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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Welcome to season three upset. Eleven of the Jordan Be Petersen Podcast. I Mikhail Petersen, Jordan's daughter,
we enjoy. This episode is called Saddam and Gomorrah,
Simon and Gomorrah just reminds me of one of the Marvel movies guardians of the galaxy. I think their characters in their names, Saddam and Maura, and then
feel guilty for thinking about Marvel movies instead of the Bible, then I feel a bit bad being Jordan, Peterson's, daughter and thinking about Marvel movies instead of the Bible,
but say levy as you may know, or perhaps don't the Peterson's are in Belgrade, Serbia. We finally found
people that are knowledgeable about dad's, absolutely catastrophic, benzodiazepines induced damage and boom. I have my dad back.
Give us a few months and J B people be back full force. I know I've been saying that, but I'm serious thank goodness the last years been absolutely awful for us, but we finally have some good news. Thank you. Serbia enjoy this episode.
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season. Three upset. Eleven Saddam and Gomorrah Jordan
Peterson Lecture three difficult stories tonight and hopefully my plan is to get through all three of them, so we'll see how that goes. So we're going to talk about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and then the story of the the sacrifice of Isaac, just extremely complicated, complicated story, and so we'll try to make some headway without the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is plenty complicated to
what we established last week, at least in part, was this idea that the Abraham EC narratives are set up as punctuated epochs, I suppose and Abrahams life, and we were hypothesize in that
you set out a goal for yourself in your life. It's like a stage in your life. You might say that and then, when you,
run that goal to its end. When, when that stage comes to an end, then you have to regroup and orient yourself once again, and I was making the case that that's a good time
to make necessary sacrifices in one part of that, because, as you move through your life, you have to shed
that which is no longer necessary and because otherwise it creates around you and holds you down
you perish sooner than you should- and I think that in large part, because if you dont dispense with your life as you move through
then the stress of all that undone business and all those unmade decisions turns into a
the chaos around you and that chaos puts you in a state of psycho, physiological emergency preparedness chronically and that just ages you
and so it's necessary in some sense to stay light on your feet and also, I think,
to renew your commitment to your aim upward and I believe that that's what the sacrificial routines in the Abraham EC stories dramatized. I said already that these things are often first portrayed very dramatically and concretely before they become psychologist and will see, because one of the things that happened tonight is well in these stories is that when God makes this covenant with Abraham, this is the next part of the story. It's also when the idea of circuit circumcision is introduced into ancient Hebrew. Culture
There is every bit of evidence that other cultures were utilizing circumcision beforehand, so it wasn't necessarily a novel invention of the Abraham. It people, but I see its introduction as a step on the road to this psychology. Isolation of the idea of sacrifice right, first of all, its giving up something concrete and then second, its signified by the sacrifice of a part of the body instead of, for the sake of the whole, it's something like that. It's dramatizing the idea that you have to give up a part of yourself for the sake of the hole and eventually well by modern times
becomes virtually completely cycle, psychological and its in its as essence in that we all understand, perhaps not as well as we should, but at least well enough to explain it that
its necessary to make sacrifices to move ahead in life. One of the themes that I'd like to explore tonight in relationship especially to the sacrifice of ice
is that once humanity had established the eye
that sacrifice was necessary to move ahead, which is really it's a discovery of incalculable magnitude, right. The idea that the idea that you can give up something in the
present, and that will in some sense ensure a better future is an unbelievable achievement, is equivalent to the discovery of the future its equivalent to the discovery of the utility of work. I gets importance can't be overstated. Okay, so it took a long time for people to figure this out. Animals haven't figured it out at all right. We ve figured it out and it's hard it's hard for people to make sacrifices
because of course the present has a major grip on you as it should, because in some way you live in the present, so anyways there's the twin problem of
hitting the whole idea of sacrifice up and running and then figure out exactly what it means. But there is a problem that branch off that two or a twofold problem. So the hypothesis is that so
her face is necessary to ensure the that the future is safe and secure and productive and positive in all of those things. Okay, so then, then, question immediate two questions immediately rise from that right. One is well what's the problem,
sacrifice. Now we already talked about that little bit with regards to gain enable in one of the things we saw was the Keynes sacrifice, whatever it
Was wrong enables was
I know as seem to be right. Abraham seems do right. There is something about a sacrifice that can be correct, there's something about a sacrifice that can be incorrect because
chinese is what would be the maximally correct sacrifice so because that's all
an obvious question to arise from the mere observation that sacrifices necessary, ok, if you're going to sacrifice and its necessary well, how is it that you would
hey if you were going to do it really well, if you're going to do it perfectly? Ok, so that's question number one and then question number two might be well. If the future can be better because of a sacrifice and sacrifices can vary in quality, then how much better could do said the future be.
If your sacrifice was of the highest quality right, there's a limit issue there and in the limit is something like what how good could your life be? If you really got your act together and you gave up,
the things that were impeding you in your movement forward, if you did, that forthrightly and and and with with
tag ready and with seriousness with with dead seriousness, and you tried to set your life right. What is the upper limits with regards
how your life might lay itself out, and I would say: well we don't know the answer to that, but I think that
the idea of something like the city of God or the kingdom of God on earth or the reestablishment of paradise. Something like that is the
sir of the imagination, to the question: how good could the future be? If sacrifice was optimized? Those are our critical questions. Read an anarchic tipple question is
question that everyone asks whether they know it or not, because sometimes you,
act out a question. An academic question is a question that
we won asks in an equitable answer is the answer that
be made any better to that question, so I can give you
ample of that. The reason that Christ's passion is an architectural story is because it's a kind of limit right, it's the worst
possible set of things that can happen to the best possible person. So it's it's a story that constitutes a limit. It has nothing
to do with the factual reality of the story. That's a completely independent issue. I am speaking about this psychologically. Is that certain story,
can exhaust themselves in a perfect form, and that would be the architectural form. So that's the territory that we're
to wander around in a little bit today and will use the
the stories as anchors be thinking a lot about this autumn and Gomorrah story, because it has its
I associated with a biblical injunction against homosexuality and that's often how its red, I would say, in particular by the more fundamentalist end of the Christians
German I've thought about that a lot, because it's pretty damn clear that this story
Solomon. Gomorrah has something to do with sexual impropriety, but I've really come to. The conclusion is very little
do with homosexuality, so we'll see how that interpretation prevails as we walk through this tonight.
Ok, so we start with a bit of a recap from last week, so
Abraham's had his what have his last adventure and he's ninety years old, ninety nine years old. Actually the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him. I am the almighty, God walk before me and be thou perfect. Well, that's quite the command.
Now, Alexander Mclaren, we talked about before its x, it
elaborated upon this slightly, and this is what he had to say. Is this?
not precisely walking with God the idea of walking before God. It is rather that of an active life spent in continual consciousness of being naked,
open before the eyes of him to whom we have to give an account? Okay? So that's that's an idea, that's in keeping with the
notion that what we're seeing and Abraham story is the call to adventure of the of man of the of the typical purse
right because your life in some senses an adventure and I suppose the reason for that is that you're, confronted by things that you can
not understand that you have not yet mastered, there's a heavy price to be paid. If you fail to conduct yourself a programme
and there's a large reward to be gained if you conduct herself properly and so that pretty much defines and adventure story and
caused Abraham and tells them to move out into the world to leave what he's familiar with to go into the street.
Lands of famine and tyranny and to find his place and that works out quite nicely for Abraham and so
what? That also means is that, because Abraham is doing that consciously at least according to this interpretation that he's
not naive in his in his determined
action to move forward, you know I mean I've dealt with lots B.
That anxiety disorders, you know, and one thing about
people who have anxiety disorders is. They are not mysterious to me.
Stand. It's no problem.
For me to understand why people have anxiety disorders or why there depressed
or why they have substance use problems. Them
St me is always why people don't have all of those things at once, because
everybody has reason to be anxious. In fact, we have the ultimate reason to be anxious, because we know that
we're vulnerable, and we know that we're going to die and how you can not
Anxious under those circumstances is a great mystery. It's a massive mystery and the same
applies with regard to depression and then
same thing applies to some degree with regards to drug and alcohol abuse speak. As I said last week there,
plenty of reasons to drown your consciousness and alcohol. That's for sure we could refer to the aforementioned
anxiety, depression, not least, and so, and the and the sorts of drugs that people are prone to take. Our chemicals that take the effective edge of the tragedy of life so so way back to back to
The issue of of of fear in Abraham is self consciousness. That's what this commentary says, but the thing is this: he moves forward, despite that is self conscious, and he knows the danger buddy moves forward. Despite that and that's actually the appropriate response in the
face of actual nor naive understanding of what constitutes life like. If your naive and you move forward, it's like well what the hell do. You know you know
new courage and naivety, because you don't know what there is to stop you
don't know what dangers you might apprehend, but two
aware of what it is that you
problem is so to be alert existential, let's say, are to be fully self. Conscious means that you are perfectly aware of your limit.
Asians and how you might be heard, and then too
the decision to move forward into the unknown in the land of the stranger anyways. That's the I would say that
one of the secrets to a good life- and I can say
that really without fear of contradiction. I would, I would say, because
the clinical literature on this is very, very, very clear what you do with me.
But who are afraid and into some degree depressed, but certainly anxious is you lay out what but their anxious about. First of all in
detail? What is it that you're afraid of what might happen, and then you decompose
it into small problems, hypothetically manageable problems, and then you have, the person expose themselves to the thing that they're afraid of
and what happens isn't that they get less afraid that isn't what the clinical literature indicates exactly
hams instead as they get braver and that's not
same thing right, because they give less afraid it's.
Well: the world isn't as dangerous as I thought it was. You know silly me. If you get brave
That's not what happens. What happens is the other damn world's just as dangerous as I thought, or maybe
it even more dangerous than I thought, but it turns out that
something in me that responds to taking that IRAN is a voluntary challenge and grows
and thrives as a consequence, and there is no doubt about this. Even this cycle. Physiological findings are quite clear if you, if you can, if you in
how a stress on two groups of people and on one group distress or is imposed involuntarily and on the other group distress. Her is pick
voluntarily the people who pick up distress or voluntary voluntarily
a whole different cycle physiological system to deal with it they use. This is
and its associated with approach and challenge and not the system
associated with defensive aggression,
and withdrawal and this
system that is associated with challenges, much more associated with positive emotion and much less associated with negative emotion. It's also much less hard on you, because that the defensive posturings
the prey animal system. Man would not think,
and it's all systems are go for you. You know you're, the gas is pushed down the or
Pedals pushed down to the metal in the brakes or on your using,
future resources that you could be storing for future time right now in the present too, ready yourself for emergency, so there's theirs,
there's nothing simpler, trivial at all about the idea of being called to move forthrightly forward into.
Strange. An unknown
and this real adventure that's associated with that right. So that
exciting thing, which is part of the reason why people travel and then
to see yourself as the sort of creature that can do that is willing to do that on a habitual basis is also the right kind of tonic. For I hate this
word for your self esteem. You know because the
self esteem has nothing to do with feeling good about yourself. As as already mentioned, there is
necessarily reason why a priority you should just feel good about yourself, but if you can
view yourself, acting in a courageous and forthright manner and encountering
world in trying to improve your lot and and and taking right.
You know in a non naive way. Well then, you have something that you can comfort yourself with.
Night when you're wondering what the whole damn point out is?
of your futile and miserable life. And so,
and that's necessary, because its often the case that you,
wake up at four in the morning, or at least sometimes the case that you wake up at four in the morning when things have been going that well and wonder just what the hell. The point is.
Your futile and miserable life. You have them
some real to setting
Instead it can't be just rationalizations about how you know.
You're a valuable person among others. Even know. That's true, that's not good enough! You need something
more realistic. To set a against that in observing courage in yourself is definitely one of the things that that
help. You sleep soundly at night when, when things are done,
stabilized a little bit around you so back to the covenant God tells Abraham may make
my covenant between me and the and multiplied the exceedingly and Abraham fell on his face, and God talked with him saying. As for me behold my covenant, my comment
as with the and thou shalt, be your father of many nations need
shall thy name anymore, because Abraham, but thy name shall be called Abraham for
Father of many nations have I made the neighbour means high Father and Abraham Father of a multitude
and I'll, make the exceedingly fruitful,
we'll make nations of the king's shall come out of the
I will stop my covenant between me and the advice seed after the in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto tee and to thy seed after the
and I will give unto the and I see that after the land wherein thou art, a stranger all the land of cane and for an everlasting possession- and I will be there God, I love that line really
the line about the land where you are a stranger, you know and everything that happens.
The Bible. Almost everything that happens in these more archaic stories, in particular, is laid out geographically, the metaphors geographic, so you move to a land that you haven't yet occupied.
