WEBVTT 00:03.630 --> 00:11.670 it's great to see you it's great to be here I wish I could see you you're just 00:11.670 --> 00:16.110 I see a number of lights out there and you know it's sort of like being on a 00:16.110 --> 00:20.670 weak acid trip or something I can't really see you because the lights are in 00:20.670 --> 00:31.270 my face but I I know you're there so and I'm here and so we're gonna talk it's a 00:31.270 --> 00:39.190 real pleasure again to be invited here I'm really pleased then to see Eureka 00:39.190 --> 00:45.310 Springs it's a fantastic place and I want to thank the folks that organized 00:45.310 --> 00:58.310 this and got me here it's been difficult to get here but here we are and tonight 00:58.310 --> 01:03.510 well as you can see already the title of my talk 01:03.510 --> 01:10.530 he's I'm not in the way of it is defeating the death culture sometimes I 01:10.530 --> 01:17.310 wish someone would defeat the technology we've had no end of technological 01:17.310 --> 01:21.750 challenges getting this simple PowerPoint on this computer from my 01:21.750 --> 01:26.650 computer but I won't bore you with that I think we're ready to go I had to 01:26.650 --> 01:31.470 translate it into quick time so I don't know if it's gonna totally work 01:31.470 --> 01:33.470 but it's pretty simple anyway 01:33.510 --> 01:42.490 so so I'm gonna I'm just gonna forge ahead and hope for your indulgence if 01:42.490 --> 01:49.370 things go off track here most of you that have heard me talk you know I'm an 01:49.370 --> 01:55.650 ethnobotanist or ethnopharmacologist whatever you want to call it and usually 01:55.650 --> 02:02.410 I present a lot of scientific data and a lot of downloads for you to mull over 02:02.410 --> 02:03.350 and think about it and then I'll see you in the next video and then I'll see you in the next episode of the show. 02:03.510 --> 02:13.830 but I'm not going to do that tonight I'm going to talk in a much more general sort of way about 02:13.830 --> 02:24.450 some things that I think we all could do some thinking about and so hence this is the title 02:24.450 --> 02:32.950 of my talk is the death culture or it could be called the death culture and how to defeat it 02:32.950 --> 02:43.350 but I guess that's a little more awkward so hopefully the technology will cooperate so far 02:43.350 --> 02:55.660 so good in some ways the dynamic tension between the fascination between and the dynamic polarity 02:55.660 --> 03:02.500 that live that exists between life and death can be embodied in this notion of the tension between 03:02.500 --> 03:03.660 arrows and 03:04.520 --> 03:15.640 thanatos these are Greek terms that symbolize this dynamic tension and it's actually a term in Freudian 03:15.640 --> 03:22.680 psychology I know that he's not popular anymore we're probably all Jungians but he had a few good 03:22.680 --> 03:32.580 ideas and I think these concepts are among them we have in our culture particularly in Western 03:32.580 --> 03:36.480 culture we have this fascination with death 03:37.140 --> 03:53.200 we are fearful of it at the same time in some twisted way we're also attracted to it and a lot of our preoccupation with death is distorted 03:53.200 --> 03:58.660 and is really infused into Western consciousness by Judeo-Christianity 03:59.840 --> 04:08.960 Christianity tells us that we are inherently flawed beings we are born into sin we all have original sin 04:09.160 --> 04:13.640 and that Christ died for our sins. 04:13.820 --> 04:16.800 Christ suffered and died for our sins. 04:17.360 --> 04:20.660 And we are supposed to be grateful for that. 04:21.920 --> 04:25.500 Our salvation is not to be found in this world. 04:25.660 --> 04:27.500 It's not to be found in this life. 04:27.500 --> 04:29.280 It's to be found in heaven. 04:30.760 --> 04:34.700 They usually don't get too explicit about where heaven is. 04:34.700 --> 04:42.120 We're told that we have to reject the temporal world as somehow inherently evil. 04:42.360 --> 04:48.440 The very things that sustain life are devalued by the Judeo-Christian tradition. 04:49.880 --> 04:56.060 Our job on this planet, our job in this life is to suffer and ultimately to die. 04:56.760 --> 05:01.080 And to go to our reward in heaven. 05:01.940 --> 05:05.500 Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens. 05:05.500 --> 05:11.790 So what is the sin that they're talking about? 05:11.950 --> 05:15.970 This original sin that we're supposed to feel guilty about. 05:16.490 --> 05:19.130 And that we have to be ashamed about. 05:19.250 --> 05:25.930 And we have to suffer and regret all of our lives because of this sin that apparently we're born with. 05:26.650 --> 05:32.950 Well, the sin is the sin of consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge. 05:33.690 --> 05:36.410 The sin is the sin of becoming conscious. 05:37.110 --> 05:38.590 Of becoming human. 05:39.210 --> 05:40.410 Of becoming minded. 05:41.190 --> 05:44.750 In some sense, it's the sin of the descent into history. 05:45.630 --> 05:48.250 The realization of our biology. 05:49.050 --> 05:51.250 The realization of our mortality. 05:52.430 --> 05:54.090 Shedding the monkey mind. 05:54.870 --> 05:56.030 That's the sin. 05:56.510 --> 06:00.250 The sin is to realize that yes, we are biological beings. 06:01.110 --> 06:03.550 We have a limited life on this earth. 06:03.810 --> 06:04.990 We have a mind. 06:05.190 --> 06:06.070 We have free will. 06:06.230 --> 06:08.650 This is the sin that they bludgeon. 06:08.870 --> 06:10.790 That we're supposed to feel guilty. 06:11.230 --> 06:12.590 And it's a catch-22. 06:13.050 --> 06:18.830 Because in a sense, we would not be human if we had not committed this original sin. 06:20.090 --> 06:24.620 But, we are conscious beings. 06:24.620 --> 06:28.100 We're distinct from mindless nature. 06:28.980 --> 06:32.620 And this attitude permeates western culture. 06:33.520 --> 06:36.760 And has created this unhealthy preoccupation with death. 06:37.140 --> 06:39.000 Leading us to reject nature. 