 All right, welcome everybody to the Iran book show on this Sunday evening. I guess I am As you probably know, I am still in Sao Paulo in Brazil. I think so joining me today Yep trip, thanks John trip is going well Lots of stuff going on I did do an event with Casey How do I pronounce his name? Latig Latig Casey Latig. That's an interesting. He's an interesting guy Casey Helps this was a South Korea Casey helps North Korean North Korean refugees so people who escape from North Korea And make it to South Korea He'll helps them out. So he runs I guess a nonprofit in South Korea that helps them Provides them with opportunities to get their stories told trains them in media helps them write books You know, he does wonders with these people he's he's a is a real real activist when it comes to liberty and freedom and and helping people escaping one of the worst Worst authoritarian regimes in in in the world in history, maybe And so you probably know I forget her name the the North Korean refugees written books and has appeared on everywhere and and You know, she was one of his One of the people he helped both escape from North Korea and then Help them you and me. Thanks John you and me You year money park and So he helped escape and then once you got to South Korea You know helped with English and helped with all the things to help get them Integrated into South Korean society and then So he is currently there's a new there's another woman who's managed to escape North Korea her name is song me and she's got a new book out and She is he is being her to the United States John says he'll be in they'll be in Nashville next week. I know they're doing a tour of the US So he'll so he'll will be with her. He lives in South Korea and one of things he does is he teaches in this school a school for translators So He invited me to come and speak to his students and to other students in in the in the program So it was it was fantastic. It was good to see him again. I've met him in the past And it was great to speak to a student song me hub You can her book I think is available already on Amazon and she'll be she's kind of doing a speaking tour In the next in the next few weeks in the United States My understanding is her English is not quite Quite up there yet. She's not as fluent and she's not as What would you say just practiced in in interviews and in in in just spontaneously talking about So but but yes, she's another one of these incredibly courageous Young women who not only managed to escape North Korea, which is a feat in and of itself, but also to integrate and to And to create a life of themselves in in the West in spite of the trauma and I'm sure it's a it's a it's a it's a huge trauma the trauma of of having lived and grown up and educated in a Horrific place like like North Korea. So Yeah, so he does, you know, if I if I were religious I'd say he does God's work He does Liberty's work. He does. He does amazing work on the part of Sarkasi Casey does amazing work on behalf of freedom on behalf of people escaping tyranny and escaping Escaping a horrible horrible situation, which is North Korea So Casey does great work on that. And so I was I was happy to See him and of course also to To speak to his students. That was a lot of fun speaking to young people. It's always a blast all right, so I'm I'm in San Paolo and I Figured I haven't done a Iran's rules for life in a while I think I I'm supposed to do two this month to kind of catch up. I think I think we skipped a month at some point So I figured I do one and I mean thinking about doing one about this for a while now but I figured I do one on traveling on actually going overseas and seeing the world and You know Just remember this is in the context of Being selfish in your life pursuing real values in your life making the most of the life that you have living living too full as potential and and and really But but doing it all in pursuit of your happiness in pursuit of your values and We live in these amazing times really we live in you know It It really in particularly if you're young it's ought to comprehend how different the world is Today than it was just just a few decades ago just within my lifetime the changes that have happened Just in the in the last 40 years 30 years really 35 years since I came to the United States the difference The difference is just unbelievable. I mean not only I mean I was telling the story the other day I Was telling the story the other day Maybe at Casey's school at the school. I was I was speaking at I can't even remember but I was telling the story about when I came to the United States Yeah, I came with my wife the two of us for our families our parents our siblings all left in Israel and We never called them Like we'd call I don't know we talked to them maybe every three months once every three months something like that and And and the primary reason for that was that it was just so unbelievably expensive to do long-distance phone calls and in particular overseas long-distance phone calls and So we just almost never called and we had no money when my wife and I came to the US We have nothing So we didn't have to pay tuition For grad school, but basically nothing beyond that and we so we we worked and we found jobs and we scraped and saved and managed But there was no money for phone calls And so just think about that today. I mean, you don't think twice about picking up this phone and calling anywhere in the world and literally anywhere in the world at a marginal cost of zero it cost exactly zero and And and you can video conference With anybody anytime for however long you want nobody thinks twice about it Nobody thinks twice about the cost of it because the cost is zero oops and so You know that the world is has changed so much, but of course the same is true of kind of the costs of Transportation my wife when When we left Israel she was in her mid 20s She had never been on an airplane. She had never left Israel. She had never been outside of Israel Today that is very rare people travel People travel all over the world. I know Israelis do I I see Israelis everywhere There's there's almost no place the only place I didn't see Israelis was in the yellow mountains in China And basically I didn't see any anybody other than Chinese people I was the only non-Chinese person on the entire mountain my myself and my wife She looks a little Asian. So they didn't pay much attention to her but I was like I was like this this weird phenomena of being a European on the yellow mountains everybody wanted to take a photo with me, which was kind of cute and funny, but Today Travel is so unbelievably cheap so unbelievably easy So ubiquitous it's everywhere. You know, you can fly from pretty much anywhere to anywhere In Europe now. I was just looking at flights the other day for for a couple of places And you can fly within Europe for like 15 bucks a flight Uh, you know, you can fly in the united states for a hundred dollars If your timing is appropriate and you can do it the right time in the right place So it's it travel has become Unbelievably easy unbelievably cheap unbelievably accessible to really everybody and whereas in the past what you knew in terms of your life what you knew in terms of people what you knew in terms of scenery in terms of You know geography in terms of the context in which history happens Uh, was that those areas you could walk to or maybe drive to uh, those areas Very close to where you were and that has changed dramatically and it it seems like Uh, you know, I would hope that this is an opportunity to take advantage of that fact and not succumb to kind of the conservatism and and stat Static notion of life Not moving not changing not seeing what else is out there in the world Um, which I think is unfortunately very prevalent particularly in the united states where people think well america is the greatest country in history You know my life's pretty good. Why would I want to travel? Why would I want to go see the world? Why would I want to see anything else? So I I I given how cheap it is given how easy it is uh I want to make the case that It's really really important that to live a good life in the 21st century to to to live The best life possible to you to be a true egoist to be selfish I think you should spend some time going out there and seeing the world And there are a number of reasons to do this Uh, so I want to go through a few of them and then um, uh, you know, happy to take any questions You might have or any comments you might have or see if uh disagreements you might have and so on The number of reasons there's great value in traveling and seeing the world You know, maybe the the first one to to come to my mind is is that we've talked about this in the past the importance of art um, and You're just you're just going to be exposed To so much particularly If you travel in europe And this is the reason why I'd say if you haven't traveled much in your life If you haven't really left the united states the first place to go is europe Is there is so much good art to be seen There is so much great art that you can see and and and look you can you can look at art on the computer screen You can get a poster But there's nothing there's nothing like the experience Of seeing great art in person. It's nothing quite like The first time Second time third time tenth time. It doesn't really matter of walking into the academia in florans and taking the turn Into the hallway and at the end of the hallway this stands michael angeles david In in all his amazing magnificence and It's just not the same as the david at the i don't know ceaseless palace and In vegas or or the david that's outside in florans or anywhere else it's just It's just magnificent and it's awe inspiring and it gives you a sense of Grandia and heroism and and it gives you an energy Energy to combat almost anything so it's it's seeing it in person It is just stunning. You can see photographs. You can see posters. It doesn't match it or Seeing the the winged victory at the top of the staircase at the louvre Just the size of it the the the dynamism of it the the movement that they have managed to put into stone uh Is stunning or or or to or to see michael angeles dying slave at the louvre or so One of the first things i encourage everybody to do is Take some art tours Italy and france. You know come to mind as as as the primary places to go Rome florans in italy and and paris in france And and you know the louvre is is is magnificent The dorset is magnificent the the museums in in rom Any church you walk into in rom any little dinky church anyway Is going to have some magnificent paintings that are kind of awe-inspiring and fun to fun to see And then and then You know you can There museums in every major european capital. There's some great museums in london There's some great. There's some good museums in germany. There's some uh, you know good museums in in in madrid in in In bustle in uh in spain and and oh of course in amsterdam you've got the rembrandts and the vermillas so so one reason to go travel Is to go see the great cultural achievements of western civilization um, and uh, well, we'll