Violence and Meaning
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- 0:00 - The emptiness of our souls
0:59 - The problem with political “solutions”
2:16 - The nature of meaning
3:10 - Creating a sense of purpose
4:20 - Violence as a failure of meaning
5:19 - Psychological abundance vs. destitution
7:02 - Meaning in our 2-dimensional world
8:12 - Mass-media & our reptilian brains
9:33 - Selling a simplified world
11:05 - Selling schadenfreude & blood
12:55 - Power's investment in violence
14:26 - Emptying our minds of bullshit
15:55 - Becoming agents of the infinite
17:18 - A final benediction
Mr. Dodson, we watched some of your videos in English class. My entire class loves you. Could you say hi to my 10th grade English class?
Ha ha... a great, big shout-out to everyone in "Why do I exist 2020's" 10th grade English class! Remember to watch out for those pesky double-negatives when you're analyzing Poe's _The Purloined Letter_ ! Ha ha... Anyhow, since you're watching my videos in English class, I would just like to say... that your teacher certainly has *good taste* ! And by the way, in case no adult has told you this recently, we're glad that you're in the universe, and sharing the adventure of life with us. We may not know why you exist. But we're thankful for your presence in this world. Now get back to conjugating those verbs! Gratitude... Eric D.
@@ericdodson2644 what's your yungian mbti type?
@@Chaloonoupada Mmm... probably INTJ or INTP. I'm pretty definitely an "I" and a "T." I'm probably a little more "N" than "S." And the last one is hard to say... probably a 50/50 split. Does that seem congruent with your perception of me in these videos?
@@ericdodson2644I have just stumbled upon your channel and im loving the content. As a philosophy undergrad its fascinating hearing your thoughts and opinions on matters.
On the topic of meaning, im curious to know whether mans self created meaning can be considered a legitimate response to an existential crisis.
Camus as a philosopher has always particularly challanged me because of his paradoxical conclusions. On one hand he claims that meaning is over-rated, but on another he admits that man needs meaning. It could be that Camus's definition of the word is in regard to religious or idealogical structures and systems instead of the simple everyday things the we might find meaningful in our own lives. Though I am also aware that he points out the various forms of secular philosophical suicide.
Did he advocat for the self-created meaning espoused by others such as the Existentialist movements and Viktor Frankle? Or was Camus entirely opposed to meaning even in its secular, personal and subjective form?
Interesting concepts. Violence is an enigma of the human condition, situated between our capacity for compassion and propensity for destruction
What does violence have to do with compassion? I would say it's situated quite far from it
What if you commit violence out of compassion for your starving child?
Situated very much in our capacity for destruction.
@@bluecollarbuddha948that sounds more like self defense/ self preservation
Wow, nice way of putting it !! And thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Another wonderful video Dr D. Thank you. One of the factors that allowed me to find purpose and meaning was letting go of my egocentric dreams of success in a glamorous field and reorientating my energies to helping others. It wasn’t until later I read about Erikson’s stages of life and realised that many middle age men are still chasing the same goals they were when they were in their early life (money, status, success, power, fame). Many of us feel left behind and angry when we reach 50 and haven’t achieved all that we had hoped for. It was very empowering to realise that the purpose of the final phases of life is to serve, and provide support, wisdom, experience to the next generation. Once I oriented myself in this direction, I found a new summer season. I now work with people in extreme state of distress, and at the lowest points in their lives, and find that I have plenty to give because of my own experience in the shadow realm. I spent a few years in the doldrums, grieving my broken dreams, but in the end, nothing has been more satisfying than being of service to others.
Wow, U.P., that's an inspiring story, in any number of ways. I think that part of what happens during "Generativity" is that over time, we start to realize that all of the gods we used to worship (e.g., money, status, success, power, fame) are actually fairly hollow. And so, if we're able to negotiate that struggle reasonably well, we gain a kind of liberation from the superficiality of experiencing life primarily in those terms. It sounds like that's something you've experienced in a very personal way. And that sounds wonderful! And I suspect that the "doldrums" you're describing are actually an integral and perhaps necessary part of that process. As Camus puts it, "It is essential to know the night." In that regard, I sometimes think that there's really no such thing as suffering without a hidden gift in its arms... no such thing as suffering without some sort of redemptive possibility. At the very least, those sorts of experiences are opportunities to learn how to be a little more compassionate & empathetic with people who are undergoing something similar. Anyhow... thanks for telling me about the wonderful path you're following. It's a joy to hear about it. Gratitude... and greetings from the Northern Hemisphere. Eric D. (Edit: Actually, the idea of being of service to others is also a big part of what motivates me to make these videos in the first place).