Maybe it's full of strangers and then the land is what's granted to you, but it's perfectly reasonable to think about this from the perspective from a more abstract perspective, this much
relevant to modern people with our incredibly complex societies. You know it's definitely the case that
if you go into the land of the stranger, which is exactly what you do when you try out any new endeavour right when you start a new job or when you started new educational and
prize it when you start a new relationship, doesnt matter you're out there
unexplored territory like the physical geography is the same, but we don't live and in the physics in,
in these spatial world only we live in the temporal spatial world and what that means is that the same,
Place can be different at a different time and mean that can be completely different
and so if you are in your house, but you have a new person in your house while your house's knew, for all intents and purposes, because the two,
A tory surrounding not new person is the territory of
of the foreigner essentially
the same thing happens to you when you start a new job and you ll find that when you start a new job, especially if you stretched yourself a little bit beyond your zone of comfort that you very
I feel like an impostor right when your first there and then the quest
Well, how do you master that in the answer?
It seems to be well, it seems
straightforward! If the place that European has any degree of passive
well, if it isn't inhabited by demons, so to speak. The best way to act is too
your aim upward and attempt to get your act together and to tell the truth and to live a meaningful life and to do difficult things. All of that, and that is the
best way of mastering a new territory and in all,
probability the degree to which you are able to act. That out is precisely proportionate to the degree
To which you are going to become a master in that territory and that sort of thing can happen a lot faster than people think you know it's. It's really quite remarkable. How fast you can move forward
if you can establish yourself somewhere and prove years
of useful, assume
did you around people to whom,
proving yourself useful? Actually, matters like, I know perfectly well that you can end up in unemployment situation, where your punished for your virtues right, in which case you should
get the hell out of there and really really you get out there and you go find somewhere where, if you
or car to do what you're supposed to do your actually going to be rewarded right because that's not work!
ways that hell and you should just leave their sole.
Said unto Abraham Thou shall keep my cousin, therefore thou in thy seed after the in their generations. This is my covenant, which he show key.
Between me and you, and I see it after the every man child among you shall be circumcised. That's
story there like why that particular right
its dramatic, I mean it. Certainly it certainly
affects a man where he's most concerned to be effected. Do something like that, and so it's it's a soccer.
Price. That has a certain
I would say a certain degree of unfair get ability. That would be the first thing in a certain degree of pain and threat that goes along.
That's so it's not nothing! That's the thing now,
can argue- and I think there is an argument- a case to be made
about whether or not in the
Modern world circumcision is a reasonable. Is something reasonable to inflict
dont infants? I do want to have that conversation at all, but I don't think that's relevant to this particular issue, because we're talking about something different, we're we're talking about humanity's attempt to reckon
out themselves to the fact that something has to be given up in order for something else to happen and to try to really work through there.
Idea and to make it into a psychological reality and so far what we ve seen in the biblical
lorries is that when you make a sacrifice is not really something personal or psychological right, it's something extra
and dramatic. You give up
I think that you own
give up something that you are or that's part of you and
it's actually more of a sacrifice to give
something that's a part of you or something that you are then to give up
something that you own,
it's a subtle distinction between, because in some sense, the distinction between what you own in what you are is subtle. Right, I mean
it's not overwhelmingly saddled subtle, but but people identify
their possessions and they need to because otherwise they wouldn't care for them and they need their positions in order to live so their position.
Are in some sense integral to them, but there is
transformation here of an act. That was
external and associated essentially with possessions to something that was actually at least part of
the body, brings that much closer to. It brings a much closer to the
the to the individual as a psychological reality it something like that and you
circumscribing circumcised, the flesh of your forest skin, and it shall be a token of the covenant. Betwixt me in you. It's also a permanent marker. You know one I've read a fair bit about.
This is like tattooing and body scar vacation, you know, which is those are very very common practices.
Their human universals actually, no matter what
you go around the world, we mean you see a couple of things, first of all, almost without exception, people where clothing
sometimes it's relatively minimal clothing, but but its can
Often it's more decorative, then protective, but it's almost inevitably clothing and
the other thing that you see is that people do scar, fi and tattoo themselves, and they do that in some manner to
How do identity right there trying to
form themselves from a generic person?
in some sense to a person, that's been
designed by their own hand, did something like that, there is
it's a marker of developing identity and some of it seems to be catalyzed with pain. You know that modern people who tat too
I'm not saying that I am in favour of tattooing because actually not, but that, but that's my own particular bias, and if you have a tattoo, that's fine with me,
I am also not saying that there is anything wrong with it, but one
things you do see what we, the people, who have a two do report is a couple of things:
that the pain is actually necessary and that the pain is
something that seems to establish something like a memory. So well it's a memory because of the
cause? You bloody well, remember things that hurt, but it's
so a memory, because it's actually etched on you right. It's not something that you can just abandoned and forget, and so on.
Circumcision is exactly the same thing. It's like you, don't forget it cause. It's part of you, and so it makes a good token for a covenant, and so that seems to be the rationale here from from speaking from a psychological perspective, it's too the index,
as well that the damn thing that's happening is serious and, I think,
So that was the case with the earlier sacrifices of animals like modern
Well, don't do this, like you, don't know how serious you would take a vow with you sacrificed a goat in your backyard
actually very dramatic thing to do. You know you think about
ass, primitive and perhaps it is archaic and no doubt it is, but it's also to take the life of something into spill
blood. That's no joke that something you remember, especially if you haven't done it before, and we
actually dont know what we would need to do in order to take something seriously in or because we all do things
like make new year's resolutions about how we're going to be better people, and we don't do it and the reason
without, at least in part, is because we
We know how to make the sacrifice sufficiently bloody, let's say so
We remember that its necessary right. We don't take it with seriousness. We don't think I should quit smoking because I'm gonna die
think through what that means like correct
often your lungs out for three months and hotel Bidwell. Your entire family is like half report
and horrified and sorrow stricken at the fact that this has happened far too early.
We won't make that real enough to make a serious and serious and without that
business, we won't do it. So there is something to be
Ed for rituals of seriousness, and I think this is one of them
and he that is eight days shall be circumcised. Among you, every man child in your generations heeded
born in the house are bought with money of any stranger which is not as I seed. This is from Charles John Erika, whose Bishop of Gloucester
the fitness of circumcision.
To be a sign of entering into a covenant
especially into one too
children were to be admitted, consisted
its being a representation of a new birth by putting off the old man and the data
of the new man unto holiness it's like a baptism. That's right! That's that's! What's that's what's echoed there, and course baptism is returned to the pre cosmogonic chaos, because that's what the water indicates in return
to the source of life and and then the renewal that comes along with it. So it's the it's it's it's a sacrificial idea in some sense that if there is
to be a new you that the old you has to dissolve has to return
to the solution from which it
urged initially and to reconstitute itself, and so there's an echo of that idea. Here, the flat
was cast away, but the Spirit might grow strong
the change of name and Abrams. Sir. I was typical of this change of condition they had been born.
And so must again be named, and though
and could, if need be admitted directly into the cat, could not indeed.
Be admitted directly into the covenant, yet they shared in its privileges by virtue of their concern, ingenuity to the men who were responses for them and thus awry changes. Her name equally with her husband or you could make a case and and anthropological observers have made this case to that women undergo
a sufficiently a set of sufficiently radical cycle physiological transformations merely as a consequence of being part of
being feminine nature, such that the additional rituals of trends
formation that might be necessary for men aren't necessary in one of those might be menstruation, because that's pretty dramatic transformation and there
it's been some indication that sir.
Incision is like a male. It's like them.
A quiver lint of menstruation, something like that because of the blood that's involved and because of the local and then of course, the same thing is the case with women when they give birth, because that's a particularly dramatic thing, as I just witnessed, because my daughter
had a baby this week. So thank God for that reason,
investigation. This is from the Cambridge by Bible for school in colleges which, if you want to read it, is only fifty eight volumes
Recent investigation is not tended to support the theory that circumcision has any connection with primitive child sacrifice, nor again that it took its origin from hygienic motives. Apparently record represents the dedication of the man who did the pay
To God in the history of Israel, it has survived as the symbol of the people belonging to Jehovah through his special election is corporal sacrament.
Remained the Israelite when, when every other tie of religion or race had been severed. The other thing that that I read about in relationship to this idea of the Multi Generational covenant had something to do, because God told Abraham to include all of the people of his household into this covenant
and and that that that really meant that he was establishing it territory of ethics around them like the Ark except the psychological equivalent of the Ark rate. So it was, it was a spiritual or
the or ethical territory that everyone who is of that household was required to occupy or obliged or perhaps privilege,
occupy, and there is also an injunction to Abraham with regards to his children, which was that as he had a stab,
a covenant with God, which we could say something like his decision to to a
as high as possible and to live properly as a consequence. It's me
the now, but it something like that that he also was under a soup the supreme more
the obligation to share that with his with the other men in his family, especially children and so, and so I think,
also a call here to adopting a sacred or the sacred
responsibility in relationship to children. That has to do
with ensuring that they understand how to take their place in the world, and I think that that's definitely something very much worth considering. Especially
given the emphasis in the Knowest store in the story of nor that nowhere,
his
generations were perfect right, as I say
before it wasn't merely that he had walked with God tat. He had
fact that his own relationship with the divine, let's say with the transcendent- and I want to make that concrete, which is a strange thing to do with the transcendent mean
people ask me all the time about what I believe and, of course, that's what I'm trying to explain what I'm talking but but but
and in many people of course are sceptical about the ice
of anything transcendent and and and and
say transcendent handy eternal, but that it can
also be addressed from a psychological perspective, because I would say well, if you,
have an ideal of any sort. How is
not transcendent.
It transcends, you that's the first thing and it does
exist. In reality, it exists in a place of possum
reality in blue
me man, we treat places of possibility as if their real, because people were we'll call
when you you know about your possibility,
near potential they'll say to you: you're, not manifesting your full potential and you might say
what do you mean by that potential
doesn't exist. It is
here now. You can't measure it away if you can't get a grip on it now
they don't rationalize. You know.
Perfectly well what I mean when I'm talking about your potential, and so we could
You do and everyone does, and everyone knows exactly what that means in. So that's a metaphysical reality that will
immediately accept as real and also
to get ourselves for not fulfilling, and others too like because you're, just not
happy when the people around you, especially if you love them, don't fulfil their posts,
Shall you really feel that something has gone wrong and so there's a transcendent reality and potential? And then, when you hype,
I the size and ideal that you might pursue, which you
I always do if you pursue anything right because to pursue
something means you don't already have it you're pursuing
something that doesn't exist. You're, probably
pursuing something that's worse than what you already have, because why the hell would you pursue it right? That's completely counterproductive, so in in them
the fact of your pursuing you. You pause it
transcendent reality that you can that you can let you
can journey towards that's more valuable than the reality that you have now that's product
it is in some sense on something like an eternal verity or an eternal truth. It part
eggs in the ideal, and so we haven't really
kinship with the transcendent and you
I'd say well that doesn't mean you have to personify the transcendent say as you Jehovah. You know that the God, the Father, but there is also some damn good reason.
For doing that, because one of the things that I have realised thinking
through this coming
and idea, and also the sacrifice idea, is that the idea that the
Future is a judge, mental Father,
is a really really good idea. You know, because you think about
what the future is in part I mean the future is, however, the natural world is going to lay itself out over the next endless
a lot of time. That isn't what I mean. I think more about your future,
Now, mostly, your future is the future of Europe
to negotiate with other p
but they're going to be other people in the future, and some of those people are going to be you in the future and family members in the future, and so what
happening right now, is that if you make the sacrifices properly, then you're actually pleasing that
future set of people and that future set of people is definitely going to serve as a judge. It's exactly what it does
that's precisely what it does, and so you might say: well, it was the bridge
and imagination of mankind, but hypothesized that
the best way to think about
does social group, including the family, but also including you, ask your future self was to consider
or is it psychologically right? Well, it's at least psychologically right and you know one of the things I ve learned about the biblical stories. That
Is it right right or psychologically right? Well, it's at least psychologically right and you know
one of the things I ve learned about the biblical stories that too
say that their psychologically right doesn't exhaust the ways in which,
they're right, but it is at least
is rational, modern people who are sceptical and properly so a better
getting a grip on them so
and the uncircumcised man child, whose flesh of his force is not circumstance that sole shall be cut off from this people. He had broken my covenant
So it's a serious contractual duration relationship. Now I was thinking about
How to understand this, and I remembered this old story which I'm going to read to you about a monkey so
there's an old and possibly apocryphal story about how to catch a monkey that illustrates this set of ideas very well. First, so
The story you have to find a large
narrow, necked jar just bear
wide enough in diameter, for a monkey to put his hand inside and then you have to fill the jar up with rocks so that its too
heavy for the monkey to carry away
scattered some treats around the jar that are attractive to monkeys and close to the jar.