talk about going to uh To you to asia and to other places around the world to african so on Uh, the first priority in my book is always, uh, europe now i've been pretty much Every country in europe. I mean i've got maybe three countries that Well, maybe maybe five countries that haven't been to uh That don't have any particularly appeal necessarily So i think i haven't been to belarus probably not going given its regime there Haven't been to moldova haven't been to Slovenia i mean to slovakia, but not slovakia. So i intend to go to slovakia I haven't been to bosnia um I'm sure i'll be in bosnia. I'm sure i'll be in slovakia. Uh, but i've been to pretty much every other european country Uh, i've tried to go to museums and all of them And yeah, there's there's just so much to see and then add to the museums architecture and You know the the just the just beauty of the cities themselves the the the layout the the the way they are placed in this so Go see the achievements of western civilization and those achievements are the cities Those achievements are the buildings the architecture. For example, uh prog Is you know down the old city in prog it's just this magnificent uh art deco um You know it was built in the late 19th century early 20th century It's got these beautiful buildings with sculptures on top of them Just magnificent and beautiful in an atmosphere and a sense of life and a and A lot of europe was like that and what happened was prog is one of the few cities That the nazis did not manage to blow up So when they were treated that actually bombed the bridges and bombed some of the buildings had explosives and they managed to to to What do you call it to You know stop them from from exploding and save the city and the the the allies did not bomb Prog so prog came out of world war two relatively unscathed So for as compared to for example, uh I know I just realized when I was in tokyo I realized this I'd realized this before but every time I guess I go to tokyo I realized this almost every single building in tokyo Almost every single building certainly with exception of the the empress palace But outside of the empress palace and a few other places here and there almost every single building in tokyo Is new new in terms of its post world war two and that's because during world war two the allies basically Flattened the city. There was nothing left there. They they they fire bombed Tokyo and tokyo was annihilated. It was destroyed. It was like a nuclear bomb had gone off in it Although it hadn't But there was the equivalent of that because they had systematically constantly bombed it and particularly fire bombed it The same is true a place like dresden and and other cities in germany that would just Just destroyed during world war two and therefore everything in them is new so The uh so the the uh The artwork the buildings and then of course all of that leads to Something else that you get to experience when you travel in a sense first hand You get experience the context of history That is you get to experience What is Kind of the the so for example you get experience a city that didn't exist and it was destroyed in 1945 and Suddenly You know look at it See that recalls a history a context a certain history about What was going on in in the war? But it also brings to the forefront all the achievements that have happened since then All the growth and all the success and that gives you a reality. You can see those graphs about Economic growth you can see graphs about how poor we used to be and how rich we are today Traveling gives you a real sense of what that looks like and what wealth looks like and What going from nothing to something looks like it concretizes All of that economic achievement all of the cultural achievement that we learn when we say western civilization is the greatest civilization in human history What does that even mean? How do you how do you know what that is? Well, one of the ways you know it is by going and actually seeing it and actually experiencing it So it's it's um You get a a sense of all the abstract ideas and the In the stories you hear in the history you hear you get it In many ways concretized for you you get to see the medici palace you get to see You know where where michael angelo worked you get and there's an almost value in that there's an almost pleasure in that satisfaction in that and and again a concretization of stories and ideas and and That you might have heard that people might talk about that you might have read in a book and now in front of you and you're actually there uh, so it's it's Super interesting and and and and and exciting to actually be in those places One of the things I love about london is you can walk all over london You walk in the different neighborhoods and different neighborhoods are like from different centuries And and you can experience You know buildings from those centuries you can experience You can imagine a little bit at least london's changed a lot over the centuries. We can imagine a little bit Uh, what life was like particularly london is a testament to the 19th century onwards in the wealth That was created in england during the 19th and 20th centuries and and how it manifested and to this day It's the 21st century and how it manifested in In the cities. All right, I think I've got a question from richard for a hundred dollars So i'll jump in and take its relevant to the topic Um This is scott's question, I guess not which is question it does it does that for you I guess this refers to david michael angelo david it does that for you and maybe most people But it doesn't necessarily mean their values are off If something else inspires them more. Yeah, I mean when it inspires you relatively speaking Um, it is is an issue of your own Sense of life and your own set of values now That is not So that there certainly is optionality there but up to a limit if if uh, if what you're telling me is um You and yeah, oh david's okay. What really inspires you is kandinsky. Then there's something wrong with you Or jason pollock or or uh, I don't know or Um, you know any one of the modern artists then this then there's something weird I mean, you can make judgments about people based on the art they like they like Art is a reflection of Your values and you can tell a lot about somebody's psychology You can tell a lot about somebody's values hierarchy Based on the art that they like and uh I don't know could I be Friends with somebody who didn't like michael angelo's david I don't know but I know I you know, I I know people who like um other sculptures more than they like michael angelo's david because Even within michael angelo. I think lennepikov Favorite sculpture is the dying slave michael angelo's dying slave, which is in and the louvre And I understand why and and I love the dying slave, but You know, I I by far prefer the david Even though I completely understand what what it is that lennet likes about dying slave You know and uh, so i'm not i'm not referring to any particular particular sculpture particular painting particular. I mean for me uh Being in front of the david is is is one of the great experiences of life and If there are other works of art and if you're on the other hand scott says I dig rock and roll If your life is if your aesthetic experience is limited to rock and roll Then you're missing out in life And I've said this before and on uran's rules for life. You're missing out you you you got too narrow a scope of Aesthetic a scope you you're missing out on huge possibilities in terms of values You should broaden your horizons You should learn to appreciate sculpture and painting and literature and in classical music and other things In and one of the ways to do that Is to go and see the actual artworks and actually experience them so Many people have way too narrow And again, I think americans because of where it is you know many people because of Because of the way they grew up because of the values that were exposed to because They haven't been taught how to Relate to other forms of art Have a way to narrow view of aesthetics and and art and and uh and so on and and that's Too bad for them So my call to you is broaden those horizons You know experience new things and You know one of the things I would do is if you if you go for the first time Italy Is is get go on a tour get a get a guide Get a guide who will explain some of the artwork explain their historical context explain what they do So first time go in and just and just scan and and get a sense and experience kind of in a broad sense What is going on and then maybe go a second time and and just Just for contemplation just to look at the artwork and see what you like and what you don't like But it's it's good to get that You know experience of understanding the artwork understanding its historical context and understanding what's going on in because it's a new form And it's it's hard to appreciate something new It's great to go to some art lectures some art history lectures You would get immense value out of those. I mean again I've talked about this in the past about the the benefits of art and the benefits of surrounding yourself with great art But also the benefits of experiencing great art and therefore widening your horizons and widening your knowledge when it comes to Art right don't just go and say i'm only gonna i'm only you know I'm only going to look at what I like today try to You know why why is rembrandt admire it so much. Why is vermil admire it so much Why is rafael admire it so much try to get an appreciation at least to understand why in in context the art historian the the the the the professional Uh professional aesthetician Appreciate who they appreciate And maybe you will learn to like them too Maybe not but maybe you will learn to like them too so You know, this is my advice to you You know, yeah, I mean Some people want to stay narrow minded and they want to only experience what they what they know And they want to only do what's comfortable And they want it they don't want to stretch their minds and they don't want to stretch their experiences And they don't want to try anything beyond the scope of their narrow little world And it that's not living as I define it And this is again the beauty of travel It stretches you it exposes you to new things. It pushes you it it it it Gives you the opportunity to experience life At its fullest and certainly the aesthetic experiences and again a full appreciation a full appreciation Of the achievements of western civilization will allow you to then Have much more confidence in defending western civilization when we go out there and say western civilization great You'll know what you're talking about. So many people have no clue western civilization means what to them What are they defending? So many people are limited in the scope to example just to politics But western civilization is a lot more than politics A lot more than politics And the pleasure the beauty of being in Athens, let's say and not only Seeing the great achievements the the great monuments that the Athenians have left us the great architecture the great buildings and