Neil Bierbaum - The Common Sensei
Neil Bierbaum - The Common Sensei
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What Conspiracy Theories Get Right (How the Few Dominate the Many)
Conspiracy theorists might get their facts wrong, but they get the feeling right: the feeling that, right here in the real world, the many are being dominated by the few.
I've identified three real-world threads in which we can see this pattern (of the few dominating the many) at play: (a) the political (guns and money) thread; (b) the technological thread; and (c) the economic thread. In this video, I give examples of each and point to how these three threads come together to form a strong bind on ordinary people's lives.
I also dip into a bit of Jungian psychoanalysis and make the claim that conspiracy theories are projections of the collective unconscious: they express what we all feel, but find hard to put our finger on.
I hope that this video enables you to put your finger on it as it has done for me.
Try to see the big picture and avoid focusing on whether you agree with the individual examples I've given. If you don't like the examples, look for your own. You'll find more value in recognising this pattern than in scrabbling around in the details.
Support The Common Sensei by subscribing to this channel and make a contribution via Substack: thecommonsensei.substack.com/.
Timeline and links
00:26 The Netflix Series called "What's Next?" featuring Bill Gates.
03:13 The Taliban in Afghanistan
03:15 The military junta in Myanmar
04:15 Protests in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu
04:35 The Republicans' role in the overturning of Roe v Wade
04:37 The prevalence of pro-life versus pro-choice support in the USA
04:55 Brexit lobbyists: the promise versus the reality
05:05 South Africa's new elite
05:55 The outcome of the Arab Spring
06:25 MIT Technology Review Article: www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/16/1035851/facebook-troll-farms-report-us-2020-election/
07:05 Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
07:48 Gavin Newsom overturns AI Bill
08:09 Google, Meta and Amazon's dominance of global advertising revenue, and related antitrust lawsuits
09:10 The pro-business, pro-capitalist argument
09:40 Is more always better?
10:10 A more extreme form of capitalism favours the few; a more regulated form favours the many.
11:10 What the conspiracy theories (and theorists) are getting right
11:35 A Jungian perspective (conspiracy theories as projections of the collective unconscious)
มุมมอง: 8

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ความคิดเห็น

  • @MandyShort
    @MandyShort 22 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Thanks Neil, as usual great content and research.

  • @MandyShort
    @MandyShort 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Wise words. The discussion of divisive leadership really resonates with me as I have first-hand experience of it.

  • @MandyShort
    @MandyShort 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I found this so elucidating! It's really sat with me over the last few days. I've really assessed my cup! Thank you Neil.

  • @LotusEatersPod
    @LotusEatersPod 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I wouldn't take a cup of anything from this creep, and I'd suggest you do the same. It's brilliant advice to take "someones" word at face value when it has been proven that that "someone" has lied about major events over and over, and always obstructs any inquiries into their actions. I know I'm risking outting myself as one of them there crazy conspiracy theorists, but perhaps you shouldn't take someones word at face value when they are demonstrating duplicitous, deceitful behavior... just a thought, you creepy shill.

  • @MrSillenomis
    @MrSillenomis 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Theory or fact?

  • @bryancarter9462
    @bryancarter9462 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Count kalurgi plan is now a conspiracy theory yet when I look in my street I see the changes

  • @crodrig
    @crodrig 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thank you.

  • @robcarley7506
    @robcarley7506 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Problem is, to use a similar analogy, say life decides to take the form of a huge, muscular guy with say several martial arts training (for the sake of the scenario, you have no hope in winning). Life or "this guy" keeps knocking you, shaking you, annoying you. Sooner or later you're not going to be saying "I love you", no you're going to throw a few punches back, you're going to get tired of taking the cr*p. So it's easy to tell people to fill their cup with love etc... and have that spill out, doesn't do you any good when it's time to fight back.

    • @neilbierbaum
      @neilbierbaum 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      As the saying goes, it depends what your cup is filled with. If it's just a case of how many knocks you will take before revenge spills out, then revenge was always in your cup and just well contained or disguised. The analogy becomes more true the harder the knocks. And it doesn't mean you can't stand up for yourself. Gandhi provides the example.

  • @VicariousReality7
    @VicariousReality7 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Youre a coincidence theorist.

  • @psykisslove
    @psykisslove 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    There is a valid conversation here but this is an incredibly reductive take. The US is the most heavily propagandized culture in history, there is a long tradition of challenging other people's realities by accusing them of being conspiracy theorists. The former US pres openly claimed that JFK was likely a CIA hit, which pres candidate RFK Jr agrees with. The same former president accused left media of being conspiracy theorists for reporting on ICE putting children in cages, which footage prooved to be real. This is a post-truth society, and the meaning of the word "conspiracy" and what it applies to have expanded rapidly in a short period of time. Equating it with gossip is a valid and interesting idea, but that diminishes the fact that gossip is frequently just embellished truth.

