Utopia

As the great philosopher Belinda Carlisle said so profoundly, Heaven is a Place on Earth. This week we question how you can create that state for the entire duration of your life, instead of living in suffering, hopeful of the pearly gates that come with the divine release of death. It's the tenth chapter of Flow explored in more detail. But do you know what that's worth? If we count how much we ask of you for the conversation we provide to stimulate your transcendence, it's nothing more than an hour and a quarter of blissful pleasure in your ears.But pleasure is not enough; this being wisdom from Aristotle, a philosopher almost as inspirational as Belinda. How can your life have any meaning if you're dependent on pleasures, and distractions from the stuff you don't like? When you walk out of that concert that made you feel so good, you're just left with your miserable life, and a social media feed showing everyone else having it better.What am I talking about? The cosmos has no meaning! We are all just random humans, may as well just have fun, be kind and hopefully not die in suffering. Jeez. Well I'm glad you bring up Jesus. It looks very unlike humans are truly nihilistic as a species, at least that's how Jung interpreted his psychoanalytic insights, and this week we look at how the most inconsequential-seeming pleasure pursuits are loaded with meaning, which James will pod-splain to you with his Beyoncé aubergine principle. We're not pulling down the shutters on fun, we're just stuffing fun into the overarching sausage of life with a bit more meat than you might find on a night out (and we're both aware how much meat can be explored there, as well as how unfulfilling it can be).Once again, a ludicrous description of a podcast about improving the integrity of your mental health over time, rather than seeking moment-to-moment happiness. There's only one way to find out what it's really worth. They say in Heaven, love comes first, and we've shot a provocative load for you to swallow this week. Thanks to our friend Mathis for some complementary wisdom, and to the Internet Archive for music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.