again you have to understand them in the historical context You know the Colosseum and everything and then going to the the the art museum and seeing all the Magnificent sculptures from ancient Greece and the pottery and and all of that. It's just it's just amazing and stunning And again, you get a firsthand appreciation for their achievements not just In philosophy, but that those achievements and philosophy which was all read about we've all studied Now applied to actual life to existence You get a sense of what it was like to be in the Athenian market and what is a sense of was to be to be wealthy in Athens But also the aesthetic beauty um Once you get that you get a much greater appreciation for what it means to say Western civilization what it means to defend Western civilization But then there's also just the pleasure and the emotional satisfaction and the and Just to say i'm walking I'm walking in the streets that Aristotle walked in Um, you know, you can go today to to where the academia was where Aristotle school was and And you can see kind of at least the ground where or the ruins of Of what used to be the buildings of the academia and you can see Aristotle taught here. How cool is that? You can go to Plato's academy I mean you can you can You get a sense of history That is is really hard to To get without actually traveling there or being there. I mean one of the One of my favorite places to a being just because it was so educational And it was Pompeii Pompeii is Is south Of Naples it's just at the bottom of The volcano the Vesupius volcano and what happened in Pompeii is the volcano erupted And it basically covered the city And it preserved it For 2000 years so we now excavated and there's the city And it's it's frozen in time. It's exactly the way it was 2000 years ago preserved by by the By the lava from the volcano so you can you can see what life was like and It's truly stunning because suddenly you realize the kind of achievements that the Romans That the Romans had and and both engineering achievements Which some we knew somewhat about but here you can see them in person You can see You know things like the fact that they had pipes with running water in a taps. They literally had taps The fact that they had multi-story buildings something that Europe didn't have For a thousand years after that You know the fact their attitude towards sex, which which is definitely the same thing at Ephesus Ephesus you can see signage in the pavement To the brothel right so just just little elements like that did give you a a a a completely different sense of what life was like What life was like Back then and it gives you a concrete Sense of the history it it's it adds so much to the To the study of history to the reading of books Now you're literally standing in the place Ephesus is It is in turkey but it was An ancient Greek It was an ancient Greek city In turkey and it's they say it's the best preserved Greek ruins from from classical Greeks So you really get a sense again of what a Town city was was laid out was like The kind of buildings The scale of the buildings The streets where the sculptures were you know streets in ancient Greece were lined with sculptures You know the main boulevards I just imagine that And and the sculptures were not just in in bronze master many of them were bronze, but they were colored. They were painted So it's unbelievably colorful And a celebration of of the human body the celebration of human life Just just a magnificence as compared to when you walk today in a modern street And if you see any kind of sculpture it's modern mangled metal that means nothing and does nothing to anybody so um just you know just just Fascinating and interesting if you go to if you go to israel, of course israel is filled with history modern history ancient history And and and you can you can walk among the ruins and Where history where these amazing things happened that helped shape What we know today as as western civilization so I think what what traveling particularly I would say in Europe And parts of parts of the Mediterranean. I would include israel in that maybe even egypt is You really get a sense of of the scope of western civilization. You get a sense of the rise and decline You get you know, you can go and see middle even Middle ages villages middle ages ruins and compares them to what was before rom and what came afterwards You really get a concretized sense of the scope and scale and and and changes historical changes that have happened over time so And it's so easy to go now Again, I return to my original point. It's so easy to travel. It's so easy to get on a flight We can all afford it almost everybody can afford it travel anyway And and and to see these these amazing fantastic You know fantastic testaments To to to human achievements and to and to grandeur so It's a travel go out and see the world and start as I said with Europe and in the Mediterranean start with the art the art in the end is the most important second is kind of the history the importance of history and then third um The culture of the different places. I mean, it's it's so much fun to go and see an opera in an opera house in Italy, you know, or to or to You know, just experience the way people behave in different countries The way they talk to one another experience the food in different countries. Just experience the way people live. It's just You know Being exposed to things that are different things that you're not used to Allows you to appreciate the good in your own culture But it allows you also to say Huh, maybe that's better than my own culture. You know, it allows you to uh Have an opportunity to pick and choose Out of everything that the world has to offer the best and the things that are most that you're gonna Enjoy the most so You know going to Italy and hearing people speak Italian to one another and the energy and the excitement and the passion They have in their voices and the way they talk I mean, I find that Just as as as fun on the other hand go into Scandinavian seeing kind of how reserved and how cold and how I mean, it's just that it's interesting to see the differences between people and how they Interact and how they behave and how they and how they relate to or to how they relate to different Deforms and then Then again, there is there is the the the culture and and there's the food. I mean It sounds like Some people are basically they've got rock and roll and maybe progressive rock if they've really become advanced and That's the scope of their music and then they you know, they the hamburgers to steak and that's that's the scale of their food and and There is so much more There's so much more to music. There's so much more to art. There's so much more to food Food could be a real experience food can be Really really different food You know different foods can can can cause you different types of enjoyment and expanding your palette Just like expanding your experiences is life enhancing. It's life enhancing You know and so I love when I travel to go to different restaurants to go to uh, I don't know I was just in Korea to experience Korean food Japanese food different types of Japanese food different types of Korean food Uh, you know, which is very different than Chinese food and Vietnamese food that all have different flavors And of course that are very different than Thai food They all have different flavors and different textures and different ways of preparing And it's just an experience to go to restaurant in each one of these places And it's just it's just fun. It's just enjoyment of of eating something that's different that you've never eaten before That has a different flavor that Stimulate your palette in a different way Uh, and then and then from there you you you go to somewhere like, uh, I don't know where I am now Brazil, which has all these amazonian spices and amazonian fruits and it's now a very different You know a different very different experience and a very different palette and and then you go to Argentina and you have their unbelievable steak and I've actually got a reservation for a Jewish restaurant in in Buenos Aires Who knows what that's going to be like it looked good on tv when I show a show on it so that's going to be interesting, but uh Yeah, I mean there is there is an enormous array of Food that one can experience and yes, you can eat Uh, you can eat Chinese and Thai and Korean food in in the u.s But it's never going to be the same as the eat it in their own localities partially because the ingredients are different partially because almost always the ethnic food in america is Change to accommodate an american palette and if you want to experience the food in its kind of original flavors and original tastes you have to go to where the food is made um and food is wonderful food is fun food is entertaining food is stimulating so travel for food you know the key is To go out there and vary your experiences and then of course when we talk about different cultures You know, I think I think the real culture shock. I the the only real culture shock I ever had Was the maybe not the the biggest culture shock I ever had was going to asia asia is so different Everything about it is different architecture is different the way people behave is different. Of course the food is different You somewhat are used to the food because you get some of the asian flavors in american food but but everything about You know a lot about the people is different and their mannerisms and their behavior and its it's It's a little shocking in the beginning but then again, it's it's so much fun and it's a reassertion of Yes, the real difference is here, but what's much more fundamental and much more important is how How we are the same how how undifferent we are how when you actually get to know the people How the values are not that different how the the fundamental values are the same And how the fundamental values to lead to success are the same and how productiveness play such a huge role In in different cultures and and that will determine Their levels for example of wealth and reason and rationality and and honesty and the way different cultures approach honesty And again, it allows you to concordize Values in a broader way in in new and different human experiences and you get to see that Your universal values the universal values that we hold One of the ways we can see that they're true is we can see the universal not just by Logically extrapolating from our understanding of human nature, but actually from experience the concrete examples of Seeing different countries different cultures and how they succeed or fail I mean one of I'll give you one of some other examples of of I mean I It's weird to say this, but I really like going to places That are super super poor and and I've wondered why why is it that I like going there because it's kind of sad to see people that poor and it is sad And it's it's it's upsetting that human beings live the way they live And and I'm thinking maybe the the place that most is striking for me Is is Cambodia. I was in Cambodia. You know 10 years ago And But also the favelas the