# Destination Irritation: Delusions, Drunks, and Other Pet Peeves

An episode of [TheThinkingAtheist](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/412308695), 7 Jan 2025, 1 h 01 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/mgln.ai/e/711/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/63560721/podcast781_peeves.mp3

Some are kicking off 2025 with resolutions. We're starting the New Year with...peeves! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/thethinkingatheist--3270347/support.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol,
[0:09] Speaker 1: an idea.
[0:10] Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through.
[0:13] Speaker 1: The rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If
[0:18] Speaker 1: I tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth,
[0:22] Speaker 1: not because.
[0:22] Speaker 2: I put my hand on a book and made a.
[0:24] Speaker 1: Wish and working together for a more rational world.
[0:29] Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness.
[0:32] Speaker 2: Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the
[0:43] Speaker 1: Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews.
[0:56] Speaker 2: What is your pet p or if you had to
[1:00] Speaker 2: make a list of the top three something that's not
[1:04] Speaker 2: just an irritation, but it takes you to a place
[1:07] Speaker 2: where you do not like yourself, for the thoughts of
[1:11] Speaker 2: hate and death they're coming into your mind. One of
[1:19] Speaker 2: my pet peeves drunk people. You're drunk people. They make
[1:28] Speaker 2: me angry. They just take me to a place in
[1:31] Speaker 2: my brain where I gotta get away from them because
[1:34] Speaker 2: I feel just I'm in the redside.
[1:37] Speaker 3: Get away from me.
[1:41] Speaker 2: I've been at conventions. This rarely happens, but I was
[1:44] Speaker 2: at a convention and somebody, you know, they were obviously
[1:47] Speaker 2: feeling no pain, and they'd come out of the hotel bar.
[1:50] Speaker 2: This dude is super nice, guys like I, thank you
[1:55] Speaker 2: so much for all of your great work, and then
[2:02] Speaker 2: he gets all touchy. Now he's hugging me. I can
[2:07] Speaker 2: I give you ag And it makes me sound like
[2:12] Speaker 2: a total asshole, because this is somebody who's obviously affected
[2:15] Speaker 2: by the work and has enjoyed the channel and the
[2:17] Speaker 2: content for fifteen years. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[2:20] Speaker 2: But it just got awkward. You know, I'm saying awkward,
[2:26] Speaker 2: and I prefer conversations where people use consonants. I was
[2:34] Speaker 2: at a convention arn Rock and back me up on this,
[2:36] Speaker 2: because he was standing there and somebody was continuing to
[2:41] Speaker 2: introduce me to the receptionist checking me into the hotel.
[2:45] Speaker 2: Do you have any idea who this man is. I
[2:52] Speaker 2: don't think this person even remembers that night. It was like,
[2:56] Speaker 2: you know, no, I just look, I'm here. I just
[2:59] Speaker 2: got off the plane. I've been traveling for ten hours.
[3:02] Speaker 2: I'm cranky, and I'm you know, I feel like I
[3:05] Speaker 2: need a shower. You know, you know I'm good this nobing.
[3:08] Speaker 2: I just want to check in anyway, Drunk people so
[3:14] Speaker 2: Natalie and I don't do New Year's Eve parties. If
[3:18] Speaker 2: we do anything, we'll get together with a couple of
[3:20] Speaker 2: friends and you know, we'll play poker or you know,
[3:24] Speaker 2: rent a movie or hangout and we're done around ten
[3:27] Speaker 2: and then whoever drove to the other person's house. We
[3:30] Speaker 2: try to get home before midnight because we're worried about
[3:34] Speaker 2: everybody else on the road who might be inebriated, knowing
[3:37] Speaker 2: that half of all fatalities highway fatalities in this country
[3:43] Speaker 2: are alcohol related. Yeah, we don't want to be on
[3:48] Speaker 2: the road. But we got invited to a pre New
[3:54] Speaker 2: Year thing. It was like the day before the day
[3:57] Speaker 2: before New Year party. I guess I didn't think of
[4:01] Speaker 2: it as a party. It was just a gathering of
[4:03] Speaker 2: people that we knew, most of whom we knew, and
[4:06] Speaker 2: they said, look, we're going to play some games. Would
[4:08] Speaker 2: you like to hang out short So we're hanging out
[4:12] Speaker 2: with everybody, and somebody brings in I don't know how
[4:16] Speaker 2: many bottles of wine, and somebody else brought a passion
[4:22] Speaker 2: fruit and vodka drink. It was blue, it looked like
[4:25] Speaker 2: romulin ale. I actually took a sip. It wasn't bad.
[4:30] Speaker 2: I like this if I don't drink, but if I do,
[4:33] Speaker 2: take a sip of something, I like something sweet, you know,
[4:36] Speaker 2: kind of a candy fruit fruit kind of drink. That's
[4:39] Speaker 2: that's me. And then people make fun of me. But
[4:42] Speaker 2: I don't drink. I've never been drunk. It's not my scene.
[4:46] Speaker 2: And drunk people get under my skin and I just
[4:50] Speaker 2: want to get away from them. So I'm looking around
[4:53] Speaker 2: at all the booze and I'm going, oh oh, start
[4:57] Speaker 2: playing games, swapping stories everybody but he's having a good time,
[5:01] Speaker 2: including me, having a good time, good people having a ball.
[5:05] Speaker 2: Life is grand. And then the time passes and I
[5:08] Speaker 2: noticed that the refilling of glasses is happening at a
[5:13] Speaker 2: relatively rapid pace. Wow, there's an awful lot of liquid
[5:19] Speaker 2: alcoholic adult beverage type stuff being imbibed at this thing.
[5:24] Speaker 2: And then the party changes and you can see. I
[5:31] Speaker 2: don't know does alcohol change who you are or does
[5:37] Speaker 2: it expose who you are? I have read something about
[5:41] Speaker 2: how it removes inhibitions for better and worse, often for worse.
[5:46] Speaker 2: So if somebody is violent or abusive or nasty or
[5:53] Speaker 2: insulting or flirty or handsy or inappropriate or predatory or whatever.
[5:59] Speaker 2: When they are drunk, does that mean that they are
[6:03] Speaker 2: really that way? And the alcohol removed the barrier of civilization,
[6:09] Speaker 2: so then they just sort of jump over that boundary
[6:13] Speaker 2: and start doing what they secretly wanted to do in
[6:16] Speaker 2: the first place. I don't know. There's some psychology there,
[6:19] Speaker 2: and I'm not smart enough to figure it out, but
[6:22] Speaker 2: I began to watch. It became really a behavior exercise.
[6:26] Speaker 2: I was thinking, Okay, well that person over there is
[6:30] Speaker 2: they're pretty happy, they're having a good time, and good
[6:33] Speaker 2: for them. A lot of laughter and jokes. Didn't let
[6:36] Speaker 2: it get out of hand. Person next to him, they
[6:40] Speaker 2: got louder, but it wasn't horrible. Person next to them.
[6:46] Speaker 2: I will call him Ricky. Ricky did stop using consonants.
[6:56] Speaker 2: This guy was too fisting alcohol just I could not
[7:01] Speaker 2: get over the amount of I just whoa. And then
[7:06] Speaker 2: he started to get loud, and he started to get belligerent.
[7:13] Speaker 2: And they were playing a game. You're cheating. The decibel
[7:18] Speaker 2: levels have increased abount to thirty percent and are destined
[7:22] Speaker 2: to go up at this point in the evening. You
[7:26] Speaker 2: are breaking the rules to try and win, and I'm
[7:31] Speaker 2: not gonna stand for it. Everybody else at the table
[7:37] Speaker 2: is trying to calm Ricky down. Come on, it's just
[7:40] Speaker 2: a game. Everybody relied, they're playing by they're good people, right,
[7:43] Speaker 2: come on, everybody relaxed. We're having a good time tonight.
[7:47] Speaker 2: I am having a good time. But then a really ugly,
[7:53] Speaker 2: ugly side began to manifest. And this is where that
[7:58] Speaker 2: question comes from. Did alcohol change Ricky or did it
[8:02] Speaker 2: expose who Ricky really is? Okay, Ricky just gets nasty,
[8:10] Speaker 2: calling people names and starts saying really inappropriate things and
[8:14] Speaker 2: making suggestions about what they do and the rest of
[8:18] Speaker 2: their lives and what they might be thinking. When nobody's
[8:22] Speaker 2: looking and blah blah blah, and everybody's starting to squirm,
[8:26] Speaker 2: drunk or not, people are thinking when I don't want
[8:30] Speaker 2: to be a part of this, just stop it. Ricky, Stop,
[8:32] Speaker 2: Ricky stop, Ricky stop. And then Ricky switches and he
[8:37] Speaker 2: goes from belligerent and angry and even hostile to Flirty's
[8:45] Speaker 2: not the word. He started wanting to put his hands
[8:53] Speaker 2: on everybody, everybody sitting relatively close to him. Man, woman
[8:59] Speaker 2: didn't didn't make a lick of difference. There was a
[9:03] Speaker 2: guy who was sitting to his left. There was a
[9:07] Speaker 2: woman to his right. Both attractive people, and he must
[9:10] Speaker 2: have certainly thought so, because he was like, oh, yeah,
[9:14] Speaker 2: come here, you come here. And he's putting hands on
[9:17] Speaker 2: knees and leaning over, putting his arm around the shoulder
[9:21] Speaker 2: as they squirm a little. Well, I say they squirmed.
