"If you use a metal detector to find comedy you won't find it." -Isaac Authur. "That's funny right there."- Me

@garrettallen7427

3 жыл бұрын

BOYS WE STRUCK COMEDY GOLD!

@forasago

3 жыл бұрын

"Beep beep" - My metal detector with a humor add-on

@Tounushi

3 жыл бұрын

Take the detector and a bunch of friends to a pop concert. "Nah, nothing here either, guys."

@peterkelemen1157

2 жыл бұрын

I laughed ngl

A lot of people are struggling to find a sense of purpose in _this_ world currently. This is arguably already a problem for us to deal with.

@colinsmith1495

3 жыл бұрын

And how many people would have more sense of purpose if we had a food shortage and everyone was encouraged to go work on farms to produce more food? I have to wonder how much of the problem today is that people are just denied access to the things we deem worthy, either through lack of money (i.e. running businesses), education (curing cancer), or the like. This is part an issue of the removal of scarcity in simple things, but also part an issue of what we value. 100 years ago, many janitors took pride in their work and had no issue establishing their sense of purpose through their work.

@SmokWawelski4D

3 жыл бұрын

i disagree; we all have a life goals, however vain they might be, the vast majority of us just finds them unachievable

@NukeGaza2024

3 жыл бұрын

It wouldn't be if we had healthcare and didn't have to stress about a job or having enough resources. Most stress comes from that

@dirus3142

3 жыл бұрын

So much so that a man who suggests the simple task of cleaning your room as a first step to change your life, is considered a Nazi.

@username65585

3 жыл бұрын

@@colinsmith1495 If you are woried about getting food then you are worried about getting food rather than existential questions like the meaning of life.

Isaac: *Gives solid purposes that people will have after post scarcity* Me: "Man, I'll finally get to play all the steam games on my backlog"

@MarkTuchinsky

3 жыл бұрын

Mean while me: "Man, I'll finally get to play Skyrim again."

@cartermclaughlin2908

3 жыл бұрын

I'm sitting of 6 years of unopened magic cards. My 6 year old better learn how to play soon.

@SarevokRegor

3 жыл бұрын

Post Scarcity K2 civilisation Video game publishers : I think the video game market should be able to handle a quadrillion new releases per year. Grant : . . . . No, there was time! THERE WAS TIME!

@Tounushi

3 жыл бұрын

My total repertoire of games I've ever remembered playing or owning is about 3800. I think I've beaten a few hundred of those. Max a thousand. Everything from browser games or arcade games where the end condition is "get as far as you can" rather than 100% all the content program into it all the way to AAA RPGs that take longer to complete than reading the First Law trilogy. Oh, to have post-scarcity future where I could beat every single one would be great.

@theapexsurvivor9538

3 жыл бұрын

@@SarevokRegor yeah, but once you get rid of the cheap knockoffs and endless cashgrab "sequels" of AAA shooters that get released each month by EA, you have a much more reasonable pool to choose from.

High scarcity society: Goal is almost purely "survive" Medium scarcity society: Goal shifts toward "improve access to shrinking pool of still-scarce resources" Low/post scarcity society: Goal becomes "sustain access to no-longer-scarce resources"

You collect gold coins in a video game, this was solved in the 80's.

@kieranhosty

3 жыл бұрын

@@aoolmay6853 Play Quake 2

@username65585

3 жыл бұрын

Fifteen million merits? No thank you.

@pyroromancer

3 жыл бұрын

@@aoolmay6853 perfect insta-gib railgun mode

@SarevokRegor

3 жыл бұрын

Videogames do tend to imply that humans desire scarcity given that virtually all videogames deny instant gratification, and goal attainment, and enabling cheats is at least partially avoided by players even in singleplayer games. This is in spite of scarcity being solvable by a simple change in 1s and 0s by game publishers.

@ToneyCrimson

3 жыл бұрын

Thats outdated...you collect waifus now. Imagine all the alien waifus!

When survival is a given, we'll probably alter and expand our definition of survival to retain a sense of purpose.

@georgekostaras

3 жыл бұрын

Lots of seniors do volunteering, especially if they don’t need to work. That’s already an idea of what to do if you don’t need to work

@isaacarthurSFIA

3 жыл бұрын

That's a good point and one I wish I'd thought to say :)

@Ender7j

3 жыл бұрын

That really is the difference between survival and wellbeing. You can survive without well-being...but typically not the other way around...

@joshuabastion995

3 жыл бұрын

BASED af :P

@ValterStrangelove4419

3 жыл бұрын

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

The last 12 months have been the most challenging of my life . With a relationship breakdown and me making positive changes in my own life . Your videos have helped me so much deal with my anxiety and depression . Thank you

@farmschoolchicks1913

3 жыл бұрын

Check out Jordan B. Peterson, his lectures literally saved my life.

@nickmarco9259

2 жыл бұрын

Guess there wouldn't be any changes in my and your life if internet has never been invented, thanks to the people who invented it and changed our lifes, also guess what new advanced technologies like metaverse or something else will exist in the future that will change our and next generations lifes even beyond

I have seen people dedicate entire years of their life to exploring just one virtual world, or one series of code, or speed running a game. People, like cats, are easily motivate to entertainment. I doubt most ppl will have issues.

