I'm so glad you got your podcast studio set up. I always enjoy your talks with Horgan. I'm kind of like your wife's aunt - I'm worried about you! Yes, you're fine physically, thank goodness. But you don't sound like you're in a good mental state. I hope you're simply having a bad day, but if you don't have the energy to get your gas water heater fixed, that is NOT good! Please get it fixed now, and in the meantime, don't walk away from it until it sparks, and if that doesn't happen fairly soon, turn it off! Gas is nothing to mess with! As for your mental state, I think it helps to talk to somebody. Does ChatGPT do therapy? Who knew that AI was doing therapy back in the 50's, and from what Horgan says, it was pretty effective! Life is overwhelming these days, and we're all easily distracted. In other words, we all need therapy. AI to the rescue?!
One part of the reason I'm not fixing it is I'd have to work with this plumber guy who installed the thing originally, and he's just not good at his job. If past experiences are any indication, he'd adjust the knobs on the heater until I can't replicate the bug in front of him, then leave, then the problem would reappear two days later. I've spent a lot of time dealing with various issues like that, waiting for plumbers, rescheduling, re-rescheduling, trying to fix stuff, not really getting there, etc.
And another part of the reason is we have to leave this apartment by May 1 anyway. This is the 7th place we're staying at in Armenia, unless I forgot one.
Yikes, no wonder you're exhausted! How frustrating! It must be hard enough to leave your family and homeland behind and be forced to constantly move, you don't need the headaches of incompetent repair people on top of it all! I'm glad you're moving in May, even though it's a hassle, at least I hope you get in a safer place. The reason I got so worried when I read your story is because I saw a story on last night's news about a family home that exploded, most likely from gas. It looked as devastating as the buildings in Turkey and Ukraine. I hope you can find a way to stay safe. Maybe a carbon monoxide detector? Maybe ChatGPT will have some ideas! :)
I join in the appreciation of listening to yourself and John Horgan speak. I remember that late 90's internet of weirdos. I do still miss it. We had a dial up connection,the words on the monitor were green and burned my eyes if I stayed on to long. My then nine year old son and I would go into chat rooms and ask questions related to the peoples interest. So much is,I think automatic. I have cared for many people with early dementia. Confused people,who know they are confused have good cover up skills. People don't want to be so vulnerable as to let others know they are confused. So much talk is talk that has been said before. "Everything has to do with death." I so agree with Professor Horgan. I have been brooding on the subject since age 11, really I wonder how everyone does not. It seems to me to be okay to not feel okay as long as this feeling is allowed to come and go naturally. Sobshrink is in the right about the gas ,though. In the sixties half the town I used to live in blew up due to gas. Maybe you can cold shower it until the igniter is fixed. Pretend this is a spiritual practice. I have lived two places ,in my youth, with no hot water,you just become efficient. Anyway,thanks for the podcast and a nice internet spot:)
If you are a Horgan fan and also think about death a lot, then maybe you already saw his conversation with Sheldon Solomon. If not, I included the link below. It will bring you back to the dial-up days of internet, as Horgan is on his phone! It's not that old, so I think there was something wrong with the internet connection. Anyway, I think Solomon's research is at least partially responsible for Horgan's statement that everything has to do with death. I read Solomon's book on death, and also Earnest Becker's. I believe our own mortality awareness affects almost everything we do, in ways we don't even realize.
Thanks very much,I really appreciated this video. Now I have the two books on my list to read,which I will do,if I live long enough. I really never thought about the clinging to shared cultural reality as a hedge against the terror of death. This makes sense. Maybe some of the outrageous behavior by americans,these past few years, is partially explained by the aging demographic having a harder time of denial?
You're welcome. That's an interesting hypothesis. I don't recall Solomon ever mentioning age being a factor in how one copes with existential anxiety in the book, nor in the many podcasts with him to which I've listened. He's pretty entertaining for somebody who talks all about death! It seems the biggest factor in our behavior is mortality salience; when we're reminded of our mortality, we all engage in whatever coping mechanisms we've adopted, be they positive or negative. We've had a LOT of mortality reminders in recent years, and Covid seems to have been the straw that broke the camel's back for many folks. I think our culture's constant death reminders are driving further wedges between those with different cultural world views, and social media exacerbates the situation with its algorithms. I looked for research on whether age impacts how we cope with existential anxiety and found the article below. It says the topic hasn't been studied all that much, but it sounds like individuals vary greatly in how they cope with existential anxiety as they age. Self-esteem plays an important buffer, but in our youth-oriented society, it can be difficult to maintain self-esteem as we age. :(
I don't think the link below will open, although you can try. If you want to read the book chapter, Google this: Transcending the Self: A Terror Management Perspective on Successful Aging
Wow,again thanks so much for directing me to Sheldon Solomon. It is amazing to me how many great thinkers exist and are not well known. I am taking a break from the three hour video of him on Lex Fridman's podcast. Thanks for the chapter link,I now understand the directions to google it.
