1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh. And there's 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 2: chalk and cherries here too. And this is stuff you 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 2: should know about humanism, which I find fairly relatable in 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 2: a lot of ways and in other ways not necessarily. 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 2: Can we we'll get into it. 8 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:33,959 Speaker 3: Can we say Whatlivia titled this one? She's been really 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 3: killing it lately. 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, go ahead. 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 2: This is on humanism, the bright side of being a 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 2: godless heathen. 13 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: That's right. 14 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 3: I was looking for that, aha definition, because that put 15 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 3: it about as good as anything in this whole article. 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 3: The is it American Humanist Association? Is it an association? 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 2: Yes, they are associated. 18 00:00:58,400 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. 19 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 3: They put it like this, It's a progressive philosophy of 20 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 3: life that without theism or other supernatural beliefs. Bit of 21 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 3: a dig affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical 22 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 3: lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good. 23 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 3: And of course, if you don't know what theism is, 24 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 3: we're talking about, you know, religion and God. So it's like, hey, 25 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 3: you can be a good person and have a moral 26 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 3: and ethical center and strive to do those things without God. 27 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 3: At the center of it. 28 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And most humanists, I yeah, I think 29 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 2: it's fair to say most are atheists or at least agnostic. Yeah, 30 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 2: at the very least if they do believe in a God, 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 2: he's not an interventionist God. He's not playing our role 32 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 2: in our lives day to day. Maybe you could also 33 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: interchange that definition of God with the universe or nature 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 2: or something like that, but not God in any religious 35 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 2: way whatsoever. 36 00:01:58,280 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. 37 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 2: And in fact, like if you do believe that, a 38 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 2: lot of like like strict humanists will say, well, you 39 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 2: can't really be a humanist because not believing in God 40 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 2: in that sense is a core part of humanism. And 41 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 2: a lot of other people say, hey, you're a humanist. 42 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 2: Who are you to tell me what I believe? Now 43 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 2: the humanist says, you got me. 44 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:21,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 45 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 3: And as we'll see it, you know, it had kind 46 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 3: of been tangled up with religion here and there until 47 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 3: it kind of landed eventually where it did. 48 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk a little bit about the history though. 49 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 3: That term humanism goes back to at least Cicero in 50 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 3: first century BCE, Rome, when that very famous writer and 51 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,679 Speaker 3: I think lawyer and Statesman use the word humanitis to 52 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 3: describe like people developing or the development of these qualities, 53 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 3: these virtuous qualities that Chuck will talk about, like a 54 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 3: moral and ethical center, compassion, good judgment, like being a 55 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 3: good person and doing good things. 56 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then we leap frog all the way over 57 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: to the Renaissance. And you'll know that we leapt over 58 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 2: what are called the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages, Medieval era. 59 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 2: The Renaissance humanists are the ones who gave us the 60 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 2: term and the idea of the Dark Ages, that there 61 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 2: was a part of history where essentially the Church ruled 62 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 2: everything with an iron fist. Corruption was rampant, and people 63 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 2: were removed from their relationship with God and the Church 64 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: was inserted. And what these earliest Renaissance humanists did. They 65 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 2: were all Christians to a person, most of them Catholics too. 66 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 2: They changed that whole idea and said, what happens if 67 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 2: we get the church out from between the individual and God. 68 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: You know, there's a connection between you, this person who 69 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 2: is important and matters just because you're a person, and 70 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 2: God who made you. And this is where the very 71 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 2: beginnings of humanism find themselves. Even though no one in 72 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 2: the Renaissance would have called themselves a humanist because that 73 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 2: concept didn't really exist quite yet. This is the first step. 74 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, looking back, we apply the tag to 75 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 3: a lot of different people. We're going to talk about 76 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 3: some of them, but yeah, they wouldn't have called themselves that. 77 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: Then. 78 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 3: Petrarch was probably looked at as maybe the first humanists 79 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 3: or the first modern man sometimes called. And in the Renaissance, 80 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 3: it was it was a pretty hot ticket depending on 81 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 3: what crowd you ran with. If you were among the 82 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 3: elites in the Renaissance, you might have hired humanist scholars 83 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 3: to come and teach your kids all about like sort 84 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 3: of the moral systems of the classical era to you know, 85 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 3: and very much in the effort, like you were saying, 86 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 3: to bring us out of what they call the dark ages. 87 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 3: And some aspects of this whole movement in the Renaissance 88 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 3: included three things we're gonna kind of touch on here 89 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 3: are realism, dignity of the individual human, and application of learning, 90 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 3: like putting it in to practice. 91 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. So humanism contrasted with scholasticism, which had been going 92 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 2: on for hundreds of years. It was essentially the church's 93 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 2: form of teaching and that was basically reconciling the concept 94 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 2: of reality that came from the classical Greeks like Aristotle 95 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 2: with scripture and basically using scripture to explain the world 96 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 2: and reality as it is. And these humanists came along 97 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 2: and they were like, what happens if we stopped doing that? 98 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 2: What happens if we just study the classical Greeks and 99 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 2: just basically also still stay Christians, but stop using this scripture. 100 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 2: This received wisdom that the Church gives us, what if 101 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 2: we study it ourselves instead? And that brings up that 102 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 2: other the second part you mentioned, which is the dignity 103 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 2: of the individual human Up to this point, individuality was 104 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 2: not prized. You were not supposed to look inside yourself. 105 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 2: You're supposed to look outside the glory of God, you yourself. 106 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 2: If you paid too much attention to yourself, that was 107 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 2: a quick one way trip to hell for you when 108 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 2: you died. The humanists were like, no, let's look inside ourselves, 109 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 2: like we're important, you the individual is important. 110 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:15,559 Speaker 1: Yeah. 111 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 3: And also part of that first one with the realism 112 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 3: was that we are flawed. So if we want to 113 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 3: learn about each individual and human the nature, what it 114 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 3: means to be human, we have to look at the 115 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 3: bad stuff too, like the vices and the disorders and 116 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 3: things like that. And then that last one that I 117 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 3: mentioned was application of learning, like all this stuff is great, 118 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 3: but it's not naval gazing like or we don't want 119 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 3: it to be navel gazing. We want to actually stimulate action. 