06:39.380 --> 06:40.380 Leading us to reject. 06:40.960 --> 06:42.400 Our own biology. 06:43.160 --> 06:45.160 Our sexuality. 06:45.160 --> 06:48.400 Which is certainly part of our biology. 06:49.400 --> 06:50.400 Ecstasy. 06:51.160 --> 06:53.720 Um, watching Govinda's concert. 06:54.520 --> 06:57.280 I saw far, far too much of that going on. 06:58.400 --> 06:59.720 No, no, no. 06:59.720 --> 07:01.720 You should be behaving yourselves. 07:02.520 --> 07:04.840 You're not supposed to be having a good time here. 07:05.560 --> 07:07.160 Your job is to suffer. 07:07.160 --> 07:08.160 Your job is to. 07:08.960 --> 07:10.180 Focus on the salvation. 07:10.180 --> 07:11.420 Of your immortal soul. 07:13.530 --> 07:14.490 Well, there you go. 07:15.910 --> 07:16.650 Right. 07:17.230 --> 07:19.210 So, it's this permeation. 07:19.930 --> 07:21.930 And this preoccupation with death. 07:22.490 --> 07:23.510 That has. 07:24.290 --> 07:25.050 Transformed. 07:25.810 --> 07:27.590 Our western civilization. 07:27.950 --> 07:28.930 The eastern ones. 07:29.150 --> 07:30.110 Not so much. 07:30.270 --> 07:31.050 But the western. 07:31.530 --> 07:33.330 Judeo-Christian civilization. 07:33.650 --> 07:35.810 Is a death culture. 07:37.170 --> 07:37.770 Um. 07:38.250 --> 07:39.790 It's a culture that. 07:40.150 --> 07:40.410 Uh. 07:40.710 --> 07:41.270 Does not remind us. 07:41.490 --> 07:47.450 the mega deaths of millions but will want to implement laws to put people in 07:47.450 --> 07:54.870 jail for having an abortion you know this does not make sense and the death 07:54.870 --> 08:02.190 culture is very clever and very good masters of rhetoric it likes to distort 08:02.190 --> 08:09.110 the rhetoric of the life culture to its own ends death culture in the meme wars 08:09.110 --> 08:15.870 in the wars of ideas in the wars of words between these polarities of Eros 08:15.870 --> 08:23.990 and Thanatos represents itself and even calls itself the culture of life so what 08:23.990 --> 08:29.210 do they mean by the culture of life well here's some of the death culture values 08:29.210 --> 08:43.190 that we're expected to think about and we can expect it to accept for example 08:43.190 --> 08:46.250 the idea that the soul of a frozen embryo 08:46.250 --> 08:53.390 is more important than the suffering of millions of people for which things like 08:53.390 --> 09:00.720 stem cell research could do a great deal of good the idea that the survival of a 09:00.720 --> 09:06.240 fetus is always trumping the life of the mother even if the pregnancy results 09:06.240 --> 09:15.480 from from incest or rape or the child is severely born with severe defects so 09:15.480 --> 09:17.760 they have this idea I think in our 09:17.820 --> 09:22.520 if we are the life culture I think we understand that these are false 09:22.520 --> 09:27.380 dichotomies in some ways these are false understandings because you know 09:27.380 --> 09:37.220 does a fetus have a soul probably does a frozen embryo have a soul probably but 09:37.220 --> 09:44.240 extend that a little further beyond does a single cell have a soul probably I 09:44.240 --> 09:47.520 mean I think that in our culture we understand that 09:47.820 --> 09:54.600 the soul that mind that Consciousness is not something that requires even a brain or a nervous system 09:54.600 --> 10:03.180 it's something that permeates reality a blade of grass has a soul a plant has a soul a rock has a 10:03.180 --> 10:10.260 certain kind of a soul so it's it's an absurd argument really I mean I've just you know I can 10:10.260 --> 10:16.800 scratch a little dandruff off my head I've just aborted oh I don't know five or six million cells 10:16.800 --> 10:22.960 any one of which knowing what we know about DNA could be developed into you 10:22.960 --> 10:27.240 know a fully functional human being given the technology that we have is 10:27.240 --> 10:31.860 anybody arguing that we should you know preserve the souls of our epithelial 10:31.860 --> 10:38.280 cells every time we take a shower we're guilty of mass murder it's just not 10:38.280 --> 10:43.080 realistic you know and yet it is these absurd 10:43.080 --> 10:48.840 concepts that sort of frame the discussion of these issues in our 10:48.840 --> 10:54.820 political and and cultural conversation if that's what you can call it you can't 10:54.820 --> 10:58.740 really call it a conversation because usually it's people with staked out 10:58.740 --> 11:04.140 positions talking past each other there's no real conversation that goes 11:04.140 --> 11:10.180 on anymore and another odd thing about the death culture they will go to any 11:10.180 --> 11:12.580 lengths to preserve the soul of an embryo 11:13.080 --> 11:19.200 but once you're born forget it you know their emphasis is on quality of life not 11:19.200 --> 11:25.460 on on quantity of life not on quality of life you know once you're once you're 11:25.460 --> 11:32.340 born you're pretty much on your own and under the under the under the precepts 11:32.340 --> 11:39.230 of the death culture you're not even permitted to die with dignity however 11:39.230 --> 11:44.710 degraded life may be it must preserve be preserved at all costs 11:44.930 --> 11:51.050 decades spent on a respirator is preferable to being allowed to cease your 11:51.050 --> 11:56.170 suffering and die in a dignified way does this make any sense I don't know 11:56.170 --> 12:01.190 not to me I think not to a lot of people if you think about it and yet 12:01.190 --> 12:07.690 it's very hard to have a conversation about this so here are a few death 12:07.690 --> 12:15.720 culture values that we can talk about Dick Cheney has said has said if I can get to the bottom of this. 12:15.720 --> 12:21.170 Dick Cheney has said if I can get to the bottom of this. 12:21.170 --> 12:38.550 out of here oh this is much better now I don't have to hunch over that's good 12:38.550 --> 12:46.560 that's good thank you so so Dick Cheney is famous for saying a lot of dumb 12:46.560 --> 12:52.000 things but I think one of the dumbest that he said is the American way of