slums in Rio de Janeiro in here in Sao Paulo But Cambodia is there is probably the poorest. I've seen poor people in Africa but I think I think Cambodia was probably the the closest I got Um, and what was it that was interesting? Well, what primary thing that was interesting about it was Was the how richer we are how, you know, you kind of feel sorry for them and you do but What you're seeing is how we all lived 250 300 years ago and then You extrapolate for that to How amazing life is today They're not happy tesi tesi says they happy. No, they're not happy not in any meaningful sense They're content To some extent but many of them are a super depressed But then they're busy living right because they don't have time to be depressed They don't have time to be down They're too busy living because survival requires them to work non-stop survival requires them to be alert non-stop Nature is constantly trying to kill them right but what you see there is Where they are is where we all were once And where we are is where the human potential can lead And again, what you're seeing in in actual life, what you're seeing in real in reality Is the human potential and what you're seeing is The history of the last 250 years condensed into into the difference between me and them Which is incredibly powerful. It's incredibly sad for them. Of course, there's a lot of upside for them But incredibly empowering For me and and and and the fact that we live at such an advanced And high standard of living and and to see that context reinforces your commitment To western values to civilization to technology to The amazing stuff that is produced all around us So You know experiencing it is very very very powerful and worth doing so i've we've done tours of the favelas In Rio de Janeiro to see how people live there. We've done tours in cambodia where you you see some of the worst poverty You'll see anywhere And and on the other hand and of course everything in between right for anything everything in between from In another striking example that was in china and the difference between rural china and little villages in china in rural parts of china and shanghai Is night and day or the difference between the west today and the west 250 years ago You can see it in reality You can see the things that you read about in books about how hard life was back then and here it is right in front of you and and and that is Again on the one hand depressing the people are still living like that on the other hand empowering in terms of you can see How much difference civilization freedom economic freedom productiveness How much difference it all makes And then i'd add to this this just The experience of geographic beauty Video is black All right, can you hear me though We got a black screen All right Give me a minute I think I know what the problem is What happened to camera? All right Give me one second. We'll get video back Maybe maybe they'll come back There we go. All right video is back No battery is exhausted. Okay. So something what's it? Something is not working here This goes there goes there That goes to that Okay, we'll try it again and see Uh, see what happens Uh, we will see if the video comes back. There we go. We'll see if this is sustained For some reason The camera battery was not charging. It looks like it's charging now All right, we're back What were we talking about What were we talking about? We were talking about oh, yes. So another reason to travel Is just to experience the natural beauty of the world I really love seeing the scenery The the the landscape One of my favorite places On planet earth Is new zealand the southern island of new zealand Where you can go from tropical forests on on the on one coast To desert on the other coast and in between You get some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world Maybe the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world You get Norwegian style fjords You get glaciers touching tropical forest Uh, if you've seen lord of the rings if you guys hopefully you guys have seen lord of the rings Uh, which is a beautifully made movie with amazing scenery and everything. Well, that scenery is kind of real That's new zealand and it was shot lord of the rings was shot in new zealand And it's it's it's inspiring. It's it's it's beautiful uh, it's magnificent, uh, and uh I love going to places like that, you know, basically getting to we did we got to new zealand um Rented a car and just drove for five days and Just it there's so much fun and there's so much beauty in the world. There's so many magnificent things to do So there's cities this culture. There's art um, this history All of that and and there's there's the the differences between Rich and poor and and what that represents and and seeing that in concrete terms Which can be a value, but then there's natural beauty, which is just I mean, new zealand was the most strikingly beautiful place in the world, but switzerland is amazing You know, depending on the kind of beauty kind of scenery you like, of course in the united states just in the us So many people never leave their state in the us or never leave their home in the us But there's so many places to see in the us. There's so much beauty Going up to the rocky mountains or going up to glacial national park I don't know if you've ever been to glacial national park, but one of the most stunning places in the world uh, the canadian rockies I've never been to alaska. So alaska is the one place. I can't talk from firsthand um But but even just the the the desert, right? I love the desert and you go to you go to uh uh, the southwest united states and the desert or if you go up to uh, you go to grand canyon I mean how many magnificent how beautiful how amazing is the grand canyon? It's just stunning Uh, and and you can experience beautiful desert scenery in in place like israel jordan But there's so much beauty that you know Oh, one of my favorite places because it combines it has this beautiful natural beauty Is san terini in um in um in greece san terini is this greek island that um, there was this massive massive volcano Yeah, i'm not asking you silly there's massive volcano eruption On this island or what happened is that the the volcano is round, right? So half of that collapsed into the sea and all you get is cliffs Cliffs of a half circle and the half circle is open to the mediterranean and the volcano is under the under the sea And as you sail into this into this area With the cliffs all surrounding it in the middle of the mediterranean It's just stunning. It's just so beautiful so magnificent and then you can climb up the cliff You can get on a donkey and they'll climb up the cliff or you can walk it up yourself And then the views from the top ah It's just so the the it's just it's just It the mediterranean is all around you and you're on the sheer cliff drop down to the mediterranean And you've got this beautiful scenery and it's just one of the most calming Relaxing tranquil experiences you'll have In your life it's and you can't replicate that you can't take it out of the context of That geography i'm sure the other geography is the similar have a similar effect But sometimes you need that external stimulus of the environment in which you win to create a sort of state of mind and Santorini I remember in Santorini it was a unique experience of just this Calm and and and that that that comes over you because of the sheer beauty of it And I think the the the ocean does this again These are my experiences your experience might be different But the point is to go out there and and experience And now the the and in life go out there and try stuff and experience stuff and And and see what you like and what you don't like and what is what what you find beautiful and what you don't find beautiful And uh, you know, but you got to experience it you got to go out there and try you you you're not going to discover this stuff Sitting at home, even if you're looking at pictures pictures You know, there's a there's a massive difference between a picture and a Three-dimensional actually being there with a wind blowing your face and actually experiencing the weather and actually experience all this other stuff So you got to try stuff You know, we I've been we've been on the amazon river spent five days on the amazon river years ago Wouldn't do it again, but i'm glad I did it once It was quite an experience and I learned a lot about myself and about The world around me and it was fascinating. It was exciting. It was interesting right so What I want to say what i'm trying to convey to you is Embrace these experiences embrace the world that is just laid out there in front of you is available to you You can get on a plane and you can go anywhere and you can you can do it by backtracking You know backpacking You know and traveling by trains and and or renting a cheap car or something Oh, you can do it luxuously. It's staying at five star hotels. You can do it either way But there's so much to see So much to do right And and and yeah, I mean uh John Kshina, I think Says, you know one of the fun things is the people you meet absolutely and the people you meet That your fellow travelers people you meet in the local place You get again a sense of culture a sense of place A sense of what they're like which helps you then think about things on a geopolitical perspective, you know one of One of my you know, you've got a war right now with russia and ukraine I've been to russia I've been to ukraine. I've been to russia and ukraine more than once I've talked to people. I've met people. I've experienced A little bit of both cultures It's obvious to me just based on that Who the good guys are and who the bad guys are the the political reading and all of that just reinforces What I experienced in the different countries You know You get you get a sense from the people of of who are the ones who are really passionate about liberty and passionate about freedom Which culture is more open to which culture is moving in the right direction? Which culture is moving in the wrong direction if you're there you can experience and see it You know being in china in the early 2000s in the mid 2000s and then through the period between 2005 was the first time was there and then on until 2019 last time was there and seeing both the rise And at least the beginnings of the decline You know, that was a stunning experience and I was wrong about china because I was overly Positive because I saw this projection. I saw how much they advanced I saw all the positives And and when things started turning which she It was shocking and upsetting and even when it started in 2015 16 You thought okay, it won't last they'll rebel against them and then they let it happen so by 19 It was clear It was clear that um The things had really changed and I can talk about china not just by reading books Not just from listening to tucker Carlson But from actual personal experience of being there and talking to people and having connections with local academics who value liberty and value freedom And and and being not just in shanghai and not just in beijing but being in in uh