Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - Coinbase: coinbase.com/lex to get $5 in free Bitcoin - InsideTracker: insidetracker.com/lex and use code Lex25 to get 25% off - NetSuite: netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour - Ladder: ladderlife.com/lex - Sunbasket: sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off 0:19 - Existentialism 20:27 - Nietzsche and nihilism 38:03 - Dostoevsky 53:30 - Camus and suicide 1:12:00 - The Big Lebowski 1:19:49 - Ayn Rand 1:29:57 - Evil 1:40:31 - Heidegger 1:52:11 - Hubert Dreyfus 1:58:04 - Moby Dick 2:09:19 - David Foster Wallace 2:29:31 - Can AI make art? 2:49:15 - Meaning of life
Mr Kelly you are incredibly knowledgeable and engaging. this Africa so your parents prolly finna give you flack if you try go into philosophy, i think sitting them through one of your lectures would be an apt response. kewl i am done being formal now. i would give my pinky toe to sit through one of this gentleman’s lectures. WOW! until recently i struggled with keeping up w the complexity of Nietzsche’s writing. Sir, you are riveting. ljust realized i could voice the mental comments i always make when i listen to your conversations. ok. generally. 1. bro, you put me ON!!! you are an incredibly humble being dude. ridiculous!! “i see myself as the idiot” -> goes on to participate in the creation of technologies that are gonna change the world and the way we live life! i am a tool myself but also just getting out of being a lazy poop head. thank you for sharing you with the world Lex “Rothul”(is your nickname, colorful roots, details another time, it’s 6am in SA n i wna get swole) Fridman. you’re part of why i am learning to love learning again, seriously. you and my best mate(who introduced me to you, and thinking) changed my life. Jordan Peterson gets a LOT of clout, and he has compelling ideas and he be sounding hella smart, kodwa, YOU?????!!!! not just a compelling set of ideas, queries into the fields and experts of that you interview. dude you have a compelling warmth. you are not just someone who has a lotta smart shit to say(bro, you are not the idiot stop it lol). man, you are relatable. you are someone who’s comfort in himself, love for love, love for life, BREATHING, simple shite man, like how a cloudy morning and a sunny morning are all beautiful in their own way. not afraid to say “i’m not sure homie, but show me and i’ll try to understand and if i don’t i’ll keep asking” 2. hahahaha this guy is such a lecturer he be like “Good!” when you ask a good question. he kinda makes you look a tool but just because you’re literally the only student in his lecture and how could you not look a tool discussing a professional’s field as a novice in it(bust out the computer jives and some shades homie😎) best kind of lecturer. he’d probably give daps even if your question ate smelly bum(let’s be real some questions are straight stupid). nothing more refreshing than somebody who makes you feel “Good!” for your desire to learn from them, share their knowledge, help you form your own understanding of what they know, instead of making you out to be the village eejit🥲 3. soz, on my phone. i reiterate, your podcasts have CHANGED MY LIFE. and finally, in conclusion. i am stealing your suit swag soon as i can sorry i can’t support w money man imma bwoke bwoi but take some LOVE BIG BRAIN HOMIE!!!!! *HIGH FIVE* *BRO HUG W THE FIRM BUT BROTHERLY BACK PATS* (pardon my fan-girling, MONTHS of mental *HOLEE POOPOO MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING* comments) thank you so much again bro. you make the world better and i am certain MANY if not most if not each n erry one of em
sorry i kind of jump between referral to the conversation(i wanna say lecture cause of how much i learnt, feels a “Good!” fit. would give Mr(Prof?? Sir??{not as in you were knighted, as in you are an elder, i’m tryna be respectful}) Kelly a hug end of semester. hope he has a podcast. referral to my feelings regarding following your(Lex) podcasts over a year now. couldn’t help you understand with words.
Your questions keep getting better and better and it really shows that you take people's suggestions to heart. This podcast is awesome, you should be proud.
This is super interesting.. would love one focusing on British empiricism and pragmatism.. but, and as for the topics in this video, I can indulge the nonsensical side of philosophy for a few hours!! Just kidding! Super interesting..
@David K not exactly sure what you mean. I don’t know I found the less ideal and more kinda “practical” side of philosophy from Locke and Hume up through pierce and James (those empirical/pragmatic traditions) to really have lasting, positive imprints on modernity… but the ideal existential side is fun to wade through every now and then…. .. and in some sense I guess there is kind of a radical practicality to some aspects of the ideal/existential (continental) traditions..
Good professors are such good speakers, they construct a complex set of ideas in their minds and start unfolding bit by bit, sentence by sentence without losing track or deviating from the main point. That's marveling to my chaotic mind.
really? REALLY??? sigh 10:20 -- Personally, having divorced the "soft" sciences, I'd like to try "dating" the HARDER, more technical & truly scientific, IMHO, experts of what was originally called the "natural sciences" who try applying science for the benefit of all mankind, respect ALL life, and seek to honor the Creator by "thinking His thoughts after Him." MARANATHA!
@@henrytoledo4103 It's the thoughtfulness behind the questions to bring out the best of each interviewee that does it for me. There are many "colorful" personality types that have no depth or critical thought abilities. If I want humor or "colorful" personalities I can easily watch a comedic based podcaster- most of which would never have guests that appear here. Lex is a master when it comes to extracting critical ideas, deep thinkers & tying it all in with the underlying message of love for all & the pursuit of curiosity.
Your unshakeable optimism is so pure and beautiful, Lex. I share your capacity to find unreasonable levels of joy in small events, and it's something I really value about myself and hope I never lose. I hope you never lose it, either. Thanks for helping me understand existentialism a lot better than before, and for introducing me to Sean Kelly. I am embarking on a reading of the Great Books and wish I had him as a guide, but I'll check out the title he co-authored with his professor from Berkeley as it sounds like a good thing to read as I start this adventure!
This is absolutely my fave so far. Like I’ve read many others say tonight here, this was much much needed. I think now more than ever we feel so alone and trapped inside ourselves and powerless to so much happening- yet if we choose to persist, there is still such a powerful inner demand to find something to hold on to that is “worth it” or meaningful for us despite how bleak this existence truly can be.
