01:20:21.620 talked to us
01:20:22.100 and so if you
01:20:23.080 and so the Neoplatonic
01:20:24.280 argument is
01:20:24.900 not the particulars
01:20:26.120 but the grammar
01:20:27.480 of intelligibility
01:20:28.400 and the grammar
01:20:29.100 of reality
01:20:29.720 have to ultimately
01:20:30.860 ultimately
01:20:31.420 so this is actually
01:20:32.700 really why I wanted
01:20:34.360 to talk to you today
01:20:35.300 so this issue here
01:20:37.080 so I did a lecture
01:20:37.940 for Ralston as well
01:20:39.400 at Ephesus
01:20:40.060 on the Greek idea
01:20:41.140 of the logos
01:20:41.640 yes
01:20:42.140 yes
01:20:42.460 so okay
01:20:42.900 so I want to
01:20:43.540 I want to
01:20:44.480 I want to ask you
01:20:45.800 some questions
01:20:46.340 about this
01:20:46.900 and I suppose
01:20:47.420 this has something
01:20:48.220 to do possibly
01:20:49.060 with Neoplatonism
01:20:50.180 and Buddhism
01:20:51.060 and Christianity
01:20:51.760 sure
01:20:52.320 okay so
01:20:53.080 let's
01:20:55.260 we'll open with
01:20:56.360 the question
01:20:56.740 about what might
01:20:57.420 constitute
01:20:57.880 this ultimate unity
01:20:59.160 now you can think
01:21:00.280 about it as a
01:21:01.000 phenomenological unity
01:21:02.400 in some sense
01:21:03.200 and put it in
01:21:04.020 the objective space
01:21:05.020 but I want to
01:21:06.140 make a different case
01:21:07.060 so I think
01:21:08.920 the ultimate unity
01:21:10.000 is better
01:21:10.960 conceptualized
01:21:11.880 as something
01:21:12.480 that you might
01:21:13.500 term a spirit
01:21:14.560 and we can get
01:21:15.540 into your discussion
01:21:16.220 yeah Jonathan
01:21:16.500 okay okay
01:21:18.020 so a spirit
01:21:19.440 is an animating
01:21:20.240 principle
01:21:20.620 or a set
01:21:21.400 of animating
01:21:21.980 principles
01:21:22.220 and a universal
01:21:23.460 spirit would be
01:21:24.480 the same set
01:21:26.040 of animating
01:21:26.620 principles
01:21:27.140 animating
01:21:27.800 a lot
01:21:28.600 of people
01:21:29.100 simultaneously
01:21:29.840 right
01:21:30.180 so
01:21:30.620 it's like a meme
01:21:31.980 in the Dawkins sense
01:21:33.520 right
01:21:33.720 it's like a hyper meme
01:21:34.780 and so
01:21:35.700 the question is
01:21:37.000 well why should you
01:21:38.180 conceptualize that
01:21:39.040 as a spirit
01:21:39.580 so let me
01:21:40.500 offer a proposition
01:21:41.800 about what's happening
01:21:42.580 in the biblical corpus
01:21:43.560 okay
01:21:44.000 so okay
01:21:44.600 so there's some
01:21:45.440 attempt
01:21:46.080 to specify
01:21:47.500 the implicit unity
01:21:48.760 and the way
01:21:49.760 the biblical corpus
01:21:50.660 does that
01:21:51.120 is by laying out
01:21:51.820 a sequence of narratives
01:21:52.780 and the narratives
01:21:54.080 stress a different
01:21:56.200 yes
01:21:56.600 ultimate unity
01:21:57.520 right
01:21:57.900 so for example
01:21:58.600 in the story of Noah
01:21:59.680 here's the unity
01:22:00.580 that's being pointed to
01:22:01.480 so you have Noah
01:22:02.160 characterized as someone
01:22:03.180 who's a wise man
01:22:04.720 for his time and place
01:22:06.220 which is all
01:22:06.900 any all of us
01:22:07.600 anything
01:22:08.020 all any of us
01:22:09.160 could hope for
01:22:09.740 yeah
01:22:10.100 now Noah has a
01:22:11.460 intuition
01:22:12.280 that the storms
01:22:13.520 are coming
01:22:14.000 and he has faith
01:22:15.720 in the intuition
01:22:16.340 and acts on it
01:22:17.160 and then God
01:22:18.220 is characterized
01:22:18.860 as the source
01:22:20.000 of the intuition
01:22:20.720 and faith
01:22:21.880 in Noah's case
01:22:22.640 is characterized
01:22:23.260 as the willingness
01:22:24.480 to abide by that
01:22:25.460 intuition
01:22:26.180 that's the story
01:22:27.560 against
01:22:28.340 all the people
01:22:29.360 that are criticizing
01:22:30.260 and against
01:22:30.800 all other things
01:22:31.560 that might occupy
01:22:32.220 his attention
01:22:32.800 he prioritizes that
01:22:34.080 yes
01:22:34.380 okay
01:22:34.800 so he met that
01:22:35.400 and that's how
01:22:35.820 he manifests faith in it
01:22:36.960 that's right
01:22:37.300 okay
01:22:37.480 so now
01:22:37.900 another story
01:22:38.920 bumps up against that
01:22:40.040 and the next story
01:22:41.380 is the Tower of Babel
01:22:42.360 and they're very
01:22:43.480 different narrative
01:22:44.200 and so what you have
01:22:45.080 here is this
01:22:45.740 and this is actually
01:22:47.160 related to this problem
01:22:48.160 of criticality
01:22:48.860 but we won't go into that
01:22:49.860 you have this proposition
01:22:51.380 that human beings
01:22:52.240 can build these
01:22:52.900 towers of abstraction
01:22:54.180 that can become
01:22:55.960 totalitarian
01:22:56.800 in their essence
01:22:57.420 right
01:22:57.800 and that God
01:22:58.780 punishes that
01:22:59.720 yeah
01:22:59.880 he fragments them
01:23:01.580 he fragments it
01:23:02.240 and makes people
01:23:02.900 confused
01:23:03.520 yeah
01:23:03.800 okay
01:23:04.060 so now
01:23:04.600 that's a very
01:23:05.140 different picture
01:23:06.080 of God
01:23:06.780 the Noah God
01:23:07.880 yeah
01:23:08.140 okay
01:23:08.520 but they're contiguous
01:23:09.440 yeah
01:23:09.800 they call that
01:23:10.420 metonymy
01:23:11.060 yeah
01:23:11.360 so there's
01:23:12.100 an implication
01:23:13.560 by juxtaposition
01:23:15.280 that there's an
01:23:16.120 identity
01:23:16.580 between those
01:23:17.220 two different things
01:23:17.820 but they're very
01:23:18.420 diverse
01:23:18.860 okay so then
01:23:19.540 I'll just do
01:23:20.020 two more of these
01:23:20.620 so then
01:23:21.200 you have the story
01:23:22.180 of Abraham
01:23:22.620 yeah
01:23:23.180 Abraham is a slow
01:23:24.860 starter
01:23:25.380 right
01:23:26.100 so he's very wealthy
01:23:27.160 his parents are wealthy
01:23:28.380 he lives a very privileged
01:23:30.040 and sheltered life
01:23:30.980 but a spirit
01:23:32.060 makes itself manifest
01:23:33.240 to him
01:23:34.020 and the spirit
01:23:34.940 is the call
01:23:35.520 to adventure
01:23:36.100 and so God
01:23:37.080 in the Abrahamic story
01:23:38.120 is the spirit
01:23:38.900 that calls
01:23:39.600 even the comfortable
01:23:40.560 out to the
01:23:41.340 catastrophic adventure
01:23:42.700 of their life
01:23:43.280 yeah
01:23:43.320 and that's juxtaposed
01:23:44.880 against these other
01:23:45.640 two spirits
01:23:46.300 then you have
01:23:47.740 let's say Moses
01:23:49.040 now you have
01:23:49.940 a different
01:23:50.340 characterization
01:23:51.240 of the ultimate unity
01:23:52.580 and the ultimate unity
01:23:53.640 in the story of Moses
01:23:54.600 is the unity
01:23:56.180 that announces itself
01:23:57.340 in the burning bush
01:23:58.620 but also the spirit
01:23:59.840 that punishes the tyrant
01:24:01.200 yeah
01:24:01.720 and that calls
01:24:02.860 the slaves
01:24:03.440 out of slavery
01:24:04.140 okay so now
01:24:05.700 the open future too
01:24:06.780 meaning
01:24:08.160 the gods of Egypt
01:24:09.760 are gods of location
01:24:10.960 and function
01:24:11.940 the god of Moses
01:24:13.600 and even
01:24:14.280 so this is a development
01:24:16.820 of the god of Abraham
01:24:17.700 the god of Moses
01:24:19.200 travels with people
01:24:20.580 through space and time
01:24:21.720 into an open future
01:24:23.120 that they
01:24:23.600 right
01:24:23.860 right
01:24:24.220 okay
01:24:24.820 and that's a
01:24:25.420 that's a reference
01:24:26.400 as far as I can tell
01:24:27.460 back to the opening
01:24:28.320 lines of Genesis
01:24:29.160 because God
01:24:30.340 characterizes himself
01:24:31.620 at the beginning
01:24:32.340 of the book of Genesis
01:24:33.880 I think
01:24:35.020 in terms that are
01:24:35.880 very much akin to
01:24:36.800 the terms we've been using
01:24:37.800 to describe consciousness
01:24:38.740 itself
01:24:39.280 because God
01:24:40.160 is the thing
01:24:40.780 that confronts
01:24:41.840 the pluripotential chaos
01:24:43.500 and that's really
01:24:44.760 if you look at what
01:24:45.940 what is
01:24:46.840 what's the word
01:24:47.380 teo
01:24:47.820 tohu
01:24:48.780 vabohu
01:24:49.340 that's really what it means
01:24:50.520 it means pluripotential chaos
01:24:52.220 it's something like that
01:24:53.100 he confronts that
01:24:54.260 pluripotential chaos
01:24:55.400 and
01:24:56.140 generates
01:24:57.740 habitable
01:24:58.640 the habitable order
01:24:59.620 that is good
01:25:00.240 out of it
01:25:00.740 and that's the image
01:25:02.240 of God in man
01:25:03.540 those are identified
01:25:04.480 as the same thing
01:25:05.300 and this is so crucial
01:25:06.620 because it also implies
01:25:07.880 so
01:25:08.840 one of the questions
01:25:10.060 my students used to
01:25:10.960 always ask me
01:25:11.640 is how do you know
01:25:12.580 that what you're teaching us
01:25:13.560 isn't just another ideology
01:25:15.020 because I was trying to teach
01:25:16.400 counter ideology
01:25:17.200 and that's a really good question
01:25:18.580 it's the question
01:25:19.780 right now
01:25:20.220 it is the question
01:25:21.120 but
01:25:21.540 imagine that you could have
01:25:24.140 a story
01:25:24.800 that concentrates
01:25:26.200 on the process
01:25:27.300 by which
01:25:28.080 functional stories
01:25:29.240 are generated
01:25:30.180 well this is what
01:25:31.060 I wanted to say to you
01:25:31.940 I think what you're getting
01:25:33.580 I mean
01:25:34.000 a spirit is something
01:25:35.800 like a multiply
01:25:36.440 realizable
01:25:37.240 like you know
01:25:38.240 generative function
01:25:38.960 what I mean by that
01:25:39.940 is
01:25:40.620 you're trying to find
01:25:41.880 the through line
01:25:42.580 each one of the
01:25:43.560 think about
01:25:44.240 remember I did
01:25:45.960 the multidimensional
01:25:46.620 opponent processing
