New Show: MindMatters (RIP Truth Perspective)

A good one! It was a pleasure to listen to a sane voice and a brave person.

Long ago, in his "Twilight of the Idols" Nietzsche wrote:

“The liberal institutions cease to be liberal as soon as they are attained: later on, there are no worse and no more thorough injurers of freedom than liberal institutions. One knows, indeed, what their ways bring: they undermine the will to power; they level mountain and valley, and call that morality; they make men small, cowardly, and hedonistic - every time it is the herd animal that triumphs with them. Liberalism: in other words, herd-animalization.”

As for the whole 'equality' absurd, it also brings to mind a short story titled "Harrison Bergeron" written by Kurt Vonnegut (how did he know?!):

Also published in 1961 was Vonnegut's short story, "Harrison Bergeron", set in a dystopic future where all are equal, even if that means disfiguring beautiful people and forcing the strong or intelligent to wear devices that negate their advantages. Fourteen-year-old Harrison is a genius and athlete forced to wear record-level "handicaps" and imprisoned for attempting to overthrow the government.

We are heading there, one way or another unless the tide changes. It's about 15 minutes long reading. There are several audiobook videos on YT, Jordan Peterson's reading included. Well worth the time! Here is one:


There is also a pretty good movie "Harrison Bergeron", 1995, based on the short story (expanding and changing it a bit), directed by Bruce Pittman, and a short (literal) adaptation called "2081" by Chandler Tuttle. Watched both on YT and liked both.
 
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Kudos Harrison, Adam, and Elan. Today's MindMatters with sister Juliana (aka Chu), The Wonders and Mysteries of Language, was a literal delight, to say the least. I have been following her thread Language, Sounds and Intelligent Design, and it is an incredibly fascinating topic. Your conversation with sister Chu brought out why, in fact, it is so fascinating. I would encourage everyone not to miss this podcast. And as for her thread please, start at the top of the thread, and read through all of the replies. Sister Chu's knowledge and comprehension is indeed, a rewarding and enriching learning experience.
 
Thank you Harrison, Elan, Adam and Chu for a great MindMatters episode. Will certainly watch it again since to be honest I didn't catch all the interesting stuff that Chu talked about during the show.

During the show Chu talked about the issue the foreigners are facing in learning to speak the local language without the accent of their native language and how sometimes when one is tired finds difficult to concentrate and speak in the local language. I've experienced it myself.

I've moved to Italy some time ago, for about 4-5 years while living here I really struggled to learn to speak a coherent and understandable Italian, oftentimes I'd use the wrong conjugation of verbs, when tired I'd slip a few words in my native language. :lol:

I remember that at the time I was learning the italian I was able to speak and read more easily and smoothly in English, a fact I've amusingand frustratingat the same time. What helped me a lot in learning to speak the italian and the english language as well was reading and writing on a daily basis. Still it was a wonderful experience learning the italian, well worth the efforts and hardships.

I guess that it depends on one's brain wiring so to speak regarding the ability to learn and speak a new language.

Thank you once again for a great show.
 
This recent discussion with Chu on language was just great. I was a little surprised to note how long the show clocked in for (over 1 hour an 40 minutes) because it went by Sooo quickly - which goes to show how immersed in the subject matter we all became. Enjoy!

MindMatters: Meaning All the Way Down: The Wonders and Mysteries of Language with Juliana Barembuem


Language. We use it to speak, obtain information and enrich our minds. We're immersed in it every day and would find it nearly impossible to communicate and exist in the ways that we're used to without it. And yet the use of language - and all its varied and nuanced components - are very largely taken for granted by us until we take a step or two back to think about how language works, how incredibly complex it is, what many languages have in common, what makes language successful (or not), and what some research into the origins of language suggest about how little we truly know about them.

This week on MindMatters we are joined by Juliana Barembuem of Language with Chu, a polyglot and long-time student of language, who presents a number of 'outside of the box' perspectives on language; what do languages have in common with discoveries in biology? Is language a feature of intelligent design? How is the use of language abused and in service of ideas that actually confuse and misinform - to name just a few. One thing to realize is that the deeper we get into this discussion the more we see that these lines of inquiry are really just the beginning of this conversation.

 
That was a wonderful show, such an engaging subject that is somewhat taken for granted, which the show greatly expanded upon into many areas of thought.
I was a little surprised to note how long the show clocked in for (over 1 hour an 40 minutes) because it went by Sooo quickly - which goes to show how immersed in the subject matter we all became. Enjoy!
Indeed that was so.

No pressure, however Chu, if you were so inclined to ever decide to write a book on language, I would sign up early for a copy.

More local to me, is the language of the native American Kutenai (said to be a language isolate - foreign to other tribes), perhaps rather like the Basque in that it roots don't seem to spread, yet as was said of the Basque in the show, there seem to be some crossover.