What do you guys think about god or an afterlife? I still want to believe that there is something after this life but I don’t really know what to believe anymore
I think that since the beginning of time, our purpose as humans was to survive (ex: cave people), and then we evolved, but ultimately, I think that our purpose, like any other animal, is to survive whatever challenges we face. Whether it is external forces (natural disasters, accessing food, physical health issues, etc.) or internal forces (depression, mental health issues, etc.). Maybe it seems meaningless because there are so many ways to survive and so many ways to die, but it's not so clearly laid out and planned how we are supposed to live our lives.
The Lex Fridman Podcast is a gift to the world. I feel grateful to be living in this time with this kind of content so easily and freely available to anyone with an internet connection and a device.
This was a phenomenally well-managed interview, Lex. This was the most well synchronized dance I have listened to you have thus far in in my consumption of your content
It is well managed because he digs deep and doesn’t allow a platitude to go improperly explored. He also adds his own analogies to round out the ideas.
Before this podcast I was a listener, now I am a fan. This episode was insightful, provoking but also inviting, filled with references and clear explanations. I have never heard of Sean Kelly beforehand so thank you Lex for an entertaining episode 🏆
I’ve been watching Rogan podcasts and J Peterson lectures for 6+ years, about as long as I’ve been a single parent/mom . Your podcast is another one of those spaces that adds so much value to my life, and ultimately my son’s life via the content of your podcasts and those similar to yours, and at times they help tremendously with daily struggles. Your podcast really helps make me a better parent in many ways. Thanks to you and all of your guests!
@@Will45_ It causea me physical pain to hear Rogan and Peterson changed your life while watching an interview discussing figures like Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Fanon. If God isn't dead, he has abandoned us.
@45:38 I totally agree. I’m an Arab, from the very bosom of Arabia, and use English on a daily basis, given the cosmopolitan, multicultural milieu of 21st Arabia, which forces a person such as myself, to use English as a lingua franca when conversing with non-Arabs. I do feel that I’m a slightly different person when talking in English, in comparison to uttering sentences in Arabic for instance. The same applies when I speak Dutch (My Godmother is Dutch), or when I speak Spanish or Japanese. My state of mind, somehow alters how my mindset operates! I don’t know if that makes any sense, or I lack the proper wiring, that would enable me to eloquently articulate the disposition I notice about myself after a long conversation in any of these languages that I speak. Incidentally, the same goes for reading. When I speak English by way of example, I have a hopelessly standard American accent, that was probably mimicked subconsciously from all the American movies, comics, and video games I consumed as a millennial growing up in Arabia. Nonetheless, that Arsenal of popular culture, does not hold its ground, when I read books everyday, given the hopeless bibliophile that I am, as I start reading with a thick posh English accent, or someone who attended Eton or Harrow for some reason. I can switch easily to my speaking accent, but by default, my reading is always in that specific British accent for some reason. I don’t know 🤷♂️ but I always find it fascinating, and equally astonishing is how strong my memory is. Given the amount of reading I do, and the languages I speak, the database of which I unlock everyday.
Awfully kind of you, thanks dude. A lot of work goes into it, and has gone into it throughout the past two decades and a half. It’s fascinating how I still learn new words that I have to look up everyday without fail, including words in my mother tongue Arabic. It’s like that Frank Zappa quote; “So many books, so little time.” I just know that I’ll never be able to encompass all that is Arabic, let alone the other languages, Even if I was handed a solid century, with all my physical and mental faculties intact. Nonetheless, maybe it’s that fragility that makes us go on. It’s that fact precisely, that makes one strive ever more, in the seemingly never-ending pursuit for knowledge. Because it lays beyond the confines of our grasp. We somehow continue our folly of a pursuit, in trying to apprehend that which will never be ours. On the other hand, our collective endeavors, is what makes the accumulation possible. Oh dear! I’ve been carried away with my thoughts once again. Do forgive me kind sir, and thanks again. I always found the Architect most pleasing 😅
As a native bilingual person who did some translating and interpreting I'm the past, your proposed project sounds phenomenal and very much needed! I've enjoyed reading different translations of an original text across translators in one language or across two other languages. The effect is akin to stereopsis: having two slightly different takes on a text, when merged in the reader's mind, yields another dimension and a fuller approximation of the meaning in the source language.
@Jack I'm a twat who would interpret "who did some translating and interpreting I'm the past" as "who did some translating and interpreting in the past." Because, in the end, I'm the one who is the _real_ past.
I can’t believe I spent three hours watching a video about existentialism, and it was great. I loved how clearly Sean Kelly spoke and I also loved how Lex Friedman kept returning to the story of Miles Davis and how he turned the wrong note into something wonderful. Excellent.
These conversations bring so much value to those who are willing to listen. I am incapable of resisting the optimism that grows inside me as I watch two minds fearlessly engaged in deep conversations about meaningful subjects. To me, they are an antidote to the bleakness of existence. Thank you.
Thank you Lex! This was an amazing podcast, I listened to it on Spotify but I came over to UA-cam just so I could make a comment about how much I appreciate your podcast
Lex, I wanted to let you know how much this podcast helped me think through my own existential struggle with finding meaning in the seemingly meaninglessness of the probable simulation we find ourselves in. To find meaning in the meaningless, and to understand my struggle with life's purpose through my lense of a semi nihilist-simulationist has been a struggle lately as the world seems lost. I hope you read this comment and understand the value your mind and inquisitiveness brings to the world and those in need. Well done! This will be an episode I save and revisit! Keep up the great work my dude
If you wonder about meaning in life you could note a u tube video elon musk has about religion .when interviewed about what is the meaning of our existence,he has some interesting thoughts.If you imagine say a thousand years ago when Religion insisted that God made the universe/world ..then with astrophysics it seems the big bang theory created the universe /world.The debate before was about did God or someone create everything.Now it's about whether the other 20 billion earth's in our galaxy have life or intelligent life.The question itself changes as we know more...we learn to ask different/more pertinant questions.In Elon's video he applies this change of perspective to your enquiry about the meaning of life and hypotheses whether we will discover a more pertinent question to ask if we learn more about greater subjects encompassing your enquiry.
