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Secret History #1: How Power Works (4K Re-Upload with Audio Fixed) — Transcript

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0:01Good morning, class. Welcome to our
0:04first class.
0:06And today, what I want to do is provide
0:09the framework
0:11for how we will learn this semester.
0:14What are we learning?
0:16How are we learning? Why are we
0:18learning?
0:19All right. So,
0:21this is a class of ideas.
0:24So, it's really important for you to pay
0:25attention and understand how these ideas
0:30connect with each other.
0:31If I'm not being clear,
0:34ask me a question.
0:37In fact, make it a habit to ask as many
0:40questions as possible, because that way
0:42you will learn more,
0:44learning will be more fun for you, and
0:46learning will be much more clearer to
0:47you, okay? So, let's get in the habit of
0:49asking questions. So, wherever I am
0:53confusing, wherever I'm speaking too
0:55fast, wherever you don't understand,
0:58interrupt me. Okay? Let's get in the
0:59habit. All right. So,
1:02um
1:04I first want to talk about
1:07Immanuel
1:10Kant.
1:13We will we will be discussing a lot this
1:14semester, because he is the greatest
1:16philosopher
1:18in Western history.
1:21And he teaches us, he taught us how the
1:24world works. And this is what he told
1:27us.
1:27He told us that
1:33we can never know the objective reality.
1:38There is an objective reality, what he
1:40calls the
1:41noumena.
1:44Okay?
1:46Or the things
1:49in themselves.
1:54That is not knowable to us. That's a
1:56world we can never access.
1:58Why? Because we perceive
2:02the world through our senses.
2:08Our senses, our perception, warps the
2:11world and changes it into a structure
2:15that we can process, called the
2:18phenomena.
2:24Which are the things that appear to us.
2:28Okay? So, the example is
2:30time and space.
2:33Time and space do not exist outside of
2:36us.
2:37Time and space do not exist in reality.
2:41But, for us to understand reality, we
2:44need to add in time and space.
2:47Okay, that's the example.
2:49All right?
2:51So,
2:53how the world works is we perceive the
2:55world, we perceive the noumena, and turn
2:57it into the phenomena for us to process.
3:01In other words, and this is really
3:03important,
3:05reality is what we imagine
3:09it
3:10to be.
3:12There is no objective reality.
3:14Reality is what we imagine it to be.
3:18Life is a constant process, a constant
3:21act of imagination.
3:26All right? That's
3:28that's Immanuel Kant. That's the first
3:29idea I want you to understand.
3:33So, what I want I want to do in this
3:34class this semester is train you, or
3:39teach you, or inspire you
3:42to
3:43augment your imagination,
3:46so that you see the world much more
3:48clearly.
3:50This class is not about what to think,
3:53it's about how to think.
3:58All right.
4:03All right. So,
4:05let me explain the structure of
4:08the course.
4:09So, there's past,
4:12there's present,
4:15and there's future.
4:20We'll be looking at all three this
4:23semester, the past, the present, and the
4:25future. We will analyzing all three in
4:28order to construct a more objective
4:31reality for ourselves.
4:34We will not succeed, we will fail,
4:37but the process of trying will train our
4:41minds to think much more critically
4:44about the world.
4:45So, let me explain how.
4:48In the present, we have geopolitics.
4:52We'll be studying geopolitics.
4:55For example, why is there war in
4:57Ukraine? Why is there war in the Middle
4:59East? What happened? We'll be studying
5:02geopolitics.
5:04And we'll try to understand why this is
5:07happening. We'll try to formulate an
5:09analytical model
5:11of geopolitics.
5:13Okay? An analytical model.
5:19We will then use this analytical model
5:23to make predictions
5:25about the future.
5:27Why do we do this?
5:29Because these predictions
5:31will tell us
5:33if our analytical model is correct or
5:35not.
5:37Okay? Does that make sense? It's no
5:38different from artificial intelligence.
5:40How do you know if your artificial
5:41intelligence the model is correct or
5:43not? Well, you test it against reality.
5:47Okay? There's no difference between that
5:50artificial intelligence system and what
5:51we're trying to do here.
5:53And why are we doing this? Because
5:56if we're able to have an analytical
5:59model that makes correct predictions,
6:01then we can take all this and go back
6:04and analyze the past to un- to reveal
6:08the secret history
6:12of the world.
6:14That is a project we are undertaking
6:17this semester
6:20to discover for ourselves the secret
6:23history
6:24of humanity.
6:26Because you may not know this,
6:29but all the history that you learn in
6:31school, all that history that you think
6:34you know,
6:35it is false.
6:38Okay? The history that you know, you the
6:41history that you believe,
6:43it is a system
6:45implanted into your brains
6:48by powerful people.
6:51Okay? So, the real question that we're
6:52looking at this semester is really how
6:57does
6:58power
7:00work?
7:04Because if we can if we can figure this
7:05out, then you will achieve liberation.
7:09You will achieve freedom. You will
7:11understand how you're being manipulated
7:13by others, and therefore you'll be free.
7:17You'll be empowered
7:19to live the way you want to live.
7:22To see the world that is true to you.
7:26So,
7:27let me give you three current examples
7:30of how power works.
7:38Okay, the first example is money.
7:45Let us do a thought experiment.
7:49I'm a bank, okay? I decide I want to
7:51open a bank.
7:59And now you're allowed to put money in
8:01the bank, okay? So, all of you get
8:02together, and you put $5 million
8:05in
8:07in the bank.
8:12Now, $5 million. Now, why do you put $5
8:16million into my bank? Because I promise
8:18you 1% interest.
8:21Right? 1% interest.
8:27That's a really good deal.
8:29But, now because I owe you some money,
8:31right? I owe you 1% interest, I now need
8:33to go make money for myself.
8:36So, I have a friend
8:38who's building a restaurant, and he
8:40says, "I need $5 million to build the
8:43restaurant,
8:44and
8:46after a year, I will pay you back 10%
8:48interest."
8:50Okay?
8:5510% interest.
8:57And so, I make a 9% profit, and I can
8:59use that to pay my employees, to pay pay
9:02myself a salary, to build a new
9:04building, okay?
9:06So, now I want you to think about this.
9:09I'm the bank, I got $5 million in
9:11deposit money, then I give out a $5
9:13million $5 million loan.
9:17Today, how much money is in the bank?
9:21Countless. Hm? Countless.
9:24How much money now do I have?
9:26I got $5 million from you guys, then I
9:30give it out to someone else.
9:32Right? So, how much money is in the bank
9:34right now?
9:35Zero.
9:36Zero is zero, right?
9:40It should be zero.
9:43Logically, the answer is zero. In fact,
9:46zero is the answer that you are taught
9:49in economics.
9:51It's what you are taught, yeah? Zero is
9:54not the answer that we're taught in
9:55economics. Okay. You cannot loan all of
9:58the money that you do
10:00Like
10:01for for example, if
10:02they will have a limit like
10:0425%
10:06I don't know. Okay. Maybe 10% so you can
10:09only loan like 4 million dollars. Okay.
10:11Okay. Yeah. Okay. Really good point.
10:12Okay. Oh yes. Okay. So that's really
10:15good. So in economics you learn about
10:17the idea of the fractional reserve
10:19system.
10:22Okay. What's fractional reserve? As you
10:24say, you must leave behind
10:28a certain amount of money. It could be
10:297% it could be 10% depends on the on the
10:31country. Okay. Let's say 10%.
