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July 4, 2025 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
06:16
Big Brain vs Unthinking
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All right, let me get to your questions.
Explain self-monologue language is language for social interaction.
Self-monologue language.
I mean, I hate to say it's tough to well, it's just this, period, right?
It is tough to explain.
So, for me, I don't think just in terms of language.
I think in emotions, I have a feel when something is wrong.
My wife is fantastic this way, too.
So, I have a feeling.
Like, you ever have this thing, like somebody gives you an argument and it seems compelling, but you feel that it's wrong.
Like, I had a conversation, which is available for donors at freedomain.locals.com.
I had a conversation with a woman who was an OnlyFans worker, and she was monetized.
She had monetized her biological physical attributes.
And I said, well, it's not going to be particularly satisfying because you didn't earn it.
And then somebody wrote to me, and it was an annoyingly good argument.
They said, well, Steph, you just happen to have a big brain and you have commoditized, like by going out on the internet, you ask for donations, freedomain.com slash donate.
I'd really appreciate that.
But you've monetized Steph.
You just happen to be born with this big brain, right?
IQ is like 80% genetic by our late teens.
So you just happen to be born with this big brain and you're just monetizing it too.
What's the difference?
Big brain, big boob.
What's the difference, right?
And you know that that argument is wrong.
You feel that it's wrong, but feeling it's wrong isn't enough.
That's just the start of the journey.
So I get a sense like, well, that's kind of compelling.
I can certainly see the surface logic, but it feels wrong.
Now, again, just because it feels wrong doesn't mean that it is wrong, but that to me is an incentive to dig in and figure out why it's wrong.
I mean, we all know rape, theft, assault, and murder, they're wrong.
They're just wrong.
This is an old Aristotelian argument.
Aristotle said, look, if you've got a moral system that can be used to prove that murder is good, I really don't care what your logic is.
You've gone wrong somewhere.
And so, you know, rape, theft, assault, and murder, the four big horsemen of the evil apocalypse, we know that they're wrong.
But why?
But why?
Why are they wrong?
And it can't be God, because that's an argument from authority, at least not philosophically, theologically, sure, but not philosophically.
So, you know, close to 20 years ago, I sat down and I said, I'm not going to get back out from this table until I figured out why rape, theft, assault, and murder are wrong.
And you can see the results, of course, essentialphilosophy.com, the last third.
And the full book is Universally Preferable Behavior, A Rational Proof of Secular Ethics, which you should absolutely read or listen to.
So there's instincts, there's emotions, there's a sort of famous example of the physicist who came up with the structure of the carbon atom, had a dream about a snake eating its own tail, woke up and then, you know, puzzled through it.
So that's all part of thinking, having debates.
Yes, but, yes, but I debate probably at least once a week, I debate with myself how much empathy I should have for the unthinking.
It's a huge issue for me.
I won't bore you with my machinations that way, but I have a debate like, well, they don't think, so we should have compassion.
Yeah, but they're responsible for not thinking.
Yeah, but there's a lot of propaganda.
Yeah, but there's the internet.
Yeah, but all of their social arrangements will probably be dissolved by them learning how to think.
Yeah, but they value, everyone values those who go their own way and have integrity.
Like, honestly, I am like one of these Newton machines or the pendulums that never end.
I go back and forth with how much responsibility do I give to people who don't think.
And the reason that's important for me, and I think it's important as a whole, the reason why that's important to me is bad times are coming for the unthinking.
I mean, bad times are coming for most people, but bad times are definitely coming for the unthinking.
And when bad times come for the unthinking, sorry, let me reboot that sentence.
When bad times come for the unthinking, the first thing they do is turn to moral emotional manipulation.
I'm a victim.
Bad things happen.
It's not my fault.
I need help.
Who's going to feed my kids?
So I need to know how open or closed my heart needs to be in order to survive.
This is an old Anglo-Saxon instinct.
Well, I've stored up enough food for the winter.
And I told you, bro, you need to store up enough food for the winter.
The guy two farms over, right?
And he doesn't.
And he comes to my door in mid-January.
It's cold as the witch's tit out there.
Ice puddles on the ground.
The cows are shooting out iced milk from their udders.
And we're all freezing.
And he comes over and he's like, yo, Steph, my kids are starving.
Like, I've put this off as long as possible.
I've been out hunting every day.
Look at how you can count my ribs like a, like a xylophone.
Bro, I mean, I'm begging you.
I mean, I really did try.
And I listened to what you said.
I really did try.
My kids are dying.
And they get emotional and they're like compassion and neighborliness.
And I do it for you.
And I'd look out for you.
and we've got to stick together and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But I'm going to feed my kids, not yours, bro.
And if he tries to break into the house to get the food that I've stored up for the winter for my family and extended family, I might have to put him down.
The bad things are coming for the unthinking.
I mean, in their personal life, it's going to happen anyway, because the unthinking stagger from one disaster to another while constantly blaming others.
The bad times are coming for the unthinking.
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