In this episode we unpack French Continental Philosopher Henri Bergson's classic essay "Laughter" from 1900. This Essay Explores... What are the common characteristics in all things funny? What are the differences between Tragedy and Comedy? What function does laughter serve for society? Links to Reading & Articles mentioned Laughter by Henri Bergson Truth in Comedy by Charna Halpern & Del Close Brain Droppings by George Carlin How to be Funny by Steve Allen Night at the Roxbury (SNL skit) Anchor Man (movie) Liar Liar (movie) The Invention of Lying (movie) Austin Powers International Man of Mystery (Movie) Crocodile Dundee (Movie) Tropic Thunder (movie) Big Mouth (show) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Patrick McInnis  ImprovSanDiego.com Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro

In this episode we unpack Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher Marcus Aurelius's classic book "Meditations" from 170 AD. This book explores... Seeing Things as They Really Are Focusing Only on What is in Your Control Remaining Calm Through Turbulent Times Links to Reading & Articles mentioned Meditations by Marcus Aurelius The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin Principles by Ray Dalio Silence of the Lambs (movie) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Steve Chung Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:11 Modern Interpretations of Stoicism 00:04:21 Translation 00:05:13 Why Aurelius Wrote the Book  00:08:30 Doing Good for the Wrong Reasons 00:09:37 Seeking Truth No Matter Who is Speaking it 00:13:10 The Logos 00:15:19 The Importance of Rationality  00:16:39 Doing What is in Our Nature 00:17:40 Focusing on Yourself  00:20:14 Expect People to Do What is in Their Nature 00:22:03 The Interconnected of All People 00:24:30 What is Natural is Good 00:25:58 Death = Change 00:26:49 Death as the Great Equalizer 00:27:43 Momento Mori  00:28:35 The Difference Between Stoicism and Nihilism  00:31:28 Your Legacy Won’t Live On After You Die 00:33:22 Seeking Approval From Others 00:36:08 Focusing on What is in Our Control 00:37:29 The Transgressor Harms Themselves When They Transgress 00:38:56 External Things Can’t Harm You   00:40:58 All Sin is Due to Ignorance  00:48:30 Equanimity  00:50:04 The Appeal of Stoicism During Times of Great Upheaval 00:53:11 Parallels to Buddhism 00:53:24 Seeing Things Objectively 00:57:35 There is Nothing New Under the Sun 01:00:00 The Present is the Only Time That Exists 01:02:55 Wrapping Up/Outro

In this episode we unpack Swiss Psychiatrist and Author Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's classic book "On Death and Dying" from 1969. This book explores... The Fear of Death in the Modern Age The Five Stages of Grief Advice for Navigating the 5 Stages of Grief Links to Reading & Articles mentioned On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross The Trauma of Birth by Otto Rank Uses of the Erotic by Audrey Lorde  Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag  Empathy vs. Sympathy by Brene Brown (video) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Andrea Dispenziere Psychology Today Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction  00:02:58 Autumn’s Association with Death 00:06:15 Reminding Ourselves of our Mortality  00:13:19 Fear of Death in the Modern Age 00:14:40 Decline in Infant Mortality  00:17:25 Impersonal Treatment of Terminal Patients  00:24:29 The Illusion of Control 00:25:39 Summary of Kubler-Ross’s Interview Project  00:28:10 Verbal Ventilation  00:28:59 Importance of Meaning/Purpose 00:33:38 Mourning the Loss of Certain Abilities before Death 00:36:42 The Five Stages of Grief 00:38:23 Stage 1: Denial 00:39:18 Euphemism  00:40:51 Emotional Detachment  00:46:00 The Stigma of Denial 00:48:50 The Last Stage of the 5 stages of grief is the First Step of the 12 steps Program  00:50:05 The Link between Denial and Hope 00:52:16 Shock and Numbness  00:53:22 The Connection between Isolation and Denial 00:55:24 Stage 2: Anger 00:55:29 Anger at God 00:57:06 Anger at Oneself 00:59:05 Victim Blaming 01:01:00 Anger at the Living 01:02:16 Stage 3: Bargaining  01:02:54 Ambivalence  01:04:50 Bargaining with God 01:05:43 Reneging on the “Agreement” 01:10:45 Stage 4: Depression  01:10:49 Reactive vs. Preparatory Depression 01:12:47 Telling the Depressed Person to “Cheer Up” 01:14:15 Grieving your Anticipated Future  01:18:49 Sitting with the Person in Whatever Stage They’re In 01:21:28 Stage 5: Acceptance  01:21:36 Detaching from Life 01:22:30 Conflating Acceptance as “Quitting” 01:23:30 Difficulty Accepting Death in a Masculine Culture 01:25:57 Need for Solitude at End of Life 01:29:12 Kubler-Ross’s View of Death and Dying 01:30:30 Wrapping up/Outro