01:25:47.400 each one of these narratives
01:25:48.380 is an opponent
01:25:49.180 processing
01:25:50.180 yeah it's Cain versus Abel
01:25:52.160 and there's this
01:25:53.060 but there's also
01:25:54.340 right
01:25:54.860 there's Egypt
01:25:55.380 versus the promised land
01:25:56.420 Egypt is
01:25:57.800 conflict
01:25:58.360 but
01:25:59.400 Egypt is
01:26:00.820 exploit the here now
01:26:02.380 or explore the there then
01:26:03.960 that we talked about
01:26:05.540 at the core of relevance
01:26:06.440 remember they talk about
01:26:07.480 the flesh pots of Egypt
01:26:08.540 but if we stay here
01:26:11.700 there's so much
01:26:12.880 we could just
01:26:13.460 exploit
01:26:14.040 but you're
01:26:14.640 right well that's what
01:26:15.360 the Israelites get
01:26:16.340 nostalgic about
01:26:18.440 when they're in the desert
01:26:19.200 too
01:26:19.440 their immediate needs
01:26:20.820 are no longer being gratified
01:26:22.100 and that causes them
01:26:23.460 to become faithless
01:26:24.340 and fractious
01:26:26.020 so what I'm suggesting
01:26:27.120 to you is
01:26:27.620 like I'll just use
01:26:28.580 the Exodus story
01:26:29.880 though
01:26:30.060 as one of
01:26:31.420 but all of them
01:26:32.400 I would argue
01:26:32.960 what myth is always doing
01:26:34.440 or often doing
01:26:35.660 and Levi-Strauss had sort of
01:26:36.900 a sense of this
01:26:37.460 with structuralism
01:26:38.260 but what it's doing
01:26:39.500 is it's pointing you
01:26:40.520 to opponent processing
01:26:41.720 and then you can think of
01:26:44.560 okay here's this myth
01:26:45.660 with this opponent processing
01:26:46.780 here's this myth
01:26:48.140 with this opponent processing
01:26:49.240 what's the through line
01:26:50.080 and then what I do
01:26:50.940 is I try to find
01:26:52.440 like what you're doing
01:26:53.840 what I was talking about earlier
01:26:54.900 you're trying to find
01:26:55.740 the multi-dimensional
01:26:56.820 like nexus
01:26:58.340 the through line
01:26:59.040 of the meta
01:26:59.760 the meta through line
01:27:01.100 yeah of all the opponent processing
01:27:02.620 you're trying to
01:27:03.200 you're trying to say
01:27:04.380 okay all of the relevance
01:27:05.780 realization
01:27:06.440 if I could do
01:27:07.580 all the trade-offs
01:27:08.560 this is Nicholas of Cusa
01:27:09.840 with his open sense
01:27:11.240 of infinity
01:27:11.780 in the ancient Greek world
01:27:13.460 infinity is a bad thing
01:27:15.140 it's chaos
01:27:15.980 but with Cusa
01:27:16.640 it opens up
01:27:17.820 into
01:27:18.160 and then the whole
01:27:19.000 neoplatonic tradition
01:27:19.880 into a positive thing
01:27:20.840 it's like
01:27:21.080 no no
01:27:21.600 if I could get
01:27:22.200 all of the
01:27:23.120 of all of the opposites
01:27:25.180 I would see
01:27:26.080 that in infinity
01:27:27.080 they all coincide
01:27:29.020 the coincidence
01:27:29.580 of the opposite
01:27:30.440 and that
01:27:32.760 would be
01:27:33.620 the culmination
01:27:34.900 not in
01:27:35.920 any entity
01:27:37.220 that would be
01:27:37.800 sort of the summation
01:27:38.640 of what our cognition
01:27:40.780 is about
01:27:41.720 it would be sort of
01:27:42.640 I would have found
01:27:43.620 the source
01:27:44.340 of intelligibility
01:27:45.320 because I would have
01:27:46.400 moved to the deepest
01:27:47.620 grammar
01:27:48.140 of cognition
01:27:49.360 which would get me
01:27:50.620 and that's the resolution
01:27:51.640 of all opposing
01:27:52.840 conflicts
01:27:53.400 in some sense
01:27:53.840 okay so here's
01:27:54.560 an interesting question
01:27:55.460 so I've been thinking
01:27:56.420 about this recently
01:27:57.320 so talking with Pajot
01:27:58.660 so there's this idea
01:28:00.340 in the story
01:28:03.120 of Adam and Eve
01:28:03.800 that suffering
01:28:04.880 doesn't descend
01:28:05.620 upon the world
01:28:06.340 until the sin
01:28:07.140 of Adam and Eve
01:28:07.800 and I've been trying
01:28:08.640 to take that apart
01:28:09.560 with Matthew Pajot
01:28:10.740 most particularly
01:28:11.560 and Pajot believes
01:28:13.240 that Matthew
01:28:14.240 believes that
01:28:15.020 the sin of Eve
01:28:16.140 and Adam
01:28:16.540 was something
01:28:17.380 like pride
01:28:18.100 and so Eve
01:28:19.220 hearkened to the voice
01:28:20.300 of the serpent
01:28:21.000 and the serpent
01:28:22.140 in some sense
01:28:23.060 is that which is poisonous
01:28:24.260 and the fruit
01:28:26.320 that it offers
01:28:27.080 is inedible
01:28:27.840 in its essence
01:28:28.680 and Eve's pride
01:28:30.020 is that she can even
01:28:31.640 speak for the poisonous
01:28:32.660 and inedible
01:28:33.380 and Adam's pride
01:28:34.600 is that he'll hearken
01:28:35.460 to the voice of Eve
01:28:36.400 and so
01:28:37.220 and so
01:28:37.840 and I like that idea
01:28:38.880 I like the idea
01:28:39.900 that pride comes
01:28:40.660 before a fall
01:28:41.420 and that we can bite off
01:28:42.620 more than we can chew
01:28:43.620 and that men's pride
01:28:45.560 what would you say
01:28:47.200 motivates them
01:28:48.260 to attempt
01:28:49.620 to appear bigger
01:28:50.440 than they are
01:28:51.000 in the eyes of women
01:28:51.840 and that women's pride
01:28:53.200 motivates them
01:28:54.160 to incorporate
01:28:54.960 under the guise
01:28:55.760 of compassion
01:28:56.420 more than they can eat
01:28:57.640 let's say
01:28:58.440 now there's a Christian idea
01:28:59.980 and a Jewish idea
01:29:01.380 as well
01:29:01.740 that suffering
01:29:03.040 doesn't descend
01:29:04.040 upon the world
01:29:04.920 until this sin
01:29:05.880 takes place
01:29:06.720 now so you can
01:29:07.920 imagine
01:29:08.400 imagine that you
01:29:09.420 followed the through line
01:29:10.820 of meaning
01:29:11.440 assiduously
01:29:12.560 and you were able
01:29:13.660 to bring the opposites
01:29:14.800 into coincidence
01:29:15.700 and you'd have to do that
01:29:17.700 with proper epistemic humility
01:29:19.540 of course
01:29:20.080 right
01:29:20.240 and openness
01:29:20.700 to possibility
01:29:21.520 the question
01:29:22.440 would be
01:29:23.220 in some sense
01:29:23.980 is
01:29:24.200 to what degree
01:29:25.220 do your moral errors
01:29:26.600 actually constitute
01:29:27.860 the suffering
01:29:28.420 to begin with
01:29:29.140 and then
01:29:29.560 to what degree
01:29:30.240 do you think
01:29:30.680 the suffering itself
01:29:31.520 could be ameliorated
01:29:32.720 and I mean
01:29:34.040 maybe
01:29:34.380 eliminated
01:29:36.000 in favor of something
01:29:37.180 like the spirit of play
01:29:38.240 if you followed
01:29:39.420 the through line
01:29:40.500 of meaning
01:29:41.140 religiously
01:29:42.500 right
01:29:43.900 I mean
01:29:44.300 and that's
01:29:45.080 because
01:29:45.400 I have this sympathy
01:29:47.300 to the idea
01:29:48.020 that
01:29:48.480 that
01:29:48.740 unbearable suffering
01:29:50.160 in some sense
01:29:50.800 is built into
01:29:51.580 the structure
01:29:52.100 of reality itself
01:29:52.960 right
01:29:53.180 because we're finite
01:29:53.860 and mortal creatures
01:29:54.820 that makes you
01:29:55.460 more of a Buddhist
01:29:56.080 well yes
01:29:56.820 well right
01:29:57.480 right
01:29:57.800 although you see
01:29:58.600 the same emphasis
01:29:59.740 in Judaism
01:30:00.380 right
01:30:00.800 with the tragic
01:30:01.420 sense of history
01:30:02.160 and of course
01:30:02.660 the fact that
01:30:03.480 the central figure
01:30:04.360 in Christianity
01:30:04.960 is crucified
01:30:05.740 in some sense
01:30:06.900 speaks to the same thing
01:30:08.000 but then
01:30:08.600 there is an open
01:30:09.580 question there
01:30:10.300 right
01:30:10.540 which is
01:30:11.060 well yes
01:30:11.960 suffering is
01:30:12.780 built into
01:30:13.700 finitude
01:30:14.320 but
01:30:15.300 it's clearly the case
01:30:16.620 that we
01:30:17.060 exaggerate
01:30:17.980 multiply it
01:30:18.820 by failing
01:30:19.880 to hit the mark
01:30:20.820 you know
01:30:21.160 I think we can
01:30:23.020 ameliorate it
01:30:23.800 I happen to think
01:30:25.220 that the very
01:30:25.740 processes
01:30:26.460 of relevance
01:30:27.160 realization
01:30:27.740 that make us
01:30:28.320 adaptive
01:30:28.800 make us
01:30:29.920 perennially susceptible
01:30:31.160 to self-deception
01:30:32.040 that's my interpretation
01:30:33.020 of the first
01:30:33.680 noble truth
01:30:34.200 of Buddhism
01:30:34.660 the very processes
01:30:36.140 like
01:30:37.200 just look at
01:30:38.800 the heuristic
01:30:39.960 and bias literature
01:30:40.860 it's double named
01:30:41.960 for a good reason
01:30:42.640 I can't do
01:30:43.840 I can't actually
01:30:45.180 calculate
01:30:45.720 formal probability
01:30:46.540 of events
01:30:47.100 it's combinatorially
01:30:48.000 explosive
01:30:48.400 so I have to use
01:30:49.440 the representative
01:30:50.060 heuristic
01:30:50.640 and the availability
01:30:51.320 heuristic
01:30:52.120 right
01:30:52.820 but
01:30:53.380 and there's
01:30:54.880 and the work
01:30:56.260 of
01:30:56.460 I'll be talking
01:30:57.900 about this
01:30:58.240 in the course
01:30:58.720 right
01:30:58.960 of GigaRands
01:30:59.680 or others
01:31:00.020 is in many
01:31:00.780 situations
01:31:01.280 that outperform
01:31:02.200 in real world
01:31:03.780 messy
01:31:04.180 ill-defined
01:31:04.660 situations
01:31:05.260 where there's
01:31:05.980 real uncertainty
01:31:06.600 not risk
01:31:07.340 we've confused
01:31:08.680 those two
01:31:08.980 risk is you can
01:31:09.780 assign a probability
01:31:10.580 right
01:31:10.880 but real uncertainty
01:31:12.560 these heuristics
01:31:13.700 actually do
01:31:14.480 really really well
01:31:15.540 but they do
01:31:16.700 make you
01:31:17.240 prone to mistake
01:31:18.620 you take your
01:31:19.560 loved one
01:31:19.980 to the airport
01:31:20.580 and you say