[9:24] Speaker 2: One squirmed and the other one started to get into it.
[9:30] Speaker 2: Ricky's like, you know what, if I wasn't taken, I'd
[9:35] Speaker 2: be all over you. I'd be taking your clothes off
[9:40] Speaker 2: the second I got the chance. I'm sitting near the
[9:48] Speaker 2: edge of the room. I'm in the couch. I'm not
[9:50] Speaker 2: playing the guy. I'm way over here, going Jesus Christ.
[9:54] Speaker 2: Now as I'm starting to vibrate over here, immediately people
[9:58] Speaker 2: at the table do the right thing. They say, stop it,
[10:01] Speaker 2: it's inappropriate, don't do this, it's rude, it's you know,
[10:06] Speaker 2: it's creepy. Don't do it, right right off the bat,
[10:09] Speaker 2: to their credit. So I'm watching, but one of the
[10:13] Speaker 2: two people that Ricky was flirting with started to flirt
[10:17] Speaker 2: right back. You know why, if you weren't taken, I
[10:22] Speaker 2: would want you to rip my clothes off. And I
[10:27] Speaker 2: thought this has taken a really dark turn. People who
[10:33] Speaker 2: have no idea what they are doing, who likely aren't
[10:37] Speaker 2: going to remember much of this night tomorrow, are now
[10:42] Speaker 2: making comments that I'm not sure exactly how to discover.
[10:49] Speaker 2: You know what I'm talking about, though, Right, you're crawling
[10:52] Speaker 2: around inside my head. You're picking up what I'm throwing down.
[10:56] Speaker 2: This is dangerous territory. Now what does it say about
[11:01] Speaker 2: this guy's partner who's sitting at the same table, who
[11:05] Speaker 2: just heard him say that if I wasn't taken, i'd
[11:09] Speaker 2: have you naked like that. And he didn't snap his
[11:13] Speaker 2: fingers because, trust me, he was too shitfaced to have
[11:17] Speaker 2: the dexterity to do so. I just did it here
[11:20] Speaker 2: for effect. Okay, you are not thinking clearly. Your synapsies
[11:27] Speaker 2: are not firing correctly. Your judgment is impaired. That's why
[11:33] Speaker 2: we call it impaired. I finally called it a night
[11:39] Speaker 2: like I'm out Merry Christmas, have a happy New Year,
[11:44] Speaker 2: or whatever I said. And you know, I'm more interested
[11:48] Speaker 2: in a quiet night with my dogs and Netflix. I
[11:52] Speaker 2: don't need any of this, right, But I thought to myself,
[11:56] Speaker 2: I wonder what happened after I left? Did people start
[12:00] Speaker 2: making decisions that they would come to regret the next day,
[12:05] Speaker 2: or that someone else would be affected by and beyond
[12:09] Speaker 2: the relational stuff. Who got in a freaking car? How
[12:14] Speaker 2: many of these people who couldn't finish a sentence without
[12:18] Speaker 2: having to wipe the drool spilling down onto their shirts.
[12:22] Speaker 2: How many of those people said, I'm going to get
[12:24] Speaker 2: into essentially a one and a half ton loaded weapon
[12:28] Speaker 2: with wheels and dart myself at sixty five maybe ninety
[12:34] Speaker 2: five miles an hour to get home. I don't know.
[12:39] Speaker 2: I mean, it's parties are not supposed to be traumatizing.
[12:48] Speaker 2: This is kind of a it's close to home for me.
[12:51] Speaker 2: Member of my family who is now in her sixties,
[12:53] Speaker 2: she was an infant. She was being held in the
[12:57] Speaker 2: back of a car back in the nineteen sixties and
[13:00] Speaker 2: drunk driver smashed into that car nearly killed all three occupants,
[13:05] Speaker 2: including her. She had damage to slight damage done to
[13:09] Speaker 2: her brain, and she has to take medication to prevent
[13:13] Speaker 2: seizures for the rest of her life. She's had to
[13:15] Speaker 2: take that since she was an infant until the day
[13:18] Speaker 2: she dies. And the drunk driver who smashed into that
[13:22] Speaker 2: car you should see the photographs. I mean, it's unbelievable
[13:26] Speaker 2: that anybody survived. That drunk driver walked away with a
[13:30] Speaker 2: few lost teeth. He just lost a few teeth, and
[13:34] Speaker 2: he came out crying, I'm so sorry for what I did.
[13:39] Speaker 2: I didn't mean to do this. Oh it's terrible, it's terrible.
[13:43] Speaker 2: Never prosecuted, never prosecuted. I think maybe they gave him
[13:48] Speaker 2: a slap on the wrist. Don't drink again, sir, and
[13:53] Speaker 2: go to the dentist because you lost some teeth. Everybody
[13:56] Speaker 2: else is going to either a coma, three weeks in
[14:00] Speaker 2: the hospital for one of them, and then damage to
[14:03] Speaker 2: the brain which requires medication, all because somebody said, you
[14:07] Speaker 2: know what, I can get from point A to point
[14:09] Speaker 2: B without assistance, even though I'm totally loaded. I'd like
[14:15] Speaker 2: to think that the people who were doing and saying
[14:17] Speaker 2: the right things at the table continued to do. So
[14:21] Speaker 2: I'm in conflict a little bit because I'm like, well,
[14:24] Speaker 2: I'm not the room's babysitter, and I feel like I
[14:28] Speaker 2: would have intervened had others not been already right there
[14:31] Speaker 2: front and center to say something. But I mean, at
[14:34] Speaker 2: some point, there's only so much you can do with adults,
[14:39] Speaker 2: and so I'd like to think that things did not progress.
[14:42] Speaker 2: Everybody went home safe and respect was at least marginally
[14:49] Speaker 2: maintained or restored. But I'm not. Look, I hate to
[14:53] Speaker 2: say this. Should I even say it? I guess if
[14:59] Speaker 2: I vented this bar, I can just say it. Ricky
[15:04] Speaker 2: will never be missed at a MENSA meeting. And when
[15:09] Speaker 2: we need's sober, when he is just dead sober, when
[15:14] Speaker 2: the synapses are firing as best as they can, his
[15:18] Speaker 2: life is still loaded with shit decisions. This man is
[15:23] Speaker 2: dumber than a box of hair. Okay, from what I
[15:30] Speaker 2: can see. If he comes to a fork in the
[15:33] Speaker 2: road and decision a fork, A says if you go
[15:37] Speaker 2: this way, everybody benefits, especially you. This is the proper decision.
[15:42] Speaker 2: This is good sense and B right, if you turn
[15:46] Speaker 2: that direction, then it's calamity and everything's going to fail
[15:49] Speaker 2: and it's going to be horrible, and you do not
[15:53] Speaker 2: want to do that. He always chooses B, and he's
[15:57] Speaker 2: got some crazy batshit rationalist for YB is the better choice.
[16:03] Speaker 2: And then when the whole being crashes down on him,
[16:06] Speaker 2: he just looks around, going what what how did this happen?
[16:11] Speaker 2: We all know somebody like that, right, I'm not supposed
[16:15] Speaker 2: to use words like stupid, But there are some stupid.
[16:20] Speaker 2: There are stupid. I've told Natalie, when society fails, the
[16:28] Speaker 2: United States being a great example, when we finally circle
[16:31] Speaker 2: the drain and we go down into the abyss, we
[16:34] Speaker 2: will have gone extinct from cruel and from stupid, cruelty
[16:41] Speaker 2: and stupidity. So Ricky, before he even drank a drop,
[16:45] Speaker 2: he was already as bright as Alaska in the winter time.
[16:50] Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. His elevator missing a few
[16:55] Speaker 2: buttons there, he doesn't hit all the floors, He's got
[17:00] Speaker 2: too much yardage between the gold posts. He is a
[17:06] Speaker 2: couple of sheep short of a sweater, I'm just saying.
[17:13] Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden you start dousing him
[17:14] Speaker 2: with alcohol. It's terrifying, and then it's irritating because it's
[17:19] Speaker 2: a pet Peeve. Okay, I'm done for the moment till
[17:23] Speaker 2: the next Pet Peeve arrives. I want to talk about
[17:25] Speaker 2: Peeves today. Let's just get it off our chest. What
[17:29] Speaker 2: makes you crazy? And why? That exciting and thrill packed
[17:35] Speaker 2: segment of our broadcast starts next. Thanks for your support
[17:45] Speaker 2: of this show. In the new year, you can become
[17:48] Speaker 2: a patron for I don't know whatever amount you want
[17:51] Speaker 2: for you as long as you want you set the parameters.
