Added: 3 months ago
From: raushkanaush
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  • Question for the viewer:

    What did Watts mean around 4m01s when he says "outsider who lives up there in the mountain . . . we up on the mountaintop love you . . . "

    is he talking literally about people who live in mountains, or about the "peak of human evolution"

  • @lotsoffun I dont think he is being literal, although the type of people he is talking about are the type who would do something like live on a mountaintop.

  • @raushkanaush so if he's being figurative, what does he mean by "mountaintop"?

    And who are the kind of people who live on mountains?

  • @lotsoffun I dont want to give any official interpretation, but the way I see it, he refers to the outsider as "up there in the mountaintop" because they are distanced from conventional society. They feel more in tuned with the cycles of nature rather than cultural inventions and social identity. These people do not take themselves very seriously, and do not feel the need to indulge in a consumer culture or compete for social status.

  • @raushkanaush Well said, I think he's also referring to actual Chinese Zen monks or Indian Yogis who would frequently build hermitages in the mountains.

  • Comment removed

  • two bicker and fuss, it makes its moves. The authoritarian parent alienates the rebellious child guaranteeing the loss of the battle when the X factor makes its move. Everything is going according to schedule and as planed. Be not unsettled. Both parties are of no loss.

  • Perhaps love and hate shouldn't enter into it. In order to hate something you had to love it first. Let it be like the squishing of a cockroach....You don't love or hate the cockroach you just know it has to be squashed or it will procreate. There is a thin line between Chaos and rigid authoritarian dictatorship. One is the response to the other as the spokesperson says. They are two halves of the same coin, but there is also the outside X factor waiting and biding it's time. While these..

  • Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

    John F. Kennedy

  • The dude abides.

  • What song by Mogwai is this?

  • @carolburns4 Mogwai - I Know You Are, But What Am I?

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  • Enlightenment is waiting for you..start the tape again and listen. Listen without fear, prejudice, ego, confusion, or predetermined assumptions. Listen again. Listen again. How much do you want to conform? Truly? Ask yourself...

  • 3:57 The guy is like, "..Stop looking at my lap.."

  • Yessss 1000th like!

  • @222JDA

    God bless.

  • 2:20 Yamanote! I like how he goes from Grand Central NYC to Tokyo.  Good parallel.

  • Ahhh wouldn't it be great if we were all communists! 

  • You can't be a non-conformist if you don't drink coffee.

  • I fight social conformity by not joining these stupid protest

  • @larryiscoolio

    Can't tell if trolling, or just stupid.

  • Pinko slobo

  • amazing

  • JOBS are for robots lets focus on loving and helping one another

    OCCUPY the WORLD

  • A dishwasher being normal? How spoiled are you people, I only got to use a dish washer once and it was in a cooking class. They aren't conforming, they're living the life. I hate spending half an hour at the end of the day doing my dishes.

  • The music is too loud.

  • How do I get to the top of the mountain?

  • Deserves more views.

  • YouTube comment.

  • this is stupid,

    a lot if times the counter culture is not dropping out of school,

    what would you say to the kid who didn't conform to become a drug dealers?

    that he's just playing a game of wanting something better in his life

  • @lottoglue a better life as determined by whom? If better is determined by others, then he is conforming.

  • @snoopop123 what one may think is a better life is the conform, a better life is not getting robbed walking down the street, so if it takes conforming to get out the ghetto than so be it.

  • @lottoglue

    A lot more people complete schooling instead of dropping out, and schooling doesn't affect relations to becoming a drug dealer. You can do schooling and deal drugs.

  • @chessonmyshirt i don't know where your from, but where i live it's opposite.

  • @lottoglue

    That may be true but this speech isn't referring to a single location. Overall.

  • @chessonmyshirt so then if it can't apply to everyone isn't it bullshit?