life 12:52.000 --> 12:58.600 is non-negotiable well what that means to me is well here we are we're 12:58.600 --> 13:04.860 consumerist culture we live large on the planet we consume 25 percent of the 13:04.860 --> 13:09.840 world's resources and we're less than 5 percent of the world's people but we 13:09.840 --> 13:15.100 will go to any length to preserve that way of life this thoughtless 13:15.100 --> 13:20.940 unsustainable way of life in the conversation that they want you to 13:20.940 --> 13:26.120 swallow economics it's always about jobs jobs are always more important than the 13:26.120 --> 13:30.360 environment jobs are always more important than sustainability well jobs 13:30.360 --> 13:34.860 are important no doubt about it but if there's no environment for us 13:34.860 --> 13:39.360 to live in if we've managed to destroy the planet you know it's not going to 13:39.360 --> 13:44.860 matter whether we have jobs or not you know and yet this notion that we can 13:44.860 --> 13:51.060 live sustainably we can live in a way that is in harmony with nature that has 13:51.060 --> 13:57.120 a light impact on nature is not considered part of the American dream 13:57.120 --> 14:03.180 it's not considered part of the capitalist worldview you know I mean 14:03.180 --> 14:03.920 this is a group 14:04.860 --> 14:10.500 as a group the likes to you know have things like the Republican National 14:10.500 --> 14:15.340 Convention and I'm not just believe me I'm not just confining this to the 14:15.340 --> 14:21.600 Republicans I mean it's you know they just happen to be the an easy straw man 14:21.600 --> 14:25.780 that you can hold up you know but rather than discussing these issues they 14:25.780 --> 14:30.480 like to have big conventions like in the St. Paul Excel Center that they had a 14:30.480 --> 14:34.600 few years a few weeks ago instead of actually discussing 14:34.860 --> 14:42.960 the issues about our use and overuse of the world's resources and our depletion of petroleum 14:42.960 --> 14:48.540 and everything else you know they like to get up and chant things like drill here drill now 14:48.540 --> 14:55.460 drill everywhere you know and this kind of thing it sounds good you know when it's going on but 14:55.460 --> 15:01.880 it's not really a conversation and it's not really a solution and anyone who is not part of this 15:01.880 --> 15:16.000 mindset who hears this what can you do except despair you know so one of the attitudes that 15:16.000 --> 15:23.040 this leads to is the notion that we are not part of nature we are the rulers of nature 15:23.040 --> 15:32.360 nature exists for us to be owned commercialized for us to exploit it for us to control it for us 15:32.360 --> 15:35.840 to criminalize it when that becomes necessary 15:36.780 --> 15:42.560 and ultimately for us to destroy it if we feel that that's necessary and this is part 15:42.560 --> 15:50.660 of our of the inheritance of this judeo-christian perception that nature is devalued because nature 15:50.660 --> 15:58.160 is part of this world and our world the reward for us comes in the next world so it leads us 15:58.160 --> 16:05.440 to devalue nature and it leads us to feel that we don't have uh that you know we don't have a 16:05.440 --> 16:06.760 stake in the game nature is a stake in the game and we don't have a stake in the game 16:06.780 --> 16:12.300 nature can fully be destroyed and yet we will go on to our reward in heaven well i don't know as 16:12.300 --> 16:17.860 i said before where heaven is but i'm damn sure that you know it's not on earth if we manage to 16:17.860 --> 16:28.360 completely destroy the planet a few more death culture values that i think we need to 16:28.360 --> 16:36.120 think about and try to bring into this conversation ronald reagan was famous for saying 16:36.120 --> 16:38.820 government is not the solution to the problem 16:39.880 --> 16:47.240 is the problem well some people may think that i mean they're certainly in some ways much too much 16:47.240 --> 16:51.960 government but i think the difference between the death culture and the life culture is our 16:51.960 --> 16:58.920 perception of what government should be doing i mean government can do good things for people 16:58.920 --> 17:05.240 if it sets its mind to us universal health care this kind of thing you know i mean the part of 17:05.240 --> 17:09.720 the perception of the death culture is that it's not about government it's not about 17:09.880 --> 17:16.880 power you know one of the criticism it is about power one of one of the criticisms that's been 17:16.880 --> 17:23.560 labeled against the last administration was that they were very good at winning elections they were 17:23.560 --> 17:29.120 very good at politics they were lousy at government governance they were lousy at 17:29.120 --> 17:34.180 governance because their philosophy is that government has no function government is the 17:34.180 --> 17:39.860 problem you know so their notion is to undermine government as much as possible and i think that's 17:39.880 --> 17:53.510 possible to undermine all the potentially good things that it might do the other thing think 17:54.790 --> 18:02.630 you know that's why god gave you this hand so that you could think and i would go beyond that and say 18:02.630 --> 18:09.910 think critically you know question what you're told question what you see in the media question 18:09.910 --> 18:16.310 everything including this i mean i don't say i'm just here to or 18:16.470 --> 18:22.550 articulate an idea i don't want to be followed don't follow me don't follow anyone believe in 18:22.550 --> 18:33.100 yourself if you have to have faith have faith in yourself this is a statement about fundamentalism 18:33.100 --> 18:40.700 which i think is a a poison that has permeated culture and not simply christian culture we find 18:40.700 --> 18:48.540 it in many other religious uh traditions and and even non-religious belief systems but fundamentally 18:48.620 --> 18:55.660 the idea of fundamental belief system is that one purports to