10:34So theoretically I can I can I can
10:35actually lend out 5 million dollars. I
10:37can only lend out 4.5 million dollars.
10:41Okay. You're right. Okay. That's that's
10:43that's law as well.
10:46Okay.
10:47Um
10:49actually
10:51Um okay. Let's say I loan out 4.5
10:54million dollars. Okay. Now how much
10:55money do I have in the bank?
10:59Yeah. Half a million, right? Okay. So
11:01again this is what you're taught in
11:02economics. This is what makes logical
11:04sense, right?
11:06The correct answer
11:08what actually happens in real life
11:11is
11:12you have you now have 9.5
11:16million dollars.
11:18Okay. That is the correct answer.
11:23This makes no sense, right?
11:25But it happens in reality. And how do we
11:28know? Because
11:29over the past 20 years
11:32Chinese banks like the Bank of China uh
11:35the Bank of Industry and Commerce, the
11:37Agricultural Bank of China
11:39if you Google these banks, what you will
11:41see is these past 20 years these banks
11:43have become the largest in the world.
11:47How did that happen?
11:50Was it because Chinese people got rich
11:53and put all the money in the bank?
11:55No, that's not what happened. What
11:56happened, guys?
11:58Supported by the government.
12:00The government.
12:01Okay. What happened was these banks
12:04started to lend money out to
12:06corporations, to government, to people
12:09to
12:10build skyscrapers, to build roads.
12:15In other words, the banks started to
12:17create money out of nothing
12:19in order to finance China's
12:22infrastructure projects.
12:24And that's what banks are allowed to do.
12:26They're allowed to print money
12:28create money out of nothing.
12:31Okay. Does that make sense?
12:33Now the question then is
12:37Wait a minute here.
12:39That's an absurd. How this system come
12:42into being? How was it created? Okay.
12:44Well actually there's a very easy
12:45explanation for where we got the system
12:48from.
12:50All right. So let me explain the history
12:52and the origin of the system.
12:54So in the beginning
12:57it was merchants who engaged
13:01um in finance because merchants needed
13:03money in order to facilitate trade.
13:07Okay. And some merchants became
13:08extremely wealthy. And when they became
13:09very wealthy, they started banks in
13:12order to support trade and other
13:14merchants.
13:16Okay. So
13:18um
13:18these banks
13:20traded in gold because that was
13:23the primary source and supply of money
13:26back then.
13:27Okay. So
13:29um what happened is
13:32you would come and you would put your
13:34money
13:35your gold in the bank for safekeeping.
13:38And the bank would give you a contract.
13:43Right?
13:44A contract is just saying thank you for
13:47giving me your gold. I promise to give
13:50back your gold at any time
13:52that you want it.
13:54And this is what we call a receipt,
13:56right?
14:00And
14:01this would allow for
14:05better
14:06and easier trade because now I can take
14:08this contract and I can go to England.
14:12Okay. Maybe I'm based in Italy. But now
14:14I can go to England and say, "Listen, I
14:16need to buy cotton or bananas
14:21from you." And the person is like,
14:23"Well, what are you going to give me?"
14:25I'm going to give you gold, right? So I
14:26take the receipt and I give it to you.
14:29Right?
14:30And why do we And why do we do this?
14:32Because it's a lot easier than giving
14:34gold to other people.
14:36And so this system would facilitate
14:38trade
14:40throughout the world.
14:42Does that make sense?
14:44Now I'm the bank. I have all this gold
14:48and I want to make money with it.
14:50So I want to give it to other people.
14:52So other merchants would come come to me
14:53and say, "Listen, I need gold. Can you
14:56lend me out gold?"
14:59Right?
15:01But
15:03I say to him, "Yeah, but if I give you
15:05all the gold you have a security issue.
15:08It's inconvenient for you. So why don't
15:10I give you a receipt a contract
15:12instead?"
15:17Does that make sense?
15:19Because all I need is a contract all I
15:20need is a receipt in order to go and do
15:23trade elsewhere.
15:25Right? So So by doing this, what I've
15:28done is I've doubled the gold
15:33in my bank.
15:36Right? I've created money out of
15:38nothing.
15:40So the gold is still 5 million.
15:43That hasn't changed, but the receipt is
15:45now 5 million plus 5 million. So
15:48theoretically
15:50I now have 10 million in the bank.
15:55All right.
15:57So that's how
15:58money and finance works.
16:04Now there's a problem with this system.
16:06What's the problem with the system?
16:09What do you mean?
16:11Um
16:12why would I
16:16Why would the other people take the
16:17receipt as gold?
16:20Okay. That's a good question. Okay. Why
16:21is it that people believe in me? Okay.
16:24The answer is very simple. The answer is
16:26because for most of of human history
16:29people didn't need money.
16:31If you if you were just a normal person
16:34what were you doing? Were you in a
16:34village growing crops. If you wanted to
16:38to like get new stuff, what would you
16:39do? You would trade with someone else,
16:40right?
16:42May- maybe you have a goat that I want.
16:43Well then I would I would trade you a
16:45cow for it. So we didn't actually need
16:48money.
16:49So for most of human history
16:51no one had any need for money. It was
16:54only
16:55in certain circumstances that you would
16:58want money. So for example, marriage,
17:00right?
17:01Okay. So for most of human history money
17:05represented
17:06debt
17:08that could be unpaid.
17:11Oh sorry. Debt that could never be
17:15repaid.
17:17So for example, a very common thing is
17:20um maybe you and I fight.
17:23And I kill you.
17:25Well, in theory your family should now
17:28come and kill me.
17:29But obviously that would create a lot of
17:30problems, right? So the way to settle
17:32this dispute is I would give your family
17:35money.
17:37Because money was symbolically meant to
17:39say, "I'm sorry I killed you. This is a
17:42debt that can never be repaid."
17:45Okay. That's what money was used for in
17:48most circumstances throughout human
17:50history. There was no actually real use
17:53for money. It was symbolic.
17:55But with the rise of trade and with
17:57merchants, they needed money in order to
18:00facilitate the trade.
18:02But these merchants all knew each other.
18:04So they trusted each other anyway.
18:06So money was a mechanism for them to
18:11um
18:12trade easier. Okay. Does that make
18:13sense?
18:15All right.
18:16Okay. So let's go back to the question.
18:19This system looks great. I can print
18:22money out of nothing, but there's a
18:23problem with this system. What is the
18:25problem?
18:28There's a problem here.
18:30Who is trading?
18:31Hm? They could be forging the receipts.
18:35The money face.
18:37Okay. That's actually a good question.
18:38Okay. So yeah, is it possible to forge
18:42the contract? Okay.
18:45So um that's a really good point. The
18:47problem is uh so the
18:50the answer is that they all knew each
18:52other anyway.
18:55Okay. Because it's a very small circle.
18:56Again, we have not reached the modern
18:58period where
19:00um it's a lot of people using money. If
19:02that's the case, then forgery becomes a
19:04problem. We'll discuss this in future
19:06classes. Okay. Counterfeiting. But at
19:07this point in history forgery is
19:09actually not a big issue. There's
19:10actually a bigger issue.
19:13And it's a huge issue.
19:14What's the issue?
19:16I have 5 million dollars of gold, right?
19:19There's about 10 million dollars
19:22of gold out there
19:23in receipts.
19:25What's the problem with that?
19:29The problem is that if everyone wants
19:31the gold at the same time
19:34I go bankrupt, right? Because I lose my
19:36reputation. The contract says that at
19:39any time you want the gold, I must give
19:42it to you.