You put a few those treats inside the jar, and so that's the first part of the trick and then the second
part of the trick, is the monkey comes along and gathered up the treats and then put just here?
the giant, grabs the treats that are in there, but it's near,
next, and so once the monkey put his hand in their grabs. The goodies
can't get his hand out of a damn jar, and so then
just come along and pick up the monkey, and I too bad for the monkey rights like you
let go of what he had so that something
herbal, didn't happen to it, but that is not the monkey will do because he can't soccer
what the part for the whole and there's something about the
concision story. That's about that. It's about sacrificing the part to save the whole and
there's, an echo of that in the new testament. If I remember correctly, I believe it. I believe this is correct. It might not be we're. Christ tells his disciples to pluck out there. I, if it offends the seems like a very dramatic
piece of advice, but it's it's partaking of the same idea, which is that enough
Something holding you back will see this when we get to the story of law too. If there's something holding you back, even if
dear to you, you have to let it go.
You seriously have to let it go, because there is.
Anything more important than progressing forward and an cheap sympathy. Cheap empathy, cheap
nor none of that
sufficient. None of that will work because the consequences of
what putting things together immediately
Our dire and there's no.
To wait.
Said unto Abraham. As for sir, I thy wife, thou shalt, not colored, name, sir. I but Sarah shall be her name, my princess, that was sir. I Sarah is mother of now
and I will bless her and give the sun also of her yea. I will
Sir, she will be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her and Abraham
on his face and laughed
And said in his heart show a child born unto him that is a hundred years old. Scott doll, I would say, mean here
God talking too many laughs, you know, but that's. Ok, that's he's a courageous sky and that's what people are like and
and shall Sarah that is ninety years old, bare and Abraham settled.
God, oh, that Ishmael might live before the and God said,
era? Thy wife shall bear the sun, indeed emotion,
cause nay, my sick Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him and ass, fresh male, I've heard the beholder
blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply am exceedingly twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation now. What does this mean
This is, this is a miraculous story in some sense right because Swell Sarah, it's what they Isaac want, or what
have once most is to have a son, but it looks like it's pretty much impossible and I think what the story is attempting to indicate is something like.
God only knows what will happen to you if you put your house in order, certainly
things that you do not current
Regard as possible will happen and the more
are you put your house in order, the more things that you regard as impossible will happen, and it might be the case that, if you put your own together sufficient
things that were of miraculous impossibility would happen to you.
There's no way of knowing until you try it, but there's no way of being sure that it's not the case. Unless you do- and my experience has been that I don't mean just personally-
I mean that the world is a remarkable and mysterious place, and the relationship between the nature,
structure of the world in your actions is indeterminate. They may be more,
tightly related than you think
and I dont know how to square that with the fact that, while you're, obviously in a mortal body and concern
reigned by all sorts of serious constraints
None of that and none of that too
trivially overcome, and I don't really understand how there can be that sir
business of mortal constrained and
the infinite potential that also seems to characterize human beings. All at this
in time, but then I don't really understand,
anything about the nature of reality. So that's just one more mystery to add to the pile so.
But my covenant, I will establishes Isaac which share a Sarah, shall bear under the at these set time next year. Many left off talking with them in God, went up from Abraham and Abraham too
Ishmael his son and all that were born in this house and all that were bought with his money. Every mail among the men of Abrahams House and circumcised, the flesh of therefore skin in the self same day, as God had said, unto him that must have been an interest
in conversation that mean really
This is what God told you to do a like: ok,
Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumscribe circumcised in the flesh of his four skin and Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circles.
Used in the self same day was Abraham Circumcised and his son and all the men of his house, born in the house at bought with money of the stranger we're circumcised with him all right. So that's the renewal of the covenant. That's the next part of the story. That's the circumstantial, that's the circumcision story and, as I said, it seems to indicate to me something about seriousness of intent,
something about the responsibility that Abraham determined to take for everyone. That's part of his household, these,
psychological, increasing psychological transformation of the idea of sacrifice than this
city of doing something. Memorable and the the what would you call the in the EU too?
the of rekindling b,
of your highest values when you come to the
and of an airport in your life. When you have to take stock again right, you take stock of yourself. That's really. What that phrase means to take stock is to take stock of yourself into decide. Ok,
well. What should move forward in time with me and what should be? Let go as if it's dead wood and the more dead,
that you let go oven, burn off when you have the opportunity. The last of the creeps around you here to hear something interesting about forest fires. You know people have been trying to prevent forest fires for a long time, especially that damn bear smokey right he's trying to prevent forest fires, and so because forest fires burn up the forest and that can't be good. But here's. What happens if you don't let forest fires burn? Is that well, forest collect a lot of dry branches right to tree branches. Dying
would falls on the forest floor and collects and so that the amount of flammable material keeps increasing with time and that's not so
if it's wet, but if the amount of land,
whatever material is increasing and it gets really dry and then it burns and you have a real problem-
The forest fire can burn so hot that it burns route. This topsoil right off,
case you don't have a forest at all any more. You just have a desert and let lots
the trees are evolve, to withstand forest fires of a certain intensity and some won't even really
their seeds unless there's been a fire and so on
bit of fire at the right time can stop everything
from burning to the ground, and that's all
a really useful insight,
metaphorical insight into the nature of sacrifice, right
It's also a lot easier to let go of something when you're deciding to let go of it because you ve done
I did yourself that it's you're done with that. It's a week, part of you. It needs to disappear,
yourself it's much better and much easier than it is if it's taken,
way from you forcibly, in which case your very much likely to fight it
That is another interesting thing here a motor.
That runs through the entire Bible. It's a very, very powerful motive
partly associated with this idea of walking with her walking before God, and you know it in the new testament. Christ says something like that,
others will be done in any means that that will should be done through him and so.
I can't I won't go to state this exactly right, but it something like this. You know a lot of what people really
as their own personalities and and are proud of about there.
Personalities, aren't their own personalities at all there,
useless idiosyncrasies that differ them gift
and she ate them. Trivially from other people
They have no value in and of itself, some more like corks,
I remember once I was trying to teach a particularly stuff:
student about how to write, and she had
written a number of our in university and and got universally wallop for them, and the reason for that
She couldn't write really at all
really really bad at writing. And so,
I was sitting down with her trying to
explain to her what she was doing wrong and
She was being very annoying about it very recalcitrant, very, very unwilling to listen. That was a pearls before us.
Fine thing you know, and
At one point she said it did die. Can re perfectly well. This university professors, just don't like my style,
feel my hands creep towards her neck woman.
I'd be funny. If it wasn't true, but was also true, you don't, I
what the hell's with you
you can't even right and you think you have a style,
and only do you think. I know not knowing how to write is not a style. That's the other point rights, and so you know she she, instead of
humbling herself, which was necessary and ok right, could she was a new university students like, of course, you don't know how to write when we're gonna learn in school. I don't think so
She had this scene over this this this style,
issue in it, it it just just
go anywhere at all, and so now, let's see I lost my train of thought.
Can you tell me all those jokes
So we asked in terms of above letting things burned off, yeah. Well, so she was proud of her insufficiency hats, arrogant
right. That's not humility, self, deception and arrogance to be proud of. You
sufficiency. That's a very foolish thing, and that means too
to the parts of you that are dead. Ok, now, there's this
here that runs through the Bible. I think as a whole that they'll tell you
another little side story here I was reading about Socrates today and I was reading about Socrates,
while you know he was tried by
the Athenians for corrupting for
so, to worship the correct gods and corrupting the a of Athens by like teaching them stuff and asking them questions. You know it's a great way to corrupt people and
so he knew the trial was coming
to Athens, wasn't a very big place only land about twenty five thousand people- everybody knew everybody, everybody knew who the powerful guys weren't. Everybody
including Socrates knew that.
The trial was a warning. Do like get out of town
its we're gonna, put on trial in six months and the poet
until penalty is deaf got that slight, so
so Socrates, how to chat with his compatriots and they were condom
waiting, fair means and foul to set up a defence form so that he could or to leave so that he could not be tried and put to death and
He decided that he wasn't gonna. Do that
decided that he wasn't going to even
think about his defence and
said why this is quite an interesting thing here.
Said why he told one of his friends that we had this.
Voice in his head, a demon,
spirit, something like that
he always listen to and that that was one of the reasons he was different from other people, because he always listen to this thing. It didn't tell him what to do, but it told him what not to do it always told him what not to do
and if it told him not to do something that he didn't do it if he was speaking
the little voice came up and said:
No, then he shut up and he tried to say something else and used
probably about this. He said that when he tried to plan to evade
trial or even to mount his own defense. The voice
up and said no don't bother with it and he thought well will
what what what the hell do you mean by that like there's a try
coming and I'm gonna be put to death and well
eventually concluded that he is
old guy. You know
the next ten years using seventies, perhaps the next ten years work can be that great form he got a chance. Maybe the guy
you're giving me the chance just about you know to put his in fares.
To say goodbye to everyone to avoid that last descent into catastrophe, which might have been particularly painful for a philosopher unto and to walk off the world on its own terms. Something like that.
The point are making without is that Socrates attended to this internal voice that hitler-
told him what not to do, and then he didn't do it. And, of course, Socrates was a very remarkable man and we still hear about him today and we know that he existed in all of those things and so back to the back to the walking with God idea. You know
As you elevate your aim, you create a judge at the same time,
right because the new idea, which is an ideal you even if it's just an ideal position that you might occupy, even if it still conceptualizing that concrete way that becomes a judge because its above you right and then you're you're terrified of it, maybe
that's why you might be afraid when you go start a new job right, because you're this thing is above you in your terrified of it in a judge's you and that's useful, because the judge
Creating by formulating the idea, tells you,
what's useless about yourself, and then you can dispense with it
and you want to keep doing that and then every time you make a judge, that's more elevated, then there's more useless, you that has to be dispensed with and then, if you free, create an ultimate judge, which is what
architectural imagination of humankind has done say with the figure of Christ, because if
This does nothing else. He is at least the ARCA Tipple, perfect man and therefore the judge. You have a job,
that says, get rid of everything
about yourself. That isn't perfect. Of course, that's also what Abraham? That's also what God tales Abraham rightly says to be pursued,
to pick on ideal, that's high enough
You can do this thing, that's in
think about this, I think, is you can do it more or less on your own terms, you have to have.
Some collaboration from other people, but you don't have to pay
external ideal. You can pick an ideal that Cecile
the real of ideal for you, you can say: ok well, if things could be sent
For me. The way I need them to be- and if I could be who I needed to be, what would that look like you can figure
out for yourself and then instantly you have a judge, and I also think that's part of the reason people don't do it right. Why don't? Why don't people?
look up and move ahead
An answer is well, you know you
formulating ideal, you formulate a judge, it's pretty easy to feel intimidated in the face of your own ideal. That's what happens to Kane versus able for exam.
Then it's really easy to destroy the ideal instead of to try to pursue it, because then you get rid of the judge
but it's way better lower that
judge, if it's too much like if your current ambition is crushing you.
You know then maybe you're playing the tyrant to yourself and you should
down your ambitions, not get rid of them by any stretch of the imagination, but at least put the morph reasonably with
your grasp. You don't have to leap from point, wonder
fifty and one leap right. You can do it incrementally, but
really like this idea? Think it's a profound idea that the process of red pitcher
Eating yourself. Continually is also the process of its a phoenix like process, right, you're, sure,
during all those elements of you that are no longer worthy of the pursuits, that your.
But your valuing
And then I would say the idea here is that
as you do that you shape yours
of ever more.
Precisely into something that
Can withstand the tragedy of life and they can.
As a
beacon to the world. That's the right way of thinking about it. Maybe first
friends and then to your family so get to Hell.
The fine ambition and there's no reason that it cannot happen,
you know every one of you knows, people who are really bloody useful in a crisis and people that you admire right. Those are all you can think of all those people, as you admire
that you admirers, partial
incarnations of the arc of Title Messiah, that's exactly right.
The more that that manifest itself in any given person, then the more
generally useful an admirable. That person is in a multitude of situations and we don't
the limit to that, but people,
The unbelievably good for thinks. You know it's really something to behold. So that's.
God tells Abraham okay, so
Next stories about Abraham and these angels Angel show up on his doorstep. In this
for the story of sorts Ottoman Gomorrah. But I don't think
said, the stories generally read as if
about homosexuality. But I dont think it is here.
I think it's about two things. Primarily one is how do you
the strange. So the story
just strange things and strange ideas and strange people and strangers right. It's all there.
It's that which is not you. It's like the strange lands that God
stable him to move out into how do you interact?
with this strange
here here is one port possible rule, because you could
maybe yourself well well
What do I want to make friends with more? Where do I want to be more comfortable? Do I want to be more comfortable with that which I already know, and so that would be the circumscribed
Tori that you ve already mastered or do I want to be comfortable
all those things I don't know and then
the right answer is that you should want to be comfortable with all those things that you don't know, because there are
bloody lot of things that you don't know and
You can be a sojourner among what you don't know. Well then you're so protected, because, while you're gonna go lots,
places where you don't know what you're gonna be able to manage it. So you want to be you want to be
a person that can act where
they don't know, and so well so what happens with with Abraham
he's at home and these angel show up. No, we don't know whether there
Angels or men precisely because as well as this part of the story,
reads, as the Lord appeared to him and the plains of memory, and he sat in the
candour in the heat of the day,
So is another visionary state by the by all appearances- and he lived,
up his eyes and looked and low three men stood by him. There's real ambivalence in the story about the men are the three men
are the three angels, are there to angels and God, it's all mixed.
