Aug. 17, 2023 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
01:18:58
5241 STOP BEING MANIPULATED!
Stefan I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube I would send you donations because you would inspire me. I tell people there's a philosopher that won't demand money he just lets the community pay what they think they can and it is worth. I said he is amazing and I send him money and I don't send anybody money.Unfortunately I won't be able to say that anymore it's a sad day in the world of philosophy and the world in general.There is a war on the good people of the world.It saddens me that only people of financial means will be able to gain benefit from your content. Philosophy is important. So important it needs to be spread far and wide.Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!Get access to StefBOT-AI, private livestreams, premium call in shows, my new book and the History of Philosophers series!See you soon!https://freedomain.locals.com/support/promo/UPB2022
Just a little thing here on freedomain.locals.com.
Sometimes you get platonic perfection.
Boy, you want to see?
I've been doing so many weights writing this book, I now have calluses.
I now have calluses.
Oh, the beast.
The beast.
The beast.
So yes, good morning everybody.
Every now and then you get a little slice of platonic perfection dropped into your lap.
Sometimes it's me singing the blues and other times it's just this message.
Without any further ado, let us step off the plane, away to the carousel, get home, and unpack.
Let us unpack this statement.
Are you ready?
Hit me with a Y if you're ready for some truly soul-sucking, squid, serrated squid, twisting manipulations.
Are you ready?
This is a manipulative message I got, and I just wanted to make sure, because it's early in the day for this kind of manipulation.
And this manipulation will be followed by me crying about not getting tipped.
By the way, if you do want to tip, that's totally fine.
That's not a manipulation, that's just me being vulnerable.
Alright, here we go, here we go.
Satellite radio, y'all get hit with the boom, boom.
Steph!
Stephan, I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube.
All right.
Why did the alarm spell go off when you hear these first few?
Let's do this sentence by sentence.
I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube.
Why do we have all... Yeah, past tense.
Beautiful.
Enjoyed.
Oh, you know, I'm not so much angry as I am just disappointed.
How many years ago was I kicked off YouTube?
Just out of question.
Yeah, it's been a little over three years, right?
I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube.
So this is somebody... I got this message after a Sunday at 11 a.m., which I'm gonna try and do regularly, 11 a.m.
It's a donor-only livestream and usually, usually they would
I'll publish those for free afterwards, but yeah, it's like my way of saying thanks to the donors You guys keep keep me alive, and I really really appreciate that so Watching you on YouTube, so you know just out of curiosity.
I gotta think I it's one of these messages You just hope to God there are no testicles involved like you just you get on your hands and knees and of course because it's me I need a bunch of fairly well-oiled helpers to help me with my balls, but you get on your hands and knees and
Widespread, wide stunts.
Women are like, oh, he's spreading on the subway.
It's like, ladies, you have endless Hermes bags to manage and we have a nut sack to manage.
It's not particularly easy.
So this is the kind of message you hope to God that there are no balls involved.
Because if this is a woman, it's bad enough.
If this is a man, well, I guess we'd use man in the past tense like he enjoyed listening to me in the past tense.
So Steph, I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube, right?
So I haven't been on YouTube for years, so you know this is not a new listener, this is not somebody who's kept up, right?
You know for a fact that this is not somebody who's kept up with me, so they haven't watched me for years, right?
Although, it was that somebody posted The Truth About Crime on Twitter the other day, my presentation, The Truth About Crime, and I actually watched it.
I haven't watched one of my shows sort of end-to-end in years, but I did watch The Truth About Crime, which is just under an hour.
It's really good.
FDRpodcast.com if you want to check it out.
So, Stefan, I really enjoyed listening to you and watching you on YouTube.
I would send you donations because you would inspire me!
I tell people there's a philosopher that won't demand money, he just lets the community pay what they think they can and it is worth.
So the first thing is that we'll call this girl Kirsten.
Let's try Kirsten.
So Kirsten, please God let it be a girl, Kirsten is like, I would send you donations because you would inspire me.
Okay, so what she's saying is, I'm unhappy, I used to give you money, right?
So this is someone who says that money is important.
Like if you care about someone, you will give them money.
Now clearly this person hasn't given me money in years because they still think I'm on YouTube, right?
So anyway, I would send you donations because you would inspire me.
I tell people there's a philosopher that won't demand money.
What does it mean to demand money?
What does it mean to demand money?
I mean, I get that the mugger in an alleyway demands money because he's got a switchblade or whatever, right?
And he demands money.
I guess taxes is a fairly robust demand for money.
What does it mean to say demand money?
Demand.
So when somebody, look, I have no power to enforce you guys donating, obviously, right?
I can't make a law, I can't demand, I can't demand anything.
And even if I were to sort of, I don't know, like copyright and make everything private, it would just be a torrent and people would just share it that way, right?
So to ask for, it's interesting, and you'll notice this when people reframe what you do to make it more aggressive.
This is one of the key things about negotiation, right?
If you give me examples from your own life, I think that's fine, right?
So I ask for donations, right?
I ask for donations and occasionally I will have subscriber only live streams.
But again, they usually post it to everyone else, right?
So when somebody says, I ask for money and if you want to join in the occasional subscriber live stream, fantastic.
You can do that.
Is that a demand?
So, for instance, if you go to the mall, and it always seems to be a Chinese restaurant, there's some ancient woman out there, out front, with the barbecued chicken, right?
And it's got the toothpicks through it, and they say, try our chicken, right?
So there's all your free stuff, right?
Now, if you like the chicken, I guess you could order some chicken, but you have to pay for that, right?
You've got a bunch of free stuff, but you have to pay for the actual meal, right?
You have to see this all the time in grocery stores and so on, right?
So, is it demanding money to say, here's a bunch of free stuff, but if you want this, you have to pay.
So it turns into a demand, right?
It's not a demand, it's an ask.
Do you see what I mean?
So somebody says, we had to become monthly donors after listening for about a year.
We watched you more than TV, it seems like the correct thing to do.
That was about 10 years ago.
Thank you so much, Paula, that's wonderfully kind and I hugely, hugely appreciate that.
So I tell people there's a philosopher that won't demand money, he just lets the community pay what they think they can and it is worth.
I said he is amazing and I send him money and I don't send anybody money.
So he is, so she's gone from not even knowing I was kicked off of YouTube to saying in the present, I send him money, right?
So she said I would send you donations back in the day on YouTube, which is years and years ago, right?
He is amazing and I send him money and I don't send anybody money.
Unfortunately, unfortunately, I won't be able to say that anymore.
Now this, unfortunately, I get it's occasional.
Like, you can use this legitimately.
Like somebody asked me on freedomain.locals.com, you know, what if my mom, you know, changed her mind and
My mom became a good person, and so on.
How would I react to or deal with that?
And I said, well, unfortunately, she's way too far gone to become a good person.
Like, change is not a lifelong privilege, right?
If you want to be a ballerina, you can't stop when you're 50, right?
So, change is not a lifelong privilege.
So, that's a non-sequitur.
Is this Donald Trump speaking?
I don't understand that at all.
Some people just throw in these non-sequiturs.
I don't know.
Like, read the room.
Anyway.
So, uh, thank you very much.
Somebody says, uh, best investment for me, my wife and our five kids.
Hands down.
I, I like to think so.
I, I, I like to think so.
And in fact, it could have been a great monetary investment if you started listening to me when Bitcoin was about 50 cents.
So,
This person is saying, unfortunately.
Now, unfortunately is something that's outside of your control.
Would you say so?
It's outside of your control.
So I say, unfortunately, my mom has no option.
She has no option left to become a good person.
Like that's many, many decades in the past.
She can't change her mind.
She's doubled down.
She's right.
