MindMatters

Wherein your MindMatters hosts share their brain thoughts on recent news and random things, like the death of Norm MacDonald, death itself, humor, Nicki Minaj, and why Klaus Schwab needs his own action figure. 

MindMatters on odysee: https://odysee.com/@MindMatters:4 
Audio on BuzzSprout: https://mindmatters.buzzsprout.com/

Today on MindMatters we interview renowned American philosopher Nicholas Capaldi, author of numerous books, including The Art of Deception and the definitive biography of John Stuart Mill. Recently retired, Professor Capaldi reflects on his experiences teaching, the increasingly oppressive climate in American universities, the political philosophy of Mill, and why things have gotten so crazy in the West. Erudite and engaging, Capaldi takes us deep into the American political psyche with the hope of finding a way out of the current crisis.

MindMatters on odysee: https://odysee.com/@MindMatters:4

Was the fall of Soviet communism 30 years ago a liberation, or just the replacement of one totalitarian ideology with another? Today on MindMatters we interview Polish philosopher Zbigniew Janowski about his recent book, Homo Americanus: The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy in America. In a quest to understand current trends in American society and politics, Professor Janowski revisited the classics: Dostoevsky, Zamyatin, Orwell, and especially Huxley. His collection of meditations on the totalitarianism metastasizing in the West today rums the gamut from ideology and politics to psychology and technology. Join us as we discuss Zbigniew's book, his experiences in Poland, the U.S., and Canada, teaching, and thorny topics like equality, hierarchy, and perhaps the most controversial of all of them: gendered language!

Janowski is also co-editor of a recent collection of the writings of J.S. Mill.
Janowski on The Postil.
MindMatters on odysee.

Language. We use it to speak, obtain information and enrich our minds. We’re immersed in it every day and would find it nearly impossible to communicate and exist in the ways that we’re used to without it. And yet the use of language - and all its  varied and nuanced components - are very largely taken for granted by us until we take a step or two back to think about how language works, how incredibly complex it is, what many languages have in common, what makes language successful (or not), and what some research into the origins of language suggest about how little we truly know about them.

This week on MindMatters we are joined by Juliana Barembuem of Language with Chu, a polyglot and long-time student of language, who presents a number of ‘outside of the box’ perspectives on language; what do languages have in common with discoveries in biology? Is language a feature of intelligent design? How is the use of language abused and in service of ideas that actually confuse and misinform - to name just a few. One thing to realize is that the deeper we get into this discussion the more we see that these lines of inquiry are really just the beginning of this conversation.

During the Cold War, the world's liberal democracies, like the USA, were widely perceived as the bastion of freedom, especially to those behind the Iron Curtain. But the past three decades have caused many to revise their views. With the rise of totalitarian thinking and practice in the West in those years, the question must be asked: what happened?

Professor of Philosophy and conservative politician Ryszard Legutko pondered these questions in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in his 2012 book The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies (published in English in 2016), and his latest book, The Cunning of Freedom: Saving the Self in an Age of False Idols (2021). Legutko argues that at its root, liberalism as ideology shares many of the same features as communism. Despite their differences, both share essentially the same views of history, the future, politics, ideology, and religion. These tendencies cause ideology to seep into every aspect of daily life ("the personal is political") - in liberalism, to a degree even the communists weren't able to achieve, despite their best efforts. These trends have only gotten worse in the years since the book's release.

Today on MindMatters we talk to Professor Legutko about his books, life under communism, editing samizdat, the recent controversy with his university's "office of safety and equality," and the time he got sued for calling some students "spoiled brats."

MindMatters is on odysee.

For some it is the holiest book, they only one you'll ever need. For others it is a tool of conquering. Some find in it the loftiest values, others only the basest superstitions. Today on MindMatters we delve into this contradictory world of interpretations: religion as a source of extrinsic morality, or a call to the spark of divinity within, or somewhere in between. Perhaps, just like humanity, the Bible is multilevel in nature, with a little something for everyone, from saints to psychopaths.

MindMatters on odysee

Does history really repeat? If so, how, and why? We discussed the "fourth turning" on a previous episode of MindMatters. According to Strauss and Howe, the United States has entered a time of crisis which could see societal collapse, revolution, or war. However, their theory has its problems. While suggestive on the descriptive level, it has not been scientifically supported. Enter Peter Turchin.

Today we continue our discussion of historical cycles by looking at cliodynamics, a field of study pioneered by Turchin. Turchin's work gives  scientific support to the idea that cycles are an essential feature of civilization. Empires rise and fall. Periods of stagnation and crisis end in war, revolution, and collapse. These trends, and the factors that determine them, can be measured and modeled. And all the indicators show that the U.S. has indeed entered a time of crisis, along with Europe - on par with the conditions that led to the American Civil War. 

Today on MindMatters we discuss the outlines of Turchin's work, how it applies to American history, and what it might mean for the future.

As things continue to get worse culturally and politically, it pays to ask oneself how far one will go. What are the limits to my obedience to authority? At what point do I become what I hate? To avoid becoming a monster, the first step is to draw some red lines: things we simply will not do. But will we actually stick to them, or simply go along with the crowd when the challenge proves too difficult? History is not flattering to our high ideals and self-images. When it comes down to it, the vast majority of people will do whatever they are told to do, given the right conditions. That's why a study of history and the famous Milgram experiment can be so helpful.

Today on MindMatters we look at the limits of obedience to authority (with reference to Christopher Browning's book Ordinary Men, and Philip Zimbardo's Lucifer Effect). These facts about human nature may be depressing, but they also offer the way out by providing the motivation to prepare for the future, now. Without a bit of self-knowledge, there is no guarantee you will not be just another miserable cell in the collective mob. But with it, there's at least a chance of hope that you can resist, and that others will be inspired to follow suit.

Arthur Versluis, professor of religious studies at Michigan State University, is the author of many books and an expert on Western mysticism and esotericism, especially the Christian theosophic tradition. He's also an expert on the intellectual origins of totalitarianism, the subject of his excellent 2006 book, The New Inquisitions.

Today on MindMatters we talk with Arthur about a range of subjects: totalitarianism, ponerology, gnosis, Christian mystics, decentralization, and the "mystical state," a vision of politics informed not by dualistic and secular philosophy, but the mystical center of the spiritual life - the topic of his 2011 book of the same name. Arthur also talks about his latest book, a conversation with psychologist and Christian theosophist Robert J. Faas.

Arthur's website

MindMatters on LBRY

You thought the Targaryens were bad... 

Extreme avarice. Fratricide. Megalomania. Debauchery. Genocide. At the height of its power and influence ancient Rome was led by some truly crazy and terrifying people. Caligula and Nero come to mind as the most famous, but they had a lot of company: men (and women) whose unbridled ambition and wielding of power were employed to absolutely horrible and destructive effect. And even if they were assassinated (which was quite often the case!), another grossly incompetent and tyrannical psychopath was quite often installed to replace them! Knowing this history, it seems like a true wonder that Rome was as relatively stable as it was for as long as it was.

But who were these individuals whose names we are probably unfamiliar with? What levers of influence did they use to assume the seat of power? And how did the famed empire manage to survive the rule of such figures?

Join us this week on MindMatters as we talk to author Phillip Barlag and discuss his new book Evil Roman Emperors: The Shocking History of Ancient Rome's Most Wicked Rulers from Caligula to Nero and More - and get a glimpse into a place and time that may make the evils we see now pale in comparison.

MindMatters on LBRY: https://lbry.tv/@MindMatters:4