@harbl99

3 жыл бұрын

It only take one-in-a-billion of those people tinkering with their hobbies to come back with a new idea that transforms the world for the better. Huh, we should incentivise that somehow. * looks pointedly at the dead end of gamification *

@Gamerteamguy

3 жыл бұрын

But most people have those issues right now

@RhizometricReality

3 жыл бұрын

@@Gamerteamguy People are under the overwhelming violence of labor production and economic survival

@Gamerteamguy

3 жыл бұрын

@@RhizometricReality elaborate

@RhizometricReality

3 жыл бұрын

@@Gamerteamguy Why do people lack meaningfulness? When your value is measured by value extraction and production, those who are alienated by the material conditions, or the labor relations, or the ideology of a community or culture, have no where to run but to the concept of worthlessness imposed by an economic system. This is less dire an issue in the west, with all our frivolous distractions, but even those distractions are not enough to ignore the relationship one has with the world is as a commodity. This, surely, as a framework, is an antagonist to meaningful life

Lots of seniors do volunteering, that seems like a plausible way forward in a post scarcity society

@bigdaddyyute6472

3 жыл бұрын

Hmm... I'd say nah because for "work" to be, requires someone that needs it. Now if you have no scarcity at all, there'll be very few work needed to be done, and everyone will volunteer cause they have nothing else to do, and then the work becomes the scarce resource...

@korkee1111

3 жыл бұрын

It's harder than you think to find volunteer work that isn't a scam.

@sidpomy

2 жыл бұрын

Most volunteer work involves helping those in need - something that theoretically would not exist in a post-scarcity world. Thus, volunteer work may be completely unnecessary.

@superposition2644

2 жыл бұрын

What would they volunteer to do?

Glasses or groceries? Yeah I was at that point for years and now I finally got new glasses after using old ones for about 10 years and it has really changed my life a lot.

@bootstraphan6204

3 жыл бұрын

In the same boat myself... Been picking groceries over new glasses for about 4 years too many now. Glad to hear your eyeballs got the love they deserve!👍

@justskip4595

3 жыл бұрын

@@2pi628 Yeah it makes me miserable that I can read your comment on the computer screen as an example.

@harbl99

3 жыл бұрын

I dream of the day we can look back on the kind of either/or decision as a barbaric anachronism.

As someone who has suffered from depression because of difficulty in overcoming the challenges of scarcity, I find it hard to sympathize with people who think post-scarcity will lead to a lack of purpose. I would think it would be the opposite; abundance leads to an explosion of opportunity, which makes finding a purpose easier.

@05Matz

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I often feel like there's three ways scarcity negatively affects my mental health: a constant anxiety about making the use of resources I represent "worth it" and wondering if I'm living my life suboptimally (including whether my existential dread itself makes my life less meaningful it could be for the same resource expenditure were I more able to enjoy life), worry about my continued ability to maintain existence through money into the future when my career prospects so far are non-existent (not an immediate concern for me, luckily), and a generalized feeling of guilt by complicity in various injustices in the world: so many people have it worse than me (mostly unnecessarily due to the greed of their fellow humans), and I profit indirectly off of the systems that made them that way. I often think that, if I knew that I could guarantee my survival more or less indefinitely without needing to come up with a scheme to prove myself economically "worthy" (apparently meaning "predatory upon others or passively useful in serving the most predatory", since actually helping others doesn't usually pay very well) to exist or feeling like I'm taking proverbial or literal food from people's mouths, I'd take up hobbies that... don't seem like me on the outside. I think I'd like to paint, if I didn't feel like the time, energy, and money/resources spent on 'indulging in' that was directly taken from a limited pool. I'd definitely learn to cook and spend a lot of time cooking and eating interesting new cuisines, particularly if I could escape the guilt of overeating while people starve. I'd get more heavily into 3D printing and design/tinkering/invention/robotics if I didn't constantly ask myself whether using three hundred grams of plastic on some project was societally optimal use of it. I think I'd master crafts one after another. It takes longer to master an artform or craft than it does to invent a new one, so I don't think I'd ever run out of skills to master (and video games provide a similar treadmill of skill mastery), so it seems silly to think people would ever run out of things to do. I'm a perfectionist, and it seems I'm stressing myself out heavily over the idea that my very existence represents suboptimal (and therefore wrong) use of society's resources. To not have that anxiety, to be able to allow myself to do things without worrying about the bigger picture, sounds so freeing. It drives me absolutely crazy with rage when people whine about how death or infirmity or homelessness or starvation or the effective slow death penalty for not finding work "the market" desires needs to be kept forever because "humans wouldn't have purpose without it", even if it's possible to get rid of it (which it may or may not be yet, but that should be an agreed upon goal for the future). People should do things that make themselves and others happy, not be told that their inability to outperform a machine makes them useless. The measuring of a person's worth by 'productivity' in an era where pure capital in the form of automation can increasingly often do a better job than any human can is killing our sanities (and frequently literally killing us, too). Freedom from that anxiety will make people more able to live purposeful lives, not less!