I enjoy very much the fresh air of trascendance that sneaks through the window of eternity that this channel can be . Greetings from argentina!
Well, thanks... it's always good to hear from people in distant parts of the globe... y por supuesto, saludos desde el estado de Georgia, en el sureste de los EE.UU.
A quote by Eric Hoffer from his book True Believer captures the essence of this video:
“By renouncing individual will, judgement and ambition, and dedicating all their powers to the service of an eternal cause, they are at last lifted off the endless treadmill which can never lead them to fulfillment.”
People “find” a means to lose their self in the media and attach to a movement which does not offer fulfillment. For how much media sells fear it can only do so if you are running away from your self and trying to find separation from your self which is the true fear people have (finding a meaning that also confronts us to bettering ourselves) that media indulgently preys upon.
Great content. Even if I feel I know a subject already I will never skip an Eric Dodson video.
Dude... wow, great quote from a great book! It's wonderful when someone like yourself really hears what I'm trying to say. So, a great, big thank-you to you, Tanner Hagen, wherever in this world you might be. People like you make creating this content worth it. Much gratitude. Eric D.
You're a very smart person. I Listened to your new video a couple of times probably another time to let it seep in. Glad I found your channel years ago. I think you are still getting better. This video is A game material. Good job. I was raised in the north but live in south east Georgia. Now.
Well, thanks. Yeah, grew up mostly in Pennsylvania, but I've lived the last 27 years around 50 miles West of Atlanta. So it seems like our paths are running in parallel a bit. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Great video. Thanks again! Something i would like to see a video on is the philosophy of the great postmodern author Kurt Vonnegut. Being a Hoosier i have looked up to him since eughth grade. So it goes. His early takes on PTSD, DID, humanism, CRT, ANTI-WAR and even gun control (Deadeye Dick). He was more than just a fiction writer, he was an inspiration to me. Thanks
Love your videos. Keep them coming. I agree with your ideas about the lizard brain and how the various media stimulate it for profit. It's a mad, mad world. Tuning into our higher mental capacities is surely a better route. Our primordial origins are very tribal and that has a strong pull on behaviors, but we can be so much more.
I agree. But of course, realizing that sets up a challenge for us... to realize our latent potential, despite our world's madness. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Bro you're BUFF!!
Keep those Gains up!!! 💪💪💪💪💪
Well, unfortunately they're mostly fat-gains from overeating -- not quality gains. But maybe that'll change as we get further into the Summer. For some reason, it's always easier for me to work-out and drop fat during the Summer. Let us pray... Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Thank you, Eric. I needed this. The news has been tough to listen to lately. I'm trying to disengage and focus on more worthwhile pursuits. Be well!
Well, that's actually part of my motivation for making this video. It's partly because it really IS getting hard to listen to the news these days. And for me, it's pretty much equally hard to listen to our pundits & politicians. And in light of that, I think that disengagement is a definitely a viable and worthwhile strategy. My wife is the master of that, and I keep trying to emulate her. Maybe one of these days I'll get it. Ha ha... anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Great sermon once again from my favorite Uncle!!!
I was thinking the thumbnail should have the words all in caps in bold and fat letters “EMPTY YOUR MINDS OF BULLSHIT”
Ha ha... yeah... thanks for the laugh!! Anyhow, it's always good to hear your figurative voice. Thanks once again for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Once we get over violence, we will reach the stars.
Well, that may be true. But there may also be other obstacles for us to overcome. But in any case, we might as well at least give it a try. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
The Prodigal Prof returns!
Yeah... hey, wait a minute... are you stealing my material? Ha ha.... Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
glad to see that the legend is back 🙏
Well, thanks. Yeah, I'm back... a little worse for wear, maybe. But I'm back. Hopefully I'll be posting a little more often in the future. But I guess that remains to be seen. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
It's wonderful to see you back. I somehow missed your last video and just watched it now, together with this one. I would like to express my deepest condolences for the loss of your mother.
Well, thanks. Yeah, it's definitely a difficult part of life's larger journey. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Thank you for taking the time to make these videos Eric
Glad to see you again, hope things got better!
Well, thanks. They're getting better, little by little. I still have a ways to go, though. Anyhow, thanks for sticking with me. Gratitude. Eric D.