You're welcome, and I'm glad you enjoy it, ugh, well, if that's the right word! :) Lex's interview of him is really good - he asks such great questions. I agree that it's surprising that Terror Management Theory is not more well known, since it has such profound implications for all aspects of our psychology and behavior. I guess there are still a lot of people who don't like it and are running out of the room! 🤣 Take care.
They are sold as “mind” or “consciousness” expanders but in fact they have a property that is something different altogether.
The Ancient Greek word ‘pharmakeia’, means medication but it also means sorcery or magic. The are not solely a materially acting substance affecting brain chemistry, neurons, etc. they also act spiritually. Drugs, in particular psychedelics, are a door. A door to another reality that parallels and collides on our own. I’ve done enough drugs to know that I will never open that door again. They start off pleasantly enough, indeed they seem to raise the possibilities of human cognition and an understanding of the universe. Over time, they get more perplexing, more vexing and more dark. The glittering rainbow bridge that I crossed to an island in space was raised and I could not leave, even when I wanted to. Not the experience I ever want to return to. There’s a two minute clip on YT that best animates my experience with drugs. Look up: ‘SuperJail Galactoids’.
Let me say, I love the non-zero podcast and the Glenn Show so thanks for keeping the podcasts running and my brain ticking and humming!!
I think it's a little like saying that traveling starts pleasantly enough—you go to a nice resort in Italy, drink wine, chat up the locals—but as you venture further, you might end up getting malaria in Africa, getting mugged by a meth addict in Detroit, or stabbed to death somewhere near Baikal. All of which are real dangers one should be aware of if he does choose to go far away from home, but one can also travel his whole life through without getting into any of these situations.
Personally, I have certainly found myself in some scary places, but so far (knock on wood) psychedelics haven't put me in real danger.
"I have this tendency, which is probably related to my use of psychedelics, to turn everything into a metaphor for everything else. So when I understood what the issue was, I felt: Is this how my life is?"
Yes. Oh yes. I can't help but move through life as a mirror within a mirror now. It's rather haunting, but not in a perpetually frightening or cursed way. It can be, but the emotional response varies across the human spectrum.
Even though descriptions and explanations turn to tropes and cliche all too easily, existence is sticky. Woven. There's no severance. It's one thing to know this intellectually, it's a completely different journey when you experience it. It cannot be undone.
And a synchronistic note: I've been pleading for my apartment complex to fix my heater for over a year. They finally concluded that they needed to replace the 30 years old unit. The new system was in two weeks and then it shut down. After a week without heat (I stopped using space heaters because they made my electricity bill skyrocket), a second HVAC company found that the installer used fuses that were too weak. I was foiled by a rookie move.
I often feel like a 53 years old rookie. So, how do I install bigger fuses into my existence? 🤣
Yeah, well I've listened to the advice here in the comments and called the plumber. Three men appeared and, after looking at the heater in confusion for about 15 minutes, they disconnected it and took it away. The promise is they'll bring it back tomorrow, already fixed. I am hoping for that, but not counting on it.
Plumber: “The water heater needs to be taken in for rehabilitation. It will be returned once it has shown that it can be a productive member of the household.”
Fantastic. Yeah yup a kind of disappointmentnis my baseline emotiin. Mi g ht be abt how things donot more frquently change 7n and out of beany thoraxic shapes. But then i go with a dull version.of thevfeeling because why should they ? Like if things were as witty as they mi g ht be, that would be more chintz of plywood and hollywood than i would wNt to sharecwith anyone 3lse anyway. Sell this convoe in a box.
The link is not working. I will be listening to more Solomon in the future. In addition to a love of youth culture , which is fabulous on its own but becomes an irritant when for sale, our culture tends to define us by what we do for work not who we are. This can challenge self esteem.
Horganism sighting!!!!!
What's that novel?
It is distastefully called iPhuck 10, but it's not available in English.
Ugh, I tried starting to re-read Paradise Lost again last night. So dense / opaque from the vantage of my modern diction and syntax.
Reading aloud helps my brain feel more comfortable with language that is becoming archaic,maybe try this.
