Podcast Benomtad

Choosing to be Oblivious: Zombies may be a warning from our unconscious.  "The danger of the zombie is the danger of unconsciousness to life's problems." --Jordan Peterson

The etymology of monster is "omen, divine portent," and the fact that zombies are a monster of our time must be reflected on.

(From a discussion on Vervaeke’s “Zombies in Western Culture,” Meaning, and Ritual)

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Who Do You Think You Are?   Anyone interested in the education of the individual might enjoy a few minutes with this light, yet important tale.  There is a folktale trope of the dummling who, useless at home, ventures forth to find his fate.  This story’s idiot seems to lack something fundamental–the ability to shudder at ghost stories or at fearful experiences–but he knows this, and reminds himself...

The zombie might be a sign that people feel a lack of purpose in the world.  Ian and I discuss this idea from John Vervaeke et. al. in their book.  We go on to talk about developing meaning in life through getting back to one’s true nature, as we discuss the aspects of the zombie and its story.

“Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and F...

In the Brothers Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds,” the princess demands a fur made of all the kingdom’s animals for a marriage gift from her widowed father.  It doesn’t prevent his wicked proposal, but she takes it with her on her escape.  We see this as psychological protection from trauma.

Later in the story, the neighboring kingdom’s king rips the fur off, and we talk about the reason for ...

A wealthy, childless peasant feels something is missing and is mocked for not having a child.  He wishes, “I wish to have a child, even if it is a hedgehog!”  He and his wife are given one, and they have it baptised but do not give it a godfather.  The priest says its quills prevent its sleeping in a bed, and they put it behind the stove for several years. Father is going to the fair and asks people what ...

Zombies are everywhere in our culture, in movies and shows, and even in real life (on zombie walks).  They’ve gone from being an object of horror to one of fascination, one that seems to reflect something back to us.  In “Zombies in Western Culture,” Ch. 2, Vervaeke et. al. discuss the change from aliens to zombies as the preeminent monster, and how this reflects the meaning crisis from the loss of the s...

In Grimm’s Fur-of-All-Kinds, the beautiful, dying queen makes her king promise that he will only remarry another as fair as she.  Why does she do this?  She wants to live on in his memory, and this desire powers an image that with the king becomes an obsession.  An obsession that darkens the whole kingdom.

(From a discussion on the Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds (Allerleirauh)”)

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This ancient Greek concept was a big part of their culture as well as Homer’s “Odyssey,” and according to translator Emily Wilson, the poem can be treated as a study in xenia.  It facilitated travel in a time with far less safety, no hotels, etc.  There was a series of actions to the custom:

Welcome

Wash

Food

Guest gives identity

Guest given gifts to help him on his way

The suitors back at Odysseus' ho...

Humans participate both in the animal and the divine nature, and I think this is behind much of the culture wars.  We veer between overemphasizing the divine or, especially, our immanent nature.  This reminds Ian of Odysseus’ need to bear his sufferings.  We, on the other hand, often try to find the easy way out.

(From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”)

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Homer’s second epic starts with an incantation of a man, a man who rejected godhood with alluring Calypso, a man who pined for years to be at home and hearth with his family.  This is in contrast to the rage of Achilles that begins the first epic.  Odysseus’ not forgetting through all the twists and turns of his journey and ruses reminds us of the concentration of the Buddha.

(From the episode “Xenia: O...

In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Book 7, Odysseus, who has at this point lost all his men and washes up alone on the Scherian beach, has through his wit and bearing, and with the goddess Athena’s help, been accepted into the royal Phaeacian court.  Here, he throws himself at the mercy of Queen Arete, and then settles himself in the ashes.  An elder at court reminds everyone of their duty under Zeus, Xenia&nda...

Modern German philosophers like Marx, Nietzsche and Freud have spread the "hermeneutics of suspicion" in our culture.  We have a deep suspicion of appearances and, therefore, beautiful things (the beauty of which is often seen as merely on the surface or subjective).  

This is connected to the ugliness of modern buildings. It seems we are blind to beauty around us.  

I think this has something about the v...

Pornography participates in beauty, but also is consumptive, and especially, unappreciative.  This is contrasted to Odysseus' paise of Nausicaa in his speech to her, without the ritual supplication at her knees.

Perhaps in trying to own beauty, we lose it.

(From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education)

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Odysseus, when he sees nubile and beautiful Nausicaa when he washes up on shore at the beginning of Book 6, does not try to capture her in any way.  This in a time with raiding parties and the famous r*pes of ancient myths.

Ian links this true appreciation of her beauty to what he needs to go on on his journey.

(From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education)

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Man is he who suffers, and Odysseus is the man “of twists and turns,” the builder and destroyer, the journeyer trying to reach his beloved homeland.  Here Ian and I discuss what draws this man forward at his nadir in Book VI of Homer’s sequel epic.

Beauty, sing to me of that man of twists and turns!

He who washed up on shore, belched from the belly of the raging sea god.

Wisdom roused young Nausicaa, who sto...

A dying queen demands that her husband remarry only someone as beautiful as she.  After the mourning period, his advisors scramble around to find a new monarch, but the king’s eye alights on his very own daughter.  She demands abstrusse wedding gifts, but they are manufactured.  In desperation, she flees with her dowry, including a fur made from all the kingdom’s animals, and hides in the forest.

What ca...

Why do we like folktales and myths?  I think one reason is that they help us learn to pay attention to instinct.  It’s not that I don’t think rationality is important–it is a key to a wise life.  But following John Vervaeke, who sees rationality as much larger than propositional logic, and more how, when, and how much to be logical, I see rationality and being wise as a larger and more embodied proc...

The Virtue of Beauty, the Beauty of Virtue: A king is cursed to live as an old man with his servant– now animal attendants–until they are saved by one with kindness for all life.  A poor woodcutter goes hungry while his three daughters get lost in the wood.  The birds of the forest bewilder them to save the kingdom from darkness.

Plot Synopsis of the Story: 

A poor woodcutter, his wife, and three daught...

In “Fight Club,” the protagonist tries to find meaning in life through filling his life with purchases.  But that doesn’t give him fullness–he feels dead.  So he goes to cancer support groups, and then group violence in fight clubs.

The zombie culture is a feverish emptiness eating itself.  It has no depth and builds nothing. Everything is seen as a commodity.

(From a discussion on “Zo...