120 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're not learning just so you can give 121 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 2: more money to the church or something like that too. 122 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 2: And if this sounds a little bit like Protestant thought 123 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 2: about the connection between the individual and God, that's exactly right. 124 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 2: These thinkers eventually led to the Protestant Reformation, which basically 125 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 2: pushed the face of the church off to the side 126 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 2: and said you and me God we're connected. 127 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. 128 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 3: And it'll also tie into the Unitarian Church in a 129 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 3: big way later on. A church that has interested me, 130 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 3: oh yeah, yeah, I mean, I like my Sunday's free, 131 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 3: so probably not going to go. 132 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: But if any quote unquote church. 133 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 3: Appeals to me at this age and where I am 134 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 3: in life is definitely those guys. 135 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, those people that you see out and about at 136 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 2: like ten am on a Sunday. Can give that a 137 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 2: little knowing head nod too. 138 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. 139 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, So something I think is we're pointing out real 140 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 2: quick though, to Chuck is everything we're talking about involves God. 141 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 2: Even though the Church has been pushed out of the way, 142 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 2: God has not. Yeah, God is still front and center. 143 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 2: Christianity is still the most important thing around, and that 144 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 2: is this is the cradle of humanism. And one of 145 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 2: the frequent criticisms of modern humanism is that it's never 146 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 2: really shaken off its birthright from Catholicism or Christianity, even 147 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 2: though it opposes religion itself. We'll get more into that, 148 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 2: but I just wanted to put that out there for 149 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 2: the moment. 150 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 3: And we're also talking about like coming out of a 151 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 3: time where atheism could get you killed. Yeah, you know, 152 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 3: like saying that there is no God, you know, was 153 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 3: against the law unpunishable by death for sure. 154 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, but that started to change gradually around beginning in 155 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 2: the seventeenth century. One of the people we have to 156 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 2: thank for that is Francis Bacon. Yeah, known as the 157 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 2: father of empiricism. He also invented bacon and he also 158 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 2: had a big hand into coming up with the scientific method. 159 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, we talked about him and that. 160 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, which has been largely abandoned by science 161 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 2: in the last one hundred years. 162 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, he argued for really studying like like what 163 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 3: we call social sciences. Now he kind of kicked that 164 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 3: off as well, the systemic study of like the human passions. 165 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 3: But all these people that we're gonna talk about here 166 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 3: in the next little bit, we're Christians. So this is 167 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 3: sort of this is where it was still a time 168 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 3: when it was still tangled up even though they had 169 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 3: these ideas, All of these people, Bacon and this next person, 170 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,319 Speaker 3: Thomas Hobbes, were Christian. 171 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the fact that there are Christians who identify 172 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 2: themselves as humanists and vice versa, that goes to show you, 173 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 2: like that those two things are not incompatible. Yeah, you 174 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 2: can be religious and care about human beings and like 175 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 2: they don't have to oppose one another, although humanists have 176 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 2: eventually said yes they do. 177 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's the deal, right, I mean, did 178 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 3: I read that correctly? Is that it's the modern humanist 179 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 3: movement was really where they were like, we're really separate 180 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 3: from and congruous with belief in God. 181 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, Okay, so we mentioned Bacon. What about Thomas 182 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 2: Hobbes because he came up with the social contract, which 183 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 2: is ba like you and me. We basically allow a 184 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 2: government to rule us in exchange for protecting us from nasty, brutish, 185 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 2: short lives which we would otherwise have without the state 186 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,839 Speaker 2: or without society. Right. That doesn't sound very humanist, even 187 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 2: though it's human centered, because he assumed that humans were 188 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 2: essentially bad and we'd club you over the head and 189 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 2: kill you first chance. They got. That's why we need government, 190 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 2: according to Hobbes. But he's considered one of the early 191 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 2: humanists for sure. 192 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, and he was Christian as well, but he did 193 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 3: not write a lot like and his writings didn't write 194 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 3: a lot about God. He kind of put that to 195 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 3: the side and said, you know, if we want to 196 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 3: understand who we are and what it means to be human, 197 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,079 Speaker 3: we have to look at it through a just a 198 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 3: very sort of secular and like, very reasoned approach. 199 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 2: Right exactly, so humanist rationalism to understand ourselves in the world. 200 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 2: Thomas Paine was also one. He was probably Yeah, he 201 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 2: was like the first person that you can point to 202 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 2: and be like, the guy's a humanist. He even says 203 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 2: so himself in not so many words, or more than 204 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 2: those words. He was a pamphleteer who helped get the 205 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 2: American Revolution started despite moving to America just two years 206 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 2: before the revolution started. That's how effective his pamphlets were. 207 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, he was very forward thinking. He was arguing very 208 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 3: early against slavery. He's had an idea for what we 209 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 3: might call universal basic income now, very much believe in 210 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 3: the equality of all humans. And he has this quote 211 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 3: that's really pretty great, like I'm a big pain guy. 212 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 3: After reading up more on him, Sure, my country is 213 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 3: the world that my religion is to do good. Pretty nice. 214 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's pretty much no better way to sum up 215 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 2: the humanist view in a nutshell than that. 216 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. 217 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 2: The French Revolution also, there's a couple of people who 218 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 2: get called out a lot, Jacqui Beart and Twant Francois Momorro, 219 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 2: because they established the cult of Reason, where they would 220 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 2: actually go in and seize churches in France during the 221 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 2: revolution and repurposed them. I saw into Temples of Reason. 222 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 2: I read about them on the Collector, which is a 223 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 2: great website that explains all sorts of different philosophies and stuff. 224 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 2: Great website. Anyway, the French Revolution itself basically said Catholic Church, 225 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 2: you're out. And then they were like, okay, well, wait 226 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 2: a minute. We're all about reason and enlightenment. What are 227 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 2: we going to fill the vacuum left by getting rid 228 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 2: of the Catholic Church? And all of these ideas like 229 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 2: the Cult of Reason kind of came along, which was 230 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 2: essentially create humanist temples to logic in humans and humanity, 231 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 2: remove God from the equation altogether. 232 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. 233 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 3: And buddy, do you think I like Thomas Bain. Don't 234 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 3: get me started on Jeremy Bentham, because after reading up 235 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 3: on Jeremy Bentham, I wish I had named my daughter 236 00:12:58,400 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 3: Jeremy Bentham Bryant. 