IGX

From here it seems to be a scene that many IGx-ers would receive well...

How many of you blokes watch or listen to the 'IDW' type podcasts? (applying the IDW term fairly generally).

If you have, what are your favs?

Lately I've been enjoying the guests on Rebel Wisdom, and most recently Eric Weinstein.

Exposing my ignorance.....

what is the intellectual dark web?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_dark_web

Etc...

newguy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:58 pm Exposing my ignorance.....

what is the intellectual dark web?

https://www.nomoremrniceguy.com/forums/
It requires a login apparently.

I follow Nassim Taleb on Twitter. If he’s not an outcast, it’s not for lack of trying.

I like what they're doing, for the most part. As the far left goes further off the rails we're going to need sane voices to pull us back from the brink before any utterance that's not LBGTQWERTY+, BLM, insert left-approved fascism denial of speech, makes it impossible to have tough conversations that will move us forward politically and societally.

I'm an avid listener and reader of Sam Harris. His Making Sense (formerly Waking Up) podcast is one of the few that's downloaded straight to my phone. I've been a fan since I read The End of Faith and Waking UP and have been a follower for nearly 10 years now. He's the person who got me interested in philosophy in general and now eastern philosophy, and he's helped me tremendously with my depression and anxiety. Got his Waking Up app and do his meditations and lessons every morning. I sometimes think he'd be better served focussing on the spirituality without religious dogma side of his work and not the controversial "IDW" stuff. He's gotten into enough dust ups due to daring to have guests like Charles Murray on his podcast.

Other than Sam, I think Douglass Murray has an interesting take on some issues, and can hit with a wit similar to Hitchens.
I've really liked Eric Weinstein the times he's been on either Sam's or Joe Rogan's podcast. There's simply not many subjects he's not knowledgeable about. His brother Bret is putting out really good stuff on social issues and their evolutionary background.

Not a fan of the more right leaning side of the IDW like Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro, being the social liberal that I am, but their perspectives are good for making sure I'm not in an echo chamber. Peterson throws the best word salads this side of Deepak Chopra and Shapiro is just a whiny little douche.

Too bad Pangburn Philosophy shit the bed. He was putting out some decent content with conversations between many of the IDW and other general intellectuals. The Day of Reckoning videos on YouTube are well worth watching if you want to see a pretty diverse set of opinions hashing out thoughts.

Joe Rogan????

Lol....

newguy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:20 pm Joe Rogan????

Lol....

Don't consider him a "real" part of the IDW, but most of the IDW has been on his show multiple times. And in true Rogan fashion, he agrees with everything they say even when it directly contradicts something he agreed with another guest on just a day before.

I really don't know anything about the IDW and this is the first I've heard the term. And when the wiki page had him listed as part of it....well....look....I don't mind Joe Rogan. I've got nothing against the guy. He is my favorite UFC commentator.....


I don't know. I'm looking at the list and just really not sure what the IDW is other than a list of people who seem to have gained traction from going against the grain of their respective fields and ending up on the Joe Rogan Podcast?

And that's not trying to diminish any of them. Some I agree with some things on. Some I don't. Some I find interesting. Others not.

I just don't see what connects them. (Other than Joe Rogan.....)

From the wiki......."Sources disagree on what, if any unifying factors exist throughout the IDW."

Not that it really matters.

nafod wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:54 pm I follow Nassim Taleb on Twitter. If he’s not an outcast, it’s not for lack of trying.

I got tired of this guy. He came up with many good idea, but his self-admiring style gets old quickly. Antifragility was the worst in this respect. I would still rate him as above the average and way above Malcolm Gladwell, but the dose of him has to be capped for me.

I used to listen to the Mysterious Universe, Skeptiko, Unslaved, Where Did the Road Go, Buddha at the Gas Pump and couple of other alternatively oriented podcasts. It's not easy to run shows, and some of them get a bit repetitive. Sceptic, for example, blew my mental fuse box off with its ideas about consciousness, near death experience science and the like; unfortunately it has gravitated towards "they don't want you to know about this!" adage.

I like Sen Mountain Monastery and San Francisco Zen Centre podcasts, they are not heavy on religious formalities and are good talks to start the day.

Alfred_E._Neuman wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:57 pm
I'm an avid listener and reader of Sam Harris. His Making Sense (formerly Waking Up) podcast is one of the few that's downloaded straight to my phone. I've been a fan since I read The End of Faith and Waking UP and have been a follower for nearly 10 years now. He's the person who got me interested in philosophy in general and now eastern philosophy, and he's helped me tremendously with my depression and anxiety. Got his Waking Up app and do his meditations and lessons every morning. I sometimes think he'd be better served focussing on the spirituality without religious dogma side of his work and not the controversial "IDW" stuff. He's gotten into enough dust ups due to daring to have guests like Charles Murray on his podcast.

Can you talk a little more about the app?

newguy wrote: ↑Mon Jul 08, 2019 12:56 am

Can you talk a little more about the app?

Sure. Basically, Sam got interested in exploring consciousness in his 20's(?), and spent time in Asia studying in several Buddhist meditation traditions. This led him to get his degree in philosophy and PHD in neuroscience. His book Waking Up is his treatise on using Eastern meditation practice without any religious dogma attached.
The App is relatively new. He has a daily meditation that goes through the first 50 days as a standardized set, and when you've finished all those you get access to the daily meditation that's guided by Sam in either 10 or 20 minute times. You also have a basic timer for meditations outside the guided ones.
There's also a series of lessons that go along with the meditation course. These range from background in the Buddhist traditions he's basing the course on, to reading and elaborating on chapters of the book, etc.
I'd recommend it to anyone starting on a meditation journey, especially if they're more interested in the neuroscience behind mindfulness meditation than the religion associated with it. He does know the religious side of it as well, and goes into that more in the lessons than the guided parts.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the write up on it.

Is the only meditation app you've used?

I've used 10% Happier and Headspace. Both of those are good, with Headspace being a little better IMO. I don't like that 10% has various teachers leading meditations, but some people like the variety of styles. I'm better when I follow a single teacher.

Sangoma wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:05 pm

nafod wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:54 pm I follow Nassim Taleb on Twitter. If he’s not an outcast, it’s not for lack of trying.

I got tired of this guy. He came up with many good idea, but his self-admiring style gets old quickly. Antifragility was the worst in this respect. I would still rate him as above the average and way above Malcolm Gladwell, but the dose of him has to be capped for me.

Yea, small doses, and you have to ignore lots of yelling. He hates academics, though, and academics need a good wire brushing every now and...now.

"Follow" really isn't the right word for reading him. More like "monitor" or "track".

He's going on a long term bender against correlation as a useful statistical tool, which I find interesting.

I miss our resident economist. Pinky phone home...