guilin and and uh in uh uh li ji an and uh deng guan and huang jiu and all kinds of cities in china so you get in all kinds of experiences And all kinds of rates at which they developed and people with different attitudes and You know people who are who are chinese and then so I think minorities and the way they think and you talk to people and you Talk to your tour guides and you just get a sense of a place that you just can't get From reading books and reading suddenly from reading newspaper articles that you know are biased and present a very specific perspective and a specific agenda So going out then experiencing these countries and actually experiencing what's going on in these countries particularly if you go there more than once Gives you a whole different perspective on the news And it makes the news more personal when people talk about I don't know kiev. Well, I've been there. I've stayed at these hotels. I've I've walked in these streets If you're gonna bomb them Wait a minute that those are places I've been I've liked so I really really really um I really really Encourage you to get on a plane And go travel Go see the world It's it's I don't know it's strange to me that in the world in which we live where it's so easy So few people take advantage of that ease and and You know see america get in a car and drive and go see it. I've I've crossed america twice from from coast to coast and then Done many ventures into various national parks in various areas and been to every major city in the united states been to I've been to 49 states In the us I'm missing two. Sorry 48 states. I'm missing two states note dakota in alaska I'm sure I'll get to alaska at some point note dakota. I just don't know. I need an excuse Maybe I'll just fly there just to say I've been to all 50 states at some point But You know, there's so much I remember going to edinburgh and being you know, just walking in the streets where Adam smith and and and human and much of the scottish enlightenment happened or going to oxford university or going to cambridge Where newton, you know, when newton was at and and and going to libya when newton sat And and the classrooms when newton taught It's just it's it's it's a it's a cool fabulous Magnificent experience Vancouver is a beautiful city. Somebody's mentioning Vancouver. You know, iowa and ohio Not much not much to do there right uh But go go go to europe. Oh troi again Loving rules for life US dollar strength is eroding my super chat you on i know I know but on the other hand it makes my travels a lot cheaper Right. I'm in brazil right now And god everything is so cheap We just had a big meal You know, it it wasn't a luxurious restaurant, but a big meal and um, I think it cost me 25 bucks And then yesterday we aided what you'd consider five-star restaurant a really top-notch restaurant prefix meal Prefix menu. I don't know how many courses really really high quality. Everything's super duper 125 bucks for a meal that I would in europe Pay for that same meal 350 dollars I paid About a third of that in brazil And they're telling me that when I go to argentina, it's even cheaper there, you know, so the dollar Makes everything right now so so, um Cheap I was in I was in japan and again the same phenomena, you know the the dollar is 144 yen I remember when when the dollar was 100 yen and the difference that's 44 percent Everything's cheaper by 44 percent Now there's also inflation, but it's it's great when you're traveling to have a strong dollar It's it's great if you're importing stuff to have a strong dollar It's not great if you're exporting if you're trying to sell american goods overseas Having a strong dollar does not help Yes, I've been to brazilians or you can eat beef restaurants Uh, I you know, you can get forward to chow everywhere But in brazil there are many many chains of that and and I've been to those and it's it's fantastic um Food in portugal is cheap, but not as cheap as brazil and argentina I've been to portugal. I've eaten there. It's yeah, it's cheaper than the rest of europe But it's it's it's nowhere near as cheap as latin america is right now. Uh, so it's uh That is exciting anyway travel guys Live live embrace life embrace different experiences learn um You know be a be a thoughtful traveler in a sense of observe Think about what you're observing think about what you're seeing Think about the experiences and what you're experiencing why you're experiencing it You know enjoy the the the differences. I mean one again another thing I like is I like people right and When you travel to asia and when you travel to latin america and you travel to these people It's just different just people just seeing people Who are different than you who look different than you? And and gaining an appreciation for their aesthetics. I mean, that's the other thing like the traveling to Thailand and china and other places. I don't quite like their architecture Uh, although in in in shanghai you and in parts of china you get this combination of western and eastern It's often quite beautiful, but I don't quite like their architecture. It's it's not my style and it's not but This particularly particularly true in japan It's it's so you gain an appreciation for their particular aesthetics their aesthetic is very bare It's very geometric. It's very simple. I gave a lecture in japan this last time I was there in this room where all the students sat on the floor And it was everything everything was very very geometric And it just had a cleanliness of line and you could tell one of the things I liked about it Is you could tell that everything Was was done purposefully that was the thought was put into designing the room and designing the The imagery that was being displayed and everything and it was just the the japanese have a have a great eye for these things And they you know, nothing's there accidentally frank lord right was a great admirer of Of of of japan because of that and he he actually designed and built the imperial hotel in tokyo, which I stayed at once And the the the part of that hotel was designed by frank lord right and it's beautiful And he takes kind of the best of japanese architecture and the best of western architecture and combines them And creates this magnificent space now Where are you gonna see that? Unless you go to japan and actually see it and it's the other thing when you travel Think about what you want to see do a little bit of research investigate in advance So did you know there was a frank lord right hotel in in In tokyo, uh, so Did you know, you know, so it's There's just so much there's so I've probably been I don't know to 70 80 different countries probably 80 different countries um I probably just this year Being a ready to over 20 countries. I'll probably cross the 30 country mark. I've gone to europe in a few weeks And I'll probably cross the 30 country mark this year While the traveling is exhausting the way I do it and you shouldn't do it the way I do it um It is pretty amazing to a to be able to do it And b to be able to experience as much as I experience as much as those of us who travel experience and I We live in a it's such a rich world with so many opportunities You know one of the main rules for life Right one of yaran's male main rules for life is take advantage Live the fullest best life that you can live, you know embrace life and and You know do stuff with it and and uh You know take vacations and go see the world every year Choose a different country to go to uh, or or choose a different kind of adventure to engage in and when you have kids Think about trips that can engage the kids I mean one of the things we did was when our kids were studying greece and school We took them to greece And then they got a sense of greece civilization. Here's greece. Look. Here's here's the parthenon. You talked about that He's oh and when they when they were studying roman civilization. Here's romp. Let's go see romp. Let's go see What's the place I talked about before uh, there was under the volcano You know go and see the the stuff that we're talking about. So, uh, yep Anyway, all right, hopefully hopefully uh, that has inspired you Pompeii. Thank you to go see Pompeii that has inspired you to go out there and And uh see the world centurini is a greek island. So I was talking about Pompeii Inspired you to go in and travel Put a little bit of money aside every year when you make your budget for the year put a little bit of money aside every year For travel expenses a friend of mine who would I don't think he'd ever left the united states this last summer When when uh, the objective is conferences when london went to london and spent two plus weeks in london And he just had an amazing time I mean first of all london's such an amazing city and just walking around and experiencing the different things and it's He lives in austin and london austin. It's just so different and and there's so much Joy you can get from just experiencing those things uh in london Jarrah said dubrovnik dubrovnik is a is a beautiful city You know, I've only been there once but it was it was amazing. It was really really beautiful Dubrovnik is in croatia um, all right Yeah, london is an amazing city london's Suddenly in my top three five cities in the world. It's it's one of my favorite places Okay, let's uh, let's do some super chat. We've got a bunch of questions and uh Troy, thank you again for the support. Troy got us over the uh Over the 650 over our goal for today. Let's see. Let's start with another hundred dollar question from richard This is a second hundred dollar question today But uh, let's see richard says i'll ask misty's question. So so Richard is going through the chat and he's asking questions that you guys Uh asking in the chat but not Putting up on the super chat So richard and he's putting a hundred dollars for each one of those questions. So, uh, thank you richard. That's it's a great contribution Um, you richard kessler not to be confused with the other richard on the chat Would never do something like this. Um, I'll ask misty's question. Would you do space tourism in the future? Oh god, um If I were young I would certainly do it, right? I I I don't know If I do it, um today or or as I get older for a number of reasons one is um I have fear of heights I don't know how I I'd probably be fine. Um You know in space looking down i'm i'm finding airplanes Although I don't like looking out the window down in an airplane But um, yeah, I would definitely do it. Certainly if I didn't have fear of heights, I would do it The idea of being space of being weightless the idea of being in space just the idea of experiencing that That would be a blast. It would be so much fun. So, yes Even if I wouldn't do it a younger me would do it a younger me would do it without any question Yeah, people are putting up the places they'd like to go. I mean, there's there's a ton of places There's good stuff everywhere, but let me let me just again say that Think about why you're prioritizing and how you're prioritizing the places you go What you value in your own life? I value art Is a very high value in my life. I think everybody