237 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 2: That would have been a great name. 238 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 3: I really missed an opportunity because Jeremy Bentham was a 239 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 3: great dude. He was working for welfare, fair programs for 240 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 3: the poor early on. He didn't believe in slavery obviously 241 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 3: child labor, and this was like decades before anyone else 242 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 3: was talking about this stuff. He was into animals. And 243 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 3: we'll see. That's some of the criticism from humanists is 244 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 3: that they kind of stop at humans. And that's not 245 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:27,959 Speaker 3: to say that humanists can't be like pro animal or 246 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 3: pro environment, because most of them probably are right but 247 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 3: ben them very early on when it talked about like 248 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,679 Speaker 3: the suffering of animals, he said, the question is not 249 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,439 Speaker 3: can they reason, because that's what animals were, just animals, 250 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 3: because they can't reason, they have brains like us. He 251 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 3: combatd that with the question is not can they reason 252 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 3: nor can they talk? But can they suffer? 253 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: Yeah? What a thing to say in the seventeen hundreds. 254 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm glad you explained what you meant by he 255 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,199 Speaker 2: was into animals because I was confused at first. 256 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: Oh, come on. 257 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 2: One of the other cool things about Jeremy Bentham is 258 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 2: he willed his body to science. He donated to science 259 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 2: early on and they used it. They said, thanks a lot, buddy, 260 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 2: here's your skeleton back. Because as part of his wishes, 261 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 2: he wanted to remain at University College London, which he helped 262 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 2: found as a secular college open to everybody. And he's 263 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: still under glass at the University of College of London, 264 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 2: dressed up in his own clothes. He's got wax hands 265 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 2: with gloves on, he has a wax head and apparently 266 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 2: he originally wanted his head to be part of it. Yeah, 267 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 2: so they used some I guess some Maori technique of 268 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 2: desiccation and it didn't go very well, and his descated 269 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 2: head is still around. But they're like, Jeremy, you do 270 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 2: not want us to leave this on your body because 271 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 2: you look so great with the wax head. We're just 272 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 2: going to keep this separate under class itself. 273 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. Up with Jeremy Bentham? 274 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned the secular college Like he went well 275 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 3: beyond like the separation of church and state, where he 276 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 3: was like, colleges should have nothing to do. 277 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: There should not be religious colleges. 278 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 3: He really wanted to draw a strong divide between God 279 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 3: and kind of all the institutions. 280 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 2: Right. He was also the father of utilitarianism, which is essentially, 281 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 2: if at its worst, killing one person saves two people, 282 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 2: then you kill that person, which gave us things like 283 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 2: the trolley problem as a utilitarian thought experiment. Essentially, Bentham, 284 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 2: I think, didn't really think that way, but he was 285 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 2: basically like, we want to maximize the most good for 286 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 2: the most people. That's the way he developed it. 287 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty cool stuff. 288 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 3: You want to take a break, Yeah, I think we're 289 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 3: off to a hot start, So I'm gonna go take 290 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 3: a cold shower and we'll be right back. 291 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 2: Okay, Chuck, we're back, and we're going to talk about 292 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 2: the development of humanism in the way that we know 293 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 2: it today, because up to this point we've been talking 294 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 2: about a little bits here, little bits there that all 295 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 2: together changed the world and essentially took all the power 296 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 2: in the West, especially Europe and eventually the United States, 297 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 2: away from the Church and organized religions in general and said, no, 298 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 2: there's a way for you to live an upstanding, meaningful, 299 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 2: ethical life without even believing that there's a God or 300 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 2: in afterlife. And here's how we're going to do it. 301 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the idea at the time, and there's 302 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 3: still people that believe this in twenty twenty six. Which 303 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 3: is pretty scary, is that if you were not religious 304 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 3: and devout, then you were a heathen and you were 305 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:05,239 Speaker 3: like morally bereft. And those like people very early on 306 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 3: stood up and were like that didn't make any sense, 307 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 3: Like why is it I don't believe in God? Like 308 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 3: people have feelings in their heart or whatever. And someone realized, like, 309 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 3: why is it that in my heart? Like I don't 310 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 3: believe in a God, but like I believe in doing 311 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 3: like really good things, Like why are those tho? Why 312 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 3: are those two things have to be tied together. And 313 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 3: that was humanism, or if you look at philosopher and 314 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 3: theologian from Germany Friedrich Niedhama, the term was HUMANISMUS in 315 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 3: eighteen oh eight, and that is he was kind of 316 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 3: talking about that Renaissance humanism, those studies that they were 317 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 3: doing with the people that are trying to sort of 318 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 3: reform education during the Renaissance. 319 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, but very quickly people latched onto that. He just 320 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 2: kind of came along at the right He was in 321 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 2: the right place at the right time, Yeah, which was Germany, 322 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 2: because Germany eventually became kind of the cradle of modern humanism, 323 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 2: and eventually humanismths what we would call humanism now we 324 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 2: just dropped the US or the US And if you 325 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 2: kind of subscribe to that, it was way beyond the 326 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 2: way that you interpreted scripture. You supported women's equality, You 327 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 2: were all about separation of church and state. You had 328 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,679 Speaker 2: compassion for all people, not just people that looked like 329 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 2: you and had the same amount of money as you. 330 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,120 Speaker 2: You cared about actually doing stuff to get the government 331 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 2: to take care of poverty and things like that. Like Quakers. 332 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:40,719 Speaker 2: The conception of Quakers at this time was a really 333 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 2: good view of what it meant to be a humanist 334 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 2: at the time, because you still believed in God, but 335 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 2: you really cared about other people. And this was fairly 336 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 2: new for Europe at the time. 337 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, you mentioned the French Revolution, but in 338 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,959 Speaker 3: the nineteenth century, during the time of all those European revolutions, 339 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 3: was it also started to kind of touch on socialism, 340 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 3: of course, and like this idea of a utopian society 341 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 3: that we could strive for. It was starting to become 342 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 3: a little more acceptable in the United States at the time, 343 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 3: where well partially because of German immigration to the United 344 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,479 Speaker 3: States and you were talking about them being the cradle, 345 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 3: but also Charles Darwin and just this idea that you 346 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:35,679 Speaker 3: don't need these theist beliefs to be a good person, 347 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 3: and there's something called free thought that can happen, like 348 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 3: prethinking is very much at this time aligne with deism. 