anything goes with emma chamberlain - we know nothing [video]

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

[video available on Spotify] today we’re going to be talking about how we don’t know shiiittttt. listen, it’s very easy to fall into a cycle where you believe that you know everything: that you�...��re right, that you have shit figured out, and that everyone else who disagrees with you is a dummy. now, i know not everybody’s like this. you may not be like this. but at the very least, you definitely know someone like this… a know-it-all. but a discovery i’ve made in my adult life is that it’s such a beautiful and magical thing to realize that you know nothing. it’s so freeing. and that’s why i wanted to talk about it today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello. Today we're going to be talking about how we don't know shit. Listen, it's very easy to fall into a cycle where you believe you know everything that you're right, that you have shit figured out, and that everyone else who disagrees with you is a dummy. Now listen, not everybody is like this, okay? Some of you listening right now are like, am I am not like that? I've never been like that. Why are you talking about me like that? like that. I've never been like that. Why are you talking about me like that? I know, but a lot of people have this sort of mindset. Now, you may not be like this yourself, but you definitely know somebody who's like this. Somebody who's just a know-it-all. You know, they have an answer to every question that they're asked. You rarely hear them say, I don't know. They'll start spewing information that they don't even fully understand before they say, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:01:10 They're kind of forceful with their knowledge, constantly forcing their knowledge on to other people, forcing their perspectives on to other people, forcing their opinions on onto other people, forcing their perspectives onto other people, forcing their opinions onto other people, not giving other people the room to speak or interject or offer a different perspective, a note at all. We all know, know it all. There have been periods of my life when I've been a note at all, especially when I was younger.
Starting point is 00:01:44 I used to be very close-minded. I think a lot of young people, though, experience this, at least at one point, where they feel like a no at all. I've had periods of my life like this. You probably have two, and if you haven't, then you probably experience somebody else who was having a period like that,
Starting point is 00:02:04 or who is in a period like that now. But also, there's a chance that you might be like this right now. You might kind of be in a phase of being a know-it-all right now. If you find yourself constantly shooting down other people's beliefs or opinions because they don't align with your own,
Starting point is 00:02:23 and that makes them feel incorrect in your brain for whatever reason. If you find yourself internally judging others for their views, you may still be somewhat of a know-it-all, even if you aren't outwardly portraying it. I think that's a misconception about know-it-alls is thinking that you can see a know-it-all. You can spot a know-it-all from a mile away because they're making it very known, but that's not necessarily true. A know-it-all can do all of their damage on an internal level by internally judging others for their views and not taking other people's perspectives or opinions into consideration out of a kind of subconscious choice that they've made, that the conclusions that they've arrived upon in their life are the correct conclusions to have arrived upon.
Starting point is 00:03:27 And I would say this type of know-it-all, the more internal know-it-all, suffers on a personal level a lot more. The more loud know-it-all suffers themselves, but also causes everyone else to suffer because everybody else has to see it and hear it. Whereas the internal know-it-all suffers on their own. I have had phases throughout my life where I have been allowed know-it-all, especially with my parents. I think a lot of us can relate to that, but I've also struggled a lot more
Starting point is 00:04:10 with being an internal know-it-all. You know, judging other people if they don't align perfectly with my belief system and life, et cetera. But a discovery that I've made in my adult life is that it's such a beautiful thing, it's such a magical thing to discover that you know nothing. It's so freeing. It's so magical. And that's why I wanted to talk about it today because there's nothing more amazing than coming to terms with the fact that you don't know shit. It's amazing.
Starting point is 00:04:59 The other reason why I think it's amazing is that it's true. You know what I'm saying? It's true. When you're living in a state where you're a know-it-all, where you believe you know it all, whether you mean to do it or not, I don't think people mean to be a know-it-all. I think it just happens. But living in that state is living in illusion, because the truth is you don't know everything. And the truth is nobody knows everything. And if anyone ever says that they know everything about anything. They're lying. Nobody on this planet knows everything.