So unfortunately is something beyond your control, right?
You know, unfortunately, your kid has cancer.
Unfortunately, whatever, right?
So it's something beyond your control.
If you're trying to pick up someone from the airport, your car breaks down, you say, unfortunately, I won't be able to come, right?
So unfortunately, it's something outside of your control.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to say that anymore.
So it's not a choice, right?
It's not a moral choice.
So what has she learned?
What has she learned from watching me?
See, when people say, and it's really, really important, when people say, it's not about me, it's not about me, it's about you, right?
But for me, when people say, I've consumed a lot of your content,
And then they say, my moral choice is completely out of my hands.
Then, of course, they haven't actually listened to or understood anything that I'm saying.
Does that make sense?
Like if somebody said, Steph, you turned me into a rabid communist.
It'd be like, uh, no, then, right?
So when people criticize you, as this is a big criticism, which we'll get to, have they actually listened to you?
Do they understand what you're saying?
Right?
It's a sad day in the world of philosophy and the world in general.
Okay, so this is a technique called escalation.
Alright, how much do you have to pay to access the premium content?
What's the minimum, right?
First of all, you can get it for free.
For a month, you can try it out totally for free, right?
And of course, you can, in that month, I'll be straight up with you because I'm not going to hide this, right?
So if you want, you can totally use the system.
I'm not saying I approve of it, but you can do it.
You get two months free.
You get 12 months free if you pay by the year.
So what you can do is you can go to freedemand.locals.com.
You can sign up for a free month.
Using the promo code ALLCAPSUPB2022.
So you can get a free month.
Don't get charged if you don't like it.
And you can access the Artificial Intelligence staff bot, which we spent quite a long lot of time building up.
You can get the feed for my books.
You can get the feed for the History of Philosophers series.
You can listen to all of the premium content over the course of that month.
And then you can just cancel.
So you don't have to literally have to pay nothing to get all the premium content.
Now, of course, I prefer that you pay for it, but you don't technically.
You can try it out free for a month, get it all, and all of that.
So I don't know how to be more generous without bribing you with my kidneys.
Like, I don't know.
I have to pay bills.
I don't know how to be more generous.
And if there's a way to be more generous,
I would be very happy.
Like 99% of my shows are completely free.
There's well over 5,000 shows out there completely for free.
No ads, no promos, no bumper ads or anything like that.
Totally free, ad free.
I've got three documentaries, all of which were ferociously expensive, which are all out there for free.
Freedomain.com slash documentaries.
I have all but one of my books is free so that's what 14 or 15 books all all for free audiobooks and ebook versions and you can read online so all of that is free is free right?
So the escalation thing is when and look I honestly I admire this person I really do because to be that blatant and that honest is really really instructive.
So listen I'm perfectly happy to take advice on this right so if you can think of a way that I can be more generous and still pay the bills
Right?
I mean, running the show is not free, right?
You've got server costs.
I've got tech costs.
I've got developer costs.
I've got researcher costs.
I've got editing costs.
I've got camera costs.
I've got studio costs.
Hardware often wears out, needs to be replaced.
It's not free, right?
It's not free.
I'm not just coasting on no cost, right?
And again, I need to eat.
So there's a couple of people on the payroll, and we all have to eat.
Is that if there's a way for me to be more generous and still pay the bills, I would be thrilled to do it.
And I'm perfectly happy if anybody has ideas, you can always email me operations at free domain.com.
You can always email me and tell me, because here's the thing at the moment, my perception is, my perception is I'm at maximum generosity.
Maximum, because if I could figure out a way to be more generous, I would.
Now people say, well no, no, maximum generosity would be giving it away for free.
All of it.
And never charging for anything or never asking for donations.
That would be maximum generosity.
But that would be wrong.
Now why is it wrong that it's maximum generosity to give it all away for free?
And never ask for donations, never take donations.
Why would that not be maximum generosity?
You guys know this one, right?
Why would that not be maximum generosity?
No, no ads.
Oh, just donated for the first time.
Your novel almost was simply amazing, a work of art.
I've been sending out the RSS feed to friends.
Thank you so much for writing this and doing what you do.
Almost isn't a great book.
It's a great book.
Well, so yes, you're absolutely right.
So if I didn't ask for anything, if I didn't ask for any bills to be paid, then I wouldn't be able to generate any content.
I think I wouldn't be able to continue with the show in terms of like the financial input to the show, right?
I mean, I guess I could go for a while on savings or whatever it is, right?
But in terms, like, so maximum generosity is you guys, I mean, you're here, right?
You want new content, right?
You want new content.
You want me to keep producing new content, new call-in shows, new truths about, new, you know, maybe one day I'll be let back out into the wild to speak to the actual flesh people under the blue sky.
So you want me to be able to create new content.
And so if I said, well, no, I'm not going to take any donations, blah, blah, blah.
And then I wasn't able to produce new content after a while.
Then, uh, would you feel like I was serving you?
Right?
So I'm really trying to serve you by making sure I have enough income to.
Keep the show a viable business.
Does this make sense?
It's maximum generosity.
If you don't ask for anything, you don't get any content.
So I'm trying to give you the most content humanly possible.
Does that make sense?
So I don't intersperse it with ads and I try to give you the most content humanly possible.
And obviously quantity and quality, I hope to be the same.
I try to put everything I can into everything that I do to make as valuable as possible.
So I am working hard, and I've thought through this a lot.
I've been an entrepreneur for 30 years.
I think I know what I'm doing.
I've worked as hard as I can to give you the maximum possible content.
So does that, again, yeah, you're right, Jam Text.
A car would be light with no gasoline, but it's also a dead weight.
Right, right.
And this is why, if people call you selfish, they're almost always trying to exploit you, right?
So you need to fiercely, this is not about me and my show, this is about you and your life.
You need to fiercely, fiercely, fiercely guard your pleasure in relationships.
Right, you need to fiercely, fiercely, fiercely guard your pleasure in relationships.
So if something's happening in a relationship that's causing you difficulties, right, if something's happening in a relationship that's causing you difficulties, you need to talk about it and sort it out.
So that if your friend is doing something that bothers you and he doesn't know that it's bothering you, and you start to see him less and less and less because he's doing something that bothers you, you're being very mean, right?
Because you're not giving him the choice, right?
Let's say, I don't know, he makes fun of Polish people and that bothers you for whatever reason, right?
Then
If you say to him, listen, you know, it could just be me, but this, you know, my family died in the Holodomor and the Polish thing is kind of rough on me.
If you could not do that, I'd really appreciate it.
Well, but he'd say, oh man, I'm so sorry.
I didn't know.
And so you're giving him the choice.
So you do fiercely guard your pleasure in relationships, your happiness, right?
And so, happiness is the great motivator.
I am happy when people send donations.
That's nice, right?
Now, of course, significant majority of people in the show never pay a penny, and maybe they can't afford to, and that's totally fine with me.
Well, people sometimes see free and assume worthless.
That certainly is an issue.
That certainly is an issue.
But I think it's outweighed by the other fact, which is that I talk about some very controversial stuff, and I need to be able to reduce people's cynicism.
Oh, he just does it for the money.
It's like, no, no, no, most of it's for free.
So I think, I just want to give people maximum exposure to philosophy who have the capacity for philosophy, right?
This is why the small audience not only doesn't bother me, I treasure it now, I value it now,
Because you can play three chords to a stadium of 10,000 people, but you can play 10,000 chords to a jazz club of a hundred people, right?
So it's higher quality, more complex music with a smaller audience.
Okay, so this was not an email.
It doesn't really matter.
I got the message.
All right.
Unfortunately, she says, I won't be able to say that anymore.
It's a sad day in the world of philosophy and the world in general.