[17:55] Speaker 2: But it's greatly appreciated. Patreon dot com Slashes Andrews is
[18:01] Speaker 2: where you can sign up to support And today we're
[18:05] Speaker 2: talking about pet peeves. Katie. Are you there?
[18:12] Speaker 4: I am here, Katie.
[18:14] Speaker 2: What are you thinking?
[18:15] Speaker 4: My cat peeves is dogs riding in the bed of
[18:19] Speaker 4: a pickup truck just cranks my tractor.
[18:23] Speaker 2: It cranks your tractor, Katie. Where are you from? Yeah, Chargia,
[18:28] Speaker 2: all right, Well, a lot of track or cranking going on. No, no, no,
[18:33] Speaker 2: tell me, tell me what you're thinking. Why is it
[18:35] Speaker 2: upset you?
[18:36] Speaker 4: The dogs belong to the of the truck. They belong
[18:39] Speaker 4: in the cab of the truck with the humans. It's dangerous, heat, colds, rained,
[18:45] Speaker 4: and some of them are tired, and some of them
[18:47] Speaker 4: are just faithfully waiting for they're any a human to
[18:50] Speaker 4: come back. And it's just wrong.
[18:54] Speaker 2: It is wrong. What happens if they're in an accident,
[18:56] Speaker 2: the animal's thrown, they're at the mercy of the elements.
[19:00] Speaker 2: What if the car's parked and somebody just takes the
[19:02] Speaker 2: animal and that shit happens all the time. I totally agree,
[19:05] Speaker 2: Katie does. Of course, if my small dogs were in
[19:08] Speaker 2: the bed of a truck, you probably wouldn't see them
[19:12] Speaker 2: and be way down on them. They'd be anop.
[19:15] Speaker 4: I'm sorry, what you have a dog? Ats?
[19:17] Speaker 2: I have dog ats?
[19:20] Speaker 4: Yeah, the.
[19:23] Speaker 5: Dogs.
[19:24] Speaker 2: I'll tell Linus and Gracie what you just said, and
[19:28] Speaker 2: you're gonna get the side eye. I'll go scratch on
[19:31] Speaker 2: the dog ads for you. And I hope the new
[19:34] Speaker 2: year's good for you, Katie.
[19:35] Speaker 4: Okay, it'll be a new year, that's for sure.
[19:38] Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, take care. Thanks for calling the dogs,
[19:43] Speaker 2: all right, thanks a bunch.
[19:44] Speaker 3: You lock them.
[19:46] Speaker 2: I used to make fun of small dogs. I had
[19:49] Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy five pound Great Dane named Levi
[19:53] Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty pound Great Dane named Skyler, and
[19:57] Speaker 2: they were indoor dogs and just lovely creatures. Mar Vet
[20:04] Speaker 2: used to say, the Danes are big, dumb and happy
[20:06] Speaker 2: like these dogs, aren't. They're not like border Collies where
[20:10] Speaker 2: you look in their eyes and you see vast intelligence.
[20:13] Speaker 2: Not really with most Danes, but talk about almost two
[20:17] Speaker 2: hundred pound lap dogs. They are a lot of dog.
[20:21] Speaker 2: They just take a lot of time, a lot of food.
[20:25] Speaker 2: There are a lot of maintenance. It's just hard to manage.
[20:28] Speaker 2: But the big thing for me is great danes only
[20:30] Speaker 2: live seven maybe eight years, as opposed to smaller dogs
[20:35] Speaker 2: that have doubled that lifespan. And after my third Dane,
[20:40] Speaker 2: after the third time, I thought, I just cannot do
[20:43] Speaker 2: this every seven years. I can't go through the grief
[20:46] Speaker 2: every seven years. And so, but I still didn't respect
[20:51] Speaker 2: small dogs. And then Natalie had this tiny, little four
[20:55] Speaker 2: pound Yorky named Tutsie, and those veteran listeners know that
[21:00] Speaker 2: a rat dog. And there's a tribute page for rat
[21:03] Speaker 2: dog on my personal website at Seth Andrews dot com.
[21:07] Speaker 2: And at first I was like, you gotta be kidding me.
[21:09] Speaker 2: What is that thing. It's like a hamster gone wrong.
[21:13] Speaker 2: It's a rodent. It's not a dog. This is an impostor,
[21:16] Speaker 2: you know. And within two days I was a pushover.
[21:20] Speaker 2: I love you so much to ting comeing, I love you. Hold,
[21:24] Speaker 2: let me hold you, come here and snuggle me while
[21:26] Speaker 2: I'm on the couch eye And then I became a
[21:28] Speaker 2: small dog person. For the rest of them, I'm just
[21:30] Speaker 2: a dog person. But I no longer discriminate my small
[21:36] Speaker 2: dog bigotry has been defeated. Love has won the day,
[21:41] Speaker 2: and so now Lina sees about eight pounds and Gracie's
[21:44] Speaker 2: thirteen and they are just my kids. Love them with
[21:47] Speaker 2: all my heart. As I host the show, I'm trying
[21:50] Speaker 2: to monitor the chat. Let's see Flip says pet Peeve.
[21:54] Speaker 2: When I'm speaking to someone about something specific about me,
[21:57] Speaker 2: then they interrupt me and make the conversation about themselves.
[22:01] Speaker 2: That person's a one upper. They ever talked to a
[22:04] Speaker 2: one upper? Oh, I was in traffic and somebody cut
[22:06] Speaker 2: me off the other day, and then the one upper says,
[22:08] Speaker 2: you know what, I was in traffic and someone actually
[22:11] Speaker 2: hit my bumper. Right, They've always got a one up.
[22:14] Speaker 2: Let's try seven to seven. Who's this? What's your name?
[22:20] Speaker 6: Alex?
[22:21] Speaker 2: Alex, thanks for calling. We're peeving today. What grinds your games?
[22:27] Speaker 6: My pet peeve is cell phones. When people are in
[22:31] Speaker 6: the same room together not speaking, and they're just on
[22:35] Speaker 6: their phones scrolling through things or texting each other, even
[22:39] Speaker 6: in the same room, so that really bothers me. I've
[22:43] Speaker 6: had overnight guests, which are my family, and we're watching
[22:47] Speaker 6: a TV show and I'll comment about what just happened.
[22:50] Speaker 6: And the person will say, oh, I miss that because
[22:54] Speaker 6: they were looking on their phone.
[22:56] Speaker 3: So that's a pet peeve of mine.
[22:58] Speaker 2: Have you ever had dinner with someone and you're trying
[23:02] Speaker 2: to have a conversation and they're obsessed with that little screen.
[23:06] Speaker 3: Well, no, that would.
[23:07] Speaker 6: Has just been two people, but definitely if there's more
[23:10] Speaker 6: than one person, they're easily distracted by the song.
[23:14] Speaker 2: I mean, at some point, don't we have to unplug?
[23:17] Speaker 6: You have thoughts, Yeah, I do have thoughts. I think
[23:20] Speaker 6: that it somehow is a way for people to escape
[23:24] Speaker 6: having to really learn about each other and deal with
[23:27] Speaker 6: interactions because they're awkward. They don't really know how to
[23:31] Speaker 6: express themselves with each other, their feelings or even what's
[23:35] Speaker 6: going on. It's a way, it just has been a
[23:37] Speaker 6: means for people to avoid what's difficult. You think it's
[23:41] Speaker 6: avoidance behavior, Yeah, I do, because if you've realized in
[23:46] Speaker 6: this world, we have a big problem with communicating. And
[23:51] Speaker 6: I think that when things are uncomfortable, whether it's uncomfortable
[23:55] Speaker 6: because you don't know a person or because maybe you
[23:59] Speaker 6: just don't have to have conversations, it had become a
[24:02] Speaker 6: way to avoid that and still feel like that you're
[24:05] Speaker 6: having a social relationship. One time I went to a
[24:10] Speaker 6: place for breakfast and I was observing there were about
[24:13] Speaker 6: four or five high school students. They came together for breakfast.
[24:17] Speaker 6: They were all sitting on the bench waiting for their
[24:20] Speaker 6: table to be open. Every single one of them was
[24:23] Speaker 6: looking at their phone, not at each other, not talking,
[24:27] Speaker 6: And so I just I feel like what we need
[24:30] Speaker 6: more of is actual face to face interaction, and with
[24:36] Speaker 6: the divide we have in our country, I think we
[24:38] Speaker 6: don't know how to do that anymore. It's all behind
[24:41] Speaker 6: anonymity where you can just say things and not have
[24:44] Speaker 6: to be accountable for what you're saying, and so it's
[24:47] Speaker 6: a way to just hide, and I think that in
[24:50] Speaker 6: the microcosm of two people in a relationship, that's a
[24:54] Speaker 6: way to avoid it. One last thing is that I
[24:56] Speaker 6: feel like the closest relationship I have is with my
[25:00] Speaker 6: and I have decided that we when we have a
[25:04] Speaker 6: feeling that's uncomfortable, that we just say it instead of
[25:09] Speaker 6: acting out. And I've realized that it's really really hard
[25:13] Speaker 6: to have a deep, meaningful relationship with someone, and even
[25:17] Speaker 6: with the closest people that you're with, And so that
[25:20] Speaker 6: sort of tells me how difficult it's been with the world.