should And so I would start always with the places that the greatest art italy fans A place like that and then think about other things you value london And london also has great music. It has a great music scene. It has great museums It it has every aspect of art. You can experience it has great. Oh the other thing london has of course is theaters It has a great place. It has musicals. It has Operate has everything right so london is just this Amazing city with everything theater theater theater so Think about the things you value if you value food, where do you want to go? What kind of food do you want to eat so and then design travel around that? I mean A lot of times I arrive in a city this particularly in asia and I don't know what to do because I don't know What in the city is going to excite me and interest me but there are places that I know in advance Okay, I'm going there and I love these things and I'm going to see these things and I'm going to do these things So think about your values and plan your trip based on your values plan your trip You know to support your values If you don't know what your values are if you're young and you're still then Follow my advice and go to a place like Italy and France and discover your values right um But yeah, talk to the people and and and you know Learn their aesthetics and and and learn what they're thinking and what they what they do and what they like and Thank you rush me Rush me 50 canadian dollars really appreciate it um Oh, I've got his 10 year old son is a big fan That's great. That's great. Thank you um But yeah, you know get to know the people get to know the culture get to know the art get to know the aesthetics But it also will give you an appreciation of even human aesthetics And and people become less strange the other The other the people who look definitely the new become less strange They they become much more human they become much more like you because you get to know them And you get to know them as a minority. So one of the things like in in at the yellow mountains in china Me being the only european guy on the entire mountain It was kind of cool It was interesting and and the fact how they related to me and how exotic i was i was the exotic one Usually, they're the exotic ones Where i come from but where were they you know in just that perspective on what it means to be the other And and you know in shanghai the way they look at you and how strange you look to them um It's it's it's it's worth having that experience or the experience which i have all the time everywhere go Is they don't understand anything i say So how do you communicate with people who don't know english who don't know your language and you don't know theirs And that's fascinating because I've managed everywhere in the world And and most people in the world don't know english Um certainly in asia. That's true, but even in south america And how you manage the other thing i've gained a huge appreciation for two things Two forms of technology that just Just blow i mean it's just unbelievable how Um how wonderful uh these things are and i don't use google translate as much as i should But the two things the two innovations that just blow my mind is one is More recently zuba right i don't have to tell the taxi driver where i'm going Because i put it in in advance i just get in the car i say hello I try to learn hello in the language i say hello i leave i say thank you and that's it And i can get anywhere and i can order a time and and one of the sad things about You know the differences between different countries Japan and korea don't have uber And it makes life more difficult They have Pseudo uber you you could use the app to order a taxi, but they don't have uber uber So it's more expensive and it's not quite as convenient not quite as easy South america like brazil you can get uber like that two minutes it takes to get an uber You can uber and go anywhere and it's again incredibly cheap 40-minute drive cost me 10 bucks for a 40-minute drive So uber is amazing and of course the innovation the amazing innovation are maps google maps apple maps ways The ability to know exactly where you're going to know exactly how to get there no matter where you are in the world No matter whether you remember to buy a map or not to buy a map It's all in your phone. You never have to think about maps You you just plug in wherever you want to go you can drive in every country now But also you can check to see if the taxi is taking you at the right place. It's not doing a roundabout trip It's you can it map, you know maps on the phone You just gain an appreciation for that by uh by uh by traveling around the world All right, let's see Okay, james taylor asks He says it was debating a catholic girl and she agreed with me the christianity is about suffering She embraced it. She told me there is beauty in suffering How can people think in such a sick twisted term? Well, this is the way they've been educated. This is the way they've been You know kind of brainwashed. It's not really brainwashing, but it's how everything around them and To reject it Requires a huge amount of courage. It requires an independence of thought and independence of mind That people just don't have I mean I use Mother Teresa a lot as an example and people are shocked by it some particularly In catholic places like latin america. They're shocked by it because Mother Teresa is a symbol of greatness of heroism of morality of virtue and What is a virtue a virtue is suffering? and They just associate suffering with virtue And to change that and to change their orientation They have to do a lot of work They have to do a lot of work. So it's easier for them. It's in terms of lazy easy Right, it's easier for them if they don't want to be independent thinkers if they don't want to do the work necessarily To change their values is To think eh Suffering is there's beauty in it that's the rationalization because People cannot face The evil and ugliness of their philosophy They cannot face the evil and ugliness of their own philosophy So they rationalize it And one rationalization is The beauty in suffering. No suffering sucks To have a t-shirt suffering sucks All right, Michael asks upon discussing the welfare state with the leftist He said to me welfare is not about compassion or lifting people out of poverty. It's about Dating a population that could become violent. Is there any validity to this? Well, it's it's certainly what a lot of people think Particularly wealthy people a lot of wealthy people support the welfare state because they believe falsely That if you didn't provide If you didn't basically bribe poor people if you didn't give them money They would rebel there would be an uprising and they always use the same example the french revolution Look what happened in the french revolution. I don't want to be guillotined. They say But the reality is that it there's never been a revolution. This is Marx's era. This is Historical fact there's never been a revolution of the poor In a free society It's never happened Now they've revolted in the sense of using the democratic process To redistribute more wealth towards them, but there's never been a violent revolution in a free country because Freedom provides and particularly A semi capitalist country capitalism freedom provide with the with an escape valve for the poor That is work work, which leads to them not being poor poverty is not necessary It's not necessary. It's not a necessary condition Nobody needs to be poor And in a free market in a truly capitalist society today Within a couple of decades. Nobody would be poor I mean you can do the math and what economic growth does to wages And people rise up from poverty very quickly. Now, they'll always be relatively poor But in terms of absolute poverty in terms of struggling To eat struggling to to get around, you know, the basic needs that we have To survive and really to be successful in life Nobody should be poor today in a in a in a free country The only reason they are poor people is we don't live in capitalism. We don't live in economic freedom But the kind of wealth that is possible to create in a truly free market would eradicate poverty And then who you got to be afraid of nobody everybody would But there's just no example. Hong Kong people didn't rebel even though there was no welfare state 19th century america people didn't rebel even though there was no welfare state 1960s america where there was no There was no, uh, medicare people didn't rebel. We still gave them medicare Okay, michael asks are the majority of people selfish to some degree That's why india china africa slowly getting richer the underlying selfishness may keep propelling humanity forward until they become explicit to objective Yes, I mean there's a sense in which people are Selfish in the sense that they want to take care of themselves They they they want to pursue their own self-interest. They want to better themselves materially at least Um, and and they pursue material values. So in certain areas in people's lives They are self-interested They're not consistent and what they're not primarily is Purposeful in their selfishness one of my one of the things about rules for life is that i'm trying to Convey to you guys is to be purposeful in your selfishness. That is to be selfish is to be purposeful That is have a purpose in everything that you do and pursue being selfish That is figure out. What are the things that make your life good that make your life? wonderful that That lead to your success and happiness and Enjoyment and pursue those things be active with them. Don't just Yeah, I mean selfish in this area, you know, think about okay. What is my what is my life acquired? What do I need to do? What are all the things that I need to explore and you need to engage in and need to pursue and need to live In order to fully experience life in order to fully be alive in order to fully So I've emphasized your career and art and friendship and love and But you got to pursue these things. They won't just happen to you. So, um A lot of people are in a sense They get it in the material realm and this is what china india So you give them a little bit freedom and they rush in to make their lives better than material realm in that sense They're selfish now. They need to take that virtue of selfishness and turn it into a moral virtue That they pursue purposefully That's the next step and that's your one's rules for life trying to do help you guys with And that's ranz ethics. That's what ranz ethics is all about my rules for life is just Concrete applications of what I think are the principles The ranz ethical principles Yeah, somebody reminds me to Before you leave hit the like button if you like to show hit the like button But yeah rules for life doesn't get a lot of live views and therefore you get fewer like buttons. You get fewer views generally People are much more interested in politics than in Traveling and seeing the world or hearing me talk about traveling and seeing the world Okay, friend harper says Secondary consequence of army life travel being to south afghanistan and south korea