WEBVTT 1 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:16.719 The Age of. 2 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.960 I guess you didn't hear it, Aaron, but you're live. 3 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:31.320 Okay, No, I did not hear that, but okay, you 4 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:35.600 are listening to the Age of Transitions on you. Aaron 5 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:40.320 Franz coming at you live this Friday night night, Friday, 6 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:43.640 March twenty seventh, twenty twenty six, live every Friday night 7 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:48.679 from the facilities of ochilly dot com. Thank you for 8 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:50.799 being here. Do you consider going to ocelly dot com 9 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:54.039 to send a donation to help chuck in the network 10 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:56.560 would help a lot, so please go over to ochelly 11 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:01.880 dot com and do that. The Age of Transitions dot 12 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.280 com is my website. Lots of ways to support there. 13 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.200 We have my book, Revolve Man's at Scientific Rise to 14 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:11.760 Godhood paperback and EA book copies are available of that 15 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:18.000 at the Patreon campaign. I do post lots of special 16 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:21.359 livestream videos and other content there. So thank you everybody 17 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.000 on Patreon and have some of the affiliate links like 18 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.239 bookshop dot org link, the Lipsyn promo code fronds. All 19 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:31.079 that stuff helps when you use it. Thank you everybody 20 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.439 for all of your support and it's exciting to be here. 21 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.719 Thank you for returning once again. Was gone last week. 22 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.560 But I am back here and I'm happy to be back. 23 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:48.920 I just got back actually yesterday last night from a 24 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.599 trip to Yosemite, and that was good. It's good to 25 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:57.519 just get away and just go relax and get away 26 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:02.280 from everything, really clear the old head out and it 27 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:06.680 was good. It was a good camping trip. It was cool. 28 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.879 So now I'm back here and back on the old 29 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:15.199 stream and just doing what we always do here, trying 30 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.680 to make sense of the age of transitions, this weird 31 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:21.360 time that we live in, and making sense of this 32 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:26.199 digital mess that we find ourselves in, this ever changing 33 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:31.039 digital landscape that we're now in the thick of. I'm 34 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.080 live streaming right now. We're in it. We're doing this. 35 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:41.280 I'm going to try some different things here tonight. I'm 36 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:44.560 going to try with the visuals to switch things up. 37 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:49.719 There is a strange website called what is say this IMG? 38 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.479 Underscore zero zero zero one, and it's a website that 39 00:02:54.599 --> 00:03:01.199 has old iPhone videos that were uploaded directly to YouTube 40 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:04.280 and the I think they all have the file name 41 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:08.280 I AMG underscorees the reserve one or you know some 42 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:14.000 I am G underscore some number, because I guess iPhone 43 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:16.479 used to have this function where you could just publish 44 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:21.319 your videos directly to YouTube without doing any anything. So 45 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:31.759 just do that. I all love the videos up there, 46 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:34.759 most of them, like are the any views? Like the 47 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.719 most you'll see is like maybe undred something like that. 48 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:40.360 So what I'm gonna do is going to pull this 49 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.000 up and we're going to so here we go. Here's 50 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:50.080 a still from one. I'm just going to play these 51 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:56.199 videos here and so they'll just be going and I'll 52 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.439 just have that playing as I talk here. You know, 53 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.800 why not let's talk about the Internet and have some 54 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.280 weird visuals there for us too. Why not make sense 55 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:13.199 because I've been thinking about heck, even is a lot 56 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:18.519 and doing this show you kind of have to because 57 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.279 you know, Chuck and myself both have been doing this 58 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:26.759 for a long time, and we often talk about the 59 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:32.519 fact that the medium has changed and even the people 60 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:38.920 making media have changed, and just the everything about making 61 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.639 online media is different now because the technology has changed, primarily, 62 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.120 and yeah, it has so much to do with the 63 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:56.920 algorithms shaping how content is brought to us, but more 64 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:00.839 and more it's going into the know where the algorithm 65 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:06.240 is beginning to create the content as well, and it's 66 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:14.959 just the further moving further with the automation of everything, right, 67 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:21.480 everything being automated, there's no escape from it. So it's, uh, 68 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:29.439 it's crazy. It's crazy to think about. It has me 