349 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. And free thought essentially as a concept 350 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 2: is it's just questioning everything, Yeah, especially received wisdom. You 351 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 2: stop and ask click, well, wait a minute, why do 352 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 2: I think that? How do I know that? You just 353 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 2: challenge all of your own assumptions, and by doing that 354 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 2: you can kind of free yourself from being indoctrinated by 355 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,199 Speaker 2: the man essentially. So this is when it seems to 356 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 2: me the progressive movement in the United States really started 357 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:16,120 Speaker 2: to come about. Yeah, right, this is the till late 358 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 2: nineteenth century. One of the next big things that happened 359 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 2: was the establishment of the New York Society for Ethical 360 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 2: Culture by again named Felix Adler. And this became essentially 361 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,959 Speaker 2: the ethical movement E in capital E, capital M. And 362 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 2: they were basically like the very first humanists. They tried 363 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:42,360 Speaker 2: to essentially provide the same thing, that's say, moral upstanding 364 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 2: structure that the church provides for so many people to 365 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 2: people who don't believe in God. 366 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, and not more than that. But alongside that, I 367 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,199 Speaker 3: think they realized that the church had something that people 368 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 3: clearly liked in tradition and in ceremony, and they're like, hey, 369 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 3: if we're going to be a thing like, maybe we 370 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 3: should have some of that stuff too. So they organized 371 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:12,640 Speaker 3: Sunday services and they said, how about a how about 372 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 3: a deist marriage ceremony, like kind of substituting religious ritual 373 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 3: for non religious ritual because people like that kind of stuff. 374 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, They're like, how about atheist holy communion, and the 375 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 2: humanists are like, how does that work? 376 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: Right? 377 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 2: They're like, oh, we don't know. This is new. We're 378 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 2: just throwing everything we can at the wall. See what sticks. 379 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe instead of the blood and body of Jesus, 380 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:37,879 Speaker 3: it's just crackers and grape juice. 381 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 2: There you go. And they were like grape juice or flavory, 382 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 2: and they're like, grape juice. 383 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 3: We used grape We used grape juice at our church 384 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 3: because even the Baptist did not take wine as a communion. 385 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: It's kind of funny to think about. 386 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 2: I remember moving to the South and being like, you 387 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,919 Speaker 2: don't drink any wine, like even in church because I 388 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 2: was raised Catholic. 389 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: Welch's baby. 390 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's funny. So this whole kind of evolution is 391 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 2: still going on. In the United States in particular, it 392 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 2: started to take off. Humanism really is huge today or 393 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 2: through the twentieth century in the US and the UK. 394 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 2: They're kind of like hotbeds for humanist activity. And the 395 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 2: people who were attracted to this were very frequently liberal intellectuals, yeah, philosophers, literati, 396 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 2: intelligentsia like academic elites and people who ran in their circles, 397 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 2: which included communists at the time in the twenties and thirties, 398 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 2: like basically super radical liberal thinkers were very much attracted 399 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 2: to the early establishment of modern humanist organizations. 400 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 3: Yeah. That in the United States in particular, the University 401 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 3: of Chicago nineteen twenty seven was one place where it 402 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 3: really got cooking. There were efforts there by students and 403 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 3: so professors who belonged and this is where the Unitarian 404 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 3: Church comes into play. They were Unitarian Church members, which 405 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,400 Speaker 3: is technically Protestant denomination. It's very political, has always been 406 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:17,199 Speaker 3: very politically progressive. And in this group in Chicago, there 407 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 3: were a lot of ministers, even in theologians who had 408 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 3: non Christian ideas that they were putting forth, like transcendentalism, 409 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 3: and they had a magazine. They organized what was called 410 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 3: the Humanist Fellowship and put out the New Humanist Magazine. 411 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 2: It was like all ads though yeah, probably so all 412 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 2: ads and perfume samples. 413 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 3: Well, and at the very end they had the little 414 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 3: fold thing like the Mad magazine did. 415 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: It's very popular. 416 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 3: But they were trying to move Unitarian and as Unitarianism, 417 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 3: even in nineteen twenty seven, completely away from Theism. 418 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, and Unitarian Unitarianism as a church was like, yeah, 419 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 2: let's go and then stop just short. And that's where 420 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,400 Speaker 2: it stays today. Essentially, they're like, you don't believe in God, Great, 421 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 2: you can be a member of our church. Do you 422 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 2: believe in God? Yeah, great, you can be a member 423 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 2: of our church. It's universalist Unitarian. Right. 424 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: Should we talk about the manifestos? 425 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, because you can't have liberal thinkers and communists together 426 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 2: and not come up with a manifesto. Right, It's just 427 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 2: going to naturally bubble up from those people being together. 428 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 2: And in nineteen thirty three, I think they drafted the 429 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 2: first humanist manifesto and it basically said so and this 430 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 2: is where this is one reason why religious people don't 431 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:46,640 Speaker 2: like humanists. It took direct aim at religion, right, Yeah, 432 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 2: and then this is why people who are religious don't 433 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 2: like humanists. It also called humanism its own type of religion. Yeah, 434 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 2: take that, chuck and run with it. 435 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 3: Mixed messages. Can I read this bit from the seventy 436 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 3: three manifesto? 437 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 2: Yeah? 438 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: Or wait? 439 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 3: This was Okay? The seventy three was a manifesto Part two? 440 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry, nineteen thirty thirtight. I believe thirty three was 441 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,360 Speaker 2: the first one, I think, thank you, we got there. 442 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 3: Okay, thirty three was the first one. Seventy three was 443 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 3: Manifesto two, and this was from seventy three. Using technology wisely, 444 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 3: we can control our environment, conquer poverty, markedly reduced disease, 445 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 3: extend our lifespan, significantly modify our behavior, alter the course 446 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 3: of human evolution and cultural development, unlock vast new powers. 447 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 3: Starting to sound a little bit like scientology there, and 448 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 3: provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for achieving an abundant and 449 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 3: meaningful life. 450 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, it also smacks of transhumanism too. Oh yeah, it's 451 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 2: just denoted by h plus Stellarc. It's a branch. Yeah, 452 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 2: it's a branch of humanism where you graft a human 453 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 2: ear onto your forearm. 454 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: Right. Oh boy, man, I can't believe you remembered his name. 455 00:25:58,400 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: It just came right up. 456 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 3: If you're a long time listener, you remember when we 457 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 3: first talked about Stellarc, the transhumanists who did, in fact, 458 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 3: graft a human ear to his arm, complete with a 459 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 3: little speaker like it heard and worked, right, Yeah. 460 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 2: I think it. Yeah, I had a Bluetooth speaker which 461 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 2: is probably dead by now. 462 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: How many c tips do you think that guy's gone through. 463 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 2: Oh, crisps, he's like got catch up in there again. 