This was... Phenomenal! The exchange of ideas, the connection of so many different concepts... Wonderful, Lex and Sean! Thank you for conversing and sharing. 💚
I remember a fellow Classics student in college who use comp sci to catalogue and sort the uses of certain words across like 100 different translations of the Odyssey. I was blown away at the application of comp sci in classics and linguistics and I bet Lex would love that.
Russians are a very deeply feeling people and have gone through much turmoil and losses over history. I had a friend from Russia at work and sensed he exptessed himself in a more emotive way but the others in this gvmt office were not very receptive, almost deprecatating because he had this emotion in his conversation. I can see how having the conversation speaking Russian interpeting meaning in English would be most interesting. He was a very honest sincere man I have met. He was never fake or trying to mislead others. He was himself where he came from his culture not trying to persuade or impress but was very real. His feelings would be hurt subtlely when people misinterpeted him. He was educated and very intelligent and I accepted and liked his way of expressing his views, impressions and personality. He made life richer knowing him. Deeply sincete man.
Hi, Lex. There's a fragment of a conversation where you discuss the peculiarities of translating Dostoevsky into English. You lamented the fact that you couldn't find more comprehensive works. Actually, Russian linguists have already done research on this topic. These are not books, but dissertations/thesis. For example, T.V. Vasilchenko has a thesis entitled "F.M. Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov in English-language translations" - Роман Ф.М. Достоевского "Братья Карамазовы" в англоязычных переводах. It is about 200 pages long, and as I understand, it covers exactly the topic you mentioned in the video. Thank you for your videos! Greetings from Russia!
Excellent dialogue - a conversation between two bright gentlemen who have a love of the big questions, philosophy and literature. Also Sean Kelly is so enthusiastic and passionate about the books and writers he teaches in his classes and writes about in his book(s).
Like you, Lex, I'm blessed with a capacity for frequent joy. It is a wonderful thought path to contemplate moments of 'aliveness'. I began at once. The first that came to mind was hurrying home up a long steep hill from school, age 15, rushing into my room, throwing down my schoolbag, and playing Chopin on the piano.
This might be my favorite podcast of yours Lex! Totally engrossing from start to finish. I almost skipped it because it wasn’t about AI, neural networks, science, math or bio-hacking…or some combination thereof. I’m so glad I gave it a shot. You and Sean Kelly are in the zone together on this one! What a beautiful philosophical discussion! Great job on both sides of the desk! 👏👏 👏
I am someone from India. Because of some of my own choices and because of some I was thrown into - I don't think I'll ever have the opportunity to study in Stanford and to listen to someone like this talk about philosophy or life. Thanks to the internet and Lex Fridman - I can enjoy and cherish this conversation.
Lex really asked the perfect questions in this session. Both of them we're operating on the same level of understanding, but Lex just needed the enlightening clarifications. I can tell Sean Kelly was having a great time and was happy to talk with someone who was keen to learning philosophy in an exciting way.
From 41:00 to 42:52, the explanation of how Sartre & Dostoevsky are antipodes is so simple, and so elegant. Great interview, Lex. It's really a privilege to listen to Sean Kelly's brilliance.
Lex, among many other things, you are a total bad-ass! With all due respect. 💜 And I love watching you dismantle the tower of Babble one brick at a time.
I'm SO much happier since giving up my cell phone. Goal: The learn to enjoy the passage of time .. with the least amount of stress possible .. and the most amount of laughter and joy from realizing how great it feels to GIVE to others and be grateful just to be alive to experience this amazing Life we've been blessed to be thrown into.
The fact that the Lex Fridman Podcast has 1.5 million subscribers on UA-cam alone is enough to restore my faith in humanity in times of trepidation 🙏🦅🗻
An absolutely great episode! It’s amazing how our understanding and norms are so dependent on the current technological culture. Maybe optimization shouldn’t be our end goal. Loved how Sean challenged our understanding. Please interview more philosophers and historians.
I was so glad to see Lex mention that his love of life is largely genetic. You're lucky man, your very existence is joyous and that's probably one of the luckiest things you can have.
Lex your work has been inspiring, you are by far the best project that came out of Joe Rogan's circle/influence! Would be amazing to see you interview Mr. Thomas Sowell!
The very best conversation so far. I love Ayn Rand, didn't discover her until my late seventies. She acknowledges how much the world owes to Aristotle.
Wow, Lex. Amazing episode and very engaging. Not only were you and your host clicking, but I haven’t been this absorbed in a conversation in a long time via podcast/UA-cam. I really think I will keep replaying this one…so many gems.
agreed! it's the kind of conversation that brings a feeling of comfort - it's a very compassionate exchange, like one doting fathers would have... very cozy. my Kindergarten teacher (ok, this goes back over 40 years ago haha) had a term that fits : it was 2-fold, yin-yang kind of term. 'cold pricklies' or 'warm fuzzies'? THIS was a warm fuzzies kind of deep talk. ❤️
This has to be one of the best interviews/podcasts that I've ever watched. Lex's ability to really understand his guest and offer great talking points or critiques combined with Sean's enthusiasm and lovely referential way of explaining concepts, made for something really special.
1:06:30 , I used to think this too. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that depression completely kills your will to check out other rooms. Which sucks, because what you're saying is true. Other rooms could hold the meaning and happiness you've been looking for. Gathering the strength & support to check them is what's hard.
Вас удивительно слушать. Потрясает масштабность вашей личности, когда философия и вопросы бытия вас волнуют не вопреки, а наряду с наукой, в которой вы видный деятель. Браво!
Now that I've discovered this man, I have no choice but to listen to 1-3 podcasts per day until I'm all caught up whilst also making my way through all of his shorter videos. It's just what I need to do. Edit: comment #1111✨
Thank you, this was wonderful. Also, thank you for darkening your studio, it helps to fall asleep without much light emitted from the IPad while resting and playing these podcasts.
This might be your best episode to date. There have been many great ones but this was 3 hours of insightful and accessible thought and discussion on philosophy which can be useful for audiences of all levels.
1:00:00 My fiftieth year had come and gone, I sat, a solitary man, In a crowded London shop, An open book and empty cup On the marble table top. While on the shop and street I gazed My body of a sudden blazed; And twenty minutes, more or less, It seemed so great my happiness, That I was blessed, and I could bless W. B. Yeasts
Lex, I am always so humbled by listening to your conversations. I found this one particularly valuable after a long and difficult week. Especially the part on Camus. Thank you.
