Freedomain with Stefan Molyneux

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What is wisdom? Is it knowledge combined with moral clarity?

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Biblical stories of Job and Abraham - and what a great woman is looking for!

Freedomain Voice Call Live Sunday 15 Oct 2023

Can you give a true reason for preferring truth?
I was asked this today and didn’t have an answer

saying any attempt to debunk UPB reinforces UPB, is the typical argument that any assertion that there is no truth is an assertion about truth and therefore it is paradoxical and debunks itself etc. Is not a huge discovery, it's an "amateurish Kantianism"


What do you think of the excuse "It's not black and white"?
Something we take for granted with good reason. An example of a warranted assumption would be trusting the published bus schedule. The bus should show up as schedule. Another example would be trusting that my key will start my car.

John Vervaeke's community can't agree that our memory of an object can match a physical object. They don't believe we use memory to drive a car.


Can warranted assumptions become True Universals?


Funny thing: higher IQ, more capacity to be NPC.


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Stefan Molyneux delves into the complexities of human interaction, focusing on reciprocal altruism and the question of humanity's true capability for selflessness. Drawing distinctions between selfishness and altruism, and egoism and self-sacrifice, he references the Kantian view of morality and provides various examples highlighting behaviors rooted in self-interest. Molyneux critiques moral arguments opposing self-interest and explores the challenges of altruistic endeavors, referencing themes from Plato and personal experiences. He elaborates on the methods of resource acquisition, the manipulative nature of sophistry, and the inherent risks in helping others. Furthermore, Molyneux discusses the dynamics of self-interest, morality, and societal values, critiquing the philosophy of altruism, examining the implications of acting against self-interest, and warning against the rise of societal cynicism. The episode offers a profound exploration of morality, altruism, and the intricate intricacies of human behavior.

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Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!

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On that note, how do you differentiate between your inner conscience (which may have legit issues) and introjects from abusers?

Good evening, Stef! Why is it that people think that you should "spank your child while they're young so that they know to obey you when they're older"?

Dear Stefinator: my 9 year old is visiting my parents for a few days of fall vacation. However, my dad crashed the car into a huge truck, motorway speed, with my daughter and mother in the back. Nobody hurt, but totally his fault. He hasn't called me to say what happened. When I called him, he basically hung up when I started to ask. I'm utterly shocked. Your thoughts? (Hey people: donate to the Stefinator!)

Hey Stef, after watching one of your videos the other day I realise people in my life don't give me credibility in the areas I am strong at.
What have I done to facilitate this and how do I fix it?
Thanks

What do you think about people’s story about how they felt something off before a tragedy happened, like someone who had the urge to call a loved one and then found out they were dead?

I signed up because of your extensive library of documentaries and insightful commentaries on History and current events. For some reason this has, in my eyes devolved into endless chatter with dysfunstional people and their personal problems, usually of their own making. A sort of "Dial The Analyst" format.

I am truthfully not the least interested in hearing people whine about their self-inflicted misery! There is more than enough of that sprayed all over the Internet.

You have to much knowledge and too much to offer about history and its implications upon the current world we live in. To be wasting it on such nonsense.

But that is just me.


Last night I had a dream that I had a baby. She/he was so small, so precious. I felt a deep connection to this child in the dream. I was breastfeeding her/him, my fiancé was there and I just felt an immense sense of love and care towards both of them, especially the baby. When I woke up, I was heartbroken and devastated. So disappointed. It felt so real. I can’t stop thinking about this dream, about the baby. It has consumed my whole day. I have cried multiple times, even had a moment of hyperventilating. I have never had such a vivid dream about a baby before. I feel changed. What does this mean? I’m curious to know what you think about this..perhaps my body/genes is telling me something. I can imagine you perhaps saying this. I am 22, and cannot wait to have children. If my fiancé was on board, I’d have them right now.

Wednesday Night Live 11 Oct 2023

What is the EGO, and does it help or hinder us?

Philosopher Stefan Molyneux provides a deep insight into the nature and purpose of the ego - truly life-changing information!

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What do you think it means to believe in God?