Up in the story, so we won't curve,
that will leave it ambiguous and I think the ambiguities important because you don't know who the stranger is when
encounter of
it depends on whether you are thinking about it,
normative manner or, if you're thinking about it in the transcendent manner, because with each person that you meet while they're just a person, that's one way of thinking about it,
and then there are the person that you know or the person as they
choose to reveal themselves to you and people keep themselves shielded. But then there are also something of great metaphysical potential right. Any
I'd, say well, do you believe that, and I would say well, yes, you blew
that's because you expect a lot from people generally speaking and are not happy if they betray you but more importantly,
our entire culture is predicated on the idea that each person has an indefinite
intrinsic worth, and I'm not talking about self esteem. I'm talking about something like the: what what what would you say it
implicit, presupposition in our legal structure that no matter who you are even if you're a murderer, even if you're a condemned, murderer
there's something about you, that's all
transcend in value that has to be respected by the law by the law and by other people right, so that
That's a remark, and you might say well, you know. Do I believe that an answer that is where you acted out cause you follow
law, and it's not an easy thing to pull out of the law. It's kind of the idea that you have intrinsic natural right and then
pulled out of our law? Man without having the whole thing fall down, and I think that
well idea that you have intrinsic natural rights is predicated on something like the biblical pipes
this, is that human beings have a logos nature and that we are
involved in this speaking forth, of being and as beings whose
who are involved in this speaking, fourth being there
something about us that has to be respected by
by ourselves in relationship to ourselves by ourselves in relationship to other people, but even more strangely, by ourselves, in relationship to even to criminals even to vicious criminals. You can't remove
that transcend an element, and that's that
me. That's also a mirror, a miracle of conceptualisation because who the hell's going to think that up right, even
the most vicious of murderers has a touch
the transcendent that needs to be respected, of all the ideas that are unlikely, that's gotta top the list, and course, without that you'd you
very barbaric legal system right because no one is protected as soon as you make a mistake, then you
the damned, and you have no rights whatsoever.
Happens in the west, which is an absolutely amazing thing, so anyways Abraham.
Is a master of the stranger. That's one way of thinking about it.
What to do when strangers come along and he opens his. He opens himself up to
and I would say he does that we know he's not a naive guy, Abraham right, he's no weakling,
couple of stories ago, he took a big army and in all, went and harassed.
Two kings and took his nephew back, he's he's a tough guy
and so, if stranger show up any welcomes them, it's not because
he couldn't do. Otherwise he could certain
you otherwise, and it's not
because he isn't aware of what people can be like is perfectly aware of what people can be like, but he determined to take a particular attitude towards
them, and that is to welcome them
and so when, and why would you do that and I think the answer to that is you home
hold your hand, entrust to someone, and you evoke the best from them. If that's there to be given. So it's an active courage. It's like
its. It isn't me meeting you exactly not exactly it's more like the trends
and in part of me, making
Just that allows the transcendent part of you to step forward and that
happens all the time it happens.
The time and in normative discourse you know that
perfectly well, because sometimes you can have a real casual,
conversation with someone that just goes nowhere right is just shallow is can be or
and then you can actually make contact with someone
and your both, I would say, enlightened and ovals by the conversation, and that's
DE. We would call that a deep conversation first for some reason, because we made a deep connection,
whatever. That means. It means what certainly means that it's not shallow. We
sure, but what these metaphor means, but it means that region
deep inside of you would something like that. You make direct person to perch
contact and those sorts
conversations are replenishing that that's the right way.
You think about it? They they genuine. We are- and I think that's because they provide you with that brow
That's not material bread.
That's the information that you need to to thrive and anti to put yourself together,
so it doesn't matter how you meet someone and it doesn't matter how you treat them when you first meet them
it's amazing. I've learned to do this, at least in part, partly because I'm
clinical psychologist, I've learned how to talk to people very rapidly, and I've
Amazing adventures with people in cabs and when I travel because all talk to them
Rectory right away and they'll tell me the wildest stories and show me the craziest things, because I'm actually interest
and what they have to say, and I M not afraid. Well, I'm somewhat afraid
nor are not sufficiently afraid to have that. Stop me and I'm acting on the presupposition that.
The person has something of great interest to reveal and that
that's a very useful thing to know too, because one of the things that really cool about people and are you really learn? This is a clinical psychologist. Is that if you can get people talking there, so damn interest
You can hardly stand it
because they have these idiosyncratic experiences that are only there is right there only there's personally, no one else could tell the story and that's the kind of stuff
that you want to hear and when,
Tell you, though, stories you learn, something you didn't know and so on.
That means is that you can treat the landscape of strangers as an endless vista of place
to learn things you didn't know and
If you know enough, so that your satisfied with your life and everything has ceased to be
tragedy around you. Well, then, you can be
comfortable in your circles,
I've domain of of
how a terrier knowledge, let's say, but if you're it
your life is insufficient and your suffering more than you want to, and everything isn't what
should be. Then you need to look where you haven't looked for what you dont have and then you can
outside beyond you. And then you can make friends with what you don't understand and that's a huge part of what this stories about
because what happens is that
Abraham, welcomes the man, God Angels and
listen very well and reaps a tremendous.
Benefit as a consequence and then well.
In the story reverses ISM and we end up in Saddam Gomorrah where the same angels sojourn in there.
Treated terribly and all hell breaks loose and so that
the stories about its funds
now. There's a there's a
actual impropriety thing going on that I am also going to delve into, but I dont think that's
critical issue in the story. The critical issue in the story is: how do you,
Act in the face of the stranger
the statement in the new testament Christ says something like we knew. We
do something to the least of people. You do it to me him right and that's a very different,
statement understand too, but it's something like it. It's something
reminiscent of the requirement to keep
idea of the transcendent reality of the person in mind. At the same time, you keep their proximate reality in mind to have
You have your mind in two places. At the same time, when you're talking to people, you know I learned from a friend of mine in Montreal,
who is very socially sophisticated and in some ways when it
when, whenever he went into a star, was like going shopping with him and whenever he-
went into a store and he talk and he had an interaction with a clerk,
the first thing would do, is have an interaction with the clerk and he wouldn't have an interaction with the role of the clerk he'd. Like look at the person sort, it takes
the fact that they were there and then ask them.
Something genuine about their jobs.
But their store power they were doing. I go into it.
Precision right away and he didn't get person
Well, because that can be intrusive right. You have to be very sophisticated to do this, but he did in
to the person that he was there, at least in part, for the good that could be done between them? It's
thing like that, and then the person would be ridiculously helpful,
You know and.
And so then you know what people mistreat you. You see this with anti social kids. It's very tragic thing to see, because if you're an anti social child by the time you're about for your very hostile and destroy
people to people and so like a growling puppy and if you're a growling puppy cannot get petted you're more likely to get kicked
and, if you're growling puppy and you get kicked than you, have even more reason to grow and that's all
the story of anti social kids. If they're not well socialized by the
and therefore and their more on the aggressive side, then
alienate themselves from the community and all they get his rejection? Well and then they
the rejection and they think well tell with humanity. You know and no wonder they think that, but
but the part of a catastrophe is: is that big,
what they evoke
and I'm not saying it's there for precisely, but it doesn't matter at still what
pens, and so you might ask yourself, if you're not getting from people what you need
Indeed, there is some possibility that you're not approaching, especially
this happens to you repeatedly across people- and this is a virtual certainty, if it happens to repeat
the across people, especially if you have the same bad experience with people, it's not them. It's you, I would say
we as the limit, if something
text you once you write it off. It happens to you twice like you open your eyes, but you write it off, but I don't see it three times. It's probably you or it's the rest of the world.
Better. It's you, because you're not going to change the rest of the world
lifted up his eyes and looked and low three men stood by him and when he saw them he ran to meet them from the ten door.
Bowed himself to the ground and
My lord? If now I have
phone favouring eyesight pass not away. I pray tee from the servant. Let a little water. I pray you be fetched and wash your feet wash your feet. Take the dust from your feet, extract yourself out from your journey right and sit, and I ll fetch a morsel of bread and comfort. You your hearts and after that you
pass on. Four, therefore, are you come to your servant and they said so do as though has said, and Abraham hastened unto the tent into the,
and under Sarah and said, make ready quickly, three measures, a fine meal needed and make cakes upon the hearth, powerful, called hospitality here,
And Abraham round onto the herd and fetched a calf tendering good and gave it
the young man and he hastily to dress it, and it took butter and milk and the calf which he addressed and said
before them, and he stood by them under the tree and they did eat some commentary from here. We hebrews thirteen to be not forget.
Well to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. This is a commentary from Matthew Henry who is a non conformist minister, and
Her cheerful and obliging manners in showing kindness are great ornaments to piety
or condescending. Lord vouchsafe is not personal visits to us, yet
deal by his spirit. He stands at the door Knox when we are inclined to open he deigns to enter by his.
Consolations, he provides a rich feast of which we partake with him. This is from revelations
three hundred and twenty behold, I stand at the door and knock and if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me well
hyperlink. Nature of those quotes is quite obvious. There's ten or fifteen things being set at the same time. Right one is a reference to the idea that if you ask for something it will be given to you
right was a very strange idea, but I like that idea a lot and I believe my in my experience that has been true. If it was
that I wanted what I was asking for, because that's the real issue right, because the question is, if you want something, what does it mean to want it
And what it means is to sacrifice whatever is necessary to get it, because otherwise
don't want it
and so there is an equation here and I'm not claiming its ultimate accuracy, but the equation is something like
You don't want it unless you're willing to sacrifice for it,
If you don't want it, you're not going to get it for you
scattered. But if you do
wanted any makes a proper sacrifices. Then God only knows what might happen and
see one of the things I really like about the existential philosophers is
their emphasis on personal responsibility, many of them had an emphasis on the role that peat
how in shaping their own destiny, the exist for the eggs.
Dance- and I think this was a consequence of
the religious substructure of of philosophical thinking.
With self evident that life was tragic and and bitter, and then
enough, but that isn't where it ended the the next day she was
well, there are better ways better and worse ways of dealing with that and the better way
of dealing with the fact that life is tragic and better is to posit the cell
you could be and live authentically in relationship to that, and then the next
the issue, and so this is something Kierkegaard talked about, particularly when he talked about the
of being a native face, is that the thing is- and this is, I think, part of the light part of life. That's the intractable
ensure no one can take the adventure of life away from you that that they can do
with good advice, for example, because no
can demonstrate to you that if you
great yourself out an aim at what you want and make the proper sacrifices that your life
out in the manner that you might want to turn out
It isn't in anyone else's purview to make that judgment. The
only person that can possibly
figure. That out is you it's something that can be
stolen from you, I would say it's your destiny, it's a destiny that cannot be stolen from you and you can forego it.
You can say: well, I'm not willing to put in the effort, because what, if I fail or first
if you don't put in the effort, you will fail, because life is hard and
it depicts everything out of you to do it properly. So you will fail and if you make the proper sense,
first, as you might fail, that's why I like the ambiguity in the story of cane, enable because we're never
He told why God rejects Keynes offerings, there's hands,
Cain maybe isn't doing a good job as should, and he certainty
bitter about it, but there's no smoking
pistol. It doesn't say what Cain is a bad guy team, but made terrible sacrifices, so God rejected him. You never know they might have been working pretty damn hard and things still didn't work out for him, and I think that
Beauty is appropriate in the story, because that ambiguity, ambiguity is in life. Do you d be
or to stay that
breathing always works out for everyone. If they just do things right- and I think that's a very that's a very
this thing to say, given how much tragedy tragedian catastrophe there is in the world and how much of it
to be undeserved, but that still
has very little bearing. I think on
on your own, individual adventure and the Knesset
city for than this.
City for opening the door to who you could be and and the necessity to do that Syria
Finally- and I do believe- and I think I think that's why this most impossible of versus knock on the door will open why there
Believable is that I,
have never met anyone who couldn't Hypothesi
a better them in some manner.
All they do is ask it's like? Well? How could you be better think? Well, he's three ways like
it's no problem right. You can think about that. No don't like maybe its small ways, but you can
always at least think of something stupid that you're doing
that you could quit.
And so that means that you do have this. It's a strange thing in people that we have this building capacity to deposit higher self and to move towards it, and maybe maybe
that's part of where the religious instinct really came from speaking, like really reduction,
Stickley you like as a materialist as an evolutionary psychologist. We we
this notion of the transcendent ideal right that that seems to be pervasive across cultures or maybe that's the ultimate manifestation of the human progress
to be able to posit an ideal at all and to move forward.