have all the answers it also claims to 18:55.660 --> 19:03.500 be the only way all deviations from the fundamentalist dogma lead to hell it follows then 19:03.500 --> 19:09.740 that parents who believe they this would be this would be very concerned about what their children 19:09.740 --> 19:15.980 believe any alternative ways of thinking about major life questions would be highly threatening 19:16.620 --> 19:20.100 consequently the fundamentalist 19:20.180 --> 19:27.060 household rarely encourages children to explore their own thoughts to be open-minded about ideas 19:27.060 --> 19:33.940 or to come to their own conclusions in fact fundamentalist parents are typically vocal 19:33.940 --> 19:40.820 in their opposition to the teaching of critical thinking skills or values clarification in schools 19:41.780 --> 19:49.700 so we need to lose fundamentalism it is not fundamentalism means that you know there is a 19:49.700 --> 19:50.100 real 19:50.180 --> 19:56.020 rigid set of beliefs and no deviation is allowed it is not useful 19:58.340 --> 20:05.540 for clarity it does not really help us understand and we need to understand another aspect of this 20:05.540 --> 20:13.690 is you are entitled to your opinion but not to your own facts here is an interesting statement 20:14.650 --> 20:21.850 we are an empire now this is probably carl rove it is put as a senior bush aide but it was probably 20:21.850 --> 20:28.090 Karl Rove. We're an empire now and when we act we create our own reality and while 20:28.090 --> 20:33.470 you're studying that reality we'll act again creating other new realities which 20:33.470 --> 20:38.250 you can study too and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors 20:38.250 --> 20:46.170 and you all of you will be left to just study what we do. So yeah well we've 20:46.170 --> 20:50.570 seen the consequences of what happens when an entire administration decides 20:50.570 --> 20:57.710 that they create their own reality. Yeah they haven't been in the reality-based 20:57.710 --> 21:02.810 community for far too long and the real reality the real reality has a way of 21:02.810 --> 21:07.790 sort of you know interfering with that agenda as we've seen as the wheels have 21:07.790 --> 21:15.810 come off you know so not so good. The fact that an opinion has been widely 21:15.810 --> 21:19.690 held there's no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd. 21:19.690 --> 21:20.550 You know it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. 21:20.550 --> 21:25.710 Indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind widespread belief 21:25.710 --> 21:30.470 is more likely to be foolish than sensible. So this is something that's 21:30.470 --> 21:37.270 worth keeping in mind. What about reason? He that will not discuss will not 21:37.270 --> 21:42.830 reason is a bigot. He that cannot reason is a fool and he that dares not reason 21:42.830 --> 21:49.950 is a slave. Reason is one of the things that this thinking mind can do. We should 21:50.550 --> 22:17.490 Michael 22:21.250 --> 22:25.430 there probably is a paradigm beyond reason but I'm not saying that reason 22:25.430 --> 22:29.730 Reason, I mean, this goes back to what I said about know how little you know. 22:30.370 --> 22:38.590 You know, I'm not saying that there are not other ways of knowing that are not necessarily logical or reasonable. 22:39.290 --> 22:43.090 But I think reason is a good place to start from. 22:43.750 --> 22:46.550 You know, particularly when you're having these conversations. 22:46.550 --> 22:49.370 In other words, you know, what is the opposite of reason? 22:50.230 --> 22:52.630 You know, the opposite of reason is unreason. 22:52.630 --> 22:57.470 And reason leads to good judgment. 22:58.150 --> 23:06.570 I don't think any society has ever managed to destroy itself with a spun because of a spontaneous outbreak of reason. 23:08.390 --> 23:15.220 But many societies have destroyed themselves with spontaneous outbreaks of unreason. 23:15.780 --> 23:17.540 And this is what we see. 23:18.760 --> 23:24.140 So Richard Dawkins, who I agree with about some things but not others, 23:24.320 --> 23:27.520 has said, reason built the modern world. 23:27.780 --> 23:35.540 It is a precious but a fragile thing, which can be corroded by apparently harmless irrationality. 23:36.320 --> 23:40.400 We must favor verifiable evidence over private feeling. 23:40.400 --> 23:45.780 Otherwise, we leave ourselves vulnerable to those who would obscure the truth. 23:47.400 --> 23:52.000 Again, I'm just putting these ideas out for you to mull over. 23:52.200 --> 23:54.140 And hopefully we'll have a little time to talk. 23:54.320 --> 23:59.440 And the other thing that's very important is to recognize the limitations of our knowledge, 23:59.440 --> 24:02.780 which goes to what this gentleman over here said. 24:02.780 --> 24:08.380 We must never assume that we have it figured out, because we do not have it figured out. 24:08.600 --> 24:16.060 This is a famous statement of Don Rumsfeld, who said a lot of stupid things in his day. 24:16.060 --> 24:18.000 But actually, I kind of like this. 24:18.000 --> 24:20.520 This is kind of a Zen-like Cohen. 24:20.520 --> 24:23.620 He said, as we know, there are no gnomes. 24:24.320 --> 24:26.320 There are things we know we know. 24:26.320 --> 24:29.320 We also know there are known unknowns. 24:29.320 --> 24:33.320 That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. 24:33.320 --> 24:39.320 But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones that we do not know we do not know. 24:40.320 --> 24:45.320 I mean, a profound statement from a major jerk. 24:46.320 --> 24:48.320 Occasionally, they get it right. 24:48.320 --> 24:51.320 He didn't know, of course, what he was saying. 24:52.320 --> 24:54.200 A man who knows how little he knows, 24:54.200 --> 24:59.200 a man who knows as well, a man who knows how much he knows, is sick. 24:59.200 --> 25:01.200 So that's the thing. 