The past several months every night I have the fear of intrusion. Every single night before I sleep it passes from my mind that I might be robbed in my home while sleeping.
Context. I live in a very safe area in Australia. It is in suburbia just near the end of the city. People are eitherwell off with some nice mansions and the regular houses are just above median price.
I live on the low end housing within the suburb
There are 0 homeless people around and I have not heard from anyone that I know that they have been robbed.
I am early 30s and have 2 kids.
Never been robbed (other than the gov)
Financially stable


Hi Stef,
Recently I visited some family with my wife and almost 2 years old son, and at some point and without provocation, his cousin, that is about my son age, lightly hit him in the head with his palm. Having raised my son peacefully, this is was his first time experiencing violence, so he just stared at me shocked not knowing how to react, after a minute he started crying, and we tried not to exaggerate and make peace between them.
After this visit I felt puzzled and incompetent as a father. How I and my son should properly respond to this type of events, and how my son should react when he is bullied or attacked by other kids, this is excluding the obvious violent self-defense? This also raised up memories from when I was bullied in middle and high school, and I was equally unprepared to handle the situation, and just took the abuse. We had similar situations at the playgrounds, but unlike with family and public schooling there was an easy way out.
I live in an Eastern European country, where public schooling is mandatory and homeschooling almost impossible, so the topic of handling bullies/violent adults weighs heavily on my mind. Just recently there was a news from my town with a preschooler that violently beat up some classmates and the modern type school didn't do much about it.
I was also left wondering how seemingly normal and well off children become violent, especially in the case of my nephew, that from my knowledge is also raised peacefully? The only problem I see in his household, is that the father is blue-collar and leaves for extended periods of time as he works in a different country.
Thanks,



What do you think of the data that show that parenting seems to have minimal long-term impact on values transfer? Is it just parents doing a very poor job with their children, leading to “backfire” effect of rebellion, or values not taking? Or is there something to sociologists’ conclusions that the median level of parenting (ie not abuse) doesn’t affect behavior as much as we think?



what is willpower?
Why is it that some people are able to do things they don't like such as exercising or sticking with something unpleasant and others are not?



In light of your recent call in show, "I'm Sorry I Called You Evil", how does it feel when listeners project their issues with their fathers onto you, whether for good or for ill? How do you feel if a listener feels something akin to a familial bond with you- that you embody the virtuous qualities of a wise, empathetic and engaged father figure that her own father did not manifest? Perhaps this is merely the mark of a parasocial dynamic, but in my mind at least, you have forged your own path through the wreckage of generational abuse and trauma and transcended to the level of Peaceful Parent Philosopher Archetype- you have become the best example of the father I wish I had. Thank you for being you, and for sharing your gifts with the world.



Have you ever witnessed someone who had done evil become humble, make restitution, and truly turn thier life around and embrace virtue?



Hey Stef, I hope you're doing well.
In a previous livestream you mentioned about 60-70% of call-in requests are young guys who can't get their life together.
I would love if you could give some general advice in regards to that because im one of them
I'm 28 years old, I have an OK job, no GF, no friends, lots of savings and live with my parents and I hate it all. It's unbelievably enraging at times. I see no path forward, yet I do next to nothing to find one as well with the exception of my work with my therapist.
The work I do with my Therapist helps a lot, I do believe in time I'll get my life sorted out with her. However, there's got to be something more I can do. I feel like I'm going insane.
Thanks in advance,


what is the truth about polygamy ? What happens when you have 6 wives and they make you choose dinner 😆


Which is more dangerous, negligence or intent?
Is this question worth asking? Are they not equally malicious?
Context, our medical regulators apparent lack of due diligence or abundant corruption :(
Much love. <3



Imagine you are scouting out locations to construct a physical place for hosting discussions on philosophy, debates, &/or dispute resolution (either as a single multi-purpose space or as different spaces for each activity), what design features do you include and which style elements do you select? 🏛️



I'm a full time engineer. My wife home schools the kids. I desperately want to leave the 9 to 5. I feel anxious about losing my lone source of income and I hate the feeling of being controlled that comes with a W2 job. What is a good small first step towards entrepreneurship?



What advice do you have for someone who frequently replays previous confrontations in their imagination? I think this stems from my desire to find the "right" thing to say that would have gotten me what I wanted, which in essence is a desire to control people. And yet, my thoughts still drift back to those moments. What also scares me is that often, they play out where the situation escalates to a violent confrontation where I enthusiastically use disproportional force to simply dominate the aggressor, and I sort of come back to reality like "Who the hell was that monster? That's not me. That's more like my father." A strategy I've tried employing is saying "Hi Dad/Mom" when I hear my parents in my own voice, which usually kills the stream of thought, like I unmask the "demon" inside and they retreat. But it feels like I'm treating the symptom and not the problem. How do I stop this for good?



what is going on with “Bug catchers”
People who have sex intentionally looking for partners who have illnesses to catch a “bug” like HIV, std’s.
I have a coworker with a step son in that catagory. There seemed to be a lot of rejection from biological mother.



How do you like David icke as a researcher?
AND CAN WE GET SOME BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!!!
(I read all of yours already much love here's a tip💰)

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Can you have friendships with people who aren't morally ambitious? People who simply look to earn a pay check and pursue their own hobbies. People who say they aren't interested in politics but are also bonded to the state and see it as a necessity. They believe in human rights as defined by the UN, and try to be good people, but aren't tied to any deeper universals due to a skepticism of religion. They try to not be judgmental of others, because they see this as minding their own business and respecting the freedoms of others.