As an ideal, ok that you need to move forward, one if you can poznan ideal, why can't you
was it the ultimate ideal
you can many instantly. You ve got a religious sensibility instantly and so may
that's, because I'm puzzled, like as a biologist. What
tells the basis of the religious instinct because
idea that its mere superstition like we can just dispense with that. That's wrong
it's a human universal you can invoke. Religious experience is all sorts of ways, so we're not gonna play that
there's some reason that that instinct exists, and this is the first thing to do
it is to try to reduce it to something. That's biological and leave it at that not to mess with the metaphysics, but it certainly could be the case that it
the ultimate extension of our capacity to positive ideal
and we also might say well that's good enough, because, while the eye
moves you forward. It feels you life with meaning. There is no doubt about that, because it is in the movement towards your ideal that life's meaning is to be attained and then
Question is well how much meaning is there in moving for
we're towards an ultimate idea, well, more meaning, even though its more difficult. How much! Well that's the open question.
Behold. I will stand at the door and knock and if any man here my voice and opened the door, I will come into him and what's sup with him and he with me, that's a pretty good deal.
And the angel said unto him, whereas Sarah thy wife and Abraham said before
in the tent, and he said I
Certainly return onto the according to the time of life and low
Sarah thy way. We shall have a son and Sir
heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Now. Abraham and Sarah we're old and well stricken in age, and it had ceased,
to be with Sarah after the manner of women
for Sarah laughed within herself saying after I am waxed,
shall I also have this pleasure, my lord,
being old, also well, she's going to sceptical about
we'll Angel man, God having a child at a hundred thing and and and- and while rightly so rightly so,.
And the Lord said unto Abraham, why
Is there saying, shall I have there a child which I'm old
if anything too hard for the Lord at the time of
Indeed, I will return unto the according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son then,
denied saying I laughed not for she was afraid- and he said nay, but Thou didst laugh.
And the men rose up from dance and looked toward Saddam and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way I'm gonna make a small detour talk to you about this idea of potential again, because it's really really thought about it. A lot I think music speaks of potential like I think. Music speaks of potential bursting forward its something it's
like that and that's why it's so deeply meaningful, and it's this continual pattern. Revelation of of that
next wonderful thing that might happen. Something like that. So there's that and people find
deeply meaningful, and then there is the idea that we all have potential that isn't realised that we regard that potential, even though its not realised as well.
Which I can get my head around. It all just doesn't make sense, and then
although everyone acts that way,
and everyone believes it because white what you act reflects what you believe and you may
judgments about yourself and others based on those beliefs and their deep judgments. So
idea that you believe that there is such a thing is human potential. I think I think
undeniable? If you act at all, if you expect things are people at all, then you're demonstrating you're
amendment to the idea of potential. But then I wonder,
something even deeper going on, because we are very materialistic, modern people and this great power
Obviously we obtained great control
over the material world for better or for worse.
But we do have a tendency to think of the world purely as a material structure. And
he's already obvious to me that the world is exactly a material structure. It seems to be
to be something more like constrained potential. No, because
everything is a certain way, but
the thing that is certain way could be a multitude of other ways and almost an infinite multitude of other ways and the degree
with something that is could be a multitude of other ways is dependent on
which part on how you interact with it right. Even with me,
cereals that were very familiar with. We continue
to discover new properties and put them to use its like things are,
or compacted into their material form, but that does
exhaust what they are, especially
what in relationship to other things, and so it seems to me even if you can
place the materialists perspective with the perspective that it's better to construe, the world
Construe being as if it's made of possibility, rather than the world as if it's made of matter, it's at least useful
Have that as an additional viewpoint? Is that because you could
while the material philosophy is very useful as a tool for obtaining certain sorts of benefits, which it clearly is. But then this more metaphysical perspective with
think is more accurate in some ways that the world is a place of potential is also
stored, nearly useful way to approach the world an and it is practically useful. You know, but we talk last week a little bit about
doing something as simple as trying to organise room
it's by no means obvious how much potential there is in a room.
There is a very large amount of potential in any given roof. Tremendous amount of potential, especially if it's connected with people
maybe an inexhaustible amount of potential
and maybe there's an inexhaustible amount of potential everywhere and that we just don't know how to get access to it and that certainly true
certainly true to some degree. We don't know how to get access to all the potential of our children, for example, or ourselves or our loved ones, or it or or the people that we know so well. So I think the
this story is trying to hammer that idea. Home too, which is.
Don't be so sure that it's impossible or maybe don't let them.
Someone, that's it. It's impossible! Stop you from going forth into the world. That would be an that's. That's
would you say that, like inoculation against nihilism and I'm
a long time. I understood nihilism very well. I guess I could understand its rational associated with it.
The life associating with suffering and evil
seated with observation, affinities and the arbiter.
And unjust nature of the world, but the more
thought about it. The less I've come to believe that there is any excuse
fort whatsoever, and I think the reason
for that is that it,
stalls effort it force,
how the ability to discover for yourself, maybe
there is no reason to be so goddamn hopeless, except that it's easier to be useless. Now,
Nor believe me, I'm not making that case,
I'm not saying that that's what's be set
people who are clinically depressed, for example, that that's not my point clinical depression? Is it
Herbal thing there's lots of reasons to be rendered to be to be tossed into account
traffic conditions. That isn't what I mean I mean
kind of cynical, arrogant right
or hyper intelligent nihilism that threat
the world away, as
of little use before it's been proper
we engaged with better to engage
with it and see what happens and better, to make the assumption that if the world isn't returning to you what it is
that you need, then are either you're. Not
will it right or you conceptualize what you need badly? Why not at least open yourself up to that possibility right because you could be wrong? Hopefully, if your suffering, this is a great
two, no hopefully, if your suffering you're wrong, because it
suffering and you right than there is nowhere to go. So it's very useful to find
whatever errors, you might be committing nothin,
It's really interesting about the Jews in the old testament to remarkable thing.
Every single time may get flattened by God. It's always their fault,
they never say the world, a God
aid was corrupt and God is evil. They never say that, no matter what happens right, no matter what catastrophe occurs when they have every reason to at least put that high part. This is forward they don't they say we aired. We walked off the path it.
Our fault and that's hard. You know because it puts all the weight of human catastrophe.
On the human being that's very hard, but
is
you the control it open,
up the door that it opens up the possibility that you could be the person that could set it right. If you would
let go of what's in your way,
whatever that is
and the men rose up from thence and look towards Saddam and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way and the Lord said.
Shall I heard from Abraham that thing which I'm about to do seeing that Abraham shows
we become a great mighty nation and that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. A guest Scott is talking to himself here, or maybe he's talking to the angels
but I think he's trying to make a decision, for I know him
will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment.
The Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of it and the Lord said.
Because the cry of Saddam and Gomorrah is great,
because they're Sid is very grievous. I will go down now,
see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which has come to me.
And if not, I will know well, we don't know, what's happened in Saddam in Gomorrah, but we know that gods got wind of it and that that's not good.
And we know that Sinn means to miss the mark, and so we know
Whatever has happened in Saddam Gomorrah means that something about the natural ethical or
of things has been seriously violated and.
There is a strong intimation in the old testament, which I think, by the way, is completely correct that if the
proper order of being is violated and that something like the balance between chaos in order say, if the proper balance of being is violated, then all hell will break loose and one of the things I can tell you from reading a very.
From reading a very comprehensive set of myths from around the world is that that conclusion
human beings? Have come to everywhere, stay on the goddamn path and be careful, because if you start to mess around
new deviate, especially if you know that you're deviating.
Things are not going to go well for you
the idea is everywhere and I think it's all right. I think the ideas right, because there aren't many ways of doing things right and there's a lot of ways of doing things wrong, and if you do things wrong, they can
the of doing them. Wrong can be truly catastrophic. Canoe,
the things I learned from reading. Viktor Frankl, for
but then Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who I think did a deeper job was that an end. Vaclav Havel thought the same thing that these people were very much trying to understand what happened in
this is like Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Union source school like archipelagos. Kaliko is a particularly good
let of what happened in the Soviet Union and his conclusion and its twenty one hundred page conclusion, and it's like hammered home with a hammer. It's it's a book that everyone's,
reed, I'm assuming that you can read it twenty one hundred page scream, because that's
quickly. What it is in the first of all
what he does this document, just how terrible things were in the Soviet Union between one thousand nine hundred and nineteen and one thousand nine hundred and fifty nine
terrible you think they were. Unless you know the stories, they were a lot more terrible than that and
we're terrible personally
because every one line they were terrible
in families, because two out of five people were government informers, they were.
Terrible among friends, because no one could tell each other the truth. They were
terrible socially, because the whole system was corrupt and ran on slave labour, and now they were terrible philosophically, because
The doctrine of man upon which the state was founded was hot,
plus a nihilistic and and they
murderous destructive
and genocidal it's like. They got it
at every single level of analysis. So
tiny asleep, and the question is why,
Schnitz and dancer and answer and to some degree, Viktor Frankl answer as well and Vaclav Havel, and, I would say, also Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. They all they all ended,
in the same conceptual sphere, and the answer was because individual people lived crooked lives,
because individual people swallowed lies and spoke them and didn't
stand up for the truth and the corruption that speed.
From each individual pull.
Entire state mechanism into that corruption and
everything into hill and other
Their theories obedience,
that's kind of the Milgram idea from that it's easy to make cuts.
Being obesity obedient to people in authority and I've explored that idea quite a bit with regards to what happens happened, for example, in the Nazi concentration camps.
Yes, you can set circumstances up so that people are likely to be
billion two orders that our pathological there's no doubt
both out and yes, sometimes
that's indicative of the weakness of their character, but that's not the issue and the idea that what happened
in Nazi Germany was because a population
good people listen to a tiny minority of bad people. That's really that's really not a good theory, the the
the Nazi ethos was there at every single level of the Social Organisation right right from the personal right from the
personal right from the familial all the way up to the leadership. It was
same thing all the way up and all the way down
the same thing in the Soviet Union, and so we also.
If you missed the mark, which is apparently what the people of Saddam in Gomorrah did there
sin was grievous, then they risk destruction, and I just cannot see how, after the twentieth
century. Anyone with any sense could possibly not see. That is true, and I
that there's a line in the old testament. You know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and
I can tell you one of the things that frightened me badly
was the realisation from reading Solzhenitsyn and a variety of other things that I was reading at the same time that dusty
he's work as he makes the same point. He said that
human being is not only responsible for everything they do, but for everything that everyone else does now. You know that's crazy and he was an epileptic and a mystic and that's crazy thing to say, but it's also there's something about it. That's true, because if you
we're better. The people around you would be less worse than they are and if you were
now, if you don't know how much better the people around you would be, and so
there's. This idea to. You know that Christ took the.
Sins of the world unto himself, that's a complicated idea. Man. I wrestled with Ireland one for a very long time, but I think I
get out, at least in part what it means. It meant that.
It's something like the realisation of complete humanity. You see to take the sins of the world onto yourself
is to realize that is too
I understand the Nazi concentration Camp Guard, because that person is human and sore. You
And so, if you can't see you in that, then you don't know who you are
and if you can see you in that, were then you ve started to take the sins of the world onto yourself, because you ve actually started to take responsibility for those terrible things. You know, I think it's the motif of the the motto of the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We must never forget
close, and I think what you can't. Forgive you can't remember what you don't understand. You will forget what you don't understand and the question is: what are you
supposed to remember about the Holocaust, it was a historical event. The six million people died. That's not what's to remember. What's to remember is that
what people can do and you're one of them and if you don't
stand that you could do that, then you don't know who you are.
So gourds making a case here is making a case that the people of the sort,
Gomorrah have sinned in its making. A large room
add to that. Even God is heard about that's a very common mythological motif by the way,
But the sins and, and and and what would
Call it the sins and noise of humanity can read such clamour. That even the gods here in and are forced to intervene comes all the way from the mesopotamian creation story.
So any ways its logical yeah there sitting. Ok, well, so what well? No, not so. Why did means that?
God's offended and that everything is
risk, that's what it means like. That's something
Taking seriously,
in turn their faces from thence and went toward Saddam, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord
and Abraham drew near and said well
also destroy the righteous with the whip wicked. This is a very interesting part of the story friend of mine, too
the task. The other day, when I was writing about portraying the old testament, God is pretty harsh and judge mental and the new testament God a sort of all loving which he isn't because there's the whole book a revelations thing. But but I got that partly from reading northward
fry, but going through the old testament more detail. I realized that that's, that is,
to low resolution interpretation and that God, whose
dancing a fair bit of harsh justice in the old test.