Starting point is 00:05:48 And when you're living in that state of mind, you're living in a lie. And it never feels good to be living in a lie. First, let's talk about why people are know-it-alls. I think part of it is like an accidental delusion. I don't think it happens on purpose ever. I don't think anyone ever sets out to be a know-it-all, but I think it's an accidental delusion, you know. People as they grow up or as they start to learn more about the world around them, start to gather information and maybe they become passionate about the way that they
Starting point is 00:06:34 view the world. They feel strongly about it. Maybe there's even some ego attached to the amount of knowledge that they have about the world in general. It makes them feel powerful to feel knowledgeable. And through that, ego boost of having knowledge, you start to feel like you're the smartest one in the room. Every little piece of information and knowledge that you gather boosts your ego
Starting point is 00:07:09 and makes you feel smarter and smarter. Where eventually you get to a point where you feel like you're so smart and so powerful and your ego is huge and the delusion comes from the fact that your ego is attached to the amount of information that you know and the fact that you have the right opinion on any given topic based on the knowledge that you have. I think that's where the delusion comes from. Is this unhealthy relationship between your ego and your knowledge slash educated opinions?
Starting point is 00:07:54 I also think that know-it-alls might be severely insecure in other areas of their life. Like I don't think that know-it-alls are necessarily insecure about their level of intelligence. I mean, maybe that's the case, but I think a good example would be somebody who's insecure about their physical appearance, for example, might over compensate in social settings
Starting point is 00:08:27 by being a know-it-all, having an answer to every question, having a strong opinion or having the right opinion about every single topic, that might give somebody who feels insecure about their appearance, they sort of shield that protects them in a weird way in social situations. It's like people might be judging me for my appearance, but they're definitely not gonna be judging me
Starting point is 00:08:55 for my mind because I know it all. You see what I'm saying? So maybe people want to be a know it all subconsciously to make themselves feel more valuable if they feel like they're lacking in another area due to some sort of insecurity. That's just a hypothesis, I don't know. Now, why is it potentially unhealthy to be a know-it-all? I think the worst side effect, if you will, of being a know-it-all. I think the worst side effect, if you will, of being a know-it-all, is that you can't grow because you can't listen.
Starting point is 00:09:33 When I was in a phase of my life where I was a know-it-all, I couldn't listen to anyone else. Because I already had made up my mind about every topic. I had already made up my mind on what my opinion was on any given topic. I had already made up my mind. So if somebody would propose a new idea to me, I'd be like, I can't hear you
Starting point is 00:09:56 because I've already made up my mind, bitch. And your nope, I don't care. I don't care. Blah blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I can't hear you, blah, I don't care because I had already made up my mind. And I had already made the decision in my mind that what I believed and what I thought was true was right and correct and true. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:10:20 So I could not even listen to what other people had to say. I will say this was when I was a lot younger. So I'm glad that I grew out of this in my adult life. I think being an adult and sort of having this mindset would be a lot more complex. I will say, you know, I was younger during this phase and thank God for that. Because I think it's almost inevitable for almost all of us
Starting point is 00:10:50 that we're going to experience a period of our life when we are kind of a know-it-all. For some of us, it might be in our childhood, for some of us, it might be in our adulthood. But I think almost everybody probably goes through a phase where they have this experience. I'm just so grateful that mine happened when I was a kid, but even to this day, I still have times when I have to check myself and be like, wait a minute. Are you being a know-it-all? Right now?
Starting point is 00:11:20 Internally? I'm definitely done with the external know-at-all, I think, maybe. But I still have to check myself on an internal level and ask myself, hey, are you being a know-at-all? You know, come on, check yourself. Anyway, it's very hard to listen to other people's perspectives when you are a know-it-all. The other terrible thing about being a know-it-all is that most of the time, you don't even really know what you're talking about. Like, no one on this planet knows everything about everything.
Starting point is 00:12:01 It's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible. You would have to be a superhuman in order to have a library of information to pull from about every topic at any given moment. Like you would have to be a superhuman. If you or someone you know doesn't ever answer, I don't know to a question. They're pulling shit out of their ass, at least 50% of the time.
Starting point is 00:12:28 Okay? No adults don't know how to say, I don't know, to a question. They feel almost attacked when they're asked a question that they don't know the answer to. And so they'd rather answer, possibly incorrectly, or possibly uneducatedly instead of just admitting that they don't know. And it's so much better to just say, I don't know or to just say, well, I think it's this, but I'm not 100% sure.
Starting point is 00:13:02 Then to say, no, it's definitely this. Because just stating that you know the truth about a given situation, when you don't know for certain, can be damaging. You know, it can be damaging to the flow of a conversation. it can spread false information to people. You know, whenever I talk about something, I always try to say, listen, I don't know for sure. I'm not a professional, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a historian, I'm not a psychologist, I'm not a philosopher, I'm not any of these things. And when I talk about things, it's just my perspective, it's just my opinion, it's just my hypothesis on something, but it's not fact.