25:01.200 --> 25:05.200 And I think I would say to the scientists out there, especially, 25:05.200 --> 25:08.200 we don't have it nailed down. 25:08.200 --> 25:18.200 The expanse of our ignorance is always going to greatly outpace the tiny sphere of what we think we understand. 25:18.200 --> 25:23.200 And as new paradigms emerge, that tiny sphere may be turned topsy-turvy. 25:24.200 --> 25:30.200 The other thing is, the little that we do know, or that we think we know, we should share. 25:30.200 --> 25:33.200 We should share with our brothers and sisters. 25:33.200 --> 25:36.200 And that involves three things, at least. 25:36.200 --> 25:38.200 One is to listen. 25:38.200 --> 25:42.200 You have to listen in order to learn. 25:42.200 --> 25:47.200 You know, if you're, and that's the other part, to learn. 25:47.200 --> 25:51.200 Learning is a process. 25:51.200 --> 25:53.200 We're all still learning. 25:54.200 --> 25:57.200 Michelangelo said, I am still learning. 25:57.200 --> 26:04.200 If you're still engaged in the dialogue, if you're still engaged in the process, we're all still learning. 26:04.200 --> 26:08.200 We are, in fact, a community of learning. 26:08.200 --> 26:17.200 Teaching has to do more with, not so much dishing stuff out, but a collaboration in learning. 26:17.200 --> 26:19.200 Learning is not the product of teaching. 26:19.200 --> 26:22.200 Learning is the product of the activity of learners. 26:22.200 --> 26:25.200 And that's what we need to become. 26:25.200 --> 26:27.200 You can learn from anybody. 26:27.200 --> 26:29.200 You can learn from anything. 26:29.200 --> 26:35.200 What you can't do, usually, is learn when you're flapping your mouth. 26:35.200 --> 26:38.200 You know, now I should probably just shut up right here. 26:38.200 --> 26:40.200 Because that's what I'm doing. 26:40.200 --> 26:46.200 But, you know, that's a part of the process of developing this collaboration. 26:46.200 --> 26:49.200 And that's really what I'm pitching. 26:49.200 --> 26:58.760 And rock and roll, well where does that fit in? 26:58.760 --> 27:06.760 Well, I think some of the people that were having their ecstatic experience understand that. 27:06.760 --> 27:08.760 But look at it in terms of biology. 27:08.760 --> 27:09.760 What is biology? 27:09.760 --> 27:10.760 What are these systems? 27:10.760 --> 27:14.760 They're not simply, I mean, I'm a bag of protoplasm. 27:14.760 --> 27:15.760 True. 27:15.760 --> 27:16.760 Right. 27:16.760 --> 27:18.760 And some people would say I'm a bag of something else. 27:18.760 --> 27:25.760 But anyway, the thing is, rock and roll, what is it about? 27:25.760 --> 27:27.760 It's about rhythm. 27:27.760 --> 27:29.760 It's about oscillation. 27:29.760 --> 27:31.760 That's what biological systems do. 27:31.760 --> 27:33.760 They're not static systems. 27:33.760 --> 27:36.760 They're things that exist in time. 27:36.760 --> 27:39.760 You know, they're very much like a song or a piece of music. 27:39.760 --> 27:45.760 A song on a DVD or written down on a piece of paper is a static thing. 27:45.760 --> 27:50.760 It's only when it's expressed through time in a dynamic way that it comes alive. 27:50.760 --> 27:52.760 Well, same with biological systems. 27:52.760 --> 27:56.760 When that rhythm stops, when the oscillation and the cycles, 27:56.760 --> 28:02.760 the keep things going stop, it becomes not very interesting. 28:02.760 --> 28:05.760 In fact, it becomes dead. 28:05.760 --> 28:09.760 That is the difference between something alive and something dead. 28:09.760 --> 28:13.760 So sex, drugs, and rock and roll, I'm all for it. 28:13.760 --> 28:18.760 This is what life is in some very profound way. 28:18.760 --> 28:21.760 The death culture says life is suffering. 28:21.760 --> 28:25.760 That somehow if we enjoy this biological state 28:25.760 --> 28:29.760 that we find ourselves in, we should be ashamed of that. 28:29.760 --> 28:32.760 And the life culture affirms, no, life is joy. 28:32.760 --> 28:34.760 Life should be joy. 28:34.760 --> 28:36.760 It should be ecstasy. 28:36.760 --> 28:45.530 So I guess we've framed sort of the two arguments, 28:45.530 --> 28:48.530 although the argument on the other side, 28:48.530 --> 28:52.530 on the side of the death culture, is pretty dreary. 28:52.530 --> 28:54.530 There really is no argument. 28:54.530 --> 28:56.530 You know, when you look at it that way, 28:56.530 --> 28:58.530 I'm sure my argument, my presentation, 28:58.530 --> 29:00.530 is so persuasive that, you know, 29:00.530 --> 29:03.530 we all want to be on the side of the life culture, right? 29:03.530 --> 29:06.530 So how can we defeat the death culture? 29:06.530 --> 29:12.530 How can we defeat this mindset that has poisoned the conversation, 29:12.530 --> 29:15.530 this mindset that is somehow, you know, 29:15.530 --> 29:18.530 with the help of the church, corporations, 29:18.530 --> 29:21.530 other instruments of power, 29:21.530 --> 29:26.530 has infused the Western consciousness? 29:26.530 --> 29:28.530 Well, I have some suggestions. 29:28.530 --> 29:34.810 One of them is reject faith. 29:34.810 --> 29:36.810 Insist on evidence. 29:36.810 --> 29:40.810 Why should you believe something for which there's no evidence? 29:40.810 --> 29:45.810 We're told, you know, you must have faith, my son. 29:45.810 --> 29:48.810 Well, yeah, I mean, I have faith, all right. 29:48.810 --> 29:50.810 I have faith that everything you've been telling us 29:50.810 --> 29:53.810 for the last 2,500 years or so is a lie, 29:53.810 --> 29:56.810 and I have faith that you will continue to lie into the future. 29:56.810 --> 29:58.810 So that's my faith. 29:59.810 --> 30:04.810 And it actually happens to be backed up with considerable evidence. 30:04.810 --> 30:09.810 So, you know, we must make a distinction between faith and belief. 30:09.810 --> 30:11.810 Belief is fine. 30:11.810 --> 30:13.810 You can have belief, 30:13.810 --> 30:18.810 but you can also have a lot of evidence to support your beliefs, 30:18.810 --> 30:20.810 and that's the difference. 30:20.810 --> 30:22.810 Faith has no evidence. 