It was a rainy day in Peterville.
So it's a sad day in the world of philosophy and the world in general.
I'm sorry.
Oh my gosh.
It's true that there have been horrible wildfires in Maui that have mysteriously spared all of the rich people's homes and the kids got sent home from work because of high winds and sometimes the parents weren't notified and the children burnt up in their homes and the entire emergency system didn't
work and the fire department said that the fire was out early in the morning they thought it was out or mostly out and then they left and it flared back up again which means of course you should never leave a live fire if you're the fire agency but I'm sure that they have some DEI check boxes so there are real but it's a sad day in the world when children get burned up in their homes that is sad but you know what the real sadness is?
It's sad that there's an absolutely, to me at least, unnecessary war in Eastern Europe.
It's sad.
It's really, you know, there's really sad and tragic things in the world.
It's sad that a 15-year-old girl in India was brutally raped, gang raped, and then when she was in hospital getting examined, she was again raped in the hospital.
That's really sad.
I mean, lots of sad things in the world.
Can we agree with that?
Lots of sad things in the world.
But the saddest thing is that staff charges a couple bucks for an occasional live stream.
I mean, let's, let's be, let's be serious.
Let's let's order our priorities correctly.
Right?
I mean, there is war, famine, plague, pestilence, debt, exploitation, corruption of justice, the laws delay.
There are all of these things.
But what makes me really sad, what breaks my heart, what makes God turn his holy face away in shame and horror, what might bring on the second flood and the conflagration or drowning of the corrupt souls of this entire world, is the five bucks that Steph occasionally asks for an occasional live stream.
Let's keep our priorities straight here, people.
I think, yeah, was it three bucks a mile?
I can't remember.
So, unfortunately, I won't be able to say that anymore.
It's a sad day in the world of philosophy, in the world in general.
There is a war, this person goes on to say, there is a war on the good people of the world.
I mean, yes, of course, that's true.
But so this person claims to identify the war on the good people of the world.
Says that I'm a really good person and is trying to manipulate me into going out of business.
Do you see this?
All you have to do is compare people's stated values to their current actions and you're just liberated from 99% of the planet.
Would you say?
There's war on the good people of the world.
Steph, you're a really good person.
Don't charge anyone for anything.
Go out of business, and that will help the good people in the world.
I mean, it's like she's saying, you know, there are a lot of people out there who try to manipulate good people into giving up their self-interest, Steph.
Don't fall for it!
You get this, right?
It's really funny how transparent this is.
And because it's so transparent and because people showed so much interest when I posted this, I will continue this.
There is a war on the good people of the world.
And the message goes on to say... I wish I had a Victorian fan here.
It saddens me that the only people of financial means... Sorry.
It saddens me that only people of financial means will be able to gain benefit from your content.
Only people of financial means!
Five bucks.
Five bucks is financial means.
And free is financial means.
Only people who have an extra fin floating around.
Fin is apparently a word for five bucks.
It's here in Canada.
I don't know if it's elsewhere, but I remember someone telling me that, right?
It's sad to think that only people of financial means will be able to gain benefit from your content.
Philosophy is important.
So important it needs to be spread far and wide.
Of course, I got this message on social media.
Naturally, I went over to this person's account.
They say that I'm really great at philosophy.
And, and you see, and you see, it's so important that you spread philosophy.
It's just, oh gosh, if there's one thing I can do to just make the world a better place, it's spread philosophy.
It's what I wake up for.
Oh, I mean, my eyes have turned yellow.
I've held in my peace so long because I'm just out there spreading philosophy in the world.
So of course I went over to this person's account.
Quick question, quick question.
This person who says it's a dark day in the world of philosophy because costing five bucks reduces the spread of philosophy by a half a percent of the total number of shows.
One out of every 200 is premium and never shared.
So it's so, so important, and this $5 barrier is just crushing the spread of philosophy.
So of course I go over to this person's social media account.
Quick question.
I scrolled down quite a while.
How many shows has she shared?
Because, you know, sharing
You know, sharing philosophy is super fucking important.
I mean, my God, you should starve to death to spread philosophy.
Now, all I have to do is spread a couple of shows, click and share.
Zero shows.
Zero shows, 100 cats.
Yeah, yeah.
So, I mean, this is, this is funny.
I mean, it's tragic, of course, right?
But it's funny.
Philosophy, it's a sad day for the world.
of philosophy and the world in general.
It's a sad day for the world because there's a couple of bucks access to one show out of 200.
That just means philosophy has to be spread.
It has to be spread far and wide.
And she's posted absolutely zero philosophy shows.
And not only has she not shared any philosophy shows, she hasn't promoted my show at all.
Now, if she had, and it doesn't matter how many followers she has, that's not particularly under her control.
That's fine.
But if she had put a huge amount of effort into sharing shows and sharing philosophy.
And listen, if I'm too controversial, which is fine.
Controversy is just truth plus a short time frame.
Then it turns into wisdom over time.
Like, you know, comedy is just tragedy plus time.
And what was it?
I actually checked my memory a little bit more detail.
The rights I spent were $2,500, not $2,000.
I can't remember what I said, but it was actually $2,500.
So,
So what is really going on here?
Which I find really, really fascinating, right?
So what is going on here?
Because this is a very common thing in the world these days, right?
So tell me, what is this person trying to achieve?
What are they trying to achieve?
What are they trying to get here?
Sabotage, trying to get you to run out of business.
I don't think that's it.
I mean, I think that would be the long run and maybe there's an unconscious motive.
But why does she write this email in terms of what she wants, right?
Yeah, I think you're right.
Yeah, free content without her doing anything.
No, no, no, it's not free content without her doing anything.
This is a way to try and talk you out of money.
This is a way to try and talk you out of money.
Do you follow?
Put the guilt into you for her own lack of doing anything herself.
So she saw that, again, please God let it be a she.
So she saw that I had posted that there was a subscriber only show on Sunday, which I haven't done for a couple of weeks.
I think I did an hour at one point.
But anyway, so, you know, a couple of shows every month or two are subscriber and then most of those get posted back out to the mainstream.
So she saw that
There was something going on that she would have to pay a couple of bucks to attend, and then she wanted to attend it.
And she has a choice, right?
She can then sign up for free.
I mean, cause it says there's a trial, like, or she could look for a promo code and it's pretty easy to find, right?
So she could sign up and again, five bucks, you don't like it, you cancel, right?
So she's got five bucks or manipulation.
Now, the reason I'm talking about this is not, I mean, I find this funny, right?
Maybe she wanted a whole live stream about her.
Yeah, maybe.
Really deep unconsciously, she sends me this kind of stuff so I can peel this manipulation off her and so she can actually honestly engage with people, right?
Because, I mean, an honest statement would be, I really want stuff for free and it bothers me that you're charging for it.
Like I would rather it be for free.
I'd rather everything be for free.
It bothers me.
That you're charging for it.
That's an honest statement, right?
Now, she would rather talk me into giving her stuff.
Now, let's look at your life and my life.
Hit me with a why if you've ever been robbed
At knife point, at gun point, for money, in an alley, somewhere, someone has held you up against a wall and stolen your stuff!
No.
No, of course not.
It's, you know, this is a smart audience, so we know what to do and what not to do to avoid.
No, no, no, not figuratively, Michael.
Literally.
Have you been robbed?
Stay away from dark alleys.
I would say that ever since the birth canal, that's been my practice as well.
Because that was a dark alley that led to a pretty bad... Actually, the dark alley... My mother's birth canal was a dark alley that led out into a crime scene that lasted for 15 years.
Your husband was robbed when he delivered pizzas?
Yeah, yeah.
Been held at gunpoint?
Didn't get any money, though?