Washington state is beautiful and killian texas is awful. I'm glad for the experience. Absolutely. I think I think American army life is really army life. There's no travel. Although I was in beirut and I did drive around quite a bit of the southern half of lebanon during my army service as a as an occupier So I did see a little bit of lebanon because of the army, but generally israeli army does not evolve Um does not involve travel, but yes South afghanistan must be quite beautiful and quite stunning desert kind of environment mountainous and desert Hostile as well, but you get to experience what that means what it looks like Not lebanon arrogant lebanon lebanon lebanon beirut lebanon have been to beirut All right Jennifer says nil putt love to travel nil putt the the drama Love to travel He said about meeting a stranger feel the touch of his hand feel your world expand. Yeah, and it's it's It's your world expand it's it's The humanity the the idea that these people look differently than you speak a completely different language than you have Certain cultural values that are different than you and yet oh human And and have the same faculties as you do and have the same capacities that you do and and in some very fundamental sense of the same values that you do They want to live they want to they want to do better. They want to be successful at least the better ones right and and in They are particularly this is what I liked about the chinese they were ambitious and hardworking and energetic and full of passion Fenn hopper says it was the horn of panjwa I don't know where the the horn of panjwa is um, I think it's that I think I can kind of it's if I remember right it's the south east corner if that's right border pakistan um But I assume it's mountainous and beautiful, but I don't know pakistan. Well, I've never been there Uh, fenn hopper says have you traveled by training korea? I have not I appreciated being able to cheaply make day trips to countless destinations shops and restaurants everywhere Do you think korea has a population density problem? No, not at all. I mean the 50 million people in korea um I don't know what the population density is in korea as a whole, but there are vast areas in korea that are fairly empty um You know soul is very densely populated but uh, there are vast areas and the mountains That are underpopulated So I know I don't I don't think any way in the world really has a population density problem when you consider How density populated a place like hong kong is and how amazing for many people life was there in spite of the density, so Yeah I've not traveled by training korea. I have traveled outside of Seoul Up into the mountains. It's it's a beautiful country. Uh, and um Yeah, and I've seen quite a bit of uh korea on television From the different korean dramas Thomas asks RFL is always inspiring rules for life is always inspiring I need to find opportunities to conduct and play in more places in the world. Yes That would be amazing and and to experience some of the great music halls of the world. I mean, uh, here in south america, I mean You you thomas know and many of you know my admiration for atroitas canini But atroitas canini the first time he conducted was I think it was in Rio de Janeiro. Was it Rio de Janeiro? Buenos Aires now I hate that that I can't remember But the first time he conducted was uh here in latin america, I think it was in Rio de Janeiro at the at the uh, uh at the uh Opera house He was a cellist in the orchestra And they were about to do I think was aida Verdi's aida and Oh, uh, thomas says it was in cologne and it was the teatro cologne in bonas i was and I've been to this theater We we visited the theater where he where he conducted anyway. He's uh, he's a cellist in the theater and uh, he is He's 19 years old And he's the cellist and for whatever reason there's a big fight Between the producers and the theater and the conductor and the conductor walks off And the conductor won't conduct And somebody goes up to tuscanini. He says I hear you you had some interesting conducting when you were a music student and uh Oh thomas says it wasn't real Okay, so it wasn't real. Okay. I think I've been to that theater as well But uh, so he's he so he says would you like to conduct in tuscanini? He says sure He gets up on the stand And he's 19 years old. He's never conducted in his life. I mean formally in front of a massive audience An audience that's upset by now that they're kind of You know unruly because hey the conductor walked off and and and they paid they paid money and This is a this is an orchestra from a theater company from italy that's come all the way To to brazil to perform and they were upset and they're unruly and the the the fidgety and he gets up there Uh and He basically Conducts all of aida from memory Never looks at the notes and conducts the time performance as silence as the audience So this is an awe of this kid up there doing it and You know, that's his first conducting experience that he conducts some more during that tour Returns to italy where he returns to being a cellist Uh before he gets his first um, um Conducting job But being in a theater like that being in those theaters But for you thomas to be able to conduct in those kind of theaters with that kind of history Thomas says he had done some chorus rehearsals So he'd rehearsed with a chorus but now with a full orchestra and all the singing in the entire thing and he gets to conduct an entire opera For the first time at 19 in front of a live audience Unprepared unrehearsed from memory I mean um That's tuscannini for you, but uh so just being in places that people like that have been but then If you could conduct in places like that and the acoustics of every place I'm sure is different and and being able to experience that that would be a lot of fun. So touring the world and Professionally is is so much fun. I know because that's what I do, but uh, it would it it would be amazing All right, we got a few more super chats And we'll call it a night Getting late here in uh getting late here in uh San paolo Michael asks do you think americans are a lot more nihilistic than other people's because We are so insanely rich. We can get away with being immature brats for generations There's no question. I think that um Being rich allows people to dabble in Super destructive ideas. They have more time on their hands. They have more time to be stupid and distracted um, they their parents pay the bill or whatever and you can go out there and burn tires and burn cars or puncture vehicles or demonstrate or whatever um There's less a connection between work and survival than in other cultures, but look nihilism existed in primitive cultures often existed through the church um through religion Nihilism's been out there, but it certainly is more prevalent. I think in in wealthier societies than in poor societies because People have more time to to to to under undermine their own minds Liam We exist in a bizarre combination of stone age emotions medieval beliefs and god-like technology Yeah, I wouldn't call it god-like technology kind of man-like technology But yes, this is where the human race The species is not mature enough yet We still carry with us Cultural legacies of the stone age and medieval periods. We still haven't given up on religion We still carry with us zero some mentality We haven't convinced ourselves of The value of trade. I mean look trump and his his antagonism to the very essence of trade to the the win-win nature of trade um and he was president so some of this Primitivism The cultural primitivism is still part of our cultural legacy and we haven't shrugged it up um, we haven't You know culturally gained control of I emotions and and and considering it it's our And I don't think it's in our genes. I think it's in our culture I think it's in our culture and I think there are places where it doesn't exist So you the the errors in human history where people are different Look at the founding generations of America in many respects It's almost like there were different human beings. They were different. I mean, where did these people come from? Well, they came from a different culture. There was a there was a Environment there was a learning there were books that was thinking there was respect for reason that just and that Why couldn't that survive is is is an interesting question, but it didn't um Think of Greece and then and then think of the darkest period and think of the differences In culture and I think and and and culture gets there's a cumulative effect of all the culture that came before us An accumulative impact of these things and and the founders won the verge Of dumping religion and then religion gets resurrected so We constantly have to fight that fight and I don't think it's I don't think it's genetic. I think it's just the good Good ideas good cultural institutions good cultural habits good cultural views The ideas of reason just haven't had enough of a cumulative build up To have real lasting sustainable resonance within the culture the enlightenment was too short And it's still look at the impact it has to this day It's gonna take Decades and decades and decades before we get there It could take centuries before we get there. It's just too early Michael also asks how were the Egyptians able to get past the Balev line? So easily during the Yom Kippur war surprise Israeli The Balev line was a line of defense on the Suez Canal that the Israelis had dug in Israelis overconfidence Israelis Just not being alert not being aware not being being overly confident Just thinking it couldn't happen And and being surprised or at least letting themselves be surprised is a better way to think about it Yeah, I mean and and that did it One says well woke up realized what was going on got its act together got its generals together start thinking about solutions It crushed the Egyptians, but in those first few days They were just shocked and surprised they were complacent. They'd been complacent for years after six-day war Israel viewed itself as as invincible and It wasn't Yom Kippur war proved that it wasn't Michael asks do you find customer services better in Asia than the u.s? Despite the fact that they are more socialist than we are South america creamy inefficient and unfriendly I don't find south america is unfriendly at all. I think south americans Personally incredibly friendly and the service people incredibly friendly. They're just not efficient And they're just not productive and they're just not that helpful because they're not efficient And they're not that productive Asia super productive super efficient not very friendly uh, at least they don't They're not as warm south americans are very warm Asians are not warm. Um, I mean that's a generality, but but in general So service in in asia might be meticulous Focus on detail very effective very efficient, but not as warm in south america to be more Happy has it but but a lot warmer so you get again different levels Finn hopper says that's polite. What's polite? Not sure what's polite Hopper Campbell asks is the human capacity for self-deception bottomless