69 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:34.720 wondering like, what the heck is even going on. And 70 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:38.759 then also something that I've continually and this isn't new, 71 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:42.639 but something as the technology continues to get better, which 72 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.399 it does, there's ways to now with the way that 73 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:52.680 the that the if we're gonna use the silly term 74 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.560 that they like to use when the techno optimists talk 75 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.959 about this kind of thing as like a good thing, 76 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.279 is like, oh, look at how great technology is. The 77 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.839 way they would describe what I'm talking about is the 78 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:07.279 democratization of media, where now everybody can be a creator 79 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:15.199 because the price of the price of entry is so low. 80 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.839 Anybody can just make videos and post them. Anybody can 81 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.639 live stream, anybody can make content. Anybody can instantly be 82 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.000 a content creator. I mean, for all intents and purposes, everybody. 83 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.439 When we speak everybody, we don't mean everybody in the world. Right, 84 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:30.959 we're talking about the first world still and that we 85 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:34.720 have to remember that we easily forget. But let's still 86 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:41.480 just take that sort of thing, for granted, and the 87 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:49.240 democratization of media production. When we talk about that, it 88 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:54.920 is true that things are getting easier to do and 89 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.680 there's so many more re sources available that to me, 90 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:07.120 I continually get frustrated at the lack of creativity in media, 91 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:11.360 Like there's so many options for unique things to be done, 92 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:17.319 and yet it seems like the stuff, at least the 93 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:22.759 stuff that's most popular, is always going to be being 94 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:27.480 created out of some sort of formula for success. But 95 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.879 I mean, again, this is not even new when it 96 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.319 comes to media. This is what Hollywood has always done 97 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:35.920 and it's what is leading now actually ironically to their 98 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:38.399 downfall as far as I can tell, as far as 99 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:42.639 I'm concerned, the downfall of Hollywood is coming because they 100 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:48.240 just stuck too strongly to their formulas, like we need 101 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.519 we need to stick to what's safe, and we need 102 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.639 to go with what we know has been successful, and 103 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:57.319 therefore we will do it again to the point where 104 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:01.519 they just remake everything and they just out of ideas. 105 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.079 But be that as it made. With the new content 106 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:12.199 creation world online, it's the same thing with the mostly 107 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:16.079 boring content where people aren't doing anything unique or interesting 108 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.920 but there's the other side of that Devil's Advocate, where 109 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.199 I am starting to see some interesting stuff and even 110 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.360 some weird stuff is out there getting you know, large 111 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:34.360 follower accounts and all that kind of stuff. So that's 112 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.600 kind of cool, you know, for what it's worth, and 113 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:40.159 that's good. One guy that pops in mind is Let's 114 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:46.279 Paint TV. I found him on TikTok and actually this 115 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:51.200 is a guy that I remember from years before. He 116 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:55.200 had posted clips of an old cable access show he 117 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:57.120 had done. I don't know what city it was in. 118 00:08:57.559 --> 00:08:59.679 He's definitely based out of Los Angeles today with his 119 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:02.559 new Maybe he was in LA doing cable access originally, 120 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:07.480 but I don't know. His original show was Let's Paint, 121 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:11.600 Draw and Exercise. I think it is what it was, 122 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.240 But anyway he was He'd be walking on a treadmill, 123 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:21.600 like an exercise treadmill. He'd be painting like Bob Ross. 124 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.519 He'd be doing a painting and at the same time, 125 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.360 he'd be cooking something. He'd be doing all three things 126 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.960 at once, and he'd just be talking through the whole thing. 127 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.679 And that was his show. It was really funny and 128 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.120 I used to watch those videos on YouTube. But this 129 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:41.240 guy is back and he's going as the handle Let's 130 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:45.279 paint TV on TikTok. I found him and he's crazier 131 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.480 as ever, and he's kind of you know, morphed his 132 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:53.480 format somewhat where he's got these really bizarre pieces of 133 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:56.960 audio equipment where he's making strange sort of like noise 134 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:02.720 music or just noises with musical equipment, and he's just 135 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.639 doing weird performance arts stuff where he's saying bizarre things 136 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.399 and sometimes he's doing it in public. So it's that's 137 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:12.720 that's cool. I think that's a lot of fun and 138 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.440 that guy is interesting and might have to try to 139 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.240 get him as a guest on Uncle. I don't know 140 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:18.840 how hard he is to get a hold of, but 141 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.279 stuff like that, he he had a ton of followers, 142 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.399 so that is, you know, that's somewhat encouraging that something 143 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:28.559 like that can do well. I like to see that. 144 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:40.080 But it's bizarre. That's the outlying fringes of content creation world. 