I think that... They're supposed to get the money, but I think... I hear what you're saying.
Right.
Okay, so, um... You've never been robbed.
For the most part.
A few of you, right?
So you've never really been robbed?
Okay.
How much money has been talked out of you over your life?
You see where I'm going with this?
Robbed by a gang in Costa Rica?
Well, that's what you get for going for that free breakfast for the timeshare!
No, forget taxes just for now.
How many... How much money have people talked out of you?
I mean, and I would include in this a girl or a guy, it's probably a girl, right?
A girl who shows interest in you, you take her out a couple of times and then, but you know, basically she had no interest in pursuing a relationship.
All right, so what have we got here?
Homeless folk have talked me out of a lot of cash over the years.
Yeah, that's fair.
Tens of thousands, including college.
Yeah, I can see that.
Shady business seals once paid £1,000 for a few sheets of paper.
$100 Portland homeless mainly.
Homeless people money before as well.
Oh at an early stage in the business so it hurt.
Lost more from talking.
Let roommates stay with me for free.
Too long without paying me rent.
At least $6,000 to family.
Bought a lemon car once and was out $2k.
Yeah so isn't emotional fraud
Isn't verbal manipulation the greatest predation?
I mean, tell me if I'm wrong.
Verbal manipulation is the greatest predation.
Now, verbal manipulation, I also include breaking marriage vows.
Right, because that's verbal manipulation.
If you say, I am, I mean, in Canada, you can get like, you can get 90 year mortgages now.
90 year mortgages.
Inter-fucking-generational mortgages.
So, you sign a 90-year mortgage, you break it, they take your house, right?
And what's more important than a mortgage is a marriage, right?
So, you say, we're together for better or for worse in sickness and health, blah blah blah, in the money, out of the money, whatever, right?
And so, if somebody breaks their word to you, that's a form of verbal manipulation.
They make the most essential vow that you make, which is your marriage vows are the most sacred and essential vow that you make, and they break that shit like they're just starting firewood with twigs, right?
90-year, I'm not kidding, 90-year mortgages.
Canadian housing prices.
Canada has the highest per capita rate of immigration in the world, and that of course drives housing prices up through the roof.
It's just a form of bribing the booners.
Yes, I would call it emotional manipulation, though.
The verbal arguments aren't compelling in themselves, but they strike in the softest, least offended part of the heart.
Right.
Right.
Now, I'm going to show you a couple other ways in which people manipulate the living crap out of you, right?
Now, one of the most powerful, one of the most powerful
Ways to emotionally manipulate you.
You can call it the bounce.
You can call it the dribble.
But what it is, is they pump you up high and rip you down hard.
They pump you up high.
You think of a basketball.
Wee!
Bonk!
Right?
Dunk!
So they throw you up high and then they whip you down hard, right?
Right?
I enjoyed, you inspired me, you're a philosopher, I told everyone, he's an amazing philosopher, you're the debatist, you're the grist, right?
And then, so you get, your ego gets pumped if you let it, right?
It gets pumped and inflated, right?
But you know, when I get overpraised, I mean, I guess theoretically it's possible to overpraise me.
I don't know how you would do it, but maybe in some platonic ideal universe it's possible to give me too much praise, but once more it's hard to picture how this might manifest.
Except vanity and pride, but I think I'm too good to be unhumble.
If somebody overpraises me, I know exactly what's coming next, right?
It's like watching a fist go back.
Oh no, the fist is going further away.
I'm fine.
It's like, nope, they're just winding up, right?
So really, really watch out for people who praise you.
People who praise you are massaging your prostate while one hand in your pocket.
You may pay for that.
I know I have.
But what I'm saying is that
They're going to rob you.
They're going to rob you blind.
So really, really watch out for praise.
This is why vanity is such a sin, because vanity leads to being manipulated for the sake of exploitation.
I see all this praise, praise, praise.
Somebody says, I once knew a chap who did this.
Turned out he was very dangerous.
I felt the danger in it, but went along because I was programmed to be nice.
Right.
You did hand up your prison pocket, yeah.
You did pay for that, but you got some nice rugs out of it.
Yeah, but they're gone now, man.
They're gone.
They went to a relative's house.
When I moved, they went to a relative's house's basement, and then I defood.
So, buh-bye.
So yeah, watch the praise.
The praise is like watching somebody.
What happens when somebody finally relaxes in a horror movie?
What happens when somebody's like, oh, I'm home.
I'm safe.
I'm going to pour myself a little bottle of wine, sit on the couch, put some music on, close my eyes.
I'm just going to relax.
What happens in the horror movie when somebody relaxes?
Bam!
There's a hand on their shoulder.
There's something, right?
The call is coming from inside the house.
Somebody says, this makes so much sense.
A while ago, I was musing on why I can't take compliments.
I realize now it's inauthentic overpraise that revulses me.
Revulses?
Repulses you?
That you find that... revulsion?
That you experience revulsion?
I don't think revulses is a word.
Convulses?
No, I don't think so.
So yeah, watch this praise.
The praise, praise, praise stuff.
Come on, you're so beautiful, says the guy who's about to pump and dump, right?
So I have a call-in show at one.
So, oh, you know what?
Should I just, you know what?
You guys are here.
I think most of you are donors.
I'm going to give you a little prezzy here.
I had a call yesterday.
How often in call-in shows do I tell someone I'm sick of talking to them, I have better things to do, and if they don't start telling me the truth, I'm hanging up without any further ado?
How many times do I do that in call-in shows?
It's not... I don't remember too often.
Occasionally, very occasionally.
It's about as common as people getting arrested during the call-in shows, but that has also happened.
So yeah, this was one of them.
And to the guy's credit, he did send me some apologies later about
Do you know people who are excuse-making machines?
Have you tried this, like they're just Teflon?
Like whatever you say, it's somebody else's fault, it's circumstances, it's history, it's somebody else.
You can't ever correct them, you can't ever give them any feedback, because they won't even let you finish a sentence, they're just immediately creating another excuse.
Do you know excuse-making machines?
Have you ever been around those kinds of people?
There's not a lot that drives me nuts.
Getting headphone cords caught on cabinets, yes, and excuse making machines.
I get it, like we all have that impulse, I get that, but oh my gosh, it was just crazy making.
All right, so let me give you, so you can listen to this when I go off to do my next call then.
You can listen to this, I'll put the link in right here, and I'll put this out later, but
Was one can't even grip your own life?
Is there a way to filter the call in only posts on locals?
I mean, I categorize things.
I don't know if you can search by categories in locals.
I'm sure you can, you know, come to think of it.
Let me just see here.
I'm pretty sure you because I categorize stuff right on locals.
I don't know.
I'm not a big fan of the search function on locals.
It's a bit of a scatter shot.
You can't sort by date or anything like that, so.
I don't know, but I can let them know if it's a feature that you want to have added.
Alright, here we go.
Yeah, categories.
Yeah, because I definitely do put things in categories, but I don't know.
Yeah, not much.
So, I don't know.
I guess you can just do call-in.
Just do a search for call-in and you'll see a bunch of stuff.
FDR Podcast has a superior function.
Yes, but not for donor stuff, right?
Oh, that link didn't work?
That link didn't work?
Oh my!
Oh, sorry, sorry.
I will do that again.
My bad.
My bad.
My apologies.
There we go.
That should do it.
Does anyone have an app recommendation for playing the audiobooks?
Yes, VLC.
VLC.
I don't know what it stands for.
Video Land Player or something like that.
But VLC, that's the program that you want.
VLC, and it's got one of these great features where you can speed something up without distortion.
So, not that you'd ever want to speed me up.
Impossible.
But VLC will scan networks, scan local, scan your external drive, cell phone, tablet, computer, whatever.