Well, it's not bottomless in a sense that self-deception will kill you so, uh You know when you uh The the bottom is death And self-deception will get you there fairly quickly uh, self-deception is one of the best ways to Destroy your life and that's what it does But it there's a human beings have a huge capacity for suicide huge capacity for self-deception a huge capacity for destruction Hopper Campbell asks criminals don't see themselves as parasites But as masterminds they see themselves as playing chess game with the rest of humanity. Why are they wrong? Well, first, I don't think they see themselves as that way You know in the movies they are but I think that's uh, uh That's a projection I think criminals see themselves To the extent that they introspect I think most criminals don't disrespect as pathetic as losers um Not as successes And I think the better portrayals of criminals You know show them as that and and You know, uh, I don't know if you've seen peeky blinders. I highly recommend a very well made show about gangsters in Birmingham in England um He's a mastermind, but he also knows He's bound to be defeated He's bound to be destroyed by what he's doing um But they are parasites because they live off of others. It's it's by definition. They're parasites. They're not productive Other people are productive and they steal What is not theirs what they did not produce and the only way they can survive is by stealing so they are parasites And they know their parasites. So I don't buy this criminals a mastermind's View of the world. I I don't think criminals think that way I think that's how movies portray them, but I don't think that's how People think okay James So spiritually the nihilists of one, but materially people are still striving for more. Why is this? Well, I don't know that spiritually the nihilists of one. I don't think they have um I don't think the nihilists can win This is why I've I've said I I think that the right wins in the end because the right presents people with a non Explicit the nihilistic view of the world So I don't think the nihilists can win. I don't think people will accept nihilism. I think people generally reject nihilism so What will they accept in its place is the question and I think that they're willing to accept authoritarianism They're willing to accept some Integrated set of values As let a peek of explains in the dem hypothesis in its place But the one thing they're not willing to accept Is is the nihilistic world with all of its uncertainties and with all of its mayhem and destruction Most people want to live most people want their children to live most people want to be better off next year than they are This year nihilism does not allow for that. So they reject it. They're not Intellectual they just know that they want it better and And by by by striving for better they reject the nihilism. So I don't think nihilism is winning It's winning it's sudden over certain people, but notice that almost all nihilists University grads or university students You know that they are there are people who value the intellectual um And then the minority the smallest of minority even at stanford even at brookley When they demonstrate Tiny fraction of the student body most students at brookley are trying to get a degree They're trying to make their life better. They want a job. They want to make money They want to go out there into the world and they accept some of the premises of the nihilists I don't know the the pronouns or whatever Just because they don't want to bother with it not because they believe in it Liam says can you provide a scientific description of focus? Rand threw that word around a lot when describing free will It is it just choosing to direct your awareness? Yes, it's the conscious Direction of your awareness or the engagement of your awareness. So think of Waking up and being kind of drowsy and everything's blurry and everything and then consciously say oh, I need to get up and I need I need I need to I need to Get in focus and and making the mental effort to Focus your awareness Focus it on something focus it on the world out there and on getting up and and doing the things you need to do to start your day But it's it's it's being sleeping on the sofa and hearing noise somewhere and you know Engaging right or it's I'm gonna solve this math problem and I'm now putting all my energy all my All my energy all I'm directing my mind To this problem to solving this issue to this book to this notebook where I'm doing That's what I'm engaging my mind to do this I'm ignoring everything else focusing just on so it's the directing of your awareness to the specific thing you want it And it's it's conscious. It's and it requires a certain energy certain level of effort Michael says do you speak English or Hebrew at home when you were growing up both? both He blish he blish Inc he I don't know how you but but we spoke To my parents that spoke English to my siblings Hebrew Or a mixture of Hebrew and English to both To my friends Hebrew when I lived in Israel when I lived in England and in the u.s. English so I English and Hebrew Constantly back and forth. I forgot my Hebrew when I lived in England when I spoke cockney. I forgot my Hebrew Thank you, Apollo Let's see Justin Surely food like ideas can be transported to different geographical areas while maintaining authenticity to some extent But not completely Partially because Ingredients are never as fresh. So I don't know you can go to the best Thai restaurant in the u.s Not as good as Thai food in Thailand. It's not as good Something about the freshness of of of the various spices and herbs And and ingredients that just makes the Thai food in Thailand better than Thai food in any Thai restaurant in America Fresh this matters you can taste it food Food in Thailand is like food. I've never tasted anywhere else in the world And and it's hard to export food you can But it loses something in in the travel So to really appreciate local food Is to travel and and engage with it There I mean I still go to Thai restaurants in the u.s. But to really really Completely get into To get experience fully Thai food Thailand. It's it's very unique the first time my wife and I were in Thailand And we ate Thai food is like it was a real revelation the difference Between now and the best Thai food we'd had in America and then of course in china A lot of the food is stuff they don't serve in America Because you can't make a living serving it because it's it's stuff Americans won't eat like fish heads Right and and spicy food that Americans it's too spicy for Americans. So they tone it down in Thai restaurants or Chinese restaurants in the u.s So there's a lot of variation and then there's certain parts of the animal there's certain types of foods that They either don't travel well or or Americans won't eat so the restaurants won't serve it Because their clientele is mostly Americans. They can't make money off of it Joseph says just returned from seeing many Portugal cities Lisbon is bustling with many people dining on streets squares porto Was sophisticated and wine. Oh the wine country is beautiful the Great rock cave formations on the south coast. You haven't been to the south coast but porto and and lisbon are amazing I love porto in particular um food with spectacular the people the Beauty of the geography the yeah and and it's it's it's it's Yeah, I like Portugal I'll be in uh, lisbon soon in a few weeks Daniel Says you are communist because you read it I'm an anti-communist because I lived it You're a communist because you read it. I'm an anti-communist because I lived it. Yeah Yeah, I mean you should be able to be an anti-communist even from reading it Uh, Jacob I like to snow ski should I focus international trips to skiing for pleasure Or see the world for the sake of seeing the world. I would do both I mean, so for example, you could go snow ski in the alps And then drive down to italy and go visit Florence and see some art And and you can you can combine the two That's the best when you combine something you know, you already love and at the same time see new things or You can ski in Austria And then go to the self-smoke music festival or go to vienna to the art museum So there's so many things you can combine with skiing But I wouldn't limit yourself just to go into places where you can ski But it suddenly is one way to make sure you're gonna have a blast But then add on things that are new experiences So you can expand the realm of what you value and then over time you might say, uh I'll just go to italy forget the skiing I'll just go to italy because what I experienced in Italy was so much fun I can just do that. I can ski in the Rockies. I don't have to so But it's a way to justify the trip and then Expand your horizons while you're doing it Michael asked did you have a surf growing up? I always envy people who travel the world looking for the best waves No, I never surfed I mean I body surfed in Israel. We used to body surf I don't think the waves were quite big enough to to really surf But we used to do a lot of body surfing I tried to win surf. I don't have the balance for it. So I would have never been a good surfer So, uh, no Not part of my travels looking for the wave But I do appreciate people looking for the wave. All right Thank you, everybody. Thanks all the super chat. Thanks to Troy and everybody else richard who came in with 200 bucks and Troy Who came out the 500 can a australian? Thanks to all the super chatters who contributed today really appreciate it If you want to support the show On a monthly basis, you can do it on patreon. You can do it on your own book show dot com slash support That will be through paypal So, uh, I hope you enjoyed the show if you did Uh Share it encourage other people to to listen to it. Yeah, I will be back later this week. I'm not sure Um, thank you, Daniel. Really appreciate that. I'm not sure What day and from where? I will be in uh Curichiba tomorrow actually one of the listeners a listener from the show Uh said to me. Hey, I hear you're coming to Brazil. Would you come to Curichiba and talk at my university? Yes, so I am going to his university and talking tomorrow to students at the University of Curichiba, Brazil Uh the day after that I'll be in Puttalega in Brazil I'll talk at a high school and then I'll talk to a group of students and businessman I'll also be doing an interview. I'll meet some old friends I've got a lot of friends and a lot of friends in Puttalega And then I go to Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, I'll be doing some interviews and then We've got a conference there a two-day objectives conference in uh in Buenos Aires and then finally Finally, I fly home Saturday night, so um That's the plan for the rest of the week Maybe I'll do a show from Curichiba. Maybe I'll do a show from Puttalega. Maybe I'll do a show from Buenos Aires It's going to been a time and it's going to depend on internet connection Uh, all right everybody I will see you soon. Oh, Roosevelt. Thank you. Really appreciate the support Thanks everybody and uh, I'll see you all hopefully sometime later this week