145 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.039 But again reassuring to see that at least people are 146 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:48.720 trying to do something different right and that it's it's working. 147 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.399 So there's something a ray of hope, I suppose, but 148 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:04.279 it's it's wild to see again, just all the changes 149 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:09.039 that have occurred over the years. And Tom Green is 150 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:12.360 another guy who I've talked about a lot on the show, 151 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:17.440 but he's an interesting example of a person that I 152 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:20.600 followed him for years. I liked as a TV show 153 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:24.600 that again, his show originally was a weird cable access 154 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.080 show in Canada that somehow got picked up by MTV. 155 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.159 Someone at MTV had seen the show and then they 156 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:35.440 got a hold of him, said Hey, would you like 157 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.679 to show on MTV? He said yes, and then we 158 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:41.519 know the rest. He had this show on MTV, and 159 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:49.039 even his MTV show was similar to certain older media, 160 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.759 but it was also pushing the boundaries and doing something new. 161 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:56.039 You know. It's similar to the candid camera shows of 162 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:59.279 years past. So it kind of like took that of 163 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.879 filming in public without people really realizing that's what you're doing, 164 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.519 but it took it to that whole other level. And 165 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:10.799 people unfamiliar with skateboard culture too don't really see the 166 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:16.120 influence of you know, skateboard videos and media that was 167 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.879 there in Tom Green's stuff, but it was so that 168 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:26.720 was there too. But anyway, Tom Green's an interesting guy 169 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:32.879 because he was there and he's an influential figure in 170 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:37.639 media just I mean, that's just how it is. He is. 171 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.399 He is an influential guy, and he was early on 172 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.000 with a lot of different stuff and whether you like 173 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:50.759 that or not, and it's just the truth and his 174 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.759 later stuff. Where he was in the early two thousands 175 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:59.480 at his home doing his show, his online talk show 176 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.120 out of his house in I think it was in 177 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:05.200 Burbanker the Hollywood Hills. It was up in LA. He 178 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.480 lived in LA and he just set up the equipment 179 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.360 to be able to live stream a show, a talk 180 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:15.440 show and put it online. It was a task to 181 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:17.639 be able to get the equipment together to do that. 182 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:19.440 At the time, it was really hard to do, but 183 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:23.360 he did the work to do that. Now that format 184 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.840 is really standard and so many people are doing it 185 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:29.879 just with the democratization of media production, anybody can do 186 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.039 it just with you know, just little setup that you 187 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:39.279 can just buy ready to go. So if you I 188 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.360 guess the long point I'm trying to make here is 189 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.120 when you listen to Tom Green talk, he's a guy 190 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:52.200 who understands more than most people give credit for because 191 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:59.320 he will talk about the creation of all the media 192 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.039 meet He's done over the years. He understands that he 193 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:07.679 is influential, and he's at one he's proud of it. 194 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.080 You can tell that he's proud of it, but you 195 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:17.240 can also tell that he's kind of perhaps troubled, or 196 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.879 maybe he feels guilty even in being the sort of 197 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:31.279 being a person who has brought about changes that now 198 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:39.519 empower the current content creation world, which he does not 199 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:44.600 like for all the right reasons. And it's fascinating to 200 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:50.879 see that and to listen to that. And as a 201 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.000 person in a similar position, I've been around making media 202 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.919 for a long time, so I understand that too. And 203 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:00.840 people making content now, if they keep going for years 204 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:02.840 and years and years, they'll be in the same spot too. 205 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:08.440 So I guess when you do something like this for 206 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.080 such a long time, you notice a lot of different things. 