Here's my problem. The author says early on that death is at the core of human motivation "whether we're aware of it or not" (I don't think that is an exact quote, but its what I rememer of the idea). This is a common idea: reducing human motivatoin to one thing with the caveat that it is the REAL but not always the apparent motivation. Okay, but that means that a creative interpreter of my actions can find a way to tell a story about how anything I do traces back to my denial or fear or knowledge of death. "No, I don't think that's why I did that, and I think there are better and simpler explanatiions for why I did that," I say. Well, because the clever author included the "real versus apparent" caveat, gaslighting now becomes possible and probable: "Well, you may think you did that for another reason than fear or knowledge of death, but that's just what you think. If anything, it shows how blind you are to your actual motivation, which I, but not you, happen to know."
There is no meaning of life and only humans are cursed with the knowledge of their inevitable death.Belief in a soul and afterlife is a beautiful fantasy for those that can’t deal with the painful truth.
It's also a big money maker for those controlling it ;) , nah but in all seriousness we don't know, the odds we are even experiencing this reality is incredibly thin and until we die we will never know. If we do live on in another form its not something you can communicate back to this reality
Yeah we don’t know. Atheists argue from analogy of “You weren’t conscious before you were born so that’s how it is after you die”. Noone knows. Watch more Solomon :)
"Spooky action at a distance"... Quantum Entanglement is real folks. Every atom in our body is entangled to another somewhere else in the universe. I like to think when I die I will return to those places and my consciousness will expand with me.
Lex, if it's worth anything to you.. Look up Elisabeth Kübler-Ross a Swiss psychologist who first attempted to clinically explain death by listening to the terminally ill patients and understanding their last moments on earth. She's considered to have been against most medical assumptions of the time in the 50s. Check out her book The wheel of Life or On Death and Dying. Cheers
That's what makes young children so special...what drives a child up to the age of 6 or 7? Pure imagination. BTW, this guy's grammar is impeccable. What a joy.
Excellent interview. As a scholar of Buddhism (Japanese B in particular), I find this resonates in many ways with traditions that offer an ultimately nondual perspective.
2:36...in ancient Hindu Philosophy what Sheldon is talking about here is known as Dharma - That which supports, The roots of a tree, that which supports from within, The essence of a thing, it's virtue, that which makes it what it is. It can be explained with an ancient tale. A Sage seated beside the Ganges, notices a scorpion had fallen into the water, he reaches down to rescue it, only to be stung. Sometime later he looks down and sees the scorpion thrashing about in the water again, once more he reaches down to rescue it and once more he is stung. A bystander observing all this explains, Holy one, why do you keep doing that, don't you see that the wretched creature will only sting you in return? "Of course", the Sage replied. "It is the Dharma of a scorpion to sting, but it is the dharma of a human being to save. In a bigger sense, Dharma means the essential order of things, an integrity of harmony in the universe, rightness, justice, goodness, purpose.
Lex, great show! Look up Psychologist Sam Vaknin if you want to explore the Narcissistic and Borderline Psychopathy that afflicts people and society. He has the deep insights on the matter.
I haven't watched the whole interview but the Samurais come to mind... I'm sure other cultures also have glory in death, and possibly excitement about death in service of something greater. I wonder if his whole view and his sources are all very Western and US centric?? I also assume he's going to have a counter argument to the idea, or his ideas encompass this. Like, Samurais maybe spend their whole lives thinking about death? so it is at the core? But maybe the fear is not? or... trying to overcome the fear and turn it to excitement is???
Can you interview Richard Wolff? You are the perfect man for this now. I'm afraid your brain will completely capitalistize in a year or so when views go exponential
It’s funny all the people acting like they have life, death, consciousness all figured out. No one knows much about any of it. It’s totally possible when we die there is nothing after that. It’s also totally possible that people who experienced nde’s saw a glimpse of an afterlife and our energy and consciousness goes on. I think the idea everything we do revolves around knowing we will die is a stupid idea. If there is nothing after this life than I could care less about death or life for that matter. Also the idea that people believe there may be something after this life has nothing to do with fear. Dying and nothingness is no where near as bad as a crap life with sorrow and suffering. To me living a life of suffering is worse than nothingness. I believe there may be something after this life not out of fear but out of what some have said they experienced when they were dead a few minutes then brought back.
“The uniquely human awareness of death” Seriously? We have no idea if animals have an awareness of death. If your going to make broad statements like that it just turns people off because we cannot take you seriously. Lay off the weed for a while it’s rotting your mind.
