The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - August 20, 2018


August 2018 Q & A


Episode Stats

Length

1 hour and 32 minutes

Words per Minute

162.24074

Word Count

15,011

Sentence Count

949

Misogynist Sentences

24

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary

With decades of experience helping patients, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson offers a unique understanding of why you might be feeling this way. In his new 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 now and start watching Dr. Peterson's new series on Depression and Anxiety. And if you're trying to understand yourself better, or someone you know, then you could try understandmyself.com. And then, if you want to share that with a friend as well, you can share the 2-for-1 offer, which is a 2 for 1 offer, that's the Present Authoring Program. They're writing exercises to make a vision and a counter vision for your future, and to make an implementable plan. I've produced a 20% discount for all you Q&A people today. You can use the discount code AUGUST at Selfauthoring to get 20% off the full set of programs for 20% plus an additional 20% when you purchase the Complete Set of the complete set of the programs for $99.00. You'll get a copy of the program for free, plus a 2- for-1 discount when you sign up! and you get a $10 credit when you run your first month. to the program! You can get the Completely free! Thank you for supporting these podcasts by donating to Dr. B. . You can support the podcast by using the link to which can be found in the description of the description below. You'll be helping to build a brighter future you deserve. and a better life you deserve a brighter, happier, more fulfilled, more prosperous and more fulfilled life. Thanks for listening to the podcast. The podcast is built for possibilities. We're built for whatever you're building. - Jane, Jane, who wants to break into the housing market. Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets? built for Celine who just wants to retire and explore the world's flea markets, . Jane, built for Ted? Ted wants to make it happen in the world s flea market? And so on and so on... in the Wealthsimple, built by Wealthsimple.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 At Wealthsimple, we're built for whatever you're building.
00:00:03.900 Built for Jane, who wants to break into the housing market.
00:00:07.760 We're built for Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets.
00:00:12.120 And built for Celine, who just wants to retire and explore the world's flea markets.
00:00:17.340 So take a moment and think about what you're building for.
00:00:20.860 We've got the financial tools to help make it happen.
00:00:24.180 Wealthsimple, built for possibilities.
00:00:27.080 Visit wealthsimple.com slash possibilities.
00:00:31.000 Hey everyone, real quick before you skip, I want to talk to you about something serious and important.
00:00:36.600 Dr. Jordan Peterson has created a new series that could be a lifeline for those battling depression and anxiety.
00:00:42.860 We know how isolating and overwhelming these conditions can be,
00:00:46.240 and we wanted to take a moment to reach out to those listening who may be struggling.
00:00:50.220 With decades of experience helping patients,
00:00:52.740 Dr. Peterson offers a unique understanding of why you might be feeling this way in his new series.
00:00:57.540 He provides a roadmap towards healing.
00:01:00.000 Showing that while the journey isn't easy, it's absolutely possible to find your way forward.
00:01:05.540 If you're suffering, please know you are not alone.
00:01:08.640 There's hope, and there's a path to feeling better.
00:01:11.920 Go to Daily Wire Plus now and start watching Dr. Jordan B. Peterson on depression and anxiety.
00:01:17.600 Let this be the first step towards the brighter future you deserve.
00:01:21.180 Welcome to the Jordan B. Peterson podcast.
00:01:29.900 You can support these podcasts by donating to Dr. Peterson's Patreon,
00:01:33.860 the link to which can be found in the description.
00:01:36.960 Dr. Peterson's self-development programs, self-authoring, can be found at selfauthoring.com.
00:01:42.140 Thank you.
00:01:56.860 Thank you.
00:01:57.580 Hello, everyone.
00:02:16.980 So the first question that came up, oh, there's something I want to say first.
00:02:23.160 First, thank you for tuning in to this Q&A.
00:02:26.640 It's always much appreciated.
00:02:30.260 It's a pleasure to do these, and they seem to be quite popular.
00:02:33.360 It's been a while since I did one, but I've been on the road a lot and away from my computer,
00:02:38.320 and so that's the reason or the excuse.
00:02:41.780 Take your pick.
00:02:43.380 Hopefully, it's a reason.
00:02:45.720 I wanted to let you know, too, those of you who don't know,
00:02:49.640 I have worked on two programs online that are hypothetically helpful to people.
00:02:55.680 One is selfauthoring.com, and that helps you write about your past and your present and your future.
00:03:02.340 To Catch You Up, that's the past authoring program.
00:03:06.260 To Identify Your Faults and Virtues, that's the present authoring program.
00:03:10.160 And to make a vision and a counter vision for your future and to make an implementable plan.
00:03:16.120 They're writing exercises.
00:03:17.200 I've produced a 20% discount for all you Q&A people today.
00:03:21.200 So if you use the discount code AUGUST at selfauthoring.com,
00:03:25.880 then you can purchase the full set of programs for 20% off.
00:03:30.980 And we have a two-for-one offer, so you can share that with a friend as well.
00:03:35.900 And then understandmyself.com is a personality test site that enables you to get a big five readout of your personality
00:03:43.380 with each of the big five traits, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness
00:03:49.380 broken down into their two aspects.
00:03:51.440 So you can get a pretty comprehensive view of your personality.
00:03:54.540 And that code is also AUGUST, and that's in the description of the video in case you forget.
00:03:59.540 So if you're inclined, you can use those codes, and you can try out those programs.
00:04:04.720 We know the future authoring program, for example, if university students do it,
00:04:08.660 especially the ones that are struggling, it produces quite a marked increase in their propensity
00:04:13.840 to stay at university and to get better grades.
00:04:16.540 So the programs seem very, very effective.
00:04:19.540 So if you're trying to straighten out your life, then I would recommend the self-authoring program.
00:04:24.220 And if you're trying to understand yourself better, or someone that you know,
00:04:27.300 then you could try understandmyself.com.
00:04:30.720 So that's that.
00:04:33.760 The other announcement, I suppose, is that I've done a tour now of about 65 cities with Tammy.
00:04:40.760 Somebody asked how she manages this.
00:04:42.920 She's exceptionally good at traveling and very low in neuroticism, thank God, for that,
00:04:48.280 because it's been a stressful time with lots of opportunity, obviously.
00:04:52.700 And she likes to travel, and so she's very good at helping me manage this.
00:04:57.300 We're going to head about 40 more cities, 40 or 50 more cities,
00:05:00.820 between now and the end of April next year, which is when I'm going to bring all this touring to a close.
00:05:06.460 In September and early October, we're doing 20 cities on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
00:05:13.400 And then in October, near the end of October, about 15 cities in the UK and northern Europe.
00:05:21.800 And then in February, Australia and New Zealand.
00:05:25.360 And then in March and April, then the rest of Europe.
00:05:30.860 That's the plan anyways.
00:05:32.200 And perhaps there'll be some side trips during those times to other places.
00:05:37.140 And so you can find out about that at jordanbpeterson.com forward slash events.
00:05:42.880 You're more than welcome to come to the talks.
00:05:45.060 They've been very good events in my estimation.
00:05:49.660 I've really enjoyed them.
00:05:51.160 I can tell you I enjoy doing those talks,
00:05:53.360 and I find them a lot less stressful than talking to journalists.
00:05:58.440 The crowds are there.
00:06:00.080 The individuals in the crowds are there to come and listen to a serious discussion about how life might be improved.
00:06:07.760 And they're very, very positive events.
00:06:10.100 So I've been very happy to do them.
00:06:12.040 The Sam Harris videos.
00:06:13.380 I did four talks with Sam Harris.
00:06:14.980 Those are in preparation.
00:06:17.560 We hope we'll have them out in August.
00:06:20.220 Everybody's trying to come to an agreement about how they should be released.
00:06:23.060 It's a rather complicated affair, given how many people are involved.
00:06:26.520 But I think we're close to figuring that out.
00:06:30.060 There'll be 10 hours of tape talks, four sessions, two and a half hours each.
00:06:34.600 I think the talks were very, very productive.
00:06:37.060 We'll see.
00:06:37.740 The audiences seem to react positively to them.
00:06:41.640 And they were very well attended.
00:06:43.060 We had 8,500 people in Dublin.
00:06:45.700 So, and about 6,500 in London.
00:06:48.520 So those were very large crowds.
00:06:50.560 So that's very cool.
00:06:52.620 12 Rules for Life has sold about 2 million copies now.
00:06:55.960 And for those of you who are mathematically geek inclined,
00:06:59.980 that's 57 miles of bookshelf if the books are stacked,
00:07:03.900 you know, as you would put books on a bookshelf.
00:07:07.200 So that's a lot of books.
00:07:09.300 And Maps of Meaning, I released the audio version of that June 12, 2018.
00:07:13.900 And it hit the New York Times bestseller list for audiobooks in July and August.
00:07:19.700 So that was rather comical given that 12 Rules for Life was never put on the New York Times bestseller list.
00:07:26.460 So I thought that was an ironic little touch of fate.
00:07:30.180 And I'm quite pleased to see how the audiobook is doing.
00:07:33.080 If you like 12 Rules for Life and you're looking for something that delves more deeply into the same themes,
00:07:38.520 then you could try Maps of Meaning.
00:07:40.980 And I think the audiobook, which I read, is more accessible than the written book.
00:07:45.680 People seem to be responding to it that way.
00:07:47.960 So I'm pretty happy about all the positive things that are happening.
00:07:55.100 So, okay.
00:07:56.780 How am I?
00:07:57.700 That's the first question.
00:07:58.780 How am I?
00:07:59.580 Well, pretty good.
00:08:02.340 Actually, my health seems to have stabilized substantially.
00:08:05.180 I'm feeling pretty sharp.
00:08:07.480 I have periods of some negative mood, although they're short and sweet, so to speak.
00:08:15.660 But I seem to be sharp cognitively and I can concentrate for long periods of time and get lots done.
00:08:21.600 I've been able to do quite a bit of writing in the last couple of months, partly blog posts.
00:08:25.960 Partly also, I had the privilege of being asked to write the Introduction to the 50th Anniversary version,
00:08:34.940 single-volume, abridged version of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.
00:08:39.180 And I finished that about a week and a half ago.
00:08:41.360 That took me about two months to write.
00:08:44.560 About 3,500 words, if I remember correctly.
00:08:47.200 It was a daunting task to write an introduction to a book as tremendously influential and important
00:08:56.340 and also of exceedingly high literary quality.
00:09:01.880 So, it was a daunting task to write that introduction.
00:09:04.700 And I really wanted to get it right.
00:09:06.240 And I hope I did.
00:09:07.580 I spoke by email with Solzhenitsyn's family and they seemed pleased with it.
00:09:12.360 And so did the editor.
00:09:13.420 And I've had a couple of editors, including Greg Hurwitz, my novelist friend from L.A.,
00:09:20.560 who's an absolutely vicious editor and extremely good at it.
00:09:23.300 So, they were happy with the final cut, so to speak.
00:09:27.520 So, was I.
00:09:28.360 So, I seem to be sharp enough to do the work that's necessary to do.
00:09:33.300 I've been working hard on the online university.
00:09:35.760 I've got three people hired.
00:09:37.140 They're all very smart, young guys.
00:09:39.300 And we're about a year ahead of where I thought we'd be at this point.
00:09:44.200 We hope to have a minimally viable product sometime in the late fall.
00:09:48.780 I'm funding that entirely at the moment, courtesy primarily of my Patreon support.
00:09:54.040 So, thank you to all my Patreon supporters for that.
00:09:56.740 Hopefully, your money is being put to good use.
00:09:58.780 We'll probably crowdfund in November to see if we can set up enough capital for the next three or four years.
00:10:04.880 I could raise money privately.
00:10:06.540 There's lots of people who are interested in investing, but I think that I'm going to try crowdfunding because, well,
00:10:13.420 because I'd like this to be a public enterprise from the beginning and have lots of people involved.
00:10:17.940 And we're thinking of all sorts of ways of getting people involved.
00:10:21.200 How am I other than that?
00:10:22.680 Well, nonplussed and still feeling rather surreal about my life, I would say.
00:10:28.660 My family's in good shape.
00:10:31.800 My daughter, who is very ill, is doing extremely well.
00:10:35.440 So, that's miraculous as far as I'm concerned.
00:10:38.580 My son's getting married in September.
00:10:40.320 That's Julian.
00:10:41.640 And I like his fiancée.
00:10:43.500 Thank God for that.
00:10:45.120 And so, we're looking forward to that.
00:10:46.960 I'm on a bit of a vacation during August, which is the first time I've had off for about two years, with the exception of one week last year.
00:10:56.180 And I'm going to a family reunion in Vancouver Island and then to Saskatchewan to see my family.
00:11:01.140 I'm going to do two talks in Saskatchewan while I'm there, one in Saskatoon and one in Regina.
00:11:05.880 And I have a lot of family coming to the one in Saskatoon.
00:11:10.020 And then a little reunion after that.
00:11:11.680 So, that should be cool.
00:11:13.420 So, that's how I am.
00:11:17.640 And I'm thinking hard about the next book.
00:11:19.820 I have a new book contract about to be finalized, I think, in the next week.
00:11:24.800 I'm hoping to release the next book, which will be 12 More Rules.
00:11:30.540 Probably Beyond Mere Order is the tentative subtitle.
00:11:34.620 I'm hoping that I'll have it done by spring, early, early spring, perhaps January of 2020, if not one year later.
00:11:44.220 But I'm going to try hard to hit it so that I'm done by next September.
00:11:49.580 I'm going to write nonstop from May to September.
00:11:51.880 And then I plan to do biblical lectures from September through December.
00:11:55.460 So, the plan is to tour from January through May, essentially.
00:12:01.500 Then to write for four months.
00:12:04.720 Then to lecture, to prepare the biblical lectures and so forth for four months.
00:12:09.300 And so, that should be next year.
00:12:10.800 So, that's an update.
00:12:11.940 Hopefully, that's all useful information.
00:12:18.900 I'm very pleased about all the support.
00:12:21.180 It's quite remarkable.
00:12:22.540 All this interest in these complicated matters and complicated discussions.
00:12:28.280 And it's so nice to see people concentrating on psychological and philosophical issues and leaving the idiot politics as far behind as possible.
00:12:37.520 Because it's certainly a, what would you call it, a distraction and a dangerous one at that.
00:12:44.000 So, it's so funny talking to the mainstream media types because everything they talk about has to be viewed through a political lens.
00:12:53.120 And although I continue to insist, I did BBC Hard Talk, which was aired today.
00:12:58.940 And that was a classic example of an interviewer being entirely scripted and trying to push everything that's happening around me, I suppose, into a political narrative.
00:13:08.340 And it isn't political as far as I'm concerned.