[25:24] Speaker 6: Why we can't get along is that we don't even
[25:27] Speaker 6: know how to relate to each other one on one.
[25:30] Speaker 6: How do we expect the world to change if we
[25:33] Speaker 6: aren't able to do it even with one other person?
[25:37] Speaker 2: Ah, the world we could build if we would just
[25:40] Speaker 2: engage with each other as human beings, Alex, I hope
[25:43] Speaker 2: the new year brings good stuff. I'm a little scared.
[25:48] Speaker 6: I'm a little scared too, And thank you for letting
[25:51] Speaker 6: me rattle on a bit.
[25:53] Speaker 2: No, I'm glad you called. You had some good stuff
[25:55] Speaker 2: for us, a reminder to occasionally set the phone down
[25:58] Speaker 2: and focus on people. Thanks for calling. I appreciate you.
[26:01] Speaker 5: Thank you so much.
[26:02] Speaker 2: Funny all right, I've had a second to think about
[26:07] Speaker 2: this one, and I think it's situational. I mean, I've
[26:10] Speaker 2: been in groups, a party, a gathering, whatever, where I
[26:15] Speaker 2: have pulled back and grabbed my phone, disconnected. Maybe the
[26:20] Speaker 2: conversation's played itself out. A lot of people are surprised
[26:24] Speaker 2: that I'm an introvert. Love people, love social gatherings, but
[26:28] Speaker 2: my social battery runs out at a certain point and
[26:31] Speaker 2: I've got to go and just recharge. And that means
[26:35] Speaker 2: kind of a quiet corner, and that might involve scrolling
[26:38] Speaker 2: my phone, checking social media, playing a game, texting my wife.
[26:43] Speaker 2: I don't know, something like that, and I think that's
[26:46] Speaker 2: a valid kind of connection. But I do take her point,
[26:50] Speaker 2: and I agree. I've seen people who've been walking the sidewalk.
[26:54] Speaker 2: There's a group of people all in a line, and
[26:58] Speaker 2: they're all not looking at each other. They might not
[27:00] Speaker 2: even be looking at the world around them. They are
[27:03] Speaker 2: hyper focused, I would say, sometimes even addicted to that
[27:06] Speaker 2: tiny screen. And I'm not convinced that's healthy. And I
[27:12] Speaker 2: think there are some social skills that are not being
[27:15] Speaker 2: developed because people can always look away from each other
[27:19] Speaker 2: and look down at an iPhone or something. So I
[27:22] Speaker 2: think there's some wisdom in there. I had TJ asked, Hey,
[27:27] Speaker 2: what do you plan for the legacy of your show
[27:29] Speaker 2: after you're gone? Will it be an archive of your
[27:32] Speaker 2: work or will someone keep up the legacy? I don't know.
[27:37] Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. Would you want somebody, like,
[27:39] Speaker 2: let's say a satellite fell on me tomorrow, would you
[27:42] Speaker 2: want someone else to host the show or would you
[27:45] Speaker 2: want me just to leave it up? And you've got
[27:48] Speaker 2: hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of podcasts in
[27:51] Speaker 2: the archive, and all the videos and the speech is
[27:54] Speaker 2: online as is. Or would you want someone to come
[27:56] Speaker 2: in and just sort of pass the botonicas on care.
[27:59] Speaker 2: I mean, if somebody can come in, and I think
[28:01] Speaker 2: my big thing is would they be a good steward
[28:03] Speaker 2: of what we've done here. There's a temperature to this
[28:07] Speaker 2: channel that I have been fiercely protective of. I mean,
[28:11] Speaker 2: I'm not a saint. I can swipe it low hanging fruit.
[28:15] Speaker 2: You know, I can be childish and sarcastic. I'm just
[28:19] Speaker 2: a human being. But I like the vibe here. We're positive,
[28:26] Speaker 2: we do a lot of storytelling, we focus on lifting
[28:29] Speaker 2: each other up. We're building a community. I think we've
[28:32] Speaker 2: avoided a lot of the tribal sniping. And we see
[28:36] Speaker 2: this in in groups and communities everywhere you look. It's
[28:40] Speaker 2: just a human thing and we're not you know, we
[28:43] Speaker 2: can't totally avoid it. It's going to happen from time
[28:46] Speaker 2: to time. But overall, I just want this to be
[28:48] Speaker 2: kind of a net that everybody can come and land in.
[28:51] Speaker 2: It's reliable, it's solid, far from perfect, but you know
[28:56] Speaker 2: it's good. And so if somebody else come in. I
[29:00] Speaker 2: would want them to maintain that, and I'd be good
[29:04] Speaker 2: with that, you know, if they were a good steward
[29:06] Speaker 2: of your time, investment, attention. Wonderful by the way, and
[29:13] Speaker 2: I don't think I'm really kidding here, but I told
[29:16] Speaker 2: Natalie that if something happens to me and I perish
[29:20] Speaker 2: prematurely at my memorial service, I would like the programs
[29:24] Speaker 2: to be handed out so that when people open them up,
[29:28] Speaker 2: the inside is a Ouiji board and over it are
[29:33] Speaker 2: the words let's keep in touch. I just like the
[29:37] Speaker 2: idea of all my evangelical family and friends showing up
[29:41] Speaker 2: to remember me, and all of a sudden they're holding
[29:44] Speaker 2: in their hands what they considered to be a portal
[29:47] Speaker 2: to Hell. I just think that's awesome. And then you,
[29:52] Speaker 2: of course, would be there with the Planchett and you
[29:54] Speaker 2: would be moving it around and having all kinds of
[29:57] Speaker 2: fun with it, which would be the point. Anyway, I've
[30:02] Speaker 2: got to AJ on a web call.
[30:04] Speaker 3: AJ.
[30:05] Speaker 2: Are you there, hey, Yes, I am welcome. What's on
[30:08] Speaker 2: your mind and what's your peeve?
[30:11] Speaker 7: I know, if I really have a really big one.
[30:13] Speaker 7: I was just gonna comment on, like the alcohol thing
[30:16] Speaker 7: that you were talking about owner if that's okay.
[30:18] Speaker 3: You know a lot of.
[30:19] Speaker 7: People they say, oh, alcohol is a truth serum and
[30:23] Speaker 7: that it makes you be more yourself, which is absolutely
[30:27] Speaker 7: the opposite. Okay, our senses are already pretty bad when
[30:33] Speaker 7: they're fully functioning. What it does is it sends neurotransmitters
[30:37] Speaker 7: from a neuron to the other, right, But when you
[30:41] Speaker 7: drink alcohol, it lowers the production of the neuro transmitters.
[30:47] Speaker 7: So what is happening is that your neurons are not
[30:50] Speaker 7: able to connect with one another. So basically, yeah, what
[30:54] Speaker 7: you end up with is a lower functioning, dumped down
[30:58] Speaker 7: version of your brain.
[31:01] Speaker 2: I need every brain cell I can get the idea
[31:04] Speaker 2: that I would be diminished cognitively even more, it's terrifying
[31:09] Speaker 2: to me, you know.
[31:10] Speaker 7: That's why it not only does it affect your mental function,
[31:13] Speaker 7: but it affects your motor function. That's why you see people,
[31:16] Speaker 7: you know, stumbling around. Your neurons literally cannot connect with
[31:20] Speaker 7: one another to perform the most basic functions like holding
[31:26] Speaker 7: in your urine and like putting one foot in front
[31:30] Speaker 7: of the other.
[31:31] Speaker 2: I'm not convinced that alcohol brings out the best in people,
[31:35] Speaker 2: but I appreciate the input, AJ, and I appreciate your call.
[31:40] Speaker 7: I have a quick question for you in the only
[31:41] Speaker 7: brain aspect. Okay, ask this question to a lot of
[31:45] Speaker 7: people that I just meet because it helps me like
[31:48] Speaker 7: understand the better. And I don't know if you've ever
[31:50] Speaker 7: been asked this question, but a couple years ago, realized
[31:53] Speaker 7: that not everybody thinks in the same way inside the brain.
[31:57] Speaker 7: I always assume everybody has like this inner voice monologue.
[32:01] Speaker 7: So my question to you is, how do you think?
[32:03] Speaker 7: Do you think like in a visual way, verbal or mix?
[32:08] Speaker 2: How do I think?
[32:10] Speaker 7: Yes, I'm guessing you haven't been asked that question.
[32:16] Speaker 2: I really don't know. How do you think? I think?
[32:20] Speaker 6: I don't know.