19:44But if I have like if there's a 100
19:46million dollars
19:47in gold contracts, but I only have 10
19:49million dollars
19:51in gold, only if
19:5350 million
19:55wants the gold back, then I'm screwed.
19:58If this is what we call a bank run.
20:02Okay, a bank run.
20:04And this is a huge problem
20:06for merchants.
20:08Okay?
20:10There's also another problem with the
20:12system. And the problem is this.
20:16Who do I usually let lend my money to?
20:18Do you guys know? Do I lend to a bank?
20:20Do I lend to a merchant? Who do I
20:21usually lend my money to?
20:25Okay, guys. Um today we lend the money
20:27to entrepreneurs. But back then, there
20:29really weren't entrepreneurs. There were
20:32kings
20:33and noble people. And what did they do
20:35all the time? What did they do with
20:36money?
20:37To fight wars. Okay?
20:39That's why
20:40that's why there's a demand for gold.
20:42Because if I'm a king, I need to fight a
20:44war. Usually it's my brother or someone
20:46else to control this territory.
20:48Right? Now, the problem with this is I
20:51could get killed, in which case, oops.
20:54But also, and what's much more common is
20:58the king would be like, "Screw you,
21:01bank. I don't need to pay you back."
21:04Okay? So, there's actually a lot of
21:06risks with this system. So, over time,
21:10they develop a system to mitigate or
21:13reduce this risk.
21:16Okay? What would they do? What What they
21:17would do is they would create cartels.
21:21Cartels are just partnerships. So, maybe
21:23this bank works with another bank, works
21:26with another bank throughout Europe.
21:29They And the way they establish these
21:30cartels is usually through
21:31intermarriage, right? They would marry
21:33each other.
21:34Um they would combine together. And that
21:37way
21:38let's say let's say
21:4050 million uh
21:43of receipts wants back the gold, but
21:45there's only 10 million. Well, guess
21:46what? You just go to another bank.
21:49Okay?
21:50And let's just say a king
21:52decides, "I'm not going to pay you back,
21:54bank." Well, your bank works with other
21:57banks to establish a new enemy to kill
22:00the king to get the money back.
22:02Do you understand?
22:03And this system is what we call today
22:06central banking.
22:12And what you will learn in this class is
22:15central banking controls the world
22:17today.
22:19Okay?
22:23Now, what's really important about this
22:25system is
22:28that it's based on power.
22:33Right? And what power is it can turn
22:35nothing money
22:38the contract into everything.
22:41Okay? That's what money is.
22:46Okay. So, we live in a world in which
22:49banks can print out
22:52money, right? So, now let's ask
22:54ourselves a question.
22:56Wait a minute here.
22:58If the banks can print as much money as
23:01possible,
23:03why do we have poverty?
23:10Right?
23:11Because we can just give money to poor
23:13people and they won't be poor anymore.
23:18Why do we have poverty?
23:21If there's all the food in the world
23:22that we want, why are people starving
23:25still?
23:27Why?
23:32Okay. So, we don't have limited
23:35resources. We have scarcity, okay?
23:37Right. So, that is the common answer,
23:39scarcity. We have poverty because of
23:43scarcity.
23:44But I already told you this. They can
23:46print money out of nothing.
23:48So, money is infinite.
23:50Money is an infinite resource.
23:52So, why are we Why do we have poor
23:54people then?
23:57That's kind of strange.
24:12Okay. You You You You see what's
24:13happening is this. You all believe money
24:15is scarce, okay?
24:17But I've just spent the past 10, 20
24:19minutes explaining to you it's not
24:20scarce. It's infinite. Because it's just
24:22a number. We can at any time print out
24:25as much money as we need.
24:27Okay? So, that's how power works. Power
24:30has brainwashed you into thinking
24:33something that is not true.
24:35You've been taught from the first day
24:39that money is scarce.
24:43But it's not scarce. It's infinite.
24:45And no matter what I say to you, you
24:47still believe this, okay?
24:50So, you have to get that out of your
24:51head. Money is not scarce. It is
24:52infinite. So, let's go back to the
24:54question. Why is there poverty in this
24:57world? Why do people starve?
25:00Why is there inequality in this world?
25:03Why are there poor people? Why are there
25:04rich people? What's the answer?
25:09Because they don't print infinite money.
25:12Okay.
25:13Because it's scarce. I can So, guys,
25:16this is amazing, okay? You guys can't
25:18get it out of your head. You think money
25:20is scarce. You think it is not possible
25:23to print infinite money, when I already
25:24told you it is possible to print
25:26infinite money, because they do this all
25:27the time. Yeah?
25:30Uh the one who has the power don't want
25:34everyone to share the same
25:39Yeah.
25:39Because we don't want people to all have
25:44money.
25:45The powerful people don't want that.
25:47That's exactly the answer. And you And
25:49why? Because
25:51otherwise, no one would work.
25:54Do you understand?
25:56The point of putting money is not to
25:59give you money. The point of putting
26:01money is to create the illusion
26:05that money is valuable and therefore you
26:08will work hard in order to obtain it.
26:12But in order for me to make you want to
26:15get money, I need to create artificial
26:20misery.
26:22Do you understand?
26:24Right? If there weren't poor people, you
26:27wouldn't want to be rich.
26:29It's only because you see people suffer
26:31that you would want to go make money for
26:32yourself.
26:34Your What What do your parents tell you?
26:35Your parents tell you, "Work hard in
26:36school. Make a lot of money. Otherwise,
26:38you're going to end up like a poor
26:39person."
26:41Right? Well, guess what? If there are no
26:43poor people, your parents couldn't say
26:44that to you.
26:46And you wouldn't want to work hard in
26:47school.
26:48Right?
26:50That's why we have poverty.
26:53Because poverty creates the illusion
26:55that money is valuable.
27:02In other words,
27:03poverty isn't what you do to yourself.
27:06It is what the powerful do to you.
27:11Now, let me ask you another question.
27:13You guys have studied some economics.
27:14Why do we have like crises?
27:17Crises.
27:19For example,
27:21there's a stock market crash.
27:23Or for example, the economy goes down
27:25and people lose their jobs. Why do we
27:26have crises?
27:31Exactly. You're not taught this in
27:32economics class.
27:34That's kind of weird, right?
27:36The point of crises is to destroy money.
27:39Why do we need to destroy money?
27:40Because if there's too much money in the
27:42system, people don't have to work.
27:44So, you have to destroy this money in
27:46order to make people feel money is
27:49scarce.
27:52Okay, does that make sense?
27:55So, why do we have wars?
27:57Right? Why are there wars in the world
27:58then?
28:01Because they're fighting over scarce
28:02resources, right?
28:04I already told you, scarcity is a lie.
28:06The real reason is war is meant to
28:09destroy wealth
28:12in order to make you think money is
28:14valuable.
28:16Do you understand?
28:18You You guys play World of Warcraft
28:20or these games, right?
28:22Guess what, guys? World of Warcraft and
28:24our world, there's actually no
28:25difference. You just run around
28:27pointlessly working hard to obtain
28:29credits in order to buy stuff. If
28:31credits just flew out of the sky,
28:33because they could do that, right? They
28:34could actually program the engine to
28:36just print money out of nothing,
28:38you wouldn't do nothing every day. You
28:39wouldn't play the game.
28:42Okay? It's only because you believe that
28:45there's scarcity in the world and that
28:47you must work hard to obtain wealth
28:51that you do any work.