00:13:11.060 Not everything is political, despite the insistence of people who feel that the personal is always political.
00:13:17.600 It's like, no, there's philosophical domain and a theological domain and a psychological domain.
00:13:23.460 Those should be kept the hell separate from politics.
00:13:26.500 All right.
00:13:28.300 What can a two-agreeable young woman do to be more disagreeable and assertive if that isn't how she is temperamentally inclined?
00:13:36.060 Well, that's a good question.
00:13:37.800 And I would say, first of all, that's a very common question that people who go into psychotherapy ask.
00:13:44.120 I think the most common problem that psychotherapists deal with, apart from anxiety and depression, is probably assertiveness training.
00:13:54.680 So, the first thing I would say is you really need to figure out what you want.
00:13:59.700 And I would recommend doing the self-authoring program, the future authoring program in particular.
00:14:04.420 Because if you want to stand up for yourself, you have to have your goals and your vision well laid out and well defined.
00:14:12.340 And then you have to have a strategy that is matched to those goals so that you know what you want.
00:14:21.300 So that you know when you're not getting it.
00:14:23.720 Otherwise, you're left with a vague sense of dissatisfaction and resentment.
00:14:27.680 And that's a very, very difficult thing to articulate.
00:14:30.100 And if you can't articulate it, then you can't negotiate.
00:14:33.260 If you know what you want and you know why, then you can make a case for yourself.
00:14:37.580 Okay, so let's assume now that you've laid out a vision and a counter vision, which the future authoring program also helps you do.
00:14:44.100 So you know what kind of hell you want to avoid that you might drift into if you were too agreeable for the rest of your life.
00:14:49.800 And that would be a hell that consisted mostly of people taking advantage of you all the time and you feeling resentful and bitter about it.
00:14:56.220 Not something I would recommend.
00:14:58.620 See, I think that women are agreeable because it helps them deal with infants.
00:15:04.560 But it's not a great temperamental strategy for dealing with complex organizations in the adult world.
00:15:13.540 So I think it's a price that women pay for also being adapted to have plenty of patience for very young children.
00:15:19.960 And then you have to overcome that to some degree to put yourself forward properly in more complex hierarchies of accomplishment.
00:15:28.700 So I would say once you have your vision established, your vision for the future and your counter vision,
00:15:34.460 so you're afraid of what will happen if you don't stand up for yourself, then you need to consult your resentment.
00:15:39.480 Because if you're resentful about something, as far as I can tell, there's generally only two reasons.
00:15:45.140 One is you should grow the hell up and quit whining.
00:15:48.260 So you've got to find out first if you're just feeling sorry for yourself.
00:15:51.340 And you can think that through, make a pro and con case, and you can talk to somebody that you care about about that.
00:15:56.880 I'm not assuming that that's the reason, but that's one potential reason.
00:16:00.740 If you're not merely feeling sorry for yourself, then you probably have something to say and something that you need.
00:16:06.640 And you need to figure out what that is, and then you have to develop a strategy to put that forward.
00:16:12.000 I've seen lots of people in my personal life and in my private practice not get what they want because, well, A, they don't specify it, and B, they don't ask for it.
00:16:21.980 And if you're negotiating, say, for a raise or for a promotion and so forth, you have to put yourself forward.
00:16:27.980 You need to tell the person you're working for why you should be treated with more consideration or respect or have more resources devoted to you or more authority, what's shifted to you.
00:16:41.140 And you have to make a case for that, a compelling case, so that they have a reason to attend to you.
00:16:46.400 And they're not going to notice because most managerial types are so overloaded with work that they never notice when anything's going right.
00:16:55.560 They just notice the things that are going wrong.
00:16:57.860 So you need to make a plan.
00:17:00.000 You have to have a strategy that goes along with that plan.
00:17:02.680 You have to have articulated arguments for why a certain form of treatment is appropriate to you.
00:17:09.900 And then you have to have the courage to put that forward.
00:17:13.760 And I guess you have to remember that you owe yourself as much as you owe other people.
00:17:19.040 You have to take care of yourself like you take care of other people.
00:17:22.360 And that's a moral duty.
00:17:24.160 And if you practice that, you can do it.
00:17:26.460 And a lot of that's also associated with telling the truth.
00:17:29.840 You don't have a better friend than the truth, even though it can be very harsh in the short term.
00:17:34.700 And so if you're unhappy at work because you're being taken advantage of, then you have to strategize yourself out of that.
00:17:40.160 You have to learn to negotiate.
00:17:41.860 And a lot of that also means that you have to overcome your hesitancy to engage in conflict.
00:17:47.040 And you've got to think about it this way.
00:17:50.700 Negotiation and conflict are somewhat indistinguishable.
00:17:55.540 And it's easy moment to moment to avoid negotiation and conflict, but you pay a terrible price for it in the medium to long term.
00:18:01.820 It's better to face the conflict forthrightly in the present and make peace for the medium to long term.
00:18:09.240 And there's courage in that.
00:18:11.160 So that's the other thing I would say is gird up your loins and allow yourself to act courageously and truthfully.
00:18:21.940 Truth is your best bet if you're too agreeable.
00:18:24.840 So, you know, you also might find that you have a pretty good critical intelligence, but that you think it's mean and so that you keep it hidden.
00:18:30.980 Some of the smartest women I knew who were very, very agreeable had unbelievably good instincts with regards to figuring out what other people's motives were.
00:18:39.600 But they were ashamed of their suspicions.
00:18:42.600 And really what that meant was they ended up being ashamed of their critical intelligence because they were so agreeable.
00:18:47.860 So it may be that the darker part of you, the shadow part of you, knows things that you could know if you were willing to admit that they were true.
00:18:54.900 And so you have to give some credence to your to your darker element, I would say.
00:19:00.680 How do you know if you're communicating with the actual person or a mask?
00:19:20.240 I sometimes wonder if I can ever really know someone.
00:19:22.640 Well, you can't ever thoroughly know someone because people are too complicated.
00:19:28.140 You can't even really know yourself.
00:19:30.340 How do you know if you're communicating with the actual person or a mask?
00:19:33.360 Well, if you're communicating with an actual person, then you're actually having a conversation.
00:19:38.600 You know, and the conversation transforms as a consequence of participating in it.
00:19:43.260 And it tends to be engaging and meaningful.
00:19:45.280 If what's happening is an exchange of ideological platitudes or just platitudes themselves for that matter, then you're probably engaging with a mask.
00:19:55.440 So if the conversation is compelling and meaningful and it transforms as it progresses and you can see that give and take, that dance like give and take, then you're communicating with an actual person.
00:20:07.540 The other thing I would say is that when you're communicating with an actual person rather than a mask, the person that you're communicating with tends to be quite interesting.
00:20:17.740 You know, if people talk about what they know, which means you're really communicating with them.
00:20:22.080 If they talk about their own personal experience instead of wandering off into the domain of cliches and ideological platitudes, then people tend to be extraordinarily interesting.
00:20:32.980 And so that's another good tactic and a good hint that you're that you're where you should be when you're conversing.
00:20:40.700 One of the rules I had when I was seeing clients actively was that if the conversation I was having wasn't interesting and if my attention started to wander, then we weren't discussing issues that were sufficiently vital.
00:20:54.820 Because if we were discussing vital issues, then the conversation basically flew by.
00:21:00.340 And so I think that's a good, that's a good marker.
00:21:09.100 What new wisdom have you acquired in the past few months that you want to share with us?
00:21:13.420 Well, I've got one, I think.
00:21:15.020 I've thought up a bunch of new things, but this one I'm really happy with.
00:21:18.440 I figured out why, you know, some of you know that there's a mythological trope that I discuss fairly frequently about rescuing your father from the belly of the dragon or the belly of the beast.
00:21:33.000 It's a motif that you see, you see it in the lion king.
00:21:37.620 You see it when Simba is being initiated by the baboon.
00:21:41.360 I don't remember, Nafiki, I think his name is, after Nela humiliates him because he's still a pathetic adolescent.
00:21:50.280 He follows the baboon, I think it's a mandrill actually, down underground essentially through a long tunnel.
00:21:59.520 There's a lot of kind of scary music in the background.
00:22:01.440 And he ends up contemplating himself in a dark pool.
00:22:05.140 And then his father appears in the sky.
00:22:07.400 And so that's one example of the reconstruction of the mythology of encountering your father in the abyss.
00:22:15.420 You look into the abyss and you see your father.
00:22:17.860 And then in the Pinocchio story, Pinocchio, of course, when he's trying to become a genuine human being,
00:22:23.480 instead of a marionette pulled by other people's strings or a neurotic or a liar or a jackass,
00:22:30.600 because those are his alternate destinies,
00:22:33.140 he goes down to the darkest place he can find, the bottom of the ocean,
00:22:37.220 and finds the biggest monster he can look at.
00:22:39.160 And inside he finds his father and then rescues him.
00:22:43.060 And the question is, why do you find your father when you look into the abyss?
00:22:47.980 And I really do think I figured this out.
00:22:50.600 And it's quite exciting to me.
00:22:51.840 It's such a brilliant image.
00:22:54.460 So we know as clinicians, and also I would say as sensible people,
00:22:58.720 but there's good clinical documentation of this,
00:23:00.800 that if you find out, imagine someone's pursuing a goal,
00:23:04.920 and some of the things they have to accomplish or confront on the way to that goal frighten them.
00:23:12.000 And they start to avoid.
00:23:13.340 And then they get more afraid.
00:23:14.680 And, of course, their ability to pursue their goal or to accomplish their goal deteriorates
00:23:19.840 because they're avoiding.
00:23:20.660 If you're a psychotherapist or even a friend or a supportive loved one, let's say,
00:23:27.220 you're going to encourage the person to face the challenges that are making them afraid,
00:23:31.780 to face them voluntarily.
00:23:33.060 And what happens as a consequence of that is that the person usually is able to overcome those fears and develop the necessary skills and to prevail.
00:23:45.060 And that's partly because, not so much because they get less afraid, but because they get more skilled and more courageous.
00:23:51.980 And so imagine that if you bite off a little more than you can chew, you get stronger as a consequence.
00:23:59.380 And you do that in the gym, for example.
00:24:02.000 When you go lift weights, you lift weights that are a little heavier all the time.
00:24:05.240 And as a consequence, you develop yourself physically.
00:24:07.780 And you turn into who you could be.
00:24:10.000 You turn into more than you are.
00:24:11.560 Okay, so if you face fears a little bit at a time, fears and challenges, and you do that voluntarily,
00:24:18.320 then you become more than who you are.
00:24:21.040 Okay, now let's recast that in archetypal language and make it into a kind of ultimate.
00:24:27.000 So if you want to become everything that you could be, then you look into the abyss itself,
00:24:32.940 which is the darkest place that you can possibly contemplate.
00:24:36.040 And that would be the terror of mortality and insanity and of suffering and of malevolence, all of those.
00:24:42.400 It would be like looking into hell, I suppose, to some degree.
00:24:44.980 And then by voluntarily doing that, then you call upon the strongest part of yourself to respond.
00:24:53.180 And the strongest part of yourself is symbolized as the sleeping father nested inside the beast.
00:24:59.120 And so the fundamental truth when you look into an abyss is that you don't see the abyss if you look long enough.
00:25:05.640 It's like an answer to Nietzsche's conundrum.
00:25:08.080 If you look long enough into an abyss, then the abyss looks into you.
00:25:11.800 It's like, well, if you look long enough into an abyss, past when the abyss looks into you,
00:25:17.140 you see who you could become in the form of the great ancestral figures nested inside the catastrophe of life.
00:25:25.760 And then you can join them, so to speak.
00:25:28.200 You can incorporate that and become stronger.
00:25:30.680 And you do that partly by taking on the challenge voluntarily.
00:25:34.580 And that informs you because you learn when you take on challenges voluntarily.
00:25:38.440 But you also do that as a consequence of psychophysiological transformation.
00:25:43.040 Because when you place yourself in challenging situations,
00:25:45.600 let's say the abyss is the archetype of the ultimately challenging situation,
00:25:50.240 then you turn on new genes in your nervous system and in your body that code for new proteins.
00:25:55.780 And you build new structures inside of you.
00:25:58.540 And none of that's going to happen without the demand that's placed on you by willing to confront the full terror of life.
00:26:06.400 And so then I would say the full terror of life is something like the reality of suffering and death
00:26:11.160 and the ever-looming presence of malevolence in your own heart and in the heart of other people.
00:26:18.140 So it's evil and suffering.
00:26:20.000 And to confront that is really, well, you risk blindness by confronting that.
00:26:24.560 That's also a very old story.
00:26:26.220 You risk damaging your vision.
00:26:28.060 But if you do it forthrightly, then you discover who you could be as a consequence.
00:26:33.380 And who you could be is the solution to malevolence and suffering.
00:26:38.660 And so that just blew me away when I figured that out.
00:26:40.960 It was partly a consequence of having lengthy discussions with Sam Harris
00:26:45.860 and thinking this through more and more and being pushed to think it through.
00:26:48.820 But I think that's an absolutely staggering, what would you call it, articulating that image fully for me.
00:27:00.480 I don't know if I've articulated it fully, but articulating it more fully really had a profound effect on me.
00:27:05.860 I think it's such a brilliant conceptualization that inside the darkest place is the heroic ancestor
00:27:13.980 whose identity you could incorporate.
00:27:18.820 Perfect.
00:27:19.500 It's perfect.
00:27:20.200 And I really believe it's true.
00:27:21.280 And what it does is it says that a human being is actually stronger than the greatest challenge that can be set before him or her.
00:27:29.560 And that's really something.
00:27:30.700 I also believe it's true.
00:27:32.160 It doesn't matter how...
00:27:33.660 The other thing that's so interesting about that is that it transforms pessimism into optimism.
00:27:38.740 It's like, well, the world is a very dark place.
00:27:40.800 It's full of suffering and it's full of malevolence.
00:27:42.640 And it might even be so full of suffering and malevolence that a reasonable person could question the justification of its being,
00:27:51.340 as Ivan Karamazov does in The Brothers Karamazov, which I would highly recommend, by the way.
00:27:56.140 That's an absolutely great book, Dostoevsky.
00:27:58.200 But the truth of the matter seems to be that if you face the pessimism full frontal, so to speak,
00:28:06.420 then you find something in you that's strong enough to take it on.
00:28:12.560 And that really says something about, what would you say, the relationship between human beings and divinity, I would say.
00:28:19.240 Because it takes something transcendent, of transcendent power to be able to rise above the genuine suffering and malevolence of life.
00:28:29.900 And I do think that we have that within us if we don't shy away from the challenge.
00:28:33.960 So, you know, there's, in the story of King Arthur and the Holy Grail,
00:28:41.020 so the Holy Grail is one of two things.