The vast majority of animals are acting entirely on instinct and innate behaviour, and those that shows some form of complex thinking still have a infant process at best. So yes, most animals don’t conceptualize death outside of their innate sense of danger and reaction to it
- I was thinking about back in High School in the mid 1980's . The Education was a lot better thaen. A lot of my contemporaries and sheoples saying otherwise, but I was there with them and I think they didn't learn shit because they were too afraid that they might 'stand out' as an individual . I never fully understood it , or their reasons for it, but I assume they're afraid to allow their true interests to be known. Maybe it could blow their cover persona. A horribly constructed ego taken from , I duuno, movie characters, The Fonz, heyyy.., other guys they overheard other sheoples approve of, a homoerot crush or something. I don't know, but I can tell you this , they sure as fuck did't drool on down the hall , high on weed and model airplane glue, and go on into the library and choose a fake lie persona from Moby Dick , or some William Blake poetry. If they only did they might not appear as if they are twenty year older than they should today. Walking Death. Zombies . moths. yes just like ... MOTHS. So many men that I knew Way back when And all these years later If I happen to Chance upon Any of them I feel uneasy And Apprehensive When I see Their almost dead From nothing. Doing nothing Creates an Empty Vessel. They smell like Moths. They remind me Of a Moth Man painting That came from Artist and Poet Named William Blake. It has these horrifying Varicose veins bulging forth like Parasites of ignorance. Emetic foul bluish green horrror. Jesus fucking Christ, The eyes are cloudy , But the Wisdom I expected in a ninety I mean fifty year old Man's eyes that Life His Mind, His Mind in there I saw in my Mind's eye A ball of sickly impotent Night crawling worms Barely alive , afflicted With volittional Neotonous features Of its ego resembling A Gordion knot That has turned Petrified into a White marble Tablet . Without any Inscriptions At all..
Here's my problem. The author says early on that death is at the core of human motivation "whether we're aware of it or not" (I don't think that is an exact quote, but its what I rememer of the idea). This is a common idea: reducing human motivatoin to one thing with the caveat that it is the REAL but not always the apparent motivation.
Okay, but that means that a creative interpreter of my actions can find a way to tell a story about how anything I do traces back to my denial or fear or knowledge of death. "No, I don't think that's why I did that, and I think there are better and simpler explanatiions for why I did that," I say. Well, because the clever author included the "real versus apparent" caveat, gaslighting now becomes possible and probable: "Well, you may think you did that for another reason than fear or knowledge of death, but that's just what you think. If anything, it shows how blind you are to your actual motivation, which I, but not you, happen to know."
There is no meaning of life and only humans are cursed with the knowledge of their inevitable death.Belief in a soul and afterlife is a beautiful fantasy for those that can’t deal with the painful truth.
It's also a big money maker for those controlling it ;) , nah but in all seriousness we don't know, the odds we are even experiencing this reality is incredibly thin and until we die we will never know. If we do live on in another form its not something you can communicate back to this reality
Yeah we don’t know. Atheists argue from analogy of “You weren’t conscious before you were born so that’s how it is after you die”. Noone knows. Watch more Solomon :)
"Spooky action at a distance"... Quantum Entanglement is real folks. Every atom in our body is entangled to another somewhere else in the universe. I like to think when I die I will return to those places and my consciousness will expand with me.
How can you be so certain to say that soul and afterlife is a fantasy if you haven't experienced it, it the same as saying soul and afterlife is real
Sheldon Solomon is an amazing professor at Skidmore College. He is the most impactful professor I've ever had.
Death is gotta be like deep sleep. No conscious awareness I hope it happens to me before I reach a really uncomfortable age
We can only sleep while alive. It's not sleep when we die.
another great podcast, thanks Lex and guest.
Lex, if it's worth anything to you.. Look up Elisabeth Kübler-Ross a Swiss psychologist who first attempted to clinically explain death by listening to the terminally ill patients and understanding their last moments on earth. She's considered to have been against most medical assumptions of the time in the 50s. Check out her book The wheel of Life or On Death and Dying. Cheers
She is on the cover of The Denial of Death! Was she influenced by Becker in her work?
That's what makes young children so special...what drives a child up to the age of 6 or 7? Pure imagination. BTW, this guy's grammar is impeccable. What a joy.
only 6? more like 9
@@sevendoubleodexwell by the time they're 9 societies tentacles have already taken a firmer hold on their perception.
Excellent interview. As a scholar of Buddhism (Japanese B in particular), I find this resonates in many ways with traditions that offer an ultimately nondual perspective.
The soul of human is to love
hebr 2:15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Death is the most powerful advisor. Toltec wisdom.... 10000 + year old understanding..
2:36...in ancient Hindu Philosophy what Sheldon is talking about here is known as Dharma - That which supports, The roots of a tree, that which supports from within, The essence of a thing, it's virtue, that which makes it what it is. It can be explained with an ancient tale. A Sage seated beside the Ganges, notices a scorpion had fallen into the water, he reaches down to rescue it, only to be stung. Sometime later he looks down and sees the scorpion thrashing about in the water again, once more he reaches down to rescue it and once more he is stung. A bystander observing all this explains, Holy one, why do you keep doing that, don't you see that the wretched creature will only sting you in return? "Of course", the Sage replied. "It is the Dharma of a scorpion to sting, but it is the dharma of a human being to save. In a bigger sense, Dharma means the essential order of things, an integrity of harmony in the universe, rightness, justice, goodness, purpose.
