Reading these comments is great, can't believe I'm technically a part of this communty. Wish my entire schooling was like this but I'll take this man, I'm happy.
Mr. Cecil I have listened to this twice. Futhernore, I need to listen the next episode. As far as Steve Jobs, a talent for sure. He was supposed to have been a Buddist. Why did he send his company to Ireland? I think we understand now. There is material abundance, how does greed of corporations explain this to all of us? Politics in 2023?❤️
One of the best and most interesting lectures and it was precisely dissected in addition to being an important philosophical concept for humanity to contemplate. The world needs truth as one of its core values, instead of all of the values emerging from intense vanity that our mainstream culture is constructed upon.
@@hamidwhatur6115 Oh my gosh! I mis-typed a word in the middle of the night on a cellphone! I guess I fail at all of life now. Thanks, internet stranger. 😂
Dr.Wes is completely on point and criticizing apple is the epitome example of how we value the human life compared to a new iPhone by overworking Asian people and using the cheapest labour against their health . Another great point is Syria which is the crisis of the decade and I hope not the century .we should try to lower poverty rates in the less fortunate countries than making corporations like apple, Facebook and others billions of dollars just for a new iPhone . That’s my take on it. Reminds me of Manly Hall lectures
Humorous and infinitely rich. Absolutely one of the most unique and accessible minds living today. Wes is clearly ahead of his time. Excellent and entertaining analysis. His words will increase in popularity as we see these changes continue. Thank you, sir! -T.C. James
When was the last time you were in Manhattan? It’s revitalization has drastically changed not only Manhattan but it five boroughs. It’s not that’s what you say is wrong. Because it is not in the simple way. But as a person who moved here in the 80’s and still a resident today. This could be compared to Paris in 1857 is it. This would be a good idea for you to bring to us. You have done outstanding work! And I got one greatly appreciate your efforts.
I've long awaited this lecture and it surpassed my expectations. Thank you, Wes. This world is more beautiful with your perspective.... Side note can anyone describe to me the story of this cover image?
3-7(Zuimonki) Also, Dogen instructed, Zen monks should always bear in mind maintaining the way of practice of the buddhas and patriarchs. First of all, do not covet property. The depth of the compassion of the Tathagata cannot be fathomed even by analogies. Everything he did was for the sake of all living beings. He never did even the slightest thing which was not beneficial to living beings. Since he was the crown prince of the cakravarti-raja (wheel-turning king)1, he could have ascended the throne and ruled the whole world as he liked. He could have cared for his disciples with treasures and raised them with his wealth. Why did he give up such a position and practice begging by himself? He refused to store up wealth and practiced begging for food because it was more beneficial for living beings in later generations and for his disciples in practicing the Way. Since then all well known patriarchs in India and China have lived in extreme poverty and practiced begging for food. All the patriarchs in our lineage have solely encouraged not accumulating wealth. Also, in the teaching-schools when people praise our school they primarily praise our [attitude toward] poverty. In the books handed down to this age as well, the poverty [of Zen monks] has been recorded and praised. I’ve never heard of anyone who was rich in material wealth who also carried out the buddha-dharma. All sincere practitioners of the buddha-dharma have worn patched rags and have always begged for food. The reason the Zen School was considered good and Zen monks different from others was that when Zen monks first lived among others in the temple buildings of the teaching or the precept-schools2, they abandoned caring for their bodies and lived in poverty. We should remember this as the primary style of practice in this (Zen) school. [Not clinging to wealth] is not something we should look for written proof of in the holy scriptures. In my own case, I used to own land for farming as well as other property. I had my own wealth as well. Comparing the conditions of my body and mind then with my present condition of poverty, of barely possessing robes and bowls, I feel that my state of mind [my life] right now is better. This is the actual proof..................(Footnotes 1. The ideal king conceived of in India was the one who ruled the world with the wheel which he obtained at the time of enthronement. There were four kinds of kings, according to the different qualities of the wheel. 2. Before Zen monasteries were established around the age of Hyakujo Ekai (720814). Zen monks stayed in the temple buildings of the other schools, or wandered here and there. They didn’t have their own monasteries.)
I want him to speak on the difference between his argument here and Pinker’s view that he critiques. I’m quite opposed to pinker yet I like this argument but they seem to be arguing a similar point.