464 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: Oh man. 465 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 2: So the reason that they wrote the nineteen seventy three 466 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 2: Manifesto two was because Manifesto one had a lot of well, 467 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:35,880 Speaker 2: it was of its time. Yeah, it was very pro 468 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,159 Speaker 2: communist and socialism, it was anti capitalist. It even said, quote, 469 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 2: the existing acquisitive and profit motivating society has shown itself 470 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 2: to be inadequate. Yeah, it said it was a religion. 471 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 2: So in nineteen seventy three they're like, let's just kind 472 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,680 Speaker 2: of get rid of some of this. Let's not call 473 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 2: ourselves a religion of any kind. We'll still take aim 474 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 2: at religion, but we're not going to call ourselves a religion. 475 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 2: We're going to drop the whole life communist, capitalist, you know, 476 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 2: West Coast, East Coast war in our own manifesto. 477 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. 478 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 2: And then as time went on, there were more affirmations, 479 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 2: there were more manifestos. There was one in nineteen eighty, 480 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight, two thousand and three, in two thousand 481 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 2: and two, so all these were American, by the way. 482 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 2: In two thousand and two it finally went international, which 483 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 2: what's called the Amsterdam Declaration of Humanism from two thousand 484 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 2: and two, and it basically it basically says like, yeah, 485 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 2: everything these guys have been saying, but take out the 486 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 2: religion stuff and the anti capitalist stuff. 487 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: That's right. 488 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 3: And they said, we need a word though, if we're 489 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 3: going to be consistent, and so instead of religion, let's 490 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:44,880 Speaker 3: settle on this word life stance. 491 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:47,640 Speaker 2: You were like, oh, sure, sure, LifeStance. 492 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: Everyone knows what that is. We did a little digging. 493 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 3: It's a pretty obscure term. I think Wikipedia, which is 494 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 3: not a website. We really like to go to a 495 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 3: lot for this, but that's kind of the only place 496 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 3: we could find anything. But this is how they define 497 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 3: it is the relation that one has with what he 498 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 3: or she accepts as being of ultimate importance. 499 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 2: That's a great definition of life stance for sure. Yeah, 500 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 2: it really gets across. And essentially it's what they use 501 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 2: in place of religion, not just what they offer, what 502 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,680 Speaker 2: humanism offers people, but what people need. And that's one 503 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 2: thing that humanism is always basically said, is you need 504 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 2: the things that religion give to you, like people need that. 505 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 2: It's been around for thousands of years for a reason, right, Yeah, 506 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 2: And there's all these different ones around the world that 507 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 2: billions and billions of people subscribe to because it gives 508 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 2: their life meaning, It gives you purpose, it tells you 509 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 2: how to be a good person. And humanists were like, 510 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 2: all we're saying is that you don't need religion. You 511 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 2: don't even need to believe in God to have all 512 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 2: those same things. And as the world and in particular 513 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 2: the United States and the West, has gotten more and 514 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 2: more secular and less and less religious, there's this there's 515 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 2: a debate that's developed, like, is humanism up to the 516 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 2: task of providing meaning in people's lives in the absence 517 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 2: of religion, And that definitely remains to be seen, but 518 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 2: it seems to be leaning a little more like No, Actually, 519 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 2: things kind of fall apart when you don't have a 520 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 2: lot of people who believe that their lives have meaning 521 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 2: because they believe in religion. That seems to be the 522 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 2: way things are leaning right now. That's not the endpoint 523 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 2: necessarily though. 524 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: No, for sure. 525 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 3: And you know, I think I'm like you, like, a 526 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 3: lot of this stuff seems very appealing to me, a 527 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 3: lot of the thoughts. But you know, when I was 528 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 3: reading that one thing, I was like, man, this sounds 529 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 3: a little scientology like here and there. 530 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: Sure, sure, and then let's not like LifeStance. 531 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, it just feels like the kind of word where 532 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 3: you go to a meeting, like a humanist congregational meeting, 533 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 3: and they're like, and now Josh would like to rise 534 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 3: and share his life stance, and then everyone like clucks 535 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,239 Speaker 3: and goes LifeStance, LifeStance or something, right, and that's when 536 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 3: they and I like back out of the room very slowly. 537 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 2: You know what LifeStance says to me, It says I 538 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 2: don't know what I mean. That's what that word screams. 539 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 2: If you use a word to describe what you're talking 540 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 2: about and no one else knows what that word is. 541 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, it's much more widely understood. 542 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 2: Is the name of an insurance company than then? Yeah, 543 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 2: then you you kevin't figured out exactly what you're trying 544 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 2: to say. That's my take on it. And what the 545 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 2: reason they're using life stance is because they can't use 546 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 2: the word religion. They're using that in place of the 547 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 2: word religion. So a lot of people kind of look 548 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 2: at humanism like, man, these guys really tie themselves up 549 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 2: into knots to get around this religious thing. They're really 550 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 2: preoccupied with religion, despite saying you don't need religion to 551 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 2: live a good life. If you don't care about religion, 552 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 2: stop talking about religion so much. Stop focusing on religion 553 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 2: so much. That's a big criticism of humanism that it's 554 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 2: just it's like those you know, those hilarious parodies of 555 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 2: like Southern preach or whatever, and it's taking aim at 556 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 2: hypocrisy and stuff. If you really feel that way about 557 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 2: the church or religion or God or whatever, just go 558 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 2: your own way, do your own thing. Stop paying attention 559 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 2: to it, stop giving it your oxygen. If you really 560 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 2: feel that way about it, and if you don't, if 561 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 2: you still are focused on it like that, there's something 562 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 2: there's some disconnect between what you claim to believe in 563 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 2: what you're actually doing. 564 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 3: Brother Josh, I want to thank you for sharing your 565 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 3: afflack flat nice. 566 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: That was great, Chuck, that was great. I like that 567 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: that screed. 568 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 3: Maybe we should take a break and talk about what 569 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 3: happened in nineteen forty one right after this. 570 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: All right, everybody, we're back. 571 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 3: We're going to talk about what happened in nineteen forty one, 572 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 3: not the movie nineteen forty one from Steven Spielberg. 573 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 2: Good one. 574 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: I'm talking not really, I'm talking about did you like it? 575 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 2: Hey man, anything has got Bellushi in it? I like, 576 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 2: all right, Yeah, I don't see what was wrong with it. 577 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 3: It was a notorious bomb. But that's not to say 578 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 3: you can't like it. 579 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 2: No, I do like it. I just have never heard 580 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 2: that other people didn't like it. 581 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 3: But yeah, yeah, it's pretty well regarded as a big plot. 582 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 3: But I appreciate you sharing your affle, Like once again. 583 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 2: I had that's my life stance on in nineteen forty one. 584 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 2: It's a good movie. 