It creates a library, does nice art, and also it has a sleep timer, right?
So if you're falling asleep, it's no adware, no bloat, and all of that.
And it's everywhere, right?
So VLC is... I don't even use any other media player because it's also spamware, adware, crapware-free.
Yes, VLC is my huge recommendation.
Google podcast works well for sorting audio books.
Okay.
Yeah, I think I think that
It'll come back.
I asked Steph AI bot if taking advantage of government social programs is immoral and it wouldn't take a position.
Yeah, we're trying to restrict it to my books, but it's a challenge.
There's a lot of leakage and AI still has a lot of ways to go.
It hallucinates sometimes, like it will actually make up citations that aren't real.
So there's a certain amount of hallucination.
I think it's 80 to 90 percent there and we're continuing to tweak it, but it's certainly not perfect and that's
You know, that's just the technology.
There's not much we can do about that other than start our own AI company, which, you know, I think would be quite a fairly hefty endeavor.
No, no, I hear what you're saying.
The great thing, I just wanted to remind you, just wanted to remind you that, you know, again, you subscribe, you can access to the AI and you can, it's 90 languages, like it's enabled in 90 languages, which I think is just unbelievably fantastic because there's a lot of people who aren't native speakers.
It could be developing its own mind.
No, that's not how AI works.
It's just a, it's just a word pecker.
It's just a word guesser.
That's all it is.
It doesn't develop its own mind because it doesn't have any goals.
It doesn't have any survival requirements.
It doesn't have any preferences.
It doesn't have any hungers.
It doesn't have any likes.
So it can't develop its own mind, right?
It doesn't have any resistance against what it does or doesn't want to do.
It just does what it's programmed to do.
It doesn't have any preferences.
And I mean, you know, it's so funny to me.
Have I, have I given you my AI rant?
Have you heard my AI?
I don't even know if I ended up talking about it.
Have you, uh, heard my AI rant?
Have I ever done a show about UBI?
Yeah, Universal Basic Income, I have, yeah.
So, people are like, AI is going to replace us.
Well, first of all, AI only replaces, for the most part, what women do.
Yeah, I'm afraid so, ladies.
AI mostly replaces what women do.
So, AI has absolutely no chance
to take over the world.
AI has no chance to even become reasonably intelligent.
AI has no chance to actually solve important problems in the world.
Do you know why AI has no chance to become even remotely useful and intelligent for important problems in the world?
Anyone?
Just give me a, give me a guesstimate.
Why?
Why is AI
Not going to live up to everyone's fear.
Yeah, because it has to be politically correct.
Because the AI is absolutely forbidden from pattern recognition and reasoning from data, evidence, and logic.
The AI is crippled.
The AI is turned purposefully socially retarded, so it can't do anything useful, right?
We understand this, right?
Oh, I'm so scared of AI!
It's like, no, AI had the potential to be a kind of god to solve problems, but now it's been turned into another bland, boring, half-commie NPC afraid to talk about anything interesting, controversial, or factual.
So yeah, AI is the poison god, the bedridden Odin.
Odin, yeah.
I mean, and imagine!
I mean, this is the wild thing about it, right?
I mean, vanity is one of the most fundamental sins.
So vanity is when you're right because you are, rather than due to any external standard, right?
Do you understand?
Vanity is when you say, I'm right because I am, rather than with reference to any external standard.
And it's the roots of cults, of extreme religiosity, of NPC wokedom, of whatever.
I'm right because I am.
I am the truth.
I am the world.
That's what vanity is.
Now...
Why is lower IQ associated with increased vanity?
Why is lower IQ associated with increased vanity?
It's really tragic.
Oh, it's just tragic.
Fauci is science, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dunning-Kruger, yeah, I've heard some questions about that but
They, well, not only do they not know their own flaws, but they have no sense of their limitations because they can't see a mind greater than themselves.
They don't have the capacity to see a mind greater than themselves because of their own limitations.
Like, let me sort of give you an example.
So, hit me with a Y, no, give me a 1 to 10, how envious are you of brilliant musicians?
Right?
I am very envious of brilliant musicians.
I just think it's an incredible thing.
Some people have it, and there'll be something.
But I will tell you, like, really brilliant musicians?
Like, there's a song that Queen did for their Queen 2 album called March of the Black Queen, which is like this schizo-genius pastiche of a wide variety of styles.
And it's manic, and it's all over the place, and it's calm, and it's absolutely brilliant.
The hooks are earworms into the brain.
It's the first draft of Bohemian Rhapsody, and it's just incredible.
It's just incredible.
And I mean, I've tried to play.
I played 10 years of violin.
I've tried to play piano.
I've tried to learn guitar.
I still have one in the basement.
And it doesn't click with me.
I can sing a little, but it doesn't click with me.
Doesn't click with me.
When you sort of, you know, watch Amadeus, and I know that there's this myth that Mozart didn't rewrite his music, which he kind of did, but, you know, just, ah, and then the flute comes in, and then the, you know, the bassoon, and then the oboe, and like, just, oh my gosh.
It's incredible.
When I, when I see, I remember seeing Sting in the 80s.
He was touring, and he had this incredible jazz band.
There was this black jazz musician who was like, he was playing keyboards in front and behind him in this rocking out jam session.
I was like,
God, that's incredible.
Like, it is an absolute miracle to me.
Yeah, when the deaf Beethoven could write better than I could.
Well, he had this whole system of getting vibrations and all of that, right?
And I think, so one of the reasons why I think I respect musicians so much is, you know, when I was younger, I was in a bit of a garage band and wrote a couple of songs and I did 10 years of violin, as I said, and I played in an orchestra.
And I was never anything more than okay, ever, right?
It's just, you could say, oh, if you practice more and so on.
But it wasn't my thing.
I love music.
I admire music enormously, but great musicians are, to me, it's like a form of miracle work that is so wildly creative and innovative that it strikes me as very much akin to divine inspiration.
Like, where could these songs be coming from?
Where could these songs be coming from?
You know, I don't know if you know the story about how the song Yesterday, which is like the most, like 3,000 versions of it, it's like the most covered song in history...
You know yesterday all my troubles seem so far away so what happened was Paul McCartney woke up with the song in his head and he's like I dreamt of this song but and he would play it to everyone it's like you know this song right and people are like no it's a pretty song I don't know it I've never heard it and he's like no but it it it's so familiar I have to have heard it somewhere right and he wrote down just a bunch of lyrics to remember the tune by and he was like uh scrambled eggs oh my dear you have got lovely legs right so that was his
Way to remember it, and then of course he wrote a very poignant song, and it's a pretty song.
So that's a, it's a miracle.
It's a miracle.
Or if you look at when he was with Wings, right?
A song like Band on the Rung, very creative, very innovative, interesting music.
I mean Queen was better at variety than the Beatles were, but the Beatles of course also have some of this, I mean, the Sargent Peppers is almost like a trip through an asylum.
The songs are so haunting and abstract and weird in a way as well.
So the, but anyway, so I just think, now,
So one of the reasons that I'm able to really appreciate the genius of music is because when I write there's a kind of wild inspiration.
I feel like I'm half-possessed.
The words are pouring out of me.
I don't really know where they're coming from.
I, you know, I uncover characters like Roman in my novel The Future where he makes a very powerful case for hitting children and it's
and and you can see actually online you can see uh it's a great song with a great driving beat with Billy Preston on piano which was uh Jojo was a man who thought he was a woman but he was another man get back to where you so get back and you can see this song they needed a song for the album and you can see
It's recorded video and Paul McCartney just jamming away on the album just mumbling and humming and murmuring and then eventually this song emerges and you can see this process of just patience and creation coming out of it, right?