[32:20] Speaker 7: I assumed that you were more of like a voice thinker,
[32:23] Speaker 7: like there might be a voice in your head that's
[32:25] Speaker 7: constantly talking.
[32:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true. I actually I mean, is it a voice?
[32:32] Speaker 2: I hear voices? Sounds kind of icky, but I guess
[32:36] Speaker 2: I do see in my mind my thoughts in terms
[32:40] Speaker 2: of language, in terms of constructed sentences, articulated sentences. Yeah,
[32:46] Speaker 2: I mean that might be true. I'd have to think.
[32:48] Speaker 3: About it, you know.
[32:49] Speaker 7: For me, as you remember, I have the cochlear implant,
[32:52] Speaker 7: which I got about five or so years ago. When
[32:55] Speaker 7: I was a teenager, I used to think very, very visually,
[32:59] Speaker 7: like most of my thinking was visual, but I also
[33:02] Speaker 7: lost my vision over the years. But my vision got
[33:05] Speaker 7: worse after I got my cochlear implant, And I noticed
[33:09] Speaker 7: that after I got my cochlear implant, my thinking completely
[33:13] Speaker 7: shifted to mostly voice and my dreams and my imagination.
[33:19] Speaker 7: My visual imagination sort of diminished to the point where
[33:24] Speaker 7: often my dreams were in kind of like almost a
[33:26] Speaker 7: black and white and very blurry. And over the last
[33:31] Speaker 7: two years, I've actually had two corneal transplants, and the
[33:36] Speaker 7: last surgery of my two year process was a couple
[33:40] Speaker 7: of weeks ago, so that it's actually my very first
[33:42] Speaker 7: time back on my computer. My vision is almost twenty twenty.
[33:47] Speaker 7: I think it was twenty thirty at the last visit.
[33:51] Speaker 7: So it's been amazing. And the last two weeks my
[33:54] Speaker 7: dreams have been wild, like extremely colorful, and and I
[34:01] Speaker 7: just its like amazing the way the brain adjusts to
[34:04] Speaker 7: our input that comes from a census.
[34:06] Speaker 2: Well, if you'll forgive the expression, you've given me something
[34:09] Speaker 2: to think about. AJ happy New Year. Thanks for calling me.
[34:14] Speaker 7: I thank you I'm happening here.
[34:15] Speaker 2: Yeah, let's see you. So if I'm thinking about how
[34:19] Speaker 2: I think, how am I thinking about how I think?
[34:24] Speaker 2: Am I thinking? In terms of language? Do I hear
[34:26] Speaker 2: a voice in my head? I don't know. I'm not
[34:30] Speaker 2: sure what's happening. It's happening automatically because I don't have
[34:34] Speaker 2: free will, but still I would be hearing a voice
[34:37] Speaker 2: or is an audible voice. But if I'm thinking about
[34:39] Speaker 2: it and it's not in my ears, then it's just
[34:41] Speaker 2: an unheard but it's not an audible voice. But it's
[34:44] Speaker 2: still language in words, AJ, what are you doing to me?
[34:49] Speaker 4: What?
[34:50] Speaker 2: Why? Why would you ask me these deep proving questions?
[34:55] Speaker 2: Speaking of words, I know I'm going to take in
[34:59] Speaker 2: the teeth for this because I do every time I
[35:01] Speaker 2: mention it, pet peeve, irregardless, irregardless is not a word.
[35:08] Speaker 2: I don't give a shit what Webster says. I know
[35:11] Speaker 2: I'm miss added. I know a mist added to the
[35:14] Speaker 2: dictionary years ago and is legitimately and legally usable in
[35:21] Speaker 2: terms of the English language. It's not a word. It's regardless,
[35:26] Speaker 2: regardless of whether or not you use irregardless, irregardless is
[35:33] Speaker 2: not a word. Every time I say that, people flip
[35:35] Speaker 2: out and they're like, you're just a grammar nazi. Okay, fine,
[35:41] Speaker 2: I'm a grammar Nazi. It should never have been added.
[35:45] Speaker 2: And I know language is expression, it's fluid. Can we
[35:48] Speaker 2: have usages for words? And there are no hard and
[35:52] Speaker 2: fast rules. Words can evolve. All of those things are
[35:55] Speaker 2: absolutely true, except for the word irregardless, it's not a word,
[36:03] Speaker 2: pet peeve that and especially X specially there's not a
[36:10] Speaker 2: k in especially specially pet pee uh vic on a
[36:18] Speaker 2: web call, are you there?
[36:21] Speaker 8: You're talking words and my pet peeve is definitely about
[36:25] Speaker 8: words or actually how we name things. Conservatives and progressives.
[36:32] Speaker 8: Progressive people want just human decency, some basic human rights.
[36:39] Speaker 8: That should not be progressive. That is basic. How is
[36:44] Speaker 8: it progressive to be basic wanting basic things? And conservatives
[36:50] Speaker 8: wanting things from that is well, going back in time,
[36:54] Speaker 8: that's regressive.
[36:56] Speaker 2: You're saying we shouldn't be saying the word progress in
[36:59] Speaker 2: terms of the root of progressive when basic human decency
[37:03] Speaker 2: should be baseline. It should be our default. And conservatives
[37:09] Speaker 2: very often are a type of high control extremists. They
[37:13] Speaker 2: aren't being conservative about much of anything.
[37:16] Speaker 9: Is that what I'm hearing basically because and I think,
[37:20] Speaker 9: on the one hand it's just a pet peeve of me.
[37:22] Speaker 9: On the other hand, it's really really maybe we should
[37:25] Speaker 9: start not giving them the benefit of let's keep it
[37:30] Speaker 9: this way what conservative would mean, but actually call them
[37:35] Speaker 9: what they are regressive.
[37:37] Speaker 2: I struggle a little bit with blanket terms, because first
[37:42] Speaker 2: of all, they are so subjectively applied. But I take
[37:45] Speaker 2: your larger point that this idea that it should be
[37:49] Speaker 2: what a progression forward to accept a basic decency rule
[37:54] Speaker 2: for all of humankind and beyond that seems kind of ridiculous.
[37:59] Speaker 2: That's not progressive. Say it should be just the way it.
[38:01] Speaker 8: Is, exactly exactly. And of course there are conservative people
[38:06] Speaker 8: that are truly conservative, and that's okay if we call
[38:09] Speaker 8: them that, But if they want to take right away
[38:12] Speaker 8: from people, that's regressive, that's not conservative.
[38:16] Speaker 2: I agree, and I think it's a good point, big
[38:19] Speaker 2: and I'm glad you made it. You're calling from Italy,
[38:21] Speaker 2: is that correct?
[38:22] Speaker 8: I am.
[38:23] Speaker 2: My wife wants to visit I've never been. She wants
[38:26] Speaker 2: us to plan a trip and go make memories in Italy.
[38:30] Speaker 2: Perhaps in the next couple of years that dream will
[38:33] Speaker 2: come true. So you're much appreciated.
[38:35] Speaker 8: It's the country where the youth is called and took
[38:38] Speaker 8: to drink, drink with the right measures. It's a good
[38:43] Speaker 8: place to be.
[38:44] Speaker 2: Oh, okay, you and vibe with moderation in Italy is
[38:48] Speaker 2: what you're trying to get. Meet it to interactly, okay, okay,
[38:53] Speaker 2: to enjoy. I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch for calling.
[38:57] Speaker 8: Thank you.
[38:58] Speaker 2: I We'll see you later. I've got Brian at two
[39:02] Speaker 2: zero h Thanks for waiting on me. Brian, are you there?
[39:06] Speaker 2: I am welcome.
[39:08] Speaker 3: First of all, let me say I agree with you
[39:11] Speaker 3: on irregardless and especially.
[39:14] Speaker 2: Thank you for that. No, thanks for validating. It's a
[39:17] Speaker 2: burden being right when all of the pro irregardless people
[39:21] Speaker 2: are wrong, but they are, and they need to accept.
[39:24] Speaker 3: Or express though express though that one really.
[39:31] Speaker 2: Expresso, hadn't heard that one?
[39:34] Speaker 3: Yes, okay. What I was calling about is society's attitudes
[39:40] Speaker 3: toward blindness, and boy, this really sets my teeth on
[39:44] Speaker 3: edge as a blind person. The low expectations, like if
[39:47] Speaker 3: we're out in public and a restaurant and we're with
[39:49] Speaker 3: a side companion, sometimes the wait staff will talk to
[39:53] Speaker 3: the sited companion and ask what we want instead of
[39:57] Speaker 3: talking to us. What's really annoying when they repeatedly, when
[40:01] Speaker 3: they constantly do it, even though you're talking, you're handing
[40:05] Speaker 3: over your bank card or whatever to pay for the meal,
[40:07] Speaker 3: and they're still refusing to actually acknowledge you.
[40:12] Speaker 2: They think that you're unable to pay your own tab.
[40:15] Speaker 2: Answer questions about it, I can't.