I’m curious about the data behind the claim that in 1820 90% of the world lived in abject poverty. If someone could shed some light on this for me I’d really appreciate it. Loved this lecture and most of it was consistent with how I understand the world to be but this claim seems extreme so I’d like to have a better understanding of the evidence.
Hello, Dr. Cecil. Welcome back. Just a bit of Thoreau in this, no? I’m timidly proud to say that I’m ahead of the curve on much of what you presented here. (I will continue to develop people-not-things and I still have some clutter to lose.) What surprises me is that you present what I’ve called “a generalized mentality of poverty” as a nearly universal phenomenon. If you are right, then this is sad for it tends to make people mean as they cope with their vision of life being a “negative sum game.” I’ve held out hope that I might (re?)discover or perhaps even create some pocket of communal egalitarianism once I put a bit of distance between myself and my current community of generally anxious people. Unfortunately, it sounds like grabby, scared people will be found in abundance wherever I travel to next. **sigh** Thanks for the heads -up. I look forward to next month’s installment. Cheers! RK
Of course we live in the greatest abundance humanity has ever known but don't get used to it too fast here, it is still very new to the human experience AND since the planet's resources are not infinite, who says it will last forever, just remember that about one third of humankind still lives with less than two dollars a day. AND what about the next generations, what kind of future are we leaving for them, spending like there's no tomorrow? Also, what about the environment, animal species (food) are going extinct at a much faster rate than they were ever created, the poles are melting, the rain forests are being cut down for profit, big oil prefers polluting and paying the fine: less expensive than anti-pollution equipment, etc, etc... Oh dear, we are leaving a terrible legacy aren't we? So in the end, yes incredible abundance for us but at what price for humanity as a whole, yes can we afford all this now but how, on CREDIT, payable by others? Yes. (Example: The US is now so indebted it will never be able to pay for what it spends now, ever.) In other words, that abundance is a simple and obvious crime against humanity but who cares: third world, future generations? Who's that?
Agreed about the spending. We're kicking the bill for our spending to the unborn generations. Animals going extinct aren't the ones we eat though, they'll last forever almost, we need them. I'd say businesses pollute because they can pay off those in power for less money than responsibly managing waste but that's another topic. We need to change but I think we'll get there. We've gotten through a lot, as a species. Respect, neighbour.
@@ProlificThreadworm Thanks for your interesting reply. I also think we'll get there, it may take drastic measures, a bloody revolution or a great many victims but we'll get there. Unfortunately that doesn't mean the level of material abundance we live in right now is acceptable, in fact, we are seriously damaging our minds with all these false paradigms and as I said before, we are leaving a terrible legacy to those who will follow us. Thanks again and take good care of yourself, Rose🌹
Wes i love your channel and im just wondering if you plan of covering the transevlauation of epistemology in your seris just wondering. (Pardon my offle spelling)
"Pinker's an idiot for release a book full of charts showing the world is better than we think and getting better." *20 minutes later* "Please turn to the chart I've passed out showing poverty rates over the last two hundred years.."
Yes, there exists an argument that goes like... we're behaving like idiots these days because our life is too easy, there exists an abundance of material products, etc... And this argument is highly coherent, yet it does not correspond to reality. This type of stupid stuff was always here with us, as we can clearly see now, it's just that, in Aussie for example, we switched from a relatively quiet type of oppression in which most people could live good lives in the 80s and 90s, to a highly genocidal system after those decades. And this is because certain people wanted Australia for its... semi-conductor and other type of metals required for industrial production. That's my best guess.
What if those people under 30 don't have cars because they are strangled by students loans to pay? It's certainly not because public transport has gotten better. But yes, "profits is the deadliest of all addictions".
Wes this lecture series you are embarking on most certainly feels like a gamble to me, that, you are potentially now biting off more than you can chew.....something that can in fact bite you back in the end! Awesome! Party on man good for you. Roll them dice, be the philosophical crocodile hunter! "Oy there mates you see this philosophy? It's an elegant and bewtiful creat'ya look at it's teeth, they're huge......CRIKEY IT BIT ME!!!!!!!!"