    • @neilbierbaum
      @neilbierbaum 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Thank you for your considered response. It is true that people can counter a valid argument by writing it off as a conspiracy theory. An important point of awareness is the degree to which we hold something to be true when we don't have the facts. If it turns out to be true, it doesn't make all our other speculations true. We might just have gotten lucky.

  • @MandyShort
    @MandyShort 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Excellent content, unique perspective, backed by intensive research! I learnt a lot.

  • @shaunowebdevo
    @shaunowebdevo 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Sounds like you have explained what I suspect most people do most of the time, which is to behave as if their belief/idea/hypothesis is absolute truth. You did say that people should be willing to test their ideas. Agreed. I suggest we go further, that words like "true" and "false" not be used, that we instead use words like "accuracy" and "level of confidence/certainty", and that people be asked to justify their high or low confidence in an idea, or to justify their belief that an idea is highly accurate or inaccurate. Inductive logic is used to test ideas about the external world, but inductive logic cannot deliver 100% certainty.

  • @SSNewberry
    @SSNewberry 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This is not relevant. I am sorry that you have been sent through the academic discussion ringer but this is not really germane to a clear definition.

  • @lancewalker2595
    @lancewalker2595 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The fact that you used the term "mansplain" is the reason why I will not be watching you in the future, however ironically you intended it, it remains very annoying.

    • @AJ-vr7jk
      @AJ-vr7jk 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      If you watched the whole video and came to that conclusion then did you even listen to the message?

  • @HarmKaban
    @HarmKaban 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Yeah, except most of those "studies" are biased, have cherry picked data, jump to conclusions that don't follow from the data, etc. aka most studies are garbage. I see you are meaning well and I appreciate your attempt to reach to the opposite site, which seems to be done in good faith, but, unfortunately, people who push "woke" ideology are not engaging in good faith. The academia is in deep crisis and has been taken over by ideologically motivated activist beurocrats that don't actually produce any real science. The only way it can be fixed (and it's inevitably going to happen) is to completely defund the academia and let all those "academics" fend for themselves. All the frauds are going to disappear and only the people who are only interested in truth and science will remain. This is the only way academia can redeem itself. But then again they would have a lot of work retracting tonnes of bad science tha have been produced over the years.

  • @chad872
    @chad872 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Do you wanna know what wokeness is in nonacademic terms.. judge your neighbor for the context of their situation just as you would want to be… simple

  • @chad872
    @chad872 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Wokeness, diversity equity inclusion, critical race theory…. People get bored of the same tunes they have to switch up their dog whistle otherwise they can’t rile up the masses as easily.

  • @shamster7182
    @shamster7182 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Gary Lineker Is a woke bellend

  • @MandyShort
    @MandyShort 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Phew, so insightful!

  • @markeikeland247
    @markeikeland247 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    spot on as always Neil! Thanks.

  • @kerry-annemathieson1295
    @kerry-annemathieson1295 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for sharing! I love how you clarified letting go of “should”, and the importance of being in love with your goals. I’m definitely going to apply this.

  • @markeikeland247
    @markeikeland247 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Perspective is everything and Neil gives us a path for getting there!

  • @vishnus4298
    @vishnus4298 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Good relevant topic. Just one suggestion please keep the video a little short. I feel no need for too many validations for a single point. Please keep coming up with more videos

  • @markeikeland247
    @markeikeland247 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    The art of having perspective ....an important skill for our times

  • @markeikeland247
    @markeikeland247 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great Video and very practical and useful skills to practice! Well Done!

  • @markeikeland247
    @markeikeland247 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    great advice that is timeless!

  • @feefiona
    @feefiona 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    does your desk look like that RIGHT now !!

    • @neilbierbaum
      @neilbierbaum 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Um, not right now, Fi, there's a takeaway coffee cup, with spoon, plus books, papers, headphones, clipboard, etc... :) But I do leave it clear at the end of the day!

  • @feefiona
    @feefiona 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    that helped!! thanks Neil

  • @MatheoGalatis
    @MatheoGalatis 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video. Thanks Neil.

  • @andrewbrownphotovidcamerar4622
    @andrewbrownphotovidcamerar4622 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very enlightening Neil! Thanks for this.

    • @neilbierbaum
      @neilbierbaum 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks Andrew. Glad it was helpful!