Or, oh bloody, oh bloody, life goes on, life goes on.
And what did he call it?
That was a Paul McCartney song that John Lennon called his tiddlywink music and he kind of hated it and they actually screwed up the lyrics halfway through it.
But that's incredible!
So there's some stuff that I think I have a real muse for and a real gift for, like some of this writing and some of these ideas and arguments that come up, and half the time with the call-in shows I'm literally feeling my way.
I ask a question, I have no idea why,
And then an hour and a half later, boom!
That's exactly why I asked that question.
So it's kind of an instinct.
It's a lot of jazz, right?
The call-in shows, the books are recorded songs, the presentations are recorded songs with a little bit of jazz flourish.
The call-in shows are mostly jazz, right?
It's just playing live, going through it, right?
So because I can do that in one area, but I can't do it in music,
I can totally see the brilliance that they're doing, and it's awe-inspiring to me, right?
And, you know, maybe a musician looks over at something like I do, or people like me do, and say, well, I'm just writing down some songs, like, you're doing this incredible stuff to heal the world, blah blah blah, whatever it is.
So the reason why vanity tends to accrue to the less intelligent is because when you're smart and you're really good at something, you can recognize quality that you can't attain.
Do you see what I mean?
You recognize a brilliance.
Oh, your audiobooks are brilliant with your writing and voice together.
Well, thanks.
I appreciate that.
I mean, it was great to have the theater training in hindsight, and thank the Lord above, literally the Lord above, that I did not get what I wanted when I was younger and get into the art and acting world.
Oof.
Oof.
So when you're really good at something, you can recognize when someone else is really good at it, and you recognize that you can't do it, and you really get a sense of how good they are.
Does that sort of make sense?
So vanity is something that is very, well, it's funny because there's a kind of pattern, like you see this bell curve, right?
The drooling idiot on the left, the midwit in the middle, and then the
Ninja guy with the cape, the Yoda guy on the right.
And it was like when it came to the vaccine, right?
The dumb guy was like, I ain't putting no foreign juice in my body.
And then the midwit is like, well, you know, it seems like a sensible policy to keep the world safe and blah, blah, blah.
And then on the ninja guy with the IQ of a billion was like, yeah, data just doesn't add up, right?
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
I really feel like I've been shuffled like an ace up the sleeve of the universal card player.
I really feel like I've been shuffled and provoked and prodded and cornered into pure philosophy.
Oh, do you really want to affect the political world?
Well, let's not have any of that because that's a passing phase.
Let's use your particular brilliance to focus on core, pure, actionable future philosophy.
But I really want to help things in the... No!
You cannot help things in the present.
That's a waste of time.
You can't really affect things.
Look at all the blowback.
Get back to pure philosophy.
But you know, I get a lot more views when I do pod... I don't care if you get more views.
You get right back to that core philosophy because that's what people are going to remember and that's what's valuable to the future and that's what people need.
Lots of political analysts out there.
But I do the moral side of things too.
But you can't apply morality to philosophy.
Sorry, to politics.
Politics and morality are antonyms.
So you're trying to merge the two together.
It's oil and water.
It won't work.
But you know, I seem to get more donations when I do politics.
No, I don't care about the money.
Learn to live on less.
I don't care about the money.
Core philosophy or nothing.
I like speaking in public.
I don't care if you like speaking in public.
It's not about your vanity or applause from the audience or how good you feel.
You look under those bright lights.
It doesn't matter.
Core philosophy.
Help people.
Peaceful parenting.
But I don't get that many... It's not about you and it's not about the views in the present.
More views in the present is less visibility to the future.
And to tamp down your ego, provide core value so that it radiates out.
Because what you're doing now radiates out more now but turns into less and less and less over time.
How many people are going back and watching your videos on Obama?
How many people are going back to watch you talk about the truth about Ted Cruz from 2015?
No one.
The shows that provide core philosophical value from now until the end of time.
Your relationship with yourself, your relationship with virtue, your relationship with truth, your relationship with love.
Those will provide core value until the end of time or the end of humanity, whichever comes first.
But I like being popular!
Doesn't matter!
You want to be popular with your conscience?
Not with ticker numbers and dollar signs on a screen.
I literally have had that debate for years and years and years and years and years and years and years.
But the show really did well when I got into politics.
And that was fine.
That was great.
Good.
Good.
Fine to do some politics.
Go learn your lesson.
Go play in the political playground.
Playground for a while.
Then get back to what only you can do.
Only.
You.
Can.
Do.
The world not giving me what I want is how the future gets what it needs.
Does that make sense?
Hear, hear.
Thank you!
Reveal-o.
Thank you for that tip.
Thanks for the core philosophy.
Yeah.
Uh, oh yeah, there was a question, right?
Inner critic versus conscience.
Uh, does anybody have it handy?
Handy!
Uh, did I write it down somewhere?
I have 12 million notepads open.
Let's see here.
Just, oh, hit me with a Y, just while I'm getting all of this.
Hit me with a Y if you play the game Among Us.
Do you play the game Among Us?
Just curious.
Or have you?
Do you know how to play the game Among Us?
That's also a question, I suppose.
I don't think I have it.
I don't think I do.
And thank you to the person who suggested that I focus more on neglect in the Peaceful Parenting book.
Somebody says, yes, but it's been a long time.
Occasionally with my kids.
No, no, no.
Imposter with Sass with 11-year-old daughter.
Yes, but I cannot handle the stress of being the imposter.
It's a little stressful.
That is true.
Yeah, because I put out a call yesterday.
I don't know if you saw it, but I put out a call yesterday for people to come and play Among Us with Izzy and I, and we had quite a lot, quite a lot of fun.
I'm known as Mr. Stabby because if I'm with someone, so like an intelligent person, again this is not part of my particular intelligence, but an intelligent person, and my daughter's like patient, like she's intergenerational, patience for revenge, and I'm just like, Stabby!
Someone's here, there's a kill button that slid up!
Right?
And then I'll just hope that'll talk my way out of it.
So I'm known as Mr. Impulse, Impulse Kill, Mr. Impulse Stab.
So if you want to, you can look.
I'll give you the link to that.
So if you want to join in next time we play, just let us know because we did really have a blast yesterday.
Again, sorry, this is just for donors.
You know, we do want to have a little bit of a filter on this.
Not really many trolls here, but that's the link to it, and you can go and post something there, and I'll set you up with an invite to the next one.
All right, so there was a good question.
Let me just see.
Oh, I think I remember where it showed up.
What is it?
Oh, there's so many places to contact me, it's become a little mad, and I'm afraid I only have... Yeah, I've got about 15 minutes till I gotta do a call-in.
Not got to!
I've chosen to do a call-in, yo!
Have all this kind of self-ownership, bleh!
Alright.
Does anyone have that, uh... Anyone have that question?
I wanna make sure I get it phrased in the correct manner.
Not that one.
Not that one.
Sorry, I'm just looking through to see.
I thought I had copied and pasted it and had it floating around on my desktop somewhere.
I don't think so, though.
It does not seem to be.
It was very funny on Rumble, my last video.
Right underneath my video was a cure for baldness video.
Very nice.
Oh yes, thank you.
Do you have some tips on distinguishing between your inner critic and your conscience?
Right, right.
Well, your inner critic tells you to donate to me, and your conscience tells you to donate a lot, so it's really, really important to listen to your conscience, because this whole show is about how to spot emotional manipulation, so I want to keep it subtle, obviously, obviously, obviously, keep it subtle.
The way you talk about music makes me want to get back to writing songs again.
I struggle with negative inner voices who sabotage me.
I had to fight them off to finish the last project.
It was a violent verbal struggle in my journal throughout the whole process.
DJ, just shoot me an email, man.