@FirstRisingSouI

3 жыл бұрын

@@05Matz Amen, brother!

"We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian Darwinian theory he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.” - Buckminster Fuller

@imhotepjasonduncanson6068

3 жыл бұрын

Agree.

@joshuabastion995

3 жыл бұрын

fantastic, inspired a wee early morn deep dive this has. cheers bud!

@joshuabastion995

3 жыл бұрын

Well that was quick. I'm tempted to retract my earlier statement, that dive was absolute nonsense. Every site or forum using/related/attributed to that statement (and even the creator of the statement) are seemingly surrounded by baseless or nonsense groups/content/statements saying foolish cancel culture crap such as; 'Using the data provided by the United State Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erik Rauch has estimated productivity to have increased by nearly 400% since 1950. According to Rauch, “if productivity means anything at all, a worker should be able to earn the same standard of living as a 1950 worker in only 11 hours per week.” Source: Wikipedia (roflmao @ wiki, no studies, no evidence, just a claim of data used but no definition of said data) Another site is clearly all for turning the world into child molesting ladyboys and erasing gender... Which fyi, is the sort of propaganda people with no purpose invent to screw the world into chaos because they just want to watch everyone suffer and commit global genocide/suicide whichever comes first; “Men, like women, are challenged with their belief that being their gender means anything. Whether favorably associated or not, the “male” identity comes with it a freight train of cultural and sociological beliefs that are no more real than any one of the millions of cultural or social labels we attach to ourselves every day.” That was the cherry on top and subsequent end of 'DIVE'...

@harbl99

3 жыл бұрын

Bucky wasn't wrong. There were guys in the 1930s -- Keynes may have been one of them, but don't quote me on that -- who worked out that all basic human needs for everyone in the world (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) could be satisfied if people worked something like 3-4 hours/day for a couple of days a week. Mechanisation is great like that.

@andrasbiro3007

3 жыл бұрын

@@joshuabastion995 There's a fundamental error in that logic. People don't want the same standard of living with less work, they want as high standard of living as they can afford by working as much as they reasonable can. And another issue is that in most countries many of the basic needs are made artificially hard to satisfy to force people to work hard for someone else, so the benefits of increased productivity mostly go to the ruling elite, not the average citizen. The US is a good example.

"We live only to discover beauty, all else is a form of waiting."

@thedoruk6324

3 жыл бұрын

+PerfectAlibi the *combine* agrees(!)

@mopnem

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I really don’t think there was ever a time people didn’t have existential dread, nor shouldn’t they. “Humans are alive to expedite the heat death of the universe” - lol an awesome Isaac quote

@johnrockwell5834

3 жыл бұрын

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder it cannot truly exist. But it isn't. Search up why humans prefer symmetrical objects. And you will discover beauty is more objective than you think.

@theapexsurvivor9538

3 жыл бұрын

@@mopnem the quote really needs an addendum: "- or find a means by which to delay or prevent it."

@mopnem

3 жыл бұрын

@@johnrockwell5834 Yes, but the objectivity comes from our perspective based on our species condition, so the point still applies.

I am one of those people who just wants to make art. I do not know if that is my 'highest and best use' but it is the only thing that makes me feel like the rest of life is worth the bother.

@thecrazycapmaster

3 жыл бұрын

Then you make that art 👍 make it and share it with the world.

@albertjackinson

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly! Do what TheCrazyCapMaster said!

@mopnem

3 жыл бұрын

It’s wild how many artist just don’t ever make anything. Kinda says something about something I’m sure.

@johnhansen4794

3 жыл бұрын

It's amazing how many artist create without ever reaching an audience. Not that every artist is a Picaso or what not. lol.

@TheBryce98

3 жыл бұрын

Hey, thankyou for making art 👍

A post-scarcity world is a dream world for creatives, innovators, leaders, and those that follow them.

@bootstraphan6204

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly! Harvard Prof. Avi Loeb speaks of this frequently in lectures and interviews!

@harbl99

3 жыл бұрын

"No one tries to monopolise what is abundant. No one tries to corner the market in air." Neo-Liberal economics: "Write that down! Write that down!"

@TheAmazingCowpig

3 жыл бұрын

Can confirm, am a creative type. I don't have the problem of a sense of purpose, I have the problem of not living in a post-scarcity society, haha.

@MrNote-lz7lh

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheAmazingCowpig What if ai could make art or write stories? Than there wouldn't be any point in you doing either. Would there?

@TheAmazingCowpig

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrNote-lz7lh An AI writing stories or art doesn't remove the value in myself creating them myself. An AI does not necessarily share the same artistic visions as I do, it may not explore ideas in the same way I would. Especially in a post-scarcity society, where commercial value has much reduced value and less necessity of focus, and pursuing self-fulfillment is more easily achievable because of freedom from needing any sort of commercial viability.

In all the post-scarcity episodes, I'm always listening for references to the Culture novels by Iain M Banks.

@bootstraphan6204

3 жыл бұрын

I need to check those out!

