#58 - Ask Us Anything V: How to Read and What to Read

Alright people, we made it. Six months, a few breaks, some uncontrollable laughter, some philosophy, many unhinged takes, a little bit of diarrhea and we're here, the last Ask Us Anything. After this we're never answering another God D*** question. Ever.
We discuss
Do you wish you could change your own interests?
Methods of information ingestion
Taking books off their pedestal bit
Intellectual influences
Veganism (why Ben is, why Vaden isn't)
Anti-rational memes
Fricken Andrew Huberman again
Stoicism
Are e-fuels the best of the best or the worst of the worst?
Questions
(Andrew) Any suggested methods of reading Popper (or others) and getting the most out of it? I'm not from a philosophy background, and although I get a lot out of the books, I think there's probably ways of reading them (notes etc?) where I could invest the same time and get more return.
(Andrew) Any other books you'd say added to your personal philosophical development as DD, KP have? Who and why?
(Alex) Are you aware of general types of insidious anti-rational memes which are hard to recognise as such? Any ideas on how we can go about recognising them in our own thinking? (I do realise that perhaps no general method exists, but still, if you have any thoughts on this...)
(Lorcan) What do you think about efuels? Listen to this take (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egTCIyNBpQw&ab_channel=FullyChargedShow) by Fully Charged.
References
Lying (https://www.samharris.org/books/lying) and Free Will (https://www.samharris.org/books/free-will) by Sam Harris
Doing Good Better (https://www.amazon.ca/Doing-Good-Better-Effective-Altruism/dp/1592409660) by MacAskill
Animal Liberation (https://www.amazon.ca/Animal-Liberation-Definitive-Classic-Movement/dp/0061711306) by Peter Singer
Mortal Questions (https://www.amazon.ca/Mortal-Questions-Thomas-Nagel/dp/1107604710#:~:text=Thomas%20Nagel's%20Mortal%20Questions%20explore,%2C%20consciousness%2C%20freedom%20and%20value.) by Thomas Nagel
Death and Life of Great American Cities (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_American_Cities) by Jane Jacobs
Peace is Every Step (https://www.amazon.ca/Peace-Every-Step-Mindfulness-Everyday/dp/0553351397) and True Love (https://www.amazon.ca/True-Love-Practice-Awakening-Heart/dp/1590304047) by Thich Nhat Hanh
Seeing like a State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State#:~:text=Seeing%20Like%20a%20State%3A%20How,accordance%20with%20purported%20scientific%20laws.) by James Scott
The Truth Behind Cage-Free and Free-Range | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foHv_MCBveA&ab_channel=StuffYouShouldKnow)
People
Producers of rational memes:
- Everything: Christopher Hitchens, Vladimir Nabokov, Sam Harris, George Orwell, Scott Alexander, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Steven Pinker
- Sex and Relationships: Dan Savage
- Environment/Progress: Vaclav Smil, Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, Hans Rosling, Bjorn Lomborg, Michael Shellenburger, Alex Epstein
- Race: Glenn Loury, John Mcwhorter, Coleman Hughes, Kmele Foster, Chloe Valdery
- Woke: John Mcwhorter, Yasha Mounk, Coleman Hughes, Sam Harris, Douglas Murrey, Jordan Peterson, Steven Hicks, James Lindsay, Ben Shapiro
- Feminism: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christina Hoff Summers, Camille Paglia
(Note: Then follow each thinker's favorite thinker, and never stop. )
Producers of anti-rational memes:
- Eric Weinstein
- Bret Weinstein
- Noam Chomsky (See A Potpourri Of Chomskyan Nonsense: https://lingbuzz.net/lingbuzz/001592/v6.pdf)
- Glenn Greenwald
- Reza Aslan
- Medhi Hassan
- Robin Diangelo
- Ibraam x Kendi
- George Galloway
- Judith Butler
Socials
Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani
Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link
Help us fund the anti-book campaign and get exclusive bonus content by becoming a patreon subscriber here (https://www.patreon.com/Increments). Or give us one-time cash donations to help therapy costs here (https://ko-fi.com/increments).
Click dem like buttons on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4wZzQyoW4s4ZuE4FY9DQQ)
What aren't you interested in, and how might you fix that? Tell us at [email protected]

Alright people, we made it. Six months, a few breaks, some uncontrollable laughter, some philosophy, many unhinged takes, a little bit of diarrhea and we're here, the last Ask Us Anything. After this we're never answering another God D*** question. Ever.

We discuss

Do you wish you could change your own interests?
Methods of information ingestion
Taking books off their pedestal bit
Intellectual influences
Veganism (why Ben is, why Vaden isn't)
Anti-rational memes
Fricken Andrew Huberman again
Stoicism
Are e-fuels the best of the best or the worst of the worst?

Questions

(Andrew) Any suggested methods of reading Popper (or others) and getting the most out of it? I'm not from a philosophy background, and although I get a lot out of the books, I think there's probably ways of reading them (notes etc?) where I could invest the same time and get more return.

(Andrew) Any other books you'd say added to your personal philosophical development as DD, KP have? Who and why?

(Alex) Are you aware of general types of insidious anti-rational memes which are hard to recognise as such? Any ideas on how we can go about recognising them in our own thinking? (I do realise that perhaps no general method exists, but still, if you have any thoughts on this...)

(Lorcan) What do you think about efuels? Listen to this take by Fully Charged.

References

Lying and Free Will by Sam Harris
Doing Good Better by MacAskill
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel
Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Peace is Every Step and True Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Seeing like a State by James Scott
The Truth Behind Cage-Free and Free-Range | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

People

Producers of rational memes:

Everything: Christopher Hitchens, Vladimir Nabokov, Sam Harris, George Orwell, Scott Alexander, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Steven Pinker
Sex and Relationships: Dan Savage
Environment/Progress: Vaclav Smil, Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, Hans Rosling, Bjorn Lomborg, Michael Shellenburger, Alex Epstein
Race: Glenn Loury, John Mcwhorter, Coleman Hughes, Kmele Foster, Chloe Valdery
Woke: John Mcwhorter, Yasha Mounk, Coleman Hughes, Sam Harris, Douglas Murrey, Jordan Peterson, Steven Hicks, James Lindsay, Ben Shapiro
Feminism: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christina Hoff Summers, Camille Paglia
(Note: Then follow each thinker's favorite thinker, and never stop. )

Producers of anti-rational memes:

Eric Weinstein
Bret Weinstein
Noam Chomsky (See A Potpourri Of Chomskyan Nonsense: https://lingbuzz.net/lingbuzz/001592/v6.pdf)
Glenn Greenwald
Reza Aslan
Medhi Hassan
Robin Diangelo
Ibraam x Kendi
George Galloway
Judith Butler

Socials

Follow us on Twitter at @IncrementsPod, @BennyChugg, @VadenMasrani
Come join our discord server! DM us on twitter or send us an email to get a supersecret link
Help us fund the anti-book campaign and get exclusive bonus content by becoming a patreon subscriber here. Or give us one-time cash donations to help therapy costs here.
Click dem like buttons on youtube

What aren't you interested in, and how might you fix that? Tell us at [email protected]

Support Increments