I think he has enough knowledge to give his opinion of such matters , many less well read people have been opinionated on such matters and I think Dr.Wes should be heard .
+Justin Bailey I completely agree with you on this one, opinion pieces are always risky as we all have our own and often disagree for just the fun of it or for the prize of being right no matter the truth but even then, I would never call an MIT professor for 21 years and a multiple award winning opponent an ''idiot'' for that is also a huge risk to take... mate! :-)
+Ayyoub Khalaf Yes I understand what you mean and in that sense you are right but many of us were avid listeners of Mr. Cecil because of the mostly previously unknown facts he brought to light whether about history or great minds or whatever so these new opinion pieces of his are a great departure from what we were used to and loved so much therefore some of us might not be able or willing to adapt, and I may be one of them, and not the only one. Cheers.
The phenomena of energy going down as wealth went up was temporary and has ended while now the world both burns and drowns that began in 1975. On the Isle of Greece in 1975 all the weather patterns that can be traced back 2,500 years in Greek literature switched and kept on switching until 1984 when I left but is still changing now. So this guy is not so clever as he thinks he is, by a long way fella.
I think pinker's point is we have made so much progress to create abundance which you ridicule. Then go on to say exactly the same thing, how much abundance we have. You then assault consumerism and capitalism via shaming. Looking forward to future videos where presumably you will tell your students how they should live their life. Finally, I presume you do not own a cell phone given your criticism of Chinese factories. I liked your other videos but your lack of intellectual rigor devolves into confused, contradictory drivel, just pointless proselytizing. Your students deserve better please consider a more coherent approach for future videos, these are impressionable students you are confusing. BTW, I don't like consumerism either, but it's not evil. At least you make no case for why it is evil, you just preach it without analysis, the jobs it creates vs the moral emptiness.
You do make a great point but I believe Wes is trying to make us see that there are still flaws that need to be rendered in what pinker and others are preaching which is a perfect worldview. Which we don’t live in such a utopia
@@ayyoubkhalaf7307 thanks for the thought. I think pinkers point is we are improving on most metrics, eg pollution, poverty, malaria deaths, disease, etc. I doubt he says we live in Utopia! If so, I would disagree. Perhaps Wes will clarify his point, does he think things are getting worse? The facts just don't support it. Looking forward to a coherent point from Wes at some point... What is his actual complaint? Seems like first world problems to me, if you have nothing real to complain about than too much stuff in your attic
csuer01a if you read Hans rolling “factfullness” book it mentions that at this day an age there is no first world and third world or developed or developing countries these are old terminologies and actually are outdated as most countries live with the abundance as the west. This has also been my experience living in Canada and the Middle East.This should solidify pinkers ideas of irradiating hunger and poverty etc... but I think Dr.Wes is trying to allude to here is that we may have more stuff but our values have not changed and we still use people for our own benefit and consumerism and wars are still being fought for oil like Iraq as hulliburton (company) benefited from extracting Iraq’s oil while a million civilian Iraqis were killed . I don’t want to get in politics but what he means is that yes we see more stuff but at the expense of what , especially with money as apple has which is unspendable. We should try more to get rid of wars whether in the Middle East or anywhere and stop taking advantage of less fortunate people as Asia and Africa especially when such material possessions are not needed. Civilization is not measured with the amount of stuff we have but with how we value each-other and treat each other,morality is crucial. How can the worlds wealthiest nation ever still have a poverty rate of 14 percent ?? That’s crazy , food for thought
@@ayyoubkhalaf7307 thanks for your thoughtful and coherent response. I will let Wes speak for himself, but if he is saying that wars and the like are a problem then I would agree (but we're not exactly breaking new ground there). But again, deaths from war and imperialism are both declining quite dramatically, so I am not sure he has a complaint other than not declining fast enough,. Again no argument there. What you both may be missing wrt to Apple is that apple and the like have created massive wealth and jobs for many people, including those toiling in rice fields who presumably prefer working in apple than in the fields else they would not have left. Not a good situation but apple the is hero not the culprit.
csuer01a well thanks for your insights and I think you are on to something with your comments and come to think of it pinker is not such a dweeb after all because in his books the better angels of our nature where he thoroughly discusses violences decline he was stating a good point but as I haven’t read the whole book yet I must say that it was a tough road especially with the world wars and the Iraq,Vietnam and cold wars and still in Syria .as you mentioned apple did create jobs and that is a fact . This is not what I had tried to invoke that pinker is wrong I do believe that we are better living standards than in the previous decades but still if this was happening around the world wholesome I would be more complied to not be hesitant so I still will listen to see what Dr.Wes has to say as I don’t want to speculate about how he thinks .