01:31:21.760 don't
01:31:22.160 you say all
01:31:22.600 these euphemisms
01:31:23.260 for don't die
01:31:24.000 like text me
01:31:24.860 when you're there
01:31:25.400 safe trip
01:31:26.100 because you can
01:31:27.100 easily imagine
01:31:27.940 a plane crashing
01:31:28.800 and when a plane
01:31:29.660 crashes
01:31:30.100 it's not a crash
01:31:30.900 it's a disaster
01:31:31.820 it's a tragedy
01:31:32.860 so the availability
01:31:33.620 and the representative
01:31:34.620 heuristics
01:31:35.120 are getting triggered
01:31:35.820 like mad
01:31:36.340 and then you get
01:31:37.220 back in your car
01:31:39.260 the North American
01:31:40.240 death machine
01:31:40.860 without giving it
01:31:41.560 a second thought
01:31:42.240 and that's an act
01:31:43.100 of self-deception
01:31:43.860 right
01:31:44.420 and it's a significant
01:31:45.300 you're not properly
01:31:46.620 calibrating
01:31:47.460 your level
01:31:48.220 of affect
01:31:48.740 and arousal
01:31:49.420 to the risks
01:31:50.800 you're facing
01:31:51.440 that's what I mean
01:31:52.840 when I think
01:31:53.260 the very things
01:31:53.920 that I can't
01:31:54.820 get rid of
01:31:55.520 the heuristics
01:31:56.100 because then I would
01:31:57.060 face combinatorial
01:31:58.080 explosion
01:31:58.560 if I try and do
01:31:59.560 the probability
01:32:00.080 calculations
01:32:00.780 but this is
01:32:02.220 the no free lunch
01:32:02.840 theorem
01:32:03.140 well that's
01:32:04.360 that's the
01:32:04.780 complicating factor
01:32:05.820 of how much
01:32:06.940 so you might say
01:32:08.080 well how much
01:32:08.560 of suffering
01:32:09.040 is due to
01:32:09.600 the intrinsic
01:32:10.080 nature of
01:32:10.720 finite finitude
01:32:12.020 that's right
01:32:12.480 how much
01:32:13.460 is due
01:32:13.800 to ignorance
01:32:14.500 and inevitable
01:32:16.780 blindness
01:32:17.280 and then how much
01:32:18.120 is due to
01:32:18.600 failure to hit
01:32:19.480 the mark
01:32:19.960 and wisdom
01:32:20.640 is about being
01:32:21.400 able to
01:32:21.740 differentiate those
01:32:22.840 and properly
01:32:23.540 calibrate your
01:32:24.240 efforts to that
01:32:24.980 differentiation
01:32:25.480 elaborate on that
01:32:27.560 so
01:32:27.860 so
01:32:28.440 Plato
01:32:29.980 Drew Hyland
01:32:30.960 finite
01:32:31.420 transcendence
01:32:32.180 Plato's whole
01:32:33.280 argument is
01:32:33.820 we are finite
01:32:34.380 transcendent
01:32:34.900 we are being
01:32:35.340 capable of
01:32:36.180 transcending
01:32:36.680 ourselves
01:32:37.000 but if we
01:32:37.760 only pay
01:32:38.320 attention to that
01:32:38.960 we fall prey
01:32:39.520 to hubris
01:32:40.180 right
01:32:40.940 right
01:32:41.180 if we
01:32:41.580 if we
01:32:42.480 only pay
01:32:43.100 attention to
01:32:43.640 our finitude
01:32:44.040 we fall prey
01:32:44.660 to tyranny
01:32:45.300 and servitude
01:32:46.340 right
01:32:46.940 we have to
01:32:47.340 keep the two
01:32:47.920 in ongoing
01:32:48.820 opponent processing
01:32:49.960 and that's
01:32:51.040 and what we want
01:32:52.100 what we keep
01:32:53.020 trying to do
01:32:53.700 is resolve it
01:32:54.540 into one of these
01:32:55.700 or the other
01:32:56.680 and we keep
01:32:57.280 going back
01:32:58.120 and forth
01:32:58.760 and Plato
01:32:59.520 is about
01:32:59.960 you know
01:33:00.600 you can't
01:33:01.500 resolve that
01:33:02.300 you have to
01:33:02.960 always hold
01:33:04.060 those two
01:33:05.380 together
01:33:06.380 right
01:33:06.680 so and that
01:33:07.260 means
01:33:07.620 you have to
01:33:08.480 you have to
01:33:08.960 properly realize
01:33:10.040 like
01:33:10.720 so there's
01:33:11.380 no solution
01:33:11.960 there's no
01:33:12.440 the solution
01:33:13.160 is participation
01:33:13.900 in the process
01:33:14.760 that continues
01:33:15.420 to generate
01:33:16.040 the solution
01:33:16.640 so let me
01:33:17.220 give you a
01:33:17.560 strong analogy
01:33:18.120 when we've
01:33:18.520 been evoked
01:33:18.820 is there a
01:33:19.260 final form
01:33:19.920 of life
01:33:20.380 in evolution
01:33:20.900 that makes
01:33:21.700 no sense
01:33:22.240 if you
01:33:22.520 understand
01:33:22.920 evolution
01:33:23.400 there isn't
01:33:24.200 a culminating
01:33:26.000 life form
01:33:26.600 that's not
01:33:27.420 that's not
01:33:27.960 the
01:33:28.100 that's not
01:33:28.620 there's no
01:33:29.320 intentionality
01:33:29.960 to evolution
01:33:30.420 but you know
01:33:30.780 I'm just
01:33:31.200 speaking that way
01:33:31.900 right
01:33:32.200 there's no
01:33:32.820 there's no
01:33:33.180 project of
01:33:33.860 ah
01:33:34.300 now
01:33:34.920 now we'll
01:33:35.580 have the
01:33:35.840 organism
01:33:36.180 that will
01:33:36.640 never suffer
01:33:37.580 the possibility
01:33:38.440 of extinction
01:33:39.000 that's impossible
01:33:39.800 you can't do
01:33:40.480 that
01:33:40.640 I think
01:33:41.220 and if
01:33:42.080 relevance
01:33:42.480 realization
01:33:43.060 the meaning
01:33:43.840 is a kind
01:33:45.040 of you know
01:33:45.600 ongoing
01:33:46.140 rapid
01:33:46.800 cognitive evolution
01:33:48.040 there is no
01:33:48.800 final form
01:33:50.000 of that
01:33:50.180 this is one
01:33:50.720 of the areas
01:33:51.120 where I
01:33:51.400 criticize
01:33:51.820 the platonic
01:33:52.440 framework
01:33:52.980 Plato's notion
01:33:54.540 of the
01:33:56.140 sacred
01:33:56.520 as completion
01:33:58.320 static
01:33:59.560 perfection
01:34:00.480 that I
01:34:01.860 find is
01:34:02.640 very problematic
01:34:03.360 because I
01:34:03.800 don't think
01:34:04.200 it actually
01:34:04.580 sits well
01:34:05.160 with his
01:34:05.580 notion
01:34:06.260 I like to
01:34:09.220 think of
01:34:09.540 music in
01:34:10.060 that regard
01:34:10.580 too
01:34:10.800 and you
01:34:11.140 think about
01:34:11.600 what Bach
01:34:12.280 does in
01:34:12.760 particular
01:34:13.100 I really
01:34:13.460 love the
01:34:13.820 Brandenburg
01:34:14.200 Concertos
01:34:14.620 because what
01:34:15.240 Bach does
01:34:15.780 is he brings
01:34:16.380 a phrase
01:34:16.960 to a
01:34:17.740 magnificent
01:34:18.260 conclusion
01:34:18.900 and then out
01:34:19.880 of that
01:34:20.260 emerges another
01:34:21.100 set of
01:34:21.500 possibilities
01:34:22.020 that he
01:34:22.420 brings to
01:34:22.820 another
01:34:23.220 magnificent
01:34:23.880 conclusion
01:34:24.400 and it
01:34:25.140 seems to
01:34:25.520 me that
01:34:25.800 that's a
01:34:26.220 nice model
01:34:27.340 for the
01:34:27.760 unfolding of
01:34:28.440 being
01:34:28.820 right
01:34:29.120 it's to
01:34:30.260 attain a
01:34:30.820 goal and
01:34:31.320 then to
01:34:31.620 pull out of
01:34:32.060 that goal
01:34:32.560 a new goal
01:34:33.280 that transcends
01:34:34.160 the previous
01:34:34.680 goal and to
01:34:35.280 do that
01:34:35.680 indefinitely
01:34:36.380 that's the
01:34:36.880 self-organizing
01:34:37.400 and then maybe
01:34:38.580 you do have
01:34:39.260 as a final
01:34:39.920 solution in
01:34:40.680 some sense
01:34:41.220 to that
01:34:41.680 the acquiescence
01:34:43.120 to that
01:34:43.520 process
01:34:44.180 okay so
01:34:45.080 let me
01:34:45.560 sorry but
01:34:47.380 isn't that
01:34:48.160 the ultimate
01:34:49.260 version of
01:34:50.000 your metagame
01:34:50.940 yes
01:34:51.300 yes definitely
01:34:52.900 yes
01:34:53.580 okay so
01:34:54.380 let me
01:34:55.180 throw this
01:34:55.500 of this in
01:34:56.160 Christianity
01:34:56.620 especially in
01:34:57.700 Eastern Orthodoxy
01:34:58.600 you see it
01:34:59.260 with Gregory of
01:34:59.840 Nyssa
01:35:00.760 and you see
01:35:02.280 it in Maximus
01:35:03.380 and it's
01:35:05.600 this notion
01:35:05.960 of epictasis
01:35:06.680 that we
01:35:07.540 don't come
01:35:08.020 to rest
01:35:08.720 in God
01:35:09.360 right
01:35:09.720 what God
01:35:10.220 is is God
01:35:10.960 is the
01:35:11.720 the meta
01:35:12.940 affordance
01:35:13.620 so that we
01:35:14.180 continually
01:35:14.800 self-transcend
01:35:16.440 through God
01:35:16.960 yeah yeah
01:35:17.500 we never
01:35:18.000 that's the
01:35:18.760 Jacob's Ladder
01:35:19.340 vision
01:35:19.660 yes
01:35:19.980 too
01:35:20.280 right
01:35:20.720 right
01:35:20.960 to ascend
01:35:21.540 continually
01:35:22.200 towards a
01:35:23.380 destination
01:35:24.300 that's infinitely
01:35:25.080 receding
01:35:25.640 that's right
01:35:26.040 right and
01:35:26.420 that grows
01:35:26.920 as it recedes
01:35:27.720 but this is
01:35:28.560 the thing
01:35:28.820 the infinity
01:35:29.400 is not
01:35:29.960 inaccessible
01:35:30.620 to you
01:35:31.060 right
01:35:31.440 because the
01:35:32.720 infinity is not
01:35:33.480 just receding
01:35:34.200 from you
01:35:34.680 it's also
01:35:35.280 reaching towards
01:35:36.240 you
01:35:36.500 and this is
01:35:37.520 reality
01:35:37.940 reality is
01:35:38.620 constantly
01:35:38.980 shining into
01:35:40.100 your frame
01:35:40.760 with intelligibility
01:35:41.900 and constantly
01:35:42.940 receding out
01:35:43.860 into the mystery
01:35:44.600 and I think
01:35:45.960 and that's
01:35:46.880 the parallel
01:35:47.920 of the Greek
01:35:48.840 idea of the
01:35:49.420 Logos I think
01:35:50.100 with the Judeo-Christian
01:35:51.000 idea of the Logos
01:35:51.960 I think so too
01:35:52.760 I mean there's
01:35:53.420 lots of people
01:35:53.980 who won't like
01:35:55.000 that but I
01:35:56.120 think the notion
01:35:57.220 of the Logos
01:35:58.320 that you know
01:36:00.040 especially as you
01:36:00.760 see it coming
01:36:01.260 through the
01:36:02.360 Neoplatonic
01:36:02.920 tradition and
01:36:04.120 taken up
01:36:04.660 into Dialogos
01:36:05.700 into dialectic
01:36:06.500 I think
01:36:07.260 that deeply
01:36:08.300 converges
01:36:08.940 I mean
01:36:09.820 the Christian
01:36:11.680 model is
01:36:12.240 ultimately a
01:36:12.840 model of