It is also someone who can be negotiated with
Thirdly, it off and that's what
happens here. You know, Abraham has just been told,
Whatever is going on and Solomon Gomorrah has seriously not good and that gods going to do something about it, and he takes
upon himself. This is an act of mercy to two ass God
be a bit more judicious right. It's like! Ok, you away about the city. Well, bad things are happening there, but you know, there's probably a few
people in the damn city that aren't completely corrupted,
What's going on their course. That's an open question. You know cause it's an open
In, for example, how many people were there were a Nazi Germany who weren't completely corrupted by what was going on a Nazi Germany and the same?
could be said about Maoist China in this
the could be said about the Soviet Union, it's like. Well, perhaps
there was a person somewhere who didn't understand at some level what was happening, but you know that,
issue of willful blindness certainly springs to mind. If nothing else
anyways Abraham decides to intercede with God
on behalf of these people who are going to be destroyed
he says, will also destroy the righteous with the wicked. Perhaps there be fifty
just people within the city. Will you also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are there that be far from needed? Do, after
this matter is kind of reminding God that he's a good guy. As far as I can tell to slay the righteous with the wicked and that the right
should be as the wicked that be far from the should. Not the judge of the earth do right and the lords
If I find in Saddam, fifty right seems a bit taken aback here to me
fine and Saddam fifty righteous within the city. Then I will spare the place for their sakes
and Abraham answered and said behold now I've taken upon me to speak upon the Lord unto the Lord which, but I am but destined ashes. Possibly there shall lack five of the fifty righteous without it
Roy all the city for lack of five, and he said he,
God said. If I find there forty five, I will not destroy it and Abraham,
unto him yet again and said. He's kind of snake
up on God here
peradventure. There shall be forty found there and he said I will not do it for forty sake and he said unto him. Oh let
The Lord not be angry and I will speak possibly there shall be thirty five,
there and gods, and I won't do it. If I find thirty there
and Abraham, who seems really to be pushing, is locked by this point.
Behold I have taken upon me to speak under the Lord. Possibly there should be twenty found there and God,
I won't destroyed for twenty sake, and he said oh
Let the Lord not be angry and I will speak to, but this once perhaps ten shall be found there, and he said I will not destroy it for ten SEC and the Lord went his way and as soon as he had left communing with Abraham
Abraham returned unto his place. While there's two ways you can read that part of the story, one is that three
Let's say you can bargain with God. Even
you're kind of annoying about it. So that's kind of interesting this
Second, is that.
Even if there is a minority of good in a place that isn't good, it won't be slated for destruction. That's kind of a good thing, and the third is
a minority of good. The inner place can keep it from being destroyed and that's a really good thing too, and I believe that as well. I think that
good is more powerful than evil
naivety isn't, but I think that good is- and I think that in place- that's corrupt.
A minority of people who stand forth against the corruption can prevail. Now,
you know, I think I think one of the best examples of that again was Alexander Solzhenitsyn, because he was in the terrible work camps when he wrote his bookie memorized. Most of it
it is not an easy thing to do when its twenty one hundred pages long and set a very tiny font. Remember
most of it, and then he wrote it and
It was one of the things that brought down the Soviet Union was published in the nineteen seventies, first of all in where in the west, and the first thing that happened, at least in initially was that.
The communism as an ethical system lost absolutely all credibility whatsoever among anyone who is even vaguely educated immediately
the publication of the gulag archipelago he pulled.
Moral slots out from underneath it, and the book was dead.
Thirdly, one of the reasons there were many, but was definitely one of the reasons why the
and system crumbled and fell without a war and that-
a great example of how one person can take
a tyranny and prevail. So
he's. Not the only person who did that sort of thing is what Gandhi did the same thing I mean. I don't think the English were the Russians, but you know
things were not so good in India and what
Andy did in India under the influence by the way of LEO Tolstoy.
Was also a remarkable example of a single person intervening in a catastrophe and and and setting it
far more right than it could be so.
And there came to angels to Saddam and evening and lot member lot is Abrahams nephew.
Sat in the gate of Saddam and lot seeing them rose up to meet them and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground
said behold, my lords like turning and I pray you into your servants, house and terrorism
and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and go on your ways: how he's Abrahams, nephew and kinsman and acting
exactly the manner that Abraham does? He shows hospitality to these people.
And they said no, no will
stay in the street, all night
we insisted he pressed upon them great
and they turned in unto him and entered into his house, and he made them a feast
and baked uneven bread and and they did eat, but before
They lay down the men of the city, even the men of Saddam Compass, the House round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.
And they called unto Lord said unto him where the man which came into view this night, bring them out too,
That we may know them. Well, that's the part of the story. That's been used as a diatribe, let's say against homosexuality, because to know is to engage in sexual
two course, and the inhabitants of Saddam and Gomorrah were willing to terror
strangers out of lots house, and you
was an abuse them, as they see, saw fit right and so
Are they doing what are violating the principle, the principles that govern appropriate com
with the stranger
and maybe the stranger is something you shouldn't mess with
you don't know who your messing with so that
like warning number one one
So in their violating the essential principles of hospitality and then there's this,
sure thing here, I think, is: isn't
Sexual thing here is something more like the Abbe,
the danger of immediate gratification, sexual included outside
constraints of any civilised structure whatsoever.
Because that's is uncivilized behaviour is you could possibly hope for strangers, come into your city,
they're in the house of someone who's part of your city, there being shown hospitality, a mob, shows up and says
for come over moon we're
Do whatever the hell we want to them, and it's not going to be good
and if you get in the way, things are going
no even worse, for you so.
So that's what it seems to me to be. It's completely. This behaviour, its behaviour that outside the the corner
kinds of any civilised structure whatsoever. It's an indicates, an indication that the instant type, the social structure,
into entire society has collapsed so that
there's nothing left for the inhabitants to do except
we engage in the most brutal of immediate gratification and destruction? Well, so what is lot? Do I pray tee brethren. Do
do so wickedly behold now I have two daughters which have not yet known man. Let me I pray. You
bring them out onto and
due to is good in your eyes. Only under these men do nothing and therefore, for therefore came they.
The under the shadow of my roof. Well, it's hard to know what to make of that. You know me.
Doesn't exactly seem like.
The advisable thing for a lot to do and
I think at least what it is an indication of the degree to which he took the
all a vow of hospitality seriously? And I think that's the idea that the story is trying to promote.
And the angel said stand back
Oh and the men said stand back and they said again this one
hello, came into sojourn to talk to us and he will
be a judge. Her now will deal worse with him and with them, and they press or upon them
and even lot and came near to break the door. Maybe
What Lord thought was something like well we're we're done like world done with this mob and
perhaps I can spare some of us
the press or upon the man. Even Lawton came near to break the door, but the man this is the angels, but for
their hand and pull lot into the host them shut the door and they smote the men. They were at the door of the house with blindness both small
great so that they will
reed themselves to find the door, so they were so corrupt that they were blind and could not see. Now even
find the door and the man then said unto lot
thou here any besides any family members, son in law and their sons and daughters and whoever Thou hast in this city get them out of the place for we.
Destroy this place because
cry of them is wax in great before the face of the Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy it and lot went out and spake unto his sons in law which married his daughters and set up you get out of this place for the
Lord will destroy the city. But he seemed as one that marked unto his sons, sons in law
and when the morning arose, then
hastened Lord saying arise
take thy way for night, two daughters, which are here less thou, beacons
in the iniquity of the city.
And while he lingered lingered
The man laid hold upon his hands and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful, unto him and they brought him forth and set him without the city. So he still. This is an indication of the danger of not acting with appropriate haste. When the time has come a mean lots already seen what happened. He saw tat. The men came to his door, he saw TAT, they were murderous rapists. He saw TAT the angels took them out and he's,
still hesitant to leave the place, and so I guess one of the things that this story requires people ask themselves is.
Are you in a place that so bad that you should leave or when are you in a place that so bad that you should leave? And if you are in place that so bad that you should leave, then the time to leave his now, because there's no time to waste.
How it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said escape for their life? Look not behind. You need
stay thou in all the plane escaped to the mountain, less thou be consumed, and Lord said to them. Oh, not not so my Lord behold,
They serve and have found grace in thy sight and Thou hast magnified thy mercy, which, though it showed
into saving my life, but I cannot escape to the mountain
some evil. Take me and I die.
Behold now, there's a city near to flee onto, and it's a little one means. Maybe it's not big and corrupt like Saddam and more, let me escape
neither is not little. One in my soul shall live Matthew,
we said Lord lingered, he trifled thus many who are under convictions about this.
Chill state and the necessity of a change defer that need for work and he said unto him
see. I've have accepted the angel and he said
him see. I have accepted the concerning this thing. Also, then, I will not overthrow the city for the which thou has spoken, the small city hasty, escape thither.
For I cannot do anything to low Begone hither, therefore than
With the city was sore, that's where Lord, when
The sun was written upon the earth when lot entered into sore, then the law,
reigned upon Saddam upon Gomorrah Brimstone in fire from the Lord out of Heaven, and the overthrew
cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt, no nostalgia for catastrophe. I think that's what that means is that when you leave what's not good, you wash the dust off your feet and you don't look back and that's a very harsh lesson.
This is echoed a bit the new testament, the idea of the necessity for immediate action. These are some of the harsh words that Christ said this is from Matthew. Eight Christ is addressing a multitude and asking people to follow him and a disciple comes up to
and says Lord suffer me first to go and bury my father seems like a perfectly reasonable request:
but Jesus said unto him follow me and let the dead bury their dead. This is from Matthew, twelve well, he talked to the people behold his mother and his brethren.
Stood without desiring to speak with him and one said to him before
old thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with IE, but Jesus
answered the one who is telling him and said who is my mother and who is my brothers for whose
whatever shall do the will of my father, which is in Heaven the same as my brother and sister and mother.
What is all about me? It means that there is no excuses whatsoever for not getting up and getting out it. That's what it means, and it means that
It even means that when people are beset with a catastrophe like let's say the death of their father,
that they are prone to use that as an excuse for not going about the business that they should be going about.
Because they can say to themselves well, I would accept and accept there's always good
reasons mean believe me. There's always good reasons for not doing what you should. That's for sure that reasons pile up day,
after to not do what you should special, because you're you're aiming at thing
in the future. You can put them off indefinitely right because of the demands of the day, but these stories they say and a variety of things you know only in this way,
in combination. They say when you leave somewhere terrible. Do not look back. There's no nostalgia, that's
that's the letting the dead parts of yourself go.
And then, if you're, going to follow the good there's, no excuse not to do it and that and it means no excuse whatsoever under any circumstances, and then
taken even farther with regards to familiar relationships. It is you can't, even though
M, stand in your way and I think that's all true and I think I've seen virtually all of that in my clinical practice. There is no excuse whatsoever for not getting out what it is that you should be doing, and I think there's something else it's going on here, especially
the new testament stories, which has even maybe maybe worse, which is its absolutely reprehensible to justify
you're inaction with the catastrophe that extracts mercy from other people. Right does a tricky, tricky game, that's going well
course. I can't do that. Look at the terrible thing! That's just happened me. It's ok! I understand
your absolved of any necessity to move forward because of your current catastrophe so like well, actually, you're not and its
the root of you to use it as an excuse and it certainly counterpart.
Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord any look towards Saddam and Gomorrah toward the land of the plane and behold and LO, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of the furnace and it came to pass when God destroyed. The cities,
the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the midst of the overthrow when you
through the cities in the witch lot dwelt in law,
went out of sore and dwelt, the mountain and its two daughters with him, for he filler fear
to dwell in sore and he dwelt in a cave. He and his two daughters and the first born said, unto the younger her father,
Old and there's not a man in the earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth come, let us make our Father drink wine and we will lie with him that we may preserve the seed of our father and they made their father drink. One
at night in, the first born went in and lay with her father and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose
came to pass on the moral that the first born said unto the younger behold. I lay yesternight with my father. Let us
make him drink wine this night also and go thou in and lie with him that we may preserve seat of our father and they made their father drink wine.
Night also and the younger arose and lay with him and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose, thus we're both the daughters of lot with child by their father. Well, it's like the story. You know the stories outlined the catastrophe of Saddam in Gomorrah, centrally the
think catastrophe of Solomon Gomorrah, the dissolution of the civilised constraints that should regulate all behaviour, and then this
is destroyed, but there's an echo of it afterwards right because Laud had lived and Solomon Gomorrah and what happens to him even after is escapes is that he gets tangled into an incestuous web, and so I think that that it's not for shouted with post shadowing. If
such a thing. It's an echo of of woe of its an echo and a reminder of how terrible,
whatever it was that was happening in Saddam in Gomorrah, was that even after escaping the iniquity still remained well, that's a pretty good place to stop. We got through to have three story, so that's not a bad! Next week all talk about the soccer,
suffice Isaac and see if I can get into the next stories as well and next week is the last lecture except I talked to the theatre people, and it looks like
I'll, be able to rent the theatre once a month, at least for the next four months
so I'm going to do that and all announce when I'm going to do that and all
in doing this point
we as long as your continue to come and listen.