28:54Do you understand this?
28:56Okay? So, this world that we live in,
28:58it's a complete illusion created by
29:01central banking in order to make us work
29:05as hard as possible.
29:07Because the real value is not money. The
29:09real value is the work we do.
29:15Okay? Does that make sense, guys?
29:17All right. Yeah? Okay.
29:20What is the illusion? You said scarcity
29:22is uh an illusion, right? But
29:25uh I understand that money can be
29:27printed infinitely, but resources such
29:29as food and land, you know, they aren't
29:32technically unlimited. So,
29:35uh scarcity Does Does scarcity still
29:38exist in other resources? Okay. That's
29:41That's a great question, okay? So, the
29:41question is,
29:43isn't food scarce? Because
29:45food is a finite resource, right? Do
29:47yourself a favor, okay?
29:49Go to the garbage dump somewhere,
29:52anywhere in Beijing and see the amount
29:54of food that is wasted every single day.
29:58If food was scarce, why do we have food
30:00waste?
30:03Okay, so if you just do the mathematics,
30:04what you will discover is there's enough
30:06food to feed everyone.
30:09Okay?
30:10There doesn't have to be hunger and
30:12starvation. It's an artificial crisis.
30:17Okay, does that make sense? So you're
30:18right in that yeah, food's not infinite,
30:21but it's abundant. There's a lot of it,
30:24enough to feed people.
30:27Okay? What about land
30:30oil resources?
30:36Okay, all right, so again, you guys are
30:39stuck in the scarcity mindset.
30:43Um, and it's very convincing. So
30:47let's move on, okay? So this is So this
30:50is something that we'll go back to later
30:52on, okay? Because I cannot convince you
30:54today, this morning, that everything you
30:56believed about the world and about
30:58yourself is wrong.
31:00Okay, you're you're you're still stuck
31:01there, like okay, there's scarcity.
31:04And you're right, there's scarcity, but
31:06we also live in a world of abundance.
31:09And a lot of things that you believe are
31:10just misconceptions about the world.
31:13Okay, so so we'll go back there, okay?
31:15Later on. All right? So let's let's move
31:17on, okay? So we've done money now,
31:19right? Now let's do another question.
31:22Let's do a question of happiness.
31:28The question for us today is what makes
31:31us happy?
31:33Come on. What makes you happy?
31:35How can you live a happy life?
31:39Okay, well, obviously
31:41money, right?
31:43You have a lot of money, that's going to
31:44make you happy. What else?
31:47Power. Exactly, power, right? Sure.
31:50Power.
31:53Excuse me? Freedom. Okay, good, freedom.
31:57Yeah.
31:59What else? Relationships. Relationships,
32:01yep, sure.
32:03You have good friends, right? Like lots
32:05and lots of friends.
32:09What else?
32:13Romantic relationships. Okay, love,
32:16right? Love, sure. What else?
32:20Like video games, I guess.
32:22Vacations, okay? Lots and lots of
32:25things, okay? What you will discover
32:27about this list is this.
32:30You are thinking about individual
32:34happiness.
32:41And this is actually unique in human
32:45history.
32:46If you were If you were to go back in
32:49time to find find find 5,000 years ago,
32:52and you ask people
32:54how can you be happy?
32:57They would focus more on collective
32:59happiness.
33:01In other words, if your community were
33:03not happy, you cannot be happy.
33:08So the very idea of the individual is
33:11new in human history.
33:14Before we understood that if you want to
33:18live a happy life, you need to take care
33:20of your family. You need to take care of
33:22your community.
33:24For them,
33:26for us, for almost of human of human
33:28history, happiness meant
33:31helping others, being generous to
33:34others.
33:36So for example,
33:38let's just say that I go off
33:42and I wander and then I find a lot of
33:45gold, right? I come back and what do I
33:48and what's the first thing I do with all
33:49this gold? Do you guys know?
33:51And this is like the ancient past. Dig a
33:53hole and put them inside. Okay, yeah,
33:56good, right? We're going to dig a hole
33:58and put that money inside because we
33:59want to give it to our children. That's
34:01a modern mindset.
34:03But what did they do before?
34:04You
34:06And this happened throughout every
34:07society. If I became so rich one day,
34:10what's the first thing I would do?
34:12Show off. Hm? Show off. No. Okay, so So
34:16we'll learn this, okay? But the first
34:18thing that people did was they had a big
34:21feast for everyone.
34:23They spent all the money on a big feast.
34:25Because what mattered was your
34:27reputation within the community. What
34:29mattered was your generosity.
34:31If you got rich one day, you made sure
34:34that everyone in the community benefited
34:36from your wealth.
34:38Usually by holding a big feast.
34:41And guess what, guys? This is true in
34:44China for most of Chinese history.
34:48Right?
34:49If you are If you come from a Chinese
34:51village, come to come to Beijing, you
34:53open a restaurant, you make a lot of
34:54money, you go you go back to your
34:55village, what's the first thing you do?
34:58Come on, guys. Feast. You have a big
35:00feast for everyone.
35:01Okay, so this is in ingrained in us,
35:04okay?
35:05But as you say, today what we believe is
35:08if you have a lot of money, put it
35:10underground or put it in the bank, okay?
35:12But back then, for most for most of
35:13human history, we would just spend it
35:15all on a big feast.
35:17We want everyone to share in our
35:19happiness, and that's what made us
35:20happy.
35:23Okay?
35:26I I
35:27Any questions?
35:29Yeah?
35:31I was just wondering if
35:33you mentioned that
35:36it was for reputation on some levels.
35:40Would that count into us, you know,
35:43individual happiness? Because
35:45when you get rich, you care about your
35:47connection.
35:47>> Okay.
35:49Yeah, so
35:50So you're So you're asking, isn't this
35:51about individual reputation? And again,
35:53I mean, this is hard, okay? But the
35:55individual, the concept of the
35:56individual did not exist before. We just
35:59created We just created it.
36:01The idea that I'm a person independent
36:03of my family, independent of my
36:05community,
36:06independent of the world around me,
36:08makes no sense.
36:10What was the worst punishment that could
36:13be inflicted on you in the past?
36:15Let's just say that we get in a fight, I
36:17kill you, right? No,
36:19like you're
36:20They say you are no longer belong to
36:21this family. Exactly, banishment, exile.
36:25Not death, right? And today, if I killed
36:28you, the police would come, catch me,
36:29and then kill me. But before, we didn't
36:31do that because the worst thing that we
36:33could do was exile you. It says, you're
36:36no longer part of us.
36:38You understand? So the concept of the
36:39individual did not exist.
36:42Right?
36:46Okay, so let's move on.
36:48All right, so now I'm going to present
36:51two understandings of the world, and
36:54you're going to tell me which
36:55understanding you think is correct. The
36:58first understanding,
37:00we humans
37:02don't have agency. We don't have really
37:04control. Why? Because there are powerful
37:06gods out there, okay? There are these
37:08powerful gods like Apollo,
37:11Dionysus.
37:13Oh, the problem though is that
37:16they are also controlled by other gods
37:19that are more powerful, like for
37:20example, fate,
37:23fortune.
37:26And then there are these
37:28really ancient gods that control the
37:31structure of the universe. For example,
37:32maybe anger
37:35and pride.
37:37So you absolutely no individual agency
37:41because there's always a god screwing
37:43with you, okay? You might get rich, but
37:47then the god of pride looks at you and
37:50says, "No, no, no, I need I need to
37:51teach this mortal a lesson." So the god
37:54comes into me, makes me too arrogant,
37:56and I screw up.