01:36:13.360 that
01:36:13.600 and this is
01:36:15.040 you know
01:36:15.440 I'm not going
01:36:16.000 to try and
01:36:16.760 do anything
01:36:17.560 but the paradox
01:36:18.720 of the unity
01:36:20.520 trinity
01:36:21.200 is an attempt
01:36:22.540 to somehow
01:36:23.260 say there's
01:36:24.320 something inherently
01:36:25.100 dialogical
01:36:25.960 I would argue
01:36:26.540 about how
01:36:28.600 we come
01:36:29.620 into relationship
01:36:30.360 with ultimate
01:36:31.020 reality
01:36:31.520 and that's
01:36:33.280 right and it's
01:36:34.000 an attempt
01:36:34.400 to solve
01:36:34.860 the problem
01:36:35.300 of unity
01:36:35.760 and multiplicity
01:36:36.620 as well
01:36:37.080 as a homeowner
01:36:38.960 some of the
01:36:39.480 most tedious
01:36:40.000 and easily
01:36:40.620 forgotten
01:36:40.980 maintenance
01:36:41.440 tasks are
01:36:42.100 often the
01:36:42.600 most important
01:36:43.220 take gutter
01:36:44.260 cleaning
01:36:44.600 it's one of
01:36:45.420 those out
01:36:45.880 of sight
01:36:46.240 out of mind
01:36:46.720 chores
01:36:47.040 that can
01:36:47.600 lead to
01:36:47.980 serious
01:36:48.380 issues
01:36:48.780 if neglected
01:36:49.380 leaf filter
01:36:50.560 offers an
01:36:51.160 investment
01:36:51.600 engineered
01:36:52.320 to protect
01:36:52.800 your whole
01:36:53.300 home
01:36:53.660 clogged
01:36:54.520 gutters
01:36:54.880 aren't just
01:36:55.340 a nuisance
01:36:55.840 they can
01:36:56.460 cause
01:36:56.720 extensive
01:36:57.200 repairs
01:36:57.680 costing
01:36:58.160 thousands
01:36:58.660 of dollars
01:36:59.220 and causing
01:37:00.240 major
01:37:00.540 headaches
01:37:00.920 leaf filters
01:37:01.960 patented
01:37:02.400 technology
01:37:02.980 is designed
01:37:03.480 to take
01:37:03.840 care of
01:37:04.140 everything
01:37:04.480 from start
01:37:05.060 to finish
01:37:05.540 making the
01:37:06.200 process
01:37:06.540 hassle-free
01:37:07.220 for homeowners
01:37:07.840 their
01:37:08.540 professionals
01:37:08.980 will clean
01:37:09.620 out
01:37:09.940 realign
01:37:10.640 and seal
01:37:11.200 your existing
01:37:11.740 gutters
01:37:12.160 before installing
01:37:13.160 the leaf filter
01:37:13.820 system
01:37:14.280 ensuring optimal
01:37:15.220 performance
01:37:15.800 from day
01:37:16.280 one
01:37:16.660 plus every
01:37:17.760 installation
01:37:18.220 comes with
01:37:18.680 a free
01:37:18.960 inspection
01:37:19.460 estimate
01:37:20.120 and lifetime
01:37:21.040 guarantee
01:37:21.520 by choosing
01:37:22.560 leaf filter
01:37:23.140 you're not
01:37:23.660 just solving
01:37:24.080 a maintenance
01:37:24.480 problem
01:37:24.880 you're investing
01:37:25.640 in your home's
01:37:26.260 long-term health
01:37:27.020 and your own
01:37:27.620 peace of mind
01:37:28.380 protect your home
01:37:29.560 and never clean
01:37:30.340 out your gutters
01:37:30.920 again with leaf filter
01:37:32.300 america's number
01:37:33.220 one protection
01:37:33.860 system
01:37:34.420 schedule your
01:37:35.460 free inspection
01:37:36.160 and get up to
01:37:36.780 30% off your
01:37:37.660 entire purchase
01:37:38.420 at leaf filter
01:37:39.260 dot com slash
01:37:40.160 build
01:37:40.520 that's a free
01:37:41.420 inspection and up
01:37:42.280 to 30% off
01:37:43.260 at leaffilter.com
01:37:45.440 slash build
01:37:46.180 see representative
01:37:47.240 for warranty details
01:37:48.360 promotion is 20%
01:37:49.540 off plus a 10%
01:37:50.600 senior or military
01:37:51.540 discount
01:37:52.060 one discount
01:37:52.780 per household
01:37:53.480 so I've been
01:37:54.800 looking at the
01:37:55.400 transformations of
01:37:56.420 the image of
01:37:57.360 God in the
01:37:57.940 biblical corpus
01:37:58.620 we know the
01:37:59.020 biblical corpus
01:37:59.700 is an assembled
01:38:00.620 library right
01:38:01.480 and we don't
01:38:02.320 exactly understand
01:38:03.520 the process by
01:38:04.500 which the stories
01:38:05.360 came to follow
01:38:06.500 one another
01:38:06.980 and how they
01:38:07.340 were redacted
01:38:07.980 with each other
01:38:08.460 exactly
01:38:08.960 exactly
01:38:09.400 so it's a
01:38:09.900 mystery but
01:38:10.420 it's a mystery
01:38:11.180 of collective
01:38:11.960 intuition
01:38:12.480 it's something
01:38:12.920 like that
01:38:13.340 yeah
01:38:13.460 distributed
01:38:13.820 cognition
01:38:14.280 would that
01:38:14.580 work
01:38:14.680 yes
01:38:14.920 yes
01:38:15.220 and it's
01:38:16.420 something like
01:38:17.040 distributed
01:38:18.180 insight
01:38:19.320 because what
01:38:20.560 happens is
01:38:21.220 there's different
01:38:22.080 forms of
01:38:22.840 juxtaposition
01:38:23.680 and some of
01:38:24.660 them catch on
01:38:25.420 people go
01:38:26.060 oh yes
01:38:26.620 that works
01:38:27.320 but they don't
01:38:27.880 know why
01:38:28.360 which is a very
01:38:29.460 interesting thing
01:38:29.980 so you have
01:38:31.260 the old testament
01:38:32.020 corpus in
01:38:33.020 christianity
01:38:33.540 followed by the
01:38:34.100 new testament
01:38:34.580 corpus
01:38:35.000 and there's a
01:38:35.420 new proposition
01:38:35.980 here
01:38:36.440 I want you to
01:38:37.120 tell me what
01:38:37.920 you think about
01:38:38.380 this
01:38:38.660 so
01:38:39.320 one of the
01:38:41.900 things that
01:38:42.320 psychotherapists
01:38:43.080 have learned
01:38:43.620 across disciplines
01:38:44.820 in the last
01:38:45.520 hundred years
01:38:46.060 is that if you
01:38:46.680 get people to
01:38:47.520 voluntarily
01:38:49.320 what they're
01:38:50.900 afraid of
01:38:51.800 avoiding
01:38:52.300 disgusted by
01:38:53.480 and inclined
01:38:54.700 to be willfully
01:38:55.440 blind about
01:38:56.180 they get
01:38:57.200 braver
01:38:57.720 it isn't
01:38:59.580 habituation
01:39:00.300 it's not
01:39:01.800 the substitution
01:39:04.260 of relaxation
01:39:05.140 for anxiety
01:39:06.760 because you can
01:39:07.240 do it without
01:39:07.640 relaxation training
01:39:08.540 it seems to
01:39:09.540 be contingent
01:39:11.060 on the
01:39:11.740 willingness to
01:39:12.500 do the
01:39:13.000 voluntary
01:39:13.440 confrontation
01:39:14.280 yeah
01:39:14.960 but that
01:39:16.060 means
01:39:16.420 I think that
01:39:17.760 really means
01:39:18.580 a willingness
01:39:19.060 to break
01:39:20.360 down
01:39:20.800 to a degree
01:39:22.100 to
01:39:22.380 there has
01:39:23.600 to be
01:39:23.900 so
01:39:24.980 the
01:39:25.420 willingness
01:39:25.700 can't be
01:39:26.500 mere assertion
01:39:27.860 it can't
01:39:28.620 be
01:39:28.820 it has to
01:39:29.600 be
01:39:29.720 it's not
01:39:29.980 it's not
01:39:30.560 propositional
01:39:31.760 you have to
01:39:32.880 do it
01:39:33.320 yeah
01:39:33.500 you have to
01:39:33.900 do it
01:39:34.180 and there
01:39:34.420 has to be
01:39:35.520 a vulnerability
01:39:36.000 there has to
01:39:36.620 be a real
01:39:37.060 willingness to
01:39:37.760 learn
01:39:38.220 and to
01:39:38.860 be
01:39:38.980 yeah
01:39:39.260 that's
01:39:39.520 humility
01:39:39.940 yes
01:39:40.300 humility
01:39:40.780 epistemic
01:39:41.980 and moral
01:39:42.580 humility
01:39:42.980 and so
01:39:43.580 I think
01:39:44.080 what you're
01:39:45.580 doing is
01:39:45.980 you're
01:39:46.760 actually
01:39:47.180 making use
01:39:48.160 of dialogue
01:39:48.920 or perhaps
01:39:49.600 even
01:39:49.840 dialogos
01:39:50.480 yeah
01:39:50.820 in order
01:39:51.580 to afford
01:39:52.200 the
01:39:52.380 complexification
01:39:53.220 of the
01:39:53.600 person's
01:39:54.000 competence
01:39:54.420 which is
01:39:54.840 actually
01:39:55.320 what they
01:39:55.740 are ultimately
01:39:56.460 seeking
01:39:56.720 yes
01:39:56.980 yes
01:39:57.620 well you
01:39:58.280 do that
01:39:58.680 in part
01:39:59.100 by demonstrating
01:39:59.800 to them
01:40:00.340 that they
01:40:00.680 can find
01:40:01.340 the zone
01:40:02.480 of proximal
01:40:03.220 development
01:40:03.500 exactly
01:40:03.840 voluntary
01:40:04.440 confrontation
01:40:05.140 right
01:40:05.460 so if
01:40:06.060 you're
01:40:06.220 exposing
01:40:06.580 to someone
01:40:07.100 to an
01:40:07.420 elevator
01:40:07.780 that they're
01:40:08.220 afraid of
01:40:08.700 they might
01:40:09.300 not get
01:40:09.660 in the
01:40:09.900 elevator
01:40:10.260 but they
01:40:10.940 will stand
01:40:11.540 40 feet
01:40:12.320 away
01:40:12.600 and look
01:40:13.000 at it
01:40:13.320 right
01:40:13.500 and 39
01:40:14.400 feet
01:40:14.520 progressive
01:40:14.880 desensitization
01:40:15.560 yeah
01:40:16.000 which is
01:40:16.840 not a
01:40:17.180 good term
01:40:17.620 because what
01:40:18.060 it is
01:40:18.360 in fact
01:40:19.100 is it's
01:40:19.860 progressive
01:40:20.440 generalizable
01:40:21.480 adaptation
01:40:22.440 exactly
01:40:23.020 right
01:40:23.240 it's a
01:40:23.620 very different
01:40:24.200 thing
01:40:24.540 yes
01:40:24.860 and that's
01:40:25.160 what I was
01:40:25.440 going to argue
01:40:25.900 I was going
01:40:26.200 to argue
01:40:26.440 it's actually
01:40:27.020 progressive
01:40:27.620 complexification
01:40:28.560 of their
01:40:29.080 cognitive
01:40:29.400 capacity
01:40:29.960 they can
01:40:30.820 manage
01:40:31.180 more and
01:40:31.600 more of
01:40:31.840 the variables
01:40:32.340 without being
01:40:33.120 overwhelmed
01:40:33.800 by the
01:40:34.880 potentialities
01:40:35.600 that are
01:40:35.820 presenting
01:40:36.200 well and
01:40:36.560 they also
01:40:36.940 have a
01:40:37.340 chance
01:40:37.600 to observe
01:40:38.400 themselves
01:40:39.540 acting out
01:40:40.460 the proposition
01:40:41.080 that they are
01:40:41.760 those creatures
01:40:42.560 right
01:40:43.360 because one
01:40:43.940 of the
01:40:44.200 metacognitions
01:40:44.980 that goes
01:40:45.420 along with
01:40:46.080 phobic avoidance
01:40:47.520 is I can't
01:40:48.820 handle this
01:40:49.600 yes
01:40:49.860 and so then