Throughout my life I’ve had to go through things like homelessness, starvation, threatened to be murdered, attacked by humans and animals, car crashes, etc. Often on counter people who seem to be going through stress levels that were similar to mine and it would confuse me often when I try to help them and I realize that not only were the issues something like that they found someone attractive who didn’t find them attractive back but that also these people seem to be frustrated with the idea that someone could offer them advice on how to manage their anxiety. I wish I was smart like Lex so that I could articulate my experiences in a manner that allowed people to grow from what I’ve grown from.
Society needs more of these types of conversations. 30 minutes in I was able to that tell this would be my favorite podcast of yours, and I am happy to say I was right. We are all philosophers in life, just not all of us know it, and hardly any of us are as well trained as we wish to be. Well never reach the status of an ideal philosopher, but podcasts like this help us get closer to it, and subsequently, to become better people.
Sartre has always hated bourgeois manners, since he had been a kid. And don't get me started on what he did during the war, as he benefitted of these troubled times to take a removed Jewish professor's chair, and published in pro-collaboration journals. Sartre is a pure opportunits who rewrote his own history to bootstrap his own legend. If you're looking for a good role model, have a look to his former friend Raymond Aron, or to Camus.
@New You'd better hate all weakness and some confirmity. More precisely, you should make a distinction between conformity and conformism. Conformism is the view that conformity is always good, in all places, at all times, in everything you do or think. Conformity can be useful in many places (as it reduces the interfacing complexity between you and the others), and detrimemtal in others ; wisdom is knowing when it's useful and when it's not. In a way, a strict anti-conformist is both a conformist (as he is obsessed with what others do, even if it's to do the contrary) and an antisocial personality (as he always choses to do what's the most costly for the rest of the world).
Hi Lex, I never usually comment and I doubt you’ll ever see this but here goes… just finished listening and it’s probably the the best podcast I’ve ever listened to. You both really listened to each other and your questions were absolutely fantastic. Thank you for all your hard work and for being the rare kind who is as good of a listener as a talker!
Really looking forward to the Pevear and Volokhonsky interviews. I speak no Russian, but I find their translations to be so much more enjoyable than the other translations I've always given up on.
This discussion was definitely a learning experience, and one I could relate to. Sean Kelly really brought out the best in you, Lex. I never knew your mindset was that optimistic by your demeanor. The part on boredom was something I have put into practice as much as I can for the past year or so. When you have things to think about you can't be bored. When you try to see the different perspectives and paradoxes within every part of life there's a lot to think about. You're limited only by your knowledge and ability to think abstractly and in that regard... reading and experiencing life are fundamental. Oh, and language is intrinsic, even the words you use to communicate with yourself as well as others are important.
Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions:
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0:19 - Existentialism
20:27 - Nietzsche and nihilism
38:03 - Dostoevsky
53:30 - Camus and suicide
1:12:00 - The Big Lebowski
1:19:49 - Ayn Rand
1:29:57 - Evil
1:40:31 - Heidegger
1:52:11 - Hubert Dreyfus
1:58:04 - Moby Dick
2:09:19 - David Foster Wallace
2:29:31 - Can AI make art?
2:49:15 - Meaning of life
Thanks Lex
Much love from Chicago
Love from Tehran, thank u Lex❤️
Loved this one. And "The Karamazov brothers" is my favorite novel.
Mr Kelly you are incredibly knowledgeable and engaging. this Africa so your parents prolly finna give you flack if you try go into philosophy, i think sitting them through one of your lectures would be an apt response.
kewl i am done being formal now.
i would give my pinky toe to sit through one of this gentleman’s lectures. WOW!
until recently i struggled with keeping up w the complexity of Nietzsche’s writing. Sir, you are riveting.
ljust realized i could voice the mental comments i always make when i listen to your conversations.
ok.
generally.
1.
bro, you put me ON!!! you are an incredibly humble being dude. ridiculous!! “i see myself as the idiot” -> goes on to participate in the creation of technologies that are gonna change the world and the way we live life!
i am a tool myself but also just getting out of being a lazy poop head. thank you for sharing you with the world Lex “Rothul”(is your nickname, colorful roots, details another time, it’s 6am in SA n i wna get swole) Fridman.
you’re part of why i am learning to love learning again, seriously. you and my best mate(who introduced me to you, and thinking) changed my life.
Jordan Peterson gets a LOT of clout, and he has compelling ideas and he be sounding hella smart, kodwa, YOU?????!!!! not just a compelling set of ideas, queries into the fields and experts of that you interview. dude you have a compelling warmth. you are not just someone who has a lotta smart shit to say(bro, you are not the idiot stop it lol). man, you are relatable. you are someone who’s comfort in himself, love for love, love for life, BREATHING, simple shite man, like how a cloudy morning and a sunny morning are all beautiful in their own way. not afraid to say “i’m not sure homie, but show me and i’ll try to understand and if i don’t i’ll keep asking”
2.
hahahaha this guy is such a lecturer he be like “Good!” when you ask a good question. he kinda makes you look a tool but just because you’re literally the only student in his lecture and how could you not look a tool discussing a professional’s field as a novice in it(bust out the computer jives and some shades homie😎)
best kind of lecturer. he’d probably give daps even if your question ate smelly bum(let’s be real some questions are straight stupid).
nothing more refreshing than somebody who makes you feel “Good!” for your desire to learn from them, share their knowledge, help you form your own understanding of what they know, instead of making you out to be the village eejit🥲
3.
soz, on my phone.
i reiterate, your podcasts have CHANGED MY LIFE.
and finally, in conclusion.
i am stealing your suit swag soon as i can sorry i can’t support w money man imma bwoke bwoi but take some LOVE BIG BRAIN HOMIE!!!!!