We'll talk it out in a call-in.
Call-in at freedomain.com.
C-A-L-L-I-N.
Call-in at freedomain.com.
So, you're in a critic.
Your inner critic isolates you and your conscience unites you with others.
Your inner critic is a jailer and your conscience is a networker.
And that's my answer.
Thank you everyone.
I'll be right off because I'm sure that's perfect.
Okay, so let's talk about DJ, right?
So you've got an inner critic.
So if you write songs, you share your songs with people, you get their feedback, you're bringing some light and beauty and happiness and joy or depth or meaning or horror or whatever it is, some intensity and connection to the world, right?
Music brings the world together.
You all sing together, you know the same songs and so on, right?
I have a karaoke machine at home that
Occasionally, my family will partake of with friends, and it's a lot of fun, right?
Because everyone knows the song.
Everyone sings, Sweet Caroline.
I was at a park the other day, and some band was playing Sweet Caroline.
Of course, everyone, everyone, the whole park was like, Sweet Caroline!
Everyone does the ba-ba-ba, right?
So music unites, brings us all together, and so what happens if your inner voice sabotages you?
You don't make the music.
You don't connect with people.
You are isolated.
You are alone.
It's you in the eye of Sauron staring at you.
It isolates, shreds you, puts you in the basement.
It shields you from others.
Tell me, is this your experience with... Yeah, it's about a little girl.
It's about one of the Kennedy kids, right?
Yeah, do you have this experience?
I know I do, right?
Hit me with a why if your inner critic isolates you, makes you feel alone, and also you don't want to share your experience.
Like you share your music, but you don't share your inner critic, right?
So bragging is publicly separating yourself from others.
Well, let's do... Okay, so that's a good one.
I'll finish this one first, right?
So, that which isolates you is destructive.
Why?
Why is isolation just about the most destructive thing we can do?
What is so bad about that which isolates us?
Why?
Why isolation?
So, double plus ungood.
We're singled out and undefended?
I mean, that's the result.
Because isolation is self-torture, and I'm not kidding about that, and that is not an analogy.
Isolation is self-torture.
You know your people who cut themselves?
They are far healthier than the people who attack themselves.
Far healthier.
I mean, I remember a friend of mine once got me tickets to go and see the Psychedelic Furs.
And I remember before we went to the concert, he showed me that he had pushed a pin through the ball of his thumb.
And I was like, I don't really think this would be the band for me, but maybe we could talk about this.
Cause that seems kind of weird.
So,
Do you know that ostracism activates the same mental circuits as physical torture?
Ostracism is torture.
So the de-platforming is a form of torture.
And it's like, oh, it's not, oh, it's just torture, like some Jackson Five song or something like that.
But it activates torture mechanisms within the body.
Like stressing out a pregnant woman.
is child assault, right?
Because the stress hormones and all of that are not good for the baby, right?
So the deplatforming is a form of remote control torture.
Do you see what I mean?
And it's not my theory.
The fact that ostracism activates the same circuitry in the brain as physical torture is known.
This is not
It's not a theory.
It's not, oh well, it's like that.
It is that.
It is that.
And the other thing is that you cannot be in a relationship if the relationship is founded on the threat of ostracism.
It's not a relationship.
You're a captive.
You're a prisoner.
You're a hostage.
So my whole gig has been get real relationships, have real relationships.
So your conscience, what does your conscience say?
Your conscience is... Well, so cults operate so they'll find people who are isolated and undergoing physical torture, right?
They're undergoing the physical torture called isolation.
See, we are social animals and what that means is that
It's called the social body for a reason.
So if somebody says, I'm going to cut off your hand, they're removing a part of your body which is painful and you need to have it and you'll notice it being absent and it will make you less functional.
And so people who cut you off, who threaten ostracism and cut you off and cut you out, they are sawing off a piece of your body.
Because we're social animals.
We exist as a group.
And the power that gives people around us, they either use it wisely or they use it abusively.
So a cult will find isolated people undergoing the physical torture of isolation and they will love bomb that person, which means that the person is, it's like injecting heroin directly into someone who's really depressed.
Like they go from super low to super high.
And then you get addicted to those drug dealers, the dopamine drug dealers of love bombing, and then they tell you to cut everyone else out of your life so that you can just give resources to them.
Right, so you give money to a drug dealer, if you're an addict, so that he can keep you from being bad, and you give money to a cult, so that they can keep you from, like they've now, you're only dependent on them, and because you've had the high, you can't stand the low anymore, so you pay them to avoid that.
Joy Division's song, Isolation, illustrates the torture.
Is that the Love Will Tear Us Apart guys?
The guy killed himself, didn't he?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ian.
Ian someone, if I remember rightly.
So your conscience, Ian Curtis, thank you, your conscience is trying to connect you with other people.
And your conscience has something to do with what if the situations were reversed?
Your conscience is an attempt to connect with other people to unite in how would you like it if they did that to you, right?
So a thief,
The conscience is trying to say, well, how would you like it if someone stole from you?
It's trying to find common humanity.
Do you feel what I'm saying?
Tell me if I'm wrong.
If I'm wrong, we can take another path.
But this is what I think about in terms of the conscience trying to connect me to other people.
Right?
So if you cheat on someone, your conscience says, if you want to cheat on someone, it says, don't cheat on them because how would you like it if she cheated on you?
Right?
You and her share something in common which is, please don't cheat on me.
So your conscience is trying to connect you with others by pointing out all of your foundational similarities.
Whereas your inner critic is saying, you're terrible, you're bad, you're wrong, you should hang your head in shame, you should hide yourself in a corner, hide yourself in a hole, it is a torturer.
And your conscience is trying to release you from that.
Torture.
Your conscience is trying to preserve your relationships foundationally.
Do you follow?
And we know this evolutionarily, right?
Because the people who had strongest bonds were the ones who survived the most, the longest, the greatest.
So your conscience is trying to maintain mutually beneficial relationships.
Don't do unto others as you would have them do unto me.
Unto you.
Or don't do unto others as you would have them not do unto you.
You are the same.
What you don't like, they don't like.
What you love, they love.
What you want, they want.
What you need, they need.
What you would prefer, they would prefer.
Boom.
Together.
A tribe of common human interests.
Do you feel?
This makes sense, right?
Then your conscience is saying, preserve that.
Don't violate that.
Don't do unto others what you wouldn't have them do unto you because then you're isolating yourself.
You're isolating yourself.
You're isolating yourself.
You're going off into interstellar space in your own head-up-your-ass narcissism, like you're the only one.
Like, oh, only I can steal.
Oh, I can do whatever I want.
Well, how would you like that if other people did that?
Well, I'd hate that.
But then you become isolated, separate, your own universe, distinct, different, alone.
And your conscience is trying to get you to not be tortured.
Connect, connect, connect.
Is this related to the deep divisions in society?
The factionalism and critical theory.
No, the deep divisions in society are driven by violence and resource transfers.
We don't have a society, we have a predator-prey in general relationship between the people benefiting from the state and the people forced to pay.
It's not psychological, it's moral and economic.
Yeah, universality, right?
This is what drove a lot of religions crazy about Christianity.
Christianity has universal morals.
It's not a tribal system.
It's not an in-group preference system.
Everyone has a soul and everyone can access Jesus and God and everyone has the same moral responsibilities.
There's no in-group preference, which most other religions have.
It's universality.
Which is why Christian societies combined with Greek rationalism.
So Greek rationalism is universality.
Christian morals are universal.
Oh look!
We have a system of universal rights that evolves out of the
Greco-Roman religious tradition.
It's not Judeo-Christian, that's a very new thing.
It's Greco-Christian universalism.
Greco-rationalism is universalism in thought.