[40:17] Speaker 3: Speak for you. Yes. And it's related to another thing
[40:21] Speaker 3: where people will think that somehow blindness equates the deafness,
[40:25] Speaker 3: so they'll talk really loud or just really slowly, and
[40:30] Speaker 3: you know, it makes you want to slap some people sometimes.
[40:35] Speaker 3: Or there's the other extreme where they think you're daredevil
[40:38] Speaker 3: or something like that, and they like. I like to
[40:41] Speaker 3: have some fun with that one sometimes because they'll ask me, hey,
[40:43] Speaker 3: just being blind me and you have better hearing, and
[40:46] Speaker 3: I'll go what.
[40:47] Speaker 2: They think the other senses have enhanced to the point
[40:50] Speaker 2: where you almost have superpower.
[40:52] Speaker 3: Yes, And I like to tell people it's not so
[40:54] Speaker 3: much that they're better, it's that we pay more attention
[40:57] Speaker 3: to them. I mean, because what choice do you have.
[41:00] Speaker 2: I'm sorry about the peeve, but don't be surprised if
[41:04] Speaker 2: you and I are at a dining room table and
[41:06] Speaker 2: they're talking to me and I just give you the
[41:08] Speaker 2: check and all Brian will pay. You know, don't judge me.
[41:15] Speaker 2: I'm just treating you like I treat everybody. Brian, You're awesome,
[41:18] Speaker 2: Thanks for calling. Appreciate your peeve. All right, We'll see
[41:22] Speaker 2: you later. Psychology Today put together a short list of
[41:28] Speaker 2: some peeves I'll bet you can relate to, and more
[41:31] Speaker 2: of our colors after this, I just thought it'd be
[41:40] Speaker 2: fine to kick off the new year as everybody else
[41:42] Speaker 2: is talking about the rasolutions that they're probably going to break.
[41:46] Speaker 2: I remember I was a member of a gym and
[41:50] Speaker 2: I hired a trainer. This was years and years and
[41:53] Speaker 2: years ago, as I was trying to get back into shape.
[41:55] Speaker 2: And I'm terrible, right, Tennis is the only thing. Tennis
[41:58] Speaker 2: and yoga are the only things I been able to
[42:00] Speaker 2: stick with. The idea of going to a gym and
[42:03] Speaker 2: doing free weights or any of the machines or all
[42:06] Speaker 2: of these things and having any kind of discipline, I'm
[42:09] Speaker 2: a nightmare, right. I'm the guy who long time ago
[42:12] Speaker 2: bought the treadmill and I put it in the extra bedroom,
[42:16] Speaker 2: used it three times, and then I just hung laundry
[42:20] Speaker 2: on it. Right, and I would be the guy who
[42:22] Speaker 2: would sign up for a year long fitness center membership.
[42:26] Speaker 2: I would use it for three weeks and then I
[42:29] Speaker 2: would disappear forever. And this is an extremely common thing,
[42:32] Speaker 2: but a lot of people like to use this time
[42:35] Speaker 2: to make resolutions. I thought it might be fun to
[42:37] Speaker 2: talk about the stuff that makes us want to stick
[42:39] Speaker 2: our head through the drywall. Psychology Today had a fun
[42:43] Speaker 2: article where it mentioned the top few surveyed pet peeves
[42:48] Speaker 2: malfunctioning hardware or a slow computer. Co workers who use
[42:56] Speaker 2: the bathroom and go back to work without washing the hands.
[43:01] Speaker 2: Co workers who are sick in the manner of being contagious,
[43:06] Speaker 2: spreading all the germs and stuff, and they decide to
[43:09] Speaker 2: come to work anyway when the Wi Fi is slow,
[43:15] Speaker 2: bad breath, body odor, printers running out of paper, or
[43:20] Speaker 2: jamming someone using your coffee mug. Oh, that's sacred. The
[43:27] Speaker 2: mug is sacred. Actually, I don't really care, but I understand.
[43:32] Speaker 2: I get that some people are very proprietary about the
[43:35] Speaker 2: vessel in which they hold their coffee and trying to
[43:40] Speaker 2: find a parking space when there simply aren't enough spaces
[43:44] Speaker 2: to be had. I know this is especially true downtown,
[43:49] Speaker 2: where you're on the street or they have parking lots,
[43:53] Speaker 2: but you have to go and pay what ten bucks
[43:55] Speaker 2: twenty bucks a day, and then you've got to find
[43:57] Speaker 2: the little machine and then today no, I'm a QR code,
[44:01] Speaker 2: but you have to download the app to pay for
[44:03] Speaker 2: it with your credit cards. So you have to put
[44:06] Speaker 2: in the actual credit card number the first time you
[44:09] Speaker 2: use it, so that then the next time you park,
[44:11] Speaker 2: which will be in eighteen months, two three years, you
[44:15] Speaker 2: will have the app to pay the twenty dollars that
[44:18] Speaker 2: should have been free because everybody else had a space. Yes,
[44:21] Speaker 2: that is a pet peeve, Chris nine zero eight, are
[44:28] Speaker 2: you there?
[44:29] Speaker 10: I am here, my pet peeve. I call this one
[44:32] Speaker 10: the false epistemology of conspiracy theorists, right. I get really
[44:38] Speaker 10: tired of hearing these arguments that go something like, hey,
[44:42] Speaker 10: big pharma is lying to us. They only want to
[44:44] Speaker 10: make money and sell us drugs and things like that.
[44:47] Speaker 10: And so therefore I'm going to believe in faith healers
[44:49] Speaker 10: or reiki or homeopathy or acupuncture, because there are people
[44:53] Speaker 10: who just want me to be well and only care
[44:55] Speaker 10: for my well being. And you know, my question is,
[44:59] Speaker 10: how can you reject the thoughts of all the experts
[45:03] Speaker 10: and the authorities in something, and then turn around and
[45:06] Speaker 10: believe somebody else whose ideas you can't even verify.
[45:11] Speaker 2: Beyond that, Chris, they're talking about a trillion dollar wellness industry,
[45:16] Speaker 2: non regulated industry, like it somehow robin hood against the rich.
[45:22] Speaker 10: Absolutely, absolutely, And that leads me to another piece, if
[45:26] Speaker 10: you're willing to hear it, go ahead, which is the
[45:29] Speaker 10: oh God of the gaps argument, which I hear a lot.
[45:33] Speaker 10: I heard it most recently in a form that goes
[45:35] Speaker 10: like birds have these incredibly complex behaviors. They migrate thousands
[45:40] Speaker 10: of miles away and then come back to the same place.
[45:42] Speaker 10: Therefore there must be something supernatural or spiritual about it.
[45:47] Speaker 10: Or we hear, hey, cattle got mutilated in this field. Therefore, aliens,
[45:52] Speaker 10: there's always this large leap of illogic leading from the
[45:56] Speaker 10: thing that can't be explained right now to something in
[46:00] Speaker 10: incredibly improbable. I actually live in New Jersey where that
[46:03] Speaker 10: whole drone thing is big now, and I wanted to
[46:06] Speaker 10: thank you for doing a segment on that.
[46:08] Speaker 2: Have you gone outside and gazed up at the sky,
[46:11] Speaker 2: have you seen any patterns of lights A coordinated drone
[46:14] Speaker 2: thing going on.
[46:16] Speaker 10: I know people who have taken videos of interesting patterns
[46:20] Speaker 10: of lights, and I have gone up and looked at
[46:22] Speaker 10: this guy and seen some lights that, to tell you
[46:24] Speaker 10: the truth, they could just be airplanes for all I know,
[46:28] Speaker 10: I have no reason not to think they're airplanes.
[46:30] Speaker 2: One of the frustrating problems is is that there's such
[46:34] Speaker 2: a distrust of experts and government, and some of it
[46:38] Speaker 2: is warranted. But if the Department of Homeland Security says
[46:43] Speaker 2: we've investigated five thousand individual reports and we found that
[46:46] Speaker 2: there's nothing fishy, the more they say there's nothing fishy,
[46:50] Speaker 2: the more somehow that proves that something fishy is going on.
[46:53] Speaker 5: Right.
[46:55] Speaker 10: The more you say it ain't so, the more the
[46:58] Speaker 10: conspiracy theorists believe that you're in on it.
[47:00] Speaker 2: That's so good, Chris, thanks for calling, and I appreciate
[47:04] Speaker 2: you very much.
[47:05] Speaker 10: Appreciate you too. Bye.
[47:08] Speaker 2: There was a post that was online by doctor Ward
[47:12] Speaker 2: Q normal. I don't know who this person is, you know,
[47:16] Speaker 2: it's obviously a monik or a handle, but it has
[47:19] Speaker 2: such a good point. It says the trouble with conspiracy
[47:22] Speaker 2: theories is that a lack of evidence is not taken
[47:25] Speaker 2: as proof. It's not real, but instead is proof the
[47:28] Speaker 2: conspiracy is indeed everywhere. This is like thinking the reason
[47:32] Speaker 2: you never see elephants hiding up in treetops is because
[47:36] Speaker 2: they're really good at it. Nina at nine to seven zero,
[47:42] Speaker 2: Thanks for waiting. Are you there?