30:22.810 --> 30:25.810 Faith is being asked to believe something without evidence 30:25.810 --> 30:28.810 because we want you to. 30:28.810 --> 30:30.810 Think. 30:30.810 --> 30:31.810 This is another thing. 30:31.810 --> 30:35.810 You know, the reason that we have this hypertrophied brain, 30:35.810 --> 30:39.810 whether it was given to us by God or by Darwin, 30:39.810 --> 30:41.810 was so we can use it. 30:41.810 --> 30:44.810 You know, our job is to use it. 30:44.810 --> 30:45.810 You know, we have a brain. 30:45.810 --> 30:47.810 We may as well use it. 30:47.810 --> 30:54.810 It's important also to note opinions and beliefs do not equal facts. 30:54.810 --> 30:57.810 Sometimes they can be congruent with the facts, 30:57.810 --> 30:59.810 sometimes not. 30:59.810 --> 31:01.810 There can be some degree of overlap or not. 31:01.810 --> 31:04.810 But opinions are not facts. 31:04.810 --> 31:09.150 Rely on reason. 31:09.150 --> 31:11.150 What's wrong with reason? 31:11.150 --> 31:15.150 You know, I mean, why should I have to get up here and promote reason? 31:15.150 --> 31:16.150 Why? 31:16.150 --> 31:19.150 I mean, we're a psychedelic culture. 31:19.150 --> 31:21.150 We're the counterculture. 31:21.150 --> 31:23.150 You know, we're the ones that people say, 31:23.150 --> 31:27.150 well, you know, they're just wackos and, you know, they have no... 31:27.150 --> 31:29.150 And yet we're the ones that have to say, 31:29.150 --> 31:35.150 we're the ones that have to stand up and demand that reason be part of the conversation. 31:35.150 --> 31:39.150 It doesn't make any sense. 31:39.150 --> 31:42.150 The other thing is, the other side of this coin, 31:42.150 --> 31:45.150 know how little you know. 31:45.150 --> 31:50.150 You know, there is, I mean, there, you know, I'm a scientist. 31:50.150 --> 31:53.150 I'm all for science, you know. 31:53.150 --> 31:57.150 But science commits the sin, if that's what you want to call it, 31:57.150 --> 31:59.150 of being sometimes a little arrogant. 31:59.150 --> 32:01.150 A little too arrogant. 32:01.150 --> 32:04.150 Assuming that it knows more than it does. 32:04.150 --> 32:08.150 Science only understands a tiny slice of reality. 32:08.150 --> 32:13.150 And by the nature of the scientific enterprise, that's fine. 32:13.150 --> 32:14.150 That's what it does. 32:14.150 --> 32:17.150 It focuses on something very small, 32:17.150 --> 32:20.150 a very tiny slice of the whole picture, 32:20.150 --> 32:22.150 and it studies it in great detail. 32:22.150 --> 32:24.150 And that's wonderful. 32:24.150 --> 32:28.150 But it should beware and actually, you know, 32:28.150 --> 32:34.150 other endeavors like it should beware of assuming that we know more than we don't. 32:34.150 --> 32:39.420 Because in fact, we don't know shit. 32:39.420 --> 32:41.420 And share what you do know. 32:41.420 --> 32:43.420 That's the other thing. 32:43.420 --> 32:47.420 I mean, the way that we change the deaf culture is to share information. 32:47.420 --> 32:54.420 You know, to teach others to have real conversations that are not simply slogans. 32:54.420 --> 33:00.080 To think and share our thoughts. 33:00.080 --> 33:02.080 To distrust the media. 33:02.080 --> 33:05.080 I don't think I really have to say any more. 33:05.080 --> 33:10.080 I mean, you know, the media is a tremendously powerful medium, 33:10.080 --> 33:12.080 being what it is. 33:12.080 --> 33:17.080 And in the current cultural context, one of the most poisonous tools 33:17.080 --> 33:20.080 that the deaf culture has to wield against us. 33:20.080 --> 33:24.080 Now, we're in the process of developing weapons that will fight this, 33:24.080 --> 33:27.080 or tools that can be used to counter it. 33:27.080 --> 33:29.080 Which is why things like the internet 33:29.080 --> 33:32.080 are so optimistic and hopeful. 33:32.080 --> 33:36.080 Because those are things that individuals can wield 33:36.080 --> 33:40.080 to counter the mass poisoning of consciousness 33:40.080 --> 33:44.080 that the corporate media wants to propagate. 33:44.080 --> 33:46.080 Don't follow. 33:46.080 --> 33:49.080 This goes back to think for yourself. 33:49.080 --> 33:53.080 And in our culture, and in a sense, really in all cultures, 33:53.080 --> 33:55.080 especially in the deaf culture, 33:55.080 --> 33:57.080 there is a tendency to follow. 33:57.080 --> 33:59.080 You know, we want to... 33:59.080 --> 34:02.080 find a leader, find a wise person, 34:02.080 --> 34:04.080 a guru, a shaman, 34:04.080 --> 34:06.080 you know, a messiah or whatever, 34:06.080 --> 34:09.080 and sit at their feet and follow. 34:09.080 --> 34:12.080 This is exactly what they've been wanting you to do. 34:12.080 --> 34:14.080 You know, and this is fine. 34:14.080 --> 34:16.080 It's not that you can't be wise. 34:16.080 --> 34:19.080 And it's not that you can't follow. 34:19.080 --> 34:21.080 But don't follow mindlessly. 34:21.080 --> 34:23.080 That's the thing. 34:23.080 --> 34:26.080 Demand evidence. 34:26.080 --> 34:28.080 And finally, spread heresy. 34:29.080 --> 34:32.080 You know, spread these ideas. 34:32.080 --> 34:35.080 You know, so let's talk a little bit 34:35.080 --> 34:37.080 about each of these things. 34:37.080 --> 34:39.080 Faith. 34:39.080 --> 34:43.080 Faith has been called the enemy of reason. 34:43.080 --> 34:47.080 Faith is essentially belief without evidence. 34:47.080 --> 34:49.080 Thomas Huxley said, 34:49.080 --> 34:51.080 the deepest sin against the human mind 34:51.080 --> 34:54.080 is to believe things without evidence. 34:54.080 --> 34:57.080 And this is essentially what faith is. 34:57.080 --> 34:58.080 Who needs it? 35:01.580 --> 35:03.580 Sam Harris, who wrote an interesting book 35:03.580 --> 35:05.580 called The End of Faith, 35:05.580 --> 35:09.580 noted that the only angels we need invoke 35:09.580 --> 35:11.580 are those of our baser nature. 35:11.580 --> 35:14.580 Reason, honesty, and love. 35:14.580 --> 35:16.580 The only demons we must fear 35:16.580 --> 35:19.580 are those that lurk inside every human mind. 35:19.580 --> 35:24.580 Ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith. 35:24.580 --> 35:28.580 Which is surely the devil's masterpiece. 