585 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 3: I can't wait to get sued, all right. So in 586 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 3: nineteen forty one, there were two Unitarian ministers that form 587 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 3: the AHA that we referenced at the very beginning of 588 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 3: the American Humanist Association. They, you know, they advocate for 589 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 3: humanist causes like separation of church and state of course 590 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 3: in schools that is, like, hey, let's legalize birth control, 591 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 3: things like that. They have about thirty four thousand plus 592 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 3: members with two hundred and thirty local chapters, and they're like, 593 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 3: you know, their goal is I think not only to 594 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 3: spread the word, but I think like you are saying, 595 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 3: is to like try and unify into something that's with 596 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,240 Speaker 3: a coherent message that people can actually say, like, Hey, 597 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 3: that's a legitimate thing that you can believe in and follow. 598 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, Like that appeals to me. So I'm going to 599 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 2: go find out more about what you guys are saying. 600 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 2: So there's a guy named Andrew Cops and he's very 601 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 2: frequently cited when you're talking about humanism. He's the executive 602 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 2: of Chief Chief Executive of Humanists UK, and he basically says, 603 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 2: here's what humanists are about. One, we use the senses 604 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 2: and reasoning when we're seeking out the truth to understand 605 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 2: what the world's all about. We are all about rationalism. 606 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 2: We're all about scientific inquiry. That's what our stuff is 607 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 2: based on. It's not based on supernatural beliefs. Again, it's 608 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 2: not based on receive wisdom. It's about using rationalism in 609 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 2: our own senses to understand the universe for ourselves. 610 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:13,239 Speaker 1: Yeah. 611 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 3: Can I just make a quick comment. I don't want 612 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,800 Speaker 3: to get too political, but using the sensus and reasoning 613 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:23,280 Speaker 3: like that is missing I think a lot today because 614 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 3: we're in a world now where they are very powerful 615 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 3: people in the world that are literally sort of gaslighting 616 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 3: the rest of the world and saying, like what you're 617 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 3: seeing and hearing is not the truth, Like even though 618 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 3: you're seeing it and hearing it. So to see someone 619 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:38,400 Speaker 3: stand up and say, hey, one of our big tenets 620 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 3: is going to be the use like to see stuff 621 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 3: and hear stuff, and like that's what it is. 622 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I find your reasoning sensible. 623 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: Yes, aflack I flic what else? 624 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 3: Viewing humans as the product of natural biological processes and 625 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 3: seeing death is the end of individual consciousness. So you're 626 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,359 Speaker 3: not going to an afterlife. You're not gonna go hang 627 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 3: out with Elvis and Tom Petty. Once you're gone, you're 628 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 3: a warm dirt. 629 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's nothing after that. It's a real bummer part 630 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 2: of it, for sure. 631 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: It is. 632 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 3: But I've always, well I've always in my adult life 633 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 3: believe that, and I don't think it's a bummer. That's 634 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 3: just yeah, I don't think it's a bummer. 635 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 2: You know. I believe that for years and years and years, 636 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 2: and I've just recently kind of started to I don't 637 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,240 Speaker 2: want to say go back, but just kind of expand 638 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 2: the possibilities. Yeah, that's good, more than I used to 639 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 2: because I was exactly what you're talking about, like that's it, 640 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 2: Like you're just it's lights out. You don't even know 641 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 2: it's lights out because you don't exist anymore. Yeah, just 642 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 2: like you didn't exist before you were born. This is 643 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 2: exactly the same thing. It's just tacked onto the end 644 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 2: of your life, not the beginning of your life. 645 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. I like that you're exploring that. 646 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 3: I think that's I think I'm not opposed to anyone 647 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,279 Speaker 3: in their beliefs, So I think it's great, Especially when 648 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,840 Speaker 3: you get older and you're in the like forties and 649 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,360 Speaker 3: fifties and you start kind of radically. 650 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: Exploring new ideas. I think that's very valuable. 651 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,759 Speaker 2: It's funny. I have been doing that a lot lately. 652 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 2: It's one of the reasons why I wanted to do 653 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 2: this episode in Humanism. I've been reading a lot of 654 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,440 Speaker 2: different philosophy and just yeah, yeah, exploring ideas that I 655 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 2: hadn't before. And I didn't realize why. Apparently it's because 656 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:19,760 Speaker 2: I'm about to be fifty. 657 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:21,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, probably, so I've been hurry. 658 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 2: I got I have to find meaning in life before 659 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 2: I die. 660 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,280 Speaker 1: I've been watching a lot of Kids in the Hall reruns. 661 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 2: Nice. You can do a lot worse than that. 662 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 3: And reading rock bios. But that's fine, everyone has their 663 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:32,399 Speaker 3: own thing. 664 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 2: What else, Chuck, How about if you want to live 665 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,040 Speaker 2: a good life, Yeah, what are you going to do? 666 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: Well? 667 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 3: You have to develop yourself personally, like keep striving, sure 668 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 3: to be better and do better, try to connect with others, 669 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 3: pursue things that are truly meaningful. But you don't necessarily 670 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 3: have to believe in the meaning of life to do 671 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 3: all that stuff. 672 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: That's not what you're seeking. 673 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,840 Speaker 2: Yes, And from my recent exploration, that is essentially the 674 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,239 Speaker 2: basis of a philosophy called existentialism, which actually, yeah, is 675 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,919 Speaker 2: born out of nihilism, and it's basically saying, yes, there's 676 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 2: no God, there's no meaning to life, we're all a fluke. 677 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean you can't live a great fulfilling life, 678 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 2: right that has meaning that is meaningful to you. So 679 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 2: go figure out what your life is, what you want 680 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,239 Speaker 2: it to be, and make it meaningful. And I think 681 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,359 Speaker 2: that's if you do believe that there's no such thing 682 00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:32,919 Speaker 2: as God, That to me is essentially the best mentality 683 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,959 Speaker 2: you can take on that if there's no afterlife before 684 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,400 Speaker 2: all a fluke, then it's up to you pal to 685 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 2: go make meaning for your own life. 686 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like live with intention, I think is another good 687 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,760 Speaker 3: way to say that, to like not just be someone 688 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:48,880 Speaker 3: who things happen to. 689 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, or live without Netflix. That's another way to put it. 690 00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 3: To What's another one view moral behaviors, like you know, 691 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 3: consider other people's needs, Like humanism is not a self 692 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 3: inward looking thing, like you're looking inward, but you're acting outward. 693 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: If that makes sense, Oh, it does. 694 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,440 Speaker 2: It makes perfect sense. It's not a self centered or. 695 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 1: Self Yeah, self center I was looking for. 696 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not self involved. You care about other people. 697 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 2: And yeah, by doing that, you're you're you're developing yourself. 