Starting point is 00:13:54 And I always nail that into everyone's head. Like, whether I'm making a podcast or I'm talking to somebody one on one, I always try to say, I don't know for sure, number one. And number two, I'm so open to another perspective. I'm so open to being told that I'm wrong. You know, I'm ready for that. I'm here for that. I welcome that with loving arms.
Starting point is 00:14:24 I welcome that with loving arms. I welcome that with open arms, because I think that that's the only responsible way to conduct a conversation. The other shitty thing about being a know-it-all is that you get in the way of friendships, in relationships, by standing to firm in your beliefs. You know, you may have a tendency to cause arguments. You may have a tendency to be judgmental to people and maybe to not pursue a friendship with them
Starting point is 00:14:54 just because they have a slightly different opinion to you, etc. You become so much less socially flexible, which can create a divide in your social life. You know, it can put a strain on relationships. It can prevent you from becoming friends with people who would, in reality, be a great friend, etc. And last but not least, as a know-it-all, you feel the pressure to keep up this identity of being a know-it-all. I think when you're in a phase of your life where you're a know-it-all, you feel the
Starting point is 00:15:33 pressure to uphold this sort of image of being somebody who is knowledgeable and all-knowing. And so you feel the pressure to answer every question you're asked, even if you don't know the answer. You feel pressure to not say, I don't know. Your ego is so heavily attached to your identity as a know-it-all that you get yourself into trouble because anytime you find yourself not knowing the answer to a question or not understanding a certain topic. You're not motivated by that unknown thing.
Starting point is 00:16:12 You feel attacked by that unknown thing. You feel like it's a hit to your ego. You feel angry about it. You feel worse about yourself as a result of not understanding a certain topic. And instead of being excited and motivated to learn about something that you don't know a lot about, you just reject that topic altogether because it gets in the way of you having this identity of being a know-it-all. And I know that you might be thinking right now, Emma, you are over-analysing this, but
Starting point is 00:16:47 I don't think I am because all of this happens subconsciously when you're in a phase of being a know-it-all. I think explaining it out loud makes it feel a lot bigger than it is, makes it feel like it's more of a conscious decision than it is. It's not a conscious decision most of the time. A lot of this is going on in the background of your head. You know, you're not actively waking up every morning like, good morning, like you're not waking up looking in the mirror being like, good morning to my know it all self. I love you. You are so smart. You are all knowing. You are perfect. You know everything.
Starting point is 00:17:25 You're a genius. You're not flawed. You are perfect. Like it's all subconscious. It's all happening in the back of your head. A lot of times. So I think talking about it out loud makes it sound more conscious than it is. Makes it sound more intentional than it is when I think in reality.
Starting point is 00:17:42 A lot of times it's happening to people and they're behaving in this way without even realizing that they're doing it. I know when I was younger, I didn't even realize I was a no-at-all. I had no idea when I was in a little no-at-all phase. It was a complete mystery to me and no one told me. No one told me. I figured it out later. In retrospect, remembering how I would react when somebody would propose a different opinion to me,
Starting point is 00:18:11 especially my parents, when they would tell me I was wrong about something, when they would share their opposing opinion with mine, how I would feel. I would feel attacked. I would feel an absolute blow to my ego. I would feel angry, like angry, pissed off. I would feel pissed off when somebody would present to me a different opinion. Whereas now I feel nothing.
Starting point is 00:18:43 I don't feel attacked. I don't feel nothing. You know, I don't feel attacked. I don't feel upset. I just feel neutral in a way. But I think that the reason why I was able to realize how much of it, no, at all, I truly was as a young person, the way I was able to realize that was through naturally growing out of it and then looking back at how I used to be. But that's proof that this happens without you realizing it.
Starting point is 00:19:16 So what's the alternative way to live your life? You know, instead of being a know-it-all, what's the alternative? I think the biggest thing is to accept the fact that you don't know everything. To look in the mirror and say to yourself, I don't know everything. And that's okay. That doesn't mean I'm dumb. That doesn't mean I'm useless. That doesn't mean that my opinion doesn't matter on subjects that I do have an opinion on.
Starting point is 00:19:50 That doesn't mean that the knowledge that I have is not valuable because I do have knowledge on some things. You know, that doesn't mean that that's not valuable. It's just accepting the truth, which is that every human being on this planet only knows a little bit of stuff. You know, I can't express how freeing it is to detach your ego from your opinions, your knowledge, your wisdom. Like I can't even explain how freeing this is. Like I'm literally smiling.