@isaacarthurSFIA

3 жыл бұрын

@@bootstraphan6204 They're pretty good

@paulklee5790

3 жыл бұрын

I can not recommend the audio book versions of the Culture books highly enough... especially Consider Phelebas and Look to Windward read by Peter Kenny.... if you can get hold of them you will not be disappointed.... in both novels the ethics of the situation are teased out in the most moving way.

@andrewjones2453

3 жыл бұрын

I really wanted to like Culture, but I couldn't get past the first one.

@paulklee5790

3 жыл бұрын

Read the epilogue... his explanation of the Idiran/Culture War which is the background to the novel... if that doesn’t wet your appetite to learn more then you know their not for you...

Your mention of both *_Detective Comics_* #27 and of becoming embedded in a VR environment which you've deliberately arrange to ensure you're unaware is a simulation brings to mind the idea of a vacation in which you become an eight-year-old in the Summer of 1939 whose mother runs a candy store, so you can hang out and eat chocolate-covered peanuts and read comic books and pulp magazines all day, with your adult tastes and sensibilities suppressed so you can enjoy these things fully.

@VainerCactus0

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget an unexplainable urge to keep certain comics in a cool, dark and dry environment for a few decades.

@johnburt1172

3 жыл бұрын

@@VainerCactus0 No, if you really were immersed in the mind of an eight year old in the Summer of 1939, you would fold back the pages of your *_Detective Comics_* #27 while eating a drippy meatball sandwich, and later trade it, and your copy of *_New York World's Fair Comics_* #1, for a candy bar.

8:15 that's so true 😂, i grew up in a slamp in Brazil, later in life i became an engineer, but today i find my self thinking about saving 2 or 3 USD in my bills, even though it doesn't make any sense, my time worth much more than that

So basically, Isaac found his significant other because of some recruits screwing up at boot camp.

@albertjackinson

3 жыл бұрын

I love those kinds of event chains!

@harbl99

3 жыл бұрын

"You're welcome." -- serendipity

I've always wondered what people did for a living in Star Trek. All you ever see are the people that are scientists, engineers, and doctors. What about the average person?

@edpistemic

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe that is the average person? If you educated everyone to the max and were post-scarcity then everyone would be artists, inventors, engineers, musicians etc etc

@ManiusCuriusDenatus

3 жыл бұрын

@@edpistemic Perhaps, but if that is the case how can there be an Academy with entrance exams? Few people have a natural proclivity to those fields. It seems like there would be nothing to do.

@xyzzy3000

3 жыл бұрын

Ben Sisko's dad has that restaurant in New Orleans that he appears to be running for fun rather than profit. Picard's brother ran the family vineyard and it wasn't clear what happened to the wine given the nature of the Star Trek economy.

@innocentbystander3317

3 жыл бұрын

As demonstrated in some episodes, it seems people are more or less free to pursue their passions. Some manage bistros, restaurants, and pubs, some like to drink in or eat in those restaurants or pubs. Some like to pursue their arts, some like to raise families and take care of children. Some people like making buildings and infrastructure, and some like landscaping. There are also athletes, entertainers, and competitors of all sorts. Yea, pretty much like normal, except due to lack of worry over most resources, the "job" market is wide open.

@dionysius4353

3 жыл бұрын

Space trucking

I must say man, your insights on concepts and ideas are appreciated. Thank you for your content.

Food, water, data, and walks outdoors. My one friend/wife and I'm gravy. As long as I'm alive actually I'm winning in my book. Countless ways I could not have so this is ok... Wish humanity loved life, knowledge, and our home planet but my voice is small. Well done as always bro.

@pyroromancer

3 жыл бұрын

just being alive? thats a late game existential crisis already made

@rohanshah6882

3 жыл бұрын

@@pyroromancer you're absolutely correct. Being alive is not winning for everyone 👍

@pyroromancer

3 жыл бұрын

@@rohanshah6882 alive is achieved at minimal instinctual effort. why not be alive and being number 1 at a videogames!

@rohanshah6882

3 жыл бұрын

@@pyroromancer agreed 🙌

@Sol-Invictus

3 жыл бұрын

Basically, you mix stoicism and buddhism, some of Surak's teaching. He did resurrect Vulcan after a nuclear war lol. I'm not saying that I'm joyous, just content. It's interesting to watch events and learn history. So many interconnected parts, but so disjointed and unaware of their commonality.

As a rather steadfast nihilist, albeit of the more optimistic sort (ie. abandoning the idea of a higher purpose can be freeing), I think purpose may well become *easier* to find in the future. There are several professions/hobbies I would have loved to be a part of, but couldn't because I still have to work to get food and transport and housing as such. Without those concerns, there's many more things I could enjoy. I often cite bonsai as an activity that I would pick up if I were immortal, because it's something that you constantly improve on, have to do regularly, and can never finish: something that can drive you forward forever. I suspect that a lot of people will turn to various arts or specialty crafts that they are only able to pursue because they don't have to worry about how large the market is or if somebody can do it better or if they can survive off of it. As such, I think a post-scarcity society would have a level of arts and culture we've never seen before, because so many talented people are free to expand on their talent and express themselves more freely, and less talented people are able to improve themselves in an art, regardless of the skill of those around them. We'd get movements and communities of people so specific that we could never hope to define them all.