01:40:50.560 you put the
01:40:51.120 person in the
01:40:51.580 situation
01:40:51.940 you challenge
01:40:52.440 that
01:40:52.640 yeah and you
01:40:53.060 show well
01:40:53.480 yes under
01:40:54.240 certain
01:40:54.660 circumstances
01:40:55.300 not only
01:40:55.900 can you
01:40:56.800 handle this
01:40:57.420 but you
01:40:57.780 find it
01:40:58.200 optimally
01:40:58.720 challenging
01:40:59.180 and it's
01:40:59.560 really good
01:40:59.940 for your
01:41:00.240 development
01:41:00.660 and so
01:41:01.240 basically
01:41:01.620 what you
01:41:02.020 do is
01:41:02.380 you put
01:41:02.700 someone
01:41:03.080 you're using
01:41:03.880 exposure
01:41:04.340 therapy
01:41:04.800 you put
01:41:05.760 them into
01:41:06.180 the zone
01:41:07.260 that everyone
01:41:08.080 occupies
01:41:08.600 when they're
01:41:08.920 learning optimally
01:41:09.640 it's exactly
01:41:10.340 the same
01:41:10.700 thing
01:41:10.900 but the
01:41:12.020 zone is
01:41:12.460 exactly
01:41:12.940 that place
01:41:13.940 between
01:41:14.500 assimilation
01:41:15.340 and accommodation
01:41:15.960 that we were
01:41:16.400 talking about
01:41:16.760 earlier
01:41:17.040 you're trying
01:41:18.040 to get
01:41:18.300 them to see
01:41:19.940 if you'll
01:41:21.260 allow me
01:41:21.520 some of my
01:41:21.920 language
01:41:22.180 that it's not
01:41:22.840 the problem
01:41:23.640 isn't just
01:41:24.140 subjectively in
01:41:25.080 them
01:41:25.200 I can't get
01:41:26.000 in the elevator
01:41:26.520 no no
01:41:27.160 there's a
01:41:28.200 real relationship
01:41:29.100 that you
01:41:29.620 are capable
01:41:30.460 of evolving
01:41:31.300 between
01:41:32.060 like you can
01:41:33.000 and you can
01:41:33.800 evolve
01:41:35.160 your cognition
01:41:36.320 so that you
01:41:36.840 can get
01:41:37.160 into the elevator
01:41:38.260 right
01:41:38.540 so that you
01:41:39.060 can confront
01:41:39.580 what you're
01:41:39.960 afraid of
01:41:40.420 I had one
01:41:41.140 client
01:41:41.480 the doors
01:41:42.080 finally opened
01:41:42.680 to the elevator
01:41:43.160 and she said
01:41:43.600 that's a tomb
01:41:44.460 and I thought
01:41:45.480 well we're
01:41:46.360 we're simultaneously
01:41:47.480 exposing you
01:41:48.620 in this Freudian
01:41:49.380 symbolic manner
01:41:50.200 not only to the
01:41:50.940 elevator but to
01:41:51.640 the idea of
01:41:52.140 your own
01:41:52.520 finitude and
01:41:53.160 mortality
01:41:53.540 and that was
01:41:54.020 definitely
01:41:54.440 happening at
01:41:55.080 the same
01:41:55.460 time
01:41:55.840 okay so
01:41:57.000 there's
01:41:57.360 so imagine
01:41:58.200 that the
01:41:59.140 biblical
01:41:59.420 corpus
01:41:59.920 is
01:42:00.200 assembled
01:42:01.440 and there's
01:42:02.020 multiple
01:42:02.560 pictures of
01:42:03.340 the spirit
01:42:03.820 of God
01:42:04.340 that characterize
01:42:04.960 the Old
01:42:05.380 Testament
01:42:05.680 and then
01:42:05.960 there's a
01:42:06.240 culmination
01:42:06.860 at least
01:42:07.220 from the
01:42:07.520 Christian
01:42:08.540 in the New
01:42:08.980 Testament
01:42:09.320 but here's
01:42:10.080 the idea
01:42:10.480 of the
01:42:10.740 culmination
01:42:11.360 the idea
01:42:12.580 is that
01:42:13.140 the same
01:42:13.620 spirit
01:42:14.060 that called
01:42:14.600 Noah
01:42:14.880 to prepare
01:42:15.440 for catastrophe
01:42:16.240 and the
01:42:16.760 same spirit
01:42:17.420 that called
01:42:18.220 Abraham
01:42:18.580 out of his
01:42:19.180 comfort
01:42:19.500 to the
01:42:19.840 adventure
01:42:20.180 of his
01:42:20.700 life
01:42:20.980 is the
01:42:21.820 spirit
01:42:22.160 that
01:42:22.560 is
01:42:23.540 motivating
01:42:24.880 people
01:42:25.340 to
01:42:25.600 voluntarily
01:42:26.180 confront
01:42:26.820 the
01:42:27.100 catastrophic
01:42:27.620 suffering
01:42:28.060 of their
01:42:28.400 life
01:42:28.700 it's the
01:42:29.600 same
01:42:29.840 idea
01:42:30.200 and then
01:42:30.520 that idea
01:42:30.980 gets
01:42:31.240 transformed
01:42:31.760 even
01:42:32.000 one more
01:42:32.460 one more
01:42:33.360 in one
01:42:34.100 more profound
01:42:34.700 manner
01:42:35.020 which is
01:42:35.540 not only
01:42:36.920 is that
01:42:37.240 the same
01:42:37.680 spirit
01:42:38.120 now humanized
01:42:39.180 right
01:42:39.440 because that's
01:42:40.260 something you can
01:42:40.760 actually act
01:42:41.540 out
01:42:41.880 but that if you
01:42:43.140 do act it out
01:42:44.160 that that inverts
01:42:44.980 the tragedy
01:42:45.600 and so the
01:42:46.500 hypothesis is that
01:42:47.720 there's a
01:42:48.220 paradoxical balance
01:42:50.220 between the degree
01:42:51.960 to which you're
01:42:52.800 willing to
01:42:53.340 voluntarily take on
01:42:54.720 the suffering
01:42:55.220 of your life
01:42:55.900 and your ability
01:42:56.700 to simultaneously
01:42:57.380 transcend the
01:42:58.260 suffering
01:42:58.600 and that in the
01:42:59.460 final analysis
01:43:00.200 the more you're
01:43:01.880 willing to bear the
01:43:03.080 burden of being
01:43:03.720 voluntarily
01:43:04.340 the less
01:43:05.540 suffering
01:43:05.880 is actually
01:43:06.320 associated
01:43:06.800 with that
01:43:07.280 the more
01:43:07.760 play
01:43:08.260 right
01:43:08.760 the more
01:43:09.280 the more
01:43:10.060 progression
01:43:10.620 up Jacob's
01:43:11.400 ladder
01:43:11.700 and so
01:43:12.140 like
01:43:12.620 okay
01:43:13.680 two things
01:43:14.440 what do you
01:43:15.220 think about
01:43:15.700 the proposition
01:43:16.320 that seems
01:43:17.400 to emerge
01:43:17.900 there
01:43:18.120 that that's
01:43:18.780 the same
01:43:19.600 spirit
01:43:20.240 and that
01:43:21.360 it's reasonably
01:43:22.240 construed as
01:43:22.880 a spirit
01:43:23.220 and what do
01:43:23.580 you think
01:43:23.860 about that
01:43:24.280 as a proposition
01:43:25.140 I mean you
01:43:25.800 tend to take
01:43:26.360 to come at
01:43:26.980 this from a
01:43:27.420 more Buddhist
01:43:27.900 perspective
01:43:28.540 so I'm
01:43:28.940 or Neoplatonic
01:43:29.780 so for me
01:43:32.700 right
01:43:35.940 that
01:43:38.100 I mean
01:43:38.760 that process
01:43:40.500 that process
01:43:41.820 of being able
01:43:42.380 to find
01:43:43.140 the through
01:43:43.800 lines
01:43:44.180 of the deeper
01:43:44.920 for me
01:43:45.900 when you're
01:43:46.280 talking about
01:43:46.520 a spirit
01:43:46.840 you're talking
01:43:47.340 about like
01:43:47.980 a dynamical
01:43:48.720 self-organizing
01:43:49.900 system
01:43:50.320 that's generative
01:43:51.300 in the way
01:43:51.680 we've been
01:43:52.060 talking about
01:43:52.580 and it doesn't
01:43:53.340 just generate
01:43:53.940 being
01:43:54.360 it generates
01:43:54.980 the intelligibility
01:43:55.860 of being
01:43:56.440 so right
01:43:57.720 and that's
01:43:58.140 logos
01:43:58.500 yes right
01:43:59.480 right
01:43:59.760 and so
01:44:00.240 for me
01:44:02.040 trying to
01:44:03.120 find
01:44:03.620 right
01:44:04.300 the through
01:44:04.960 line
01:44:05.500 right
01:44:06.400 so this
01:44:07.000 has a logos
01:44:07.540 and this
01:44:07.920 has a logos
01:44:08.400 but what's
01:44:08.800 the logos
01:44:09.240 of all
01:44:09.800 of these
01:44:10.280 right
01:44:10.600 right
01:44:10.820 right
01:44:11.060 and it's
01:44:12.420 this nested
01:44:13.200 and that
01:44:14.000 maps onto
01:44:14.440 everything
01:44:14.760 we've been
01:44:15.100 talking about
01:44:15.600 cognition
01:44:16.400 intelligence
01:44:17.080 and consciousness
01:44:18.620 the recursive
01:44:19.600 relevance
01:44:19.880 realization
01:44:20.520 the predictive
01:44:21.580 processing
01:44:22.080 like for me
01:44:23.480 those two
01:44:24.740 things
01:44:25.240 sing
01:44:26.280 and if
01:44:27.120 the argument
01:44:27.880 about the
01:44:28.500 grammar of
01:44:28.920 reality
01:44:29.340 has to
01:44:30.320 our cognition
01:44:31.180 has to be
01:44:31.640 deeply
01:44:31.940 conformable
01:44:32.620 to that
01:44:33.080 then
01:44:33.620 for me
01:44:34.960 that's
01:44:35.700 that's
01:44:36.520 something
01:44:36.720 the neo
01:44:37.040 Platonists
01:44:37.620 are talking
01:44:37.940 so what the
01:44:38.640 neo Platonists
01:44:39.220 are doing
01:44:39.700 right
01:44:40.360 is
01:44:41.800 they're
01:44:42.440 they're taking
01:44:43.240 Plato
01:44:43.660 and they're
01:44:44.520 finding
01:44:44.900 that
01:44:45.840 spirit
01:44:46.620 right
01:44:47.580 Plato's
01:44:48.540 the spirit
01:44:49.260 that takes
01:44:49.640 you out
01:44:49.880 of the cave
01:44:50.380 the ascent
01:44:51.360 the reciprocal
01:44:52.200 and the
01:44:52.480 dialogical
01:44:53.060 spirit
01:44:53.460 yeah
01:44:53.720 I'd like
01:44:54.220 to come
01:44:54.480 back to
01:44:54.780 that
01:44:54.900 and then
01:44:55.680 you've got
01:44:56.020 the Aristotelian
01:44:56.960 spirit
01:44:57.320 which is
01:44:58.280 the idea
01:44:59.500 of knowing
01:45:00.000 as conforming
01:45:01.220 and the
01:45:01.840 scientific project
01:45:02.800 of trying to
01:45:03.340 get an
01:45:03.700 organized
01:45:04.340 systematic
01:45:05.020 understanding
01:45:05.620 and then
01:45:06.140 you have
01:45:06.380 the stoic
01:45:07.060 system
01:45:08.080 of
01:45:08.520 no
01:45:08.860 no
01:45:09.120 logos
01:45:09.920 is
01:45:10.180 how
01:45:10.640 do I
01:45:11.060 best
01:45:11.420 integrate
01:45:12.060 my
01:45:12.340 agency
01:45:12.920 so that
01:45:13.400 I can
01:45:13.640 be
01:45:13.840 most
01:45:14.440 virtuously
01:45:15.140 disposed
01:45:15.700 to the
01:45:16.000 world
01:45:16.220 so that
01:45:16.940 I am
01:45:17.180 not
01:45:17.360 overwhelmed
01:45:17.960 by the
01:45:18.440 tragedy
01:45:18.900 but I
01:45:19.500 can
01:45:19.600 right
01:45:19.820 right
01:45:20.340 and then
01:45:21.080 and
01:45:22.200 so
01:45:22.840 neo Platonism
01:45:23.720 is like
01:45:24.320 that grand
01:45:24.840 unified