[47:44] Speaker 11: I am here.
[47:45] Speaker 3: You are the first callin show I've ever called.
[47:48] Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad to be your initiation into the field.
[47:52] Speaker 2: What's on your mind, Nina.
[47:54] Speaker 11: Whenever I get a new cell phone, it makes all
[47:58] Speaker 11: of the noises in all of the app make all
[48:00] Speaker 11: of the noises. And I have a friend who likes
[48:02] Speaker 11: everything left on. I'm like, how can you stand it?
[48:05] Speaker 11: She's constantly looking at her phone every time it tweets,
[48:07] Speaker 11: every time, it things every time every I get the
[48:10] Speaker 11: phone and I try to turn things off, and I'm.
[48:12] Speaker 3: Like, why is it still making noises?
[48:14] Speaker 10: Why?
[48:15] Speaker 11: And there was one setting on my new phone. I
[48:17] Speaker 11: just got it like maybe three months ago, and it
[48:20] Speaker 11: was in four different places. It kept making noises for
[48:23] Speaker 11: this one thing. I was like, I thought I turned
[48:25] Speaker 11: that off. I thought I turned that off. I thought
[48:28] Speaker 11: I had to look it up. It was in four
[48:30] Speaker 11: different places on the phone. That is so annoying. I
[48:34] Speaker 11: don't want it to make noise except for certain things.
[48:37] Speaker 2: We're talking about what notifications for text, and then for email,
[48:40] Speaker 2: and then for messenger, and then for some other app.
[48:43] Speaker 2: And you had to individually reocate and manage each one
[48:47] Speaker 2: of those.
[48:48] Speaker 11: Not just apps, but like the ring tone for things
[48:51] Speaker 11: like alarm and the phone ringing. And I tried putting
[48:55] Speaker 11: certain things to silent it still rang. I had to
[48:59] Speaker 11: go into another set to get it. But yeah, everything
[49:02] Speaker 11: is default make all the noises.
[49:04] Speaker 2: I've got an iPhone. I don't know what you forgot,
[49:06] Speaker 2: but I've got little flip the thing on the side,
[49:09] Speaker 2: and it just like silences everything. You don't have that.
[49:14] Speaker 11: I could probably do that. It's a Samsung. I don't know.
[49:17] Speaker 11: I haven't tried to do that, but I wanted to
[49:18] Speaker 11: make noises for certain things.
[49:20] Speaker 2: I'm going to avoid the iPhone versus Android, Samsung Google
[49:24] Speaker 2: phone conversation here. I know that's going to be a
[49:27] Speaker 2: that'll be fodder for the comments section. I don't know
[49:29] Speaker 2: where the notifications are on yours, but it's a it's
[49:32] Speaker 2: a good one. Thanks for sharing it, Nina, I thank you.
[49:36] Speaker 2: I'd see you later. First time she's ever called a
[49:39] Speaker 2: call in show. I'm honored. Thanks for doing that. TJ
[49:45] Speaker 2: at two five six, Thanks for waiting.
[49:48] Speaker 12: Hey, so this is actually my first time calling the
[49:51] Speaker 12: Calling show as well alone, I donated to the channel
[49:54] Speaker 12: and CHET. So my piece today is actually home people
[49:57] Speaker 12: who are always in inner signal and receiving. I think
[50:00] Speaker 12: it's one of the ones that you summarize it down to.
[50:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, I used that figure of speech, sending but not receiving.
[50:06] Speaker 2: They're speaking, but they're not listening.
[50:10] Speaker 12: I recently got into a discussion with one of my
[50:13] Speaker 12: coworkers in are you familiar with the Epic of Gigamish?
[50:16] Speaker 2: I am, yes.
[50:18] Speaker 12: So I was trying to explain to him that, by
[50:20] Speaker 12: the way the documents are dated, the epic of Giga
[50:23] Speaker 12: miss is a flood poem. There's about two thousand years
[50:26] Speaker 12: older than the flood story of the Bible. And he
[50:28] Speaker 12: completely refuted it. He was like, how do we know that.
[50:31] Speaker 12: I guess the scientists dated the document are in cahoots
[50:34] Speaker 12: with each other. And I was like, just look it
[50:36] Speaker 12: up yourself. You know, I'm not trying to like take
[50:38] Speaker 12: you astray, but like he was trying to convert me
[50:41] Speaker 12: to Christianity via the flood story, and I'm like the
[50:43] Speaker 12: Earth is not even shown to be flooded completely. It
[50:47] Speaker 12: was just really interesting how people can really fuckal down
[50:50] Speaker 12: into their ideas.
[50:51] Speaker 2: You know, you were referring to the Epic of Gilgamesh,
[50:54] Speaker 2: which was the ancient Sumerian flood myth, predating the Book
[50:58] Speaker 2: of Genesis by at LEAs least a thousand years, and
[51:02] Speaker 2: you were talking to a Bible a believer saying, Noah's
[51:05] Speaker 2: ark ain't anything new, and they refuted it, or they
[51:09] Speaker 2: thought they reputed it by saying, well, how do you
[51:11] Speaker 2: know when the Epic of Gilgamesh was created? Maybe it
[51:14] Speaker 2: was faked by scientist, archaeologist, historians. Is that what they
[51:19] Speaker 2: were saying? Absolutely, And you want to pull your hair out. Absolutely.
[51:24] Speaker 2: I think it's interesting. I mean because I learned about
[51:27] Speaker 2: those documents while I went to college.
[51:29] Speaker 12: You know, I took a class on various religions on
[51:32] Speaker 12: the roots of some of these stories, like even I've
[51:35] Speaker 12: heard you mention it before. There are certain guys who
[51:38] Speaker 12: passed away and loivervibed again. Some of these things are
[51:41] Speaker 12: not completely original, they are derivatives. It's really really interesting
[51:45] Speaker 12: how people can only sin but never receive. They're not
[51:49] Speaker 12: willing they're not in a headspace to receive any information
[51:52] Speaker 12: at all.
[51:53] Speaker 2: I did a speech about this and it was about
[51:56] Speaker 2: identity beliefs and people who have heard something so often
[52:00] Speaker 2: and they believe it must be true, or they go
[52:03] Speaker 2: out not trying to be right, but to be proven right.
[52:07] Speaker 2: So that's confirmation bias, so much psychology, and it is frustrating.
[52:11] Speaker 2: Thanks for sharing your pet peeve. That's a pretty good one,
[52:15] Speaker 2: Thank you, brother, A good one, all right, Bye bye.
[52:19] Speaker 2: Skepticism for all out group beliefs and favoritism for my
[52:24] Speaker 2: in group belief I always go back to John Loftus's
[52:28] Speaker 2: book called The Outsider Test for Faith, where he talks
[52:32] Speaker 2: about how skeptical Christians are about all the other religions.
[52:36] Speaker 2: Wouldn't it be nice if they used that same skepticism
[52:40] Speaker 2: for their own? And this can be applied to any religion,
[52:44] Speaker 2: conspiracy theory, etc. Here's a list of just random pet
[52:51] Speaker 2: peeves I've found online. Chewing noises, chewing food, chewing gum, audibly, repetitive,
[52:58] Speaker 2: tapping into upting someone, facetiming or calling someone on speaker
[53:04] Speaker 2: without headphones in a restaurant. Man, this one gets me,
[53:09] Speaker 2: and people do it at airports. So I'm sitting in
[53:12] Speaker 2: the gate area waiting on my connection. Somebody's next to me.
[53:16] Speaker 2: They've got their phone on speaker and they're talking as
[53:19] Speaker 2: if no one else wants any peace of mind. Leaving
[53:24] Speaker 2: cabinets or drawers open, not screwing the lids onto bottles
[53:29] Speaker 2: and containers all the way, cutting in line, driving to
[53:36] Speaker 2: slow tailgating, talking during movies, giving unsolicited advice. Being constantly late. Oh,
[53:46] Speaker 2: this is a big one. I hate to be late.
[53:50] Speaker 2: And there's somebody I'm thinking of. You almost have to
[53:52] Speaker 2: tell him that an event is a half an hour
[53:55] Speaker 2: earlier than it is to make sure he's on time.
[53:59] Speaker 2: People who are no it all's cracking knuckles, whoops. I'm
[54:04] Speaker 2: guilty of that. People who are bad tippers, clipping nails
[54:10] Speaker 2: in public, public nose picking. Strangers who ask inappropriate questions
[54:17] Speaker 2: like so, when are you going to have kids? I've
[54:20] Speaker 2: also heard a version on when are you going to
[54:22] Speaker 2: tie the knot and get married? When are you going
[54:24] Speaker 2: to make it official, as if it's any of their business.