37:58Okay? So we're always being controlled
38:00by these forces beyond our
38:02understanding.
38:05Okay, so that's the first worldview.
38:07The second worldview is this.
38:09We are synapses
38:14that generate memories.
38:19Okay?
38:21We are memories.
38:22Our understanding of the world comes
38:24from our experience that is controlled
38:26by synapses.
38:28Synapses come from a combination of
38:31DNA
38:33and environment.
38:37Our genes and our interaction with
38:39environment, our experiences.
38:41And what this means is that
38:44we can now have control over our own
38:47individual fate. If you're angry, it's
38:50because
38:52some experience or some genes made you
38:56angry,
38:58and this anger becomes reinforced in
39:01your memories. And therefore, if you do
39:04proper therapy, if you do proper
39:06reflection, if you do some exercises,
39:10you can better control your anger and
39:13therefore control your fate, okay? So in
39:17the first worldview,
39:19there are lots and lots of gods,
39:21they're evil, and they're random,
39:25and we have absolutely no control over
39:28our fate. We can only hope to get lucky
39:30in life and not piss off the gods.
39:33In the second worldview, we are only a
39:36collection of our memories and of and we
39:39are only synapses. So if to manipulate
39:42the memories and synapses in a proper
39:44way, we can be free of all problems.
39:50We can be free of anger. We can be free
39:52of hap- of of depression.
39:54We can be free of misery.
39:57All right?
39:58Let me Let me ask you this question.
40:00Which worldview is a more accurate
40:02reflection of reality?
40:04Second one. Obviously the second one,
40:05right?
40:07Because this is
40:09um neuroscience.
40:11Science.
40:13Or psychology or psychiatry. This is
40:15what you've been taught in school.
40:17This is what you all believe. Our entire
40:19society is structured around this very
40:21idea.
40:22And what you will learn in this class is
40:25it is completely wrong.
40:28It is the sec- it is the first one that
40:30is more accurate reflection of reality.
40:32The first one gives you more
40:34information. Gives you Gives you a more
40:37accurate assessment of how the world
40:38really works.
40:42Okay?
40:45So, now let me ask you this question.
40:48If the first worldview
40:51and this is what it's called we'll call
40:52polytheism.
40:53And polytheism for most of human history
40:56was the dominant religion, okay?
40:59Now we live in a world where the
41:01religion is science. Science is
41:03basically religion.
41:06So, why did we make this transition?
41:10What's the benefit? If you're a powerful
41:12person, why would you prefer the second
41:14one as opposed to the first one? Second
41:16one.
41:18Why? What's the benefits to powerful
41:19people? What What is power
41:22want to believe the second one but not
41:24the first one?
41:25Uh
41:26they can blame all their failures on
41:28God.
41:29E-
41:31Yeah, okay.
41:32Um so,
41:34the idea of individual
41:37responsibility.
41:39Okay?
41:41So then, there's more control.
41:44Okay? It's easier to control people in
41:46the system.
41:49Right? That's the first benefit. What
41:51What What was the second benefit?
41:54The second benefit is you will work
41:55harder, right?
41:59Because in the first system, you're
42:01like, "You know what? I don't need to go
42:03make a lot of money because
42:05if I make a lot of money, the gods will
42:07punish me
42:08and make me pri- proud. So, I'm just
42:12going to like enjoy life and take it
42:14easy."
42:16Right?
42:18So, in the first in the second system,
42:19"No, no, I control over my own life. So,
42:22I need to work hard."
42:25Okay? So, and again, the entire point of
42:27s- of the system is to make you work as
42:29hard as possible because when you work
42:31hard, that generates weal- real wealth
42:34for the powerful people. Money doesn't
42:35does nothing, okay? Money just
42:37incentivizes you to work hard.
42:39So, this exists
42:42in order to make you work harder.
42:45There's one more benefit. Or there's
42:47more benefits, but but but what what
42:48what what what's another benefit?
42:52Okay. The other benefit is this.
42:56Powerlessness.
43:00It makes you powerless. Why?
43:05This system is designed to make you
43:06absolutely powerless. Why?
43:09You can't control anything.
43:10Why? Uh everything is controlled by gods
43:13and fate. No, no, no, no. No, no, no.
43:16You See See again,
43:18again,
43:19this is how you're brainwashed. You
43:21believe one makes you powerless, but not
43:23but that's not correct. Two makes you
43:25powerless. Why? What's the difference
43:27between one and two? Why is it in number
43:29two you are powerless? You're playing
43:32the in the game that the
43:34uh
43:35who have the power wants you to Okay.
43:38So, the problem with number two is
43:42you are incapable of collective action.
43:46Because you think all the source of your
43:47problems is the individual in you and
43:50not society.
43:52But number one, you are capable of
43:54collective action. And the only way to
43:55change the world is through collective
43:57action. Does that make sense?
43:59This is a really important point.
44:01Two is designed to make you think the
44:04source of all your problems is within
44:06you.
44:10So, you should ignore what other people
44:11do and think. Doesn't matter to you.
44:16And therefore, you're incapable of
44:18identifying with other people. You're
44:22not capable of collective action. You're
44:24not capable of collective action
44:26and you feel really miserable,
44:29what you will do is play video games
44:32or watch porn
44:34all day.
44:36Okay? And that's what's happening in
44:37society today. Yeah? But in number two,
44:39like from experience, we would know that
44:42you should
44:44listen to the others' advice or,
44:46you know, you should
44:48take others' perspec- perspectives
44:52and not just
44:56So, in number two, who has authority?
44:58Who do you listen to?
45:00You listen to scientists, right?
45:03Scientists.
45:04Because this system was created by
45:06scientists to trick you.
45:09Okay? This system you think, "Oh, it's
45:11science. Therefore, IT MUST BE REAL."
45:16GUYS, LET ME GIVE you a piece of advice,
45:18okay?
45:19If you're ever feeling sad
45:21and you are depressed,
45:24what should you do?
45:28What should you do? What have you been
45:29taught to do?
45:31You feel sad, you're depressed, what
45:33should you do?
45:35Go through nature. Hm?
45:37Walk around. Okay, yeah. The correct
45:39answer is walk around. But that's not
45:40what you've been taught, right? What
45:41have you been taught to do? Tell your
45:42friend or
45:43Okay, tell your friend, tell your
45:45parent. That's That's actually really
45:46good, right? So, walking around,
45:48exercising,
45:50resting, talking to a friend about your
45:52problem, that's all really good. But
45:53what have you been taught to do in
45:54school?
45:55Really. If you If you If you are feeling
45:57really, really sad, what should you do?
46:02You should go talk to a psychiatrist,
46:03right?
46:04You should talk to a psychologist. And
46:06what will he do? What will he or she do?
46:10Okay. Well,
46:12I'm going to give you a piece of advice,
46:12okay?
46:14And you can test that out for yourself.
46:15But if you're feeling sad and you are
46:17feeling depressed and you feel you have
46:19to talk to a psychiatrist and you do so,
46:22I will make you a bet that the psychia-
46:24psychiatrist will will make it a lot
46:25worse.
46:26You will feel worse after talking to a
46:28psychiatrist.
46:30Okay?
46:32And the reason why is the system is not
46:36designed to cure you of any problems.
46:39The system is to make you dependent
46:42on authority.