This is both a great lecture and a complete shit show. Misrepresenting the danger that y2k was: it was a real threat that was mitigated by the US government spending 1 billion to fix it. The unix epochalypse in 2038 is a problem still to be fixed and teaching y2k as a nonevent is dangerous. Tiny homes were completely misrepresented, and in another lecture of yours you had a different analysis. Here in Oregon at least tiny homes are not popular because people are adopting a transcendentalist way of living but simply because of the scarcity of affordable housing. That leads me to probably the biggest mistake in the lecture. Your pointing out examples of the vast wealth of our culture and assuming everyone in our culture shares in the wealth. I'll agree that almost all of us have it better than even aristocrats did just 200 years ago, king james iv probably never knew of indoor plumbing or hvac systems, but we do not have post scarcity in all necessary categories for all people. Cherry picking evidence and drawing to large of conclusions based on induction; instead of looking at all the evidence and being conservative with your conclusions. Which francis bacon warned us about.
This was mostly a good lecture and I've really enjoyed your previous content, but you start by having a go at Steven Pinker...and then spend an hour saying almost the exact same things he does. I mean unless I've seriously misinterpreted one or both of your works, you don't seem to be disagreeing on anything of substance. The closest thing I can think of is your accounts of _why_ so many people continue to believe the world is falling apart despite statistics saying otherwise; you emphasize the ingrained cultural belief that the world is a place of hunger and deprivation, because historically it _was._ Pinker emphasizes the way the news is heavily biased toward reporting negative developments, the way our brains estimate the probability of something based on how easily we can think of concrete examples of it, the feeling that intellectual seriousness means being pessimistic, the way we are evolved to worry about threats, not look forward to rewards, and the way we look back on the world of our youth with rose tinted glasses, not to mention many people are just strait up unaware of the historical data. Even on this point a) This is a fairly minor point of disagreement and certainly doesn't warrant comments like "idiot". b) I'm pretty sure there is at least an element of truth in some of the mechanisms Pinker identified, and it's not at all clear he would reject your theory.
This was very bad based on what I thougth it will be. I think he missuses some very basic concepts, like "we" and "materialism". This is very strange from a person who knows so much about philosophy.
Reading these comments is great, can't believe I'm technically a part of this communty. Wish my entire schooling was like this but I'll take this man, I'm happy.
I saw this in my notifications and GASPED, YES NEW WES CECIL VIDEO! Very excited :)
ditto :)
Haha I was also so excited:) Thanks Wesley!
Me too,, and I’m an old person. Can’t imagine the joy a young person must feel.
JMB on........WES!!!!
th-cam.com/video/HnO29o7ha2U/w-d-xo.html
Wes is on point with this lecture series,,,perfect timing great lecture,,this is gonna be an amazing series!
Potentially his best (I least I hope it is), either way GO........WES!!!! JMB on WES!!!
th-cam.com/video/HnO29o7ha2U/w-d-xo.html
GO WES!!!!!!!!!!!! You're wonderful! This is magic!
Nothing pushes sales up like the idea of scarcity.
I really liked the idea of communities being voluntary.
Mr. Cecil I have listened to this twice. Futhernore, I need to listen the next episode.
As far as Steve Jobs, a talent for sure. He was supposed to have been a Buddist. Why did he send his company to Ireland? I think we understand now. There is material abundance, how does greed of corporations explain this to all of us?
Politics in 2023?❤️
One of the best and most interesting lectures and it was precisely dissected in addition to being an important philosophical concept for humanity to contemplate. The world needs truth as one of its core values, instead of all of the values emerging from intense vanity that our mainstream culture is constructed upon.
JMB on.........WES!!!
th-cam.com/video/HnO29o7ha2U/w-d-xo.html
Wow ! If only Cecils lecture were grabbed by the larger audiences, he would surely transvaluate our existing faulty outlook on reality !