This speaks to me. When one starts to deepen their engagement with themselves and the world, we start to reduce our chattering about things with overconfidence, and actually Understand more. But I've seen that I've developed such a fear regarding the external world because as a culture, as groups of individuals, it is the easily malleable ones, that form the majority. It feels scary how contingent every thing is. I find death, murder, assualt, constantly across the periphery of my consciousness, whispering, "you're safe here, don't try to move out of the home and build a life outside" (I'm doing a PhD). "there is a big bad world out there", " People are dangerous". There seems to be a hostility to everything. A hardness. I think about the senselessness of the violence that has been meted out through human hands on each other across history, and it is hard not to feel scared. I don't feel hopeless, but rather I'd say it's more of cultivating a way of looking at the world through a pessimistic optimism. If it is only my own actions that i can control, then so be it. I guess it is through my attempt to live with authenticity and freedom, that i hope that I'll effect some change, in some people, at least some of the time (And hope to be changed by others doing the same). Change the dynamics of connection. You really feel your own sense of freedom over your own actions, simulataneously with a complete lack of control over anything else. (Of course without being naive).
I don't know where I'm going with this comment, but yeah I'd say, it's hard, it's really hard to engage with the shallowness and brutality that's out there. And not violence and brutality that's physical, but also verbal. The casual dehumanisation of others in day to day conversation, the gleefully indulgent shit-talking, the over- simplification of things that have layers of nuance. There is such a desire to hold on to fear and anger. It's lonely because the person who attempts to bring nuance is seen as a bit of a killjoy. Depth is something that i see, is actively avoided, as if it's threatening.
Well, Ayesha, I'd say that a lot of what you're experiencing is very real. And the fact is that there are always 10,000 good, convincing reasons not to engage the world on its terms, especially when those terms frequently seem pretty idiotic and violent. But on the other hand, as Stan Lee of Spiderman once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." And I'd say that the same is true of the power to perceive things deeply, which seems to be both *your* gift and *your* curse. And so, at the end of the day, maybe that's the essential question that life is posing to you: Are you willing to assume responsibility for the strange power that life has handed you? Personally, I'd say that doing so would be a deeper destiny than cowering at home forever. And okay, I understand that it seems lonely. But so what? Whoever said that the easy life is, ipso facto, the better life? And in any case, I have faith that you'll eventually find your spiritual family... if you put yourself out there... if you're available to be discovered. And yeah, it may take a while, but I bet it'll happen eventually. But in the meantime, well... keep pushing on your doctorate. It'll probably come in handy when you have to confront some of the pragmatic realities of professional life. But in any case, much luck and strength to you on your journey. Gratitude. Eric D.
@@ericdodson2644 Thank you so much. And yes that's what i say to myself exactly- that the sensitivity, the depth, is a gift and a curse both, because that's the nature of everything that's valuable and worthwhile about existence. It's the two side of the same coin- for example one cannot love deeply and also not experience grief deeply. And that hurts but only if we try to escape that 'discomfort'. Our world's idea of being a zombie, running on the hedonistic treadmill, often gets equated with 'the good life'. Which is hilarious, of course.
@@Ayesha_F Well, I think that the whole "hedonistic treadmill" paradigm is mostly a sign of our spiritual adolescence... a necessary step along the road of our greater development, but by no means our destination. Anyhow, from my admittedly distant perspective, you seem to be weathering the storm of life reasonably well. You're obviously suffering to an extent. But, as you say, that's just part of the larger order of things. So, I'd say: Keep on keeping on... especially since all of the alternatives to that are probably quite a bit worse.
Fantastic to see you back! Great way to close out my day listening to your thoughts. It’s sad how shallow so much of life has become & I think linked with this is a reduced value of life, it appears cheap....until we personally experience it and then it’s too late as we realise it really is priceless. I heard someone talk of uk politics recently and in saying whoever gets voted in, it ends up being more of the same.....2 cheeks of the same a$$ was the expression 😂.
Ha ha... yeah, ain't it the truth? And I suspect that you're right when you say (I think) that openness to experience is a prerequisite to anything that would counterbalance the shallowness & cheapness of life as we currently know it. But of course, opening ourselves that way isn't necessarily an easy thing, especially since our 2-dimensional world seems to keep moving doggedly along the same timeworn trajectory. P.S. We might be in your neighborhood later in the Summer. Are you far from Bath?
@@ericdodson2644 oh wow & no Bath is the nearest city to me (Bristol) 2 stops on the local train to the centre of Bath. Easier than driving....they do warn people though to never meet your idols 😂
@@dlloydy5356 ... Ha ha... well, as Shakespeare once noted, sometimes there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. Anyhow, maybe it'd be meet... to meet. Here's my university email if you're interested. It's semi-encoded to get around YT's censors. edodsonatwestgadotedu
@@ericdodson2644 brilliant I’d love to meet up for a coffee or something? Cider is the local beverage 😂 I’ll have a go at deciphering your very James Bond code. Marvellous
@@dlloydy5356 Cool. Let me know if you send something, so I can be looking out for it. The filters are a bit on the thick side on that account.
A message I plan on thinking about more.
Cool. It makes me happy that I've given something that's worth chewing on... and thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
I’m so glad you’re okay 😭I was watching your other channel and then saw you last posted 2 years ago and got scared!
Well, thanks for that. Yeah, I'm okay... a bit worse for wear after my mother's death... but I'm making it through the process, little by little. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to listen, both to this channel and to the other one. Gratitude. Eric D.
God is always on the side of those with the most fire power and savage violence.
Cooperation, shared goals people can agree on, is humanity's greatest source of fire though
Well, it can certainly seem that way. But on the other hand, I've noticed that people with lots of fire-power and savage violence are often the among the first to die. And I'd say that one of the markers of God's favor is to enjoy a LONG, satisfying life. But hey, that's just me. As in all things, your own mileage may vary. In any case, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
yessssss ❤ another video!!!!!! love love love to hear your voice again
Well, thanks. And thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom 🙏
Well, thank-YOU for taking the time to watch & listen... and for wanting to be a part of it, New York, New York. Gratitude. Eric D.
thanks for making such an important and thoughtful video 🤍🙏
It also reminded me again the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi.
Yes !!... Being the change we wish to see in the world is exactly what I'm getting at. Nice connection !! And thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Thank you Eric, you have a beautiful way of articulating all the thoughts stuck in my head... haha... I appreciate you making these videos, if only more people could hear and resonate with such ideals then the world could be a wonderful place.
Thank you for the video.
Well, thank-YOU for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
welcome back
Okay... now this one I can understand. Thanks. Yeah, it's good to be getting back to a semi-normal life. Hopefully I'll be able to post a little more often. But I guess that remains to be seen. In any case, thanks again for watching & listening. Gratitude. Eric D.
On-point, as usual. Thank you, Eric!
Everyone should watch that movie "Network" (1976).
Dr. Dodson, is there a way to get in touch with you? I'm a college psych prof and watched your series on psychology as a human science. I wanted to know if you would be willing to share the notes that you put on the screen with those videos, and/or if you would suggest books? Thank you!
Is there a way to respond to you privately or directly?maybe by voice?
Life itself is violent and cruel, it's got barely anything to do with philosophy. It is our natural instinct to be manipulative and self serving. Even the 'nicest' person in this world is cruelly selfish. Nobody is your friend unless you have any utility. You are truly your only ally in this world and even you are a monster. I would like to see how you address this truth and turn it into something positive. I'm the funny guy on the outside but cold on the inside, and bringing myself to even hold a truly happy disposition feels incompatible with life.
WAWA IS THE BEST
Yeah, I've loved them ever since I was a little kid.
I disagree. Violence is the result of people doing the math (typically without realizing it) on the cost-benefit of satisfying their various needs and wants.
* When someone's starving, they're going to examine different strategies that will solve their starvation, and if violence seems to be the best strategy to them they're going to choose violence.
* When someone running a country wants more power (oil/money/etc), if a war seems like the cheapest way to get that they're going to choose war. (Incidentally this is why economic sanctions are fantastic; because if leaders like this know it never pays off, they're never going to choose this strategy because they'll know it's a bad strategy.)
But there's a little nuance in that last remark: _the person doing the cost-benefit analysis needs to know violence isn't the best strategy._ Otherwise they may think it is best, and choose it anyway.
So it isn't really about fulfillment/meaning in a hazy sense.
It's just what appears to be the best choice to the person making it. That's why it's so important to (A) educate those people when they really do have better strategies available to them, (B) deal with the very real problems that results in individuals not having their needs met, and (C) at the high end somehow curb our instinct to want more and more. (Because those people running countries already have plenty of power, but it's a basic human compulsion to grow dissatisfied with your current plentitude and want more/better than what you have.) I wouldn't describe any of that as a "meaning" problem.
Well, the cases that interest me the most are those that involve mass-murder for no obvious reason -- usually with a suicide at the end of it. The Las Vegas shooter would seem to be a case-in-point. Perhaps the Columbine shooters would be another. So, in your view would the logic of an underlying cost/benefit analysis apply to those cases, too? If so, what benefit do you think they're trying to achieve? Notoriety doesn't seem very convincing, since they aren't around to enjoy it. Some sort of benefit in the afterlife doesn't seem too likely, either -- since to my knowledge that doesn't seem to be a common component of those cases. And anyhow, if that were true, they could simply dispatch themselves without all of the extra overhead of exterminating lots of other people first. If I had to guess, I'd say the "benefit" would have something to do with experiencing an orgy of sadism. But that doesn't seem like much of a benefit, either... since they could gain many more sadistic experiences by simply living out their entire lifespan. I guess I'm not seeing the cost/benefit logic of random mass-murders, especially when they involve suicide. But then again, I could be wrong... In any case, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
@@ericdodson2644 Ah okay, for that specific type of violence _I fully agree._ A lack of meaning seems responsible for all intentional suicides (the ones planned in advance; not accidental; and not caused by some temporal chemical imbalance).
When that choice is made nearly all the "cost" to crimes is eliminated. So I do think it becomes a cost-benefit thing again, and one where it doesn't take much "benefit" to motivate a person to do some pretty awful things. With murder-suicides there's often a clear motivation for the murder. With mass shootings, there's occasionally a fairly clear motivation (schoolmates vs. a troubled teen) but the motivation probably varies a good deal: it might be attention-seeking; it might be legacy where a person wants to leave their mark on the world (like when a "manifesto" is involved) though in this case a normally healthy instinct (legacy) takes on a twisted form notoriety, as you put it.
But for these specific types of violence yeah I do agree that basically all of them pass through that crisis of meaning (the thing causing them to choose an intentional suicide), so what you said in the video makes way more sense in that context.
Isn't the removal of Meaning from our lives a type of violence? Should we not at least learn about what could have caused that? (While holding opinions lightly, just to get a taste of the poison.)
Yeah, I guess you could see it that way. Meow!! After all, who says that violence is necessarily a physical phenomenon? Couldn't there also be spiritual violence? Or noological violence? Or affective violence? Anyhow... about poison... I suspect that that the things that end up liberating us sometimes taste a lot like poison at first. So, I've learned that that's not necessarily a red light. Anyhow... Meow!! Thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Eric Dodson Whats your mbti type?
While I agree with you intellectually, I still personally find Purpose/Meaning to be a burden. 😆
Yeah, there definitely is a burdensome side to it. But then again, that's probably true of anything that makes us powerful. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
Is the prof ok? Any former students for example know? Haven't seen him comment
Well, I'm more-or-less okay... but still moving through the process of losing my mother. It's definitely one of life's tough experiences. But I'm gradually making it through the hardest part. Anyhow, I appreciate your concern. Thanks for that. Gratitude. Eric D.
@@ericdodson2644 ah,hm,thanks. when/if you're feeling it, might you be open to meet? Not to risk 'seeing someone out of their element', but i wondered bout video unanswered questions, like trying your perspectives for topics that get specialised in weird ways, usually in broad thin not packed 'expertise' ways, so thinking w you seemed it could be rare help. Just/A thought
a spectacle of capitalism realism
Hmm... I'm not sure what you're getting at. Can you articulate it a little more expansively? Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
@@ericdodson2644 actually I mean society of spectacle as Debord mentioned....there are an ongoing trend of global erratic and violent behavior and people are freely expressing their anger in airport airplane train roadside school public venue home neighborhood transportation dispute etc etc...even in Asia.....
Thanks for drawing attention to our societal bankruptcy and resulting senseless violence.....I try to stop watching the MSM but invariably fall back in the abyss........watching BBC nature documentaries seems to help
Well, it's an incredibly easy thing to slip backwards, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The important thing is that you're on the way, even if there are occasional regressions. Anyhow, that's exactly how a lot of our developmental processes operate: Two steps forward, one step backward. Rinse and repeat. Anyhow, thanks once again for taking the time to watch & listen. Gratitude. Eric D.
jesus something about that thumbnail is terrifying
and froom escape from freedom plus baudrillard and nick land accelerationalism combined high doses of post modernistic erratic behavior
Umm... I don't think I understand this one, either. Can you help me get it? Eric D.
Intelligent but ultimately vacuous. Reminds me of a dry sermon I would hearing some presbyterian church with a strong liberal bent. There is no meaning to life apart from God. You can’t find psychological fulfillment in yourself. This try harder speech proves futile.
Spot on! Thk u Prof!