698 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,000 Speaker 2: That's part of self personal development. Right. You're also not 699 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 2: relying on any doctrine to teach you ethics, although you 700 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 2: can go find ethics from like say the great Greek 701 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 2: philosophers or Buddha or you know, Taoism or Confucianism, like 702 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:46,080 Speaker 2: you can go find these from wherever you want. You 703 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,239 Speaker 2: can even read the Bible or something and sure, you know, 704 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 2: like Thomas Jefferson edited the Bible, he took all the 705 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 2: miracles out and just basically made it a really great 706 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 2: moral handbook. You could do the same thing. Right and 707 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,640 Speaker 2: still gain these idea. 708 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. 709 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 2: The point is you're not supposed to take anything wholesale, 710 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:07,480 Speaker 2: including ostensibly humanism. Like you should not just go, okay, 711 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:09,800 Speaker 2: I want to be humanists, tell me how to be, 712 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:11,440 Speaker 2: because they're going to say no, you got to go 713 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:12,239 Speaker 2: figure that out. 714 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 3: Yeah, you should probably start with the New Testament too 715 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 3: and just leave it at that. 716 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:19,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, that Old Testament is grim. 717 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty grim. 718 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,279 Speaker 3: You know, if you're a humanist, you're you're definitely like 719 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,520 Speaker 3: opposed to war, you value universal rights of all humans, 720 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 3: in equality. It's not tied to a political system necessarily. 721 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 3: I mean, I know it has its roots in sort 722 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:42,080 Speaker 3: of liberal progressive think, but you don't have to be like, oh, 723 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:45,359 Speaker 3: I'm a registered Democrat and a humanist. Like you can 724 00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:49,760 Speaker 3: be anybody. I'd argue, maybe not. You could vote for anybody, 725 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:52,880 Speaker 3: But as far as political affiliation, it's not tied to 726 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 3: anyone thing. 727 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 2: No, nor should it be. 728 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 3: We should probably name some famous humanists through the years. 729 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 3: You could start and end with Albert Einstein, but we're 730 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 3: just going to start there. He supported the Capital the 731 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,640 Speaker 3: E Capital C Ethical culture movement, and was a founding 732 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 3: member of the First Humanist Society of New York, and 733 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:19,880 Speaker 3: in nineteen fifty published Essays in Humanism. And he was 734 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,240 Speaker 3: he was walking the walk. 735 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,800 Speaker 2: Oh, he definitely was. He was big time into world 736 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,800 Speaker 2: peace and civil rights. And he was a pantheist apparently 737 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 2: as well. So yeah, he was definitely the real deal 738 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:35,160 Speaker 2: as far as humanists are concerned. So too was Isaac 739 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,799 Speaker 2: Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut. Apparently they were both very much active. Yeah, 740 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 2: in the American Humanist Association. 741 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:41,320 Speaker 1: No surprise. 742 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 2: Kurt Vonnegut had a great quote, if you don't mind 743 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:45,799 Speaker 2: me taking. 744 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 1: It, Yeah, do your best Vonnagut. I want to hear this. 745 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 2: He said that. By the way, Kurt Vonneguet and I 746 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:56,319 Speaker 2: are basically voice doubles. Okay, does he have a I've 747 00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,480 Speaker 2: never heard him talk, man. Does he have an unusual. 748 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: Or significant Well, I don't know. 749 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,640 Speaker 3: Weirdly, the only time I think I've ever heard Kurt 750 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,239 Speaker 3: Bontaguet talk was if I'm not mistaken, He had a 751 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:11,080 Speaker 3: cameo and Broughtney Dangerfields back to school. Yeah, because he 752 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:15,880 Speaker 3: hired he paid him to tutor him in college. 753 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,279 Speaker 2: Well, how about this. You take this quote, but do 754 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:20,319 Speaker 2: it as Dangerfield? 755 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no, no, it said. 756 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:26,760 Speaker 2: He said, being a humanist means trying to behave decently 757 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:31,200 Speaker 2: without expectation of rewards or punishment after you're dead. Yeah, 758 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,279 Speaker 2: that's nice, it's great, great description of it. 759 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,799 Speaker 3: What else, if you're a Star Trek fan, you even 760 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 3: if you're not, you're probably not surprised that Jeane Roddenberry 761 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:45,440 Speaker 3: was a very big in the humanist movement. He I 762 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:50,440 Speaker 3: means Star Trek is a is a great example of 763 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,200 Speaker 3: just a group of people that are doing humanist things 764 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:56,120 Speaker 3: that that's kind of the culture of that show. 765 00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: A they're trying to solve. 766 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 3: Problems peacefully, high tech, but of course it's they're always 767 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 3: trying to do the right thing. 768 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:05,640 Speaker 1: On Star Trek. 769 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,800 Speaker 2: I feel like, yeah, there are a bunch of do gooders. Yeah, 770 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:10,799 Speaker 2: they don't want to use their phasers. It's why they 771 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:16,960 Speaker 2: always set them to stunt. So there are many critiques 772 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 2: to humanism. They get it from all sides, other atheists, 773 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:24,880 Speaker 2: other philosophers, Christians obviously. Christian thinkers basically are like, dude, 774 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:31,359 Speaker 2: you can't have meaning in your life without God. Theology 775 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:34,760 Speaker 2: teaches us that God is what gives your life meaning, 776 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:40,600 Speaker 2: you chump, And that's essentially the most basic criticism of humanism. 777 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:43,880 Speaker 2: They basically say you can't be ethical or moral or 778 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,880 Speaker 2: have meaning or value in your life without believing that 779 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:48,280 Speaker 2: there is such a thing as God. 780 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 3: Right, you mentioned atheists, there are also atheists that say, 781 00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:57,960 Speaker 3: you know what, a little too much credulity going on 782 00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:01,759 Speaker 3: about the value of humanity and like that we can 783 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 3: all just improve ourselves. And I mean, I think there's 784 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:10,560 Speaker 3: some very prominent philosophers from the twentieth century that are 785 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,480 Speaker 3: very much anti humanist. 786 00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:16,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, they call themselves anti humanists. Apparently the structuralists and 787 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:19,840 Speaker 2: post structuralist movements of philosophy that came out of France 788 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,160 Speaker 2: in the sixties and seventies, I think maybe even into 789 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,080 Speaker 2: the eighties, they were very much anti humanists, and they 790 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:29,839 Speaker 2: were like, the individuals don't matter other than you know, 791 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:34,160 Speaker 2: we don't go make our own meaning everything we are 792 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,240 Speaker 2: is basically created by institutions and structures that were born 793 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,919 Speaker 2: into and there's basically no way out, So stop being 794 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:42,360 Speaker 2: silly and naive. 795 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,759 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's interesting to me, not to do an episode 796 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,759 Speaker 3: on necessarily, but I'd like to poke around the structuralism 797 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:49,319 Speaker 3: a little bit more. 798 00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:50,080 Speaker 1: I'd never heard of that. 799 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,920 Speaker 2: I have been doing that, and it is very interesting. Essentially, 800 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,680 Speaker 2: what they're saying is like, you are so shaped by 801 00:43:56,680 --> 00:44:01,120 Speaker 2: institutions that these cool thoughts that you think you have, 802 00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:04,080 Speaker 2: the interactions you have with other people, all of them 803 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:08,919 Speaker 2: are shaped by the institutions we're born into. Argue with that, right, 804 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:13,600 Speaker 2: but so much so, Chuck, that those cool thoughts, those 805 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,960 Speaker 2: amazing things that you're saying, those interactions with people, all 806 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:22,040 Speaker 2: they're doing is reinforcing those institutions because they're all within 807 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,920 Speaker 2: that structure. So you're just teaching other people how to 808 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:27,600 Speaker 2: be in that structure too by even rebelling against it 809 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:29,600 Speaker 2: as a form of reinforcing the structure. 