@cartermclaughlin2908

3 жыл бұрын

It's funny. The times in my life when i had the most free time were the times when i felt i didn't have enough free time. Passion spawns passion.

Anyone who has a trust fund, or a pension, is living in a post-scarcity world, or at least post-desperation.

@JohnBrown010

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely more of the latter. They might view it as post-scarcity but everyone else is well aware of the scarcity

@dotz7616

3 жыл бұрын

I'm never content on my investing returns. Last year I saw a ridiculous 67% increase and I still feel I could have gotten more out of it if it weren't for a few decisions. But I don't worry about money, that's nice. Though I never want to spend any of it either, because it will decrease my returns.

@andrasbiro3007

3 жыл бұрын

@@dotz7616 67% isn't even crazy, especially for 2020. I got like 1600% in about 18 months. And I'm pissed because 2000% was within reach when tech stocks crashed. I have to keep reminding myself that most people are happy with a 10% annual return.

purpose can only be searched if conciousness exists. conciousness is a prerequisite for every purpose. conciousness/will is the deepest internal layer we can dig to for purpose prerequisites, so it makes for a sturdy core motivator. purpose is a question of value of something, and valueing creates value. therefore conciousness must have value as a first step and be therefore always be deepest level purpose. this is valid, as a search for purpose without a conciousness doing the search, defining purpose or defining validity itself, is paradoxical. conciousness creates validity, as its the only measuring standard of it.

@MrNote-lz7lh

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks captain obvious.

@Chrisspru

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrNote-lz7lh its obvious when you read it. But this obviousness makes this lesson easily forgetable, making pwople drift into nihilism. but this shows there can be a true universal morality (wherever it may end up).

Thank you for being one of the few futurists I can think of who actually considers the bounds of science and what it can provide. So many people discount the value of good philosophy but then complain about the futility of their lives and it really starts to get frustrating listening to them

Post-scarcity should be the ultimate goal of civilization. It's the lens I use whenever I'm arguing politics. To make all want for nothing. It's an unreachable goal but when I'm filling out my ballot or deciding who I vote for, it's how I see things. I don't think we'll ever reach true post-scarcity but as long as that's the ultimate goal, we can keep moving in the right direction.

If you have the bottom of Maslow's pyramid fulfilled, you can focus on the upper layers

@doctorandusbruggink4988

3 жыл бұрын

Which still redirects towards to lower layers desires.

@dionysius4353

3 жыл бұрын

Upper layer comes from being in control of your lower layer

@leonardpearlman4017

3 жыл бұрын

You can build a new layer!

@DAEDRICDUKE1

3 жыл бұрын

@@leonardpearlman4017 With blackjack and hookers!

@ms-fk6eb

3 жыл бұрын

it seems I have had my pyramid blended since "sex" is in the lowest tier

Isaac Arthur - as someone with a science degree you seem to be an excellent philosopher. You and your team and collaborators have produced another excellent video. Thanks.

The one reason I instantly clicked with this show from the first episode I watched is because of the combination of passion, knowledge, and optimism Isaac brings to the table. Its been a tough year but its always a good day whenever this show comes out.

I don't even mind listening to the paid promotions because i love and respect you so much.

bloody beautiful episode Isaac! What a great time to be a techo-optimist! Thank you for putting your time into this.

Thanks so much for the plug, Isaac! This was a very fun episode to work on!