  • @lottoglue

    No, this isn't something that is meant to be applied to everyone. It's a fundamental look at our society (western capitalism) and how it has coadapted with social conformity. Don't get too much into the specifics and just to try to enjoy and reflect upon the speech.

  • @chessonmyshirt no, this video is bullshit... if everyone ran to the hills we would be in trouble.

  • @lottoglue

    For the love of God, he isn't asking you to run to the hills.

    This is philosophy dammit, this isn't an argumentative debate.

    He isn't saying this words to persuade, he's simply philosophizing our society.

    If you honestly can't understand or appreciate philosophy then this isn't a video you should be watching.

  • MUSIC IS TOO DAMN LOUD

  • its ok if you can feel like you are benefiting from it once you are not , its about thinking for yourself.

  • I am one of those people, and my family hates me for it.

  • I dropped outta college last year and I feel so much better now.

  • that's why I like Corrosion of Conformity

  • This is really interesting. Who is right? Spend money for the sake of others or live simple for the individual?

  • @Ryansmith312

    Live simply for the sake of everyone.

  • @Ryansmith312 Spending money on shoes is not spending it for the sake of others, though. You can truly live for yourself by helping others, in a direct and meaningful way. Not through commerce, but by actually helping out.

  • the fucking music!

  • You can be aware that you're in the game and still play the game. If you do, and if you recognize how little power over life you truly have, you can reap the benefits of a game-player and still know true freedom.

  • @deadapostle I don't know, that very fact gets me down. I realised all this when I was about 18, but here I am, 7 years later, still playing this fucking game. It's not me, I don't belong doing all this; get up, go to work, eat, go to sleep, make enough money to pay rent. It's tiresome, and cripplingly mundane to me, but I can't get out. I can't see any way out. I'm a happy person, but this makes me sad almost every day.

  • @deejayedwards I wish I could help you. I am 20 now, and I am still in college but I want to try and avoid this situation when I graduate. I was thinking of trying to find a really cheap apartment and teaching some of my piano skills to students, in order to have enough money at the end of the day.

  • Talk about conformity. Every goddamn video on Youtube that tries to convey some sort of "deep" message has this retarded piano music. Try putting some polka for a change !!!

  • @mogerroor But it's Mogwai. Just enjoy this shit.

  • FYI, 0:30-2:58 is from "Baraka". Great movie and the music is better...

  • whats this guys next video going to be about how .. pedo dont comform to regular sex way of life ?

  • @SaulMeyersz in what way is that the equivalent of societal structures influencing consumerism and materialistic influence, society's warped outlook on certain positions and deviations, the implications therein, and individualism leading to ironic conformity which perpetuates the issues he sees in society?

  • @Communist6Liberalism listen to the video again.. this idiot retard narrator is glorified this nobody's.. these people who milk civilization. hey when you get sick you can go to a hippy doctor ok.. dont bother going to a guy who spent 8years going to medical school. i love how he puts down the world we live in. and yet these hippy losers go to a supermarket to buy food. hey guess what that was put there by people who want to work. even youtube is here by people who have jobs.

  • @SaulMeyersz

    This man is a philosopher, he is not judging - he is merely philosophizing.

    He didn't once condemn the people who play the game or praise those who don't.

    You have taken your own bias interpretation from this speech, you've completely fused those who don't play the 'game' and people who take advantage of the 'game'.

    Please, if you can't understand philosophy then this video is not for you to comment on.

  • hah i love how he glorified the worthless hippys who take advantage of every means of civilization. i have an idea take all the hippys and put them on a huge island. and done. problems solved.. you know what will happen. they'll start to make a civilization with rules and regulations. .and blah blah blah.

  • @SaulMeyersz Ayn, is that you?

  • @SaulMeyersz He was talking about beatniks, not hippies. A beatnik is someone who works, pays his rent/food etc but doesn't think of getting rich as the goal of life.