I'm so glad you got your podcast studio set up. I always enjoy your talks with Horgan. I'm kind of like your wife's aunt - I'm worried about you! Yes, you're fine physically, thank goodness. But you don't sound like you're in a good mental state. I hope you're simply having a bad day, but if you don't have the energy to get your gas water heater fixed, that is NOT good! Please get it fixed now, and in the meantime, don't walk away from it until it sparks, and if that doesn't happen fairly soon, turn it off! Gas is nothing to mess with! As for your mental state, I think it helps to talk to somebody. Does ChatGPT do therapy? Who knew that AI was doing therapy back in the 50's, and from what Horgan says, it was pretty effective! Life is overwhelming these days, and we're all easily distracted. In other words, we all need therapy. AI to the rescue?!
One part of the reason I'm not fixing it is I'd have to work with this plumber guy who installed the thing originally, and he's just not good at his job. If past experiences are any indication, he'd adjust the knobs on the heater until I can't replicate the bug in front of him, then leave, then the problem would reappear two days later. I've spent a lot of time dealing with various issues like that, waiting for plumbers, rescheduling, re-rescheduling, trying to fix stuff, not really getting there, etc.
And another part of the reason is we have to leave this apartment by May 1 anyway. This is the 7th place we're staying at in Armenia, unless I forgot one.
Yikes, no wonder you're exhausted! How frustrating! It must be hard enough to leave your family and homeland behind and be forced to constantly move, you don't need the headaches of incompetent repair people on top of it all! I'm glad you're moving in May, even though it's a hassle, at least I hope you get in a safer place. The reason I got so worried when I read your story is because I saw a story on last night's news about a family home that exploded, most likely from gas. It looked as devastating as the buildings in Turkey and Ukraine. I hope you can find a way to stay safe. Maybe a carbon monoxide detector? Maybe ChatGPT will have some ideas! :)
I’ve got a detector, but for some reason it only reacts to the smell of burnt coffee ☕️
OMG! It must have been made by the plumber! May your luck get better soon! 🍀
Burnt coffee is an emergency!
Happy to see you back podcasting again. Please get your gas fixed and take care.
I join in the appreciation of listening to yourself and John Horgan speak. I remember that late 90's internet of weirdos. I do still miss it. We had a dial up connection,the words on the monitor were green and burned my eyes if I stayed on to long. My then nine year old son and I would go into chat rooms and ask questions related to the peoples interest. So much is,I think automatic. I have cared for many people with early dementia. Confused people,who know they are confused have good cover up skills. People don't want to be so vulnerable as to let others know they are confused. So much talk is talk that has been said before. "Everything has to do with death." I so agree with Professor Horgan. I have been brooding on the subject since age 11, really I wonder how everyone does not. It seems to me to be okay to not feel okay as long as this feeling is allowed to come and go naturally. Sobshrink is in the right about the gas ,though. In the sixties half the town I used to live in blew up due to gas. Maybe you can cold shower it until the igniter is fixed. Pretend this is a spiritual practice. I have lived two places ,in my youth, with no hot water,you just become efficient. Anyway,thanks for the podcast and a nice internet spot:)
If you are a Horgan fan and also think about death a lot, then maybe you already saw his conversation with Sheldon Solomon. If not, I included the link below. It will bring you back to the dial-up days of internet, as Horgan is on his phone! It's not that old, so I think there was something wrong with the internet connection. Anyway, I think Solomon's research is at least partially responsible for Horgan's statement that everything has to do with death. I read Solomon's book on death, and also Earnest Becker's. I believe our own mortality awareness affects almost everything we do, in ways we don't even realize.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzivV4jULnk
Thanks very much,I really appreciated this video. Now I have the two books on my list to read,which I will do,if I live long enough. I really never thought about the clinging to shared cultural reality as a hedge against the terror of death. This makes sense. Maybe some of the outrageous behavior by americans,these past few years, is partially explained by the aging demographic having a harder time of denial?
You're welcome. That's an interesting hypothesis. I don't recall Solomon ever mentioning age being a factor in how one copes with existential anxiety in the book, nor in the many podcasts with him to which I've listened. He's pretty entertaining for somebody who talks all about death! It seems the biggest factor in our behavior is mortality salience; when we're reminded of our mortality, we all engage in whatever coping mechanisms we've adopted, be they positive or negative. We've had a LOT of mortality reminders in recent years, and Covid seems to have been the straw that broke the camel's back for many folks. I think our culture's constant death reminders are driving further wedges between those with different cultural world views, and social media exacerbates the situation with its algorithms. I looked for research on whether age impacts how we cope with existential anxiety and found the article below. It says the topic hasn't been studied all that much, but it sounds like individuals vary greatly in how they cope with existential anxiety as they age. Self-esteem plays an important buffer, but in our youth-oriented society, it can be difficult to maintain self-esteem as we age. :(
I don't think the link below will open, although you can try. If you want to read the book chapter, Google this: Transcending the Self: A Terror Management Perspective on Successful Aging
http://www1.psych.purdue.edu/Classes/psy535/No 9.pdf
Wow,again thanks so much for directing me to Sheldon Solomon. It is amazing to me how many great thinkers exist and are not well known. I am taking a break from the three hour video of him on Lex Fridman's podcast. Thanks for the chapter link,I now understand the directions to google it.