The Raindrop Who Lost His Cloud Once upon a time there was a raindrop named Stewart Stewart lived in a small white cloud that floated lazily amidst many others in the late fall skies. One morning he awoke wondering, “What is my purpose?”. He drifted from raindrop to raindrop in the cloud asking the same question and receiving the same answer over and over again, “Why, to grow up and fall to the lands below and go to the rivers and eventually on to the great ocean.”. That didn’t satisfy Stewart. He as afraid he’d fall onto a desert and just evaporate away or even worse, fall onto a city street and get sucked down into a dark smelly sewer. “I want to do more with my life”, said Stewart. I wonder what the raindrops in other clouds want to do when they get big? Eventually his curiosity grew so strong that he went way to the edge of the cloud and peered out at the other clouds. They looked so close but no matter how loud he called out they couldn’t hear him. Stewart felt a strong breeze and jumped in. Up-up-up he rose and then onwards to another cloud. The next cloud looked a bit bigger than the one he was from and the drops were a bit bigger and almost ready to fall. “What are you going to do when you fall?”, asked Stewart. “Why, to grow up and fall to the lands below and go to the rivers and eventually on to the great ocean.”, they replied one after another. “Oh, well”, sighed Stewart. Stewart went back to the edge of the cloud but he was now all turned around in his directions. The clouds all looked the same! The breeze had shifted too! He was hopelessly lost. Stewart cried so hard he was afraid he would evaporate away. Oh, What shall I do wailed Stewart. A big thunderhead loomed downwind of the cloud he was on. “With so much power maybe they can help”. Stewart gathered his courage and leaped back into the wind. But alas, as he approached, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and hail stones flew by saying, “Hop on!, Were gonna dent some cars and break some windows before we set off for the great ocean!”. “No, no thanks”, replied Stewart. So off he drifted again. He felt so lonely. Eventually he joined up with a gang of rouge raindrops. They said that their goal was to just have fun. At last, a different purpose. “That sounds great”, said Stewart, “Can I join”. “Sure, come and go as you please, We’re easy”. Stewart and the rouge raindrops spent their time teasing people on the ground with rainbows. Always moving the end away just as they approached it. They danced around the moon in a circle at night and made fog banks over the roads and rivers to scare and confuse the drivers and fishermen. Stewart wasn’t bored but he was becoming more and more uneasy with this lifestyle. There just didn’t seem to be any constructive purpose to what they were doing. Eventually he let the wind take him away. He drifted higher and higher. It got colder and colder. Poor Stewart shivered as he didn’t have a coat you know. He was lonely, cold and scared. He was afraid that if he cried he’d just evaporate away before accomplishing anything. Just then he heard a small, squeaky voice say, “excuse me but I’m lost”. Stewart looked around and there was a small speck of dust floating beside him. “Oh, Hi”, said Stewart. “Hi, my name is Fleck”, said the dust speck.. “I was in the fields down below helping the crops grow but it got drier and colder and all of a sudden a whirl wind picked me up and now I’m up here all alone”, He sniffed. Stewart told Fleck how he too became lost while searching for is purpose. “Crops are OK “, said Fleck, but what I’d really like to do is help the wild flowers that I used to see at the edge of the fields grow”. “Say, that sounds perfect”, said Stewart. Can I do it with you? “Of course”, said Fleck. Flowers can’t grow without water. ”Can I be your friend”, asked Stewart. “Oh yes”, squeaked Fleck! Stewart gave the speck a hug and in that instant Stewart felt himself begin to change. He grew and grew and was transformed …..into a colossal, white, six sided snow flake with Fleck in the center. “Hang On!” Said Stewart as the wind caught them. Stewart and Fleck flew with the wind. They went over cities and lakes and fields until finally at dark the wind began to calm and they were able to settle onto a promising forest glen that would be full of spring flowers. They were so tired they fell sound asleep. When the sun rose they found themselves surrounded by thousands, then millions, no billions of other unique snow flakes who like Stewart and Fleck wanted to do more than just go to the ocean. And in the silence of the forest they could hear a slight hiss as the other snow flakes joined them saying, “Hi Stewart, Hi Fleck”. Stewart and Fleck were no longer alone and with the arrival of the warm spring sunshine would set out together to achieve their purpose. The End

22:58 is probably the best end of an episode I've ever heard on this channel, or on youtube at all.

I want to know how to find a sense of purpose in a scarcity society, being obligated to do copious amounts of meaningless work to gain hardly enough to survive. To not have access to good and accessible medical treatment, being afraid of street violence. I'm sure I can have a purpose in a post scarcity one. Study, meditation, contemplation, physical activities, make art, learn new skills, play with friends, etc.

@SrValeriolete

3 жыл бұрын

😆😆😆😆

@SrValeriolete

3 жыл бұрын

@Almost blank and when people say "whatever you decide to do, AI will do better". And... So what? Everything I do there's a lot of people who does it better and I'm not even concerned about it. It's like, you really think you gotta be the best in the world in something to find purpose in it? Talk about some ego delusions.

@angelabird85

3 жыл бұрын

@@SrValeriolete well the things that AI will do better they will do better to a point where no one will hire humans but there are many things that AI won't ever be able to do anytime soon. Take retail work for example, right now the problem is getting actual moving robots but the second that happens all retail workers will lose their jobs and be replaced by the AI robots which is obviously messed up but just how it will work. Because of this is makes searching for a career and getting your kids a proper education a lot more important but there are still many low paying jobs which an AI might be good at but just not as reliable as humans therefore humans will be used

@SrValeriolete

3 жыл бұрын

Imagine trying to write a book being concerned in creating something better than all the genius of the past and present. That's bullshit, just write what you heart yearns. Advanced AI would actually help you by making a good editor. I haven't watched the video, yet. Probably Isaac adressed everything I am saying here. I will watch it at lunch time.

@SrValeriolete

3 жыл бұрын

@@angelabird85 of course. But in a post scarcity society AI do all the job and you don't have to work to have access to things.

Thank you Isaac. It might be morning for you uploading these but in Australia the timing makes it a great way to end the day.

@Low_commotion

3 жыл бұрын

Same for Hawaii!

Wow this may be the most motivating SFIA yet, loved it! I can also relate on so many levels with you Issac beeing an Army vet myself I have had many similar experiences, traving and meeting friends all over the place. I hope this resonates with many others as well.

Next to your content that always fascinates me, I have two questions regarding your channel: 1. How exactly do you and your team research and write your scripts? How much is reading scientific articles and such, how much are your own thoughts and such? 2. How do the user demographics for your channel look like? Especially the countries of origin interest me. Which non Anglosphere countries stick out? Lastly, I'd be very interested to see a video on the arts and culture of an interplanetary- or stellar civilization, as it's a topic I've pondered for some time now, too.

