Released another episode on Camus five minutes ago. Episode #225 on his book The Plague. We talk about a common misreading from the Myth of Sisyphus. We talk about different cycles of his work from his earlier individual confrontation with the absurd to a more community focus. We talk about solidarity. Absurd heroes. Empathy and metaphysical rebellion. Hope you enjoy it, my friends. :)
I talked with @BrendanGrahamD1, picking up on a disagreement we had on Facebook about the teleology of the universe.
https://t.co/NLXFdboc5l
We discussed Aristotle’s influence on the topic, Terrence Deacon’s work on naturalizing teleology, the distinction between purpose & goal-directed behavior, cosmic teleology, Teilhard de Chardin’s “Omega Point,” Whitehead’s relational teleology, Ilya Prigogine’s dissipative structures, energy efficiency comparisons between organisms & stars, the cosmic imperative of entropy production, energy rate density as a complexity measure, whether entropy is the goal or a byproduct of complexification, the origin of life as contingent or necessity, Alexander Bard’s emergence vectors, questioning the heat death hypothesis, cosmic expansion possibly preventing maximum entropy, Webb telescope findings, Lee Smolin’s evolutionary universe theory, philosophical implications of cosmological narratives, the deepening of interiority in cosmic evolution, Nick Chater’s “The Mind Is Flat” argument, the importance of intersubjectivity, language’s role in human experience, AI development & emotions, a critique of transhumanism, the need to defend your emergence vector, and much more.
New Chasing Ghosts Podcast episode is live Monday 17 March 2025.
Ep 060 "The Military Historian's Craft: Past Tense Imperfect"
I am an un-credentialed amateur historian who has done very little archive work and lack the substantial infrastructure credentialed historians have to practice their craft. I have debated esteemed historians and won on stage (Daniel Walker Howe looked at my CV and did not prepare) but that doesn't make me better than them.
I think my various detours in life mostly outside the formal academy gives my a unique insight into how history works and why I think I am more sober than university historians.
I have been taking a chainsaw rhetorically to the Western malfeasance and incompetence in the sphere of all things military and you be amused to read those posts (4-5 per week) at The Libertarian Institute Blog: https://t.co/bAoatv9ndR
Housekeeping: I have been scarce on X but you can find daily brain-zephyrs from me at my Substack Notes section where I am not distracted by the time vampire here.
You can find the episodes on your favorite podcast vendor.
Notes: https://t.co/Noe4WtsEYR
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Email me at [email protected]
I want to thank my listeners and readers for your continuing solicitude. Please leave reviews if you find the time at your podcast vendor.
I talked with @jon_rauch about the ideas in his book *The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth*.
https://t.co/IYhDxPvlZs
We discussed the epistemic crisis, Plato’s Theaetetus, Trump & propaganda techniques, the Constitution of Knowledge as a framework for epistemics, the “marketplace of ideas” metaphor, the reality-based community, the personal-institutional spiral, the social funnel of knowledge, social media’s impact on epistemics, advertising vs subscription models, meme space pollution, the anti-vax movement, the importance of free speech to the gay rights movement, recommendations for defending truth, supporting institutions, speaking out against misinformation, maintaining viewpoint diversity, and much more.
YOU ASKED FOR IT: @RebelEconProf (Josh Hendrickson) and I walk through the key points in the secret (well, it's posted online) document outlining Trump's tariff strategy, written by a Harvard PhD economist. https://t.co/lDbDEkB56j
This week I appear on The Tom Woods Show to discuss the immigration debate, the state of academic philosophy, and other matters with @ThomasEWoods https://t.co/TIgXhpRbrv via @YouTube
New episode just dropped: #211 Nietzsche returns with a hammer!
Today we talk about Nietzsche's views on the decay of western society. We talk about his problems with Socrates. The genealogy of Egalitarianism that has led to our modern societies, and how to contextualize his concept of the Ubermensch within modern culture. Hope you enjoy it! :)
https://t.co/SdsYJgMhj5
The GREAT Scott Horton joined me to discuss the @martyrmade@TuckerCarlson controversy, the latest on the Ukraine/US/Russia war, and a book update.
https://t.co/0Zajd4ZWIR
Early access to my conversation with @reallytanman is available to my subscribers (link in bio):
"Ancestral vs. Modern Human Diets, Seed Oils, Inflammation, Fat Oxidation, Influence of Industry on Food Science"
A partial version will be widely available to everyone tomorrow.