The Caffeine Stream

Today we look back over a few of the more recent podcasts, slightly rehashing the drag discussion and the relation between the word "drag" and the behavior being described, along with digging back up Plato and the podcast about work to explore some of the themes a little bit further... with the aid of White Claw and a woman's weigh-in.

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Today I'm joined by Sean Bradley to explore some of the arguments against Nick Bostrom's famous Simulation Argument, as well as a wide-ranging and meandering dive into the world of Artificial Intelligence and its implications for our society, our economy, and perhaps our existence.

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Today we dive into the question of work -- is it for suckers, and a waste of time? A necessary evil? A path to power and status? Meaningless vanity? Worthwhile in its own right? Or something else?

We dive into some of the modern thinkers and philosophers on work -- namely, Tim Ferriss, Andrew Tate, and Mike Rowe, along with a Biblical interlude to flesh out some of the different philosophies and approaches to work within the broader context of life.

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
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Today we dive into perhaps the most important and also misunderstood thinker in all of philosophy: Plato.

Was Plato an idealist who believed we are trapped in a cave of unreality? Was he a totalitarian, advocating the "noble lie" and censorship? Or is there more going on in this (in)famous text that is somehow both the foundation of Western philosophy and also -- seemingly -- the aggregation of everything most hated by Western man?

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
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Intro clip courtesy of the digitally-banished Stefan Molyneux.

(Mirror of his full 4 minute rant (NSFW) can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJRYhx42rss)

Today Sierra and I spend an evening on the patio with the wrong (or right) beverage, going over our disagreements about drag performances and feminism. Is drag always an insult to women, like "black-face" with gender? Was there, at one point, a good argument for feminism? And how much concession is worthwhile in conversations with friends before it begins to become insidious?

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
• On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/
• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson

Today Sierra and I dive into polling, particularly political "opinion polls."

Much of our discussion revolves around Christopher Hitchens' 1992 essay "Voting in the Passive Voice," which can be found on Harper's archive here:

https://tinyurl.com/2p9xrkum

We also discuss Gaetano Mosca's notion of "political formulas," a concept I learned about from Curtis Yarvin, but which can be read about in The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham, which is available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Machiavellians-Defenders-Freedom-James-Burnham/dp/1839013958

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
• On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/
• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson

Today we explore whether the term "capitalism" has any utility at all.

Trying my best to stay within language and avoid too much economics (or Marxism), I make the case that "capitalism" does not exist because it describes a non-system as a system... but it takes some exploration on the nature of capital, money, property, commons, and human relations to even begin to flesh out such a subject.

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
• On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/
• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson

Today I sit down with Mathias Nordvig, professor of Viking studies and Nordic culture at the University of Colorado at Boulder. We have a lengthy chat about the various literary and archeological information that has been discovered about Nordic pagans, and try to parse through the challenge of if -- and how -- such knowledge can be applied to a living pagan religiosity today.

Much of Nordvig's work (including his own "Sacred Flame" podcast) can be found on his website: https://mathiasnordvig.com/

Nordvig also published a recent book relevant to our discussion, "Asatru for Beginners: A Modern Heathen's Guide to the Ancient Northern Way" https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647397634/

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
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• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson

Today we cover a recent essay I co-wrote with Ed Hamann offering a speculative hypothesis on the origins of consciousness in shooting, with some added commentary and background.

Referenced works:

"The Aim of Agency" https://ph2t3r.com/2023/05/14/the-aim-of-agency-shooting-as-an-origin-of-consciousness/

The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicameral-Mind/dp/0618057072/

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• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
• On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/
• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson

Today we jump off the diving board of gun law straight into Kantian ethics. Does the second amendment have anything to do with dignity? (see Episode 3), and if so, what is dignity anyway?

We go over the ideas of honor and dignity as competitive frameworks for ascribing human value, and the political dangers that arise if we reject both of these frameworks... which is a danger we seem to be facing in greater degrees today, where contempt of the rulers for the ruled seems higher than at previous points in American history.

But if honor and dignity are less different than they at first appear... might there be some way out and forward?

Referenced works:

Why Honor Matters by Tamlar Sommers https://www.amazon.com/Why-Honor-Matters-Tamler-Sommers/dp/0465098878/

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5682

"Dignity, Honor, and Human Rights: Kant's Perspective" by Rachel Bayefski https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591713499762

Leave a rating and review, it really helps others to find the podcast.

• Find more Caffeine and Philosophy content online: https://caffeineandphilosophy.com/
• On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caffeineandphilosophy/
• On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherRobertson