Confucius (or, What to Do When Elites Break The Rules) | Philosophy Tube

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  • Опубліковано 23 гру 2024

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  • @PhilosophyTube
    @PhilosophyTube  4 роки тому +10796

    I tried to make a nonpolitical video about Chinese philosophy and Confucius was like "Nah dog"

    • @hexx6120
      @hexx6120 4 роки тому +23

      😐 I don't get it

    • @threehotdogs
      @threehotdogs 4 роки тому +82

      谢谢大哥,我是个香港人。加油!我爱你!

    • @razorel
      @razorel 4 роки тому +9

      cancelled :0

    • @joannassienkiewicz1997
      @joannassienkiewicz1997 4 роки тому +200

      A nonpolitical PhilosophyTube video? Thank God we avoided that fate

    • @jesspavlichenko5745
      @jesspavlichenko5745 4 роки тому +44

      🥺 I haven't watched the whole video yet of course but what about Lao Tzu

  • @sasharenee252
    @sasharenee252 4 роки тому +3398

    The Ji Family's been awfully quiet since this dropped

    • @cacksm0ker
      @cacksm0ker 4 роки тому +182

      Top 10 philosophers Ji family was afraid to diss

    • @drdoominstien713
      @drdoominstien713 4 роки тому +70

      to be fair they've a little quite for a while now

    • @amellirizarry9503
      @amellirizarry9503 3 роки тому +13

      idk if the are supposed to be the 500bc version of the Lannister or the republicans

    • @carolinemcgovern4488
      @carolinemcgovern4488 3 роки тому +7

      @@amellirizarry9503 They give off huge republican vibes to me.

    • @jeffreylaporte6525
      @jeffreylaporte6525 3 роки тому

      @Nigel1048 I don’t think any spelling using latin letters is older then a century or two

  • @SemiIocon
    @SemiIocon 4 роки тому +3093

    Nobody thinks of their own society as having a lot of rituals, because when you grow up in it, they are second nature to you.

    • @authenticbaguette6673
      @authenticbaguette6673 4 роки тому +252

      Autistic people would like to say hello ..

    • @oo88oo
      @oo88oo 4 роки тому +222

      A fish in water sees no water.

    • @AmunRa1
      @AmunRa1 4 роки тому +264

      Reminds me once when I was talking with a family member about standing for the national anthem with your hand on your heart, and how it was just a patriotic ritual of no real importance. The seemed to be completely offended by the term 'ritual' for that, despite the fact it's literally a ritual.

    • @daedreaming6267
      @daedreaming6267 4 роки тому +30

      @@authenticbaguette6673 can confirm...

    • @hannajung7512
      @hannajung7512 4 роки тому +135

      @@AmunRa1 what I find hilarious on your story is that you called their precious gesture “of no real importance“ and they got hung up on the “ritual“ part...

  • @olefredrikskjegstad5972
    @olefredrikskjegstad5972 4 роки тому +4575

    "... and then he died"
    This is a very underrated joke that slips by unless you know a little Chinese history. Qin Shi Huang sought immortality, and ended up ingesting several "immortality elixirs" with ingredients like mercury in them, which modern scholars theorize may very likely have cut his life short. F in chat indeed.

    • @mathieuleader8601
      @mathieuleader8601 4 роки тому +116

      mercury did a terrible thing to Voldemort

    • @Equistration
      @Equistration 4 роки тому +43

      F

    • @mellonthegrey1976
      @mellonthegrey1976 4 роки тому +30

      So, similar to Gilgamesh?

    • @marciamakesmusic
      @marciamakesmusic 4 роки тому +110

      The parallels to today are staggering. Inb4 Trump actually injects bleach

    • @beruman
      @beruman 4 роки тому +121

      "and then he died"
      (news of trump getting corona) well that impression has potential

  • @zarathustracave5732
    @zarathustracave5732 3 роки тому +1368

    Translating Chinese to English can have hilarious consequences. When I was in Beijing I kept seeing adverts with a helpful English translation that read "delicious fungus of milk" and I thought, "mmm that doesn't sound very nice". Later on I realised they were on about yogurt.

    • @zarathustracave5732
      @zarathustracave5732 2 роки тому +17

      @lol ???

    • @toothfairy10133
      @toothfairy10133 2 роки тому +75

      they did say it was delicious!

    • @louiemiddleton866
      @louiemiddleton866 2 роки тому +106

      "This product may, upon setup, have child's diseases." It was supposed to be "teething problems"

    • @essie23la
      @essie23la 2 роки тому +31

      wait so is fungus and bacteria sorta the same in common (like, non-scientific) chinese? Or is it a poor translation of "fermented"?

    • @zarathustracave5732
      @zarathustracave5732 2 роки тому +4

      @@essie23la no idea

  • @patriciamcgeorge2575
    @patriciamcgeorge2575 4 роки тому +1388

    "The Chinese never had a secular enlightenment, which is why we need to teach them about the greatest Englishman of all time, Jesus"

    • @hubertblastinoff9001
      @hubertblastinoff9001 4 роки тому +171

      This is like... Not even all that hyperbolical.... Like, during the height of the British Empire some Brits legit believed they were somehow the descendants of the ten Lost Tribes and Jesus walked on English soil....

    • @idontknowanymore9966
      @idontknowanymore9966 4 роки тому +102

      Hubert Blastinoff the british are a incredible species to study

    • @FakeSchrodingersCat
      @FakeSchrodingersCat 4 роки тому +35

      @@hubertblastinoff9001 What do you mean with "during the height" as if those people went anywhere? There are still people who sing Jerusalem and mean it.

    • @yannickvanhoutte4403
      @yannickvanhoutte4403 4 роки тому +29

      Well, put people on an island and you get strange results. Look at Japan. :p

    • @hubertblastinoff9001
      @hubertblastinoff9001 4 роки тому +1

      @FightPeople Indeed. Quite so.

  • @thatcurator5690
    @thatcurator5690 4 роки тому +6204

    Dear Philosophy Tube,
    You claimed you wouldn't make a callout video, yet this video is clearly a Ji Family callout video.
    Curious.

    • @TheEvilCheesecake
      @TheEvilCheesecake 4 роки тому +409

      Ji Family
      please respond

    • @augfairweather4530
      @augfairweather4530 4 роки тому +72

      @@TheEvilCheesecake ahaha i read that in the Ian Drivel voice automatically

    • @LOVE..Sherelle
      @LOVE..Sherelle 4 роки тому +94

      @@TheEvilCheesecake Ji Family's Philosophy Tube diss track coming up soon

    • @hangukhiphop
      @hangukhiphop 4 роки тому +43

      Don't forget Nigel Piss!

    • @augfairweather4530
      @augfairweather4530 4 роки тому +36

      @@hangukhiphop Noigel Piss
      yew have 24 hours to respond.

  • @DavidCruickshank
    @DavidCruickshank 4 роки тому +2011

    "If you set an example by being correct, who would dare to remain incorrect?" Confucius you sweet summer child.

    • @xunzi4327
      @xunzi4327 4 роки тому +107

      David Cruickshank this passage makes sense when you read a lot more of the Confucian Canon. Just saying that makes the Jordan Peterson joke sting a lot more.

    • @sleepyparadise8846
      @sleepyparadise8846 4 роки тому +114

      Ned Stark, Ultimate Confucian

    • @crystalheath6510
      @crystalheath6510 4 роки тому +89

      This reminds me of the newest Thought Slime video where he talks about how people in the West Wing act when they are confronted with facts and logic.

    • @mouyeii
      @mouyeii 4 роки тому +22

      oh no. What happened to the supreme court, Confucius? What happened to the supreme court??

    • @ujjwalmishra8962
      @ujjwalmishra8962 4 роки тому +11

      Bruh the naivity

  • @itsrainbow123
    @itsrainbow123 3 роки тому +2958

    All of the business lesbian comments aged like fine wine and i am here for it

  • @ryanadams4812
    @ryanadams4812 4 роки тому +2622

    Little bummed Ollie didn’t jump into the scene in a Lara Croft costume.

    • @carlosdumbratzen6332
      @carlosdumbratzen6332 4 роки тому +65

      Expected him to do so

    • @MarceldeJong
      @MarceldeJong 4 роки тому +65

      His guns were in the wash

    • @PobortzaPl
      @PobortzaPl 4 роки тому +107

      There should be some rule against UA-camrs promising their viewers a truly magnificent piece of content and failing to deliver it.
      Hashtag OllieMakeVideoWithLaraCroftCostumePrettyPlease

    • @TealWolf26
      @TealWolf26 4 роки тому +1

      Me too

    • @troy4328
      @troy4328 4 роки тому +28

      I was 100% ready for crossdressing Ollie and then nothing.

  • @cloudfrost8403
    @cloudfrost8403 4 роки тому +958

    I went to an Oxford open day for philosophy.
    Professor: *talking about the wide variety of philosophy you can study at Oxford*
    Chinese student: What about Confucius and Chinese philosophy?
    Professor: We don’t do that here.
    He said something about Eastern philosophy not being analytical, and closer to spiritualism than Western philosophy, but he sounded almost exactly like the historian character.

    • @alexei2249
      @alexei2249 4 роки тому +78

      That's bizarre. Depending on your university within the United States, you can major solely in Eastern and Chinese Philosophy. Even my junior college has an intro to Eastern Philosophy class then again I am on the west coast where there is a massive Chinese population.

    • @JL-dance
      @JL-dance 4 роки тому +136

      im honestly tired of intro level philosophy being only about the greeks. there's no valid reason for us only to learn about plato & friends other than old white guy not wanting to learn something new about history

    • @bellaforristal7099
      @bellaforristal7099 4 роки тому +85

      Yoo I study Philosophy at Ox and there are lots of student efforts to get Chinese philosophy more talked about - Minorities and Philosophy and People for Women in Philosophy are both active and there was loads of stuff on it last year!!

    • @NotBamOrBing
      @NotBamOrBing 4 роки тому +74

      Excuse you, Sir Nigel Piss has a name, and it isn't "the historian character"

    • @gwenrees7594
      @gwenrees7594 4 роки тому +21

      R R R R R RAAAAACISM

  • @velvet16
    @velvet16 4 роки тому +761

    How do you warn someone that you're gonna call them a racist in Parliament?
    "Hey Boris, just letting you know dude, I'm about to call you a racist in like 10mins or so. We cool?"

    • @tahaammari2094
      @tahaammari2094 4 роки тому +9

      I wish I could like this more than once 😂

    • @paulbottomley42
      @paulbottomley42 4 роки тому +7

      I believe you have to warn any other MP if you're about to mention them in Parliament. Usually I think it is something of a formality but probably a bit different if you're planning on calling the Prime Minister a racist.

    • @strangerdanger8831
      @strangerdanger8831 4 роки тому +12

      @@t.read6906 Y'all got civics lessons?? **stares in American**

    • @velvet16
      @velvet16 4 роки тому +2

      @@t.read6906 That makes more sense. I had interpreted it as '"if you're going to say something that might be considered incendiary/a personal attack, you have to run it by the person you're targeting". Thanks for the context!

    • @AbMaSync
      @AbMaSync 4 роки тому +2

      Let it be known, that inside the premises today, in approximately 10 minutes I will call the estimated named a bloody son of a...