I have been waiting about 4 years for a lectute like this. It brings be back to your early lectures.
Ryan G Four long fucking years you have waited for this Lecture, but that wasnt enough to learn how to pronounce the god damn word
@@hamidwhatur6115 Oh my gosh! I mis-typed a word in the middle of the night on a cellphone! I guess I fail at all of life now. Thanks, internet stranger. 😂
Dr.Wes is completely on point and criticizing apple is the epitome example of how we value the human life compared to a new iPhone by overworking Asian people and using the cheapest labour against their health . Another great point is Syria which is the crisis of the decade and I hope not the century .we should try to lower poverty rates in the less fortunate countries than making corporations like apple, Facebook and others billions of dollars just for a new iPhone . That’s my take on it. Reminds me of Manly Hall lectures
Am definitely looking forward to more of this series.
Humorous and infinitely rich. Absolutely one of the most unique and accessible minds living today. Wes is clearly ahead of his time. Excellent and entertaining analysis. His words will increase in popularity as we see these changes continue. Thank you, sir!
-T.C. James
NO, you're ahead of your time. GO.......WES!!!! JMB on WES!!!!
th-cam.com/video/HnO29o7ha2U/w-d-xo.html
Wow! So insightful.
When was the last time you were in Manhattan? It’s revitalization has drastically changed not only Manhattan but it five boroughs. It’s not that’s what you say is wrong. Because it is not in the simple way.
But as a person who moved here in the 80’s and still a resident today. This could be compared to Paris in 1857 is it.
This would be a good idea for you to bring to us. You have done outstanding work! And I got one greatly appreciate your efforts.
I've long awaited this lecture and it surpassed my expectations. Thank you, Wes. This world is more beautiful with your perspective.... Side note can anyone describe to me the story of this cover image?
Wes is a great thinker who does not pander to those who worship Western Civilization.
3-7(Zuimonki) Also, Dogen instructed, Zen monks should always bear in mind maintaining the way of practice of the buddhas and patriarchs. First of all, do not covet property. The depth of the compassion of the Tathagata cannot be fathomed even by analogies. Everything he did was for the sake of all living beings. He never did even the slightest thing which was not beneficial to living beings. Since he was the crown prince of the cakravarti-raja (wheel-turning king)1, he could have ascended the throne and ruled the whole world as he liked. He could have cared for his disciples with treasures and raised them with his wealth. Why did he give up such a position and practice begging by himself? He refused to store up wealth and practiced begging for food because it was more beneficial for living beings in later generations and for his disciples in practicing the Way. Since then all well known patriarchs in India and China have lived in extreme poverty and practiced begging for food. All the patriarchs in our lineage have solely encouraged not accumulating wealth. Also, in the teaching-schools when people praise our school they primarily praise our [attitude toward] poverty. In the books handed down to this age as well, the poverty [of Zen monks] has been recorded and praised. I’ve never heard of anyone who was rich in material wealth who also carried out the buddha-dharma. All sincere practitioners of the buddha-dharma have worn patched rags and have always begged for food. The reason the Zen School was considered good and Zen monks different from others was that when Zen monks first lived among others in the temple buildings of the teaching or the precept-schools2, they abandoned caring for their bodies and lived in poverty. We should remember this as the primary style of practice in this (Zen) school. [Not clinging to wealth] is not something we should look for written proof of in the holy scriptures. In my own case, I used to own land for farming as well as other property. I had my own wealth as well. Comparing the conditions of my body and mind then with my present condition of poverty, of barely possessing robes and bowls, I feel that my state of mind [my life] right now is better. This is the actual proof..................(Footnotes 1. The ideal king conceived of in India was the one who ruled the world with the wheel which he obtained at the time of enthronement. There were four kinds of kings, according to the different qualities of the wheel. 2. Before Zen monasteries were established around the age of Hyakujo Ekai (720814). Zen monks stayed in the temple buildings of the other schools, or wandered here and there. They didn’t have their own monasteries.)
Again, great content! -Fan from Bangladesh.
When is the next one?? Loved the first one
I want him to speak on the difference between his argument here and Pinker’s view that he critiques. I’m quite opposed to pinker yet I like this argument but they seem to be arguing a similar point.