207 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:15.759 And perhaps this is the point of the show tonight 208 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:21.120 and even going forward, is we're trying to understand what 209 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.279 this all is, like, what the hell are we even doing? 210 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.440 What's good about all this and what's not? What do 211 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:34.559 we have to look out for? And there's a lot 212 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:42.120 to like for with this automation angle to things. I 213 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:47.799 just go online now and when I'm scrolling the stuff 214 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:50.759 I see. It's just it's almost as if everything's a 215 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:53.519 carbon copy. It's like, oh, yeah, here's this, here's this. 216 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:57.159 No matter what topic it is that the algorithm is 217 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.519 presenting to you, and that's what it's doing. Whatever your 218 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:03.559 interest is, it's going to be feeding you that your 219 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:10.120 social media feed will be doing that guaranteed. But it 220 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:16.159 seems to me like all the big all the content 221 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:20.879 creators and the posts that are coming from different channels, 222 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:24.600 the ones that have the furthest reach, they all have 223 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:29.279 like the same They all use the same templates, they 224 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.600 all use the same formatting in even something like X. 225 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:38.039 Let's talk about Twitter X. Now, it seems like all 226 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.200 the posts that really get tons of repost, tons of likes, 227 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:45.639 tons of traction, they're all formatted the same way, and 228 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:55.000 they're formatted to get your attention, to provoke you. They're 229 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.159 formatted for engagement, like they ask you a question so 230 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.679 you'll answer in the comments, that sort of thing. They're 231 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.200 all like that. A lot of times they'll be like 232 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.160 a list of things like here's this statement I'm making. 233 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:10.119 This is why I'm pissed off about automation, and this 234 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.599 is why I'm pissed off about artificial intelligence, and then 235 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:16.160 lists of like ten different things what did I miss 236 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.000 in my list? And then you're supposed to say in 237 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:23.200 the comments everything is like that, if it's big, if 238 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.319 it's anybody with any kind of presence, they're all just 239 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:29.680 latching onto that formula because it works. But then that 240 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:34.000 begs the question to me, like, there's a lot of 241 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:37.119 these accounts that appear as though they do a good 242 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:42.799 job at appearing as though they're like legitimate indep media 243 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:50.160 people that are the new iteration of conspiracy culture, truth movement, 244 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:55.480 alternative media whatever. Uh, there's a new version of that 245 00:17:55.480 --> 00:18:01.000 that should be legit, But they just fall in line 246 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:07.920 with the same old content creation rules that serve things 247 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:10.240 up so that the algorithm, so that the algorithm will 248 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.200 serve them on and so that that to me that 249 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.039 makes me go, Okay, what what the hell is really 250 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:20.680 going on here? There? This is somebody presenting themselves as 251 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:26.160 though they're one thing, but aren't they just another uh 252 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:35.759 copy of you know, the vast digital bot sphere or whatever? 253 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:39.519 You know what I mean, I'm playing around with IMG 254 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:45.240 zero zero one or IMG underscore zero zero zero one. 255 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:47.640 Excuse me, I'm trying to get this to let me 256 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:49.359 see if we can get this three fresh Oh here 257 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:55.680 we go there, I think, uh, or actually, and if 258 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:59.240 you're watching, see I'm changing things up some kind of 259 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:05.519 prioritizezing the video here because I have got the video back, okay, 260 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:07.680 and we see it. We're seeing our random videos again. 261 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.960 That's very important to me. But I think the point 262 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.480 I'm trying to make here, and I think you're hearing it, 263 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:19.799 is who are all these people? What is this content? 