Starting point is 00:20:30 If you're watching the video, you can see me smiling. But I'm literally like smiling, thinking about it because it's so life-changing and it's so freeing and it makes your quality of life and your quality of conversations so much better and so much more valuable and you learn so much more. It's seriously one of the best things you can do for yourself. And it might take conscious effort. You know, for me, I kind of naturally detached my ego from my opinion's knowledge and wisdom, as if I even have wisdom.
Starting point is 00:21:11 I'm 21 years old, but you give them saying, I naturally sort of detached that just over time by nature. But what I have noticed is that in order to upkeep this sense of keeping my ego out of that part of my brain, I've had to sort of work on it. If I start to feel my ego creep back in, I have to be mindful and check myself and be like, wait a minute, babe, uh-uh, we're not going back to know it all land, okay? We're not going there. We're on a one way ticket to not being a know it all. We're taking the one way ticket, okay?
Starting point is 00:21:52 We're taking the midnight train going far away from being a know it all. So, you know, in order to upkeep this, there is a level of mindfulness that's at least necessary for me. But anyhow, unattaching your ego from your knowledge, opinions, wisdom, I don't know what other word to use
Starting point is 00:22:15 other than knowledge, opinions, wisdom. I don't know what the word for those three things would be, so I'm just gonna keep saying them and it's gonna get annoying and it's gonna get repetitive. But I can't think of another word to use. Anyways, unattaching your ego from this allows you to actually get smarter, which is kind of the irony of the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:22:37 Like if you think about being a know it all, the whole point is like, I'm the smartest in the room. I know best, et cetera. The ironic part of the whole thing is that when you're living in that mindset, the last thing you're doing is becoming smarter. You're preventing yourself from getting smarter. Whereas when you realize you don't know everything and when your ego isn't boosted by knowing all, you allow yourself to learn so much easier.
Starting point is 00:23:16 You're open to hearing other perspectives and to truly consider them, which expands your mind and your body of knowledge. There's something about having a conversation with somebody who knows more about a topic than you do that expands your mind in a way that not many other things can. And when you're leading conversations with ego, you can't have those conversations, you know, it's unfortunate.
Starting point is 00:23:53 You're stuck in one way of thinking and it's just impossible to grow. So detaching your ego from it, wow, wow, wow, magic. You know, you can finally listen to other people, hear other people, and even if you disagree with them, you can still respect to them, and you can still learn something from what they have to say, because there are going to be times when you actually might be right about a topic. Although I guess right and wrong is kind of blurry with certain topics. I mean, it depends. There are some topics where it's very obvious.
Starting point is 00:24:34 Like murder, obviously murdering is wrong. But then again, it gets blurry because what if you murder somebody out of self-defense? You see what I'm saying? So like everything is blurry. You know, I don't know. Like, it's really hard to just look at a topic and say, what's right and wrong, period. Because with 99% of topics on this earth, the answer is usually, yes, this is right, but or no, this is wrong, unless, and that's what makes life so complicated, you know, regardless, there are going to be times
Starting point is 00:25:15 when you might have actually the right opinion, even though that doesn't necessarily really exist, but you might have the better opinion, maybe, in a conversation. But when you aren't a know-it-all, you can still hear in respect and consider somebody else's opinion, even if their opinion sucks. And you can also find a way to learn something from it. You know, somebody's opinion that is just truly wrong And you can also find a way to learn something from it.
Starting point is 00:25:45 You know, somebody's opinion that is just truly wrong can help you further establish your own belief in opinion. And that's valuable as well. You know, somebody presenting to you the posing view to your own and explaining why they believe that. And then you standing firm in your belief and saying, you know what, I still believe what I believe. That's not wrong, you know, there's nothing wrong with that.