This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing!
Finished watching your well formed mind series just in time! Thanks Wes!!
Well, if I had watched this earlier I could have invested and be rich and have self reflection.
I’m curious about the data behind the claim that in 1820 90% of the world lived in abject poverty. If someone could shed some light on this for me I’d really appreciate it. Loved this lecture and most of it was consistent with how I understand the world to be but this claim seems extreme so I’d like to have a better understanding of the evidence.
This was so interesting, I completely enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!
thank you based wes cecil
Hello, Dr. Cecil. Welcome back. Just a bit of Thoreau in this, no? I’m timidly proud to say that I’m ahead of the curve on much of what you presented here. (I will continue to develop people-not-things and I still have some clutter to lose.) What surprises me is that you present what I’ve called “a generalized mentality of poverty” as a nearly universal phenomenon. If you are right, then this is sad for it tends to make people mean as they cope with their vision of life being a “negative sum game.” I’ve held out hope that I might (re?)discover or perhaps even create some pocket of communal egalitarianism once I put a bit of distance between myself and my current community of generally anxious people. Unfortunately, it sounds like grabby, scared people will be found in abundance wherever I travel to next. **sigh** Thanks for the heads -up. I look forward to next month’s installment. Cheers! RK
Awesome!! Great lecture look so much forward to this series!!!
Of course we live in the greatest abundance humanity has ever known but don't get used to it too fast here, it is still very new to the human experience AND since the planet's resources are not infinite, who says it will last forever, just remember that about one third of humankind still lives with less than two dollars a day.
AND what about the next generations, what kind of future are we leaving for them, spending like there's no tomorrow? Also, what about the environment, animal species (food) are going extinct at a much faster rate than they were ever created, the poles are melting, the rain forests are being cut down for profit, big oil prefers polluting and paying the fine: less expensive than anti-pollution equipment, etc, etc... Oh dear, we are leaving a terrible legacy aren't we? So in the end, yes incredible abundance for us but at what price for humanity as a whole, yes can we afford all this now but how, on CREDIT, payable by others? Yes. (Example: The US is now so indebted it will never be able to pay for what it spends now, ever.)
In other words, that abundance is a simple and obvious crime against humanity but who cares: third world, future generations? Who's that?
Agreed about the spending. We're kicking the bill for our spending to the unborn generations. Animals going extinct aren't the ones we eat though, they'll last forever almost, we need them. I'd say businesses pollute because they can pay off those in power for less money than responsibly managing waste but that's another topic. We need to change but I think we'll get there. We've gotten through a lot, as a species. Respect, neighbour.
@@ProlificThreadworm Thanks for your interesting reply. I also think we'll get there, it may take drastic measures, a bloody revolution or a great many victims but we'll get there. Unfortunately that doesn't mean the level of material abundance we live in right now is acceptable, in fact, we are seriously damaging our minds with all these false paradigms and as I said before, we are leaving a terrible legacy to those who will follow us.
Thanks again and take good care of yourself, Rose🌹
Wes i love your channel and im just wondering if you plan of covering the transevlauation of epistemology in your seris just wondering. (Pardon my offle spelling)
More Wes!
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!
JMB on........WES!!!!!!
th-cam.com/video/HnO29o7ha2U/w-d-xo.html
Great lecture! Looking forward to the rest of the series :)
"Pinker's an idiot for release a book full of charts showing the world is better than we think and getting better."
*20 minutes later*
"Please turn to the chart I've passed out showing poverty rates over the last two hundred years.."
You totally miss the point!
Fantastic talk! :-)
Yes, there exists an argument that goes like... we're behaving like idiots these days because our life is too easy, there exists an abundance of material products, etc... And this argument is highly coherent, yet it does not correspond to reality. This type of stupid stuff was always here with us, as we can clearly see now, it's just that, in Aussie for example, we switched from a relatively quiet type of oppression in which most people could live good lives in the 80s and 90s, to a highly genocidal system after those decades. And this is because certain people wanted Australia for its... semi-conductor and other type of metals required for industrial production. That's my best guess.
What if those people under 30 don't have cars because they are strangled by students loans to pay? It's certainly not because public transport has gotten better.