35:28.580 --> 35:31.580 Kind of an odd statement. 35:31.580 --> 35:34.580 And this fellow, H.L. Menick, has said, 35:34.580 --> 35:38.580 faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief 35:38.580 --> 35:41.580 in the occurrence of the improbable. 35:41.580 --> 35:46.580 So, I call on you to reject faith. 35:46.580 --> 35:49.580 Which is not the same as rejecting belief. 35:49.580 --> 35:54.580 Embrace belief if you can find the evidence for it. 35:54.580 --> 35:57.580 If you can back up your belief with evidence, then fine. 35:57.580 --> 36:00.580 And nothing is ever ultimately proven or disproven. 36:00.580 --> 36:06.580 I mean, if you know science, you know that this is true. 36:06.580 --> 36:17.160 The other thing, think. 36:17.160 --> 36:21.160 You know, that's why God gave you this hand. 36:21.160 --> 36:23.160 So that you could think. 36:23.160 --> 36:27.160 And I would go beyond that and say, think critically. 36:27.160 --> 36:29.160 You know, question what you're told. 36:29.160 --> 36:32.160 Question what you see in the media. 36:32.160 --> 36:33.160 Question everything. 36:33.160 --> 36:35.160 Including this. 36:35.160 --> 36:37.160 I mean, I don't say, 36:37.160 --> 36:40.160 I'm just here to articulate an idea. 36:40.160 --> 36:42.160 I don't want to be followed. 36:42.160 --> 36:43.160 Don't follow me. 36:43.160 --> 36:44.160 Don't follow anyone. 36:44.160 --> 36:45.160 Believe in yourself. 36:45.160 --> 36:49.160 If you have to have faith, have faith in yourself. 36:49.160 --> 36:55.310 This is a statement about fundamentalism. 36:55.310 --> 37:00.310 Which I think is a poison that has permeated culture 37:00.310 --> 37:02.310 and not simply Christian culture. 37:02.310 --> 37:07.310 We find it in many other religious traditions 37:07.310 --> 37:08.310 and even non-religious. 37:08.310 --> 37:10.310 Non-religious belief systems. 37:10.310 --> 37:14.310 But fundamentalism, the idea of fundamental belief system 37:14.310 --> 37:17.310 is that one purports to have all the answers. 37:17.310 --> 37:20.310 It also claims to be the only way. 37:20.310 --> 37:25.310 All deviations from the fundamentalist dogma lead to hell. 37:25.310 --> 37:30.310 It follows then that parents who believe this would be this 37:30.310 --> 37:33.310 would be very concerned about what their children believe. 37:33.310 --> 37:37.310 Any alternative ways of thinking about major life questions 37:37.310 --> 37:39.310 would be highly threatening. 37:39.310 --> 37:45.880 Consequently, the fundamentalist household rarely encourages children 37:45.880 --> 37:47.880 to explore their own thoughts. 37:47.880 --> 37:49.880 To be open-minded about ideas. 37:49.880 --> 37:52.880 Or to come to their own conclusions. 37:52.880 --> 37:56.880 In fact, fundamentalist parents are typically vocal 37:56.880 --> 38:00.880 in their opposition to the teaching of critical thinking skills 38:00.880 --> 38:03.880 or values clarification in schools. 38:03.880 --> 38:08.880 So, we need to lose fundamentalism. 38:08.880 --> 38:14.880 Fundamentalism means that there is a rigid set of beliefs 38:14.880 --> 38:17.880 and no deviation is allowed. 38:17.880 --> 38:21.880 It's not useful for clarity. 38:21.880 --> 38:24.880 It doesn't really help us understand. 38:24.880 --> 38:26.880 And we need to understand. 38:26.880 --> 38:29.880 Another aspect of this is you're entitled to your opinion 38:29.880 --> 38:34.960 but not to your own facts. 38:34.960 --> 38:36.960 Here's an interesting statement. 38:36.960 --> 38:38.960 We're an empire now. 38:38.960 --> 38:40.960 This is probably Karl Rove. 38:40.960 --> 38:43.960 It's put as a senior Bush aide 38:43.960 --> 38:45.960 but it was probably Karl Rove. 38:45.960 --> 38:47.960 We're an empire now and when we act 38:47.960 --> 38:49.960 we create our own reality. 38:49.960 --> 38:51.960 And while you're studying that reality 38:51.960 --> 38:53.960 we'll act again. 38:53.960 --> 38:55.960 Creating other new realities 38:55.960 --> 38:57.960 which you can study too. 38:57.960 --> 38:59.960 And that's how things will sort out. 38:59.960 --> 39:01.960 We're history's actors. 39:01.960 --> 39:05.960 And you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do. 39:05.960 --> 39:07.960 So, yeah. 39:07.960 --> 39:09.960 Well, we've seen the consequences 39:09.960 --> 39:12.960 of what happens when an entire administration 39:12.960 --> 39:17.960 decides that they create their own reality. 39:17.960 --> 39:18.960 Yeah. 39:18.960 --> 39:20.960 They haven't been in the reality-based community 39:20.960 --> 39:22.960 for far too long. 39:22.960 --> 39:24.960 And the real reality, the real reality 39:24.960 --> 39:26.960 has a way of sort of, you know, 39:26.960 --> 39:28.960 interfering with that agenda 39:28.960 --> 39:31.960 as we've seen as the wheels have come off. 39:31.960 --> 39:32.960 You know. 39:32.960 --> 39:35.960 So, not so good. 39:35.960 --> 39:38.960 The fact that an opinion has been widely held 39:38.960 --> 39:40.960 is no evidence whatever 39:40.960 --> 39:42.960 that it is not utterly absurd. 39:42.960 --> 39:44.960 Indeed, in view of the silliness 39:44.960 --> 39:46.960 of the majority of mankind 39:46.960 --> 39:48.960 widespread belief is more likely 39:48.960 --> 39:50.960 to be foolish than sensible. 39:50.960 --> 39:52.960 So this is something 39:52.960 --> 39:54.960 that's worth keeping in mind. 39:54.960 --> 39:56.960 What about reason? 39:56.960 --> 40:00.960 He that will not reason is a bigot. 40:00.960 --> 40:02.960 He that cannot reason is a fool. 40:02.960 --> 40:06.960 And he that dares not reason is a slave. 40:06.960 --> 40:08.960 Reason 40:08.960 --> 40:11.960 is one of the things that this thinking mind can do. 40:11.960 --> 40:13.960 We should demand reason. 40:13.960 --> 40:16.960 We should demand that reason once again 40:16.960 --> 40:18.960 become part of the political dialogue 40:18.960 --> 40:20.960 and the cultural dialogue 40:20.960 --> 40:22.960 on the part of our leaders 40:22.960 --> 40:24.960 and the meme generators 40:24.960 --> 40:29.960 that run the cultural conversation. 