01:45:25.380 field theory
01:45:26.620 of
01:45:27.500 the whole
01:45:28.500 philosophical
01:45:29.600 spiritual
01:45:30.160 tradition
01:45:30.700 of Socrates
01:45:31.600 this is what
01:45:32.020 I'm doing
01:45:32.340 in my series
01:45:32.860 after Socrates
01:45:33.600 is tracing
01:45:34.140 that out
01:45:34.640 right
01:45:35.080 you should
01:45:35.440 just tell
01:45:35.880 everybody
01:45:36.220 now about
01:45:36.800 that
01:45:37.080 so
01:45:37.340 so that
01:45:37.820 everybody
01:45:38.100 listening
01:45:38.540 knows
01:45:38.880 so
01:45:39.040 on January
01:45:44.740 9th
01:45:45.200 I'm releasing
01:45:45.620 my new
01:45:46.120 series
01:45:46.580 after Socrates
01:45:48.460 it'll be free
01:45:49.240 on YouTube
01:45:49.700 it'll be released
01:45:50.420 twice a week
01:45:52.340 Mondays
01:45:52.760 and Thursdays
01:45:53.500 and I'm
01:45:54.940 really trying
01:45:55.620 to play
01:45:56.460 with the
01:45:56.780 format
01:45:57.100 and bring
01:45:58.840 to light
01:45:59.480 this
01:46:01.000 whole
01:46:02.360 through line
01:46:03.040 that runs
01:46:03.420 from Socrates
01:46:04.140 to people
01:46:05.540 like Nicholas
01:46:06.160 of Cusa
01:46:06.680 and Erugina
01:46:07.500 right
01:46:08.140 and
01:46:09.020 what
01:46:10.020 it is
01:46:10.920 is there's
01:46:11.380 a continuing
01:46:12.200 lectures
01:46:12.960 series
01:46:13.380 that build
01:46:13.800 a continuous
01:46:14.220 argument
01:46:14.620 like I did
01:46:15.100 in Awakening
01:46:15.540 from the
01:46:15.840 Meaning Crisis
01:46:16.300 but I also
01:46:17.220 have a section
01:46:17.720 on points
01:46:18.200 to ponder
01:46:18.640 so
01:46:18.920 and this
01:46:19.220 is to
01:46:19.440 encourage
01:46:19.720 people
01:46:19.960 to reflect
01:46:20.480 and to
01:46:20.940 discuss
01:46:21.260 with each
01:46:21.640 other
01:46:21.840 and then
01:46:22.520 I also
01:46:22.960 teach a
01:46:23.380 practice
01:46:23.840 I move
01:46:24.340 out of
01:46:24.640 the
01:46:24.760 propositional
01:46:25.420 and there's
01:46:26.100 a pedagogical
01:46:26.800 program
01:46:27.240 of practices
01:46:27.860 that is
01:46:28.280 also unfolding
01:46:29.140 in parallel
01:46:30.140 to the
01:46:30.580 lectures
01:46:30.980 and then
01:46:31.900 I also
01:46:32.300 move out
01:46:32.680 of the
01:46:32.940 monologue
01:46:33.380 because I'm
01:46:33.700 trying to
01:46:33.940 be Socratic
01:46:34.680 right
01:46:34.980 and so
01:46:35.760 I have
01:46:36.080 episodes
01:46:37.200 where I'll
01:46:37.800 be with
01:46:38.060 other people
01:46:38.600 and the
01:46:39.080 four of us
01:46:39.540 will demonstrate
01:46:40.580 a whole
01:46:41.560 ecology
01:46:42.060 of practices
01:46:42.660 and then
01:46:43.800 I'm also
01:46:44.180 trying to
01:46:44.640 put the
01:46:45.140 whole
01:46:45.340 Socratic
01:46:46.220 right
01:46:47.180 way
01:46:48.740 into
01:46:49.200 dialogue
01:46:49.720 with
01:46:50.220 Christianity
01:46:52.320 because that's
01:46:53.700 what happened
01:46:54.120 in the
01:46:54.440 West
01:46:54.740 right
01:46:55.000 and so
01:46:56.260 there's
01:46:57.640 a series
01:46:59.540 within the
01:47:00.020 series
01:47:00.280 Christopher
01:47:00.660 Master
01:47:00.980 Pietro
01:47:01.440 and I
01:47:01.660 we meet
01:47:02.040 and we
01:47:02.320 go into
01:47:02.620 dialogue
01:47:03.040 because we're
01:47:03.780 doing
01:47:04.040 Kierkegaard's
01:47:04.720 confrontation
01:47:05.100 with Socrates
01:47:05.820 and Kierkegaard's
01:47:06.720 wrestling
01:47:07.180 and I would
01:47:08.620 say it's
01:47:08.880 opponent
01:47:09.180 processing
01:47:09.700 so he's
01:47:10.900 a follower
01:47:11.340 of Christ
01:47:11.960 but Socrates
01:47:12.620 is his
01:47:13.080 teacher
01:47:13.420 and he's
01:47:14.980 constantly
01:47:15.460 toggling
01:47:16.060 between those
01:47:16.980 and you can
01:47:17.300 see this
01:47:17.640 very
01:47:18.200 well that's
01:47:19.220 an opponent
01:47:19.580 process
01:47:20.000 that's at
01:47:20.480 work in
01:47:20.840 Western
01:47:21.080 civilization
01:47:21.560 itself
01:47:22.020 exactly
01:47:22.260 and so
01:47:23.200 Chris and I
01:47:23.640 are bringing
01:47:24.000 that out
01:47:24.780 and so
01:47:25.840 what I'm
01:47:26.100 trying to
01:47:26.440 do is
01:47:26.900 I'm trying
01:47:27.440 to
01:47:27.800 now people
01:47:29.340 can get
01:47:29.680 access to
01:47:30.140 this on
01:47:30.480 your
01:47:30.640 YouTube
01:47:30.980 channel
01:47:31.380 so you
01:47:32.000 can just
01:47:32.280 look up
01:47:32.660 John
01:47:32.900 Verveke
01:47:33.320 find his
01:47:33.840 YouTube
01:47:34.100 channel
01:47:34.400 we'll put
01:47:34.720 the links
01:47:35.060 in the
01:47:35.300 description
01:47:35.640 of this
01:47:35.920 video
01:47:36.240 and so
01:47:36.900 what I'm
01:47:38.420 trying to
01:47:39.040 do is
01:47:39.540 it's called
01:47:40.080 after Socrates
01:47:40.760 because I'm
01:47:42.780 after Socrates
01:47:44.300 and then I'm
01:47:44.860 trying to
01:47:45.300 understand him
01:47:46.080 right
01:47:46.340 I'm trying
01:47:46.660 to
01:47:46.820 because he's
01:47:48.700 a deeply
01:47:49.160 enigmatic
01:47:49.880 figure
01:47:50.340 and importantly
01:47:51.900 so
01:47:52.560 because one
01:47:53.840 of the great
01:47:54.480 things about
01:47:55.160 the Socratic
01:47:55.680 dialogues is
01:47:56.480 Socrates
01:47:57.560 never
01:47:58.360 Socrates is
01:47:59.300 always in that
01:48:00.820 zone of proximal
01:48:01.600 development
01:48:01.940 he's shining in
01:48:04.400 enough to your
01:48:04.840 intelligibility
01:48:05.460 and then he
01:48:06.160 puts you into
01:48:06.880 aporia
01:48:07.280 that state
01:48:07.800 where you
01:48:08.040 have perplexity
01:48:09.180 and wonder
01:48:09.520 because he wants
01:48:10.020 to also open you
01:48:10.860 up to the mystery
01:48:11.480 and he's constantly
01:48:12.360 and so I'm after
01:48:14.060 Socrates in that
01:48:15.060 sense
01:48:15.460 and I'm after
01:48:16.440 Socrates in that
01:48:17.120 I want to try and
01:48:17.980 reverse engineer
01:48:18.780 this practice of
01:48:19.880 dialectic into
01:48:20.720 diologos
01:48:21.180 not Hegelian
01:48:21.800 dialectic
01:48:22.360 platonic dialectic
01:48:23.660 and there's all
01:48:24.000 this new work
01:48:24.600 on it
01:48:24.880 so dialectics
01:48:26.020 is a practice
01:48:26.640 and diologos
01:48:27.240 is a process
01:48:27.960 you get it
01:48:28.720 well diologos
01:48:30.160 is the practice
01:48:30.820 of psychotherapy
01:48:31.640 I think so
01:48:32.620 it is
01:48:32.880 it's the redemptive
01:48:34.060 practice of
01:48:34.620 psychotherapy
01:48:35.180 right
01:48:35.480 the mutual
01:48:36.020 exploration of
01:48:37.080 the truth
01:48:37.800 that redeems
01:48:38.500 so Socrates
01:48:40.580 is you know
01:48:41.340 is about
01:48:42.440 this is easy
01:48:43.660 to say
01:48:44.160 and it is
01:48:44.620 hard to realize
01:48:45.480 in both senses
01:48:46.080 of the word
01:48:46.460 of understand
01:48:47.340 and to make
01:48:47.800 real
01:48:48.080 to be able
01:48:49.460 to follow
01:48:49.840 the logos
01:48:50.280 wherever it
01:48:50.800 goes
01:48:51.060 and to do
01:48:53.060 that
01:48:53.300 comprehensively
01:48:54.320 profoundly
01:48:54.740 percolating
01:48:55.700 through
01:48:55.940 different layers
01:48:57.100 of the psyche
01:48:57.580 permeating
01:48:58.200 many different
01:48:58.980 domains of
01:48:59.720 your life
01:49:00.060 getting that
01:49:00.560 ultimate
01:49:00.980 profundity
01:49:02.340 that ultimate
01:49:02.840 kind of plausibility
01:49:03.820 that ultimate
01:49:04.740 unity
01:49:05.180 yes
01:49:05.600 yes
01:49:06.000 and so
01:49:06.420 and intensity
01:49:07.520 of purpose
01:49:08.160 because when
01:49:08.800 things become
01:49:09.460 unified in
01:49:10.100 relationship to
01:49:10.800 the purpose
01:49:11.240 it makes you
01:49:12.220 in some sense
01:49:12.960 comparatively
01:49:13.540 unstoppable
01:49:14.220 it's a good
01:49:15.200 thing to be
01:49:16.080 unstoppable in
01:49:16.820 life because
01:49:17.160 there's plenty
01:49:17.680 of things that
01:49:18.420 conspire to
01:49:19.040 attempt to stop
01:49:19.800 you
01:49:20.040 yes
01:49:20.480 and he
01:49:21.340 that's why
01:49:22.500 he actually
01:49:23.040 he dies
01:49:23.760 for it
01:49:24.380 right
01:49:24.720 well that's
01:49:25.520 very relevant
01:49:26.880 to our
01:49:27.420 discussion of
01:49:28.240 transcendent
01:49:29.100 meaning
01:49:29.360 because one
01:49:30.280 of the things
01:49:30.840 that emerges
01:49:31.520 in the
01:49:32.280 Socratic
01:49:32.740 apologia
01:49:33.580 is the sense
01:49:35.080 that Socrates
01:49:36.180 has lived a
01:49:37.180 life so deep
01:49:38.040 and meaningful
01:49:38.640 that he's able
01:49:39.900 to abide by
01:49:43.020 his set of
01:49:43.640 moral principles
01:49:44.240 even in the
01:49:44.840 face of death
01:49:45.560 yes
01:49:45.900 right and part
01:49:46.760 of the reason
01:49:47.180 for that appears
01:49:47.840 to be that he
01:49:50.320 lived his life
01:49:50.980 fully and so
01:49:52.760 he's satisfied
01:49:53.480 with it in some
01:49:54.200 fundamental sense
01:49:55.020 right he's not
01:49:55.460 clinging to it
01:49:56.340 so this is the
01:49:58.040 interesting thing
01:49:58.600 about him I mean
01:49:59.700 you know Socrates
01:50:00.480 knows that he does
01:50:01.160 not know and that
01:50:01.780 eventually becomes
01:50:02.480 the learned ignorance
01:50:03.520 of Nicholas of
01:50:04.260 Cusa and the
01:50:05.060 ability to wrestle
01:50:05.760 with the paradoxes
01:50:06.740 and the coincident
01:50:07.540 of all but he does
01:50:10.240 know things he knows
01:50:11.060 ta'erotica he knows
01:50:11.960 what to care about
01:50:12.920 which is your point
01:50:13.940 and he also knows
01:50:14.920 that the unexamined
01:50:15.780 life is not worth
01:50:17.480 living the life in