00:28:43.480 It's a cup that either held the wine that Christ drank at the Last Supper
00:28:48.200 or that was used to catch his blood when he was speared on the cross, either one.
00:28:53.640 But it's the reservoir, let's say, of the fluid that eternally nourishes.
00:28:59.740 It's something like that.
00:29:00.740 And when you go to look for the Holy Grail, you don't know where to look because you don't know where the Holy Grail is.
00:29:07.580 And so King Arthur and his knights, who all sit at a round table because they're essentially equals,
00:29:12.600 each go off to find the Holy Grail and each of them enters the forest to begin the quest at the place that looks darkest to him.
00:29:20.640 And that's another example of the same idea, is that what you, and another, it's another example of a dictum from Carl Jung,
00:29:29.200 which he extracted from the alchemical literature, which was insterquilinus infinitur, which means, roughly speaking,
00:29:37.200 in filth it will be found, or more to the point, what you most need will be found where you least want to look.
00:29:43.400 But you have to look purposefully.
00:29:45.740 If it chases you, you're prey.
00:29:48.080 If you confront it, then you're the thing that can transcend it.
00:29:52.460 And that's an unbelievably optimistic message because it suggests that if you're willing to take on the burden of being,
00:29:59.180 with its suffering and malevolence, that you can awaken that which is within you that will allow you to prevail.
00:30:07.800 And God only knows how deep an idea that is.
00:30:11.200 It might be the deepest of ideas because who knows what the limit of a human being is.
00:30:17.700 So, well, that's some of the wisdom, so to speak, that I've acquired in the last few months.
00:30:22.620 And there's quite a bit more, too.
00:30:24.020 But I'm going to write all this down and hopefully publish a bunch of it in my next book.
00:30:28.560 I figured out a bunch about hierarchies, too, and how they function.
00:30:31.880 And I've developed a whole new way of conceptualizing.
00:30:37.400 One of the things I was arguing about with Sam Harris was the relationship between facts and values
00:30:45.400 because Sam, and he has his reasons, would like to propose that we can derive values directly from facts.
00:30:52.160 And he wants to do that because he wants to nail the world of values to something solid
00:30:56.920 so it doesn't float in air and get, let's say, what would you call it, hijacked by the fundamentalists
00:31:05.800 or dissolve into nihilism.
00:31:08.840 And both of those are terrible ends for a hierarchy of values.
00:31:11.540 So he wants to nail it to something more objective and less relativistic and less grounded in revealed truth
00:31:24.280 that removes it from the domain of fundamentalism.
00:31:27.120 And so I can understand his point and why he wants to do that.
00:31:30.440 But the problem is that it isn't easy to derive values from facts because there's an infinite number of facts
00:31:36.100 and, by necessity, a very finite number of values.
00:31:39.720 In fact, most of the time when you're doing something, you're reducing the whole world to one value
00:31:44.200 and that value is encapsulated in whatever goal you happen to be pursuing at the moment
00:31:49.140 or whatever you're paying attention to, which is also a form of goal-directed pursuit.
00:31:53.600 And so I've also figured out that, and I kind of knew this, but I could articulate it better now,
00:31:58.260 that you look at the world of facts through a hierarchy of values
00:32:02.080 and that hierarchy of values is instantiated in your nervous system
00:32:05.120 and simultaneously a social construct.
00:32:08.260 Because you pay attention to things of value that you and everyone else have established as valuable
00:32:15.420 through a process of social negotiation.
00:32:18.040 And you need to pay attention to what you think that's valuable, that everyone else thinks is valuable,
00:32:22.540 because otherwise you wouldn't have any basis for shared attention
00:32:25.840 and you wouldn't have any basis for trade with other people.
00:32:29.140 So that's another thing.
00:32:30.280 So that's really been helpful because, so now I've figured out that you reduce the infinite world of facts to the finite world of values
00:32:38.820 by viewing the world of facts through what's essentially a dominance hierarchy of value.
00:32:45.040 And that's, and that exists both out in the social world and neurologically at the same time.
00:32:51.320 And so that's been unbelievably useful to figure out too.
00:32:55.040 And part of a mystery that I've been trying to untangle for about three decades.
00:32:59.780 So that's extremely helpful.
00:33:03.780 And I've also spent some more time thinking about the proper place of the right and the left wing.
00:33:10.520 So the right wing basically stands for the, what would you call, the,
00:33:15.100 the right wing serves as an advocate for hierarchy.
00:33:21.880 And the left wing serves as a critic of hierarchy.
00:33:26.160 And the right says, well, we need hierarchies.
00:33:29.000 There are often hierarchies of competence.
00:33:30.760 They're necessary to organize people and society.
00:33:33.020 And they're necessary to get things done, all of which is true.
00:33:35.700 And the left says, yes, but hierarchies dispossess and you have to pay attention to the widows and the orphans,
00:33:42.220 which is also true.
00:33:44.120 And so then the political discussion is about how to ensure that hierarchies are maintained and are functional,
00:33:51.320 but also have sufficient mercy within them to take care of the people who,
00:33:56.340 for one reason or another, are struggling to find their place, even in a hierarchy of competence.
00:34:02.260 And then the necessity for free speech emerges out of that because the left and the right have to communicate
00:34:08.800 so that the proper balance between the, the, the current structure of the hierarchy
00:34:16.260 and its transformation and mercy can be established on an ongoing basis.
00:34:21.940 So anyways, there are three things that I've really learned over the last few months.
00:34:25.340 There's a bunch more, but those will do for now.
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00:37:18.480 If too much masculinity is tyranny, but the right amount is order, and too much femininity is chaos,
00:37:42.980 what's the word for the right amount of femininity?
00:37:46.360 Hmm, that's a really good question.
00:37:48.320 I read that a bit earlier, and I couldn't come up with something immediate.
00:37:52.540 But the only thing I can think of is that often femininity has been characterized as wisdom.
00:38:01.660 And maybe that's...
00:38:03.360 So the wisdom that God, in the Judeo-Christian tradition that God consults, is feminine.
00:38:11.820 And that's an old tradition.
00:38:13.780 And maybe that's because order needs to be leavened with the right amount of chaos in order for wisdom to emerge.
00:38:22.680 The order can be blind and tyrannical and dead.
00:38:27.220 And so it's the mixture of the right amount of chaos that turns that order into wisdom.
00:38:33.860 And then that wisdom is often personified as feminine.
00:38:36.380 Now, that doesn't exactly answer your question, because it doesn't make the right balance.
00:38:41.020 You still don't have tyranny, order.
00:38:44.740 You still don't have order, tyranny, chaos.
00:38:49.100 You're still missing the proper word there.
00:38:52.980 I don't...
00:38:54.380 It's a good question.
00:38:55.360 And the wisdom idea is the best I can make of it for now.
00:39:00.260 Is it better to marry someone with your temperament or a contrasting, complementary temperament?
00:39:06.600 Well, there is evidence on this.
00:39:08.560 And basically, you don't want to marry someone with whom you're too mismatched.
00:39:13.220 Now, the only possible exception to that is neuroticism.
00:39:17.800 You know, neuroticism is a good predictor of marital trouble.
00:39:21.320 And it's a good predictor of trouble, period, or perhaps sensitivity to trouble, which is, in some sense, the same thing.
00:39:28.180 It's very...
00:39:29.300 And I don't know of any research specifically pertaining to this.
00:39:34.620 Now, I know that people who are high in neuroticism are more likely to miss work and to visit the doctor
00:39:40.320 and to be unhappy in their marriages and so forth.
00:39:44.740 And that may also account for why 75% of divorces are initiated by women.
00:39:51.400 And I think women are more sensitive to negative emotion, partly because they have to take care of infants and need to be more sensitive to threat.
00:39:57.560 And perhaps because sexuality is more dangerous to women and perhaps because women are physically smaller.
00:40:05.560 All of this seems to kick in at puberty.
00:40:07.440 Anyways, it isn't obvious to me that you want to match someone with regards to neuroticism if you're high in neuroticism.
00:40:14.600 I think if you're high in neuroticism, you need to find someone who's low in neuroticism because then you have someone around to calm you down.
00:40:22.720 Now, apart from that, the research literature does indicate that match is better.
00:40:28.320 And you can see why it's hard for extroverts and introverts to get along, especially if they're extreme extroverts and extreme introverts.
00:40:36.460 Because an extreme extrovert always wants to be with other people and in groups.
00:40:41.540 And an extreme extrovert hardly ever wants that.
00:40:44.640 And that's a very, very difficult thing to negotiate.
00:40:47.920 And then with conscientiousness, same thing.
00:40:50.820 If you're really high in orderliness, it's very hard to be married to someone who's very low in orderliness.
00:40:55.240 You're going to end up doing all the cleaning, for example.
00:40:57.660 That will drive you crazy.
00:40:58.840 And if you're high in industriousness, same thing.
00:41:01.940 Now, if you're super high in industriousness and orderliness, you might want someone who's maybe moderate in both to kind of temper you a bit.
00:41:09.220 Because one of the problems with being too high in conscientiousness is that you can't stop working.
00:41:13.940 And you should probably stop working from time to time.
00:41:16.980 Agreeableness, same thing.
00:41:18.800 Hard for an agreeable and disagreeable person to get along.
00:41:21.440 You know, the disagreeable person who won't shy away from conflict is likely to dominate the agreeable person quite badly.
00:41:34.840 So, that's a tough chasm to bridge as well.
00:41:40.420 So, you look for temperamental similarity.
00:41:43.560 Now, it's complicated because, like, if you're really, really low in industriousness and you marry someone else who's really low in industriousness,
00:41:52.220 well, that's going to be trouble for both of you because there isn't going to be anyone around who's going to do the work.
00:41:57.500 So, you might understand each other better, but as a long-term strategy, it's not a very good one.
00:42:03.360 So, it seems like your message is primarily positive masculine, whereas the positive feminine is not elaborated with near the same resolution.
00:42:14.860 What do you think?
00:42:16.200 Um, I don't really think that's true.
00:42:19.220 I think that might be somewhat true of 12 Rules for Life, although I'm not convinced of that.
00:42:23.780 The message in 12 Rules for Life is to find a balance between order and chaos, and there's plenty of discussion in there about the danger of an excess of both.
00:42:34.300 Certainly, Maps of Meaning is elaborated out more with regards to the positive masculine, or with regards to...
00:42:44.600 Maps of Meaning is elaborated out more completely than 12 Rules with regards to the positive role of the masculine and the feminine.
00:42:53.780 I think it's complicated in part because the feminine, classically speaking, is associated with smaller-scale, intimate, familial groupings.
00:43:07.940 And so, in a world that's obsessed with adaptation to large-scale social systems,
00:43:19.700 it's harder to make a case for the role of the feminine.
00:43:24.600 We don't really understand the role of the feminine in large-scale social structures.
00:43:29.180 So, and you know, we don't have a cultural myth, apart from Beauty and the Beast, let's say,
00:43:35.820 that describes the role of an independent female operating in the fundamentally masculine social world.
00:43:46.000 And we don't even know what something like that would look like.
00:43:48.940 And there aren't guiding stories to some degree, because women haven't been able to do that except in the last hundred years.
00:43:57.800 So, I don't know what the positive feminine, on a large scale, would look like.
00:44:06.220 And we don't have guiding stories for that.
00:44:08.900 This is partly to underline the absolutely radical nature of the birth control pill.
00:44:16.200 And not only that, but the provision of technological devices that aid women in dealing practically with their monthly menstrual cycle,
00:44:28.780 which was also a huge impediment to women in terms of interacting in the, let's say, the patriarchal world.
00:44:36.140 So, now women can take their place in the broader cultural world.
00:44:39.840 And we don't know what the model for that is.
00:44:42.040 So, you know, you might say, well, they should adopt the heroic masculine perspective.
00:44:48.320 And certainly, to some degree, that's true.
00:44:50.060 But that's not a particularly fruitful archetype when it comes to having a family.
00:45:00.360 And having a family is actually extraordinarily important.
00:45:03.300 And it's certainly the thing that dominates the thoughts of the majority of women as they approach their 30s.
00:45:08.900 It's all cultural noise to the contrary.
00:45:12.860 So, it's something we're still puzzling out.
00:45:15.600 And I suppose I'm still puzzling it out, too.
00:45:17.580 I mean, with my daughter, I tried to encourage her to be as sharp and as intelligent and critically minded and ambitious as she could be.
00:45:27.940 But also, to let her know that, and she was always interested in having kids,
00:45:35.860 but to also let her know that having a family is an extremely important thing.
00:45:41.180 How to balance that?
00:45:42.820 Well, that is the modern conundrum, isn't it?
00:45:44.780 We want to figure out how to maximize our access to the talents of women,
00:45:49.840 but also to set up a situation where it's possible for talented women,
00:45:55.260 and women of all talents, let's say, as well,
00:45:58.120 but talented women who have options in the workplace to also have a family.
00:46:02.440 And this is a tremendously complex problem.
00:46:04.600 And it isn't clear how it's going to be solved.
00:46:09.080 You know, there is data showing, you know, you say,
00:46:11.140 well, men should pick up more of the feminine role.
00:46:13.240 And I suppose that's possible.
00:46:15.080 But there is good data showing, for example,
00:46:17.760 that if you show women pictures of men engaged in classically masculine endeavors,
00:46:23.720 you know, fixing a roof or fixing the plumbing or so forth,
00:46:26.740 or in feminine endeavors, doing the dishes and vacuuming,
00:46:32.060 that the women rate the men who are doing the female tasks as less sexually attractive.
00:46:37.500 And so it's not all on the men with regards to the utility of them picking up
00:46:42.480 a more feminine role.
00:46:44.300 You know, and it isn't necessarily the case that women will find men
00:46:48.820 who are more domestic also maximally sexually attractive.
00:46:53.540 Those things don't necessarily go together.
00:46:55.400 So this is very, very complicated.
00:46:58.220 So...
00:46:58.820 I'm quite shy.
00:47:04.820 And when asked questions in public,
00:47:06.820 I find it hard to articulate a good answer,
00:47:09.220 but will come up with a strong response hours or days later.
00:47:13.120 Any advice?
00:47:13.980 Yeah, I have some advice.
00:47:15.760 One is that, well, you're probably introverted, eh?
00:47:18.840 So you're not as verbally fluent as an extrovert would be
00:47:21.560 and not quite as fast on the draw verbally.
00:47:23.680 But, you know, that means you need some more time to contemplate.
00:47:27.040 And maybe you're high in negative emotion, too,
00:47:29.700 because shyness can be a combination of introversion and high negative emotion.
00:47:33.540 It can be one or the other, but technically shy is introverted.