[54:28] Speaker 2: Scheduling meetings that should have been emails. Not picking up
[54:34] Speaker 2: after your dog after you have walked your dog in
[54:38] Speaker 2: the neighborhood. Major pet peeve people who click the ends
[54:43] Speaker 2: of their inkpins. I do that as well. I don't
[54:47] Speaker 2: know why I do it. It's almost like when you pick
[54:49] Speaker 2: up tongs, though you have to snap them otherwise you
[54:52] Speaker 2: have not properly picked up the tongs. But I get
[54:55] Speaker 2: the pen I understand that micromanagers burping in public. I
[55:00] Speaker 2: will finish with another one, and Natalie will not mind
[55:03] Speaker 2: me telling you. But someone who does not properly load
[55:07] Speaker 2: the dishwasher, I can't even watch. It's like she's Michael
[55:14] Speaker 2: Jordan and the plates are basketballs and she's just throwing
[55:17] Speaker 2: him in from across the room. They just land in
[55:21] Speaker 2: random little positions. Stop, Stop, I go back. I take
[55:26] Speaker 2: all the dishes out and I put them back in.
[55:29] Speaker 2: I'm not OCD, I'm not hyper organized. That's not my personality.
[55:33] Speaker 2: But I can't stand it. People who can't properly or
[55:37] Speaker 2: won't properly load the dishwasher. That's a pet peeve. Did
[55:40] Speaker 2: I just say dishwasher. There's a little Oklahoma that came
[55:49] Speaker 2: out dishwasher five one five Sarah, Hi, thanks for calling,
[55:55] Speaker 2: are you there?
[55:56] Speaker 5: Hello?
[55:57] Speaker 2: Thanks for waiting on me. Sorry, the word dishwasher that's
[56:01] Speaker 2: my fault. What's your pet peeve today?
[56:05] Speaker 5: Well, no fear about dish warsher. I grew up in
[56:07] Speaker 5: Broke an Arrow, No, my neck.
[56:09] Speaker 2: Of the Wood suburb of Tulsa.
[56:12] Speaker 5: Actually, I was on the school bus listening to your
[56:16] Speaker 5: radio show in a former life. And now that I've
[56:19] Speaker 5: finally admitted to myself that I'm an atheist, I now
[56:22] Speaker 5: get to listen to you, to a voice of reason,
[56:25] Speaker 5: And it was a blast from the past to hear
[56:26] Speaker 5: your voice.
[56:27] Speaker 2: Look at us coming back a circle. No, hang on,
[56:30] Speaker 2: I we came full circle. That's so weird. So I
[56:34] Speaker 2: was a Christian broadcaster and you were a Christian music
[56:37] Speaker 2: listener decades ago, and our paths have crossed now.
[56:42] Speaker 5: It was uncanny to hear your voice when I first
[56:46] Speaker 5: found your channel, when I started first looking for atheist content.
[56:51] Speaker 5: It was absolutely full circle.
[56:53] Speaker 2: That must have been freaky. Hey, Seth Andrews from Seth
[56:57] Speaker 2: and Marbles in the Morning is now a heat and
[57:00] Speaker 2: doing a podcast and he's no longer a Christian. I
[57:03] Speaker 2: must you just blown your mind. I'm sorry. That kind
[57:05] Speaker 2: of thing just totally melts me in the best possible way. Really,
[57:10] Speaker 2: it's awesome. It's awesome. Go ahead, Sarah, What's what's a
[57:13] Speaker 2: peeve or a series of peeves you wanted to talk
[57:16] Speaker 2: about today?
[57:18] Speaker 5: My pet peeve is I work in healthcare, and I'm
[57:22] Speaker 5: in a science based field, and we pride ourselves on
[57:25] Speaker 5: making our techniques as evidence based as possible. But I
[57:29] Speaker 5: just started a new job because they had an opening
[57:33] Speaker 5: because the person before me had to leave because they
[57:36] Speaker 5: had a major health issue. And our CEO sent cards
[57:42] Speaker 5: thanking us for the miracle that we could replace her,
[57:46] Speaker 5: and thanking us for being the hands and feet of Christ.
[57:49] Speaker 5: And it was explicitly, overtly, obsessively, in your face religious,
[57:55] Speaker 5: And I couldn't help but think, why couldn't the miracle
[57:58] Speaker 5: be that the previous person could have been healed from
[58:01] Speaker 5: that self issue?
[58:02] Speaker 2: Is it a Catholic hospital? You don't have to answer
[58:05] Speaker 2: this if it's too close to home. Is it a
[58:07] Speaker 2: Catholic establishment? I know in Tulsa it's always Saint John,
[58:10] Speaker 2: Saint Francis. You know we have all these Catholic run
[58:13] Speaker 2: hospitals with crucifixes in every hospital room and Bibles and
[58:17] Speaker 2: all the drawers and stuff. Is it one of those places?
[58:20] Speaker 5: It's not. It's an independent consulting company doing evidence. They
[58:25] Speaker 5: practices for the Catholic Hospital.
[58:28] Speaker 2: Funnily enough, so as this facility is doling out science
[58:33] Speaker 2: based solutions. From the top, the message was that God
[58:38] Speaker 2: produced a miracle, and the miracle wasn't to heal the sick,
[58:42] Speaker 2: but to fill an office job.
[58:45] Speaker 5: And probably profit sharing too.
[58:47] Speaker 2: Oh that's the miracle. Our revenue stream will not be
[58:53] Speaker 2: affected negatively. God is good. Praise Jesus. After all, Jesus
[58:59] Speaker 2: is a capitalist, as I understand it, Sarah. But I'm
[59:03] Speaker 2: glad you're working in the healthcare field. I'm glad there's
[59:05] Speaker 2: somebody who's pro science, you know, who's kind of pounding
[59:09] Speaker 2: that drum. That's amazing. How long you've been doing this.
[59:12] Speaker 5: Oh it's been over a decade.
[59:14] Speaker 2: You're doing okay. You're not burning out, are you. I
[59:16] Speaker 2: know that's a problem with healthcare workers. You give so
[59:19] Speaker 2: much of yourself. You know, you empty out your heart
[59:22] Speaker 2: and mind and your energy reserves, and I know it's
[59:25] Speaker 2: hard to stay in the game. You're doing okay.
[59:27] Speaker 5: Well, that's the reason I'm not religious anymore. And it's
[59:31] Speaker 5: how I kind of found your channel. I'm recovering from it,
[59:34] Speaker 5: and this is helping well.
[59:36] Speaker 2: This is good medicine for me too. I think community
[59:39] Speaker 2: and you know, discovering the world as it really is,
[59:42] Speaker 2: as best we can is. I think that's just it's
[59:45] Speaker 2: good for the soul, if you'll pardon the expression. And
[59:48] Speaker 2: I'm glad our paths have crossed after all of these years.
[59:52] Speaker 2: I'm just blown away. And you made my day, Sarah.
[59:56] Speaker 2: You just made my day. And that's a great way
[59:59] Speaker 2: to kick off the new year. So big hug for
[1:00:01] Speaker 2: me and my family to you and yours, and you
[1:00:03] Speaker 2: keep kicking over there.
[1:00:04] Speaker 5: All right, Thanks so much, you too.
[1:00:06] Speaker 2: All Right, we'll see you. I've never understood when you've
[1:00:10] Speaker 2: got somebody in a hospital bed at a Saint Francis
[1:00:14] Speaker 2: hospital and there is that big crucifix on the wall,
[1:00:17] Speaker 2: and I would make them take mine down. I would.
[1:00:20] Speaker 2: I just would not want to look at that. But
[1:00:22] Speaker 2: they have the cross in every room, and they have
[1:00:25] Speaker 2: nuns and priests who go from room to room to
[1:00:28] Speaker 2: come in and say, can I pray for you? Would you?
[1:00:30] Speaker 2: Is there anything you need? I appreciate that many of
[1:00:33] Speaker 2: these folks, so many are sincere and they believe they
[1:00:35] Speaker 2: are doing God's good work. But I'm thinking to myself,
[1:00:38] Speaker 2: what are you talking about praying for me? If prayer worked,
[1:00:41] Speaker 2: there would be no Saint Francis Hospital. If prayer for
[1:00:47] Speaker 2: my healing worked, I would not be here in the
[1:00:51] Speaker 2: first place. Our standard for divine intervention is pretty pathetic. Indeed,
[1:00:58] Speaker 2: thanks for sharing your peeves and your time. I'm gonna
[1:01:02] Speaker 2: call it a day. I will see you back here
[1:01:04] Speaker 2: next time. Take care.
[1:01:05] Speaker 1: Follow The Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a
[1:01:09] Speaker 1: complete archive of podcasts and videos, products like mugs and
[1:01:12] Speaker 1: t shirts featuring the Thinking Atheist logo, links to atheist
[1:01:16] Speaker 1: pages and resources, and details on upcoming free thought events
[1:01:20] Speaker 1: and conventions. Log onto our website, The Thinkingatheist dot com.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.