46:45You know that if you feel sad,
46:47well, you know what? Just go for a walk,
46:49talk to a friend, you'll feel better
46:51over time. But the system teaches you,
46:52"No, if you feel sad, go talk to a
46:54psychiatrist who will give you drugs."
46:57It's designed to make you dependent on
46:59authority. Yeah?
47:02Um I want to ask like in scenario one,
47:05uh in world real number one, wouldn't
47:08God also be an authority?
47:10Like God would also be an authority.
47:12That's actually a great question, okay?
47:15God
47:16is authority.
47:18Okay. That's actually a great question.
47:20Thank you so much. Um
47:21so, I have to spend time to explain to
47:23you both systems and I will do so. But
47:26what's really important about number one
47:28is
47:31the gods
47:32are
47:34really
47:36bad people, okay? The gods in number one
47:39in the polytheistic system, they fight
47:41all the time. They're vengeful. They're
47:44angry. They're proud. But because
47:46they're gods, they can they can they can
47:48get away with it.
47:49And that's the difference between humans
47:51and gods. We're all the same. We're all
47:54angry. We're all uh
47:57m- jealous. We all fight, okay? But the
48:01gods can get away with it. Humans
48:03cannot.
48:04Gods can do hy- hubris. We cannot do
48:07hubris.
48:09Do you Do you understand that? So, the
48:11idea that, "Oh, the people in power are
48:14benevolent. The people in power are
48:17authority figures who are after our best
48:19interest." That is a new modern concept.
48:23Before, it was assumed that the king is
48:26a king, why? Because he's favored by the
48:28gods.
48:30It's not because he's a good person.
48:31It's not because he's a just ruler. It's
48:32just because the gods like him for
48:34whatever reason. But guess what?
48:36The gods give and the gods take.
48:39Maybe today the king will
48:42uh rule us, but maybe 5 years from now
48:45he gets unlucky and the gods kill him.
48:46Too bad. If you read Greek mythology and
48:49we will do so in this class, okay? We'll
48:50go over into Greek civilization.
48:52We'll look at Oedipus.
48:54We'll look at Homer, the Iliad, okay?
48:56They talk about this all the time.
48:58Fate is something that you cannot
48:59control. Something that happens to you.
49:01And therefore,
49:02you must live life to your best.
49:07All right? So, the difference is this.
49:10The difference is
49:12in number one, they have a concept
49:15called eudaimonia.
49:20If you have no control
49:22over your fate, if things can happen to
49:27you tomorrow that kill you, then live
49:30your life to the best of your ability
49:33today.
49:34Seize the day.
49:36Be the best that you can be today.
49:38And that's how you win favor from the
49:40gods.
49:42Eudaimonia, what we call flourishing.
49:46The point of life is to live it to the
49:49best of your ability.
49:51And that's why, guess what guys, the
49:54ancients, the Greeks, they were superior
49:57to us. If you read Greek literature, if
50:00you read Greek philosophy, Plato, Homer,
50:02Aeschylus, Euripides, they were the
50:04best. Today, we suck. Why? Because
50:08instead of eudaimonia, we have pleasure.
50:14Rather than flourish
50:16as creative people, we're like, "How do
50:19I enjoy my life today?
50:21How do I not feel sad?"
50:24Okay?
50:25So, in the first system,
50:27even though it sounds like we have no
50:29control, we have no agency, but it it
50:31inspires us to live to the best of our
50:33ability.
50:34The second system, we're like, "Oh, you
50:36have control complete control of your
50:37life." It enslaves us.
50:42Okay?
50:43All right.
50:45Now, let's move on to the third and
50:47final example.
50:50Okay.
50:51And I know this is shocking. I know this
50:53is surprising.
50:55But, over the course of the semester, I
50:57will give you enough evidence to
50:59convince you that this is all true,
51:01okay? I'm just setting setting the
51:03structure and framework today. All
51:04right.
51:05Let's Let's Let's do now do school.
51:08GUYS,
51:10WHY DO WE HAVE SCHOOL?
51:12WHY ARE WE IN SCHOOL?
51:13WHY?
51:15Why are you here?
51:16What?
51:17Someplace learn and teach. Exactly,
51:19right? Learn.
51:24What else?
51:26Hm?
51:27Yeah, to get to get a degree, okay?
51:29Get a degree.
51:33Okay, to graduate.
51:35What else?
51:37To have some knowledge. Knowledge, yes.
51:44Yeah. Hm? The power Hm? has to brainwash
51:48the students.
51:50Excuse me? Um
51:51I feel like give the power uh a chance
51:54to brainwash us. Brainwashing.
51:57Okay, guess what guys?
52:00The correct answer is brainwashing.
52:02Everything else is a lie.
52:04Okay.
52:05All right.
52:06What do you do in school? You come to
52:09class,
52:10you listen to a lecture, you read books,
52:11right? And then you And then you have to
52:13do a test, and you have to write write a
52:15paper.
52:16And then
52:17And then the teacher gives you a grade.
52:21That's how you learn, right?
52:22Let me ask you this question then.
52:25Throughout most of human of human
52:26history, how do we learn?
52:29If you want to be a doctor, what did you
52:30do? Experience. Um
52:32to be a cool to be
52:34a boss. I want to be
52:36The answer is experience. Do it.
52:39Right? Let me ask you this question.
52:46Let's say you're 12 years old. You want
52:48to be a doctor, okay? There are two
52:49paths ahead of you. The first path is,
52:51"You know what? I'm just putting you in
52:52a hospital,
52:53and you're going to learn there for like
52:5410 years. Someone's going to mentor you.
52:57Someone's going to You're You're going
52:58to be that person's apprentice. Maybe
52:59the first year, all you do is like
53:01wash the floor.
53:02Okay? But you're going to observe the
53:03doctor. And then eventually, the
53:05doctor's going to tell you how to
53:08um
53:09treat patients, okay? That's the first
53:11system. Second system is
53:13you go to the best school in the world.
53:16Then you go to Harvard
53:18for
53:19undergraduate. Then you go to Harvard
53:22Medical School, the best medical school
53:23in the world.
53:24Okay? At age 30, who's a better doctor,
53:27number one or number two?
53:30First one. OBVIOUSLY THE FIRST ONE,
53:32RIGHT?
53:33BECAUSE the second person, the person
53:34who went to Harvard and Harvard Medical
53:36School, did not ever work in a hospital.
53:40You understand?
53:45Now, let me ask you another question.
53:46In the first system,
53:49do you have to be really really smart to
53:50be a good doctor?
53:52No. You don't, actually.
53:54Anyone can be a doctor in the first
53:57system.
53:59Anyone.
54:01We human beings are all born with the
54:04capacity to learn anything, if you
54:07wanted to learn it, right?
54:09You want to be an engineer, you want to
54:10be a lawyer, if you want to be a doctor,
54:13you want to be a scientist, you want to
54:14be anything, okay? Just go find a mentor
54:19who can teach you how to do so. And I I
54:22guarantee you that you will learn how to
54:24do it well.
54:25And anyone can do this.
54:27But instead, we have a system
54:31in which
54:33we tell students, "You're smart, you're
54:36stupid." Smart students go to good
54:39schools and good universities, and they
54:41get good jobs. Stupid students go wash
54:45dishes.
54:47Okay? And that was not true for most of
54:49human history. It's true today, but
54:50throughout most of of human history, if
54:52you wanted to go learn something, all
54:54you had to do
54:55was go find a teacher.
54:58And that teacher would teach you, and
55:00then you would learn it.