00:47:39.740 Anyways, what I would certainly recommend for you is that
00:47:43.680 if you're faced with a complicated question,
00:47:47.500 especially one that has to do with an important decision in your life,
00:47:50.720 that you say,
00:47:52.080 I need to sleep on it,
00:47:54.180 or I need a couple of days,
00:47:55.960 and not to answer on the draw.
00:48:00.200 I mean, I think that's true, even for extroverts.
00:48:03.360 I think if you're called upon to offer your opinion about something complex,
00:48:08.360 then it's perfectly reasonable to say,
00:48:10.220 look, that's a really hard question.
00:48:12.280 I'm not going to give you a casual answer.
00:48:14.180 I need to think about it for a couple of days.
00:48:16.240 So the advice would be,
00:48:18.480 because you find it hard to articulate a good answer,
00:48:20.860 don't allow yourself to be rushed.
00:48:23.260 And the second is to understand that this is part of your temperament.
00:48:26.020 There isn't anything wrong with it.
00:48:27.380 It's just, it's how you're wired.
00:48:31.600 So, what causes a person to hoard?
00:48:35.200 Is it due to low conscientiousness?
00:48:37.400 What is generally the best course of treatment?
00:48:40.740 It's usually a consequence of relatively high neuroticism,
00:48:45.500 and it's tangled in with disgust sensitivity as well.
00:48:51.880 People who hoard have a hard time.
00:48:55.720 They feel guilty if they throw things away,
00:48:57.940 because the things still have some residual utility.
00:49:01.960 The best course of treatment is,
00:49:04.280 well, behavioral therapy is probably the best course of treatment.
00:49:07.180 And to plan what needs to be thrown away.
00:49:16.980 And to work with a person that can help you make the hard decisions
00:49:20.140 that need to be made if you're hoarding.
00:49:23.960 All that, all that hoarded material is,
00:49:30.740 it's decisions that have been put off.
00:49:35.340 So, a lot of that is high neuroticism.
00:49:38.900 Some of that can be a consequence of low conscientiousness as well.
00:49:42.540 So, the best course of treatment is to find someone to help you plan
00:49:46.380 how to approach the hoard.
00:49:50.240 Very complicated.
00:49:52.020 So, all right.
00:50:04.580 Which Hogwarts house would you be in?
00:50:11.980 Well, I think I'd have the same issue as Harry Potter
00:50:14.880 when the hat was first put on.
00:50:16.640 It would think that I might make a perfectly good
00:50:19.020 denizen of Slytherin.
00:50:21.360 So, although that probably wouldn't be where I would end up.
00:50:25.720 So.
00:50:34.540 What is your take on an astrological basis
00:50:37.080 for significant dates and religious stories?
00:50:39.680 Example.
00:50:40.420 Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the sun.
00:50:43.340 Well, it's certainly not a parody.
00:50:44.880 Religious systems, as they expand,
00:50:50.280 tend to incorporate everything that's quasi-religious in the culture.
00:50:54.900 And there's certainly no shortage of solar symbolism in Christianity.
00:50:59.280 I mean, it's not fluke that Christ is the sun
00:51:02.960 and there are 12 disciples,
00:51:05.280 just like there are 12 astrological houses.
00:51:07.180 And it's not fluke that the birth of Christ takes place essentially at the same time as the shortest day of the year
00:51:17.120 and the rebirth of the sun.
00:51:18.320 All of these things line up.
00:51:20.580 Now, whether that's synchronicity or whether it's the attempt by the collective imagination of human beings to align everything under a single truth,
00:51:31.620 that's a very difficult thing to say.
00:51:33.520 Or maybe there's a single truth at work.
00:51:36.240 But the idea that Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the sun is definitely not the case.
00:51:41.800 It's more like it's incorporated elements of the worship of the sun over thousands and thousands of years.
00:51:47.760 And that's a very complicated issue.
00:51:50.780 If you're interested in that, you could read Ion, A-I-O-N.
00:51:54.600 It's a book by Carl Jung, which is like the most terrifying book I've ever read.
00:51:58.500 And so you could...
00:51:59.900 There's a deeper analysis of the relationship between astrological speculation
00:52:04.100 and the emergence of complex religious stories.
00:52:08.760 So...
00:52:09.760 My brother, 29, is sick at home with burnout.
00:52:23.080 He's a perfectionist, has anxiety, has trouble dealing with stress.
00:52:26.540 How can I help him become stronger?
00:52:28.440 Well, you could encourage him to go talk to a therapist.
00:52:30.820 You could tell him to go find...
00:52:32.140 He's probably making an appointment with three of them.
00:52:34.920 Go talk to each one for an hour.
00:52:36.880 And if he likes one of them and he finds one who listens,
00:52:39.220 then he can go back a couple more times.
00:52:41.040 But it isn't going to hurt him to go once, at least, to go talk.
00:52:45.040 It's also possible that he needs someone to talk to him about medication.
00:52:49.180 You know, antidepressants...
00:52:50.540 If he's in real trouble, antidepressants are often very helpful to people.
00:52:54.300 Not always, but often.
00:52:55.420 And so that is a lot better.
00:52:57.340 Taking an antidepressant beats the hell out of being sick at home with burnout.
00:53:02.820 And it's attended dangers, cognitive dangers, dangers of stress-induced illness,
00:53:07.480 dangers of suicidal ideation, all that sort of thing.
00:53:10.300 I would also recommend that he try the self-authoring program.
00:53:16.480 If he's at home, he could write about his past.
00:53:19.100 He could write about his present.
00:53:20.440 He could write about his future.
00:53:21.460 He can do a bad job.
00:53:22.600 He can do it over days.
00:53:24.000 I think that...
00:53:24.880 I mean, we have evidence that the program is extremely helpful to people.
00:53:27.980 And there's evidence from other researchers that such programs really help.
00:53:31.380 So that would be something that he could do while he's sitting at home.
00:53:35.800 And it's not going to hurt him.
00:53:38.640 Going over some of the more complex material might make him feel slightly worse in the short term.
00:53:43.280 But the long-term payoff is very, very high.
00:53:45.860 So that's what I would recommend.
00:53:51.180 Encourage him to go talk to somebody.
00:53:53.320 And he needs to make a plan.
00:53:54.620 He needs to come to terms with what's happened to him.
00:53:56.960 And he needs to make a plan.
00:53:58.100 And he might need to talk to somebody for a long time to figure out what the hell's going on.
00:54:02.760 You know, and we also don't want to rule out, neither does he, the possibility that there's something physical wrong.
00:54:08.040 You know, because there's increasing evidence that depressive disorders, and that would include anxiety,
00:54:13.960 are a consequence of such conditions as generalized inflammation.
00:54:18.180 And that's really worth looking into.
00:54:20.180 So I think a lot of the things that we think are psychological have a more pronounced physical basis.
00:54:25.760 So, yeah.
00:54:31.220 How do you dress so well?
00:54:32.960 Any tips?
00:54:33.920 Well, you know, thank you.
00:54:36.460 I started buying nice clothes, let's say, this year, really.
00:54:44.220 I had some decent suits before that.
00:54:46.780 I did some research online to find out who good suit manufacturers were.
00:54:50.480 You can look that up.
00:54:51.320 But before this tour, I went and talked to a good tailor, an expensive place.
00:54:57.520 I felt terrible spending so much money on clothing.
00:55:00.060 But I felt that if I was going to go talk to, it's been 200,000 people, that I was going to do it right.
00:55:07.400 And I was going to invest in some decent clothes.
00:55:10.500 And even though it hurt my cheap northern Alberta soul to do it, it was definitely worth it.
00:55:18.840 So go talk to someone who knows what they're doing.
00:55:21.460 Go talk to an actual tailor.
00:55:23.220 And you can do some research online.
00:55:25.600 There's lots of resources online that are devoted to helping men figure out how to dress.
00:55:35.140 Three-piece suits look really good.
00:55:39.660 I've got them tailored and fitted.
00:55:41.580 So they're not bespoke suits.
00:55:43.720 They're off the rack, but they've been tailored.
00:55:46.380 And that makes a big difference.
00:55:47.920 All the subtle things that tailors do.
00:55:49.700 They tuck it in around the waist.
00:55:51.660 They cut it to your body.
00:55:52.940 All of those things help.
00:55:53.960 It's really good to have a good pair of shoes.
00:55:55.920 A couple of nice ties.
00:55:57.380 I learned how to tie a full Windsor knot recently.
00:55:59.940 And that actually helps.
00:56:01.260 You don't want your tie to look too skinny.
00:56:03.660 Lots of people have been dressing up to come to my talk.
00:56:05.980 So it's nice to see a lot of young men come well-dressed.
00:56:09.380 Often in three-piece suits.
00:56:10.580 But not always.
00:56:11.380 And it's really good to see them dressed like grown-ups.
00:56:13.660 I think that's a real plus.
00:56:15.880 I had a rule that I didn't write in 12 Rules, which was dress like the person you want to be.
00:56:21.300 I kind of took that from Nietzsche.
00:56:25.380 Because Nietzsche said, every great man is an actor of his own ideal.
00:56:30.420 It's a very nice aphorism.
00:56:31.960 And basically what it meant was that sometimes you have to act out what you want to be before you become it.
00:56:38.440 You have to pretend.
00:56:39.700 It's not a lie.
00:56:40.680 It's really a pretense.
00:56:42.900 Like children pretend to be a father before they grow up and become a father.
00:56:46.660 It's a form of practice.
00:56:48.580 And so tip one might be figure out who you want to be.
00:56:53.780 Tip two might be, well then dress like that person.
00:56:56.600 That's a good start.
00:56:57.880 And because I think if you want to become who you want to be, then no detail is too small to overlook.
00:57:03.540 And certainly it isn't exactly that people judge you by your clothes, although they do to some degree.
00:57:10.860 It's that if whatever you can have going for you, you might as well have going for you.
00:57:16.980 That's how it looks to me.
00:57:17.980 And certainly my experience has been that the response to my improved wardrobe has indicated that the investment was clearly worth it, indisputably and clearly worth it.
00:57:29.960 And it's nice to be dressed sharply to go in front of an audience.
00:57:34.060 It's a sign of respect to the audience.
00:57:36.240 There's other ways of showing respect to an audience, but that's certainly one.
00:57:39.680 And so it's been extraordinarily worthwhile.
00:57:41.720 I would say if you're going for a job interview, if you're at any critical point in your life, then you should dress the part because you want to do everything you can to tip the scales, not in your favor exactly, but in favor of having the right thing happen.
00:57:57.180 So you have written an article on how to write.
00:58:01.220 Can you do the same on how to speak?
00:58:04.900 Well, I suppose I could.
00:58:06.140 I could tell you a little bit about it.
00:58:11.720 If you're going to speak about something, you need to know a lot about it.
00:58:16.040 You need to know three or four times as much as you're going to speak about at minimum.
00:58:20.360 So first of all, you have to do your background research.
00:58:23.160 You have to have multiple stories at hand that you can use to illustrate your point.
00:58:29.420 And you have to have a point.
00:58:31.060 You have to organize what you're talking about around a problem.
00:58:34.260 So before I go on stage to speak on my tour, I always sit for half an hour, some of which involves usually about five minutes of anxiety.
00:58:44.860 And I think, OK, there's a problem I'm trying to address tonight, a central problem or a theme.
00:58:50.940 What is it?
00:58:51.420 It might be courage.
00:58:52.300 It might be responsibility.
00:58:53.600 It might be meaning.
00:58:54.620 I think that serves as an organizing principle.
00:58:59.000 So that would be the point.
00:59:00.880 And then basically I organize, say, a dozen stories around that.
00:59:05.360 And I can kind of arrange them in it as a journey.
00:59:08.960 And it's a journey that circles the main point.
00:59:12.420 And so I'm trying to explore it to say what I think about courage, let's say, but to take what I'm thinking farther than I've taken it already.
00:59:20.880 And so then I can plot out, you know, little five-minute stories that I have that are associated with courage.
00:59:28.740 And then I can talk to the audience.
00:59:31.820 And I would say, talk about what you know.
00:59:36.800 Use your personal experience because that's something that you're actually a master of.
00:59:41.600 You can bring in other material, but it has to be tied to the real world through your own experience.
00:59:47.480 Otherwise, it's not real.
00:59:48.540 It's also very good to speak directly to the audience, to the individuals in the audience.
00:59:53.980 Because I'm always looking at a single person, one after another, and focusing on them and talking to them, just like you'd have a conversation with someone.
01:00:02.480 And that way I can see if they're following along.
01:00:04.800 And I'm always listening to the audience.
01:00:07.780 What I really like to hear from the audience is no noise at all, silence.
01:00:11.460 Because if the audience, especially, you know, if it's a couple hundred or a couple of thousand people, if the audience is dead silent, then I know that I'm on the right track.
01:00:21.600 And so, the other thing I would say is you're telling stories.
01:00:30.560 So, every fact that you relate or every set of facts has to be tied to a story.
01:00:36.400 There has to be a meaningful output, which is something like, why is it important to your life that you know this fact?
01:00:44.620 How is it related to how you're going to conduct yourself moving forward or how you're going to see the world?
01:00:49.220 So, that's kind of the essence of meaning.
01:00:51.560 How does this fact change the way you perceive the world or act in the world?
01:00:55.460 That's the meaning of the fact.
01:00:57.160 And facts without meaning are dull.
01:00:59.180 So, you need to know that.
01:01:00.720 You need to tell the truth.
01:01:03.160 That's for sure.
01:01:04.980 And, I mean, for me, my talks are really, they're an attempt to explore a set of ideas in the most truthful way that I can manage.
01:01:14.820 And that's also an adventure because letting yourself speak freely about a topic, you don't always know where it's going to go.
01:01:22.460 And so, but that also hooks in the audience because they're not, they're along for the ride, right?
01:01:27.740 And there's a risk.
01:01:28.600 The risk is you might forget where you are.
01:01:30.480 You might lose the thread.
01:01:31.520 You might say something you regret.
01:01:33.100 You might get confused.
01:01:35.440 And it's this, the talk should be a process of exploration, like a journey that you're taking the audience along on.
01:01:41.420 It's the same when you're reading a novel, like a great novel isn't exactly plotted out from beginning to end to begin with.
01:01:48.860 The author is taking himself or herself and you on an intellectual adventure through the character development.
01:01:58.020 And the characters have to be allowed to live and to express themselves.
01:02:01.680 And the novel needs to unfold.
01:02:03.600 It's like a colloquy between the conscious mind and the unconscious source of inspiration.
01:02:08.740 And the novel is actually a journey through a characterological landscape.
01:02:14.820 And the author shouldn't know where he or she's going to end up at the beginning.