"...if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."

@shorewall

3 жыл бұрын

That is an oxymoron.

@Darocfi

3 жыл бұрын

@@shorewall Kinda, but a good one.

Some guy: What is your purpose? Me: to make myself happy and live a fun life until i die🤗

You exist as a being that can experience anything you want. You live forever, and you grow bored with your agency. You enjoy limitless experiences and endless life, but forever is a long time. You seem unable to selectively erase memories, because if you could, you would probably erase amazing experiences, or store them elsewhere, to experience them for the first time again. Instead of erasing memories, because you can't, you subject yourself to very specific experiences. These are intentionally numbing, painful, and often dull, to provide contrast and context to your limitless existence. You fragment your consciousness to experience things in ways that you otherwise couldn't. As a substitute for erasing specific memories, you send yourself somewhere as a frightened little insomniac, remembering nothing. A creature not free from limitations, but one almost entirely defined by them. You regularly choose to subject yourself to tedium and lack of novelty by living a life wherein you have a crushing lack of agency over your world. When it's done, you ultimately return, having been provided with context. Your near infinite nature feels new again. You feel appreciative and amazed by all of the freedom and possibility available to you. You likely return to the love you missed... the one you always try to find during the time you are gone, the one you rarely, if ever, meet while you're there. The reunion is beyond words, for you both. Some of the others of your kind do the same thing, and some think you're weird. There are "out" buttons in this state, but the place you frequent intentionally does not give you access to them under any circumstance. You leave when you either end it due to immense misery, or live it all the way through to a natural conclusion. If you are unsatisfied due to a short stay, you go back again. You do this regularly. So do many others of your kind. The things you experience in this state are how you grow as a consciousness, how you learn, and how you grow. The world described is necessary, for all its hardships, and you are immensely grateful for your experiences there. This world is your panacea for forever. Welcome.

@alexmitchell3210

3 жыл бұрын

Welp. There goes my brain

This topic is unexpectedly timely for me. Thanks Issac.

I don't need no freakin' sense of purpose! If I don't have to work for a living, then I'll gladly spend my days sleeping late and playing video games. Actually, I'm kidding. When I was a kid, and even a teen, I would always be thinking, "If I could just get that new stereo amp, my life would be complete and I don't need anything new ever again," and, "If I could just get a car, any car, my life would be complete and I don't need anything new ever again," and "If I could just get rid of that old junker and get a brand new car, my life would be complete and I don't need anything new ever again." It took half a lifetime, but I discovered that the secret of happiness is to create things from your own creativity: travel, take college courses to learn new things, write, get published as a fiction writer, learn to play an instrument, compose music, perform your own music and upload your performance to You Tube, learn to program in Java, write Minecraft mods using Eclipse and upload them to www.spigotmc.org/resources/authors/fredashay.38349 , etc., etc...

As one of the people surviving quarantine better than others, enjoying rental income, working remotely, not spending on a babysitter or car fuel and living 5 minutes from my favourite mountain in this country, this video spoke to me. I hope things are going well for the rest of you during this difficult time.

@markzimmerman1899

3 жыл бұрын

For an agent of chaos, you're a very stable individual

@marsar1775

3 жыл бұрын

@@markzimmerman1899 chaos is full of contradictions

Purpose for all those whom following, if we are not there with thy. Permutate, dive into the sea of possibility, challenge to the skies of impossibility, let your soul shin , your ego roam and your ethos grow. So says I, so knows you.

Thanks Isaac for making today great, I hope we all can make tomorrow even better.

What a great start to the day, thank you 🙏

That ending message, let the coincidences happen, is such a great message. Thanks as always Isaac for the amazing video.

Wonderful as always.

Thank you for acknowledging science is a process and not an end state. Making science it's own religion is to betray the purpose of the scientific method.

Thanks for sharing, Isaac. Loving your material!

Thanks Isaac and Team for making these, so thought provoking.

Among your best videos! 👏

Ive watched all your videos, and I think this is the best video youve ever done. Good job

Always enjoyed your vids , not always understood but thats half the enjoyment. Thank You Isaac.

Thank you for this uplifting and inspiring video.

Amazing video! Realy made me think!

Thank you for doing what you do best. I'm grateful that I found your channel

Brilliant, timely, and concise. Thanks for the share.

The day this came out I shared it with a local counselling business and both the owner and another of his counsellors totally ate this episode up. I just found out they watched it through twice and thought I would try to let Issac know the potential impact of this episode. Counselors may be influenced by these perspectives and help others find hope in finding their purpose in part based on having seen this.

You have such a great chill voice and cover really fun topics!

Downloading, I am going to listen to this on my way to my second covid vaccine.

Love the new music at the end!! (And the rest of the video too of course) Great, as always!!

Sir, I've been watching your videos for a long time and I think this video is your finest work so far.

isaac, that's some really solid advice you've given at the end of the video. thank you!