55:02Right?
55:06So, school is not is not a place
55:09to
55:11teach you how to learn. A school doesn't
55:13teach you knowledge. It doesn't do that.
55:15A school is a place that brainwashes
55:18you.
55:19Okay? Now, the question then is,
55:22what does it brainwash you in?
55:24Why would it brainwash you?
55:26Okay. All right, to answer that,
55:28I'm going to give you some history,
55:29okay? We We will do a lot of history in
55:32this class.
55:33But I'm going to tell you the three
55:35societies that first introduced
55:39mandatory,
55:41free,
55:43public schooling
55:45in the world, okay?
55:47The first is called Sparta.
55:53Okay? Sparta was a small city-state in
55:56Greece, like 3, 4,000 years ago, 3,000
55:59years ago.
56:01And they had a new system in which
56:03children as early as 5 or 6 years old,
56:06they were put into a school.
56:09And in the school, they were being led
56:11by older kids who were like 9 or 10.
56:15Okay?
56:16That's Sparta.
56:18The second society
56:20was called the Aztecs.
56:23Aztecs.
56:26And they also provided free, compulsory
56:31education to all its children.
56:34Really good, right?
56:35And the third society is called Prussia.
56:39And actually, Prussia is a system that
56:41everyone uses today.
56:44Do you guys know any history? Okay? What
56:46is common about all three societies,
56:48Sparta, Aztecs, and Prussia? They're all
56:51gone.
56:53Hm? No, it's all the
56:55dominating.
56:57What is common to all three? Free.
57:00Okay.
57:03War.
57:05All three societies are fundamentally
57:08war societies
57:10dedicated to defeating their neighbors.
57:13Sparta was
57:15one of thousands of city-states in
57:17Greece.
57:19The only society of these thousands that
57:21had compulsory education. Why? Because
57:23Sparta was first and foremost engaged in
57:27war-making. Sparta, you've heard of
57:30Spartans, right? It's the Spartan
57:32warrior.
57:33Okay?
57:34The Aztecs
57:37were the greatest war society in Central
57:40America
57:41before the arrival of Europeans.
57:43They defeated everyone. They were
57:45engaged in war.
57:47They also did a lot of human sacrifices
57:48as well.
57:49Okay, we learn about Aztecs later on.
57:52Prussia.
57:53The Prussians, the greatest military in
57:56Europe for centuries.
57:59They were engaged in war-making as well.
58:03Okay, do you understand this?
58:04Why do we have schools is because
58:06schools
58:09are really good
58:12at preparing people for war.
58:14Why?
58:19Excuse me? They don't have people under
58:21They have They can teach something how
58:24to do with the war.
58:26Um What is What is Why Why Let me ask
58:30you this question. Why did not did not
58:32did not have schools before?
58:34Why is it that people like, "We don't
58:35want schools." Why?
58:38Again,
58:39the Sparta, Aztecs, and Prussia were the
58:42few societies that had free public
58:44schooling.
58:46Why didn't other societies just copy
58:48them?
58:49Why?
58:50They think that knowledge should be
58:53traded with
58:55Okay, let me ask you this question.
58:56Let's just say you're a mother or
58:57father. What's the And you have a child,
58:59right? What's the worst thing that could
59:01happen in your life?
59:03Death.
59:05Hm? No parents.
59:07No, no. You're a mother or you're a
59:09father. You You have a child, right?
59:11What's the worst thing that can happen
59:13to you in your life?
59:15Losing your
59:16wrong
59:17Your child is taken away from you,
59:19right? Oh. What does school do?
59:26School is designed to take your child
59:29away from you.
59:31Okay?
59:33Let me ask you this question.
59:35If school was about learning, why don't
59:38parents and children go to school
59:39together?
59:42Yeah, why not? Why? Because they have to
59:44work
59:45to make money
59:46to survive.
59:48Because parents have to work to survive,
59:50right? There's actually a better reason
59:51why.
59:53School is for us and the social and must
59:56have two people to do something.
59:58Okay, it's about brainwashing, right?
1:00:00Because how do you brainwash someone?
1:00:05Yeah, yeah. Right?
1:00:06If you're with your parent, are you
1:00:08going to be brainwashed? No. No, because
1:00:10you feel loved. You feel secure. Your
1:00:12parents are going to protect you. You
1:00:13can ask your parent, "Hey, is this
1:00:14teacher is is he or she lying to me?"
1:00:17And the parent might say, "Yeah, she's
1:00:18he's lying to you, okay?"
1:00:20It's only because you've been taken away
1:00:22from your from your parent
1:00:23But
1:00:24that you are now willing to be
1:00:26brainwashed. Why? Because what happens
1:00:29if you if you leave your parents? How do
1:00:30you feel?
1:00:32How do you feel? Lonely.
1:00:34Hm?
1:00:37Yeah, exactly, right? Insecure. You're
1:00:40anxious. You're afraid.
1:00:44Do you understand?
1:00:45You've lost your parent. You're 4,
1:00:47you're 5, you're 6 years old. You've
1:00:48lost your parent.
1:00:50You feel really insecure.
1:00:52So, who do you trust?
1:00:54Your teacher. Your teacher. What your
1:00:56teacher says is now correct. But the
1:00:59But our parents are also brainwashed.
1:01:01Like,
1:01:02because they they went to school before
1:01:05when they were at school. Yeah, yeah,
1:01:06okay. That's That's a good point, okay?
1:01:07Aren't our
1:01:08parents brainwashed as well?
1:01:10Um
1:01:12That's correct. Your parents are
1:01:13brainwashed. But what I'm saying is when
1:01:15a parent is with a child, the child
1:01:17feels secure. And And if you're secure,
1:01:20you're much more willing to disobey
1:01:22authority. You're much willing to ask
1:01:24questions. You're much willing to think
1:01:27for yourself because you feel secure
1:01:29because your parent is there to protect
1:01:31you. But if you take the parent away,
1:01:33you can't do that.
1:01:34You must be now rely on the teacher who
1:01:36can now brainwash you.
1:01:39Okay? So, are you brainwashing us?
1:01:42Am I brainwashing you?
1:01:44Okay. I could be. It's a dark truth.
1:01:46Okay. All right. Okay. So, the question
1:01:49is, am I brainwashing you? Okay, that's
1:01:50a good question and it's a fair
1:01:52question.
1:01:53And again,
1:01:55that's why I tell you this. Okay? You
1:01:57have the capacity to ask me questions.
1:02:00You have the capacity to to challenge
1:02:01me.
1:02:02You have the capacity to think for
1:02:04yourself.
1:02:06Okay? So, so all I'm saying is, hear me
1:02:08out,
1:02:09ask me questions, and then think for
1:02:10yourself whether or not I make sense.
1:02:14Because the difference between my class
1:02:15and other classes is like I don't test
1:02:17you,
1:02:18right? I don't give you grades. It's a
1:02:19pass/fail class.
1:02:21You can actually choose to say, "You
1:02:23know what? This is nonsense. I don't
1:02:26want to listen anymore."
1:02:27I can't I can't stop you.
1:02:29Okay? But in school, guess what happens
1:02:31if you don't go TO COME TO SCHOOL?
1:02:34Your parents get arrested.
1:02:36All right?
1:02:38Do you understand? That's the
1:02:39difference.
1:02:40It's your choice whether or not to pay
1:02:42attention or not.