I could tell you
cool that happened to if you want. So
some of you may
that
There is a memo leaked Google.
How many of you know about that. How long are you
so a colleague of the man who release the memo got a hold of me. Yes,
day and said that the man who wrote the memo wanted to talk to me. So I interviewed him today. I mean
Youtube video out of it. We went over his memo, which was scientific.
The accurate, in my estimation,
and so I'm gonna release that hopefully tonight
so we'll see how you got fired,
ass. Ninety right, he got fired for perpetual
eating gender stereotypes. He told
me today that his last performance review he had been given superb, which is the top few percentage of the employer distribution at Google right, perpetuating gender stereotypes
I went through his document. I don't think he said a single thing that wasn't substantiated by us,
early dent scientific literature, not to say that the scientific literature is necessarily a hundred percent correct, because it never
is but certainly to say that he was not merely spouting out miss
aw, gymnastic and ethnically biased opinion. Quite the contrary,
so we have a nice discussion about that today and hopefully the discussion will continue. So all right, questions, hello, well, it's great
look a couple of things about that. My my daughter has had a catastrophic life in many ways. A lot of things went wrong with her physically really bad things, and this went perfectly
so like? Thank God for that Sudan and another thing, is I love kids, you know now infants. Well, you know
Nor did I it's not
infants are
cool and interesting, but I'm not
exactly what to do with you know, but once they're about six,
old and then from then on, like I love, haven't kids around, so I'm thrilled about the fact that this has happened so her hooray Ray
So thanks for the more as an aside, but what you said about not pushing aside other things, the day kind of made me think of making model. Just do it. Yes, I thought,
but my question was that when you were talking about circumcision, being a contractual relationship between sacrifice and compared to a girl having a period that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but also it seems to me that it being a sacrifice requires some form of willingness, basically from the one having circumcision they don't necessarily wanted. But for what you didn't, you said you specifically didn't want to address it's too,
infants not having a choice in the matter but more in the context of it being sacrifice. How does that I think, are there I think they're. So a modern person would see it, and I think that there are some, I think, there's some utility in that. But but it sits it's an incomplete incomplete.
To some degree, because one of the things that happens with God Abraham is that
tells Abraham that take care of his family is children. Now the question is exactly: how do you take carry your children
an answer is
Sometimes you make decisions for them.
You might say, will be better if they could make the decisions for themselves and that's actually the case
so you might say well, I won't bring my kids to church because it be better if they could make the decision for themselves. That's what I did with my kids. You know
but I'm not so sure that was a good idea,
and the reason I'm not so sure was a good idea was because there a bunch of things they didn't learn now the degree to which
apparent should exercise control over his or her child is indeterminate. But I guess the hope is that
you exercise the minimum amount of control necessary to maximize the child's probability of success and that certainly
requires adopting responsibility for making decisions as well, because the child can make decisions in all
just let the child lay there and make decisions right. That's just not going to happen, and so
might say well, Abraham has no right to impose something like
concision, honest children and because it
beyond because it's a sacrifice it something that they should be doing themselves but the problem without isn't it
Abraham also has no right to abdicate his responsibility to his children in the name.
Some hypothetical merciful nets and those two things have to be balanced. Well, this,
according to the story, Abraham got the balance right because, of course, he's made this covenant with God now exactly what that means in people's day to day lives. While that's her
issue, but I would say I think,
in the modern world people err on the side of I don't know.
They're more likely to err on the side of taking insufficient responsibility for their children, letting them be free in ways that aren't productive. That's how it looks to me often because they are afraid of their children. So that's both rest. I knew that I could use them. I was recently I've recently started reading maps of meaning and there's something in the introduction to that story that I found particularly the introduction of Euro before you went and tell them that I found particularly compelling. I guess the part where, when you talk about the split the developed in your psyche, when you're, you know all your yet, I think you talked about in one of the earlier lecture. I talk about a little bit today, the little bit
is where you said something in that paragraph there that what you said was you have two earned the right to identify with an idea, you certain ideas for sure certain ideas for sure. So, basically, my question is: how should the young person such as myself, who doesn't have a whole lot of life experience like be able to like red literature in psychology and interact with you, know the wisdom of culture and then incorporated into a structure that still
authentically there. Well, look, I think the way you asked TAT question means that you're actually doing a pretty good job of that
I mean I mean that does that was a very carefully formulated question and it was obvious that you are actually look.
For an answer, instead of trying to tell the audience a bunch of things that you knew, which often happens with questions right in
don't it's often it's very annoying for the audience to be subject to questions like that right, because it's a form of
because it's a form of manipulation. It's like well
Happy this off with the question, but actually to speak, so
so I would say you probably already know the answer to that end
but then I elaborate elaborated that little bit is like. There are a lot of books that people have.
Historically regarded as great you might as well
start by assuming that there are at least greater than you right and then and to approach them without frame of mind,
because even if there is much in them that.
Perhaps is no longer relevant, often less than people assume. There's more
The matter will be of extreme benefit to you and then with regards to making them yours the kind of wisdom that you get from great boxes. Practical wisdom
you acted out, and so then, what you do is you try to incorporate
You learn into your life into your practices and then, if you in
operated into your life in your practices, you bill,
bridge between you and the great idea right because
figured out how to manifest itself in the conditions of your own life. That's something like making the architectural personal, which is
which is the right thing to do right, it's it's the proper thing to do, because that expands your life upward and outward and an ignoble soon and brings you up as well
but so humility is part of that. It's like approach these books, as if they have something to teach you and then
its humility get in the second place, is don't take the ideas to yourself until you lived
they'll. Be lots of time for that and besides you know, even as young person, it's not like you have,
thing to say but the owner
things that you have to say, or your things to say
it is not necessarily that easy to figure out what they are. But, as I said, you did a fine job of that when you asked the question, so I think I think
far as I can tell you already know what to do so good. Do it
read everything Great Unita, damn hands on Doktor Pearson, so alive
work. A lot of your lectures recommend the audience tackle life with a lot of attention and intention- and you know, in my kind of personal gateway, drug to philosophy has been more eastern philosophy and like the buggy and the work of Alan Watts and TAT was TAT Buddhism and what I noticed I may be wrong, but this is a common theme in eastern philosophy, which is more passive. Non action don't make as many plants. I I wonder how you reconcile that in how you are reconciling that, because you mentioned earlier:
in previous lectures that you read the tell teaching. How do you reconcile those two different views? Well, I think first, that the DOW teaching, in particular reason about inaction. It's about minimal, proper action and
also about minimal proper action after a tree
mendous amount of sacrifice right so that the sage that speaking forth in the doubt, teaching has already let go
of almost everything that he needs to let go of, and
a tremendous amount of what you're reading in the eastern philosophies is predicated. I think, at least in part on the idea of sacrifice theirs,
lots of things at your grabbing onto like the monkey. You know with the jar that
actually causing your misery. And so
sometimes letting go, is the right way of moving ahead. But to me that ties into this idea of sacrifice so
now withers
more than that, whether there's more intentionally in western philosophy and less intentional it in eastern philosophy, I'm not exactly sure.
One way of mediating between those two was was formulated, at least in part by Karl Young. He pointed out that the architectural figure for what the West died at thirty two and so to some degree, the outgoing extroverted, let's say nature of the west- is
consequence of its usefulness in some sense its useful ethos and that the EAST Buddha died at a fairly right,
old age and even in the Hindu practices, for remember correctly from many hindu temples, there's a lot of erotic sculptures
No idea something like can't get past the damn
chronic sculptures. It's not time to go into the Temple
but it's more than that, it might also be that
few young. It's not time to get past the erotic sculptures, so maybe
maybe there's a moving forward into life in youth.
Letting go in in the latter part of life, and that's why that was younger way of mediating between those two traditions. I think they're tightly aligned with regard to the importance of sacrifice.
Frequently is the case that it's your desire mile, let's say your desire.
That's causing you suffering.
Right and so there's an emphasis
in Buddhism, even more than in Taoism. I would say on letting go letting go.
What's making you miserable and but you remember.
The thing about Buddha is that he got it
widened and under the boat tree, he basically.
Stepped into the city of God, he stepped in
Nirvana and he could have stayed there
they chose to come back because he decided that he has a responsibility to rectify suffering,
in the rest of the world that it was not
sufficient for him to be enlightened were
Everything else was left in a state of
insufficiency and suffering and so on.
Call that inaction in all its I've made the mistake myself, its inaction verses, non action. I urge you to look up, bless hats, that's good! That's
not to read the doubt aging does a very good job of distinguishing between those two because non action.
Is the minimum necessary action to keep the balance between order?
chaos proper.
That the end in the egg and the doubt aging?
very, very emphatic about this. You detached and you watch
and when it's time to intervene, you intervene minimally without a lot of arrogant, so
propaganda, isolation and you cap, and if you do that,
property! You hardly have to do it at all, and it's as if you're doing nothing and and there's does great wisdom in that book. I really liked the doubt teaching it.
It's a remarkable document and
I've seen managers who were like that who are really
good at running their company? Who did nothing
and what they did was, but it but first of all
he set our people to replace them because their Dirk idea,
was well. If I'm a really good manager, then this place could run without me. There's a
humility in that mandate
colonel wandered around the place talking to people, and if there was a bit of
problem than they just you.
Turned a knob tenth of a degree and the poor.
Run smoothly and it was as if they were doing nothing and what they were doing was detaching, so they weren't being
buried by their current concerns they were watching
to see what was going on, and then they were minimally interactive and that worked like a charm. So I think that the I don't
like the idea that all religious traditions are the same, because that just makes them into like a great mass, but I dont
See that there is any difference there that can't be bridged. I think, as you look into the details, the bridges become more clear.
How did you don't speak into the microphone, especially when you're saying self deprecating things
let everybody here you ok,
it's my pleasure what's happened. What's happened to you as a consequence, yeah
You are more or view seeing it that way: anyways, while mainly I've had not had whatever you say rate, is something I've thought but not have been able to article eight rate. So it's been very helpful in that regard and kind of phasing out of time. No Europe good you're, a girl good night. My main question is actually on something you set a couple lectures ago. It was something along the lines of our family, so haven't got this the history of your family kind of like the sins of your family,
like their view of your facing another time yeah. What's I can you expand on that were well there's this idea in the old testament that your sins might be visited. Unto you
family. Seven generations down seems kind of harsh, but you know when you're confronting maybe your father's tyrannical.
Yeah, but you know maybe his father beat the hell out of him and maybe his
his father was a vicious alcoholic and he just bloody. Well, don't know how far back that goes and and
That means also, you don't exactly know what you're dealing with right to some
You're you're, dealing with your father, but only partly what you're dealing with is the pathological paternal spirit, something like that, and they it's better to think about that way, because it
comes an existential issue at that point. In also,
you could say that, while the Father has two components
I mean this psychologically speaking. There's the great father, that's beneficial and protective that that
organize a society and teaches you how to speak and has produced all these wonderful things and then there's the tyrannical oppressive part of the father. Just like there's the terrible part of mother nature that destructive in the benevolent part of mother nature, that's wonderful and productive and
stuck with that right, you're stuck with having to mediate between those opposing forces, just like you're, stuck with the adversarial part of yourself in the heroic part of yourself, and it's up to you to set those things right. Otherwise they propagate into the future, and it is
It's a straightforward thing to say how to set them right, there's
pretty good movie about that. Now magnolia, which I really love it by Paul Anderson, if I remember correctly, I hope that's right, too beautiful movie and it
It's about this part of its about this kid, whose fathers really push them to be a superstar ETA at a crucial right he's a genius, kidney and.
The kid studies this guy named Charles Sport. You don't understand this movie if you dont know this, because you gotta know about transport, understand Magnolia, Charles, for was this weird old guy who got rich
an inheritance when it was like twenty and spent the rest of his life in libraries, looking up impossible
things and documenting them, impossible things that couldn't happen from a scientific perspective that
well, attested to by multiple observers, and he produced this news paper called the fourteen times would still runs.
Anyways in Magnolia Magnolia begins
this guy, who falls out
the building and then is shot by a woman who, MRS her husband with a rifle ass. He falls, and I think she's she's charged with murder and the street names have something to do with the death sentence fall and all of that happening
in the movie, there's a rain of frogs and there are a range of frogs from time to time. Sometimes their frozen, sometimes their rain.
The fish sometimes are frozen. It's like what the hell. How does that happen? Patents quite frequently as it turns out. There is a rain of frogs in the in the movie magnolia.
Little kid. So what happened to him? Is that he's on stage and he ends up being his pants because of the pressure basically and humility,
himself and then there's this rain frogs which
it takes, is a sign from God, and then he goes.