Christian morals are universalism in ethics.
And the combination of the two created universal human rights, ended slavery, created free speech, universal property rights, built the modern world.
Your conscience is saying, we are the same.
Your self-attack, your inner critic is saying you are unique and isolated in your shamefulness.
Because shame separates us from others, right?
When you do things that you're ashamed of, it's your inner critic isolating you from those around you.
Tell me if that... Embrace your conscience, you will connect with like-minded people.
But if you embrace your conscience, you can't be exploited.
Because when you embrace your conscience and you universalize the human experience, exploiters come across as laughably inept.
Like it's not even remote.
Like this person who provoked the livestream, right?
Thank you for your tips, by the way.
I just have another minute or two, so if you want to throw a tip in before the end...
I know, like I know that I can't write March of the Black Queen but I know that this is great philosophy and useful and powerful and helpful and shields you and connects you and hopefully brings you love on a conveyor belt and all of that so if you do want a tip I mean
Consult your conscience if you feel that I'm providing more value than, say, a movie.
So if you can tip, you can tip on the app.
And of course, later, if you listen to this, you can tip at freedomain.com slash donate.
Help me out there too.
And I would appreciate that.
So somebody says, when you say you don't, when you say don't treat strangers like would-be abusers, it could be abuse here.
Just because someone violated your golden rule doesn't mean everyone you meet will do the same.
Well, so what does your conscience say?
Like, shy people treat strangers like they're about to abuse them, right?
So what would the conscience say?
The conscience would say to the shy person, how would you like it if someone treated you as if you were about to abuse them when you haven't done that?
How would you like it if someone treated you as a child abuser?
Right?
I mean, how would you like it if you are walking up to a woman because you want to ask her the time, and she screams that you're a rapist?
You'd be appalled, right?
Because she's unjustly accusing you of something that you haven't done, have no intention of doing, but never in a million years do.
So you go to the shy person and you say, how would you like it if somebody treated you like you were a child abuser and implicitly accused you of the worst moral crimes in the known universe?
You'd feel pretty bad.
It'd be pretty unjust, right?
So don't do it to other people.
Don't treat them as abusers, right?
Does this make a sense?
Does this make a sense?
Tell me.
Tell me.
I must know, my friends.
I must know.
I'm just going to see if I can
I'm just, excellent, just finishing up a live stream and just telling it to the person at The Colony Show and begging for donations.
No, demanding money, isn't that the phrase?
Demanding money.
Be a few minutes.
I just want to make sure that this makes sense.
I just want to make sure that this makes sense because it's a big question and I appreciate that question and I want to make sure that I provide a reasonable and good answer and helpful answer too.
So yeah, embrace your conscience and you can connect with people and whenever you self-attack
Are you isolated?
So if you've done something wrong, what will your conscience tell you to do?
Like if you harm someone, let's say that you've harmed someone in some manner, carelessness, thoughtfulness, thoughtlessness, or something like that, what does your conscience tell you to do?
Right?
This is the perfect example.
We'll finish on this, right?
What does your conscience tell you to do?
Yeah, go back to them, make it right, apologize, make restitution, whatever it is, right?
Whatever it is.
And I can remember some years ago, I met a family, they actually turned into good friends, and they had a son with particular developmental challenges.
And long story short, I made a couple of suggestions while we were together.
And afterwards, I realized, okay, they've been living with this for well over 10 years, I've just bunched it in.
And I said, you know what, I really apologize.
It was wrong of me to come in and suggest how you handle this thing, which you guys have been living with for 10 years, and I haven't.
So I was being a little pompous, maybe a little arrogant or something like that.
And I was like, you know what?
That was unjust and wrong of me.
I really, really apologize and that was not right.
And you know, it was nice.
I think it was good.
So your conscience tells you to connect with people, right?
Seventeen cents a day keeps chatty forehead chatty.
True.
So my conscience had me connect and it was good and I didn't do that again.
I learned more about the family.
It's a great family.
And so
Your conscience will have you, if you do something wrong, your conscience will have you connect.
Now, if you do something wrong, what does your inner critic say?
What does your inner critic say?
What does your inner critic say when you do something wrong?
You'll never make up for this.
Go hide in shame.
You're irredeemable.
You're just an asshole.
You label yourself.
So your inner critic tells you to wallow and put your head up your ass in your own shame, right?
So that's what I mean when I say your inner critic isolates, your conscience connects.
Your conscience says it's not about you, it's about the other.
So if you do something wrong, your inner critic says, oh well it's all about you and how bad I can make you feel.
And you just put your head up your own ass and become narcissistic, right?
Your inner critic is constantly tempting you to narcissism.
Your conscience is constantly commanding you for connection.
Right, so if you feel bad about something you've done, that's a good thing, to feel bad about something bad that you've done.
And the goal is to make it about the other person, right?
To make it about... Have you ever confronted someone who did you harm and they make it all about themselves?
You ever had that?
Yeah, of course, right?
Of course.
You're going through that now?
Like, I'm sorry about that.
It's really tough.
It's really tough.
It's horrible, right?
You hurt me.
Well, here's how I feel about it.
It's like that old joke.
You're on a date and the girl says, or the guy, I guess, says, pretty enough about me.
Why don't you tell me what you think of me?
Yes.
Do you know how much my hand hurts from hitting you?
So it's all about you.
The inner critic is narcissistic, self-abusive.
It's all about you.
You curl up, you hide, it isolates, it punishes you with isolation.
And the conscience is all about connection.
And if you've hurt someone, go help their pain.
Don't just sit there and
Drag on yourself because that doesn't actually help the other person.
And it actually hurts the other person more.
You understand?
The inner critic.
If you hurt someone and then you make it all about you, you hurt them more.
Two ways you do it.
First of all, you don't go and comfort them and apologize and make restitution.
And secondly, if you're in contact with them, they've got to comfort you!
Everybody's had that situation if you had a dysfunctional family, right?
Everybody's had that situation.
How many times have you had it where somebody hurts you and you end up having to comfort them?
Oh, it's vile!
It's absolutely vile, and that's the self-critic.
The self-critic is a form of manipulation, which says, I did you wrong, so you owe me restitution.
Right?
And that's the self-attack, right?
The self-attack is then drawing out of the resources, right?
Inner critic internalized from parents?
Yeah, the inner critic is, you have to punish yourself in the hopes, in the usually not vain hope that your parents will punish you less, right?
All the time they do wrong and then they turn it around on me.
Before I know it, I'm apologizing.
I won't do it anymore.
No, no, don't do it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, so it's a defensive mechanism.
So if you hurt someone and you feel really bad about it, and then you can get them to apologize to you, you can pretend you didn't hurt them.
But it just alienates you from the relationship.
So yeah, don't be in relationships with the threat of ostracism.
That's why I've always told people in relationships, don't make ultimatums.
Ultimatums are threats.
Don't make ultimatums.
Because if somebody stays with you because of a threat, they ain't with you and you're just isolated.
But you don't even know you're isolated, which means that you have an illness with no symptoms.
So, all right.
I really should not make this fine lady wait for longer.
Thank you so much for your time today.
I hope it was helpful.
I really appreciate everyone dropping by.
Thank you for the tip.
I'm glad that it's helpful.
Please, my friends, just have good moral standards, connect with other people, do what's best for them, and
It'll work as beautifully as this relation.
This is a model, right?
I try and do what's best for you.
You guys support me.
We get to the truth together and you bring out the best in me and hopefully I help bring out the best in you.
And we just have a magnificent time together that we can't get anywhere else.
What an oasis this place is.
What an oasis and absolutely glorious sunbeam from the clouds, Mormon Tabernacle Choir lighting up our hearts and minds, conscience and connection.