*HIGH FIVE*
*BRO HUG W THE FIRM BUT BROTHERLY BACK PATS*
(pardon my fan-girling, MONTHS of mental *HOLEE POOPOO MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING* comments)
thank you so much again bro. you make the world better and i am certain MANY if not most if not each n erry one of em
sorry i kind of jump between referral to the conversation(i wanna say lecture cause of how much i learnt, feels a “Good!” fit. would give Mr(Prof?? Sir??{not as in you were knighted, as in you are an elder, i’m tryna be respectful}) Kelly a hug end of semester. hope he has a podcast.
referral to my feelings regarding following your(Lex) podcasts over a year now.
couldn’t help you understand with words.
Your questions keep getting better and better and it really shows that you take people's suggestions to heart. This podcast is awesome, you should be proud.
I wish I could give this comment 100 likes❣️
his questions were always good
Absolutely, amazing podcast.
This is super interesting.. would love one focusing on British empiricism and pragmatism..
but, and as for the topics in this video, I can indulge the nonsensical side of philosophy for a few hours!! Just kidding! Super interesting..
@David K not exactly sure what you mean.
I don’t know I found the less ideal and more kinda “practical” side of philosophy from Locke and Hume up through pierce and James (those empirical/pragmatic traditions) to really have lasting, positive imprints on modernity… but the ideal existential side is fun to wade through every now and then…. .. and in some sense I guess there is kind of a radical practicality to some aspects of the ideal/existential (continental) traditions..
Good professors are such good speakers, they construct a complex set of ideas in their minds and start unfolding bit by bit, sentence by sentence without losing track or deviating from the main point. That's marveling to my chaotic mind.
One of my favorite Podcasts! Please have more philosophers on!
really?
REALLY???
sigh
10:20 -- Personally, having divorced the "soft" sciences, I'd like to try "dating" the HARDER, more technical & truly scientific, IMHO, experts of what was originally called the "natural sciences" who try applying science for the benefit of all mankind, respect ALL life, and seek to honor the Creator by "thinking His thoughts after Him."
MARANATHA!
When I think of a Podcaster with Zero personality, I think of Lex Freidman. If a monotone voice and bland personality is your thing then here it is..
@@henrytoledo4103 It's the thoughtfulness behind the questions to bring out the best of each interviewee that does it for me. There are many "colorful" personality types that have no depth or critical thought abilities. If I want humor or "colorful" personalities I can easily watch a comedic based podcaster- most of which would never have guests that appear here. Lex is a master when it comes to extracting critical ideas, deep thinkers & tying it all in with the underlying message of love for all & the pursuit of curiosity.
@@henrytoledo4103 Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God
@@henrytoledo4103 you strike me as especially lost
In the depth of winter I finally learned that, within me, there lay an invincible summer.
Great comment! I'm writing this down.
@@rajatchandra3209 its Camus quote
Insightful. Such positive and intelligent people in this comment section.
Ain't nuttin but a peanut, yeah buddy - Ronald Dean Coleman
Every time Lex interviews a new person, he enters another room, and he takes us with him. Let’s hope he never runs out of rooms!
Your unshakeable optimism is so pure and beautiful, Lex. I share your capacity to find unreasonable levels of joy in small events, and it's something I really value about myself and hope I never lose. I hope you never lose it, either. Thanks for helping me understand existentialism a lot better than before, and for introducing me to Sean Kelly. I am embarking on a reading of the Great Books and wish I had him as a guide, but I'll check out the title he co-authored with his professor from Berkeley as it sounds like a good thing to read as I start this adventure!
What are the great books?
This is absolutely my fave so far. Like I’ve read many others say tonight here, this was much much needed. I think now more than ever we feel so alone and trapped inside ourselves and powerless to so much happening- yet if we choose to persist, there is still such a powerful inner demand to find something to hold on to that is “worth it” or meaningful for us despite how bleak this existence truly can be.
Basically Eyn rand?
I love the subject, but Fridman seemed rather unhappy most of the interview. Maybe he disapproved of the atheism?
What do you guys think about god or an afterlife? I still want to believe that there is something after this life but I don’t really know what to believe anymore
It’s only seems “bleak” because we don’t look within. Without self awareness via meditation, life is unconscious patterns running their course.
I think that since the beginning of time, our purpose as humans was to survive (ex: cave people), and then we evolved, but ultimately, I think that our purpose, like any other animal, is to survive whatever challenges we face. Whether it is external forces (natural disasters, accessing food, physical health issues, etc.) or internal forces (depression, mental health issues, etc.). Maybe it seems meaningless because there are so many ways to survive and so many ways to die, but it's not so clearly laid out and planned how we are supposed to live our lives.
The Lex Fridman Podcast is a gift to the world. I feel grateful to be living in this time with this kind of content so easily and freely available to anyone with an internet connection and a device.
This was a phenomenally well-managed interview, Lex. This was the most well synchronized dance I have listened to you have thus far in in my consumption of your content
How is this well managed ?? it was more like lex interviewing his self
He started great, and he keeps improving.
It is well managed because he digs deep and doesn’t allow a platitude to go improperly explored. He also adds his own analogies to round out the ideas.
This really is. Each follow up question is right there. I'm rolling my eyes at Kelly and Lex's question picks it back up.
@@Dziaji v:::h. Bv hvvbb: : ;ybh;v:vccc:cvcvvcvgfcvcccccv v"fccccvvçvbbnnnn
This guys a great teacher. Knows how to simplify complex thought while still retaining its complexity.
Before this podcast I was a listener, now I am a fan. This episode was insightful, provoking but also inviting, filled with references and clear explanations. I have never heard of Sean Kelly beforehand so thank you Lex for an entertaining episode 🏆
I’ve been watching Rogan podcasts and J Peterson lectures for 6+ years, about as long as I’ve been a single parent/mom . Your podcast is another one of those spaces that adds so much value to my life, and ultimately my son’s life via the content of your podcasts and those similar to yours, and at times they help tremendously with daily struggles. Your podcast really helps make me a better parent in many ways. Thanks to you and all of your guests!
You are going to make me cry, this is a beautiful comment
I think you're exaggerating and you're the same person regardless. Stop fishing for attention. You're still you.
@@Will45_ don't be a dick.
@@Will45_ maybe. But it doesn’t hurt to say thanks for content you appreciate lol
@@Will45_ It causea me physical pain to hear Rogan and Peterson changed your life while watching an interview discussing figures like Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Fanon. If God isn't dead, he has abandoned us.