But yes, "profits is the deadliest of all addictions".
'Those people are called White People', wow, never has insight and comedy met so wonderfully.
I thought it was racist🤷🏼♂️
Dionysius or The Crucified...
Is it true blue pills taste like bubblegum?
Yeah
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Wes this lecture series you are embarking on most certainly feels like a gamble to me, that, you are potentially now biting off more than you can chew.....something that can in fact bite you back in the end! Awesome! Party on man good for you. Roll them dice, be the philosophical crocodile hunter! "Oy there mates you see this philosophy? It's an elegant and bewtiful creat'ya look at it's teeth, they're huge......CRIKEY IT BIT ME!!!!!!!!"
I think he has enough knowledge to give his opinion of such matters , many less well read people have been opinionated on such matters and I think Dr.Wes should be heard .
+Justin Bailey I completely agree with you on this one, opinion pieces are always risky as we all have our own and often disagree for just the fun of it or for the prize of being right no matter the truth but even then, I would never call an MIT professor for 21 years and a multiple award winning opponent an ''idiot'' for that is also a huge risk to take... mate! :-)
+Ayyoub Khalaf Yes I understand what you mean and in that sense you are right but many of us were avid listeners of Mr. Cecil because of the mostly previously unknown facts he brought to light whether about history or great minds or whatever so these new opinion pieces of his are a great departure from what we were used to and loved so much therefore some of us might not be able or willing to adapt, and I may be one of them, and not the only one. Cheers.
Thanks, Wes! Seán
Isn't this basically what Jesus taught?
Apple has turned into a dragon, kill it.
It's not that we don't want the baby boomer crap it's that we can't afford it!
is this guy going to mention Nietzsche at all?
3:08-3:19 *DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNN* XD
Dude.... where's my abundance?
The phenomena of energy going down as wealth went up was temporary and has ended while now the world both burns and drowns that began in 1975. On the Isle of Greece in 1975 all the weather patterns that can be traced back 2,500 years in Greek literature switched and kept on switching until 1984 when I left but is still changing now. So this guy is not so clever as he thinks he is, by a long way fella.
Amazing lecture! It's Nietzsche meets Henry David Thoreau meets Buckminster Fuller.
Philosopher grossly misunderstands pretty much all of economics and the workings of the economy. How novel.
I think pinker's point is we have made so much progress to create abundance which you ridicule. Then go on to say exactly the same thing, how much abundance we have. You then assault consumerism and capitalism via shaming. Looking forward to future videos where presumably you will tell your students how they should live their life. Finally, I presume you do not own a cell phone given your criticism of Chinese factories. I liked your other videos but your lack of intellectual rigor devolves into confused, contradictory drivel, just pointless proselytizing. Your students deserve better please consider a more coherent approach for future videos, these are impressionable students you are confusing. BTW, I don't like consumerism either, but it's not evil. At least you make no case for why it is evil, you just preach it without analysis, the jobs it creates vs the moral emptiness.
You do make a great point but I believe Wes is trying to make us see that there are still flaws that need to be rendered in what pinker and others are preaching which is a perfect worldview. Which we don’t live in such a utopia
@@ayyoubkhalaf7307 thanks for the thought. I think pinkers point is we are improving on most metrics, eg pollution, poverty, malaria deaths, disease, etc. I doubt he says we live in Utopia! If so, I would disagree. Perhaps Wes will clarify his point, does he think things are getting worse? The facts just don't support it. Looking forward to a coherent point from Wes at some point... What is his actual complaint? Seems like first world problems to me, if you have nothing real to complain about than too much stuff in your attic
csuer01a if you read Hans rolling “factfullness” book it mentions that at this day an age there is no first world and third world or developed or developing countries these are old terminologies and actually are outdated as most countries live with the abundance as the west. This has also been my experience living in Canada and the Middle East.This should solidify pinkers ideas of irradiating hunger and poverty etc... but I think Dr.Wes is trying to allude to here is that we may have more stuff but our values have not changed and we still use people for our own benefit and consumerism and wars are still being fought for oil like Iraq as hulliburton (company) benefited from extracting Iraq’s oil while a million civilian Iraqis were killed . I don’t want to get in politics but what he means is that yes we see more stuff but at the expense of what , especially with money as apple has which is unspendable. We should try more to get rid of wars whether in the Middle East or anywhere and stop taking advantage of less fortunate people as Asia and Africa especially when such material possessions are not needed. Civilization is not measured with the amount of stuff we have but with how we value each-other and treat each other,morality is crucial. How can the worlds wealthiest nation ever still have a poverty rate of 14 percent ?? That’s crazy , food for thought
@@ayyoubkhalaf7307 thanks for your thoughtful and coherent response. I will let Wes speak for himself, but if he is saying that wars and the like are a problem then I would agree (but we're not exactly breaking new ground there). But again, deaths from war and imperialism are both declining quite dramatically, so I am not sure he has a complaint other than not declining fast enough,. Again no argument there. What you both may be missing wrt to Apple is that apple and the like have created massive wealth and jobs for many people, including those toiling in rice fields who presumably prefer working in apple than in the fields else they would not have left. Not a good situation but apple the is hero not the culprit.