Who is father even is like eight years old this kid, and he says you have to stop doing this to me and he's dead serious about very careful. Not being you know, what would you call insubordinate? Nothing like that? He decides that that's coming to an end right now
and you have to make those decisions in your family, because otherwise things propagate down the generations right and everything,
is rife with pathologies of one form or another, and you can
learn from that and refuse to push forward? And that's part of, I think, what you do when you, when you win,
who shoulder your existential burden, because every
is the beneficiary and the victim of the tyrannical father, just like everyone is the beneficiary and the victim of mother nature and of themselves, and so you,
or corns without straightening out one way or another, and you don't move it forward to the next generation. So, and maybe you do
catch it a bit from your parents too, because God
He knows what combination of catastrophe,
culminated in their particular forms of pathology, so good enough,
So this week we ve had the Google thing. There is the Youtube thing that happened last week was going on with censorship, and what should people do about it?
if you're in a workplace and pathological things, are happening. It isn't easy. I can tell you how you know if pathological things are happening at your workplace or they're happening with you one of the two, but you can straighten that out. If you're being required to do things that make you weak and ashamed, then stop.
Dont do them one of the things I learned from Solzhenitsyn and Franco was that.
Systems go terribly undercut out of control when people don't stop.
When they're going mildly out of control. You know
might say I should just keep my goddamn head down shut up. It's like! Maybe you should
like that's, not bad advice, you know
wanna make unnecessary enemies and you don't need any more trouble than you need, but you gotta
Ask yourself on a day to day basis. What makes you think
you're not selling your soul, you know and there's so much.
Foolishness going on in the mid level bureaucratic world now. That's where all the tyranny seems to be focused and,
The reason that it multiplies is because sensible people say nothing when
you should say something in what so strange about that is
there are we more sensible people than
But who are sensible they're just not as noisy so what
He'll turn out, if like no so, let's say Somethin's bugging the hell out of you at work. Well, then, you have to prepare it to find another job. That's the first thing you have to do. I dont think that you should find another job, but you should prepare to find another job and, if possible, you should
pair to find a better job, because if you can't tell someone to go to hell, then you can negotiate with them and if
If they ve got you over a barrel than you can say anything she gonna, you got to say,
self up, so you ve got some mobility and actually that's a really good principle in your life period. You should set yourself
so that you have a lateral move at hand, and then you should
find out. Why are there things at work that our disturbing my soul in a when you find
First of all, you ask yourself: ok, I'm disturbed at work. Ok, I'm probably weak, and this
needful and useless and lazy. You might as well start with that, and then you talk to some people like your your wife, your friends, your coworkers and find out
Are you stupid, deceitful and lazy, or is there
Something not so good going on at work, and so, if you,
You can then eliminate your own personal pathology as a cause of your dissatisfaction.
Then, maybe there's something rotten.
The state of Denmark and maybe
should say something about it before the whole goddamn thing collapses, because that can happen. It can have
when in companies a lot faster than people ever think. You know
may find it well. First of all, you may
and if you say something well, first of all, that's an adventure. That's for sure that's a bloody adventure and you have to do it carefully and yet you have to be prepared for it, but it might be the best thing that ever happened.
And the other thing is, if you're careful about you get your words right like this. Is this is strategic?
regional, some you wander into carelessly, then you may
That is lots of people who feel exactly the same way you do and that you ve actually cottoned onto something you're a canary in a coal mine and not just some like psychopathic mouthpiece, so
You going ask yourself when you go and do what you do like. Is this making new stronger? Is this making you weaker and if it's making you weaker, then you got out.
Self. Do you really want to be weaker because the weaker-
get the more your tyrannised and then worse than that, like the weaker, you get the more bitter you
and the more you work towards terrible things. The more you'll snap at your wife, the more you ll kick your kids. You know like it's no joke to be tyrannised at work,
and so I would say you have an ethical responsibility as a citizen to forthrightly confront creepy
tyranny, no matter where it occurs and part of part of what were learning. I would
say from these stories if we're learning anything at all is that if you are aimed the good
It is a question. You really got ask yourself, you know
your genuinely aimed at the good then take heart, because europe-
stronger than you think. So I'm follow up question to cape. So I'm speaking, do there's. Lots of people are in a situation like
people at universities and corporations all over the place. I Google is not.
The only company that is no
on the worse, repressive freedom of speech, denying workplace codes,
And everybody feels alone right. There are like
Why should I stand up a martyr, get fired sky Google got fired. What's the point
Like I'm, asking rhetorical, no home
the question is: how do you? How do you can
these people that there is a point to deter to standing up when it appears to be futile. While the first thing, I think, as you convince them, that it's not futile, it might be difficult, but it's not futile. If you get your words right, you have some say: they'll, be an impact of those
words. It might not be the impact that you would choose, but this, but the other thing you gotta tell people is pick your poison. You don't
You may be in a situation where you dont, have you dont, have a cake, walk to the garden, a paradise. You got tyranny or famine, those your choices, but you get.
Pick which one you have, and I would say if, if you're being open,
and I mean in your soul, by what you're require
to swallow where work. Well, you think you're not paying the price for that. You have no self respect and an inn- and rightly so, but worse,
now you're, an agent of your own destruction
storing your own ideal and you're letting people who are weak and corrupt win and if you stood up and and stood a properly, but you have to pay.
Self in order to do this at least to some degree right, you can't do it casually. You have to do it from
some position of preparedness in strength, then what makes you think you couldn't scare them back into the corners, and that would be a good thing and you know the alternative personally
is bad, because this psychological degeneration that goes along with it I've seen this with many many of the people that I work with, who have been tyrannised in the workplace, to the absolute detriment of their psychological and physical health, right close to the point of collapse,
fronting these crazy, crazy things when they were sensible people, that's a terrible price to pay man like it's, it's a bad price and then.
If the foolishness isn't del without the local level, when it still relatively trivial, then it
multiply until its dealt with at the social level and we're seeing so
If that already and prefers a good sign of that in Owen.
Sums than aren't solve, multiply and soon people fight- and you know
edit argue into fight unless you want to fight, and some people want to fight- and I can understand why, but I wouldn't recommend, because that doesn't led good places it
He doesn't need good places to say you have a duty. Maybe that's that's where you stand up it's because you have a goddamn duty to stand up and say
just say what you have to say it you don't even
to be trying to make a point exactly you're, trying to get something done. It's like this
is how it looks to me. That's what that guy at Google did he wrote
memo, and he said he D talked him today said well, he went to a diverse
the training seminars and he thought no.
I don't agree with that, and so then they asked for
back, so we wrote this document a month ago. This was written a month ago, God, no real is
Don't do it? Why bounced around inside
Google, until a lot of people in all, got interested in men and escaped into the outside world.
All he was doing was he was told a bunch of things you didn't think we're too
He rode down a bunch of things. He thought were probably true. He law
that out and said. Well, I think these things are probably true like well. Probably their true wealth.
He paid a price for it, but maybe we'll see what sort of price you paid for a man going to be a lot tougher in two years and he was two years ago, so you can watch
video, the stories there, but that that's kind of outline of it. So sorry to monopolize this. I have one further question about this. I think is important aside from Google just being a workplace right. It also controls
the only two right we're, which and almost always a new censorship scheme, and it controls a huge amount of the information,
people get this is true, and so what happened to society when
companies such as Google, which control our information, start to censor
just about ourselves and ended? Maybe the information is coming to the rest, the world? How much
this is already happening,
and how much
if we went happens and how about if we refuse to find out that would be good,
like I reviewed this disguised document. I did that yesterday and everything he said was validated by the scientifically
so what has happened is that someone has been fired publicly by major corporation for stating well grounded scientific truth.
Right there exactly the sorts of things that I say in my classes, for example, in the reason that I say them is because I read the literature not because I am personally
happy about the facts. I think I cube research particular
is so dismal that you can't possibly reed
without being seriously disheartened. If I could reconstruct the world so that I q they IQ research wasn't true well, it should be tempting,
no, but that's not how science works. Signs doesn't tell you what you. What you want to hear
It just tells you the way it bloody well is, and he got pilloried for he got pilloried for revealing a good fraction of current scientific knowledge about gender differences. Ok
That's not good and, as you said, that's a big company and controls or communication tub out. We do what we can
to ensure that these large communication companies don't get to impose a factually false idiot, logical structure on the rest of the planet, or you can think about
supporting this, this guy, who blew the whistle there's a fundraiser for him online, he could use the money he wants to sue. Google.
Yeah. Maybe we could maybe we could let them know that hiring
human resources director, whose also concerned with equity is
I would be not a good idea for capitalist company
why in the world, would you hire your own enemies? I dont know
stand that so well.
See how the dialogue continues, but back to the personal like.
You need to say what you think, because that's where you come from right.
And if you dont say what you think, then you kill your unborne self. That's what you do
it's what Kane did when he killed able and that's why
punishment was unbearable. You know
of things and knew that are struggling to come to the light? That's the truth! You need daughter and Unita either that truth, because without that true too,
I live in the world.
The words real and you need truth to live in the world and if you
If your truth well, how? How can there be any?
but something that brings about hell. How could it be
the other way, so you
well! Why should you speak up? That's easy, because the consequences of not speaking up,
delayed are far worse. That's the reason. That's the reason! If, if it can't be courage, it could at least be prudent, so one more a doctor Pearson first, while kudos from entering magnolias, when my favorite movie that's a great moving. So, a few months ago I had a dream
and when I told someone this dream, they suggested that I read the book of revelations. Oh yeah, that's a bad dream that her the out there's a lot of interesting stuff in that book. The thing that really that I found really interesting right off the bat was that the state is represented in two instances as female positively and negatively, and I was wondering if you hadn't thoughts on that in the context of lichen maps of meaning, you often talked with the state justice
as male there's masculine. Ok. First of all, I am going to comment on your teacher. That's a lobster hierarchy with horror at the top is its even better. It's it's the eye of a lobster
the best one that we found. That's a good one to get where no one really cracked me up when I saw it, I thought that was running an area
My graduate students used to meet when I first talked about this lobster stuff we meet for breakfast Day and they
very combative, snappy group of graduate students and there are trying to one up each other with
and whenever one really pulled a good joke on another they'd stand up and like
was really was really funny. Who is really funny? Ok, let's see, can I answer that question
You know how, if you're, looking at her, if you look at a room,
every color that you see is dependent on every other color in the room right, your eyes, adjusted out. So, for example, if you're in a room bathed with red light your eyes
in some sense remove the red, so you can still see the colors ok, so your perception is, to some degree on call is, to some degree dependent on current context.
And that's one of the things that makes the symbolic symbolic interpretations tricky, because
to see how something is represented symbolically, you actually have to look at the broader narrative context within which the symbols are embedded. So, for example, we see if I can get this
right if it. If the story has an island and an ocean, then, though,
is often symbolically feminine and the island is symbolically masculine. But if this
where is the island and the sky, then island
and become symbolically masculine and feminine
the sky symbolically masculine, and you might think we're.
Can the island be masculine and feminine at the same time? An answer is what depends on what what its being contrasted with, and why and so on,
part of the key to the change in symbolism in the book of revelation, and so
isn't inevitably the case that culture is represented with the patriarchal symbolism.
But its most commonly the case so
No, there is mother, Russia, for example. I guess it would depend to some degree to on what your men,
for is for the state, because the the state can be an all providing mother or it can be a judge, mental Father, and it seems that we till more towards the father with regards to terminology relating to the state, and I think the reason for that is because I think human,
hierarchies like Chin piracies are fundamentally masculine. The fund
Until hierarchies masculine, even with chips
is a female hierarchy, but it's like the female hierarchy is
Nested within the male hierarchy is not the case with bonobos exactly, but I think it is the case with human beings, and so I think we have a strong,
clarity to masculine eyes the state, but that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions and-
in simple symbolic representations are very slippery that way because you can't stamp.
An entity with a symbol, because that would be the same as just giving it a name right and you can have it
canary of symbols where you say well, you know
a house always means the psyche. It's like no sometimes
the house means the psyche, but it depends
the story, and so you have to take the the entire structure of the narrative into account to determine why those particular symbolic representation,
are being used when I offered and maps of meaning was kind of a short hand. You know
generally speaking, there is nature, positive and negative, usually feminine generally speaking, there's culture, positive or negative, usually mascot,
and generally speaking there is the individual, good and evil right here
can adversarial, often typically represented as masculine, especially an adventure stories but
it's a scheme on in its an interpretive guide and not a set of hard and fast rules, because you're in the domain of metaphor and it's it's a slippery domain, so give any luck figured out your dream. So did you have any luck figuring out your dream? At least in some parts I think there,
different levels of analysis. Everyone was pretty obvious here, alright
Thank you very much everyone. If he found this conversation born, you might think about picking up dad's books, maps of meaning the architecture of belief or is
we're best seller, twelve rules for life, an antidote to chaos. Both of these works dove much deeper into the topics covered in the Jordan, be Petersen. Podcast
see Jordan, be Petersen, DOT, com for audio, equal context, links or pick up the books. Your favorite bookseller remember to China.
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Transcript generated on 2020-06-23.