Thank you for having an actual philosopher on a podcast. Finally.
One of the best episodes yet Lex
I don't care how much of a fanboy I sound like. These podcasts are a gift to mankind! Thank you!
@45:38
I totally agree. I’m an Arab, from the very bosom of Arabia, and use English on a daily basis, given the cosmopolitan, multicultural milieu of 21st Arabia, which forces a person such as myself, to use English as a lingua franca when conversing with non-Arabs.
I do feel that I’m a slightly different person when talking in English, in comparison to uttering sentences in Arabic for instance. The same applies when I speak Dutch (My Godmother is Dutch), or when I speak Spanish or Japanese. My state of mind, somehow alters how my mindset operates! I don’t know if that makes any sense, or I lack the proper wiring, that would enable me to eloquently articulate the disposition I notice about myself after a long conversation in any of these languages that I speak.
Incidentally, the same goes for reading. When I speak English by way of example, I have a hopelessly standard American accent, that was probably mimicked subconsciously from all the American movies, comics, and video games I consumed as a millennial growing up in Arabia. Nonetheless, that Arsenal of popular culture, does not hold its ground, when I read books everyday, given the hopeless bibliophile that I am, as I start reading with a thick posh English accent, or someone who attended Eton or Harrow for some reason. I can switch easily to my speaking accent, but by default, my reading is always in that specific British accent for some reason.
I don’t know 🤷♂️ but I always find it fascinating, and equally astonishing is how strong my memory is. Given the amount of reading I do, and the languages I speak, the database of which I unlock everyday.
In some parts of your comment you sound like an architect from matrix. Looks like you have some extraordinary talent for languages.
Awfully kind of you, thanks dude. A lot of work goes into it, and has gone into it throughout the past two decades and a half. It’s fascinating how I still learn new words that I have to look up everyday without fail, including words in my mother tongue Arabic.
It’s like that Frank Zappa quote; “So many books, so little time.” I just know that I’ll never be able to encompass all that is Arabic, let alone the other languages, Even if I was handed a solid century, with all my physical and mental faculties intact.
Nonetheless, maybe it’s that fragility that makes us go on. It’s that fact precisely, that makes one strive ever more, in the seemingly never-ending pursuit for knowledge. Because it lays beyond the confines of our grasp. We somehow continue our folly of a pursuit, in trying to apprehend that which will never be ours. On the other hand, our collective endeavors, is what makes the accumulation possible.
Oh dear! I’ve been carried away with my thoughts once again. Do forgive me kind sir, and thanks again. I always found the Architect most pleasing 😅
@@khalidalali186you are a good dude. I wish you well and all the success in life
Watch the movie “Arrival ” … it’s all about this idea in the context of encountering extraterrestrial beings.
I love it
Thanks! Likewise 😊 🙏
As a native bilingual person who did some translating and interpreting I'm the past, your proposed project sounds phenomenal and very much needed! I've enjoyed reading different translations of an original text across translators in one language or across two other languages. The effect is akin to stereopsis: having two slightly different takes on a text, when merged in the reader's mind, yields another dimension and a fuller approximation of the meaning in the source language.
@Jack I'm a twat who would interpret "who did some translating and interpreting I'm the past" as "who did some translating and interpreting in the past."
Because, in the end, I'm the one who is the _real_ past.
@@miyojewoltsnasonth2159 As long as you aren't the real auto-correct
I can’t believe I spent three hours watching a video about existentialism, and it was great. I loved how clearly Sean Kelly spoke and I also loved how Lex Friedman kept returning to the story of Miles Davis and how he turned the wrong note into something wonderful. Excellent.
This is one of those I’ll have to listen twice to really wrap my head around
These conversations bring so much value to those who are willing to listen. I am incapable of resisting the optimism that grows inside me as I watch two minds fearlessly engaged in deep conversations about meaningful subjects. To me, they are an antidote to the bleakness of existence. Thank you.
Love these philosophy podcasts, thank you
This podcast series is the best of all. No comparison. These will stand the test of time.
Best podcast and one of my favorites. Lex is more on questioning instead of arguing, it's the best condiment for a good podcast.
Lex is the best for thought provoking material. I never feel I'm wasting time by engaging. He's such an important member of the human race.
Thank you Lex! This was an amazing podcast, I listened to it on Spotify but I came over to UA-cam just so I could make a comment about how much I appreciate your podcast
Lex, I wanted to let you know how much this podcast helped me think through my own existential struggle with finding meaning in the seemingly meaninglessness of the probable simulation we find ourselves in. To find meaning in the meaningless, and to understand my struggle with life's purpose through my lense of a semi nihilist-simulationist has been a struggle lately as the world seems lost. I hope you read this comment and understand the value your mind and inquisitiveness brings to the world and those in need. Well done! This will be an episode I save and revisit! Keep up the great work my dude
If you wonder about meaning in life you could note a u tube video elon musk has about religion .when interviewed about what is the meaning of our existence,he has some interesting thoughts.If you imagine say a thousand years ago when Religion insisted that God made the universe/world ..then with astrophysics it seems the big bang theory created the universe /world.The debate before was about did God or someone create everything.Now it's about whether the other 20 billion earth's in our galaxy have life or intelligent life.The question itself changes as we know more...we learn to ask different/more pertinant questions.In Elon's video he applies this change of perspective to your enquiry about the meaning of life and hypotheses whether we will discover a more pertinent question to ask if we learn more about greater subjects encompassing your enquiry.
@@kenadams5504 what's the video title? Thanks!
@@Stazymandias "Elon Musk on Religion and God".
This was... Phenomenal! The exchange of ideas, the connection of so many different concepts... Wonderful, Lex and Sean! Thank you for conversing and sharing. 💚
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@@voicelesslanguages ? :D
This is the most amazing conversation on philosophy I have come across.
Just came back here to say that I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov and having heard this conversation is making it that much more interesting.
I remember a fellow Classics student in college who use comp sci to catalogue and sort the uses of certain words across like 100 different translations of the Odyssey. I was blown away at the application of comp sci in classics and linguistics and I bet Lex would love that.