264 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:22.960 And how much of it is just bots and like 265 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:30.640 automated AI generated crap that's even formatted to appear to 266 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:37.599 be like anti establishment or you know, dangerous or you 267 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:41.640 know in some way what would be a threat to 268 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:46.839 the establishment. How much of this is just being put 269 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:50.720 out there to appear that way and its appearance only, 270 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:55.359 and it's to get us. It's it's going to wheel 271 00:19:55.400 --> 00:20:03.200 around to being misinformation limited hangout sort of stuff, right, 272 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:15.079 because like, what are we even doing? And and so 273 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:24.559 activity has become is just this one giant algorithm UH 274 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:30.920 fueled distraction machine. Right, Is there even a way that 275 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:37.400 you can get on here and be a threat or 276 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:44.759 be useful in presenting information that is going to you know, 277 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:50.079 somehow challenge the status quo or anything, just just just 278 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:54.200 do something useful to make a better place, or we 279 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:59.079 just has it? Is it being has it been designed? 280 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.519 And is it working to just get us constantly distracted 281 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:08.839 to nothing else. It's kind of hard to tell right 282 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:13.000 now now, is a really It almost is like this 283 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:17.759 moment is like peak at least as far as we've 284 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:20.640 been so far, and might get worse, but it's peak 285 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:27.000 confusion where it's hard to answer this question that I 286 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.680 just post. It's like, is there anything useful going on here? 287 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.839 I want to say yes, I want to say that 288 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:41.240 what I'm doing is different and useful in that sort 289 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:46.400 of way. But even me with all the right intent 290 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:49.559 and the heart in the right place and wanting to 291 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:55.960 do the right thing, I'm even under the influence of 292 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:58.680 all of the other things that I come in contact 293 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:03.079 with in this strange digital space, and so there's no 294 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:08.440 escape from it. And if I take seriously these feeds, 295 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.119 these information feeds, in any way and I use them 296 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:15.480 as a reference material, how much of it has been 297 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:20.279 thrown my way to get me to just be part 298 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:28.839 of this bigger, weird campaign of confusion trying to figure 299 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:36.559 that out not easy, but it's also fascinating to see that. 300 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.400 Another thing I'm doing on this show is trying to 301 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:48.720 derive actual truth and useful information on these things, these 302 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.319 topics and these groups for that matter, that have been 303 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:55.880 following over the year. Over the years, groups individuals, topics 304 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.720 of course were interested in transhumanism. On this show, we're 305 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:04.000 in emerging technology. We're interested in things like artificial intelligence, 306 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:13.920 life extension projects, biotech, robotics, nanotech, all that kind of stuff, right, 307 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:20.480 all of the transhuman stuff, singularity, all of that business 308 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:25.400 is the main focus of this is my main focus. 309 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:29.039 It continues to be, and so I have been following 310 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:41.359 the work of the transhumanists themselves. And it should be 311 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:46.960 known that the easy way to talk about this topic, 312 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.559 which I think is the way that almost always it 313 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:54.039 is talked about by content creators, which I find unfortunate. 314 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:57.559 The easy way to talk about is to say that 315 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:06.119 the transhumanists are just one solid group, one like vested 316 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:12.680 special interest group. That is, you know, they have one 317 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:15.519 goal in mind, and that they're coordinated, they're working together. 318 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.759 They have a transhuman agenda and they're seeking to further 319 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:21.720 that out together, and they have been this whole time, 320 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:23.599 and this is how far along they are, et cetera, 321 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:30.119 et cetera. The reality is more complex than that, in 322 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:36.240 that there are different sects within transhumanism. There always have been, 323 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:41.160 and there's different ways to view these sects. But I 324 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.519 think the most convenient and probably most accurate, honestly, the 325 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:50.559 way to do so is to view them under the 326 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:55.119 lens of politics, with the right and the left, you know, 327 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:59.359 the left wing and the right wing. And for one thing, 328 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:02.440 that's something that's familiar to anybody on the outside, it's 329 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:07.960 going to understand that framework. But not only that, the 330 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:13.359 transhumanists kind of divvy themselves up that way anyway, which 331 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.039 there's a lot done back with that, like why why 332 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:20.480 are they doing that? They do they take seriously the 333 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:29.079 left right political divisions that are established in our culture. 