In this episode we unpack American Naturalist and Environmental Activist John Muir's Spiritual Writings from 1867-1915. These letters explores... The Revitalizing Effects of Wilderness on the Body and Spirit The Interconnectedness of All Things in Nature Finding Gratitude in the Big and Little Things in Life Links to Reading & Articles mentioned Spiritual Writings by John Muir Man and Nature by Alan Watts Chief Seattle full Speech 1854 Cinderella Man (film) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Mark McCann   Wordsnvisions.com  Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction  00:03:55 Hiking as a Metaphor for Life 00:05:13 Summary of John Muir’s Life 00:08:35 Water over Stones  00:09:14 Finding God in a Thunderstorm  00:12:44 The Fear of the Unknown  00:16:57 The Call of Nature 00:20:52 The Confessional of the Woods/Solitude 00:24:13 Man’s Relationship to Nature  00:34:10 Seeking God in Scripture and Nature 00:35:06 The Cathedral Effect  00:40:27 Gratitude for The Big and Little Things 00:43:22 The Revitalizing Effects of Wilderness on the Body and Spirit 00:51:00 Muir’s Mission in Life 00:53:34 Wrapping up/Outro

In this episode we unpack British novelist and public intellectual Aldous Huxley's 1954 essay "The Doors of Perception." This essay explores... Huxley's experience on Mescalin The Reducing Valve Theory of Consciousness  The human desire to transcend self-conscious self-hood The ethics of the contemplative life Links to Reading & Articles mentioned The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley General Resonance Theory (paper) Entropic Brain Hypothesis (paper) Pivotal Mental States (paper) Nested Observer Windows (paper) The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Nikki Johnson   linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-johnson-free-thinker/ Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 introduction  00:03:05 background about Huxley’s trip 00:05:58 the challenge of trying to communicate direct experience  00:11:30 Nikki's multi-sphere model of consciousness  00:14:28 the various terms for “God” 00:16:36 the reducing-valve theory of consciousness  00:27:52 types of people who filter out less primary consciousness  00:28:09 The Artist  00:31:26 The Schizophrenic  00:35:40 The Genius  00:36:33 the terror of witnessing God directly 00:43:06 the morality of the contemplative life 00:46:32 Huxley’s conception of enlightenment  00:48:46 the desire for self-transcendence  00:50:45 the war on psychedelics  00:54:27 integrating lessons from past lives 00:56:15 how a psychedelic experience changes a person’s character  00:57:23 wrapping up/outro

In this episode we unpack Canadian psychiatrist and analyst Eric Berne's 1964 book "Games People Play." This book explores... The 6 different types of social interactions The most common games people play What intimacy is and why it is so rare Links to Reading  Games People Play by Eric Berne *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Sonya   @selfhelpsonya on TikTok & Instagram Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:04 The 6 Types of Interactions 00:05:59 Withdrawal 00:08:09 Procedures 00:10:13 Rituals 00:11:39 Emotional Stroking  00:14:28 Calculating how many strokes to give 00:19:21 Pastimes/Small-talk  00:20:06 Types of Small-talk 00:21:08 How a host determines the pastimes people play at a party 00:24:08 The rules for small-talk 00:27:16 Why we engage in small-talk 00:28:38 The 3 Ego States 00:29:25 The Parent Ego State 00:29:45 The Child Ego State 00:30:18 The Adult Ego State 00:31:32 Complementary Transactions 00:33:31 Crossed Transactions 00:36:00 Child-Child Transaction 00:38:04 Adult-Adult Transaction 00:38:39 The 2 Levels of of an interaction (social level & psychological level) 00:39:05 Superficial Transactions 00:39:32 Ulterior Transactions 00:39:46 Flirtatious Games 00:42:32 A Thesaurus of Games 00:42:36 "Look Ma, No Hands!" 00:47:32 "Now I've got You, You Son-of-a-Bitch!" 00:52:55 "Why Don't You, Yes But..." 00:55:25 Intimacy 00:56:00 The Uncorrupted Child  00:57:39 Operations ie. stating a need directly 01:00:36 Why most people settle for games 01:01:53 Closing Thoughts 01:03:34 Outro   