810 00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:32,880 Speaker 1: Wow, it's very grim. 811 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:34,840 Speaker 2: Like, it's actually a very grim approach. 812 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:37,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's interesting. 813 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,560 Speaker 2: One other thing too that they get held up for 814 00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:44,279 Speaker 2: a lot is that they that they believe that man 815 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:49,560 Speaker 2: is inherently moral, and that a lot of philosophers are like, 816 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,719 Speaker 2: how do you prove that? What are you talking about? 817 00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:55,080 Speaker 2: Where'd you get that from? That's not a universal given, 818 00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:59,319 Speaker 2: Like philosophies never turned that up. And did you see 819 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:04,080 Speaker 2: that thing that I found from Francisco Jay Eliah? He 820 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:09,600 Speaker 2: basically said, so, basically, this guy kind of proves that 821 00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:16,440 Speaker 2: humans are actually biologically moral, resulting from a consequence of 822 00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:20,520 Speaker 2: natural selection. Francisco j. Eliah says that one, we have 823 00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:24,719 Speaker 2: the ability to anticipate consequences of our own actions. Two 824 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,960 Speaker 2: we have the ability to make value judgments, and three 825 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,439 Speaker 2: we have the ability to choose between alternative courses of action. 826 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,600 Speaker 2: And so because of our abilities, our natural abilities to 827 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:39,920 Speaker 2: do that, we are naturally moral creatures. Which is the 828 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:43,880 Speaker 2: only support I've seen for that idea that people are 829 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:47,920 Speaker 2: inherently moral. I've only ever seen attack. This guy did 830 00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,759 Speaker 2: a pretty good job of making a case that supports that. 831 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, isn't the idea that humans are inherently 832 00:45:54,719 --> 00:45:55,840 Speaker 3: evil much more common? 833 00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:57,560 Speaker 1: Like, wasn't that what Hobbes was all about? 834 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:01,480 Speaker 2: That's what Hobbes was about Satanists, Yeah, basically, or I 835 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:03,560 Speaker 2: think they're like, it's not good or evil, and I 836 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:07,359 Speaker 2: think Satanists are really they don't like humanists very much either. Yeah, 837 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:10,920 Speaker 2: there's a Yeah, there's a lot of it's definitely not 838 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:13,640 Speaker 2: settled whether humans are inherently good or bad. 839 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:15,760 Speaker 1: So we haven't figured that one out. 840 00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,319 Speaker 2: I guess, not meaning toward the bad lately though. 841 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:20,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you. 842 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:25,640 Speaker 3: I mentioned environmentalists and animal rights activists earlier that sometimes 843 00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,160 Speaker 3: there's they believe there's just a little too much human 844 00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:33,800 Speaker 3: and humanism, But there are certainly a lot of people 845 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,719 Speaker 3: and humanists that have kind of worked on the environment 846 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:38,960 Speaker 3: and animals and the value of all that stuff into 847 00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:40,640 Speaker 3: the cause for sure. 848 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:43,920 Speaker 2: Very very Jeremy bentha mask Yeah. Yeah, although if you 849 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:46,840 Speaker 2: want to get down to it, I've seen an example 850 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:51,520 Speaker 2: given where a genuine humanist if if somebody killing a 851 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:53,880 Speaker 2: deer kept a human family alive, they would be like, 852 00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,560 Speaker 2: killed that deer. Dear interesting, that deer is secondary, It's 853 00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,920 Speaker 2: life is secondary to human life. Humanists might be like, 854 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,680 Speaker 2: no way, man, go eat go eat a plant, go 855 00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:04,400 Speaker 2: eat some lichen. 856 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:05,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. 857 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:09,760 Speaker 3: I've never been a hunter, but if the zombie apocalypse happened, 858 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:11,279 Speaker 3: like I could, I could do it. 859 00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:15,960 Speaker 2: You could eat zombie. I think it's if they bite 860 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,640 Speaker 2: you that you become a zombie. I've never seen any 861 00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:20,080 Speaker 2: problems with somebody eating them. 862 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,239 Speaker 3: Well, that's true, you definitely need a healthy spice rack though. 863 00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:28,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like that rotted shark they eat in Iceland. 864 00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:32,120 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh god, Yeah. 865 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,560 Speaker 2: That's essentially like eating zombie. From what I understand, okay, 866 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:39,040 Speaker 2: tastes like zombie. You got anything else? 867 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:39,560 Speaker 3: No? 868 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,319 Speaker 1: I uh, you were right. I didn't. 869 00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:43,640 Speaker 3: I didn't think I was gonna be able to get 870 00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:45,400 Speaker 3: through this because it's very petty stuff for me. But 871 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:48,640 Speaker 3: you said, settle down, jerk, you'll be fine. 872 00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, you did great. When when't like a philosophy class 873 00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:54,040 Speaker 2: one of your favorite classes in college too. 874 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:56,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, and every time we do anything philosophy related, I 875 00:47:56,680 --> 00:47:58,640 Speaker 3: get all scared and it always works out. 876 00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,640 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he did great, man, you always do great. 877 00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:02,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, so do you? 878 00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:05,560 Speaker 2: Thanks well, check and I agree we both did great. 879 00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:08,520 Speaker 2: Patting ourselves on the back. He let me pet you 880 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:11,239 Speaker 2: on the back, dude, Oh thank you. That means, of 881 00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:12,600 Speaker 2: course it's time for listener mail. 882 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:16,880 Speaker 1: All right, this is going to be short and sweet. 883 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:17,640 Speaker 1: It is. 884 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:22,840 Speaker 3: I think I jokingly asked for a haiku as it 885 00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:26,640 Speaker 3: relates to mcguffins, because many years ago we put out 886 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,960 Speaker 3: the call for haikus and got hundreds and hundreds of them, 887 00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,200 Speaker 3: to the point where I think we just quit reading them, 888 00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:36,480 Speaker 3: so and hopes people quit sending them, and time marched on, 889 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,719 Speaker 3: and they did. But David centnasen a haiku about the 890 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:48,080 Speaker 3: mcguffin amt coukay man, you ready. The mcguffin lives, critics argue, 891 00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:54,120 Speaker 3: and gnash teeth. The ending still comes wow, and David 892 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:55,959 Speaker 3: goes on to say, this great show, guys, y'all create 893 00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,719 Speaker 3: an entire universe of stuff, insider stories and jokes. I 894 00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:01,560 Speaker 3: hate it when I can't recall one of the callback 895 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:04,279 Speaker 3: tangents and you just want to say, lastly. 896 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:07,680 Speaker 1: The Jackhammer episode. Wasn't that terrible? Guys? It was needed 897 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:08,320 Speaker 1: in the world. 898 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:11,520 Speaker 2: Can you read the high cup again? It's still sinking 899 00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:13,560 Speaker 2: in like the genius of what David did. 900 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:18,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty good. The mcguffin lives, critics argue, and 901 00:49:18,239 --> 00:49:22,839 Speaker 3: nash teeth. The ending still comes, man, pretty good. 902 00:49:23,200 --> 00:49:26,080 Speaker 2: That's a T shirt if I've ever heard one. Aaron Cooper, that's. 903 00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:26,959 Speaker 1: A high quality coup. 904 00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:29,080 Speaker 3: Buddy. 905 00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:31,759 Speaker 2: If you want to be like David and well, I'll 906 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:33,840 Speaker 2: not send us a high coup, but just write in 907 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:37,080 Speaker 2: about something we would be happy to hear from you. 908 00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:40,280 Speaker 2: You can send it off to Stuff Podcasts. I Heart 909 00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:49,719 Speaker 2: Radio Huh. 910 00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:48,719 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 911 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:53,000 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 912 00:49:53,080 --> 00:50:01,120 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,