  • @audreyzhang5394
    @audreyzhang5394 3 роки тому +4334

    Kudos to all the old comments calling Abigail a business lesbian lmao

  • @Porcuponic
    @Porcuponic 4 роки тому +1122

    If you say “fetch me my Lara Croft costume” in a philosophy tube video and don’t follow through...

    • @josselyncool685
      @josselyncool685 4 роки тому +57

      Came here to say the same. Ollie in Laura Croft cosplay or GTFO!

    • @snowblood74
      @snowblood74 4 роки тому +46

      @@josselyncool685 I'm 99% sure there will be fan art of this.

    • @JackDearnley
      @JackDearnley 4 роки тому +41

      My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

    • @ireallyhatemakingupnamesfo1758
      @ireallyhatemakingupnamesfo1758 4 роки тому +18

      Absolutely, I’m unsubscribing in protest until my philosophy daddy bends to my fanart dreams

    • @davidshi451
      @davidshi451 4 роки тому +14

      He's wearing it under his suit of course! At least, that's what I tell myself.

  • @superdark336
    @superdark336 4 роки тому +1436

    In short, Confucius be like:
    *everything is on fire and collapsing, people are screaming and running around, theres explosions*
    we live in a society

    • @nemesiszer0708
      @nemesiszer0708 4 роки тому +31

      And then killed two guys in a train

    • @anone.mousse674
      @anone.mousse674 4 роки тому +28

      The Master said:
      Slonk gang weed

    • @bbqseitan7106
      @bbqseitan7106 4 роки тому +16

      Confucius is the dog in the flaming house meme
      Everything’s on fire and he’s pouring tea like “everything IIISSSS fine”

    • @Diego-zz1df
      @Diego-zz1df 3 роки тому +5

      Jordan Peterson: "We need a rigid hierarchy, the nuclear family and religion to preserve social order. Here's this book with my 12 teachings."
      Confucius: [raising from the grave] "Imma sue ye for plagiarism, mate."

  • @Gingrnut
    @Gingrnut 4 роки тому +653

    “Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!” Olly, friend, don’t get my hopes up like that!

    • @doctormead7829
      @doctormead7829 4 роки тому +14

      Gingrnut Someone has better make some goddamn fan art of Ollie as Laura Croft!

    • @AndromedaChace
      @AndromedaChace 4 роки тому +5

      I got way too excited

    • @Laurell_Silentshade
      @Laurell_Silentshade 4 роки тому

      I was expecting a couple volley balls stuffed down a shirt.

    • @Kalleosini
      @Kalleosini 4 роки тому +2

      I was absolutely disappointed when he wasn't wearing a teal tanktop and shorts in the next scene.

    • @KravenTheHaunter
      @KravenTheHaunter 4 роки тому

      I knew I wouldn't e the only disappointed viewer.

  • @asteroidnix9908
    @asteroidnix9908 2 роки тому +506

    Thank you for making this video. As a Chinese native speaker, it’s always interesting to hear western interpretations of our texts. One thing I think we have to keep in mind is that our perception of concepts are often bound by language; for example, some cultures do not see blue as “blue” because they do not have a designated word for that specific range of light wavelengths. Back to the language. The characters, by themselves and without context, usually encompass all or some of the meanings provided by the English translation (while some only stand true if the character is used in combination with other specific characters), and conceptually, we do not necessarily make distinctions between these meanings unless it is specified by the other character(s) it is used in combination with (in other words, “words”). As a result, some of these texts could be easily comprehensible by Chinese speakers, but made more confusing if you look into it as a non-Chinese speaker with a dictionary. It’s especially difficult, I imagine, with ancient Chinese since they tend to be much less elaborative, thus providing even less contexts.
    That being said, I’d also like to provide that many progressives in the eastern hemisphere, myself included, despise a lot of Confucius’ ideals; for example, his advocacy for rigid social roles and the mentality to conform to those roles. I personally have much more affinity towards Taoist philosophical ideals, and our culture is shaped by not only Confucianism, but also Taoism, Buddhism, as well as other schools of thoughts (though they have intermingled a bit through history).

    • @GoatZilla
      @GoatZilla 2 роки тому

      The texts aren't any more "comprehensible" by Chinese speakers, just more weaponizable.

    • @fakename2969
      @fakename2969 2 роки тому +6

      👍

    • @brentwalker3300
      @brentwalker3300 2 роки тому

      Unfortunately, the Communist Revolution decided that most of the old traditions were corrupt and needed to be erased from Chinese society.

    • @bellebelle7532
      @bellebelle7532 Рік тому +16

      Brilliant comment! Thanks so.much for sharing an important explination (if one desires to better understand the relivant contenent and its contex ) from a native Chinese speaker. Much appreciation and limitless positive power, Bellè xXx

    • @rachelrose4691
      @rachelrose4691 Рік тому +11

      I spent a few months in Taiwan as a kid and ever since the difference between how words work and the way that must shape communication and how we perceive the world, has been stuck in my mind. Thank you for this comment, it put my thoughts and assumptions into words and has given me some knowledge to be able to learn more.

  • @Dachusblot
    @Dachusblot 4 роки тому +653

    "Imagine everyone on earth woke up tomorrow 50% more moral."
    Mitch McConnell: "Joke's on you, 50% of zero is zero."

    • @huitzilopochtlisexy9975
      @huitzilopochtlisexy9975 4 роки тому +14

      You need a thousand likes

    • @Dachusblot
      @Dachusblot 4 роки тому +20

      @Chris Sears I live in Texas so I can very much sympathize with your pain.

    • @Diego-zz1df
      @Diego-zz1df 4 роки тому +13

      Me: [looking at Schumer and Pelosi] "Shoulda said 50% more competent."

    • @genericyoutubeaccount579
      @genericyoutubeaccount579 4 роки тому +2

      @Chris Sears The facts of McConnell's life are undenyable and they made him the person he is. If you had been in his shoes and had seen the lynching of Clarence Thomas and the slandering of Robert Bork you would have accepted a amoral worldview as well.

    • @BlindErephon
      @BlindErephon 4 роки тому +21

      @@genericyoutubeaccount579 Cool, because Clarence Thomas got confronted with allegations of sexual assault, and Bork got some mean and probably true shit said about him, Mitch McConnell is fully justified in sitting on some six hundred pieces of legislation duly voted on by the House, and deciding on his own that none are going to go to be debated and voted on by the Senate.
      Cool cool, I didn't know it was fine to abolish democracy on the down low like that and let ONE senator decide what is and isnt going to be considered by law. Cool job, Kentucky, good and cool.

  • @ViveLRoi
    @ViveLRoi 4 роки тому +276

    "Clever Thunderstorm Flesh-that-Thinks" okay that's it, that's my next D&D character. A warforged raised by tabaxi, it totally makes sense.

    • @nocturnalniceties6585
      @nocturnalniceties6585 4 роки тому +12

      Oh, a glorious choice. I love Tabaxi naming conventions, good stuff.

    • @mirmalchik
      @mirmalchik 4 роки тому +2

      I believe the mandarin phrase translated both literally as "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks" and in a human way as "computer" would be transliterated into pinyin as "diànnăo"
      (the diacritical marks indicate that the pitch of your voice would fall on the first syllable 'dian' and fall briefly before rising on the second syllable 'nao,' but don't worry too much about the stresses. no matter how hard you try at first without listening to many hours of speaking, your inflection will sound unnatural to native speakers, if my experience is anything to go by.)

  • @MaylottPaints
    @MaylottPaints 4 роки тому +1525

    "Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!"
    Cuts to Ollie clearly NOT dressed for Tomb Raiding.
    I thought this channel stood for something, maaaaan!

    • @butwithcats265
      @butwithcats265 4 роки тому +77

      Amen! And all of us sitting here waiting to have our understanding of our own sexualities expanded yet again.... dropping the ball, Ollie. Tsk.

    • @grey1883
      @grey1883 4 роки тому +51

      That was immensely disappointing. Some sharp angles would have really brought the video together.

    • @lexzetusko
      @lexzetusko 4 роки тому +25

      I was really hoping he would have cut to himself in a Lara Croft cosplay, for the giggles

    • @the_exegete
      @the_exegete 4 роки тому +8

      Not even any jodhpurs, disgraceful.

    • @minaondrums
      @minaondrums 4 роки тому +11

      Honestly, I had to take a cold shower after he said that 😅

  • @gewreid5946
    @gewreid5946 3 роки тому +154

    It's important to keep in mind that confucius was teaching young bureaucrats and officials.
    So it's less about what to do when the elites misbehave and more about why it's important not to misbehave if *you are* the elite.

    • @chaiyasitdhi
      @chaiyasitdhi Рік тому +12

      He taught a lot how to control and limit the power of the higher authority like the king. Many scholars inspried by his teaching (and those of 'Confucian' sages like Mengcius or Xunzi) in the later ages sacrificed their lives to speak truth to power.

  • @monageeuk6504
    @monageeuk6504 4 роки тому +5203

    Olly: "I don't really think of our society as having a lot of rituals like that"
    Me, an autistic: *hysteric laughter but also crying*

    • @EmmaxHobbits
      @EmmaxHobbits 4 роки тому +878

      The ritual of "asking" how the other person is after a greeting.
      Followed by the ritual of answering with a glossy lie about "living the dream" or "doing well"

    • @davidshi451
      @davidshi451 4 роки тому +120

      Oh man, reminds me of Hannah Gadsby's comedy!

    • @gretablackwell495
      @gretablackwell495 4 роки тому +326

      As someone with ADHD: seconded.

    • @monageeuk6504
      @monageeuk6504 4 роки тому +135

      @@EmmaxHobbits I gave up doing this years ago and I have no regrets.

    • @monageeuk6504
      @monageeuk6504 4 роки тому +20

      @@davidshi451 some absolute quality comedy

  • @hwsmart99
    @hwsmart99 4 роки тому +1874

    "Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!"
    Doesn't dress up as Lara Croft.
    I'm disappointed in you, Ollie.

    • @vivvy_0
      @vivvy_0 4 роки тому +1

      @герой Alexander Antonov hey hey

    • @daddyleon
      @daddyleon 4 роки тому +7

      *+Dreamer* Yeah, it was somewhat to be expected, wasn't it?

    • @scarfboy
      @scarfboy 4 роки тому +42

      I was immediately invested in that. Such a tease.

    • @ZijnShayatanica
      @ZijnShayatanica 4 роки тому +36

      I was sorely disappointed, but... I prefer to believe that it was ONLY because he doesn't (yet) own one. Hopefully it's foreshadowing!

    • @daddyleon
      @daddyleon 4 роки тому +12

      @@ZijnShayatanica Does it require much? Pretty generic stuff, right? A simple tank top, maybe some toy guns. Perhaps it's the lack of breast tissue and considers balloons are inappropriate?

  • @edelbrosnan6222
    @edelbrosnan6222 4 роки тому +243

    How have I lived here my whole life unaware of the fact that a major governmental process involves a guy with a big stick having a door slamed in his face & him responding by passive aggressively banging on the door?

    • @the_demon_cat337
      @the_demon_cat337 4 роки тому +21

      I was going to say what the actual heck then I remembered I’m american so I really can’t talk.

    • @meltyblend
      @meltyblend 4 роки тому +8

      It is my FAVORITE ritual, it’s so ridiculous

    • @Ana_crusis
      @Ana_crusis 4 роки тому

      No idea

    • @melm4251
      @melm4251 4 роки тому +9

      in australia we have those big sticks resting on the tables in parliament too, not sure if they get used in a similar manner but i wouldn't be surprised if they do lol

    • @Aperson4470-g5l
      @Aperson4470-g5l 4 роки тому

      @@melm4251 we have black rods in Australia, yeah.

  • @connorh7088
    @connorh7088 3 роки тому +667

    The Master said:
    "The Gentleman is easy of mind while the small man is full of anxiety."
    "The Gentleman understands what is moral; The small man understands what is profitable."
    I said:
    "The man who knows what is moral but is full of anxiety is medium sized."

    • @toothfairy10133
      @toothfairy10133 2 роки тому +49

      huh, nice *grows about five inches*

    • @nelsonmongare9515
      @nelsonmongare9515 2 роки тому +36

      I think this is one of those mis translations Abigail mentioned. It should be read as "The gentleman understands what is moral. The soft dick man understands what is profitable"

    • @eleSDSU
      @eleSDSU 2 роки тому +7

      @@nelsonmongare9515 Well, that's me, medium sized, moral and pointy.

    • @truebrew2004
      @truebrew2004 2 роки тому +14

      @@nelsonmongare9515
      The concept of a translation that uses “big dick energy” for these concepts has me in stitches!

    • @Diego-zz1df
      @Diego-zz1df Рік тому +4

      "I'm full of anxiety, please help me."
      Confucius: "But... you're tall..."
      "Yes?"
      Confucius: "So you're saying you're full of anxiety, but you're also tall..."

  • @noemibolivar5945
    @noemibolivar5945 4 роки тому +807

    I just can't say enough how much I appreciated the character of Nigel. I'm tired of orientalism and imperialist ideology othering cultures as foreign and "backwards", when in reality there's a lot of stuff we ~wEsTeRnErS~ do that's pretty freaking bonkers

    • @horseenthusiast9903
      @horseenthusiast9903 4 роки тому +80

      Yeah, that was really refreshing. And that orientalist lens also shows how shallow the people using it are, since not only do they not understand their own country does equally "Strange" things, they also don't understand that when you've lived in a culture for a hot minute and you know the context behind how stuff works, things generally make A Whole Lot More Sense!

    • @emily-hj2hh
      @emily-hj2hh 4 роки тому +30

      Yes. Thank god we don't get a cringe take on long robes and a beard and a bad accent spouting off "ancient and simplistic" proverbs and poetry like most creators would attempt. The value of WEIRD (white educated industrialized rich democratic) is so often seen as purely exceptional, the now dominant understanding of right, the myth of progress, when you look at history there are direct parallels with exactly the same atrocities, the same people hated and marginalized, and sometimes the best you get is some culturally relative approach where a type of understanding and "tolerance" is assumed with the same Western biases, and that to be respecful means to see all as valid, instead of critiquing another culture past and present as an opening to critiquing our own.
      Plus to think of culture and people as homogenous, ever, misses so much nuance. And Orientalism - ooff.

    • @TheoEvian
      @TheoEvian 4 роки тому +12

      Orientalism actually kinda elevates the Other a lot of the times. Like "Oh, that spiritual and elegant china! We need to protect it from modernity and industrialisation by colonisation!" kind of thing. And the interesting thing is that today there is a lot of "occidentalism" in East Asia.

    • @emily-hj2hh
      @emily-hj2hh 4 роки тому +37

      @@TheoEvian Oh absolutely. I had a professor try to say that some stereotypes were good - not good as in romanticized and fetishized, but "good" as in that positive isms are good to have.
      I live in the US and here the elevations of Asian people as the "model minority" are incredibly common, simplistic, and damaging. And I've seen a lot of Western white Buddhists really glorifty the "simple" life of rural East Asia, and even the supposed appreciation and enlightenment of those who live in abject poverty and of course, only pick rice and make pottery and appreciate every moment. And to say that China isn't modern and industrialized is tinged with quite a bit of irony. Maybe that depends on definition? I'm also not sure the Uighur Muslim camps are exactly spiritual, among other things. And any attempt at trying to homogenize and generalize a region or culture is always danger, be it for romantic reasons or in an ethnocentric and negative way.
      Speaking of anti Chinese talks. The rhetoritic of that one orange man whose name I do not like to speak or even dare to type, it's gotten much more brutal here. Much more brutal. But everything has.
      And you're right, "occidentalism" definitely can be prevalent.
      The one orientalism I don't see being elevated is towards the Middle East.

    • @justbeyondthecornerproduct3540
      @justbeyondthecornerproduct3540 4 роки тому +1

      I agree, more of Nigel

  • @yunikage
    @yunikage 4 роки тому +2966

    the stolen dictionary gag is funnier than it has any right to be

    • @stephaniel2850
      @stephaniel2850 4 роки тому +205

      It really is- I think it's the way he just keeps going as if he'd read a definition 😂

    • @enjolraswaters7491
      @enjolraswaters7491 4 роки тому +7

      ikr xD

    • @andromedacowboy
      @andromedacowboy 4 роки тому +11

      can someone explain ?

    • @jaojao1768
      @jaojao1768 4 роки тому +154

      @@andromedacowboy I think it is a joke on the fact that some online dictionaries are behind paywalls now

    • @913zzzn
      @913zzzn 4 роки тому +4

      True😭😭😭

  • @asdffjsdjasd
    @asdffjsdjasd 4 роки тому +1739

    The lack of Eastern thought in Western philosophy courses is a serious disservice to students. I took a class in college on the philosophy of science and we skipped from ancient Greece up to the Renaissance. Our professor briefly mentioned that the center of learning shifted to the middle east during the middle ages but we didn't learn the name of a single middle eastern thinker and anything farther east wasn't even mentioned.

    • @NawidN
      @NawidN 4 роки тому +145

      I hope modern philosophers will choose to learn about them, maybe eventually make it so "Western philosophy" courses become "philosophy" courses.

    • @arthursimsa9005
      @arthursimsa9005 4 роки тому +77

      That is equally dismissive of Western Medieval philosophes though.

    • @NMahon
      @NMahon 4 роки тому +43

      In fairness those courses are awful for learning anything in detail, their purpose is to give you a broad scope of time early in your degree to give you something of a basis and so that maybe you find something you're interested in to focus on later in your degree.

    • @dionysianapollomarx
      @dionysianapollomarx 4 роки тому +71

      It would've been a real benefit. Considering, for example, that Aquinas was an Avicennan-Neoplatonist, meaning Thomism developed in part from the Neoplatonist groundwork of Avicenna, an Islamic philosopher, who was also a polymath. Avicenna also influenced Albertism, Scotism, and Ockhamism, which were Medieval Catholic philosophical movements. He also influenced Omar Khayyam, probably the first philosopher to be atheist and be open about it in the Muslim world. There's also Ibn Khaldun who invented an economic philosophy before Ricardo and Smith. There's also Averroes, who formulated a hierarchy of Being. There's also one of my faves in al-Farabi, who developed ideas in conditional syllogisms and analogical inference, which were Stoic, and was considered in his time as Second Teacher, following Aristotle as First Teacher. Don't forget the Japanese quite recently. There's Hajime Tanabe, D. T. Suzuki, and Kitaro Nishida. Hajime and Kitaro were of the Kyoto School, and they approximated ideas in modern and contemporary Western philosophy, using concepts translated into Japanese and developed further by reading Western ancient thought and testing ideas through Zen practice, if I'm not mistaken. They are still very influential. Honestly, I've been taken to reading comparative philosophy and it seems there's a lot of niche to break into.

    • @KC12344325
      @KC12344325 4 роки тому +35

      It's kind of bizarre that I learned more about Confucius in my 100 level intro to East Asian Studies class than someone with a PhD in philosophy :/

  • @everburningblue
    @everburningblue 3 роки тому +898

    "Unlike Great Britain, the most ethical country the world has ever known."
    It's 7 in the morning and I've already laughed my daily rations.

  • @allykholodov
    @allykholodov 4 роки тому +720

    as someone who is neurodivergent, the everyday rituals we have in modern society, the ones that are unwritten and created, enforced, and regulated only by the masses, can end up seeming confusing and complicated to an outsider. i find it very interesting to put together philosophies such as confucius's and my own efforts to learn these rituals in order to mask, since they both observe the moral values behind certain rituals. this allows for something of a study of society, not as it is organized through bureaucracy, but rather as it is constructed as an entity comprising multiple individuals.

    • @TealWolf26
      @TealWolf26 4 роки тому +54

      Especially because many of them are legacy rituals born of a different age for a different purpose that we kept around because reasons. Like an appendix. I like to picture a post-collapse civilization that compulsively washes hands before entering a building or as a greeting.

    • @davidshi451
      @davidshi451 4 роки тому +2

      Any rituals in particular?

    • @allykholodov
      @allykholodov 4 роки тому +43

      @@davidshi451 my personal favorite to learn about are the rituals of language. seeing which words convey what meaning in which context, how grammatical rules change in certain regions/accents when enough native speakers make the same mistake (for example, "it went good" instead of "if went well"), how swearing can be appropriate in certain contexts and slurs can be deemed appropriate when they are reclaimed or even just if the audience isn't bothered by them (like in the rap song scene in the movie white chicks), how there could be entirely separate dictionaries for the vocabulary one might use in familiarity versus in officiality, and each nuance of this (how we speak differently with our close friends than we do with acquaintances than we do with teachers than we do with superiors than we do with groups of people, etc.)
      etymology is so interesting because it helps us understand where these customs come from (for example, many swear words come from religion, though i've seen this more in quebec french than anywhere else) and why they were born.
      also, as someone who evolves in a very bilingual environment, there are twice as many rules, and it can be super interesting to compare them.
      i know people who know up to six or seven languages, and whenever they learn a new one, especially if it is associated with a drastically different culture, it's fascinating to hear about the dos and don'ts of different languages.
      the list is really long when it comes to language, and this is just scratching the surface, but what i like the most about it is that everyone has their own language rituals engrained into them, and they only need to look inward to realize the complexity of them.
      i don't know how intelligible this was, but i hope it was somewhat helpful ( :

    • @altertopias
      @altertopias 4 роки тому +5

      @@allykholodov that sound very interesting tbh, maybe u should do like a blog or video about it (or podcast)

    • @allykholodov
      @allykholodov 4 роки тому +5

      @@altertopias thanks! i'll definitely try to do something like that

  • @GogiRegion
    @GogiRegion 4 роки тому +261

    Imagine the reaction of the Ji family getting told that someone 2,000 years later was going to publicly call them out to people all around the world on a scale that they never could imagine.

    • @willydirt9355
      @willydirt9355 4 роки тому +1

      or care

    • @MarkLinJA
      @MarkLinJA 3 роки тому +1

      If one really is to look at even the surnames of China today, those that originated from branches of the 姬 (Ji) family make up a good majority of it. However, those who hold the Ji surname itself has become rarer and rarer.

  • @PepperoniMage
    @PepperoniMage 4 роки тому +601

    24:00 Lmao, ending a Trump impersonation with "And then he died." on the same day as him catching 'rona. Dammit Olly, what did you know?

    • @rekagaal
      @rekagaal 4 роки тому +37

      28:45 * if y'all are looking for the spot.

    • @gagrin1565
      @gagrin1565 4 роки тому +34

      My client wishes to invoke his right to remain silent.