csuer01a well thanks for your insights and I think you are on to something with your comments and come to think of it pinker is not such a dweeb after all because in his books the better angels of our nature where he thoroughly discusses violences decline he was stating a good point but as I haven’t read the whole book yet I must say that it was a tough road especially with the world wars and the Iraq,Vietnam and cold wars and still in Syria .as you mentioned apple did create jobs and that is a fact . This is not what I had tried to invoke that pinker is wrong I do believe that we are better living standards than in the previous decades but still if this was happening around the world wholesome I would be more complied to not be hesitant so I still will listen to see what Dr.Wes has to say as I don’t want to speculate about how he thinks .
Wtf you equated the word white people to racist???
I found it offensive too but I'm okay being offended.
There was no outburst of racism following the election, what there was, rather, was a massive shift in the definition of racism.
This is both a great lecture and a complete shit show. Misrepresenting the danger that y2k was: it was a real threat that was mitigated by the US government spending 1 billion to fix it. The unix epochalypse in 2038 is a problem still to be fixed and teaching y2k as a nonevent is dangerous.
Tiny homes were completely misrepresented, and in another lecture of yours you had a different analysis. Here in Oregon at least tiny homes are not popular because people are adopting a transcendentalist way of living but simply because of the scarcity of affordable housing.
That leads me to probably the biggest mistake in the lecture. Your pointing out examples of the vast wealth of our culture and assuming everyone in our culture shares in the wealth. I'll agree that almost all of us have it better than even aristocrats did just 200 years ago, king james iv probably never knew of indoor plumbing or hvac systems, but we do not have post scarcity in all necessary categories for all people. Cherry picking evidence and drawing to large of conclusions based on induction; instead of looking at all the evidence and being conservative with your conclusions. Which francis bacon warned us about.
Fair, I hate to say it cuz I love Wes but that's my problem, one of a kind lecturer and honestly not infallible. Thanks for your input bro
Okay, he was good when he stuck to philosophy. His cornucopianism is totally ungrounded in reality.
This was mostly a good lecture and I've really enjoyed your previous content, but you start by having a go at Steven Pinker...and then spend an hour saying almost the exact same things he does. I mean unless I've seriously misinterpreted one or both of your works, you don't seem to be disagreeing on anything of substance. The closest thing I can think of is your accounts of _why_ so many people continue to believe the world is falling apart despite statistics saying otherwise; you emphasize the ingrained cultural belief that the world is a place of hunger and deprivation, because historically it _was._ Pinker emphasizes the way the news is heavily biased toward reporting negative developments, the way our brains estimate the probability of something based on how easily we can think of concrete examples of it, the feeling that intellectual seriousness means being pessimistic, the way we are evolved to worry about threats, not look forward to rewards, and the way we look back on the world of our youth with rose tinted glasses, not to mention many people are just strait up unaware of the historical data.
Even on this point a) This is a fairly minor point of disagreement and certainly doesn't warrant comments like "idiot". b) I'm pretty sure there is at least an element of truth in some of the mechanisms Pinker identified, and it's not at all clear he would reject your theory.
This was very bad based on what I thougth it will be. I think he missuses some very basic concepts, like "we" and "materialism". This is very strange from a person who knows so much about philosophy.