Like other languages in the area, Kutenai has a rich inventory of consonants and a small inventory of vowels, though there are allophones of the three basic phonemic vowels. The lack of a phonemic distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants is much as in other languages of the area.[7] Because Kutenai is on the periphery of this linguistic area, the loss of a rich lateral inventory is consistent with other nearby languages, which now have only one or two lateral consonants. One such language group contains the Sahaptian languages, which have had a similar loss of laterals. Nez Perce has /ts/, believed to be the lateral affricate in the proto-language. Nez Perce, like Kutenai, lies in the eastern periphery of the Northwest Linguistic area.[7]
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It was fun to be there, and the guys were good to me and didn't ask super hard questions.:flowers:

More local to me, is the language of the native American Kutenai (said to be a language isolate - foreign to other tribes), perhaps rather like the Basque in that it roots don't seem to spread, yet as was said of the Basque in the show, there seem to be some crossover.

Very interesting, thank you! I will look more into it. That's one of the things that always look very puzzling to me: how some Amerindian languages have common traits with Basque, for example. And how these "isolates" in general are not that different in the end.

As for writing, I'm working on it, but I need to gather a lot more knowledge first, and publish small articles to practice. I was never much of a writer, so it's doesn't come as easily as languages to me.:-[
 
I really enjoyed this show, very interesting indeed! I'm not a polyglot but I do have a talent for mimicry, I can do loads of accents, always had fun in imitation. Goes back to my school days playing the clown, lol. The part where you discussed authenticity was of personal interest. I actually have two main accents in my mind, one Welsh, one English. The pronunciations vary, particularly with vowel sounds. It used to bug me, but it was with relief when I reached a point when I stopped worrying about it. The brain is the interface, and what you input will yield results.

I've subbed to your channel Chu, and will dig into the vids you've posted, thanks for sharing your work in this field.:-)
 
Very fascinating podcast!

While listening, I remembered a thing about accents and singing.

For example, when songs are sung in English, often the person who sings "loses their accent". Whether they have a Scottish, Irish, US, etc. background, the output is pretty much "accentless". When you then hear the singer speak normally, the accent flourishes.
 
Its been quite interesting to get the observations and perspectives of individuals who see the growing totalitarianism all around us; the forms it takes, how and where it manifests, and so on. This latest interview was no different:

MindMatters: The Rise of Homo Americanus with Zbigniew Janowski


Was the fall of Soviet communism 30 years ago a liberation, or just the replacement of one totalitarian ideology with another? Today on MindMatters we interview Polish philosopher Zbigniew Janowski about his recent book, Homo Americanus: The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy in America. In a quest to understand current trends in American society and politics, Professor Janowski revisited the classics: Dostoevsky, Zamyatin, Orwell, and especially Huxley. His collection of meditations on the totalitarianism metastasizing in the West today rums the gamut from ideology and politics to psychology and technology. Join us as we discuss Zbigniew's book, his experiences in Poland, the U.S., and Canada, teaching, and thorny topics like equality, hierarchy, and perhaps the most controversial of all of them: gendered language!


 
Hmm... It's always nice to meet someone who can see through at least a portion of what's really going on, can find words for it and courage to take a stand - so kudos in this respect. But he is wrong on several things, IMO.

A bit off topic but not much, I hope. I happened to read some old writings now and then over this last year and it's a valuable experience as it has helped me to have a bit of a distance to our daily horrors and see it as part of one of many cycles well known to history. By no means I can say I know much, but even from the little I've come across it seems that there is "nihil novi sub sole" - fortunately or not.

One example: The Peloponnesian War and Thucydides' History of. What gems one can find there! Just a few quotes:

Ch. I:
The Peloponnesian War was prolonged to an immense length, and, long as it was, it was short without parallel for the misfortunes that it brought upon Hellas. Never had so many cities been taken and laid desolate, here by the barbarians, here by the parties contending (the old inhabitants being sometimes removed to make room for others); never was there so much banishing and blood-shedding, now on the field of battle, now in the strife of faction.

All this came upon them with the late war, which was begun by the Athenians and Peloponnesians by the dissolution of the thirty years’ truce made after the conquest of Euboea. To the question why they broke the treaty, I answer by placing first an account of their grounds of complaint and points of difference, that no one may ever have to ask the immediate cause which plunged the Hellenes into a war of such magnitude. The real cause I consider to be the one which was formally most kept out of sight. The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon, made war inevitable. Still it is well to give the grounds alleged by either side which led to the dissolution of the treaty and the breaking out of the war.

Ch. X:

And, during the seven days which Eurymedon after his arrival remained with his sixty ships, the Corcyraeans continued slaughtering those of their fellow-citizens whom they deemed their enemies; they professed to punish them for their designs against the democracy, but in fact some were killed from motives of personal enmity, and some because money was owing to them, by the hands of their debtors. Every form of death was to be seen; and everything, and more than everything, that commonly happens in revolutions, happened then. ... To such extremes of cruelty did revolution go; and this seemed to be the worst of revolutions, because it was the first.