Russians are a very deeply feeling people and have gone through much turmoil and losses over history. I had a friend from Russia at work and sensed he exptessed himself in a more emotive way but the others in this gvmt office were not very receptive, almost deprecatating because he had this emotion in his conversation. I can see how having the conversation speaking Russian interpeting meaning in English would be most interesting. He was a very honest sincere man I have met. He was never fake or trying to mislead others. He was himself where he came from his culture not trying to persuade or impress but was very real. His feelings would be hurt subtlely when people misinterpeted him. He was educated and very intelligent and I accepted and liked his way of expressing his views, impressions and personality. He made life richer knowing him. Deeply sincete man.
Hi, Lex. There's a fragment of a conversation where you discuss the peculiarities of translating Dostoevsky into English. You lamented the fact that you couldn't find more comprehensive works. Actually, Russian linguists have already done research on this topic. These are not books, but dissertations/thesis. For example, T.V. Vasilchenko has a thesis entitled "F.M. Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov in English-language translations" - Роман Ф.М. Достоевского "Братья Карамазовы" в англоязычных переводах. It is about 200 pages long, and as I understand, it covers exactly the topic you mentioned in the video. Thank you for your videos! Greetings from Russia!
Excellent dialogue - a conversation between two bright gentlemen who have a love of the big questions, philosophy and literature. Also Sean Kelly is so enthusiastic and passionate about the books and writers he teaches in his classes and writes about in his book(s).
imagine if lex busted out a meth pipe half-way through the interview.?.
Like you, Lex, I'm blessed with a capacity for frequent joy. It is a wonderful thought path to contemplate moments of 'aliveness'. I began at once. The first that came to mind was hurrying home up a long steep hill from school, age 15, rushing into my room, throwing down my schoolbag, and playing Chopin on the piano.
I'm going trough a really bad time in my life, this certainly will help me. Thanks Lex!
You'll get through it
Hang tough buddy. The down moments are always followed by up moments, every time.
best wishes, Lucas
Peace be with you
Thanks my bros, this really means a lot to me!
Thanks
This might be my favorite podcast of yours Lex! Totally engrossing from start to finish. I almost skipped it because it wasn’t about AI, neural networks, science, math or bio-hacking…or some combination thereof. I’m so glad I gave it a shot. You and Sean Kelly are in the zone together on this one! What a beautiful philosophical discussion! Great job on both sides of the desk! 👏👏 👏
I am someone from India. Because of some of my own choices and because of some I was thrown into - I don't think I'll ever have the opportunity to study in Stanford and to listen to someone like this talk about philosophy or life. Thanks to the internet and Lex Fridman - I can enjoy and cherish this conversation.
Lex really asked the perfect questions in this session. Both of them we're operating on the same level of understanding, but Lex just needed the enlightening clarifications. I can tell Sean Kelly was having a great time and was happy to talk with someone who was keen to learning philosophy in an exciting way.
From 41:00 to 42:52, the explanation of how Sartre & Dostoevsky are antipodes is so simple, and so elegant. Great interview, Lex. It's really a privilege to listen to Sean Kelly's brilliance.
This remains my favorite podcast to return to when I want to learn. Keep it up Lex!
ride on, my savage, ride on....
Lex, among many other things, you are a total bad-ass! With all due respect. 💜
And I love watching you dismantle the tower of Babble one brick at a time.
A lex Friedman discussion with a Harvard philosophy professor…what else could I ask for. Thank you !
Such a respectful conversation. Two gentlemen giving room for the conversation to develop.
I love Sean Kelly! What an AWESOME surprise seeing him here!
tremendously openminded persons...big pleasure to watch and listen...thank you!
Your talks are becoming my new addiction. Really well done.
I'm SO much happier since giving up my cell phone. Goal: The learn to enjoy the passage of time .. with the least amount of stress possible .. and the most amount of laughter and joy from realizing how great it feels to GIVE to others and be grateful just to be alive to experience this amazing Life we've been blessed to be thrown into.
I feel richer for having listened to this - high quality stuff! Nice one Lex.
Enjoyed the frequent laughter of Sean,soo pleasing
I had no idea Lex Fridman was so well versed in philosophy. I'm crazy impressed! And I really really enjoyed this conversation. :)
The fact that the Lex Fridman Podcast has 1.5 million subscribers on UA-cam alone is enough to restore my faith in humanity in times of trepidation 🙏🦅🗻
I'm in the middle of reading Brothers Karamazov right now for the first time. So far, its a fantastic read.
This may be the best conversation on philosophy I've ever heard.
An absolutely great episode! It’s amazing how our understanding and norms are so dependent on the current technological culture. Maybe optimization shouldn’t be our end goal.
Loved how Sean challenged our understanding.
Please interview more philosophers and historians.
my favorite conversations u have are abt philosophy. just a coalition of ponderings next to each other. fascinating to listen to
I was so glad to see Lex mention that his love of life is largely genetic. You're lucky man, your very existence is joyous and that's probably one of the luckiest things you can have.
Really didn’t think I’d like this podcast but it’s become my go to. Engrossing , intelligent stuff.
Lex your work has been inspiring, you are by far the best project that came out of Joe Rogan's circle/influence! Would be amazing to see you interview Mr. Thomas Sowell!
The very best conversation so far. I love Ayn Rand, didn't discover her until my late seventies. She acknowledges how much the world owes to Aristotle.
Without a doubt my favorite guest you've had. Wonderful stuff Lex
This is a great discussion between two great thinkers. Sean Kelly also sounds like someone you'd be honoured to have as a friend.
Great conversation. Spent the whole time waiting for the inevitable final question. Who better to ask. He did not disappoint.
Wow, Lex. Amazing episode and very engaging. Not only were you and your host clicking, but I haven’t been this absorbed in a conversation in a long time via podcast/UA-cam. I really think I will keep replaying this one…so many gems.
Lex, this was such a wonderful and moving conversation that I will be listening to again and again
agreed! it's the kind of conversation that brings a feeling of comfort - it's a very compassionate exchange, like one doting fathers would have... very cozy. my Kindergarten teacher (ok, this goes back over 40 years ago haha) had a term that fits : it was 2-fold, yin-yang kind of term. 'cold pricklies' or 'warm fuzzies'? THIS was a warm fuzzies kind of deep talk. ❤️
This has to be one of the best interviews/podcasts that I've ever watched. Lex's ability to really understand his guest and offer great talking points or critiques combined with Sean's enthusiasm and lovely referential way of explaining concepts, made for something really special.