In this episode we unpack Swiss Epistemologist and Developmental Psychologist Jean Piaget's 1969 book "The Psychology of a Child." This book explores... The Stages of Cognitive Development How Morality develops in the child How and Why Children Play Links to Reading and Other Sources Mentioned The Psychology of the Child by Jean Piaget A Piaget Primer by Dorothy G. Singer & Tracey A. Revenson Conversations with Piaget by Jean-Claude Bringuier Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud  Babies (Netflix docuseries) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Jeff Micheal-Johnson  Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro  00:05:26 What Piaget was trying to study  00:09:15 How a Child Learns (Adaptation/Assimilation/Accommodation)  00:17:04 The Stages of Cognitive Development  00:24:00 The Sensory-Motor Stage/Egocentrism  00:30:42 Object Permanence  00:33:19 Language at the Sensory-Motor Stage  00:36:15 Play at the Sensory-Motor stage/Practice Play  00:37:32 The Pre-moral Stage  00:38:21 The Pre-operrational Stage/Superstitious Thinking  00:43:44 Language at the Pre-operational stage/The Monologue  00:46:00 The Collective Monologue  00:47:53 Play at the Pre-operational stage/Parallel Play  00:50:57 Symbolic Play  00:52:48 Animism  00:54:20 Free Play  00:57:39 The Conventional Stage of Morality  01:01:18 Conservation  01:06:36 The Concrete Operations Stage  01:07:15 Language in the Concrete Operations stage  01:10:07 Play at the Concrete Operations stages/Games with Rules  01:16:10 The Autonomous Stage of Morality  01:18:42 The Formal Operations Stage/Abstract Thought  01:22:17 Language at the Formal Operations Stage  01:22:56 Life after the 4 stages of Development  01:24:09 Spiritual Development  01:25:30 Egocentrism vs Egolessness  01:27:17 How the Child Lives on in the Adult 

In this episode we unpack Algerian Novelist Albert Camus' 1942 essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." This essay explores... -Why life is an absurdity -Why sitting with inconvenient truths make them easier to bare -How to find meaning in a meaningless world Links to Reading and Other Sources Mentioned The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus Hamlet by William Shakespeare  A Night of Serious Drinking by Rene Daumal Oedipus by Sophocles Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (film) *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Arthur O'Dwyer Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction  00:02:52 Writing from a place of confusion and curiosity  00:08:15 The only Serious Philosophical Problem 00:08:55 The Nietzschian Criterion  00:11:32 Can we live with the awareness of the absurd without turning away? 00:13:00 Suicide as a social cause vs. existential cause  00:14:56 Is living worth the suffering? 00:14:44 The uncertainty of the afterlife 00:16:47 Camus two certainties  00:18:08 Nostalgia for Unity  00:20:40 Camus’s Critique of Science  00:23:11 Waking up to the Absurd   00:27:35 Definition of Absurdity 00:30:04 Philosophical Suicide  00:30:55 Critique of Kierkegaard  00:36:25 Critique of the Phenomenologists 00:43:21 Truths worth Dying For 00:47:05 The Greek Myth of Sisyphus  00:52:50 What Makes Sisyphus a Tragedy  00:54:44 Abandoning Hope 00:57:29 Consciousness as the cause of and cure to suffering  00:58:16 Finding Meaning in the struggle  01:03:42 We can only control how we respond  01:05:27 Crushing Truths Perish from Being Acknowledged   01:09:00 wrapping up/outro