For not long afterwards nearly the whole Hellenic world was in commotion; in every city the chiefs of the democracy and of the oligarchy were struggling, the one to bring in the Athenians, the other the Lacedaemonians. Now in time of peace, men would have had no excuse for introducing either, and no desire to do so; but, when they were at war, the introduction of a foreign alliance on one side or the other to the hurt of their enemies and the advantage of themselves was easily effected by the dissatisfied party.

And revolution brought upon the cities of Hellas many terrible calamities, such as have been and always will be while human nature remains the same, but which are more or less aggravated and differ in character with every new combination of circumstances. In peace and prosperity both states and individuals are actuated by higher motives, because they do not fall under the dominion of imperious necessities; but war, which takes away the comfortable provision of daily life, is a hard master and tends to assimilate men's characters to their conditions.

When troubles had once begun in the cities, those who followed carried the revolutionary spirit further and further, and determined to outdo the report of all who had preceded them by the ingenuity of their enterprises and the atrocity of their revenges. The meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things, but was changed by them as they thought proper. Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward; moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness; to know everything was to do nothing. Frantic energy was the true quality of a man. A conspirator who wanted to be safe was a recreant in disguise. The lover of violence was always trusted, and his opponent suspected.

The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood, because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why. (For party associations are not based upon any established law, nor do they seek the public good; they are formed in defiance of the laws and from self-interest.) ... Revenge was dearer than self-preservation.

The cause of all these evils was the love of power, originating in avarice and ambition, and the party-spirit which is engendered by them when men are fairly embarked in a contest. For the leaders on either side used specious names, the one party professing to uphold the constitutional equality of the many, the other the wisdom of an aristocracy, while they made the public interests, to which in name they were devoted, in reality their prize. ... And the citizens who were of neither party fell a prey to both; either they were disliked because they held aloof, or men were jealous of their surviving.


Then there is Bertrand Russell. :)

(1952)

"It's very difficult for anybody born since 1914 to realize how profoundly different the world is now from what it was when I was a child. The change has been almost unbelievable. I try as best as I can, in spite of my years, to get used to living in a world of atom bombs. A world where ancient empires vanish like morning mist, where we have to accustom ourselves to Asiatic self-procession, the Communist menace.

The world is altogether so different from what it was when I was young that it's extraordinarily difficult thing for an old man to live in such a world. I was born in 1872 and the world was a solid world. A world where all kinds of things that have now disappeared were thought to going to last forever. It didn't dawn on people that they would cease."

So I'm thinking about the change atom bombs made to the world and the one we are witnessing these days: PC, gender madness, tribalism / crowd thinking (read some old good Everett Dean Martin on behavior of crowds - it's SJWs to a tee!), etc., even vaxxocracy, and I think that all that can go away sooner or later, if not entirely than just becoming marginal. But nothing is going to remove the atom bombs from this reality - that was the change. So maybe what's going on now is not that hopeless as we tend to fear.

Listen to Lord Russell. He talks about education, limits to freedom, necessity of exact thinking so to be less prone to self-deception, about Marx, and psychology (something for the show guest to consider ;)), especially mass psychology. And there is a beautiful message at the end.


 
One example: The Peloponnesian War and Thucydides' History of. What gems one can find there! Just a few quotes:

A few years ago there were a few articles which speculated that there was a "Thucydides trap" brewing between China and the US. Apparently this book is actually taught quite a lot - and goes to show how insightful it is, among some - that writers would still be drawing upon it to help explain current events. Hmmm...
 
For the most recent MindMatters we interviewed the teacher, author and thinker Nicholas Capaldi who's astute observations about the current state of Western academia (among other things) give further confirmation of what we've been talking about for so long now. On a personal note, I had the pleasure of taking a couple of classes with him almost 30 years ago, so it was great to see him again and get to interview him.

MindMatters: How Did We Get Here? The Atrophy of Liberalism in the West, with Nicholas Capaldi


Today on MindMatters we interview renowned American philosopher Nicholas Capaldi, author of numerous books, including The Art of Deception and the definitive biography of John Stuart Mill. Recently retired, Professor Capaldi reflects on his experiences teaching, the increasingly oppressive climate in American universities, the political philosophy of Mill, and why things have gotten so crazy in the West. Erudite and engaging, Capaldi takes us deep into the American political psyche with the hope of finding a way out of the current crisis.

 
For the most recent MindMatters we interviewed the teacher, author and thinker Nicholas Capaldi who's astute observations about the current state of Western academia (among other things) give further confirmation of what we've been talking about for so long now. On a personal note, I had the pleasure of taking a couple of classes with him almost 30 years ago, so it was great to see him again and get to interview him.

MindMatters: How Did We Get Here? The Atrophy of Liberalism in the West, with Nicholas Capaldi




Excellent interviews guys, with both Nicholas Capaldi and Zbigniew Janowski Such a wealth of information and intellectual insight into the current malaise of the Western world. Very interesting that Nick considered book study groups, such as we're already doing, as a viable solution to the ham-handed control the corporate media and academia have on freedom of speech and the dissemination of ideas and open discourse
Keep 'em coming!
 
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