    • @enriquegarciacota3914
      @enriquegarciacota3914 4 роки тому +5

      I don't know who this Jordan Peterson character is so instead of googling I'm going to assume it was The British Confucius.

    • @chickenintrousers6723
      @chickenintrousers6723 4 роки тому +6

      Enrique Garcia Cota Actually a Canadian Kermit the frog that got stupid popular with the American conservatives

    • @sceaserjulius9476
      @sceaserjulius9476 4 роки тому +4

      2020 is bananas

  • @VillagerCometh
    @VillagerCometh 2 роки тому +275

    I love how we're all respecting her pronouns despite the way she had presented at the time, wish there were more communities like this its heartwarming to see!

    • @pm146
      @pm146 Рік тому +2

      I actually thought I had misclicked on another channel's video. Amazing what change she was able to make!

    • @SimonClarkstone
      @SimonClarkstone 11 місяців тому +5

      I recall she later revealed that (by this point in her life) her appearance as a man when filming was a temporary disguise, and she was living as and looking like a woman the rest of the time.

  • @KirinDave
    @KirinDave 4 роки тому +1389

    "Declares he'll build a wall and then dies."
    ... P... P.. prophecy?

  • @bigglithium
    @bigglithium 4 роки тому +1348

    It’s a little more complicated than
    “if you can read traditional chinese, you can read an ancient Chinese scroll.” Sure, you can read it but you might have a tougher time understanding it.
    The “language” has changed a lot since Confucius’s time. Furthermore, there’s a BIG difference between the written classical standard used by scholars and written vernacular Chinese. The relationship between the two is like that of Latin and it’s Romance descendants. The former, used basically only in writing, is full of words and constructions that might have been spoken in the past and have fallen out of use.
    Also, Ollie’s Jordan Peterson voice gets me BAD every time

    • @sweetpeabee4983
      @sweetpeabee4983 4 роки тому +63

      Yea, most ppl can't read classic & u need to basically do a degree that covers it, like history or smth, is my understanding.
      Traditional is also not really the right term for classic Chinese, as simplified & traditional are both used to describe modern Chinese writing systems. 🙂

    • @shakeitlikeanaries128
      @shakeitlikeanaries128 4 роки тому +39

      Isn't that the next point that he makes with thunder storm flesh or computer and the do unto others as you would have others do to you?

    • @eddlake5694
      @eddlake5694 4 роки тому +2

      Yea classical Chinese and modern Chinese are different

    • @bigglithium
      @bigglithium 4 роки тому +36

      ​@@shakeitlikeanaries128Good point! I might be mistaken but that's not how I understood it.
      Ollie's completely right about ‘電腦' and uses it to illustrate how NEW words have been made using characters that were used in a different sense in the past. ‘恕’ is more about how it's hard to both interpret and translate classical Chinese to English in general.
      I'm trying to point out that classical Chinese is really hard to understand for modern speakers unless one is specifically trained in it.
      For example,
      偃, "to bend/to cower" (21:54) is never used in modern vernacular Mandarin (might be used in other Chinese languages like Cantonese).

    • @RoamingAdhocrat
      @RoamingAdhocrat 4 роки тому +23

      I think this video would've been improved if Olly had co-written it with a Chinese historian or philosopher.

  • @MrPinknumber
    @MrPinknumber 4 роки тому +572

    "It may appear to be an enormous waste of money and time-" *puts pipe in mouth and stops*
    Funniest joke of the video, right there.

    • @stephaniel2850
      @stephaniel2850 4 роки тому +71

      And the subtitles always make it even better xD

    • @xunzi4327
      @xunzi4327 4 роки тому +3

      If you follow along with the Mohists, that’s a great counter argument to the monarchy. The Confucians, not so much.

    • @Axius27
      @Axius27 4 роки тому +12

      UA-cam has been freezing all morning for me, so (even though there was still movement on the screen) I had to make sure that the internet hadn't crashed on me :P

    • @bonniea8189
      @bonniea8189 4 роки тому +2

      @@stephaniel2850 Doh! I forgot about the subtitles! Now I have to re-watch (oh, darn).

  • @oneghost1257
    @oneghost1257 2 роки тому +275

    Imagine having the level of confidence it must have taken to go somewhere public and start talking about Confucius into your phone. This is what I strive for.

    • @trapclowers9523
      @trapclowers9523 2 роки тому +4

      If you where born at the time it happened then you wouldn’t think of it.

    • @Benjumanjo
      @Benjumanjo 2 роки тому +3

      It doesn’t take confidence, it’s harmless, perfectly legal, uncontroversial, literally nobody cares if you do it.

    • @oneghost1257
      @oneghost1257 2 роки тому +38

      @@Benjumanjo My guy I feel uncomfortable having a regular conversation in public

  • @marianogrillo8667
    @marianogrillo8667 4 роки тому +633

    So long story short, Confucius’ writings were trying to say “Kiss ya homies goodnight every night”

    • @deekswap695
      @deekswap695 4 роки тому +71

      There is literally no moral philosophy that would go against kissing yo homies good night. So do it

    • @appleslover
      @appleslover 4 роки тому +21

      I wish I had a homie

    • @gena1384
      @gena1384 4 роки тому +11

      @@appleslover lol hey

    • @lucyk8935
      @lucyk8935 4 роки тому +9

      apple's lover wanna be homies? 👉👈

    • @paninu
      @paninu 4 роки тому +6

      @@appleslover h-homie tiem?

  • @Winterappleby
    @Winterappleby 4 роки тому +415

    Unrelated interlude in the video just to say: soooo weird that the British parliament is that strict about what members can say about other members, meanwhile in Australia our politicians are one step away from calling each other cunts and our first and only woman Prime Minister was routinely harassed and called every offensive name under the sun. Honestly, I don't know which way I would rather have it, our parliament sounds like a bunch of 10 year olds having a schoolyard argument.

    • @TealWolf26
      @TealWolf26 4 роки тому +101

      *looks sheepishly at our American "presidential debate"*
      I know that feel, mate.

    • @Winterappleby
      @Winterappleby 4 роки тому +24

      @@TealWolf26 It's embarrassing really, all of them. They're all a pack of insecure manbabies that never grew out of their nappies.

    • @Yal_Rathol
      @Yal_Rathol 4 роки тому +71

      to be fair, almost every parliment sounds like children having an argument in the schoolyard. the canadian one is the kid who will hold their breath until they get what they want, the british one is the kid who throws a fit if you don't follow all their made up and unspoken rules, and the australian one is the kid that snuck vodka into school in a waterbottle and is picking a fight with everyone.

    • @Ryan-nd4kc
      @Ryan-nd4kc 4 роки тому +54

      LMAO politicians in Brazil literally fight inside Congress. Like they really punch each other and nothing happens.

    • @Ryan-nd4kc
      @Ryan-nd4kc 4 роки тому +23

      There's this story of former president Color's father, Arnon de Mello, and a guy named Silvestre Pericles who both brought guns inside the Senate to kill each other because of a fight they had, they ended up killing another guy who had nothing to do with anything that was happening. They were both released from prison in that same year.

  • @VermisTerrae
    @VermisTerrae 4 роки тому +199

    "Clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks" is my favorite phrase for computer now 😹

  • @gobbledygooker1075
    @gobbledygooker1075 3 роки тому +2398

    She should get an Oscar for this year-long performance

    • @SarahET
      @SarahET 3 роки тому +181

      It's probably more than a year long performance, she said she only started to write the script for coming out video a year ago

    • @ollieshane7835
      @ollieshane7835 3 роки тому +10

      YESSSS

    • @dysmissme7343
      @dysmissme7343 3 роки тому +23

      Damn- honestly though
      It’s flawlessly smooth

    • @s.thomson2372
      @s.thomson2372 2 роки тому +46

      She has worked as an actor too after all, I imagine it came in handy a bit 😸

    • @Whiskey2shots
      @Whiskey2shots 2 роки тому +56

      Honestly looking back at it, IMO it is more obvious that she had begun to transition but at the time I was just like ah cool she has longer hair

  • @pavarottiaardvark3431
    @pavarottiaardvark3431 4 роки тому +260

    "Patron of Several Charities Trying to Alleviate Problems Exacerbated by Companies He Owns"

    • @draxiss1577
      @draxiss1577 4 роки тому +10

      That's my favorite one.

  • @Areuils
    @Areuils 4 роки тому +626

    As someone who is and speaks Mandarin Chinese, I was very confused when you were talking electric brains until you said computer. That was just something I never thought about and have made me think of other words I use that are kinda convoluted and confusing when not given the context

    • @curtmacquarrie
      @curtmacquarrie 4 роки тому +78

      I've had a weird experience as a native English speaker (canadian) moving to England where I ostensibly speak the language. So much more of what we say is established through convention rather than the literal meaning of words than I really imagined. of course there is idiom and local sayings and dialects that are different but that is to be expected. But then there is almost an entirely different lexicon of the most common words and phrases. Words and phrases that I understand but are so rarely used in my experience are commonplace here. Words and phrases that are commonplace for me are foreign here. It's interesting.

    • @CDexie
      @CDexie 4 роки тому +44

      @@curtmacquarrie oh that happens EVERYWHERE. And it's an inevitable outcome of communication. Think about how nonsensical and full of gaps your day-to-day communication with your family would be to an outsider.

    • @daddyleon
      @daddyleon 4 роки тому +23

      @@juniperfox1064 Electric brain might not be, but the characters (and the ones that is made of) also mean other things: 6:33 "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks". I mean, it makes sense, in hindsight, if you think about it...but you gotta think about it.

    • @jospinner1183
      @jospinner1183 4 роки тому +15

      @@daddyleon "Electric brain" is kind of a better descriptor of modern computers than the word "computer." I mean, sure, a computer is _ultimately_ doing computations, that that's not really how people interact with computers.

    • @daddyleon
      @daddyleon 4 роки тому +7

      @@jospinner1183 I really like your thinking. But I do disagree, the word "brain" conjured connotations like "thinking" and "consciousness" and, fundamentally, we don't know if it even could do that. It might not even be possible. Not because carbon is better and silicon is impossible to have consciousness working, but because it's all just one big question mark. If it could think and be conscious, yes!! Please, let's call it an electric brain! That be an amazing term.

  • @rruhland
    @rruhland 4 роки тому +300

    “Smart flowing electric thinking meat” is gonna be my new cyberpunk-themed new wave cover band.

    • @WendingWind
      @WendingWind 4 роки тому +5

      *smart flowing, thinking, electric meat

    • @avadarkness666
      @avadarkness666 4 роки тому +2

      Kraftwek would approve 👍

    • @mattp1337
      @mattp1337 4 роки тому

      Please tour with Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks. They're really quite good.

  • @TomKilworth
    @TomKilworth 3 роки тому +303

    The Chinese characters thing made me spit out my tea! I'm learning them at the moment (in Japanese) and there are so many combinations that make you think along those lines before realising that IRON UNDER SOIL is just the subway

    • @neoqwerty
      @neoqwerty 3 роки тому +32

      I love this so much. I learned one by accident from a character's name: Ryouma: DRAGON HORSE... but it also means just "an excellent, fast horse" colloquially.

    • @blu4get
      @blu4get 2 роки тому +29

      地铁 lmaooo "earth iron"
      电话 "electric speak"
      西瓜 "western melon"

    • @brentwalker3300
      @brentwalker3300 2 роки тому +2

      @道德真精 "chika tetsu"or "dixia tielu". But what do you mean, "WTF is subway"?

    • @d0xter742
      @d0xter742 2 роки тому +2

      @@user-nm1ot3ko5fthat does not look very japanese to me

    • @Alaxion
      @Alaxion Рік тому

      @@user-nm1ot3ko5f I think subway is just metro

  • @lincolnjohn8227
    @lincolnjohn8227 4 роки тому +343

    Kids, what did we learn today?
    If you're ever confronted with something you don't understand, just claim that the person who wrote it never had a secular enlightenment and move on.
    Edit: Thanks for the likes :3

    • @Shams-fe6lq
      @Shams-fe6lq 4 роки тому +32

      I didn’t learn anything because I haven’t had a secular enlightenment

  • @Lynch2507
    @Lynch2507 4 роки тому +181

    "Churchill's Heroic Heroism and why the Irish should shut up and be grateful" deserves so much more recognition

  • @luisa9628
    @luisa9628 4 роки тому +245

    It's weird that they don't teach eastern philosophy to a philosophy major when all the continental philosophers were obsessed with eastern philosophy. Seems like some pretty huge context is missing.

    • @bbqseitan7106
      @bbqseitan7106 4 роки тому +28

      Maybe, and hear me out, xenophobia? racism? Idk but most philosophers are shit heads and their words are only worth something when you can draw from the encyclopedia of human history

    • @johnbradley1139
      @johnbradley1139 4 роки тому +43

      Took a philosophy course in college. When actually asked about Eastern Philosophy, the prof explained that Eastern Philosophy is not actually philosophy, because it's not devoted to thinking about thinking.
      That prof was a jackass on many levels, and I think his point of view was just good ol' white Western racism, but I also think it's a popular point of view among philosophy profs.

    • @cemperable
      @cemperable 4 роки тому +25

      @@johnbradley1139 I mean, this can a reasonable argument. There is a somewhat famous story involving Derrida, for example, where he got shouted at at a philosophy conference in Shanghai for claiming that China has never developed philosophy, and that there's only "Chinese thought". The problem is that the term "philosophy" is heavily imbued with a Western view on what philosophy is and how it should be done, and beyond that, in what tradition it should stand. Derrida would argue that when people say "philosophy", they think of Socrates and Plato, and then of the Enlightenment, and so on, and because the word is used and understood like that, therefore, Confucius is not a philosopher.
      What your professor said is really just another instance of this. He feels that philosophy is something that reflects on the process in which it is made and thought, in the manner that Western philosophy does, and if you come from that point of view, Chinese thought just can't be philosophy.
      I actually don't think it is necessarily a bad thing to make a distinction between different traditions of thought, but, of course, as the parent commenter noted, it can get pretty absurd. When you teach about Schopenhauer but don't teach Buddhism, you lose a lot of opportunities to make fun of him, and therefore defeat the point of teaching Schopenhauer.

    • @johnbradley1139
      @johnbradley1139 4 роки тому +23

      @@cemperable
      It's an argument that can be supported semantically. That's not the same as a reasonable one. And mostly it's just gatekeeping... "We invented the word, and you can't have it."
      We have only one functional word in basically all Western, Romance-derived languages that means "one of many schools of thought," and that word is "philosophy." That same word also refers to the specific, Greek-derived norms of Western Philosophy.
      So "philosophers" use the one, lesser meaning, to deny other cultures validity under the greater, more far-reaching meaning.
      But for functionally the entirety of white, male, European philosophers to effectively say that no other civilization can "love wisdom" because they didn't go to the same school is pretty colonialist/racist.
      Also, Derrida wrote a LOT of books for someone whose central conceit was "you can't ever really understand anything that anyone ever speaks or writes, because no two people have lived the same life."

    • @proudfootz
      @proudfootz 4 роки тому +1

      I studied Chinese philosophy at university, but I think it was out of interest rather than being a requirement.

  • @ianhunt9520
    @ianhunt9520 3 роки тому +658

    The dictionary thief b-plot is fucking gold

    • @misslenorelee6322
      @misslenorelee6322 3 роки тому +27

      refrencing for my own benifit later the B plot time stamps are 04:43 , 07:58 , 17:40 and 20:55

    • @bookbook9495
      @bookbook9495 3 роки тому +17

      I hope the dictionary thief is doing better

    • @spacegay9309
      @spacegay9309 Рік тому +1

      best redemption arc since avatar the last airbender

  • @davidw.carstens7367
    @davidw.carstens7367 4 роки тому +129

    I feel like this video somehow perfectly mixes contemporary, experimental philosophy tube with old school, stare into camera and talk about what some old dudes said Philosophy Tube. And I love it. It's amazing.

  • @tessfairfield6435
    @tessfairfield6435 4 роки тому +450

    “We are gonna build a beautiful wall”
    And then he died
    Olly getting crazy accurate over here

  • @AndroidInHumansClothing
    @AndroidInHumansClothing 3 роки тому +339

    Are we finally going to see Abi wearing the Lara Croft Outfit then?????!!!!!

  • @hazellye8720
    @hazellye8720 4 роки тому +414

    Nigel Piss needs to be a recurring character

    • @theslightlyhillyrider969
      @theslightlyhillyrider969 4 роки тому +41

      "Churchill's heroic heroism and why the Irish should be grateful" seriously got me there

    • @hmsthunderchild128
      @hmsthunderchild128 4 роки тому +1

      OMG HI HAZEL
      (- jake)

    • @ragavanvijay8189
      @ragavanvijay8189 4 роки тому +12

      B L A C K R O D

    • @theharbingerofconflation
      @theharbingerofconflation 4 роки тому +5

      He needs a longer subtitle like:
      Lord Piss of Water Closet Defecatingshire

    • @dwnjang
      @dwnjang 4 роки тому +6

      patron of several charities trying to alleviate concerns exacerbated by his company

  • @mattgilbert7347
    @mattgilbert7347 4 роки тому +861

    Confucius: "12 Rus For Life"
    I'll show myself out.

    • @KnjazNazrath
      @KnjazNazrath 4 роки тому +21

      Errybody gansta 'til Confucius come with his bois.

    • @brometheusjables2644
      @brometheusjables2644 4 роки тому +12

      Genius. You may allow yourself back in to stay...

    • @borekursbmv
      @borekursbmv 4 роки тому +1

      A classical example of mistranslation.

    • @mattgilbert7347
      @mattgilbert7347 4 роки тому

      @@Banexay I have returned! My place in the social order is clear.

    • @mattgilbert7347
      @mattgilbert7347 4 роки тому

      @@Banexay My ass is definitely an elite ass.

  • @Marlun42
    @Marlun42 4 роки тому +89

    "You are not the first person to live through times like these"
    Less comforting: We are *still* living through times like these after 2500 years...

    • @HenryTitor
      @HenryTitor 4 роки тому +4

      “Just another day, lads”

    • @clarkeybaby2955
      @clarkeybaby2955 4 роки тому +5

      Or is it just more of cycle of "times like these" and "time not like these". More reassuring, I think, cos it means there's a better time after this one.

    • @devilskind92
      @devilskind92 4 роки тому +3

      @@clarkeybaby2955 Times not like these seem very few and far between. And they tend to only apply to middle-class, because poor people have been in times like these every since... forever, I think.

    • @clarkeybaby2955
      @clarkeybaby2955 4 роки тому

      @@devilskind92 Very true. I would argue that even if you're at the bottom, your circumstances can still change for the better. I know it rings hollow but I think it's worth believing that something good will come.

  • @kwcl176
    @kwcl176 4 роки тому +167

    * the "儒" that means moist is actually 濡. It has the "氵" on the left which usually relates to water. The ”亻“ in 儒 usually refers to things related to people

    • @bannermanigans
      @bannermanigans 3 роки тому +8

      O H D E A R

    • @felooosailing957
      @felooosailing957 3 роки тому

      How can you relate these ideas though? Is there really no relation, I would guess that they are pointing out to something in common.

    • @kwcl176
      @kwcl176 3 роки тому +19

      @@felooosailing957 ok, i think it is quite common back in the ancient days for people to copy famous works because printers didnt exist. If you wanna read a book, you have to find a copy and copy the entire book down yourself. So its possible for people to write some of the characters wrong, especially when they look similar. This meant that when we decipher ancient chinese text, sometimes, the words arent exactly correct. We actually have to think about any words that look similar and find out the real word that should have been used in the context of that passage. This is why the word 儒 may mean 濡(moist) in the ancient context, because people are mixing the two words as they write.
      Looking at the ancient texts, the word 濡 (moist) is already used in this "氵" form during Confucius's era, meaning that this word isnt created in later dynasties. So this reduces the possibility of 儒 having the meaning of moist until later when there is a new word created to mean moist. I would stand by my first explanation that the word 儒 never meant moist, it was only due to errors in copy that created such confusion.

    • @kwcl176
      @kwcl176 3 роки тому +25

      @@felooosailing957 alright, so I was thinking maybe you are asking why the two words look so similar, so I did some further research. The two words originate from the word 需, but in hieroglyphs back then, the word looks like this 雨 (on top) +人 (below). To explain, it looks like rain is falling down onto the person below. This is used to describe someone who just stepped out of the shower (hence water is dripping down like rain) or someone whos sweating a lot. So it's quite easy to understand why 濡 means moist/wet as the word develops.
      For 儒, it is slightly more complicated. For that we look at another word, 去 and法. The word originated similar to 雨+人 but this time it is 人(on top)+口(below). In this context, the 人 doesnt just mean a person, but a renowned person, something like a teacher or an official. And the 口 means their words. Combined, it becomes the word 去 which means go, as in going to seek a teacher to ask him for his wisdom. The other word, 法 has a 氵(water sign). The symbolism of water can mean "to follow" or "to listen", since water flows following the shape of their surroundings. Hence, following what the teacher says, 法, means "the law". We obey the law.
      Going back to 儒, although the word doesnt have a 氵, the word itself from 需 already has a water element to it. The rain is a form of water, and that wets the entire person from head to toe. Using the symbolism of water, this can mean to follow/listen with your entire heart and soul. Combined with the meaning of 人 as teacher/official, the entire word means following the teacher/official. And later, the word becomes a noun, refering to those teachers and officials who are being followed. Hence the current definition of 儒.

    • @Kirhean
      @Kirhean 3 роки тому +10

      I get the sense that it's much simpler than people think.
      It's a pun.
      He's Moist because he does the gruntwork of actually managing things instead of sitting in court sipping tea.
      Y'know...he's sweaty.

  • @tenkaikagaya
    @tenkaikagaya 4 роки тому +439

    “Nigel Piss” is such a weird way to spell “Niall Ferguson”.

    • @Matt__B
      @Matt__B 4 роки тому +34

      If you write it in Chinese, the same characters can also be read as "David Starkey."

    • @AnonymousGhostwriter
      @AnonymousGhostwriter 4 роки тому +3

      I’M SCREAMING

    • @hangukhiphop
      @hangukhiphop 4 роки тому +6

      Brother of Turd Ferguson

    • @Molotov49
      @Molotov49 4 роки тому +2

      "THE CHINESE NEVER HAD A SECULAR ENLIGHTENMENT"

  • @nattiedraws
    @nattiedraws 4 роки тому +139

    I find it amazing how Confucius was so intelligent on bitcoin

  • @misteryA555
    @misteryA555 4 роки тому +1305

    This business lesbian speaks good words!

  • @TuskyBaby
    @TuskyBaby 4 роки тому +194

    Gosh its crazy how often Bitcoin shows up in ancient Chinese texts. So forward thinking!

  • @KeenoKolumna
    @KeenoKolumna 4 роки тому +161

    with the mustache he looks like how I imagine every character in agatha christie books

    • @MountSilky252
      @MountSilky252 4 роки тому +3

      Possibly Agatha Christie as well

  • @AJJ129
    @AJJ129 4 роки тому +251

    So he’s like Socrates his disciples wrote fanfics about him?

  • @TapDat52K
    @TapDat52K 4 роки тому +308

    Confucius: "Lads...I think I know how to fix this"
    Oh no...

    • @appleslover
      @appleslover 4 роки тому +10

      Fixing things is socialism.
      Wait..

    • @canukforce
      @canukforce 4 роки тому +4

      checks to see how many times China broke in it's history.

    • @appleslover
      @appleslover 4 роки тому +9

      @@canukforce *"China is whole again, and then it broke again"*

    • @JavierMD42
      @JavierMD42 4 роки тому +5

      @@appleslover Let's see how China is doing. *It broke again*

  • @fractalcat3696
    @fractalcat3696 3 роки тому +472

    How the hell did we NOT notice??? An acting goddess.

    • @mai-ya-hee
      @mai-ya-hee 3 роки тому +17

      I know right? She’s amazing

    • @KaterynaM_UA
      @KaterynaM_UA 3 роки тому +6

      EXACTLY

    • @TealJosh
      @TealJosh 3 роки тому +12

      Pardon my ignorance here. I'm a broken person. But is saying "I didn't notice" after the official coming out the polite thing to do? To celebrate it? I know that speculating about people in public is inappropriate and damaging, but I personally wasn't surprised when she came out. The kicker here is that I'm hyper vigilant due to PTSD and I notice social cues where some(or most?) don't. I find it hard to believe that my perception is this twisted.

    • @mme.veronica735
      @mme.veronica735 3 роки тому +14

      @@TealJosh It varies from person to person but for myself at least It'd be pretty validating. It'd be people acknowledging my femininity through out my life and proving that yes I was a woman even when they didn't know

    • @hawyee9090
      @hawyee9090 3 роки тому +19

      @@TealJosh personally, i've always found it kind of uncomfortable for people to comment that they already knew i was trans or bi after coming out. it feels a bit like the person is trying to steal my thunder or prove that they're The Best Ally TM instead of actually listening. however, in abigail's case, she is a public figure and unlikely to see any given comment, so i think anything short of tweeting or dm-ing her directly is probably okay :)

  • @XerxesTexasToast
    @XerxesTexasToast 4 роки тому +2477

    Abby: These characters mean "electric" and "brain"
    Me: Oh so a computer?
    Abby: SMART FLOWING THINKING ELECTRIC MEAT

    • @Kajifox
      @Kajifox 4 роки тому +160

      It's a great demonstration of two very different interpretations of what a computer does and how the language reflects them. It's neat.

    • @jdprettynails
      @jdprettynails 4 роки тому +78

      That part killed me. I had to pause the video for a good 10 minutes to calm down!

    • @KaishaLouise
      @KaishaLouise 4 роки тому +32

      it's 2 am and if i laugh too loudly the neighbours tell me off... this part was an amazing struggle :')

    • @kirstencorby8465
      @kirstencorby8465 4 роки тому +62

      "Electric meat." That's what WE are. Humans.

    • @51stcenturygirl
      @51stcenturygirl 4 роки тому +2

      Exactly

  • @ML-ig4vk
    @ML-ig4vk 4 роки тому +138

    I use to debate with my dad about the pillars of Confucianism when I was kid. Those debates about yi and li influenced my decision to pursue public interest as a lawyer. Civic duty is the balm of the soul

    • @emilehoffmann4620
      @emilehoffmann4620 4 роки тому +6

      Awesome! Have always thought that the belief in the goodness of the civic structure, would spur the defense/ 'proper working' of it

    • @horseenthusiast9903
      @horseenthusiast9903 4 роки тому +3

      Nice! I hope you have a very satisfying career. I think it's really important to teach kids early on how to learn about and understand things, and how to present their thoughts, since it's a skill they'll need a lot as adults. Philosophy is such a great teacher of those skills!

    • @yoavsnake
      @yoavsnake 4 роки тому

      +

    • @dezodroya
      @dezodroya 4 роки тому

      You mean "public defense"?

    • @jessjose3638
      @jessjose3638 4 роки тому

      Awww

  • @MrMatt135791113
    @MrMatt135791113 4 роки тому +288

    Your Jordan Peterson sounds aggressively like a caffeinated Kermit the Frog.

    • @yoavsnake
      @yoavsnake 4 роки тому +63

      Well...

    • @LKAChannel
      @LKAChannel 4 роки тому +91

      "your" is really redundant here

    • @butwithcats265
      @butwithcats265 4 роки тому +37

      Every Jordan Peterson sounds aggressively like a caffeinated Kermit the Frog

    • @TealWolf26
      @TealWolf26 4 роки тому +10

      Is.....he not?

    • @maxroyston5342
      @maxroyston5342 4 роки тому +12

      so... an accurate impression?

  • @justausername
    @justausername 3 роки тому +100

    "But even knowing that definition it still feels like I'm missing some context" killed me

  • @elimh1354
    @elimh1354 4 роки тому +221

    "Our government officials aren't supposed to insult each other" *distant, faint American sobbing*

    • @HoundofOdin
      @HoundofOdin 4 роки тому +6

      That's far more accurate than I'm comfortable admitting.

    • @HighPriestFuneral
      @HighPriestFuneral 4 роки тому +1

      I think we lost decorum when a man was nearly beat to death in the Halls of Congress shortly before the Civil War began.

  • @anfisachern8570
    @anfisachern8570 4 роки тому +343

    “AALphAaAbEeT” ah yes also known as what reading words is like as a beginner-level esl student

    • @horseenthusiast9903
      @horseenthusiast9903 4 роки тому +4

      Oof, lol...English is my first language, but that's also what it felt like learning to read Yurok (it uses phonetic spelling in the Latin alphabet, but like. For a few weeks it was reeaaally hard to convince my brain that ay = English ai, and ue = English oo).

    • @zoetv2170
      @zoetv2170 4 роки тому +2

      Amen! as an ESL teacher from a Latin American country I felt that to my core xddd

    • @larsbonau4067
      @larsbonau4067 4 роки тому +5

      I feel you. As a German, I strongly oppose the idea that it is possible to know how an English word is pronounced just by reading it.

    • @shenzhong2942
      @shenzhong2942 4 роки тому +1

      YES it’s exactly how i sounded when i first came to america and start to learn english

  • @korikian
    @korikian 4 роки тому +1899

    That Jordan Peterson impression escalated into Kermit the frog territory, i half expected a manic arm flail at the end. Love it!

    • @onyourleft5648
      @onyourleft5648 4 роки тому +97

      *kermit voice*
      “What you need to understand is the neo-marxists pulled a beautiful slight of hand”

    • @MarkSiefert
      @MarkSiefert 4 роки тому +26

      “YAAAAAAAAAAAY!”

    • @effie8547
      @effie8547 4 роки тому +29

      I legit thought Peter Jordanson was going to pull off his philosophy tube mask at the end of it. Dead on the mark.

    • @DamnZodiak
      @DamnZodiak 4 роки тому +17

      I can't decide if you just saved JP or ruined Kermit for me. Whatever it is, they're now forever entwined in my headcanon.

    • @irlshinigami4390
      @irlshinigami4390 4 роки тому +26

      Thing is ........he actually sounds like Kermit the frog.....like all the time. And I don't know why I didn't hear it sooner

  • @bunk-o2495
    @bunk-o2495 3 роки тому +193

    after I watched 'Identity' earlier today I've just let my autoplay keep showing me older videos. I've noticed new nuances to the things being said, and had moments where I remember thinking I noticed a deeper meaning to something she said but assumed that as a trans person I was... Idk? projecting, or assuming stuff. I've found a lot of comfort in Abigail's videos over the years, and especially the last few months, and found those moments (that I *thought* I was reading too much into) especially helpful.
    So I hope it's clear how deeply, from the very bottom of my heart I mean it when, I come to this particular video, and,I say:
    Seriously, that dictionary joke and Sir Nigel Piss are some of the funniest jokes/bits I have ever seen of all time.

    • @bunk-o2495
      @bunk-o2495 3 роки тому +19

      @@ppppppqqqppp I mean I wasn't 'looking' for signs and at the time I didn't even register them as like "oh is she...?" like, Abigail being trans didn't occur to me honestly. I just meant that like... some of the jokes or insights or whatever she would make would strike in me a chord in my deep gender feels. and historically that's something that I've usually only encountered via other trans people, but at the time it honestly was just something that was more like "oh it's nice that she *gets* even if she's cis", which is obviously a statement now recontextualized
      and you're right, reading into people and looking for signs is creepy and rude, and making assumptions based on that is worse still, but honestly I don't think that's what I was doing, in this case

    • @DanGrant365
      @DanGrant365 3 роки тому +6

      @@bunk-o2495 you are 100% okay, I appreciated your comment and where you were coming from. It's cool that you were able to find solace in Abi's past videos.
      Thales, while I believe your intent is genuine, please give it a rest with going in everyone's comments. Allow persons to express themselves and their thoughts. No, I don't think any of the such comments you've responded to are doing any harm. I do think it can be counterintuitive to go on extrapolating about what people's response to Abigail's coming out signifies for how people relate to gender in general,while discounting the intent behind what's being expressed here.

    • @londondeer
      @londondeer 2 роки тому +7

      @@bunk-o2495 She helped crack my egg last year and now everything just looks so different. It's funny how blind we can be towards ourselves and other people alike :') I'm so thankful for her insight and how much it helps me recontextualize my own life

  • @botanicallyaberry6406
    @botanicallyaberry6406 4 роки тому +65

    ''''
    The amount of hidden gems in the captions...the gift that keeps on giving

  • @emilyrln
    @emilyrln 4 роки тому +286

    *Highlights:*
    • sweet intro/outdo music.
    • “The Cambridge Chinese-to-English Dictionary translates [X] as...” “...Send bitcoin, nerd.”
    • BLACK.
    • ROD.

    • @gwenhope9931
      @gwenhope9931 4 роки тому +27

      And of course clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks

    • @domesticcat1725
      @domesticcat1725 4 роки тому +11

      And of course everything professor nigel piss says

    • @Liliputian07
      @Liliputian07 4 роки тому +7

      and the peterson impersonation

    • @Knubbelbubbelbubbel
      @Knubbelbubbelbubbel 4 роки тому +5

      the computer thing had me laughing tears

    • @supershinigami1
      @supershinigami1 4 роки тому +2

      Could you explain the stolen dictionary joke to me? Why not just say what it means? I had to google it myself and found out. Not that I'm complaining about that though.

  • @ncbgaming1159
    @ncbgaming1159 4 роки тому +123

    As a Chinese-American (ABC), I spat out my drink at "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks"

    • @usenlim
      @usenlim 4 роки тому +4

      As a Indonesian born Chinese I always wonder what other Chinese people around the world outside PRC think about themselves. Could you share?

    • @NosebleeddeGroselha
      @NosebleeddeGroselha 3 роки тому

      I was having lunch while watching the video.
      I had to clean my table, and my screen.

    • @pallingtontheshrike6374
      @pallingtontheshrike6374 2 роки тому

      @@usenlim china’s doing some weird finnicky shit but it’s working
      the us is doing some weird finnicky shit and it’s… working???

  • @owenb8596
    @owenb8596 3 роки тому +241

    2:39 We had hints and we STILL missed it

    • @InfiniteBubbles
      @InfiniteBubbles 3 роки тому +22

      I'll get my Lara croft costume to search for more Hints...

    • @sonicthehedgegod
      @sonicthehedgegod 3 роки тому +6

      holy shit lmao

    • @Frommerman
      @Frommerman 3 роки тому +6

      Missed it again just now until you pointed it out.
      Goddamn it we are all big dumb idiots.

    • @JackieTheCatfox
      @JackieTheCatfox 3 роки тому +15

      As if she never wore makeup before she came out? She was pretty open about it.

    • @sasak369
      @sasak369 2 роки тому +1

      My transfem gf was saying for like a year ahead that her trans-dar was going off. I would say it's not our place to speculate. I hold to that, but she she's certainly been vindicated.

  • @Leafeon56
    @Leafeon56 4 роки тому +662

    I once asked a friend who was a classics major what the classics stance on "death of the author" was, and she said, "we try to contextualize what the author said as much as possible, so what they meant IS important," and later went on to say "well, sometimes we cant guess what they meant, so its time to break out the Ouija Board and just ask them." and that lives in my brain rent-free. RENT FREE

    • @alicewyan
      @alicewyan 4 роки тому +31

      Then there's John David Ebert who actually goes and finds a medium to interview the philosophers he's interested in

  • @matousfiala5925
    @matousfiala5925 4 роки тому +158

    "we've seen what happens when rulers do the Confucian 'they go low, we go high' thing.
    All it takes is a handful of clowns like THE BLOODY JI FAMILY to decide they're gonna obstruct
    everything until they get their way and the whole thing collapses"
    oh wow, that seems extremely relevant in the US nowadays, extremely with the passing of justice Ginsberg

    • @xunzi4327
      @xunzi4327 4 роки тому +5

      Matouš Fiala there are chaotic men, there are no states that are chaotic themselves. There are men who create order, there are no rules that create order themselves. Rules are the beginning of order, and men are the beginning of rules. Without a gentleman, even if one has complete rules, one will fail to apply them appropriately, and so there will be chaos.
      - Xunzi chapter 12.
      Yeah, I’d say so.

    • @AMVactivists
      @AMVactivists 4 роки тому

      "they go low, we go high" was part of the Corbyn campaign mantra.... I think that's what he's referencing.

    • @xunzi4327
      @xunzi4327 4 роки тому

      AMVactivists it’s Michelle Obama

    • @AMVactivists
      @AMVactivists 4 роки тому

      @@xunzi4327 or both...? But eh.. the Obama's never lost an election

    • @nahometesfay1112
      @nahometesfay1112 4 роки тому +1

      @@AMVactivists it's also a common phrase. You may be familiar with "taking the high road"

  • @BladedArrowTBGamer
    @BladedArrowTBGamer 4 роки тому +406

    We have a lot of unsaid rituals and expectations. If someone walkked into a elevator, pressed the button, and then turned and faced the wrong way you would feel very uncomfortable even though nothing he did was aggressive.

    • @Harmonic0scillator
      @Harmonic0scillator 3 роки тому +19

      Can I please use this example in my post? - it is an incredible one!

    • @BladedArrowTBGamer
      @BladedArrowTBGamer 3 роки тому +12

      @@Harmonic0scillator go for it

    • @Kyrielsh1
      @Kyrielsh1 3 роки тому +30

      Same thing for shaking hands in some countries, it's the right hand... Just using your left hand repeatedly will make people go "what the heck, is he trying to piss me off or smth...?"

    • @tinyblueunicorn7807
      @tinyblueunicorn7807 3 роки тому +41

      Your example makes me think of that social experiment where three/four people stood in a lift each facing a corner/wall and when someone else got in they were confused but started doing it as well (despite not knowing why) and copying any other weird things they did too, because they felt the need to mimic what everyone else was doing and follow the unspoken rules of the lift. 😂

    • @theboxygenie
      @theboxygenie 2 роки тому +1

      Wait, which way is the wrong way?

  • @gorddude
    @gorddude 4 роки тому +327

    Sir Nigel Piss is incredible and had me crying laughing. I do hope he returns in a future video someday

    • @miloformiles
      @miloformiles 3 роки тому +35

      HE HAS MADE HIS GLORIOUS RETURN

    • @The100thonly
      @The100thonly 2 роки тому +16

      "It may appear to be an enormous waste of money and time..."

  • @lessonslearned2569
    @lessonslearned2569 4 роки тому +64

    And that is why, "May you live in interesting times," is seen as a curse.

    • @krrowthemyuii
      @krrowthemyuii 4 роки тому +12

      This year of 2020 has sure taught us that one!

  • @noelwhite6650
    @noelwhite6650 4 роки тому +133

    I'm taking "Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks" as a band name.

    • @ophel1a
      @ophel1a 4 роки тому +1

      DAMNIT, I feared I would encounter this. A tip of the hat to you, sir. Scoot your butt on up and ride Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks into the unholy ground.

    • @theheirslair9581
      @theheirslair9581 4 роки тому +1

      @@ophel1a don't worry, Electric Brain is still available

    • @ophel1a
      @ophel1a 4 роки тому +1

      @@theheirslair9581 You mean SMART FLOWING THINKING ELECTRIC MEAT™. Yeah. I trademarked that shiz.

  • @handsoaphandsoap
    @handsoaphandsoap 4 роки тому +126

    When you said the Lara Croft line I was genuinely hoping you’d whip out a banging Lara Croft cosplay moment

    • @francocarabajal9021
      @francocarabajal9021 4 роки тому +3

      Omg me too! But I guess it would've outshined or distracted from the topic at hand

    • @Turnip_king
      @Turnip_king 4 роки тому

      Next vid?

    • @Reruro
      @Reruro 4 роки тому

      Foreshadowing for sure

  • @ashoka9306
    @ashoka9306 3 роки тому +68

    "someone fetch my lara croft costume" SHE WAS FORESHADOWING!

  • @vd2485
    @vd2485 4 роки тому +1867

    Every time she pulls up the “dictionary” I keep forgetting the recurring bit. She gets me every time! She’s like “I’m gonna read from the dictionary now” and I’m like “okay, sounds good :)” and then she DOESNT read from the dictionary and each time I’m like :0!! **gasp**
    (Edited for the new pronouns. :) Have a nice day!)

    • @Rolan7196
      @Rolan7196 4 роки тому +77

      I kept anticipating the bit (after the first time) and giggling with relief. It's really interesting how light gags like this can ease an informational lecture!

    • @johndododoe1411
      @johndododoe1411 3 роки тому +18

      @@Rolan7196 His dictionary suffered a typical modern ransomware attack.

    • @The5lacker
      @The5lacker 3 роки тому +44

      Your dictionary doesn't ask you to send bitcoin? I thought everyone's did.
      ...
      Shit, I may need a new dictionary.

    • @batnacks
      @batnacks 3 роки тому +8

      It does annoy me a bit though, because I do want to know

    • @brendaleelydon
      @brendaleelydon 3 роки тому +5

      @@batnacks psst...m-w or dictionary, heck even google will do it for ya. :-D

  • @TheMrBrosef
    @TheMrBrosef 4 роки тому +326

    You had way too much fun with that Chinese "computer" joke

    • @mollypocrass4562
      @mollypocrass4562 4 роки тому +33

      Don't you mean just the right amount of fun?

    • @yoavsnake
      @yoavsnake 4 роки тому +20

      I think it was just the right amount of fun

    • @jamiel6005
      @jamiel6005 4 роки тому +9

      made me weep of laughter

    • @gewreid5946
      @gewreid5946 4 роки тому +2

      Really loved that bit

  • @Bigfatbutterfly02
    @Bigfatbutterfly02 4 роки тому +335

    Just me, a young, female historian popping over to the comments to see if anyone else literally met Sir Nigel Piss at their university. Or even, a couple of them. Were they running the history department? Yeah, same here.

    • @orifox1629
      @orifox1629 4 роки тому +76

      I watch someone talk about a Prager U video with one of those guys doing the whole "Actually british imperialism was good actually, because we c i v i l i z e d the world and made everything and everyone better."

    • @AgusSkywalker
      @AgusSkywalker 4 роки тому +41

      @@orifox1629 Yeah, H. W. Crocker III. A fake historian who lies about the British Empire.

    • @sheleavitt06
      @sheleavitt06 4 роки тому +24

      One of my history Professors literally said that if a people didn’t have a written language (that we can read) then they didn’t really have a civilization🤦🏻‍♀️

    • @CrisSelene
      @CrisSelene 4 роки тому +29

      @@sheleavitt06 I met one of those. Wasn't even a history professor, a literature one. She said that the germanic people were inferior to the Christian missionaries who "civilisied" them because they didn't have a proper written language, therefore they were not advanced enough. And that the Christians did them a service by introducing them to a system of faith with a deep philosophy behind it, unlike their polytheism (bitch what?) When I tried to counter argument that you don't measure a civilization by those standards, she told me to shut up, what would I know.

    • @orifox1629
      @orifox1629 4 роки тому +22

      @@sheleavitt06 wow that's so incredibly colonialist. Linguists would yell so much at that guy. Most cultures didn't develop written language on their own. Written language has only been invented independently 3-5 times (inclusive). So I guess English speaking countries never had civilization because they just use a derivative of an egyptian script?
      so i guess the only known civilizations are the Maya, the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Summerians, and possibly (though there's strong evidence apparently that they derived theirs from the Syriac script) the users of the Brahmi script.
      (i included Mayan in the definite side because i've heard that recently it has been decided to be a full writing system and not just a proto-writing system)

  • @mishapurser4439
    @mishapurser4439 3 роки тому +45

    I always give my laptop a name. Don't ask me why, it just spontaneously became a thing since my first laptop. And I've decided to call my new one Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks. Which is a bit different from Lappy Toppy, my first laptop.

  • @stoodmuffinpersonal3144
    @stoodmuffinpersonal3144 4 роки тому +390

    Hey Ollie, just want to say:
    Your content is perfect for "recovering from bottom surgery" vibes. I appreciate it!

    • @maglorian
      @maglorian 4 роки тому +58

      Hey, I hope it went well and wish to you all the good vibes you might want and need.

    • @fragiledate
      @fragiledate 4 роки тому +35

      eyyy hope youre doin great, congrats!

    • @sofiaisindie
      @sofiaisindie 4 роки тому +22

      Have a nice time healing from the surgery ✨💙💜

    • @lomouche
      @lomouche 4 роки тому +6

      Congratulations to you, wish you a fast recovery!

    • @thatsdisco
      @thatsdisco 4 роки тому +4

      congrats on being a top, comrade!

  • @saltyjustice4444
    @saltyjustice4444 4 роки тому +615

    The People: The rituals suck and everything is breaking down
    Master Kong: Do the rituals harder
    The People: Okay
    *Everything collapses*
    Master Kong: Damn it, maybe if we did the rituals *even harder*...

    • @TheoEvian
      @TheoEvian 4 роки тому +40

      They tried to do exactly that in Edo Japan

    • @olddog476
      @olddog476 4 роки тому +10

      Mozi: I Told you so.

    • @kristianjensen5877
      @kristianjensen5877 4 роки тому +18

      *rituals intensify*

    • @daedreaming6267
      @daedreaming6267 4 роки тому +49

      The beatings will continue until morale improves.

    • @WraithMagus
      @WraithMagus 4 роки тому +48

      I think it's a little unfair to judge Confucius purely on political activism terms, because as far as I've read about him, that wasn't his driving purpose. (I should point out that because of my eurocentric education, I mainly learned of Confucius from David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years.) Confucius represents to China essentially the same shift from what Nietzsche called "Master Ethics" to "Slave Ethics" that occurred in the west with the change from pagan religions and ethics to monotheistic religions and ethical models.
      Basically, in Taoism or paganism, might made right. As with how a lot of Conservative "Christians" like to believe today, wealth is proof of your own virtue. If you weren't virtuous, the gods wouldn't let you have all that wealth, so if one man is wealthy and powerful and another is poor and destitute, that is just proof that the strict social hierarchy is working, and if the poor are hunted and eaten by the rich, then they must have deserved it. (I'm sure those poor people had been suspended from school for marijuana possession at some point or otherwise Were No Angel, the fact that they were killed is proof they are a sinner deserving of death. You can tell it's good reasoning by how circular it is!)
      The "Slave Ethics" response was to say that there are measures of a person's worth beyond their material goods or accomplishments, and that just having a statue of yourself built or getting some major plaza where they drop a ball every new year named after yourself doesn't mean your actions were just or ethical.
      The thing that Confucius was so adamantly opposed to was the commercialization of ethics. Buddhism was an Indian religion spread throughout China mostly by Chinese merchants that liked the way that Buddhism talked about debt. Buddhism holds that to attain enlightenment, one has to sever worldly ties, which includes repaying all debts so as to have a state of total social balancing... and taken in literal terms, this means a literal balancing of the checkbook with all debts repaid, including to those moneylenders preaching Buddhism. One way in which one had to repay debts was to one's parents (you are born owing your parents a debt just for giving birth to you), which it's worth noting was pushed by the temples as being most heavily repaid by paying for the Buddhist funerary rights for your parents when they died. Basically, pay for a Buddhist funeral service or go to hell. Peasants went into debt for these expensive funeral services. It was the leading cause of debt (a literal debt taken on to repay a metaphorical one that was thrust upon people unwillingly in the first place), to the point that in times of famine, peasants would sell themselves and their whole families into slavery to pay for their parent's funerals. The Buddhist temples, having nothing to do with so much money, basically collected all the precious metals in the world (all of Europe's metal coinage at this time was being traded to China for porcelain and silk to the point Europe ran out of coins) until they were making enough 30 foot tall solid bronze/silver/gold statues of Buddha that China periodically had to raid temples on pretenses just to get some of the metal back for the world economy. (See also the gilding of Vatican City after the Spanish plundered the Aztecs.)
      Faced against that, simply saying "money doesn't buy ethics", or that proof of whether someone is "qualified" to change the world doesn't come from owning a large enough corporation to bankroll multiple UA-cam channels that preach your views of the world seems pretty alright by me. Compare him to Jordan Peterson if you want, but Confucius never said that anyone who disagrees with the entrenched power structures is a "virtue signaller" that should just go clean their rooms.

  • @lancialonginus
    @lancialonginus 4 роки тому +125

    "天" is kinda a reversed personal god, so instead of viewing people as a creation out of God's image, the divine is embodied in people.
    The etymology of the character "天" is a human figure with an emphasised head (initially, it was not emphasised) which can also be seen as a ligature of the character "大" (grand) and “一” (one). "大" is also a depiction of the human form.
    So then, in knowing "天" and “大", one might see what "忠恕" are, that the object of loyalty and devotion is the highest consciousness which finds manifestation in one's most earnest self; the subject, and by being loyal and devoted to one's true self, one is also loyal and devoted to the existence. Hence objectivity and subjectivity are in consensus rather than contention.
    The same goes for tolerance and forgiveness out of which comes deference which gives rise to propriety and etiquette that can be further institutionalised into law and order and ultimately into the constitution of democracy; this is "禮".
    Etymologically speaking, "禮" is made up of "礻/示" with "二" denoting "the above" and "川" denoting "manifestation", so in ligature "示" as a radical is used in divinely/metaphysically related characters. The "豊" part of "禮" is made up of "曲" and "豆" with "豆" being a depiction of a tall-legged vessel and "曲", depiction of the offering held by the vessel. So "禮" is the act/procedure of divine offering, but it's more prominently used in day-to-day phrases such as "禮儀", "禮貎" which chiefly correspond to "propriety" and "etiquette". So in the traditional spirit, Chinese see social conducts to be rooted in divinity.
    Back to the Analects, personally, if I had to pick out one single most profound saying, it would be "Is humanity distant? I desire humanity, such humanity arrives" (仁遠乎哉?我欲仁,斯仁至矣) of Chapter 7 Passage 29. This enlightens individuality, giving it an unshakeable basis, which is further made clear in Chapter 15 Passage 28, "It is people who enlighten the Path (Dao/Tao), not the Path that enlightens people" (人能弘道,非道弘人).

    • @zoebrandon-smith8184
      @zoebrandon-smith8184 4 роки тому +12

      As a casual Chinese learner, this comment has revolutionised both how I approach the language, and how I interpret my own philosophy of self 😅
      Thank you so much this!! 谢谢您!

    • @Dodovacer
      @Dodovacer 4 роки тому

      I like your comment, but if I am not mistaken the etymology of 禮 in 甲骨文 is lacking the radical, so the word has been reconceptualized (?), in general as I am not a native speaker I can not really tell the nuances you are aware of, I was just warned by my professors how many changes the texts and even the characters and their language made over the thousands of years, which is so fascinating but also troubeling about studying 古文. :)

    • @lancialonginus
      @lancialonginus 4 роки тому +7

      @@Dodovacer Yes, you are right for "禮". I don't know if it's called reconceptualisation, but there are a lot of instances where a character is given a radical to repeat its intrinsic meaning. As for native speakers though, they have even less idea about the nuances as the Chinese education system does not include any etymology study since at one point in time a few decades ago, they were hare-brained to wipe out the logograms, so Chinese characters were only taught for memorisation. I sought out etymology only a few years ago after I dug into Chinese philosophy.

    • @danemeow8
      @danemeow8 4 роки тому

      Thank you for this! Also having studied Japanese a bit the first character 天 is "ten" in japanese and also means 'heaven', but possibly used more literally now, not sure if thats a modern context. And 天使 "tenshi" means 'angel'. Im also not sure of the context of that; if it actually was meant to represent a being from heaven like the west understands in christian context or possibly some kind of benevolent being from lore that just got the idea of 'angel' slapped on it. Sort of like how "oni" is translated to ogre or demon and "akuma" is also demon. With "aku" meaning 'evil' as far as i know. (I just studied for few years in high school and it was all totally practical and modern based so forgive if im ignorant please haha its been a long time since even those lessons)

    • @threehotdogs
      @threehotdogs 4 роки тому

      It also means sky and heaven in some translations; this word in common use refers to those two things.

  • @justintempus7406
    @justintempus7406 4 роки тому +47

    "You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter" ~Confucius.

  • @justinn9691
    @justinn9691 4 роки тому +634

    “Someone fetch me my Lara Croft costume.”
    *doesn’t*
    ... WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY. THERE ARE RULES!

    • @Nonsense010688
      @Nonsense010688 4 роки тому +34

      he didn't do the ritual...

    • @renatocorvaro6924
      @renatocorvaro6924 3 роки тому

      Olly shows his Lara Croft costume or we riot.

    • @valyushalee2320
      @valyushalee2320 3 роки тому +7

      @@renatocorvaro6924 Abby!

    • @gfox-ck5xx
      @gfox-ck5xx 3 роки тому +8

      @Owen Howard [Student] we hope comrade. we hope...

    • @TheAyanamiRei
      @TheAyanamiRei 3 роки тому +2

      I am legit sad there was no Lara Croft costume T_T

  • @marcsutton7252
    @marcsutton7252 4 роки тому +104

    The computer gag hit my electric brain with a wave of nostalgia for mid 2000's Weebls-Stuff cartoons and I don't know how to feel about that

    • @C.I...
      @C.I... 4 роки тому +5

      DEPLOYING THE BROWN NIGEL!

    • @miguelmartin901
      @miguelmartin901 4 роки тому +3

      I needed this in my life 6:34

  • @joshuacollins385
    @joshuacollins385 4 роки тому +410

    'DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU'
    Unless you're a masochist. That's a really important caveat.

    • @lazergurka-smerlin6561
      @lazergurka-smerlin6561 4 роки тому +35

      Well, I doubt that masochists would want to be unconsentually hurt. But if they're into non-con that's a problem

    • @potmki6601
      @potmki6601 4 роки тому +16

      This surely doesn't cover the whole set of morals and has some important nuances. And proper consent is mighty important

    • @lazergurka-smerlin6561
      @lazergurka-smerlin6561 4 роки тому +2

      @@potmki6601 I mean it would if people all thought the same about what is and isn't moral. But that certainly isn't the case

    • @joshuacollins385
      @joshuacollins385 4 роки тому +22

      @@potmki6601 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' has a lot of problems, because people want different things and have different needs.
      'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you if you were them' or 'Do unto others as they would like' or 'Make other people feel nice' might work better, but they all have problems too.

    • @OnerousEthic
      @OnerousEthic 4 роки тому +6

      Don’t forget the Sadists!

  • @vulcan_nova
    @vulcan_nova 2 роки тому +39

    To this day, the modulated voice interpretation of chinese characters is still one of my favorite bits.

    • @misteryA555
      @misteryA555 Рік тому +2

      I came back here 90% to see that part again lol

  • @Talimara1
    @Talimara1 4 роки тому +226

    Dictionary thief has best redemption arc.

  • @ananas_anna
    @ananas_anna 4 роки тому +192

    That whole “black rod” bit is kinda like in Canada where whenever there’s a new Speaker or something (I can’t remember which position it is) they get a few people to literally drag them to their seat to symbolize that they don’t really want to have this important position.

    • @sanityisrelative
      @sanityisrelative 4 роки тому +13

      Now waiting to hear what weird shit Australians and New Zelanders do in their parliaments.

    • @condorscondor
      @condorscondor 4 роки тому +56

      @@sanityisrelative pretty sure the aussie Parliament just does loud overt racism.

    • @yoavsnake
      @yoavsnake 4 роки тому

      +

    • @Quintinohthree
      @Quintinohthree 4 роки тому +7

      This is the practice with the UK's Speaker, so gottavbe that one.

    • @appleslover
      @appleslover 4 роки тому +17

      It was because the king of England used to execute the speaker when he didn't like the outcomes
      So dragging him is a manifestation of how dreaded the job was

  • @elizabethvillasana4303
    @elizabethvillasana4303 4 роки тому +46

    “Clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks” has me thinking “oh so u mean the nervous system?” 🤯

  • @redxraccoon
    @redxraccoon 4 роки тому +315

    Not gonna lie, I watched "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks" eLeCtRic BrAAAin" way too many times