01:50:18.540 which you have not
01:50:19.760 tried to
01:50:20.900 because it's
01:50:21.380 well it's unconscious
01:50:22.240 it's unconscious
01:50:23.240 and it's also going
01:50:24.580 to be your agency
01:50:25.680 is going to break
01:50:26.200 down you're making
01:50:26.740 yourself more prey
01:50:27.460 to self-deception
01:50:28.240 you're tyrannical
01:50:29.640 you're going to
01:50:30.120 exactly all of this
01:50:31.300 and so I'm trying
01:50:32.240 to trace out but
01:50:33.700 not just trace out
01:50:34.560 the ideas because
01:50:36.080 Socrates is ultimately
01:50:37.200 about this is
01:50:38.220 what's called third
01:50:39.060 way Platonism the
01:50:40.680 new scholarship
01:50:41.580 Socrates is ultimately
01:50:42.940 about trying to get
01:50:43.820 shift people into
01:50:44.940 the non-propositional
01:50:45.880 because that is
01:50:47.040 ultimately where
01:50:47.600 virtue is cultivated
01:50:48.300 you and I both know
01:50:49.160 you can get these
01:50:50.260 university professors
01:50:51.320 who are highly trained
01:50:52.960 in moral argument
01:50:53.840 and that is in no way
01:50:55.020 predictive of how
01:50:55.880 virtuously they live
01:50:56.840 their lives
01:50:57.320 propositional management
01:50:58.540 is at most
01:50:59.360 a necessary condition
01:51:02.600 for virtue
01:51:03.180 but it is in no way
01:51:04.460 sufficient
01:51:04.840 and you can see
01:51:05.800 Socrates is always
01:51:07.240 challenging two things
01:51:08.420 he's challenging
01:51:09.440 just intuitive pronouncement
01:51:10.880 as to what something is
01:51:11.920 well what is courage
01:51:12.600 I know what courage
01:51:13.720 is blah blah blah
01:51:14.280 and he's also
01:51:15.280 challenging sort of
01:51:16.180 third person
01:51:16.900 right technical definition
01:51:18.880 well I learned this
01:51:19.740 definition
01:51:20.160 but do you
01:51:21.540 do you
01:51:22.620 do you
01:51:22.640 you enact it
01:51:23.400 yes
01:51:23.780 right
01:51:24.100 so he's constantly
01:51:25.040 challenging the first
01:51:25.960 person perspective
01:51:26.800 of just spontaneous
01:51:27.920 subjective authority
01:51:29.480 he's constantly
01:51:30.860 challenging
01:51:31.460 the third person
01:51:32.700 imposing
01:51:33.600 technical authority
01:51:35.340 because he's trying
01:51:36.340 to constantly get us
01:51:37.340 into that second
01:51:37.960 person perspective
01:51:38.780 where we actually
01:51:40.120 enter into the dialogue
01:51:41.340 that trains us
01:51:42.600 for virtue
01:51:43.140 so he
01:51:43.740 you'll get
01:51:44.420 like when he's
01:51:45.640 arguing with the
01:51:46.260 two generals
01:51:46.680 about courage
01:51:47.400 they
01:51:47.920 like one represents
01:51:48.920 this intuitive
01:51:49.560 the other represents
01:51:50.740 he learned all these
01:51:51.720 definitions from the
01:51:52.580 sophist
01:51:53.020 and they're very
01:51:53.460 sophisticated
01:51:54.060 right
01:51:54.340 right
01:51:54.580 right
01:51:54.880 and Socrates
01:51:55.580 undermines both of
01:51:56.520 those
01:51:56.680 and he doesn't
01:51:57.160 come to a conclusion
01:51:58.040 but here's the thing
01:51:59.360 the generals
01:52:00.080 were coming to
01:52:00.840 Socrates
01:52:01.100 because they're
01:52:01.460 asking him
01:52:01.880 where should we
01:52:02.300 take our sons
01:52:02.800 for education
01:52:03.440 because we want
01:52:04.380 them to be
01:52:04.680 courageous
01:52:05.180 there's no conclusion
01:52:06.860 at the dialogue
01:52:07.440 but the generals
01:52:08.060 both generals say
01:52:09.240 we would like
01:52:09.980 our sons to come
01:52:11.240 and learn from you
01:52:12.020 right
01:52:12.300 because Socrates
01:52:13.360 exemplifies
01:52:14.640 the courage
01:52:15.920 in the dialogue
01:52:17.340 you know
01:52:18.200 you see
01:52:18.540 you see something
01:52:19.440 similar happening
01:52:20.460 in the brothers
01:52:21.060 Karamazov
01:52:21.760 because you have
01:52:22.860 Ivan
01:52:23.380 is very
01:52:24.540 able
01:52:26.340 to put forward
01:52:27.740 extremely compelling
01:52:28.840 propositional
01:52:29.540 atheistic arguments
01:52:30.560 right
01:52:31.000 in kind of a
01:52:31.640 Nietzschean spirit
01:52:32.460 in a real sense
01:52:33.280 right
01:52:33.540 and Eliosha
01:52:34.740 who's the
01:52:35.240 monastic novitiate
01:52:36.200 is no match
01:52:37.420 for Ivan
01:52:38.000 on the propositional
01:52:39.000 front
01:52:39.340 but he's a way
01:52:40.260 better person
01:52:41.040 yes
01:52:41.340 and Dostoevsky
01:52:42.440 also explores
01:52:43.180 that in the idiot
01:52:43.960 because that's
01:52:44.900 Prince Mishkin
01:52:45.520 right
01:52:45.760 it's a Christ
01:52:46.440 analog for all
01:52:47.180 intents and purposes
01:52:47.920 right
01:52:48.280 but Dostoevsky
01:52:49.380 because he uses
01:52:50.100 narrative rather
01:52:50.900 than philosophy
01:52:51.580 is able to produce
01:52:52.940 an embodied figure
01:52:54.000 who exemplifies
01:52:54.940 virtue
01:52:55.320 even though
01:52:55.900 the propositional
01:52:57.060 grounds for his
01:52:58.020 moral pronouncements
01:52:59.080 are relatively
01:53:00.040 what undeveloped
01:53:01.640 and I think
01:53:02.000 this is a profound
01:53:02.720 thing
01:53:03.020 and trying to bring
01:53:03.880 that out
01:53:04.460 and then say
01:53:05.560 so what are the
01:53:06.320 practices that you
01:53:07.420 start to
01:53:07.920 oh well
01:53:08.280 so
01:53:09.040 you want to bring
01:53:12.540 it as Socrates
01:53:13.180 was famous
01:53:16.300 for being able
01:53:17.440 to stand
01:53:18.400 in a meditative
01:53:19.620 state
01:53:20.300 transfixed
01:53:21.600 for 24 to 48
01:53:22.920 hours
01:53:23.240 totally
01:53:24.060 right
01:53:25.280 so there's a
01:53:25.820 profound capacity
01:53:27.100 for mindfulness
01:53:28.380 and this is why
01:53:28.940 he famously
01:53:29.520 never got drunk
01:53:30.580 he could drink
01:53:31.280 quite a bit
01:53:32.400 but the mindfulness
01:53:34.160 was like
01:53:35.120 he could stay
01:53:36.240 I wonder how much
01:53:36.980 of that hallucinogenic
01:53:37.900 Greek wine
01:53:38.500 he was consuming
01:53:39.240 while doing all of this
01:53:40.320 that I don't know
01:53:42.040 but he has
01:53:43.420 this tremendous
01:53:44.360 so I start
01:53:45.540 with teaching people
01:53:46.520 about a basic
01:53:47.620 meditative practice
01:53:48.600 that's taking off
01:53:49.860 your mental framing
01:53:50.600 and looking at it
01:53:51.420 seeing what way
01:53:52.840 it might be distorting
01:53:53.640 but how do you know
01:53:54.500 if you've distorted
01:53:55.140 well you have to put
01:53:55.780 your glasses on
01:53:56.440 and see if you now
01:53:57.040 see more clearly
01:53:57.720 or deeply
01:53:58.120 and those are
01:53:58.800 contemplative practices
01:53:59.800 and I take people
01:54:02.100 through a contemplative
01:54:03.300 practice
01:54:03.780 and you take them
01:54:05.380 into a kind of
01:54:06.540 teach them
01:54:07.300 Lectio Divina
01:54:07.980 how to read
01:54:09.160 the platonic text
01:54:10.100 not just for information
01:54:11.700 but how to get
01:54:13.180 into that resonance
01:54:14.060 with it
01:54:14.540 so it will bring
01:54:15.100 about transformation
01:54:16.200 there's a Lectio Divina
01:54:17.620 which is a way
01:54:18.220 of reading
01:54:18.720 and then there's
01:54:19.560 philosophical fellowship
01:54:20.480 where people
01:54:21.060 sort of do a joint
01:54:22.600 kind of Lectio Divina
01:54:23.820 with each other
01:54:24.820 about a philosophical text
01:54:26.120 and you're not trying
01:54:26.980 to is this text
01:54:27.980 right or wrong
01:54:28.700 I'm not saying
01:54:29.440 you should never do that
01:54:30.200 but the point
01:54:30.700 of this practice
01:54:31.300 is no no
01:54:32.000 I want to presence
01:54:33.100 the perspective
01:54:33.840 from which this text
01:54:34.900 was generated
01:54:35.540 so that I can enter
01:54:36.900 into a Vygotskian
01:54:38.040 relationship
01:54:38.620 with that perspective
01:54:39.960 because it will
01:54:40.520 challenge me
01:54:41.180 into a zone
01:54:41.720 of proximal development
01:54:42.980 and then I can
01:54:43.660 practice being
01:54:44.320 in the zone
01:54:44.740 of proximal development
01:54:45.700 as a consequence
01:54:46.480 of engaging
01:54:47.120 in dialogue
01:54:47.480 well that's
01:54:47.980 you know
01:54:48.200 I think one of
01:54:49.180 the things
01:54:49.580 that maybe
01:54:50.540 distinguished me
01:54:51.380 to some degree
01:54:52.040 from my peers
01:54:53.820 let's say
01:54:54.880 my academic peers
01:54:55.780 is that almost
01:54:57.120 every time
01:54:57.880 I read something
01:54:58.880 my goal
01:54:59.980 was to see
01:55:00.780 what I could learn
01:55:01.700 from reading it
01:55:02.680 not to dispense
01:55:03.960 with it
01:55:04.320 like to
01:55:04.720 and I think
01:55:05.420 it's the same
01:55:06.120 position of reverence
01:55:07.380 that you described
01:55:08.140 in relationship
01:55:08.700 to Moses
01:55:09.320 and taking off
01:55:10.080 his shoes
01:55:10.520 it's like
01:55:10.980 I want to find out
01:55:12.480 what's in this
01:55:13.120 I did that with Freud
01:55:14.180 and I did that with Jung
01:55:15.260 and I did that
01:55:15.900 with the biblical corpus
01:55:17.040 not to dispense
01:55:18.260 with it
01:55:18.600 or to argue
01:55:19.200 it out of existence
01:55:20.080 even though testing ideas
01:55:21.320 is important
01:55:21.940 but to be open
01:55:24.160 to whatever
01:55:25.280 might transform me
01:55:26.640 as a consequence
01:55:27.200 of reading the text
01:55:27.240 it's a shift
01:55:27.680 from the adjectival
01:55:28.580 to the adverbial
01:55:29.420 right
01:55:30.260 okay
01:55:30.680 I'm not just
01:55:31.460 so
01:55:31.800 like I've had this
01:55:33.640 many times