Somehow reminds me Allan watts comparing the life cycles on Hindu religious and the long cycle on the Bible .
I love a good homemade tie-dye shirt
Lex, great show! Look up Psychologist Sam Vaknin if you want to explore the Narcissistic and Borderline Psychopathy that afflicts people and society. He has the deep insights on the matter.
archive.org/details/sam-vaknin-malignant-self-love-audio
The truth will set you free BUT
NOT UNTIL IT IS THROUGH WITH YOU
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
if genesis is remarkable the resurrection should also be
I haven't watched the whole interview but the Samurais come to mind... I'm sure other cultures also have glory in death, and possibly excitement about death in service of something greater. I wonder if his whole view and his sources are all very Western and US centric?? I also assume he's going to have a counter argument to the idea, or his ideas encompass this. Like, Samurais maybe spend their whole lives thinking about death? so it is at the core? But maybe the fear is not? or... trying to overcome the fear and turn it to excitement is???
yea yea yea am i going to die or what. im okay with an ego death but if i die for real for real whats the point? just to be consumed by the divine?
jeeeesh tony hawk goes deep
So Im kinda getting that the soul is what defines the purpose of something
Death is good. It’s the sweet relief from anxiety and stress. It’s permanent rest.
We're not resting when dead
It’s gods way of telling you to slow down 😂
Tony hawk has a mullet
This guy looks like tony danza
Can you interview Richard Wolff? You are the perfect man for this now. I'm afraid your brain will completely capitalistize in a year or so when views go exponential
Not a good fit for the show. But I think the channel will blow up too
@@tnix80 they can speak about turning Google into a co-op lol
It’s funny all the people acting like they have life, death, consciousness all figured out. No one knows much about any of it. It’s totally possible when we die there is nothing after that. It’s also totally possible that people who experienced nde’s saw a glimpse of an afterlife and our energy and consciousness goes on. I think the idea everything we do revolves around knowing we will die is a stupid idea. If there is nothing after this life than I could care less about death or life for that matter. Also the idea that people believe there may be something after this life has nothing to do with fear. Dying and nothingness is no where near as bad as a crap life with sorrow and suffering. To me living a life of suffering is worse than nothingness. I believe there may be something after this life not out of fear but out of what some have said they experienced when they were dead a few minutes then brought back.
Our soul is in our brain. When our brain dies, our soul dies as well.
Ah right, thanks for clearing that big question up. Case closed.
“The uniquely human awareness of death” Seriously? We have no idea if animals have an awareness of death. If your going to make broad statements like that it just turns people off because we cannot take you seriously. Lay off the weed for a while it’s rotting your mind.
The vast majority of animals are acting entirely on instinct and innate behaviour, and those that shows some form of complex thinking still have a infant process at best. So yes, most animals don’t conceptualize death outside of their innate sense of danger and reaction to it
I watch a lot of movies because I hope to die while I'm watching movies
Ffs get a grip
2 Jews lavishing praise on another Jew. Who'd have thought.
That said, I like Becker so far
I don't see death as an ugly reality. The guy is kind of a nihilist
You guys are late to this. Buddha realised this 2500 years ago.
- I was thinking about back in High School in the mid 1980's . The Education was a lot better thaen. A lot of my contemporaries and sheoples saying otherwise, but I was there with them and I think they didn't learn shit because they were too afraid that they might 'stand out' as an individual . I never fully understood it , or their reasons for it, but I assume they're afraid to allow their true interests to be known. Maybe it could blow their cover persona. A horribly constructed ego taken from , I duuno, movie characters, The Fonz, heyyy.., other guys they overheard other sheoples approve of, a homoerot crush or something. I don't know, but I can tell you this , they sure as fuck did't drool on down the hall , high on weed and model airplane glue, and go on into the library and choose a fake lie persona from Moby Dick , or some William Blake poetry. If they only did they might not appear as if they are twenty year older than they should today. Walking Death. Zombies . moths. yes just like ...
MOTHS.
So many men that I knew
Way back when
And all these years later
If I happen to
Chance upon
Any of them
I feel uneasy
And Apprehensive
When I see
Their almost dead
From nothing.
Doing nothing
Creates an
Empty Vessel.
They smell like
Moths.
They remind me
Of a Moth Man painting
That came from
Artist and Poet
Named William Blake.
It has these horrifying
Varicose veins bulging forth like
Parasites of ignorance.
Emetic foul bluish green horrror.
Jesus fucking Christ,
The eyes are cloudy ,
But the Wisdom
I expected in a ninety
I mean fifty year old
Man's eyes that Life
His Mind, His Mind in there
I saw in my Mind's eye
A ball of sickly impotent
Night crawling worms
Barely alive , afflicted
With volittional
Neotonous features
Of its ego resembling
A Gordion knot
That has turned
Petrified into a
White marble
Tablet .
Without any
Inscriptions
At all..