334 00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:33.240 I think, yes that they do. But be that as 335 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:42.759 it may, the left versus the right and transhumanism. Back 336 00:25:43.079 --> 00:25:49.000 in the mid two thousands, there was what appeared to 337 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:55.039 be an attempt by these two let's say these two 338 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:58.759 sects again, we're simplifying, but we need to. There's attempt 339 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.880 of these two transi A. Sex to come together under 340 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:09.079 an umbrella and under a shared common purpose to advance 341 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:16.599 the idea of transhumanism generally speaking, and that was seen 342 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:22.000 in projects like the World Transhumanist Association, and also moving 343 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:28.000 down the line, the name changes, the rebrands of you know, 344 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:32.039 World Transhumanist Association was no longer around. They shifted over 345 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:37.319 to the name Humanity Plus, and you know, so that 346 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.839 sort of stuff going on. In the midst of all that, 347 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:44.839 there was what appeared to be the honest attempt to 348 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.759 come together under the shared transhumanist cause. Now as time 349 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:54.440 has gone on, it seems like the rift has well, 350 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.039 I know that the rift has re emerged and the 351 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:02.640 split is definitely there now and it's pretty fascinating to 352 00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:05.559 see and to try to understand exactly what's going on. 353 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.720 And of course there's stuff behind the scenes that were 354 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:10.039 not privy to that. I'd really like to know the 355 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:18.640 answers to, Like, let's just well, let's talk about the 356 00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:25.480 figureheads in these different camps, right, it's the people of 357 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:27.960 the money. It's the people fronting the money for the 358 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:31.640 little groups that they go out and they do their 359 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:37.240 media presentations promoting their ideas of trans humanism and on 360 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:42.519 the right slash libertarian side of things, which is laughable 361 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:46.920 as the listeners of this show now, is Peter Thiel. 362 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.240 I mean he's putting up the money for the right 363 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:51.839 wing side of things of this right we know that 364 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:56.920 he always has, like with the Singularity Institute and all 365 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:03.240 things Singularity, it's always been teal pumping money into that. 366 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:06.640 That's been public, but I think even privately he does 367 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:09.440 that to an even greater extent. There's a lot of 368 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:14.200 people trying to speculate where Peter Tielt has been throwing 369 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:23.920 his money, right, and that's that's something that that's a 370 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.279 tricky subject, but I mean we can make all sorts 371 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:28.880 of good educated guesses there, but we do know that 372 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.680 he when it comes to Singularity and all that, he 373 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:36.079 was the guy behind that, and certainly the right wing 374 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:41.519 slash libertarian his his version of that which is laughable, 375 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:45.039 but I mean the entire to be honest, all of 376 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:48.240 libertarianism now is laughable to be on it. And if 377 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:50.880 that bothers nimoy, I'm sorry. It's just turned into a 378 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.119 complete and utter joke. And that guy, really, more than 379 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:59.960 anybody has, should be taking the credit for the downfall 380 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.440 fall of anything that would have been useful within libertarianism 381 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:10.000 and a lot of people have bought into all the 382 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:17.480 online garbage. But anyway, right wing money Teal and others. 383 00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:20.799 It's not just him, there's others pumping money into it too, 384 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:24.680 but he'd be the big guy on the left wing 385 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:29.160 side of things. You have. Of course, our old friend 386 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:33.720 Martin Rothblatt is the big money trustee on the board 387 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:38.319 of trustees when it comes to the group the ie T, 388 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:41.759 the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, which is a 389 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:46.599 very lesser known group, always has been, but from its 390 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:52.720 beginnings it always even started with members who came from 391 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.640 the World trans Humans Association from that time where everybody 392 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.920 was trying to be together and work under one transhi 393 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:08.759 this banner. The lefties from that time period switched over 394 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:14.400 to ie e T and joined the progressive left wing 395 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:20.839 version of trans humanism as funded by Martin Rothblatt. James 396 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:24.400 Hughes was a former president of the World Transhumist Association. 397 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.480 Hughes is like the main one there in the Roth 398 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:32.000 Black camp heading up the IET, and he was one 399 00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:36.359 of the guys that wrote that paper Transgenderism or postgenderism 400 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:42.799 rather rather sorry postgenderism, which was pretty fascinating to see 401 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:47.480