01:02:19.120 Same with an artist who's writing a song or a piece of music or a piece of visual art.
01:02:26.300 There has to be play and exploration along the way.
01:02:29.440 And so, you also don't want to deliver an over-prepared talk, in my estimation, or at least that's not how I do it.
01:02:35.940 You want to have a theme, you want to have a body of knowledge from which you can draw on, and then you want to be actively exploring the idea in front of the audience.
01:02:45.040 And that's very gripping for everyone, including you.
01:02:47.960 And you should learn something from the talk.
01:02:50.260 It's an opportunity to think on your feet.
01:02:53.260 And anyways, that's my style of lecturing.
01:02:55.660 It's a trapeze act without a safety net, I would say.
01:03:01.120 And that's part of what makes it gripping, is that there's a high probability of failure.
01:03:06.180 And I would say with any performance that's going to be gripping, that on the edge of the seat gripping, there has to be a high probability of failure.
01:03:19.060 And that's why I don't speak with notes.
01:03:21.780 If you speak with notes, which you might have to if you're a beginning speaker, then you cannot fail, because you can always read the notes.
01:03:30.060 And so, there's a net.
01:03:31.540 You'll fall in the net, but you won't die.
01:03:33.420 But you'll never do anything spectacular.
01:03:36.360 So, that's the thing, is if you're going to do something spectacular, you have to take the risk.
01:03:40.720 And if you're going to take the risk, you have to think on your feet.
01:03:43.060 And then you also have to have something to think about.
01:03:45.280 You have to have been working on this material.
01:03:47.280 You know, I've been working on the stuff I talk about for 30 years, for tens of thousands of hours.
01:03:53.300 And so, I have that reservoir of knowledge, I suppose.
01:03:57.480 And, you know, whenever I read something new, I'm slotting it into the knowledge structure that I use to generate my talks.
01:04:03.140 And I'm reading all the time.
01:04:05.460 And lots of the things I read, I forget.
01:04:07.940 They're not relevant to my central mission, whatever that happens to be.
01:04:11.680 It looks something like the delineation of the relationship between responsibility and meaning.
01:04:18.580 And maybe responsibility, meaning, and perception.
01:04:22.240 It's something like that.
01:04:23.060 And so, I have a central concern, or deeper than that, in some sense.
01:04:28.200 My central concern was how to ensure, personally, that if I was tempted in a situation like the situations that arose in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany,
01:04:39.900 that I wouldn't fall prey to those totalitarian systems and act in the reprehensible manner that so many people acted in.
01:04:48.440 And that's really been a driving concern of mine.
01:04:51.440 And that bleeds over into the relationship between meaning and responsibility and perception.
01:04:56.200 So, there's a core set of problems that I'm working on.
01:04:58.840 And every talk is an attempt to further develop those.
01:05:01.920 So, you also have to have a problem, you know.
01:05:06.460 You think, well, you don't want to have a problem.
01:05:08.280 It's like, yeah, you do.
01:05:09.220 You want to, you want to, you've got problems anyways.
01:05:12.860 If you're alive, you've got problems.
01:05:14.800 Pick one of them.
01:05:15.580 It can be your problem.
01:05:16.800 And that can be the problem you try to address, whatever that happens to be.
01:05:20.760 And then you have something to talk about.
01:05:22.200 How am I going to address this problem?
01:05:23.760 How can this problem be addressed?
01:05:26.100 So, you need to have a problem, too, if you're going to talk.
01:05:28.200 Just like you need to have a problem if you're going to write.
01:05:30.140 Because the writing is an attempt to solve the problem.
01:05:32.200 And so is the talking.
01:05:34.080 If you're not trying to solve a problem, what the hell are you doing talking?
01:05:37.840 Why should anyone care?
01:05:39.380 It's got to be a real problem, too.
01:05:40.980 Like a, you know, a nail-biter of a problem.
01:05:43.800 A dragon of a problem.
01:05:45.000 And if it's a problem that everyone else shares, so much, the better.
01:05:49.520 So, and then you grapple with it.
01:05:59.880 Thoughts on the Eastern idea of moving away from excessive thinking into the awareness beyond thinking.
01:06:06.000 Removing it from the driver's seat to be used more as a tool.
01:06:09.100 Yeah, well, I thought a lot about this in relationship to a couple of ancient ideas.
01:06:17.140 The one Mesopotamian idea, characterization of Marduk, who was the highest Mesopotamian deity.
01:06:23.880 It was Marduk who carved up the goddess of chaos, Tiamat, into pieces and made the world out of her pieces.
01:06:33.040 So, Marduk is the force that confronts chaos and builds habitable order, like the Logos in Genesis.
01:06:39.420 And one of Marduk's attributes was that he had eyes all the way around his head and that he could speak magic words.
01:06:45.780 Those two attributes, but it's the eyes that are of most crucial importance with regard to this question.
01:06:51.560 Then there's Horus, the Egyptian god, who's the famous eye.
01:06:55.760 And Horus is really a, what, a deification of attention, I would say.
01:07:02.880 And there's a difference between attention and thinking.
01:07:05.960 Like, let me give you an example.
01:07:08.280 So, thinking seems to be instrumental, mostly.
01:07:11.980 So, if you're thinking, but people also often say to me,
01:07:15.280 well, what's your strategy when you go into an interview?
01:07:19.800 And the answer is, well, I don't have a strategy when I go into an interview
01:07:23.640 because I'm there to have a conversation.
01:07:25.280 And I'm not sure where the conversation will go.
01:07:27.440 And I'm willing to let it go wherever it goes.
01:07:29.500 I'm not there to sell books, although I'm perfectly happy if more books sell,
01:07:33.460 because, well, because obviously I wrote a book and I want people to read it.
01:07:37.900 And there's a whole enterprise behind it.
01:07:39.800 And so, it's also my responsibility to do the marketing properly.
01:07:42.780 But I'm not going to do these interviews to sell books or to promote myself.
01:07:46.460 I don't have a strategic goal in mind,
01:07:51.260 except that I'm going to have a conversation and I'm going to say what I think
01:07:55.620 and take the consequences.
01:07:58.080 Because I assume that if I say something and I believe it's true,
01:08:02.340 then the consequences are as positive as they can be,
01:08:04.960 regardless of how they look at the time.
01:08:07.500 And that's an issue of faith,
01:08:08.880 because I believe that the habitable order is generated by spoken truth.
01:08:15.120 I believe that.
01:08:15.980 I think that's the truest thing I know.
01:08:20.580 And so, I go into the interview.
01:08:25.480 And I did this in my clinical practice.
01:08:27.160 And I try to do this when I'm talking to people, too.
01:08:29.220 Is that I'm not thinking about where the conversation is going
01:08:32.660 or what point I want to make or what I want the outcome to be.
01:08:35.980 Any of that.
01:08:36.540 I just let that go.
01:08:37.540 So, you know, it's within this broader framework of assuming that
01:08:41.040 the truth is the most effective means of progressing.
01:08:45.000 And then I pay attention.
01:08:47.440 And what happens when you pay attention is that
01:08:49.720 while you're watching a person,
01:08:51.240 this is a great treatment for social anxiety, by the way,
01:08:54.620 because if you're socially anxious,
01:08:55.960 you tend not to pay attention to the person.
01:08:57.720 Pay attention to who you're talking to.
01:08:59.500 Watch them like a hawk.
01:09:01.300 Like, not paranoid or anything like that,
01:09:03.540 and not too intently because you make them uncomfortable,
01:09:05.440 but intently pay attention to what they're saying,
01:09:09.260 to how they look, to their facial gestures, all of that.
01:09:11.680 Look at their face and watch and listen
01:09:14.500 and try to understand what they're saying.
01:09:16.820 And what you'll see is that, well, questions pop into your mind.
01:09:19.880 It's like, well, I didn't understand what you said.
01:09:21.500 Can you clarify that?
01:09:22.520 And it sounds like you mean this.
01:09:24.200 Is this what you mean?
01:09:25.540 But not in a, I'll put you on the spot
01:09:28.320 because I think you're wrong sort of way,
01:09:30.040 but in a clarification sort of way.
01:09:32.040 And all of that's attention.
01:09:33.780 And so when I'm doing clinical work with people,
01:09:37.240 and this is the reason I quit, by the way,
01:09:39.300 about a year ago,
01:09:40.160 is because I was starting to get distracted.
01:09:41.800 I had a rule, which was,
01:09:43.080 you have an hour with me
01:09:44.000 and I do nothing but pay attention to you.
01:09:46.120 I'm not thinking about what I want to accomplish.
01:09:49.460 I'm not thinking about the problems in my life.
01:09:51.880 I'm not distracted.
01:09:53.300 And I listen to you
01:09:54.300 and I ask questions when I don't understand.
01:09:56.520 And if a thought occurs to me
01:09:59.020 while I'm paying attention to you,
01:10:00.420 then I'll tell you what it is.
01:10:01.960 You see, and that's using awareness primarily
01:10:06.980 and thinking secondarily.
01:10:09.800 Like, I don't think,
01:10:11.200 well, here's how I want to cure this person
01:10:13.480 and I'm going to maneuver them
01:10:14.880 into certain responses
01:10:16.840 by using these communicative tools.
01:10:19.660 I think I'm going to pay attention to this person.
01:10:22.280 We're going to discuss where we're going and why.
01:10:25.540 I'm going to listen to what they say.
01:10:27.200 And then when they're talking,
01:10:29.140 things are going to occur within me.
01:10:31.280 I'm going to see images
01:10:32.220 and thoughts are going to emerge from the background.
01:10:37.220 And then I'll share them.
01:10:39.840 Not always,
01:10:40.720 because I usually have more thoughts than can be shared.
01:10:43.520 But if a thought comes up
01:10:45.060 and it seems like an interesting reaction
01:10:47.320 to what the person just said,
01:10:48.840 then I'll just tell them
01:10:49.800 and sort of without commitment to it.
01:10:52.880 And it's usually,
01:10:54.700 okay, you just said this
01:10:55.980 and so this question emerged.
01:10:57.380 So we need to straighten that out
01:10:58.480 because I'm confused.
01:10:59.940 Or you said this
01:11:01.360 and I had this image.
01:11:02.540 Or you said this
01:11:03.400 and this thought came to mind.
01:11:05.880 And it seems to be,
01:11:08.820 this is this,
01:11:09.520 so that's one person's reaction
01:11:11.260 to the way that you're conducting yourself
01:11:13.500 at the moment.
01:11:15.060 So,
01:11:15.780 thinking is instrumental.
01:11:18.740 I outlined this in,
01:11:19.940 I think it's rule seven.
01:11:21.980 Do what is meaningful,
01:11:23.180 not what is expedient.
01:11:25.140 If you do what's expedient,
01:11:26.680 you have a short-term conscious goal in mind
01:11:29.160 and you try to bend everything towards that end.
01:11:32.860 But if you're pursuing what's meaningful,
01:11:35.480 then you just pay attention to what's going on
01:11:37.940 and you react with truth.
01:11:40.200 And I think that's,
01:11:42.340 that's a much better way of living
01:11:43.740 as far as I'm concerned.
01:11:45.080 It's,
01:11:45.520 it's a much more powerful way of living.
01:11:48.020 It means you have to confront things
01:11:50.000 right then and there.
01:11:53.200 Which is,
01:11:53.940 I suppose,
01:11:54.380 why so many of my interviews
01:11:56.160 have been,
01:11:57.060 in some sense,
01:11:57.780 confrontational.
01:11:59.560 Because people will
01:12:00.740 impose a thinking agenda
01:12:03.380 on the flow of the conversation.
01:12:05.120 This is especially true
01:12:06.080 in the mainstream media.
01:12:07.300 Happened again recently
01:12:08.380 with BBC's Hard Talk.
01:12:11.180 They impose an agenda
01:12:12.660 on the conversation
01:12:13.560 and then that just doesn't work out very well
01:12:15.680 because
01:12:16.040 I'm paying attention
01:12:19.120 and I will object to the agenda.
01:12:23.000 Not because I have a different agenda
01:12:25.300 except for what I said,
01:12:28.280 which is that I want to say what I think.
01:12:31.220 I want to say as truthfully as I can
01:12:33.320 what I actually am thinking.
01:12:35.820 in this more abstracted
01:12:39.140 and detached sense
01:12:40.140 and see what happens.
01:12:42.260 So,
01:12:43.360 it's a hard thing to clarify
01:12:45.140 because
01:12:45.600 you might say,
01:12:47.900 well,
01:12:48.480 Dr. Peterson,
01:12:49.340 you just said
01:12:49.960 you want to say
01:12:50.740 what you're thinking.
01:12:51.860 But,
01:12:52.380 it's not exactly
01:12:54.100 the same thing.
01:12:55.020 It's not like
01:12:55.560 I'm thinking strategically.
01:12:57.780 I'm listening.
01:12:59.980 Thoughts emerge
01:13:01.700 and I say them.
01:13:03.900 I'm not trying to manipulate.
01:13:05.440 I'm not putting spin on things.
01:13:06.800 I'm not trying to manipulate
01:13:07.760 the conversation
01:13:08.540 in any particular way.
01:13:09.900 And again,
01:13:10.460 the reason for that
01:13:11.520 is because
01:13:12.380 I decided
01:13:13.460 a long time ago,
01:13:14.740 probably 30 years,
01:13:16.200 that
01:13:16.920 there was no more
01:13:18.440 effective way
01:13:19.180 of dealing with
01:13:19.720 a complex situation
01:13:20.800 than to try to say
01:13:22.720 what you believe
01:13:23.520 to be true
01:13:24.220 and not to manipulate it.
01:13:26.520 None of that.
01:13:27.280 It just doesn't...
01:13:27.820 Because that's all...
01:13:28.440 Those are all lies
01:13:29.220 as far as I'm concerned.
01:13:30.300 That kind of manipulation
01:13:31.240 and spin.
01:13:32.380 So,
01:13:32.900 if he who is invited
01:13:42.180 to the largest
01:13:42.780 possible number of games
01:13:44.300 is also the person
01:13:45.320 that goes out
01:13:45.840 to conquer the unknown,
01:13:47.280 could this lie
01:13:48.100 in reciprocal altruism?
01:13:49.440 That's a really good question.
01:13:51.140 I would say
01:13:51.920 it almost certainly does.
01:13:54.620 You certainly see
01:13:56.100 the reciprocal altruism
01:13:58.100 in being invited
01:13:59.880 to the largest
01:14:00.540 possible number of games.
01:14:01.640 So, a little background here.
01:14:02.620 It's like,
01:14:03.000 well, what's a winner?
01:14:04.060 Well, a winner is someone
01:14:05.080 who wins a game.
01:14:06.220 It's like, no.