  • I decided to spend my days working as an OTR trucker. Talk about hyprocracy you can say you are anything in the world when you are away from your job you say you are an OTR trucker they act as if you are as good as scum. You can say you are a fireman they view you as some hero forget that you as a trucker saved many lives by being first responder. Vocational discrimination and your life doesnt work without the OTR trucker how many times a day do you need a fireman? You need that trucker daily !

  • Comment removed

  • @cdltpx A trucker doesn't risk his life like a fireman. I think you're missing that point...

  • @molewizard Interesting point of view I as a trucker would see a dead trucker or more a day. With the exception of the government sanctioning the killing of NYC firemen of NYC the firemen have a relatively low death rate. Check your facts goggle most dangerous vocation fireman isn't even in the top 10 trucker is more dangerous than cop #9 and 10. #1 Fisherman but then what are the odds we will be commercial fishermen? I live in Louisiana I was a fisherman and trucking paid consistent.

  • TV

  • Mogwai

    Delish.

    

  • Thats good Music. This guy is making perfect sense. It's a win win video to me.

  • ad ruined this..

  • @TmsAws I laughed when I saw the ad. Defeats the point of this particular individuals ideology.

  • Those who disavow this video, those who disagree, merely, whether they want to or not, (and it is further ironical given their attempts to seperate themselves from the message of the video through their own presuppositions) end up reinforcing and reiterating themselves as the embodied examples of the premise of the video itself. That is, they are, most profoundly, proving that which they attempt to disprove-they are aiding the point of the video, and its conveyed theme. They are the conformists.

  • But why do the people on the mountain keep asking me for change? O Oh I see they want me to change?

  • You don't have to play the "game" of life. It's called being homeless. Since when does becoming successful mean you are just a part of the game? Trying to better yourself should be applauded, not condemned with a pseudo-hipster mentality that only a select few understand life, and if you are prosperous in a secular sense, you're doing something wrong.

  • @CharlieTango91 subjective

  • @Communist6Liberalism You're right, it is subjective. So if I think working hard to provide my family with the most comfort and security I can is success, claiming that I'm just "playing the game" is equally as intolerant as me claiming you're being stupid for not playing. There is no reason for anyone to look down on anyone's lifestyle, so long as it is what they want. For someone to think they "get it" while others don't is insanely arrogant.

  • @CharlieTango91 he gets it in his own sense, his tone comes off as condescending, but it's just his personal philosophy

    subjective.

    there's nothing wrong with your dreams and your way of playing, just as there's nothing wrong with omitting from what is called "the game".

  • @CharlieTango91

    You're confusing completing schooling or getting a degree to being successful.

    Getting a degree won't guarantee success, completing an education won't guarantee it either.

    I only completed year 10 and I'm a technical support specialist for an ISP, my friends completed 3 years of uni and work as a waiter because they can't find any job openings for a career.

    The current generation is bought up to believe education = success, but the truth is oh so different.

  • @chessonmyshirt I never said anything about completing school.

  • @CharlieTango91

    "Since when does becoming successful mean you are just a part of the game?"

    I believe he's reference to the game is the ordinary life people are expected to have - go to school, get a degree, get a career, work, get a house, get a partner, have children, old age, die.

    I may be misunderstanding you, how do you think playing the game is being successful?

  • @chessonmyshirt I understood "playing the game" to mean being part of the normal workforce. Working long hours, doing menial tasks, not really having a ton of variety in your life. I guess education could be a part of this though. School is often a waste, but its a necessity if you ever want a decent paying job. And yes, the job field will play a huge factor in whether you can get a job or not.

  • Video copied? Re-uploaded today? Posted on Reddit today? Smells like a Karma grab to me...

  • Good video, but it's good policy to cite the source video too. It's from koyaanisqatsi right?

  • cool video, now im gonna go play MW3 on xbox

  • I'm fucking high. This is incredible.

  • Its like religion. insecure religious people try to get others to join and consider you the devil if you dont because they arent secure in their beliefs. If they were, why would they care if you joined or not?

