Mind Under Matter

The Multitude Containing Boys of Comedy™ discuss the idea of our subselves.

This week we consider the idea that who we are is made up of several evolved subselves that (often subconsciously) drive behavior and ultimately the inclusive fitness of your genes.  An idea in the book ‘The Rational Animal’ is that there are seven of these subselves: Self-protection, Affiliation, Status, Disease Avoidance, Mate-Acquisition, Mate-Retention, Kin-Care.

From looking at this list you can probably think of a lot of ways these different drives compete with one another.  Many species risk their survival for mating.  We’ve all become very familiar with ways that affiliation can be at odds with disease avoidance.  Can you think of how different subselves may prime different choices?  Can you guess why watching either a scary movie or romantic comedy can prime a different restaurant choice? 

Can you think of your own examples of some of these subselves competing with one another or working together?

The Music Explorers of Comedy™ share their favorite bands.

At the frequent request of fans, we dedicated a whole episode to talking about some of our favorite music from childhood to today.

We chat about Pink Floyd, Prince, Nirvana, OK Go, Post Modern Jukebox, Of Montreal, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Flaming Lips, The Police, Sting, Devo, CCR, The Talking Heads, Coletrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Kimya Dawson, The Avett Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, Knower, Zappa, Weather Report, Mono Neon, The Uncluded, Funkadelic, Vulfpeck, Lionel Ritchie, Bobby McFerrin, Tribe Called Quest, Hieroglyphics, NWA, Eminem, Cameo, The Time and more

We’ll take you on journeys like how Shane went from listening to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice as a kid; to Biggie as a teen; to Outcast and Eminem in early adulthood; to a more recent path of discovery that took him from Lyrics Born to Deltron 3030 to Aesop Rock to Prof.

Every month The MEC™ like to ask our Patrons to suggest subjects for a full public episode.  Not only do our supporters finance our ability to put out awesome free public content like this, but they help steer the ship with fun suggestions like this.

Link to Mel Gibson's video (skip to 23:40): https://www.canceledpriests.org/fr-altman-mel-gibson-speak-hard-truth-to-chicago-and-to-the-bishops/

The Working Boys of Comedy™ go job hunting!

We thought we would kick the year off with a job placement survey and explore the paths we may have been suited for had we not been destined to make the world’s greatest podcast.

We honestly were not at all expecting something from The Department of Labor to be so much fun, but this might be the best survey episode yet.  We hope you enjoy Shane’s laugh because it turns out, Ramin is well-suited for a job as a Job Impersonator.

The WBC™ had such a blast that we made a part two for January’s monthly bonus episode.  We’re even going to make it available to the public as a free treat to kick off the year!

The Resolute Boys of Comedy™ bring in the New Year and give birth to a new character.

We both appreciate the opportunities for reflection and resets, but why do New Year’s resolutions often fail? What are some SMART goals that give people a better chance of success?

We reflect on the first year of Mind Under Matter and how it has changed some of our work habits.  We reveal some of our plans for 2022 including an app, a book, and a tour!

The RBC™ would like to thank all you MUMmies out there for all the support and interest in 2021!  We are really proud of the show and are so excited to keep expanding the MUMiverse.

Special thanks to Benjamin Bedley for this week's art suggestion! Follow Ben at https://www.instagram.com/benbedley/

We decided to put this episode out for the public to enjoy. Happy MUMmas!

The Infectious of Boys of Comedy™ dig into the history of pandemics.

Life on earth started billions of years ago.  Life parasitizing other life, evolved shortly after.  And the endless arms between viruses and hosts began.  This mix of battles and cooperation gave rise to much of the rich complexity and diversity of life in addition to some of its biggest threats.  Early sexual reproduction may even have become more successful than cloning in part to escape disease spread.  And now sex is one of the main ways diseases are spread!

And around and around we go…

Modern civilization has created unique opportunities for viruses and modern medicine has created unique defenses.  Once again, the arms race continues.  Meanwhile, while our biology and psychology haven’t changed much since hunter-gathers so we find our intuitions mismatched for our modern world.

From major events like smallpox, to modern scares like Ebola, to an obscure Australian horse disease, many of the common themes have happened again and again.  At a time when many are turning to the news to get daily updates on jargony talking points to argue over, The IBC™ think it’s worthwhile to look back through the last few hundred years of various epidemics to get some perspective.

Catch this episode on YouTube or your favorite app and you will come down with contagious laughter and be super spreading novel insights in no time.

The Festive Boys Of Comedy™ get all dressed up in top-of-the-line Christmas outfits to explore the history of the winter solstice.

This holiday season many celebrate some of our most cherished traditions, but where did they come from?  Some historians believe Yuletide was the prequel to Christmas and Santa was played by Odin.  Some of our traditions may even have been influenced by psychedelics.  One thing is clear, there is a rich history of partying very hard during the longest nights of the year.

Kick the Holiday season with the FBC™!  We hope you get some fun conversation topics for holiday parties and maybe even some last-minute gift ideas including some of our favorite board games.

Merry MUMmas to all and a Too Easy New Year!

(Edit: Just made this one public so that anyone can check it out.  Happy Holidays!  Grateful for all of you)

The Appreciative Boys of Comedy™ release a bonus episode on gratitude.

In this episode we pick up where we left off on ‘Episode 33: Attitude of Gratitude’ and finish taking ‘The Gratitude, Resentment, and Appreciation Scale’.

Could we be more grateful?  Always.  But we’re grateful for the gratitude we already have.

Tune in to find out how we score and where you fall in each category.

The Constantly Adapting Boys of Comedy™ discuss the endless race of life.

In Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking Glass’, The Red Queen explains to Alice that in her world “it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.”  This week we look through this lens to see why completion and exploitation create seemingly endless evolutionary arms races common to most life on earth.

When a predator gains an advantage over prey, the prey that will be the most successful are the ones that adapt a new advantage over those predators and vice versa. This push and pull drives conflict and cooperation between and within species, genders, groups, families, parasites, businesses, militaries, and more.  When it comes to existing, it’s difficult just to stay in the race and nearly impossible to get ahead for long.

The idea of being stuck on this treadmill can feel futile when looked over a long span of time, but it also guarantees that there will always be opportunities at any moment in time.  Change is inevitable, but how does The Red Queen Hypothesis playout in a modern world with many of the biggest changes that life on earth has ever faced?  The CABC™ once again attempt to outdo themselves to compete for your eyes and ears.  You the audience will ultimately decide if the MUMies species will thrive or go extinct.

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The Looping Thought Boys of Comedy™ ruminate on why we dwell on the past.

Shane had an embarrassing little incident recently and wanted to share how dumb he feels about it while it’s still fresh.

What are the things that we continue to ruminate on and why?  What are the factors the brain is using when determining what past events are worth holding onto and reminding you of?  Are those embarrassing thoughts we kick ourselves for useful?  Even if they are useful, do they really need to be so painful or cringy?

Which ruminations help The LTBC™ survive, mate, or improve our social skills?  Which ones just unnecessarily loop in our heads and lower our self-esteem without adding value?

Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast app or you will needlessly regret it for the rest of your life.

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