1:02:47All right. So, another question is,
1:02:49okay,
1:02:50if schools are designed to brainwash
1:02:54you, what are they brainwashing you in?
1:02:56What they they design to brainwash you
1:02:58to believe a concept
1:03:00called the nation-state.
1:03:05The nation-state.
1:03:10The school is designed to brainwash you
1:03:12to think the nation-state exists. It is
1:03:14a person, Mother China. You must love
1:03:18this person. You must be willing to
1:03:19sacrifice yourself for this person. You
1:03:21must willing to be willing to sac-
1:03:22dedicate yourself to this person because
1:03:24it is Mother China.
1:03:26And how do we brainwash you? We teach
1:03:28you language, right?
1:03:30We teach you history. We teach you
1:03:32geography.
1:03:34We teach you all this to make you
1:03:36believe that the nation-state, Mother
1:03:39China, the United States, France, they
1:03:41all exist. But guess what? Throughout
1:03:44most of human history,
1:03:46it was absurd
1:03:48to think the nation-state existed.
1:03:51Okay? Before, you didn't say, "I'm
1:03:53Chinese." Before you say, "I'm a
1:03:55Beijinger."
1:03:57Or I'm from Haidian.
1:03:59Or I'm from Chaoyang, right? Because
1:04:01that makes more sense.
1:04:03You're from a place where you know the
1:04:05people.
1:04:07But now, because of the nation-state,
1:04:09you are forced to believe that you are
1:04:10the same person as someone from Yunnan,
1:04:14Tibet,
1:04:15Guangxi, even though guess what, guys?
1:04:18You have absolutely nothing in common.
1:04:20Okay? But you're all Chinese.
1:04:22And that's what school is designed to
1:04:23do. School is designed to implant in you
1:04:27a false memory
1:04:30of a nation-state.
1:04:32Okay? That's what history is. History is
1:04:33the false memory of a nation-state.
1:04:38And it hap-
1:04:40And
1:04:41that's why you're all forced to go to
1:04:43school.
1:04:46Okay?
1:04:48Okay, but maybe like
1:04:50they also want you to
1:04:52just think about degrees and work as a
1:04:55normal person, not to create a new
1:04:58business or be entrepreneurial. Yeah, so
1:05:01so yeah, so
1:05:03the point of school is to serve the
1:05:04nation-state. Do you understand? Oh,
1:05:06Right? Does that make sense? If you
1:05:08believe in the nation-state, you believe
1:05:09in Mother China, then you must serve
1:05:11her. You must obey her. You must fight
1:05:13for her. You must die for her.
1:05:15Okay?
1:05:16So, the the idea of the nation-state was
1:05:18created in order to make you obedient to
1:05:22authority.
1:05:23And it works very effectively.
1:05:26Yeah?
1:05:28I was just wondering if this only works
1:05:30out
1:05:32in Chinese context, like
1:05:35All countries. All countries are
1:05:36nation-states, okay? So, I I mean like
1:05:38I'm not saying China is different from
1:05:40other places. China is exactly the same
1:05:42as other places. Okay? What you will
1:05:44learn in this class is how do we get to
1:05:46this place? Because again, the three
1:05:48things that we learn, okay? Money,
1:05:52the individual,
1:05:56the nation-state.
1:05:58These are all ideas and concepts beyond
1:06:03the human experience.
1:06:06If you try to work this out from first
1:06:07principles, if you try to figure this
1:06:09out by yourself, you couldn't do it. You
1:06:10have to be brainwashed into believing
1:06:13these three things. If someone from the
1:06:15past, maybe a thousand years ago, were
1:06:16to come today and you you would explain
1:06:19the concept of money, individual, and
1:06:21nation-state, the person would be like,
1:06:23"Wait a minute here.
1:06:26This means that
1:06:28you're all slaves."
1:06:33Okay?
1:06:35So, another question then is,
1:06:37where do we get these three concepts
1:06:39from?
1:06:40What you will learn in this class is
1:06:45these three concepts come from a
1:06:48revolution
1:06:51in human thought called monotheism.
1:06:58The one true God.
1:07:05This idea, monotheism,
1:07:08forever changed the course of human
1:07:10history. And it gave us these concepts
1:07:12of money, individual, and nation-state.
1:07:19Monotheism is such a powerful idea
1:07:22that it turned nothing into everything.
1:07:28Okay? That's what you will learn in this
1:07:29class.
1:07:30We will learn about monotheism. We will
1:07:32discover how it created money,
1:07:34individual, and nation-state, and it
1:07:36basically created the world that we live
1:07:37in today.
1:07:41Okay?
1:07:43All right.
1:07:45Any questions?
1:07:49Excuse me?
1:07:50Christianity is like monotheism. Okay,
1:07:53yeah. So, there are three great
1:07:54monotheistic religions, right? Judaism,
1:07:58Christianity,
1:08:00and Islam.
1:08:04What I will show you later on is it's
1:08:06basically the same religion.
1:08:09Yep. All right.
1:08:11Okay, so I I I don't want to give you
1:08:12too much information, okay? Because
1:08:14there's a lot to process. But I want you
1:08:16guys to be on the concepts. Money,
1:08:19individual, and nation-state are all
1:08:21powerful concepts that are embedded into
1:08:24everyday life. You cannot escape it.
1:08:27Okay, you've been brainwashed into
1:08:28thinking that they all exist when in
1:08:30fact they don't actually they don't
1:08:31actually don't exist.
1:08:32And And that's how power works. What
1:08:34power is, okay?
1:08:37What power truly is
1:08:40is what I call
1:08:43alchemy.
1:08:47Alchemy
1:08:49throughout human history
1:08:51was the pursuit of turning lead into
1:08:56gold.
1:08:57Okay? Lead into gold.
1:09:02Okay?
1:09:04Nothing
1:09:06into everything.
1:09:08That's what alchemy was.
1:09:09And
1:09:11maybe in science class you're taught
1:09:12that alchemy is this fake science. It's
1:09:14a pseudo science and it did not work.
1:09:16What What What What you will learn in
1:09:17this class is we achieved alchemy.
1:09:21Okay? We turned nothing into everything.
1:09:24We turned lead into gold. Or that's what
1:09:27power is.
1:09:28Power is a capacity to turn nothing into
1:09:30everything. Power is a capacity to make
1:09:33you believe that money is valuable.
1:09:36That the individual can lead to
1:09:38happiness.
1:09:39That the nation-state exists. That's
1:09:40what power is.
1:09:43Okay? And as a result,
1:09:46today we live extremely miserable
1:09:50lives.
1:09:52Okay?
1:09:54So So, you've been taught to think that,
1:09:56"Oh,
1:09:58life just gets better and better." What
1:10:00you will learn in this class is,
1:10:02actually,
1:10:03um
1:10:05Nope, okay?
1:10:07And what's What's really important is
1:10:10you will also learn in this class that
1:10:13this was an accident.
1:10:19Okay? This just is an accident.
1:10:21It's an accident of the human
1:10:22imagination.
1:10:25It's because we didn't know what we were
1:10:26doing that we created this system.
1:10:29So, you What you will also learn is that
1:10:31if you're able to control the human
1:10:32imagination,
1:10:34you can use it to create a new system
1:10:38that allows for eudaimonia,
1:10:41or the flourishing
1:10:43of the human intellect.
1:10:48Okay?
1:10:49All right.
1:10:50Any questions?
1:10:56Okay. So, um that's it for
1:11:00uh
1:11:01today. Okay? I'll see you guys
1:11:04next class.

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