40:29.960 --> 40:34.200 Yes, sir? 40:34.200 --> 40:41.420 That's not a good one. 40:41.420 --> 40:43.420 Yeah, probably. 40:43.420 --> 40:46.420 There probably is a paradigm beyond reason. 40:46.420 --> 40:48.420 But I'm not saying that reason 40:48.420 --> 40:50.420 I mean, this goes back to what I said 40:50.420 --> 40:52.420 about know how little you know. 40:52.420 --> 40:54.420 You know, I'm not saying that 40:54.420 --> 40:56.420 there are not other ways of knowing 40:56.420 --> 41:01.420 that are not necessarily logical or reasonable. 41:01.420 --> 41:06.420 But I think reason is a good place to start from. 41:06.420 --> 41:09.420 You know, particularly when you're having these conversations. 41:09.420 --> 41:12.420 In other words, you know, what is the opposite of reason? 41:12.420 --> 41:15.420 You know, the opposite of reason is unreason. 41:15.420 --> 41:20.420 And reason leads to good judgment. 41:20.420 --> 41:26.420 I don't think any society has ever managed to destroy itself 41:26.420 --> 41:33.500 because of a spontaneous outbreak of reason. 41:33.500 --> 41:35.500 But many societies have destroyed themselves 41:35.500 --> 41:38.500 with spontaneous outbreaks of unreason. 41:38.500 --> 41:41.500 And this is what we see. 41:41.500 --> 41:43.500 So Richard Dawkins, 41:43.500 --> 41:46.500 who I agree with about some things but not others, 41:46.500 --> 41:47.500 has said, 41:47.500 --> 41:50.500 Reason built the modern world. 41:50.500 --> 41:52.500 It is a precious but a fragile thing 41:52.500 --> 41:58.500 which can be corroded by apparently harmless irrationality. 41:58.500 --> 42:03.500 We must favor verifiable evidence over private feeling. 42:03.500 --> 42:05.500 Otherwise, we leave ourselves vulnerable 42:05.500 --> 42:09.500 to those who would obscure the truth. 42:09.500 --> 42:12.500 Again, I'm just putting these ideas out 42:12.500 --> 42:14.500 for you to mull over, 42:14.500 --> 42:17.500 and hopefully we'll have a little time to talk about it. 42:17.500 --> 42:19.500 The other thing that's very important 42:19.500 --> 42:22.500 is to recognize the limitations of our knowledge, 42:22.500 --> 42:25.500 which goes to what this gentleman over here said. 42:25.500 --> 42:28.500 We must never assume that we have it figured out, 42:28.500 --> 42:31.500 because we do not have it figured out. 42:31.500 --> 42:34.500 This is a famous statement of Don Rumsfeld, 42:34.500 --> 42:38.500 who said a lot of stupid things in his day. 42:38.500 --> 42:40.500 But actually, I kind of like this. 42:40.500 --> 42:42.500 This is kind of a Zen lesson. 42:42.500 --> 42:44.500 Like Cohen, he said, 42:44.500 --> 42:47.500 As we know, there are known knowns. 42:47.500 --> 42:49.500 There are things we know we know. 42:49.500 --> 42:52.500 We also know there are known unknowns. 42:52.500 --> 42:53.500 That is to say, 42:53.500 --> 42:56.500 we know there are some things we do not know. 42:56.500 --> 42:58.500 But there are also unknown unknowns, 42:58.500 --> 43:03.500 the ones that we do not know we do not know. 43:03.500 --> 43:09.500 I mean, a profound statement from a major jerk. 43:09.500 --> 43:11.500 Occasionally, they get it right. 43:11.500 --> 43:14.500 He didn't know, of course, what he was saying. 43:14.500 --> 43:17.500 A man who knows how little he knows is well. 43:17.500 --> 43:21.500 A man who knows how much he knows is sick. 43:21.500 --> 43:23.500 So that's the thing. 43:23.500 --> 43:27.500 And I think I would say to the scientists out there especially, 43:27.500 --> 43:30.500 we don't have it nailed down. 43:30.500 --> 43:33.500 The expanse of our ignorance 43:33.500 --> 43:36.500 is always going to greatly outpace 43:36.500 --> 43:40.500 the tiny sphere of what we think we understand. 43:40.500 --> 43:42.500 And as new paradigms emerge, 43:42.500 --> 43:47.500 that tiny sphere may be turned topsy-turvy very quickly. 43:47.500 --> 43:49.500 The other thing is, 43:49.500 --> 43:51.500 the little that we do know or that we think we know, 43:51.500 --> 43:53.500 we should share. 43:53.500 --> 43:56.500 We should share with our brothers and sisters. 43:56.500 --> 43:59.500 And that involves three things at least. 43:59.500 --> 44:01.500 One is to listen. 44:01.500 --> 44:05.500 You have to listen in order to learn. 44:05.500 --> 44:07.500 You know, if you're... 44:07.500 --> 44:09.500 And that's the other part. 44:09.500 --> 44:10.500 To learn. 44:10.500 --> 44:14.500 Learning is a process. 44:14.500 --> 44:16.500 We're all still learning. 44:16.500 --> 44:19.500 Michelangelo said, I am still learning. 44:19.500 --> 44:23.500 If you're still engaged in the dialogue, 44:23.500 --> 44:25.500 if you're still engaged in the process, 44:25.500 --> 44:27.500 we're all still learning. 44:27.500 --> 44:30.500 We are, in fact, a community of learning. 44:30.500 --> 44:33.500 Teaching has to do more with 44:33.500 --> 44:36.500 not so much dishing stuff out, 44:36.500 --> 44:39.500 but a collaboration in learning. 44:39.500 --> 44:42.500 Learning is not the product of teaching. 44:42.500 --> 44:45.500 Learning is the product of the activity of learners. 44:45.500 --> 44:48.500 And that's what we need to become. 44:48.500 --> 44:50.500 You can learn from anybody. 44:50.500 --> 44:52.500 You can learn from anything. 44:52.500 --> 44:54.500 What you can't do, usually, 44:54.500 --> 44:57.500 is learn when you're flapping your mouth. 44:57.500 --> 45:01.500 You know, now I should probably just shut up right here. 45:01.500 --> 45:03.500 Because that's what I'm doing. 45:03.500 --> 45:06.500 But, you know, that's a part of the process 45:06.500 --> 45:09.500 of developing this collaboration. 45:09.500 --> 45:12.500 And that's really what I'm pitching. 45:12.500 --> 45:21.230 The other thing is distrust the media. 45:21.230 --> 45:24.230 I don't think we have to belabor this too much. 45:24.230 --> 45:27.230 Whoever controls the media controls the mind.