  • @kittycat101010 because, in religion, they are so secure in their beliefs that they don't want you to share the same fate of the people who don't share their beliefs.

  • fuck yeah mogwai

  • wow, this was really cool, thanks

  • It's weird how many people don't know how to be their own person.

  • It's a nice video and all but pointless, because one can't not "play the game." The game is society. Us humans, as numerous as we are, cannot avoid society, because society is simply how we interact. The people Mr. Watts describes in his lecture are still people "playing the game." To him not playing the game simply means being out of the norm, but people in that group have their own norm too, and they have their place in society. Human communication is so vast that one cannot escape it.

  • @yazf1991 You can't escape it, but you can at least live with your own ideals and values. If society has a view you don't agree with it, then you should disagree with it. Social conformity CAN be a good thing. It's what teaches us to share, to not murder, or to not jump out of buildings. But obviously social conformity can cause terrible things. Just learn to see bullshit.

  • @yazf1991 You are absolutely right.

  • I have watched many wonderful and interesting videos. But these word, are the first, the first that made me stop and think, made my heart pound, and made me critically and existentially look at my life and the society i live in. The way i am starting to see the world is changing. its a good day.

  • It sickens me to think that there are people out there who hear gumdrop platitudes like, "The meaning of life is to be alive," and walk away feeling like they've just been made privy to some sort of astounding insight. If you actually gave a shit about understanding what makes a life meaningful, you wouldn't be satisfied with that kind of greeting card wisdom.

  • @sedcontra It does mean a lot. People are constantly trying to find a greater meaning and forget or refuse to choose a path where they can just enjoy their lives.

  • Is there A link to the song? I like it

  • Conformity is for followers.

  • this is the hipsters handbook...except they take the wrong message from it and whine about popular bands.

  • @CorporalHotdogs Except it sounds so much better coming from him than a boy with a hitler youth haircut, wearing a woolen scarf in the summer and thick rimmed glasses.

  • They probably also wouldnt be able to articulate themselves as well as Watts either lol

  • It's just a ride

  • the six dislikes were hipsters

  • @Cdimond I dont think you watched the video.

  • This is like a subtle version of Tokyo from The Books.

  • Comment removed

  • can you repost this please without the music?

  • "Imagery from Koyanisquatsi"

  • Yey for footage from Tokyo.

  • 2:58 - 3:39 "Koyaanisqatsi"

  • I wish my neighbor would stop eating chips, I can't hear this lecture over the crunching.

  • These shots from Baraka work nicely

  • The only problem I have is that conformity as a whole works, if we copy the house structure of the guy who managed to survive an earthquake then we will all survive. So in that respect it's ok because people will find optimality naturally as a group. Where the problem lays is when you obsessively follow something when theres little or no trial and error of the functionality of the thing your conforming too. Other than that conformity strengthens social bonds, and maximises life

  • I wish that music wasn't fucking playing

  • What does he have against cars?!

  • Awesome music.

  • Damn Onions!!

  • people should have the freedom to conform if they want!

  • Comment removed

  • @usurper70 don't they?

  • The point about giving choice to everyone is a bad idea is interesting. I wonder how the world would have turned out without democracy? Better or worse?

  • Brilliant.

  • That's great and all, but it really doesn't change anything. I agree, but the fact of the matter is that conformity is a just as good as it is bad. With conformity we lose individuality and original thinking; we have created an unconscious collective. But because of conformity, humans CAN come together on focal points, work codependantly, and achieve a greater level than the individual who must start from scratch that which he thinks is best. It's a two-way road.

  • There is something more then government.

  • Did I just watch Baraka?

  • WHERE ARE THE TITS

  • I wish my neighbor would turn off that damn piano music. I'm trying to listen to this lecture.

  • @pokemyeye That damn piano music is Mogwai! Give them a listen!

  • Silent comment.

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