You're welcome, and I'm glad you enjoy it, ugh, well, if that's the right word! :) Lex's interview of him is really good - he asks such great questions. I agree that it's surprising that Terror Management Theory is not more well known, since it has such profound implications for all aspects of our psychology and behavior. I guess there are still a lot of people who don't like it and are running out of the room! 🤣 Take care.
Oh my goodness! It must have been made by the plumber! You are not having much luck lately. I hope it changes soon! 🍀
Drugs aren’t what they are advertised to be.
What are they?
They are sold as “mind” or “consciousness” expanders but in fact they have a property that is something different altogether.
The Ancient Greek word ‘pharmakeia’, means medication but it also means sorcery or magic. The are not solely a materially acting substance affecting brain chemistry, neurons, etc. they also act spiritually. Drugs, in particular psychedelics, are a door. A door to another reality that parallels and collides on our own. I’ve done enough drugs to know that I will never open that door again. They start off pleasantly enough, indeed they seem to raise the possibilities of human cognition and an understanding of the universe. Over time, they get more perplexing, more vexing and more dark. The glittering rainbow bridge that I crossed to an island in space was raised and I could not leave, even when I wanted to. Not the experience I ever want to return to. There’s a two minute clip on YT that best animates my experience with drugs. Look up: ‘SuperJail Galactoids’.
Let me say, I love the non-zero podcast and the Glenn Show so thanks for keeping the podcasts running and my brain ticking and humming!!
I think it's a little like saying that traveling starts pleasantly enough—you go to a nice resort in Italy, drink wine, chat up the locals—but as you venture further, you might end up getting malaria in Africa, getting mugged by a meth addict in Detroit, or stabbed to death somewhere near Baikal. All of which are real dangers one should be aware of if he does choose to go far away from home, but one can also travel his whole life through without getting into any of these situations.
Personally, I have certainly found myself in some scary places, but so far (knock on wood) psychedelics haven't put me in real danger.
Does that make sense?
And thanks for the kind words!
"I have this tendency, which is probably related to my use of psychedelics, to turn everything into a metaphor for everything else. So when I understood what the issue was, I felt: Is this how my life is?"
Yes. Oh yes. I can't help but move through life as a mirror within a mirror now. It's rather haunting, but not in a perpetually frightening or cursed way. It can be, but the emotional response varies across the human spectrum.
Even though descriptions and explanations turn to tropes and cliche all too easily, existence is sticky. Woven. There's no severance. It's one thing to know this intellectually, it's a completely different journey when you experience it. It cannot be undone.
And a synchronistic note: I've been pleading for my apartment complex to fix my heater for over a year. They finally concluded that they needed to replace the 30 years old unit. The new system was in two weeks and then it shut down. After a week without heat (I stopped using space heaters because they made my electricity bill skyrocket), a second HVAC company found that the installer used fuses that were too weak. I was foiled by a rookie move.
I often feel like a 53 years old rookie. So, how do I install bigger fuses into my existence? 🤣
Yeah, well I've listened to the advice here in the comments and called the plumber. Three men appeared and, after looking at the heater in confusion for about 15 minutes, they disconnected it and took it away. The promise is they'll bring it back tomorrow, already fixed. I am hoping for that, but not counting on it.
Plumber: “The water heater needs to be taken in for rehabilitation. It will be returned once it has shown that it can be a productive member of the household.”
Fantastic. Yeah yup a kind of disappointmentnis my baseline emotiin. Mi g ht be abt how things donot more frquently change 7n and out of beany thoraxic shapes. But then i go with a dull version.of thevfeeling because why should they ? Like if things were as witty as they mi g ht be, that would be more chintz of plywood and hollywood than i would wNt to sharecwith anyone 3lse anyway. Sell this convoe in a box.
The link is not working. I will be listening to more Solomon in the future. In addition to a love of youth culture , which is fabulous on its own but becomes an irritant when for sale, our culture tends to define us by what we do for work not who we are. This can challenge self esteem.