Just beautiful! Many thanks for this illuminating conversation!
i could listen to this guy forever
1:06:30 , I used to think this too. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that depression completely kills your will to check out other rooms. Which sucks, because what you're saying is true. Other rooms could hold the meaning and happiness you've been looking for. Gathering the strength & support to check them is what's hard.
Вас удивительно слушать. Потрясает масштабность вашей личности, когда философия и вопросы бытия вас волнуют не вопреки, а наряду с наукой, в которой вы видный деятель. Браво!
In a sea of candidates, this is in contention for the best interview Lex has ever had on this channel.
Lex (and Sean) - this was stellar. You need to have a Sean Kelly interview #2
This is Epic Lex!
Just hooked to this channel
What a great chat, take joy in the small things. Thanks Lex and Sean. For doing this in public.
Now that I've discovered this man, I have no choice but to listen to 1-3 podcasts per day until I'm all caught up whilst also making my way through all of his shorter videos. It's just what I need to do.
Edit: comment #1111✨
My favorite philosophy content on UA-cam and it’s not even your main thing. So good.
This conversation may turn out to have saved my life
I recommend: Andrea Gibson- Madness Vase
Thank you, this was wonderful. Also, thank you for darkening your studio, it helps to fall asleep without much light emitted from the IPad while resting and playing these podcasts.
I found this conversation deeply inspiring, and it gave me a new lease on life, and many new perspectives, thank you both!
This might be your best episode to date. There have been many great ones but this was 3 hours of insightful and accessible thought and discussion on philosophy which can be useful for audiences of all levels.
LOVING EVERY SECOND OF THIS!!! Thank youuuuu 🙏
1:00:00
My fiftieth year had come and gone,
I sat, a solitary man,
In a crowded London shop,
An open book and empty cup
On the marble table top.
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes, more or less,
It seemed so great my happiness,
That I was blessed, and I could bless
W. B. Yeasts
Thank Lex for most awaited conversations!
Lex,
I am always so humbled by listening to your conversations. I found this one particularly valuable after a long and difficult week. Especially the part on Camus. Thank you.
Amazing podcast I have never learned so much in one pod!!!! Thank God for Lex!!!!!!!!!
gotta say that Lex is a great interviewer.
I absolutely Love Sean… his passion is infectious. I wish he were my Teacher and mentor of Philosophy.
My favorite podcast - No drama, just information to satisfy our curiosities😊
I enjoyed every second! Thanks for this life changing talks. I have no words to describe my gratitude Lex.
you can hear the spirit of Dreyfus alive and well in Sean's passion and its comforting to hear.
Throughout my life I’ve had to go through things like homelessness, starvation, threatened to be murdered, attacked by humans and animals, car crashes, etc. Often on counter people who seem to be going through stress levels that were similar to mine and it would confuse me often when I try to help them and I realize that not only were the issues something like that they found someone attractive who didn’t find them attractive back but that also these people seem to be frustrated with the idea that someone could offer them advice on how to manage their anxiety. I wish I was smart like Lex so that I could articulate my experiences in a manner that allowed people to grow from what I’ve grown from.
I can help you communicate your experiences to help others
Society needs more of these types of conversations. 30 minutes in I was able to that tell this would be my favorite podcast of yours, and I am happy to say I was right. We are all philosophers in life, just not all of us know it, and hardly any of us are as well trained as we wish to be. Well never reach the status of an ideal philosopher, but podcasts like this help us get closer to it, and subsequently, to become better people.
I think being a prisoner of war and living under Nazi occupation in Paris deeply affected Sartre and made him hate weakness and conformity
yeah. he has an inferiority complex just like nietzsche which informs their philosophies.
There’s the nietzcschian haha, but I agree ☝️
Sartre has always hated bourgeois manners, since he had been a kid. And don't get me started on what he did during the war, as he benefitted of these troubled times to take a removed Jewish professor's chair, and published in pro-collaboration journals.
Sartre is a pure opportunits who rewrote his own history to bootstrap his own legend. If you're looking for a good role model, have a look to his former friend Raymond Aron, or to Camus.
@New You'd better hate all weakness and some confirmity.
More precisely, you should make a distinction between conformity and conformism. Conformism is the view that conformity is always good, in all places, at all times, in everything you do or think. Conformity can be useful in many places (as it reduces the interfacing complexity between you and the others), and detrimemtal in others ; wisdom is knowing when it's useful and when it's not.
In a way, a strict anti-conformist is both a conformist (as he is obsessed with what others do, even if it's to do the contrary) and an antisocial personality (as he always choses to do what's the most costly for the rest of the world).
@@R_V_ Bravo!!
Hi Lex, I never usually comment and I doubt you’ll ever see this but here goes… just finished listening and it’s probably the the best podcast I’ve ever listened to. You both really listened to each other and your questions were absolutely fantastic. Thank you for all your hard work and for being the rare kind who is as good of a listener as a talker!
Really looking forward to the Pevear and Volokhonsky interviews. I speak no Russian, but I find their translations to be so much more enjoyable than the other translations I've always given up on.
Me too. Anyone know if this happened? Would love to watch.. Struggling to see it in the backlog.
Great interview.
Listening to this interaction certainly fulfilled the 4 basic principles.
Thanks for mediating the joy for us, Lex and Sean.
I can think of some meaning already:
- Avoidance of pain.
- maximization of positive emotion.
- treating other people like how you want to be treated.
This discussion was definitely a learning experience, and one I could relate to. Sean Kelly really brought out the best in you, Lex. I never knew your mindset was that optimistic by your demeanor. The part on boredom was something I have put into practice as much as I can for the past year or so. When you have things to think about you can't be bored. When you try to see the different perspectives and paradoxes within every part of life there's a lot to think about. You're limited only by your knowledge and ability to think abstractly and in that regard... reading and experiencing life are fundamental. Oh, and language is intrinsic, even the words you use to communicate with yourself as well as others are important.
Thanks you both for a brilliant talk.