01:14:07.200 A winner is someone
01:14:08.160 who gets invited
01:14:09.060 to play the largest
01:14:10.240 possible number of games.
01:14:12.000 And that means
01:14:12.920 that you have to be
01:14:13.640 a good sport.
01:14:14.420 And so, the good sport
01:14:15.360 is the winner
01:14:16.040 in the broader game,
01:14:17.220 in the metagame.
01:14:18.420 Now,
01:14:19.200 I put forward
01:14:20.080 the proposition
01:14:20.760 that the winner
01:14:22.300 of the metagame
01:14:23.120 is also the person
01:14:24.120 that goes out
01:14:24.680 to conquer the unknown.
01:14:26.620 Now, let's see
01:14:27.620 if we can take that
01:14:28.340 apart a little bit.
01:14:29.120 Well,
01:14:30.000 one of the
01:14:31.640 attributes
01:14:32.440 of being a good sport,
01:14:33.860 let's say,
01:14:35.260 is that you're trying
01:14:36.040 to extend your skill
01:14:36.980 during the game.
01:14:38.100 And so,
01:14:38.700 you are confronting
01:14:39.440 the unknown
01:14:40.040 in the game
01:14:40.920 because you're trying
01:14:41.500 to get better
01:14:41.980 at playing the game.
01:14:43.300 And then,
01:14:43.900 you're also doing that
01:14:44.780 in a way
01:14:45.160 that's of benefit
01:14:45.860 to the team.
01:14:47.060 And so,
01:14:47.340 then you can imagine
01:14:48.060 that being a team leader
01:14:49.280 in the metagame,
01:14:51.340 which is the game
01:14:52.020 of extending your skill
01:14:53.240 across the broadest
01:14:54.840 possible set of games,
01:14:56.040 is analogous
01:14:57.300 to leading a team
01:14:58.580 into the unknown.
01:15:00.460 So,
01:15:00.920 if you're going
01:15:01.220 to go confront
01:15:01.780 the unknown,
01:15:02.360 you're probably
01:15:02.680 not going to do it alone,
01:15:03.960 although you could.
01:15:05.380 And to some degree,
01:15:06.280 you have to be alone.
01:15:07.240 But you're generally
01:15:08.240 going to do it
01:15:08.820 in a cooperative
01:15:09.540 and competitive way.
01:15:11.260 I mean,
01:15:11.440 that's why in stories
01:15:12.500 like The Lord of the Rings
01:15:13.660 and The Hobbit,
01:15:14.400 for example,
01:15:14.980 and even Harry Potter,
01:15:16.220 for that matter,
01:15:17.160 none of those people
01:15:17.980 are alone.
01:15:19.020 They lead
01:15:20.040 or are part
01:15:21.380 of a broader
01:15:22.060 social group.
01:15:22.960 and they're important
01:15:24.280 and they're team players
01:15:25.600 within that group.
01:15:27.080 So,
01:15:27.520 the team player element
01:15:28.600 seems to be something
01:15:29.500 that's common
01:15:30.120 to conquering the unknown
01:15:31.460 and to reciprocal altruism
01:15:33.740 and to being invited
01:15:35.080 to play the largest
01:15:35.820 number of games.
01:15:37.080 The question,
01:15:37.680 then,
01:15:37.780 is what makes
01:15:38.320 an effective leader?
01:15:39.760 And an effective leader
01:15:40.820 is someone
01:15:41.300 who's able
01:15:41.780 to synthesize the group
01:15:43.380 and to lead it forward
01:15:44.620 towards the goal.
01:15:46.460 Yeah,
01:15:46.700 that's it.
01:15:47.320 And,
01:15:47.560 you know,
01:15:47.760 in a game,
01:15:49.200 obviously,
01:15:50.140 the good player
01:15:50.780 is leading the team
01:15:51.640 forward to the goal.
01:15:52.960 And it's the same
01:15:53.940 in a quest.
01:15:55.160 The good player
01:15:56.120 is the leader
01:15:56.820 who's leading the team
01:15:57.740 towards the goal.
01:15:58.980 So,
01:15:59.480 there's a deep analogy there.
01:16:02.080 And,
01:16:02.680 it's not just
01:16:06.660 reciprocal altruism.
01:16:09.080 I don't think
01:16:10.020 that's quite
01:16:10.560 the right terminology,
01:16:11.720 though,
01:16:11.880 because there's
01:16:12.760 an element
01:16:13.180 of pragmatic
01:16:14.180 competence
01:16:17.420 that goes along
01:16:18.260 with it,
01:16:18.680 too.
01:16:18.840 you can't
01:16:22.100 merely be willing
01:16:23.120 to engage
01:16:23.720 in reciprocal
01:16:24.340 altruism
01:16:24.960 to be a good
01:16:25.600 player
01:16:26.060 or to conquer
01:16:28.700 the unknown.
01:16:29.360 You also have
01:16:30.080 to have skill
01:16:30.840 and discipline.
01:16:32.540 So,
01:16:32.760 I would say
01:16:33.160 reciprocal altruism
01:16:34.220 is necessary
01:16:35.660 but not sufficient
01:16:36.720 precondition.
01:16:38.880 Right?
01:16:39.200 Talent,
01:16:39.680 skill,
01:16:40.000 ability,
01:16:41.280 all of those things
01:16:42.060 are,
01:16:42.800 creativity,
01:16:43.440 all of those things
01:16:44.260 are also important.
01:16:46.100 So,
01:16:47.340 that's a bit
01:16:49.120 of an answer
01:16:49.540 to that.
01:16:50.080 But,
01:16:50.240 it's a very,
01:16:50.580 very good question.
01:16:52.260 So,
01:16:52.920 please confirm
01:16:53.640 if your Harry Potter
01:16:54.660 patronus
01:16:55.440 patronus
01:16:57.140 would in fact
01:16:58.120 be a frog.
01:16:59.080 We need answers,
01:17:00.260 doctor.
01:17:01.640 Well,
01:17:02.100 you'd certainly
01:17:02.500 think that,
01:17:03.120 wouldn't you?
01:17:04.940 A frog.
01:17:06.260 Well,
01:17:06.540 I think that's obvious.
01:17:07.580 It's got to be a frog
01:17:08.540 or maybe a lobster.
01:17:09.620 Ha ha.
01:17:13.440 I wouldn't have guessed
01:17:16.240 that it would be a frog
01:17:17.140 but that certainly
01:17:18.180 seems to be
01:17:18.820 how things have developed.
01:17:23.080 And,
01:17:23.620 I suppose,
01:17:24.140 you know,
01:17:24.340 a frog is at home
01:17:26.160 on dry land
01:17:27.960 and in the water
01:17:28.640 and
01:17:31.400 that makes the frog
01:17:34.460 a kind of
01:17:35.040 cycle pomp
01:17:35.820 and I've strived
01:17:38.320 to be at home
01:17:39.280 in the air
01:17:39.880 and in the water
01:17:40.660 and to bring up
01:17:42.240 the gold ball
01:17:42.900 from the bottom
01:17:43.520 of the lake
01:17:44.500 like the frog prince.
01:17:48.580 Yeah,
01:17:49.220 yeah,
01:17:49.600 definitely frog.
01:17:51.000 Okay,
01:17:51.440 so you've got
01:17:51.920 your answer.
01:17:55.680 I've got my answer too,
01:17:56.980 I guess.
01:17:59.320 On completing
01:18:00.240 understandmyself.com
01:18:02.560 I scored
01:18:03.080 exceptionally low
01:18:03.940 zero on
01:18:04.580 conscientiousness,
01:18:05.540 industriousness,
01:18:06.240 and orderliness.
01:18:07.140 What can I do
01:18:07.940 for motivation?
01:18:09.600 Well,
01:18:09.920 Dean,
01:18:10.120 the first question is
01:18:11.080 how old are you
01:18:12.040 and you're going
01:18:14.220 to have an easier
01:18:14.760 life if you're
01:18:15.500 still young
01:18:16.200 because if you're
01:18:17.400 older and you
01:18:18.000 have that score
01:18:18.700 then that's going
01:18:19.500 to be rough.
01:18:22.200 Perhaps you're
01:18:22.880 high in openness
01:18:23.460 in which case
01:18:24.740 you're going to
01:18:25.840 derive your motivation
01:18:26.760 from engaging
01:18:28.440 in creative endeavors.
01:18:29.940 Perhaps you're
01:18:30.420 high in agreeableness
01:18:31.280 which means
01:18:32.260 which means that
01:18:32.500 you might find
01:18:33.180 meaning in caring
01:18:34.020 for other people.
01:18:35.140 Perhaps extroversion
01:18:36.300 which means you're
01:18:37.220 going to find
01:18:37.760 engagement in
01:18:38.720 being with other
01:18:39.700 people.
01:18:41.940 So those are
01:18:43.300 potential sources
01:18:44.180 of motivation.
01:18:45.440 You may have to
01:18:46.200 look elsewhere
01:18:46.800 than duty
01:18:48.040 let's say
01:18:48.900 and achievement
01:18:50.320 ambition
01:18:50.880 for your primary
01:18:52.240 sources of motivation.
01:18:53.760 One thing I would
01:18:54.620 caution you though
01:18:55.500 is that you
01:18:56.740 likely need to
01:18:58.220 make friends
01:18:58.740 with a scheduler
01:18:59.680 like Google Calendar.
01:19:01.720 Try to design
01:19:02.700 days you want
01:19:03.420 to have
01:19:03.820 and to learn
01:19:04.660 to structure
01:19:07.020 your time
01:19:07.580 because
01:19:07.960 even if you're
01:19:10.560 high in openness
01:19:11.140 which makes you
01:19:12.080 creative
01:19:12.840 you're going to
01:19:14.000 have a hell of a
01:19:14.660 time sticking to
01:19:15.380 things.
01:19:16.680 And so
01:19:17.200 maybe you need
01:19:18.160 to partner
01:19:18.640 with someone
01:19:20.160 who's high in
01:19:20.720 conscientiousness.
01:19:23.120 But I would
01:19:23.980 really recommend
01:19:24.720 trying to
01:19:25.320 discipline yourself.
01:19:26.560 Use Google Calendar
01:19:28.100 to design
01:19:29.020 the days
01:19:29.460 you want
01:19:29.820 to have
01:19:30.240 and learn
01:19:31.460 to schedule
01:19:32.740 and regulate
01:19:34.000 your time
01:19:35.420 use
01:19:35.820 because
01:19:36.280 zero is very
01:19:38.460 low
01:19:38.720 and my
01:19:39.480 suspicions are
01:19:40.220 you'll pay
01:19:40.560 quite a high
01:19:41.040 price for that.
01:19:42.380 So
01:19:42.520 what do you
01:19:46.080 think about
01:19:46.500 Ellis Miller
01:19:47.040 and her thesis
01:19:47.700 that most
01:19:48.240 psychological
01:19:48.740 diseases
01:19:49.320 and aberrant
01:19:49.880 behavior
01:19:50.240 are the result
01:19:50.800 of some
01:19:51.140 kind of
01:19:51.520 childhood
01:19:51.840 trauma?
01:19:52.860 Some are
01:19:53.580 but some
01:19:55.320 forms of
01:19:55.880 childhood
01:19:56.280 trauma
01:19:56.760 are also
01:19:57.300 a consequence
01:19:57.960 of psychological
01:19:58.820 diseases
01:19:59.460 and aberrant
01:20:00.060 behavior.
01:20:01.100 So this is
01:20:01.500 very, very
01:20:01.940 complicated.
01:20:03.380 I'm more
01:20:04.240 on the
01:20:04.580 existentialist
01:20:05.520 front with
01:20:06.080 regards to
01:20:06.640 these sorts
01:20:07.080 of theories.
01:20:07.580 So Ellis
01:20:08.000 Miller's thesis
01:20:08.720 is basically
01:20:09.460 Freudian,
01:20:10.180 Freud's thesis.
01:20:11.760 Freud
01:20:12.160 certainly
01:20:13.740 posited
01:20:15.100 that many
01:20:16.380 forms of
01:20:16.960 psychological
01:20:17.500 distress
01:20:17.940 were a
01:20:18.400 consequence
01:20:18.760 of childhood
01:20:20.020 trauma
01:20:20.480 of various
01:20:21.180 sorts.
01:20:23.660 I think
01:20:24.460 the
01:20:24.660 existentialist
01:20:25.360 take on
01:20:25.780 that is
01:20:26.040 more
01:20:26.220 accurate
01:20:26.620 which is
01:20:27.020 that
01:20:27.240 life
01:20:28.180 in and of
01:20:29.300 itself
01:20:29.760 is sufficiently
01:20:30.920 harsh
01:20:31.560 and full
01:20:32.600 of betrayal
01:20:33.280 and other
01:20:33.820 forms of
01:20:34.300 malevolence
01:20:34.840 to cause
01:20:35.860 any number
01:20:36.460 of psychological
01:20:37.200 diseases
01:20:37.760 and produce
01:20:38.440 any amount
01:20:39.040 of aberrant
01:20:39.660 behavior.
01:20:40.880 So I don't
01:20:41.960 think it has
01:20:42.480 to be,
01:20:42.860 it's not as
01:20:43.420 if we all
01:20:43.940 had childhoods
01:20:44.900 without trauma
01:20:45.560 that we would
01:20:46.080 have grown up
01:20:46.560 to be perfect
01:20:47.240 adults.
01:20:49.160 That's also
01:20:49.840 a disguised
01:20:51.320 form of
01:20:51.960 Rousseauian
01:20:52.700 philosophy
01:20:53.320 and Rousseau's
01:20:54.260 philosophy is
01:20:54.940 people are
01:20:55.660 basically good
01:20:56.320 but culture
01:20:57.000 makes them
01:20:58.020 evil
01:20:58.620 and that's
01:20:59.900 not true.
01:21:00.460 People are
01:21:00.840 basically good
01:21:01.800 and evil
01:21:02.480 and culture
01:21:03.540 fortifies
01:21:05.920 the possibility
01:21:06.760 of both,
01:21:07.580 adds strength
01:21:08.260 to the possibility
01:21:09.100 of both.
01:21:10.400 So I
01:21:12.240 think that
01:21:13.940 people are
01:21:15.860 sometimes damaged
01:21:16.800 in childhood
01:21:17.440 in ways that
01:21:18.220 need to be
01:21:18.760 addressed in
01:21:19.300 adulthood
01:21:19.700 but that
01:21:20.500 there are
01:21:20.860 plenty,
01:21:21.760 plenty of
01:21:22.480 other reasons
01:21:23.060 for psychological
01:21:23.980 and physical
01:21:24.860 disorder.