What a good message you gave there at the end. I hope this helps a lot of people to find a sense of purpose in life.

Dude keep up the videos!!❤ I definitely enjoy your videos😁🤟

I think the best part of this video is the final few minutes where you give advice. Very inspiring.

Been watching for years, this is one of your best videos. Thank you for making these videos and inspiring and teaching me all these years

Great Presentation! Inspirational to me, thank you!

I love this topic.

Beautiful imagery in this episode!

I love your content and the also way you talk. It makes your videos even more unique. I never had trouble understanding you even though I am not a native English speaker! Stay the way you are and keep up the great work!

We'll get purpose the same way we do now outside of work/school: through various hobbies such as writing, painting, sculpting and so on. There's always a new story to tell, or something pretty to draw. I don't think anyone's gonna get bored in a post-scrarcity world, unless they really want to.

Something to brighten up my day :) Nice subject!

Oh this was a fantastic episode to have watched while washing dishes earlier. But that optimistic outlook and speech at the end... As someone who is still dogged by feelings of uselessness and uncertainty about my future and purpose as it relates to my ego, I needed it. A most informative video as always Isaac and team.

Isaac, you bring immense hope to so many people. I used to be so pessimistic about the future of the world and humanity. I started watching your videos about the time I found some purpose in my own life, so there's probably a more complex explanation, but I definitely feel a lot more optimistic when I listen to you. Even when I disagree, it's hard not to feel inspired by you. Thank you for all your hard work.

Absolutely bespoke. Always happy to get some well reasoned optimism!

Whoot thanks for the video :)

Some genuine insight and brilliant motivation by Isaac at the end there. Perhaps our purpose, is to strive for improvement and enrichment for both our selves and humanity in general.

I am so glad that this channel exists. Issac Arthur runs commentary runs in the back of my mind when I am writing my Eclipse Phase campaigns. I do think for myself, but having the another, more intelligent viewpoint on it really helps me figure out what I need to research more.

I loved this show very much in short! I am very fortunate to find my lifetime profession as a commercial airline pilot. I have wanted to be a pilot since my fist grade in grammar school. I took several detours to reach the flight school, but when I was twenty years old, I became one. I am sixty-four years old and living in my dream career, flying around the globe at the god's view of 41,000 feet and speed of Mack .84. So, anyone hasn't found a purpose in your life, plan big, huge, stupendously huge! 😎

as long as snacks and drinks exist, i will have purpose

I can imagine one significant and lasting purpose right from the top of my head: explore the universe and the life and other possible civilizations contained within it. That is a life project that could go on until the end of times.

A very welcome, deep, episode. Thank you.

epic video man.

This episode came out on my Birthday, which makes it all the more better.

Great episode! Taking a philosophical stance seems appropriate, I'd recommend doing something similar every now and then. Thanks for everything you do.

One of the things I miss most during the lockdown is meeting new people. I hadn't even realized I missed that until I met a friend's brother and sister who where, like me, helping that friend move. Simply some people who I'd never met, and may never meet again, who were not already in my social circle and not related to my job.

Awesome episode! This is one of those topics I find myself digging deep on whenever it comes up in creative writing. I will admit it gets a little harder to make characters relatable when they have all their needs fulfilled, but take a couple of those things away(using plot) and boom, relatable flaws. Of course there's many more ways to make Post Scarcity characters relatable. I would love to hear another angle in this topic, like post scarcity equivalents of things like what Issac was talking about with people just hanging in the holodeck their whole lives. Cheers!

Mr. Arthur, you are too smart, informed, and analytical to believe that "we are more clever than [our ancestors]."

An awesome premise.

That was deep, thank you :)

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it before but your videos are awesome! :)

Something I contributed to a published anthology entitled 'Why Are We Here?': "Don't ask the universe why you're here or what your purpose is. You are such a small fraction of the universe that you might as well ask a beach to care about a specific grain of sand. History is full of people that are often looked upon as being great and influential. These people did not waste their lives asking the world around them why they existed. Instead, they DECIDED why they existed and then did what was necessary to fulfill that existence. Asking someone else about your purpose is like asking someone what YOUR favorite color is and why. How are they supposed to know? Your place, your purpose in the world is a very personal thing that only YOU can decide."

I feel like the purpose will boil down to a few types of created purposes in the future: The purpose of maintaining our post-scarcity-state-sustainment mechanisms, the purpose of seeing the universe as it is (learning the present's secrets, AKA scientific research and exploration), the purpose of maintaining historical records (learning the past's secrets, AKA archaeology and related fields), the purpose of enduring to witness (learning the future's secrets, AKA simulating the future and being that torch to last until the end of time), and the purpose of enjoying life as it comes (AKA socialization). In other words, most of our post-scarcity objectives will be towards either keeping us post-scarcity, learning what secrets existence holds, or enjoying existence. Possibly multiple at once.

I’ve been struggling with some crap regarding purpose and the last segment where u give advice...bruh 😭 I’m at work. Uncool. Thank u for spiritually listening to and answering the unspoken question 👍🏻👍🏻

The music is always great.

Awesome video!