In this episode we unpack American Philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt's 1986 essay "On Bullshit." This essay explores... -What bullshit is -How bullshitting differs from lying -Why bullshitting is so prevalent in our culture Links to Reading and Other Sources Mentioned On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt Of Liars by Michel de Montaigne Glengarry Glen Ross (film) Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes *note* reading is not required to enjoy this episode! Host: Zach Stehura  UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Max Robinson Theme Music: Polyenso Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:59 the Bullshit Artist 00:06:18 Background of the Essay 00:07:20 The Proliferation of Bullshit 00:09:12 How Bullshitting Differs from Lying 00:13:38 Politician’s Dodge 00:17:38 Incentives to Bullshit 00:24:00 How Bullshitting Differs from Bluffing 00:25:36 The Etymology of “Bullshit” 00:26:51 Speaking Without Saying Anything  00:29:00 Bullshitting Compared to the Act of Shitting  00:30:53 What Function Does Bullshit Serve? 00:32:58 Has the Digital Age Increased Bullshit? 00:33:41 Is there More Bullshit Now than in Previous Generations? 00:37:16 How Democracy Increases Bullshit 00:40:42 “Talking Out of Your Ass” 00:41:53 “Trash Talking”  00:42:56 “Smooth Talking” 00:43:52 A Bull Session 00:46:55 “Shooting the Shit” 00:48:30 Pretentious Bullshit 00:49:53 “Don’t Piss on My Leg and Tell me it’s Raining” 00:50:39 Outro

In this episode we unpack American Social Psychologist Stanley Milgram's 1974 book "Obedience to Authority." This book explores... -Why we lose our sense of moral responsibility when taking orders -Why we are so bad at predicting our capacity to be obedient -Why the desire to be polite can lead us to do evil Links to Reading and Other Books/Movies Mentioned Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram CRT: An Introduction by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian (short story) Experimenter (movie about Stanley Milgram) A Hidden Life by Terrence Malick (film) **note** reading is not required to enjoy the episode! Host: Zach Stehura    UnpackingIdeas.com Guest: Claire Bevan [email protected] Theme Music: Polyenso   listen here Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:52 Historical context of the Milgram Experiment 00:05:00 Asch’s Conformity Experiment 00:06:57 Milgram’s Existential Questions for the Experiment 00:09:25 Milgram’s Personal Motivation for the Experiments 00:09:53 Summary of the Experiment 00:15:012 Milgram’s Hypothesis for the Experiment 00:17:25 Results of the Experiment 00:18:39 the Disconnect between our predictions and reality 00:19:50 The Attribution Error 00:21:07 The Agentic State/Loss of Moral Responsibility 00:25:47 The Horrific Consequences of the Division of Labor in Society 00:28:12 Doing What We’re Told as a Way of Preserving Cognitive Energy 00:32:35 Victim Blaming 00:33:10 Dehumanization feedback loop 00:38:26 Variations of the Experiment 00:39:20 Proximity of Experimenter to Subject 00:43:35 Proximity of Subject to Victim 00:47:47 Power in Numbers in Dissent 00:51:30 Not Seeing Disobedience as an Option 00:54:08 Counteranthropromorphism 00:56:36 More Variations 00:58:52 Motivations for Dissent 01:01:30 The Sequential Nature of Action 01:03:43 The Unknown of Dissent 01:04:22 The Moment of Bravery to Say No 01:05:08 Obeying out of a sense of Politeness 01:09:49 Feeling Bad After Doing the Right Thing 01:12:28 Profiles of Subjects 01:13:22 Obedience to God as an Antidote to Obedience to Corruption 01:18:14 Feeling Bad vs. Doing Good 01:20:18 The Effects of the Experiment on the Subjects 01:23:08 The Ethics of the Experiment 01:24:40 Lessons Learned for the Experiment 01:29:16 Variations we would have liked to see 01:32:22 Wrapping Up/Outro