01:21:27.340 Genetic
01:21:27.860 causes,
01:21:29.220 causes
01:21:33.900 related to
01:21:34.620 all sorts
01:21:35.040 of physical
01:21:35.500 diseases.
01:21:36.780 No,
01:21:37.060 it's way
01:21:37.380 too simple.
01:21:38.000 It's way
01:21:38.380 too simple
01:21:38.940 a hypothesis
01:21:40.680 and it's
01:21:41.300 caused an
01:21:41.700 awful lot
01:21:42.080 of trouble
01:21:42.460 because a
01:21:43.800 lot of
01:21:44.160 simple-minded
01:21:44.720 therapists
01:21:45.200 always assume
01:21:45.940 that if
01:21:46.340 someone is
01:21:47.100 having
01:21:47.340 psychological
01:21:47.900 problems in
01:21:49.160 adulthood it
01:21:49.740 must be
01:21:50.160 because they
01:21:51.040 had childhood
01:21:51.680 trauma and
01:21:52.500 everybody has
01:21:53.180 an unhappy
01:21:53.660 childhood to
01:21:54.380 some degree
01:21:54.840 so you can
01:21:55.260 always find
01:21:55.760 something and
01:21:56.800 often the
01:21:57.420 childhood trauma
01:21:58.160 that they're
01:21:58.560 looking for has
01:21:59.220 to be sexual
01:21:59.960 and so they
01:22:00.740 dig and
01:22:01.140 dig until
01:22:01.640 they find
01:22:02.760 or invent
01:22:03.580 often invent
01:22:05.060 something that
01:22:06.360 allows a
01:22:07.880 single causal
01:22:08.760 attribution and
01:22:09.780 life just isn't
01:22:11.600 that simple.
01:22:12.300 There's lots of
01:22:13.240 reasons to be
01:22:13.860 ill.
01:22:14.440 Way more
01:22:15.000 reasons to be
01:22:15.640 ill than to
01:22:16.080 be healthy.
01:22:16.560 So what if
01:22:19.700 the truth could
01:22:20.420 unravel your
01:22:21.300 entire life?
01:22:23.240 Yeah well
01:22:23.880 first of all
01:22:24.400 it would and
01:22:25.760 second yeah I
01:22:26.620 know what you
01:22:27.020 mean.
01:22:27.820 You mean what
01:22:28.960 if I suppose
01:22:30.460 a cardinal case
01:22:31.800 there would be
01:22:32.300 that you did
01:22:32.740 something really
01:22:33.300 terrible and
01:22:33.960 that if that
01:22:34.560 was revealed it
01:22:35.260 would be a
01:22:36.160 catastrophic
01:22:36.700 situation.
01:22:38.160 It's like
01:22:38.400 without knowing
01:22:39.840 the details of
01:22:40.840 that I can't
01:22:41.640 provide a generic
01:22:42.540 answer.
01:22:43.640 You know I
01:22:44.000 think that there
01:22:44.700 are some
01:22:46.120 sins that are
01:22:46.960 so egregious
01:22:47.720 that you don't
01:22:48.460 get to confess
01:22:49.280 to them.
01:22:49.960 You know like
01:22:50.500 if you've done
01:22:50.980 something terrible
01:22:51.760 and I'm not
01:22:52.960 recommending this
01:22:53.820 it's just an
01:22:54.400 example.
01:22:54.920 If you've done
01:22:55.300 something terrible
01:22:55.920 and you know
01:22:56.520 that if you
01:22:57.300 revealed it it
01:22:57.940 would blow the
01:22:58.920 lives of many
01:22:59.620 people around
01:23:00.220 you apart
01:23:00.740 it isn't
01:23:01.440 obvious to me
01:23:02.160 that you have
01:23:02.640 any moral
01:23:03.420 justification
01:23:05.200 for confessing
01:23:07.100 just to free
01:23:07.800 your miserable
01:23:08.420 soul.
01:23:09.720 So what if
01:23:11.040 the truth could
01:23:11.620 unravel your
01:23:12.320 entire life?
01:23:13.360 Well maybe you
01:23:13.800 need to go to
01:23:14.340 Catholic confession
01:23:15.180 and let someone
01:23:15.960 know exactly
01:23:16.640 what happened
01:23:17.160 so you're clear
01:23:17.820 about it
01:23:18.180 then maybe
01:23:18.720 what you need
01:23:19.260 to do is
01:23:19.700 to swear to
01:23:20.400 whatever God
01:23:21.060 you worship
01:23:21.660 that you're
01:23:22.520 going to try
01:23:22.900 to walk the
01:23:23.440 straight and
01:23:23.820 narrow from
01:23:24.300 here on in
01:23:25.180 and that'll
01:23:25.680 be sufficient
01:23:26.280 to atone
01:23:27.580 for whatever
01:23:28.420 terrible thing
01:23:29.200 that you did
01:23:29.820 and that's a
01:23:30.840 form of prayer
01:23:32.160 and it sounds
01:23:33.000 like one that
01:23:34.000 you desperately
01:23:34.560 need at least
01:23:35.600 in principle.
01:23:37.420 So without
01:23:41.300 knowing the
01:23:41.820 details that's
01:23:42.500 about the best
01:23:43.020 I can do
01:23:43.620 I think
01:23:49.960 what put
01:23:50.960 you over
01:23:51.380 with so
01:23:51.760 many of us
01:23:52.200 was the
01:23:52.520 constructive
01:23:52.980 message of
01:23:53.600 how to be
01:23:53.960 a good man
01:23:54.580 well a good
01:23:55.260 person I
01:23:55.900 would say
01:23:56.320 do you think
01:23:57.420 that's where
01:23:57.860 the media
01:23:58.220 want you to
01:23:58.820 go?
01:23:59.340 I don't
01:23:59.760 know
01:24:00.160 generally
01:24:00.840 not
01:24:01.240 I mentioned
01:24:03.260 this earlier
01:24:03.840 is the
01:24:04.300 media as
01:24:05.380 it disintegrates
01:24:06.220 and it
01:24:06.760 certainly is
01:24:07.260 disintegrating
01:24:07.880 at an
01:24:08.180 incredibly
01:24:08.640 rapid rate
01:24:09.420 everything is
01:24:12.180 political
01:24:12.600 it's as if
01:24:13.580 the philosophical
01:24:14.320 and the
01:24:15.380 psychological
01:24:15.940 and the
01:24:16.760 theological
01:24:17.260 don't exist
01:24:18.720 and you know
01:24:19.960 increasingly in
01:24:20.880 my interviews
01:24:21.580 I've been
01:24:22.200 talking about
01:24:23.820 what's been
01:24:24.280 happening at
01:24:25.040 my lectures
01:24:25.600 on my tour
01:24:26.260 and describing
01:24:27.120 the fact that
01:24:27.820 the vast majority
01:24:29.080 of the audience
01:24:29.940 isn't there for
01:24:30.540 political reasons
01:24:31.280 at all
01:24:31.600 they're there
01:24:31.980 because they
01:24:32.440 want to
01:24:32.880 figure out
01:24:33.880 how to have
01:24:34.440 a responsible
01:24:35.100 and meaningful
01:24:35.900 life
01:24:36.380 and it's as if
01:24:37.440 that story
01:24:38.420 just doesn't
01:24:39.000 exist
01:24:39.540 the framework
01:24:41.100 which is
01:24:41.640 basically
01:24:42.120 a political
01:24:42.960 framework
01:24:43.400 and increasingly
01:24:44.220 a politically
01:24:44.740 correct framework
01:24:45.500 doesn't allow
01:24:46.780 that to exist
01:24:47.860 as a reality
01:24:48.780 and that's
01:24:50.700 why
01:24:50.960 well
01:24:52.340 I'm much
01:24:53.320 more comfortable
01:24:54.020 lecturing
01:24:55.860 to the
01:24:57.460 crowds that
01:24:58.000 have been
01:24:58.320 coming to
01:24:58.780 see me
01:24:59.060 than I am
01:24:59.560 talking to
01:25:00.100 journalists
01:25:00.520 it's become
01:25:01.040 I have to
01:25:02.300 I have been
01:25:02.780 limiting my
01:25:03.480 interactions
01:25:05.100 with journalists
01:25:05.760 even though
01:25:06.140 that might not
01:25:06.640 be self-evident
01:25:07.400 yet
01:25:07.660 I have been
01:25:08.180 trying to
01:25:08.560 do that
01:25:09.000 that
01:25:09.880 the demands
01:25:11.000 have been
01:25:11.340 increasing
01:25:11.840 so
01:25:13.100 the proportion
01:25:15.280 of media
01:25:16.040 invitations
01:25:17.360 that I'm
01:25:17.900 responding to
01:25:18.600 has fallen
01:25:19.140 dramatically
01:25:19.780 even though
01:25:20.480 the absolute
01:25:21.160 number
01:25:21.760 hasn't declined
01:25:22.840 as precipitously
01:25:23.980 and the reason
01:25:24.900 for that
01:25:25.280 is that
01:25:25.660 well I find
01:25:26.240 the typical
01:25:27.880 interview
01:25:28.500 very stressful
01:25:30.100 very very
01:25:30.880 stressful
01:25:31.340 I'm on guard
01:25:32.700 and I would
01:25:33.640 say also
01:25:34.240 my attitude
01:25:34.840 isn't as good
01:25:35.940 as it could
01:25:36.360 be anymore
01:25:36.820 because I've
01:25:37.540 been
01:25:37.760 I'm
01:25:39.200 because I'm
01:25:39.840 on guard
01:25:40.220 so much
01:25:40.620 it's easier
01:25:41.080 for me to
01:25:41.540 get a bit
01:25:42.000 snappy
01:25:42.560 and unpleasant
01:25:43.820 and that's
01:25:44.680 bad
01:25:45.040 that's bad
01:25:45.660 I don't want
01:25:46.100 to do that
01:25:46.600 I want to
01:25:47.160 stay calm
01:25:47.780 and detached
01:25:48.780 and try to
01:25:49.940 you know
01:25:50.860 tell the truth
01:25:51.500 and be happy
01:25:52.040 that I'm there
01:25:52.580 regardless of
01:25:53.400 the circumstances
01:25:54.800 the fact
01:25:56.640 that the
01:25:58.000 mainstream media
01:25:59.840 let's say
01:26:00.380 is not
01:26:01.360 very receptive
01:26:02.980 although sometimes
01:26:04.280 there's exceptions
01:26:05.000 not very receptive
01:26:06.920 to the idea
01:26:07.660 that I could
01:26:08.800 just be going
01:26:09.420 around talking
01:26:10.060 to people
01:26:10.520 who want to
01:26:11.140 get their life
01:26:11.660 together
01:26:12.040 is quite
01:26:12.820 saddening
01:26:13.540 and I think
01:26:14.000 it's definitely
01:26:14.720 a commentary
01:26:15.440 on the
01:26:16.040 fundamental
01:26:16.540 corruption
01:26:17.120 of our
01:26:18.280 media
01:26:18.680 apparatus
01:26:19.340 I think
01:26:26.340 it's better
01:26:26.800 to talk
01:26:27.260 on YouTube
01:26:27.900 to speak
01:26:29.520 on my podcast
01:26:30.200 to do these
01:26:30.900 lectures
01:26:31.280 and I think
01:26:32.700 it's increasingly
01:26:33.600 better to do
01:26:34.280 that
01:26:34.440 the long-form
01:26:35.540 discussions
01:26:36.080 on YouTube
01:26:37.180 though
01:26:37.560 with people
01:26:38.020 like Joe Rogan
01:26:38.820 and Dave Rubin
01:26:39.540 and so forth
01:26:40.800 that works
01:26:41.700 just fine
01:26:42.320 so
01:26:43.320 a new media
01:26:44.880 form is
01:26:46.480 emerging
01:26:46.900 and I think
01:26:47.380 it's going to
01:26:47.720 be a lot
01:26:48.100 more productive
01:26:48.700 it won't be
01:26:49.960 as scripted
01:26:50.580 it'll be
01:26:50.900 much longer
01:26:51.460 form
01:26:51.840 it'll be
01:26:52.180 allow for
01:26:52.680 much more
01:26:53.220 thoughtfulness
01:26:54.220 and
01:26:56.700 I'm
01:26:59.660 but it's
01:27:02.220 okay
01:27:02.580 it's not
01:27:03.640 like the
01:27:04.220 media exposure
01:27:05.020 although it's
01:27:06.080 been stressful
01:27:06.640 it's not
01:27:07.060 like I'm
01:27:07.460 not grateful
01:27:08.040 for it
01:27:08.600 even
01:27:10.280 people who
01:27:11.020 put me
01:27:11.400 on the spot
01:27:11.900 very badly
01:27:12.560 have ended
01:27:13.060 up doing
01:27:13.460 me a
01:27:13.760 tremendous
01:27:14.120 favor
01:27:14.600 but
01:27:15.420 the problem
01:27:16.140 is that
01:27:16.700 because
01:27:17.700 the problem
01:27:22.280 is I'm
01:27:22.640 becoming too
01:27:23.140 much on
01:27:23.560 guard
01:27:23.820 and I've
01:27:24.860 noticed
01:27:25.220 a developing
01:27:26.580 sense of
01:27:27.180 impatience
01:27:27.900 within me
01:27:29.600 and some
01:27:30.560 suspicion
01:27:31.100 and that's
01:27:32.560 not good
01:27:33.000 I don't want
01:27:33.740 to be in
01:27:34.080 situations
01:27:34.540 where those
01:27:35.100 are my
01:27:35.440 fundamental
01:27:35.920 orientations
01:27:36.720 it's a sign
01:27:38.520 of a certain
01:27:39.040 amount of
01:27:39.420 internal
01:27:39.760 corruption
01:27:40.160 on my
01:27:40.580 part
01:27:40.880 and I
01:27:43.760 want to be
01:27:44.160 in situations
01:27:44.820 where I'm
01:27:45.520 speaking with
01:27:46.200 people
01:27:46.620 speaking honestly
01:27:47.940 to people
01:27:48.400 who are
01:27:48.680 honestly
01:27:49.060 listening
01:27:49.520 that would
01:27:50.900 be
01:27:51.060 that's a
01:27:51.480 good
01:27:51.620 situation
01:27:52.180 so
01:27:52.900 would you
01:27:58.280 agree with
01:27:58.700 C.S.