01:55:34.040 but one time
01:55:35.200 really profound
01:55:36.060 for me was Spinoza
01:55:37.020 Spinoza's hard
01:55:38.360 Spinoza's like reading
01:55:39.520 Euclid's Elements
01:55:40.460 because it's patterned
01:55:41.180 on Euclid's Elements
01:55:41.820 you know axioms
01:55:43.020 and proofs
01:55:43.600 and theorem
01:55:43.880 and it's the most
01:55:44.600 logically rigorous thing
01:55:46.040 in your er
01:55:46.420 and you're trying
01:55:47.140 to remember
01:55:47.580 all the predicates
01:55:48.480 this and that
01:55:49.180 and then what happens
01:55:50.660 though is you get
01:55:52.120 what he talks about
01:55:52.820 you go from
01:55:53.980 recursive
01:55:54.720 discursive reasoning
01:55:56.240 into what he calls
01:55:57.740 scantia intuitiva
01:55:59.080 you see
01:56:00.240 you get this
01:56:00.840 realization
01:56:01.600 where you see
01:56:02.740 all of the whole
01:56:03.760 in each premise
01:56:04.820 in each premise
01:56:05.460 and all of the whole
01:56:06.120 and then you see
01:56:07.460 all of reality
01:56:08.260 like that
01:56:09.580 and so you see
01:56:11.280 you see Spinozistically
01:56:13.040 you take on
01:56:14.140 Spinoza's perspective
01:56:15.300 rather than
01:56:16.640 remembering his
01:56:17.700 propositions
01:56:18.220 that's what I mean
01:56:19.080 about being
01:56:19.460 yeah well that's
01:56:20.720 that's something like
01:56:21.600 that's something like
01:56:23.000 ancestor worship
01:56:24.000 that's something like
01:56:24.760 inhabiting the spirit
01:56:25.740 of the divine ancestor
01:56:26.760 because what you're
01:56:27.780 trying to do
01:56:28.320 one of the things
01:56:29.060 I loved about
01:56:29.700 university was that
01:56:30.880 it enabled me
01:56:32.040 to select my peers
01:56:33.620 from among
01:56:34.980 the great men of history
01:56:35.980 now I'm not saying
01:56:36.620 I was able to manage that
01:56:37.580 but I at least
01:56:38.000 had that opportunity
01:56:38.920 right and each
01:56:39.980 of those people
01:56:40.720 was animated
01:56:41.480 well I would say
01:56:42.360 by a central
01:56:43.100 in some sense
01:56:44.060 by a central
01:56:44.740 exploratory
01:56:45.540 and benevolent spirit
01:56:46.620 in so far as
01:56:47.460 they were manifestations
01:56:48.200 of logos
01:56:49.080 so this is
01:56:49.980 so you get
01:56:51.780 I'm doing these practices
01:56:52.880 with people that are
01:56:54.160 you know nuns
01:56:55.100 N-O-N-E-S
01:56:55.740 secular
01:56:56.160 but they'll say
01:56:57.780 well that was like
01:56:58.340 a secular seance
01:57:00.140 because I felt like
01:57:01.180 Spinoza was present
01:57:02.400 right right
01:57:02.980 and so what happens
01:57:03.760 is you get
01:57:04.200 you get that
01:57:04.640 we agency
01:57:05.380 you get that
01:57:06.000 you get that
01:57:06.620 you get the
01:57:07.480 the spirit
01:57:08.220 of the distributed
01:57:09.040 cognition
01:57:09.580 that is not
01:57:10.180 reducible
01:57:10.640 to a mere aggregation
01:57:11.960 of individual
01:57:12.820 consciousnesses
01:57:13.620 you get the
01:57:14.340 you get that
01:57:15.300 you get that
01:57:15.860 emergent dynamical
01:57:17.460 like a rock concert
01:57:18.480 yes exactly
01:57:19.360 exactly
01:57:19.880 but you're doing it
01:57:20.540 with intelligibility
01:57:21.380 rather than just
01:57:22.200 salient sounds
01:57:23.060 yeah
01:57:23.280 right
01:57:23.700 and
01:57:24.400 well so that isn't it
01:57:25.520 but that also is
01:57:26.440 we can state
01:57:27.280 pretty forthrightly
01:57:28.300 that that is
01:57:28.940 an experience
01:57:29.840 of a profoundly
01:57:30.620 unifying spirit
01:57:31.560 because if it wasn't
01:57:32.400 people wouldn't be able
01:57:33.260 to inhabit
01:57:33.820 the same conceptual
01:57:35.220 and perceptual space
01:57:36.380 simultaneously
01:57:36.960 so you take people
01:57:37.740 through this progression
01:57:38.740 you get them into that
01:57:39.640 and then you take them
01:57:40.340 into dialectic
01:57:41.040 into dialogos
01:57:41.740 where you actually get them
01:57:42.880 to get that
01:57:43.680 collective flow state
01:57:44.660 around the examination
01:57:45.520 of a virtue
01:57:46.400 and the group
01:57:48.080 acts like
01:57:48.700 and people are
01:57:50.840 shifting roles
01:57:51.320 the group acts
01:57:52.180 like Socrates
01:57:53.120 to the individual
01:57:53.920 and everybody
01:57:54.640 is switching around
01:57:55.600 and what happens
01:57:56.540 is people get
01:57:57.140 this collective spirit
01:57:58.380 the logos
01:57:59.020 shows up
01:57:59.960 the fire
01:58:00.940 of Heracles
01:58:01.620 it kindles
01:58:02.280 and people
01:58:03.060 people are suddenly
01:58:04.620 and what happens
01:58:06.060 is they go from
01:58:06.920 all their propositions
01:58:07.940 about virtue
01:58:08.560 to saying
01:58:09.380 they experience
01:58:10.800 awe
01:58:11.320 and reverence
01:58:12.600 about the virtue
01:58:13.240 and then they also say
01:58:15.160 they'll report
01:58:16.380 this sort of progression
01:58:17.380 of intimacies
01:58:18.040 they'll say
01:58:18.560 I discovered
01:58:20.460 a kind of intimacy
01:58:21.160 with people
01:58:21.660 that I didn't know
01:58:22.340 existed
01:58:22.700 but I've always wanted
01:58:24.220 right
01:58:24.880 it's not friendship
01:58:25.980 it's not sexuality
01:58:27.380 I use the Christian term
01:58:29.140 fellowship
01:58:29.540 it's fellowship
01:58:30.320 right
01:58:30.820 and then
01:58:33.040 they do this neat thing
01:58:34.200 they'll go from
01:58:34.860 you and I
01:58:35.720 are experiencing
01:58:36.360 this kind of intimacy
01:58:37.300 to we all
01:58:38.480 are experiencing
01:58:39.180 intimacy
01:58:39.620 with the logos
01:58:40.340 and then
01:58:41.640 they can also
01:58:43.380 go to
01:58:43.860 you and I
01:58:45.340 intimacy
01:58:46.400 with each other
01:58:47.100 with the logos
01:58:47.780 and all of that
01:58:48.680 is becoming more intimate
01:58:49.760 with being itself
01:58:50.720 let's talk about
01:58:51.360 feeling more connected
01:58:52.500 to it
01:58:52.780 that's dialectic
01:58:53.960 into the logos
01:58:54.540 okay well
01:58:55.100 so if all of you
01:58:56.120 are inclined
01:58:56.900 to be interested
01:58:59.360 in this sort of thing
01:59:00.100 you can go over
01:59:00.660 to John's YouTube channel
01:59:01.800 and follow his series
01:59:03.420 of lectures
01:59:03.860 it's going to launch
01:59:04.560 when?
01:59:05.020 January 9th
01:59:05.680 and just so you all
01:59:07.040 know too
01:59:07.540 some of you may know
01:59:09.760 that I've started
01:59:10.400 this academy
01:59:11.020 with my daughter
01:59:11.840 Peterson Academy
01:59:12.740 which is an attempt
01:59:14.320 to bring
01:59:14.880 humanities
01:59:15.920 and liberal arts
01:59:17.020 education
01:59:17.540 to people on
01:59:18.500 a large scale
01:59:19.120 and we have a lot
01:59:19.840 of professors
01:59:20.440 lined up to help us
01:59:21.700 with that
01:59:22.040 about 30 so far
01:59:23.080 top rate people
01:59:24.740 as far as I'm concerned
01:59:26.440 and John is actually
01:59:27.640 going down to Miami
01:59:28.440 this week
01:59:28.940 to record a series
01:59:30.680 of lectures
01:59:31.180 that will add up
01:59:32.180 to about 8 hours
01:59:32.960 on the sorts of topics
01:59:34.060 that we discussed today
01:59:35.000 exactly
01:59:35.480 exactly
01:59:36.340 so okay
01:59:36.940 so everyone
01:59:37.440 we have to stop
01:59:38.220 unfortunately
01:59:38.800 because we could
01:59:39.480 continue pretty much
01:59:40.320 forever
01:59:40.640 and hopefully will
01:59:42.260 and I'd like to
01:59:43.380 thank all of you
01:59:44.060 for attending
01:59:45.100 and watching
01:59:45.560 and listening today
01:59:46.360 and to encourage you
01:59:47.360 to check out
01:59:47.960 John Vervecki's
01:59:48.960 YouTube channel
01:59:49.760 and to follow
01:59:50.740 his lectures
01:59:51.340 I'm
01:59:52.400 there's no doubt
01:59:54.640 that if you
01:59:55.140 participate
01:59:55.700 in that
01:59:56.740 with some degree
01:59:57.340 of intent
01:59:57.740 that the consequences
01:59:59.060 will be transformative
01:59:59.980 John was
02:00:00.900 and is
02:00:01.900 one of the most
02:00:02.720 popular lecturers
02:00:03.520 that the University
02:00:04.160 of Toronto
02:00:04.620 ever produced
02:00:05.700 and his students
02:00:06.840 were constantly
02:00:07.740 raving to me
02:00:08.460 when I was still there
02:00:09.380 about the
02:00:11.640 transformations
02:00:12.600 they had encountered
02:00:13.380 both intellectually
02:00:14.180 and I would say
02:00:14.960 personally
02:00:15.420 as a consequence
02:00:16.300 of taking
02:00:17.100 John's courses
02:00:17.760 so this is a good deal
02:00:19.140 so go and
02:00:20.560 check that out
02:00:21.560 and I'm going
02:00:22.440 to turn over
02:00:23.000 to the Daily Wire
02:00:23.640 Plus platform now
02:00:24.620 and talk to John
02:00:25.420 more on the
02:00:26.620 biographical level
02:00:27.480 for a while
02:00:28.040 I want to trace
02:00:29.160 the development
02:00:29.820 of his through line
02:00:31.320 through his life
02:00:32.060 which is what I tend
02:00:32.900 to use the extra
02:00:33.700 half an hour for
02:00:34.480 and so for all of you
02:00:35.660 watching and listening
02:00:36.480 happy new year
02:00:37.780 and thank you very much
02:00:38.880 for your time
02:00:39.340 and attention
02:00:39.800 and don't hesitate
02:00:41.680 to check out
02:00:42.460 John Vervecki's
02:00:43.300 YouTube channel
02:00:44.000 ciao
02:00:44.720 thanks John
02:00:45.460 it was great
02:00:46.140 as always
02:00:46.860 hello everyone
02:00:51.620 I would encourage
02:00:52.600 you to continue
02:00:53.300 listening to my
02:00:54.400 conversation
02:00:54.960 with my guest
02:00:55.820 on dailywireplus.com
02:00:58.540 thank you