They aren't explicitly committing evil, but they also aren't condemning it either since they believe there is little you can do about it anyway. They are polite/agreeable, conscientious and have good emotional regulation, but lack a deep hunger for moral truths and seek pleasure and artistic expression instead.

These people are difficult to reject because they aren't explicitly committing evil, neurotic or incapable of reciprocity. They are kind and try to be considerate, but at the same time don't fill you with a sense of reliability because they are blind to the evils of the world and don't have the same moral concerns that you do.

P.s. These are same sex male friendships I'm referring to.



Thank you for everything you do! Me and my wife are in our Mid-Twenties and are eager to start a family and parent our children peacefully.

I strive to make enough income and cut back back on unnecessary expenses, so that my wife can stay home with our children. A natural concern I have as the provider of my future family is how to accumulate enough resources in the current world.

I only see a few feasible options as to where I can invest our excess money in order to provide for my family. That would be crypto and a diversified ETF portfolio.

What are your thoughts about investing in a diversified ETF portfolio like the MSCI World and MSCI emerging market as a long term investment. There is research that after 15 years, there has always been a net positive return and that the expected inflation adjusted gains are about 5% per year. On paper this looks like a good deal, but I have my concerns as the stock market is artificially propped up by the government and a crash is more than overdue.

I know you do not give financial advice and I will do more of my own research, but it would be great if you can share your insights. Anyone else is of course also invited to share their perspective.



Why do men propose to women? Rather than the other way around.



Stefan, have you seen any of Olympic figure skating gold medal winner Tara Lipinski's YouTube podcast (with her hapless husband) called "Unexpecting"? It's a sad, cautionary tale that points to so many things you've brought up: the real fertility window for women, women pursuing career at the expense of having a family, the actual success rate of IVF for women her age (7% if I recall correctly?). Lipinski's podcast is both fascinating and tragic: egg retrievals, failed IVF transfers, miscarriages, then finally hiring a surrogate (renting another woman and buying a baby, essentially). Watching her podcast, I couldn't help but think of all the ways you've warned women on the truth about fertility, no doubt helping so many. I wish Tara Lipinski had been listening to you!



I have 4 questions in total.

1.) Can there be an education in which there is no authority whatsoever?

2.) Why do humans condition each other by understanding enormous complexity of things early in life, and never see the simplicity? Why have we trained our children's brains to see the complexity and then try to find an answer to the complexity, when we don't see the extraordinary simplicity of life, and facts? After all, if one is really simple first, from that, you can understand the vast complexity of things.

3.) What is real listening? When does it come about? What does it sound like, really? Does it have sound? What quality is it, does it take?

4.) Can I observe my wife, my daughter, my sister, my mother, and or my girlfriend without all the accumulation I have had? Can I observe something anew without all my burden of the past? Can I observe without the past? Can the observer be absent? The observer is the past. Therefore, can I observe the observer (past)? Not good or bad past but just observe?


Hello Stefan. In the past weeks, I've been talking to a girl and getting to know each other. I recently found out that she's having trouble with sleeping; she experiences sleep paralysis and during those moments, she also has hallucinations, seeing shadows near her bed, and unable to move. I also learned that she watches a lot of horror movies, almost every two days, and she has a fear of the night due to a childhood trauma where she was stuck in a dark room for two hours crying. I have concerns about this, and I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Thank you.



have you considered moving your family to the USA? If yes, other than $ how could we help?


hey Stef. Can you explain more about how the friend zone happens and what separates a friend from a romantic partner for women?


What is a good guideline for teaching age appropriate lessons to children? As an example, on a recent show you mention a 3 year old doesn’t have the capacity to understand the concept of sharing when someone asked why their 3 year old won’t share their toys. Thank you very much.



@freedomain what does “feeling sorry for yourself” mean? Why do parents frequently admonish their kids for doing it? And why is it so socially unacceptable? If it’s wrong to do it, why is it so tempting. There doesn’t seem to be a benefit. I recall you saying something about it being a passive aggressive way to get resources from others. I can see that as a child, you have two options to get resources from your parents when they have failed to do so. You can either be aggressive (temper tantrum, rebel, etc.) or passive aggressive in the form of moping until your parents feel sorry for you. That feels right to me and it aligns with my experience as a child (I was a moper but my parents ignored me anyway) But maybe there is more to it.

Philosopher Stefan Molyneux breaks down the true causes of the current wars raging across the globe.

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A 27 year old virgin in a dead-end job refuses to panic about his situation.

BE PATIENT IT CAN BE VERY FRUSTRATING UNTIL THE ROLEPLAY NEAR THE END!

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