01:27:59.100 Lewis that
01:27:59.500 if you look
01:27:59.960 for truth
01:28:00.460 you may
01:28:00.880 find comfort
01:28:01.540 if you
01:28:01.820 look for
01:28:02.140 comfort
01:28:02.480 you will
01:28:02.820 find despair
01:28:03.540 oh yes
01:28:04.140 that's
01:28:04.520 definitely
01:28:04.840 the case
01:28:05.360 it's quite
01:28:06.200 an intelligent
01:28:06.800 phrase
01:28:07.200 because he
01:28:07.680 says if
01:28:07.980 you look
01:28:08.340 for truth
01:28:08.740 you may
01:28:09.640 find comfort
01:28:10.640 he didn't
01:28:11.800 say you
01:28:12.200 will find
01:28:12.820 comfort
01:28:13.240 yeah well
01:28:14.020 sometimes if
01:28:14.600 you look
01:28:14.840 for truth
01:28:15.220 you don't
01:28:15.580 find comfort
01:28:16.100 to begin
01:28:16.540 with
01:28:16.740 that's
01:28:17.060 for sure
01:28:17.360 you find
01:28:17.780 a lot
01:28:18.040 of trouble
01:28:18.480 but sometimes
01:28:19.920 you have to
01:28:20.380 go through
01:28:20.720 a lot of
01:28:21.100 trouble
01:28:21.340 to get
01:28:21.700 to set
01:28:22.080 things
01:28:22.360 right
01:28:22.720 if you
01:28:23.480 look for
01:28:23.840 comfort
01:28:24.340 despair
01:28:25.120 well the
01:28:25.900 reason for
01:28:26.340 that is
01:28:26.740 that you
01:28:27.640 can't look
01:28:28.060 for comfort
01:28:28.520 in life
01:28:29.000 life isn't
01:28:30.400 about comfort
01:28:31.580 life is
01:28:32.560 a deadly
01:28:33.500 game
01:28:33.860 it's a
01:28:35.420 game of
01:28:35.800 life and
01:28:36.180 death
01:28:36.380 it's a
01:28:36.700 game of
01:28:37.040 good and
01:28:37.360 evil
01:28:37.600 it's
01:28:38.740 everything's
01:28:39.560 on the
01:28:39.920 line
01:28:40.240 your
01:28:41.180 sanity's
01:28:41.720 on the
01:28:42.000 line
01:28:42.280 your
01:28:43.160 freedom
01:28:45.680 from pain
01:28:46.360 is on
01:28:46.720 the line
01:28:47.140 your freedom
01:28:47.780 from despair
01:28:48.440 is on
01:28:48.820 the line
01:28:49.180 your family's
01:28:50.120 on the
01:28:50.400 line
01:28:50.640 there's no
01:28:51.580 comfort
01:28:51.980 life is
01:28:52.800 an adventure
01:28:53.380 and I
01:28:54.480 think the
01:28:54.780 greatest
01:28:55.060 adventure
01:28:55.540 that you
01:28:55.960 could possibly
01:28:56.520 have
01:28:56.940 is one
01:28:58.000 is the
01:28:58.760 one that
01:28:59.600 you find
01:29:00.220 if you
01:29:01.100 look for
01:29:02.580 the truth
01:29:02.980 and that's
01:29:06.360 a good
01:29:06.540 place to
01:29:06.960 stop
01:29:07.260 that's
01:29:08.440 been
01:29:08.600 90
01:29:08.880 minutes
01:29:09.260 and
01:29:10.100 I've
01:29:12.760 been
01:29:12.880 reasonably
01:29:13.260 sharp
01:29:13.720 and with
01:29:14.160 it
01:29:14.320 for the
01:29:14.760 full
01:29:14.920 90
01:29:15.180 minutes
01:29:15.540 and so
01:29:17.140 I think
01:29:18.760 I'll bring
01:29:19.940 it to a
01:29:20.240 close
01:29:20.520 just a
01:29:21.200 couple of
01:29:21.540 reminders
01:29:21.920 for those
01:29:23.360 of you
01:29:23.600 who tuned
01:29:23.960 in late
01:29:24.420 if you
01:29:25.600 want to
01:29:25.880 try out
01:29:26.300 the
01:29:26.460 self
01:29:26.700 authoring
01:29:27.140 program
01:29:27.560 I made
01:29:28.200 a code
01:29:28.680 August
01:29:29.340 and that
01:29:30.600 entitles you
01:29:31.420 to 20%
01:29:32.140 off
01:29:32.460 there's a
01:29:32.820 two-for-one
01:29:33.260 special
01:29:33.640 so you
01:29:34.000 can give
01:29:34.300 it to
01:29:34.520 a friend
01:29:34.880 as well
01:29:35.360 if you
01:29:36.220 want to
01:29:36.460 try
01:29:36.620 understand
01:29:37.160 myself
01:29:37.520 which is
01:29:37.980 a
01:29:38.100 personality
01:29:38.500 test
01:29:39.000 it only
01:29:40.460 takes
01:29:40.720 about
01:29:40.920 15
01:29:41.340 minutes
01:29:41.620 it's
01:29:41.840 quite
01:29:42.000 a bit
01:29:42.200 easier
01:29:42.500 than
01:29:42.740 the
01:29:43.060 self
01:29:43.280 authoring
01:29:43.700 suite
01:29:44.000 the code
01:29:45.640 for that
01:29:45.980 is also
01:29:46.420 August
01:29:46.820 that also
01:29:47.500 gives
01:29:47.720 you
01:29:47.820 20%
01:29:48.420 off
01:29:48.760 self
01:29:49.620 authoring
01:29:50.040 helps
01:29:50.300 you
01:29:50.440 write
01:29:50.600 about
01:29:50.800 your
01:29:50.960 past
01:29:51.340 and
01:29:51.600 present
01:29:51.960 and
01:29:52.180 future
01:29:52.500 and
01:29:53.040 you
01:29:53.180 can
01:29:53.300 do
01:29:53.440 a
01:29:53.560 bad
01:29:53.760 job
01:29:54.120 and
01:29:54.420 if
01:29:54.560 you
01:29:54.680 haven't
01:29:55.400 developed
01:29:55.840 a
01:29:56.020 life
01:29:56.240 plan
01:29:56.620 and
01:29:56.860 you
01:29:56.980 don't
01:29:57.200 know
01:29:57.360 where
01:29:57.500 you
01:29:57.660 are
01:29:57.840 and
01:29:58.040 you
01:29:58.160 don't
01:29:58.360 know
01:29:58.500 where
01:29:58.620 you're
01:29:58.800 going
01:29:59.100 then
01:29:59.760 I
01:30:00.060 would
01:30:00.200 highly
01:30:00.480 recommend
01:30:01.000 trying
01:30:01.400 the
01:30:01.560 program
01:30:01.880 and
01:30:02.160 you're
01:30:02.360 welcome
01:30:02.600 to
01:30:02.780 do
01:30:02.900 a
01:30:03.020 bad
01:30:03.240 job
01:30:03.620 at
01:30:04.180 it
01:30:04.360 because
01:30:05.020 a
01:30:05.340 bad
01:30:05.620 plan
01:30:05.920 is
01:30:06.140 a
01:30:06.780 lot
01:30:06.980 better
01:30:07.220 than
01:30:07.400 no
01:30:07.580 plan
01:30:07.860 at
01:30:07.980 all
01:30:08.140 and
01:30:08.440 understand
01:30:09.680 myself
01:30:10.180 will
01:30:10.460 help
01:30:10.880 you
01:30:11.020 understand
01:30:11.460 who
01:30:11.680 you
01:30:11.840 are
01:30:12.060 for
01:30:12.280 better
01:30:12.520 or
01:30:12.760 worse
01:30:13.020 and
01:30:13.280 people
01:30:14.240 have
01:30:14.440 responded
01:30:14.840 quite
01:30:15.120 positively
01:30:15.580 to
01:30:15.840 it
01:30:15.980 so
01:30:16.180 I
01:30:17.000 think
01:30:17.200 it's
01:30:17.380 worth
01:30:17.600 the
01:30:17.780 15
01:30:18.160 minutes
01:30:18.500 and
01:30:18.680 the
01:30:18.820 $9.95
01:30:19.380 that
01:30:19.800 it
01:30:19.980 costs
01:30:20.500 discounted
01:30:22.460 20%
01:30:22.980 now
01:30:23.320 so
01:30:23.520 I
01:30:23.640 guess
01:30:23.760 that's
01:30:24.020 about
01:30:24.220 $7.95
01:30:24.920 something
01:30:25.440 like
01:30:25.700 that
01:30:25.980 so
01:30:26.700 that
01:30:27.200 the
01:30:29.100 second
01:30:29.440 Iceland
01:30:29.820 lecture
01:30:30.240 is going
01:30:30.560 to come
01:30:30.780 out
01:30:30.940 soon
01:30:31.160 I
01:30:31.300 released
01:30:31.640 the
01:30:31.820 first
01:30:32.060 Iceland
01:30:32.400 lecture
01:30:32.780 which
01:30:33.000 is
01:30:33.140 part
01:30:33.340 of
01:30:33.440 12
01:30:33.660 rules
01:30:33.920 for
01:30:34.080 life
01:30:34.300 I
01:30:34.880 have
01:30:35.060 a
01:30:35.220 tour
01:30:35.460 coming
01:30:35.840 out
01:30:36.120 through
01:30:36.460 the
01:30:36.640 northeastern
01:30:37.200 part
01:30:37.500 of
01:30:37.580 the
01:30:37.660 United
01:30:37.880 States
01:30:38.300 starting
01:30:38.780 in
01:30:39.020 September
01:30:39.420 and
01:30:40.440 then
01:30:40.640 over
01:30:41.060 to
01:30:41.340 the
01:30:41.560 UK
01:30:41.840 and
01:30:42.080 northern
01:30:42.320 Europe
01:30:42.640 in
01:30:42.880 September
01:30:43.240 and
01:30:43.420 October
01:30:43.760 and
01:30:44.040 then
01:30:44.240 Australia
01:30:44.740 and
01:30:44.960 New
01:30:45.120 Zealand
01:30:45.360 in
01:30:45.680 February
01:30:46.120 I
01:30:48.940 really
01:30:49.320 enjoyed
01:30:49.680 the
01:30:49.860 tour
01:30:50.100 I
01:30:50.420 think
01:30:50.640 it's
01:30:51.000 an
01:30:51.420 amazing
01:30:51.880 opportunity
01:30:52.580 it's
01:30:56.000 been
01:30:56.220 extraordinarily
01:30:56.960 heartwarming
01:30:58.480 let's
01:30:58.860 say
01:30:59.060 to
01:30:59.640 talk
01:31:00.040 to
01:31:00.200 so
01:31:00.360 many
01:31:00.540 people
01:31:00.840 who
01:31:00.980 are
01:31:01.100 trying
01:31:01.280 to
01:31:01.400 put
01:31:01.500 their
01:31:01.640 lives
01:31:01.840 together
01:31:02.140 and
01:31:02.340 if
01:31:02.460 enough
01:31:02.680 people
01:31:02.960 do
01:31:03.140 that
01:31:03.380 then
01:31:03.640 they
01:31:04.700 will
01:31:04.900 put
01:31:05.080 their
01:31:05.240 lives
01:31:05.440 together
01:31:05.740 and
01:31:05.960 that
01:31:06.160 will
01:31:06.300 help
01:31:06.500 put
01:31:06.680 everything
01:31:07.000 else
01:31:07.240 together
01:31:07.600 and
01:31:08.600 so
01:31:08.820 hopefully
01:31:09.180 these
01:31:09.460 Q&A's
01:31:09.980 are
01:31:10.100 a
01:31:10.460 small
01:31:10.780 part
01:31:11.640 of
01:31:11.780 that
01:31:12.020 so
01:31:13.080 thank
01:31:13.460 you
01:31:13.580 very
01:31:13.800 much
01:31:14.080 for
01:31:14.440 listening
01:31:14.860 in
01:31:15.160 and
01:31:15.660 I'll
01:31:16.060 try
01:31:16.280 to
01:31:16.440 do
01:31:16.660 one
01:31:16.900 in
01:31:17.220 September
01:31:18.340 if
01:31:19.520 I
01:31:19.680 don't
01:31:19.960 it's
01:31:20.180 because
01:31:20.440 I'm
01:31:20.680 on
01:31:20.800 the
01:31:20.940 road
01:31:21.220 all
01:31:21.580 the
01:31:21.720 time
01:31:22.000 but
01:31:22.440 I
01:31:22.620 will
01:31:22.780 definitely
01:31:23.100 try
01:31:23.340 to
01:31:23.480 do
01:31:23.580 one
01:31:23.760 in
01:31:23.900 September
01:31:24.280 so
01:31:25.460 thank
01:31:26.140 you
01:31:26.360 for
01:31:26.600 to
01:31:26.820 my
01:31:27.000 Patreon
01:31:27.380 supporters
01:31:27.960 I
01:31:28.880 mentioned
01:31:29.200 to
01:31:29.360 you
01:31:29.520 guys
01:31:29.760 that
01:31:30.000 I
01:31:30.500 am
01:31:30.800 working
01:31:31.440 hard
01:31:31.720 on
01:31:31.880 the
01:31:31.980 online
01:31:32.300 university
01:31:32.760 and
01:31:32.960 have
01:31:33.100 hired
01:31:33.300 three
01:31:33.540 people
01:31:33.840 to
01:31:34.040 work
01:31:34.280 on
01:31:34.420 that
01:31:34.600 and
01:31:34.720 that
01:31:34.820 we're
01:31:35.180 about
01:31:35.420 a
01:31:35.540 year
01:31:35.680 ahead
01:31:35.920 of
01:31:36.060 schedule
01:31:36.400 I
01:31:36.580 would
01:31:36.720 say
01:31:36.960 where
01:31:37.240 I
01:31:37.380 thought
01:31:37.560 I'd
01:31:37.740 be
01:31:37.840 so
01:31:38.020 in
01:31:38.140 three
01:31:38.340 months
01:31:38.620 we're
01:31:38.780 a
01:31:38.900 year
01:31:39.040 ahead
01:31:39.260 of
01:31:39.380 where
01:31:39.520 I
01:31:39.640 figured
01:31:39.840 we'd
01:31:40.600 be
01:31:40.780 so
01:31:41.580 thanks
01:31:43.320 again
01:31:43.660 good
01:31:44.020 night
01:31:44.280 ciao
01:32:02.300 he
01:32:07.320 he
01:32:08.780 he
01:32:10.940 and
01:32:15.720 I
01:32:15.860 I
01:32:15.920 I
01:32:16.900 I
01:32:17.960 I
01:32:18.880 I
01:32:19.180 I
01:32:19.240 I
01:32:19.740 I
01:32:19.760 I
01:32:19.800 I
01:32:20.700 I
01:32:21.700 I
01:32:22.280 I
01:32:22.840 I
01:32:22.940 I
01:32:23.000 I
01:32:23.800 I
01:32:24.260 I
01:32:24.920 I
01:32:30.920 I