Starting point is 00:26:11 As long as you're able to say, but thank you for sharing. And you know, I still respect you for whatever. You know, it's like, I mean, obviously there are going to be exceptions here when there's somebody who has such a bad opinion that's so wrong or something, but I don't even know. It's so complicated because I think to the best of your ability, you should hear everyone out and give everyone a chance
Starting point is 00:26:35 and be open-minded as much as possible. I don't know. There's just so many different scenarios that it's so hard to talk about this in this way, but it's worth it. The other thing about not being a know-it-all is that you can have way healthier conversations. Your general style of having conversations is just healthier in general. You can have a conversation with somebody who has an opposing opinion to you and
Starting point is 00:27:06 have a respectful interaction that doesn't necessarily end with you both being on the complete same page, but leaves both of you with a mutual sense of respect for one another. And there isn't, you know, hostility or disrespect happening. You also don't look at people that are smarter than you as a threat. If you are a know-it-all, running into somebody who knows more than you or who is smarter than you, will make you feel bad about yourself. You'll resent that person. But being able to learn from
Starting point is 00:27:51 that person is so amazing and it'll make you smarter. So interrogating that person about their knowledge, you know, trying to suck as much out of them as you possibly can, get as much info out of them as you possibly can. How valuable is that? That's an amazing thing. You know, being able to learn from people who are smarter than you. And so that, you know, now you can have conversations about the topic that they taught you about in other settings. And you will now look like the smart one. You see what I'm saying? You will now look like the knowledgeable one about this other settings. And you will now look like the smart one. You see what I'm saying? You will now look like the knowledgeable one
Starting point is 00:28:28 about this certain topic. It is ironic to me how being a know-it-all, just absolutely has the opposite effect of what a know-it-all would want it to, right? You end up less smart in the long run. It's ironic to me. Anyway, and the last thing about Not being a no-it-all is that you're living in a state of truth like you're not delusional if you believe that you don't know everything. You are absolutely right.
Starting point is 00:29:05 And there's something so comforting and secure and incredible about living in a state of truth, having a true perception of your reality. When you believe that you know everything, you're living in a lie. When you believe that you don't know everything, you're living in truth. And that is so freeing. This might be a terrible metaphor, but I'm gonna try it anyway.
Starting point is 00:29:38 It sort of reminds me of anti-aging, okay, you know, using a bunch of anti-aging, okay? You know, using a bunch of anti-aging creams, you know, maybe getting work done to sort of hide some of the signs of aging on your face and stuff like that. When you're doing all of that stuff, you know, using the anti-aging creams, getting cosmetic procedures done to sort of hide aging. You're sort of running away from the inevitable truth, which is that you are getting older. And it's so hard to upkeep this sort of outward appearance that you are not aging.
Starting point is 00:30:22 You know, you have to use all these creams, you have to use all these serums, you have to go and get all these cosmetic procedures done in order to convince the world that you're aging gracefully. When in reality, you're aging like everyone else, you know, but you're, you're sort of fighting against this inevitable truth that you are going to age and you are going to die and you're going to get wrinkly and you're going to die. And you know, like to die and you're going to get wrinkly and you're going to die. That's why it's so challenging to fight against anti-aging by spending all this money doing this, this, and that. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. It's completely up to you as an individual what you do when you start to age.
Starting point is 00:31:01 If you want to get Botox, if you want to just let yourself age as you may and accept your body as it comes, so be it. Like whatever your journey is, it is what it is. But I don't think anybody can say truthfully that fighting against aging is an easy thing to do. It requires a lot of time. It requires a lot of do. It requires a lot of time. It requires a lot of money. It requires a lot of resources. It requires manipulating sort of the truth of what aging is.
Starting point is 00:31:36 And that's similar to me in a weird way to being a know-it-all. Do you see what I'm saying? Maybe this is like a crazy metaphor comparison, and it's just like, it's not working. But being a know-it-all is fighting against the fact that you know nothing. And so it's challenging, because you're kind of fighting against this inevitable truth.
Starting point is 00:32:00 And anytime you fight against ininavitable truth, it makes your life harder. And it also makes you feel like you're hiding something in a way. When you're a no at all, you are hiding the fact that there are gaps in your knowledge. When you're fighting against aging, you're constantly scared that maybe a procedure won't work
Starting point is 00:32:23 and you'll start to look older or what you know Whatever and that's Stressful for some people for some people they probably don't care They're like I'm getting Botox because it makes me feel good and that's it And it makes me it makes my skin look better and I have less wrinkles and If my wrinkles start to show up whatever, but I'm just doing the best I can for now fair enough But I bet there are also some people out there that are just terrified of them looking older. And so that's why they're putting all this time
Starting point is 00:32:53 and effort into anti-aging. I think that there's a similarity there. I might be completely delusional about that. Maybe I just wanted to talk about anti-aging because it's such a hot topic right now. And it's just on my mind. Regardless, I think that this is a constant theme in life. Anytime you fight against an inevitable truth,
Starting point is 00:33:14 it's gonna make your life a lot harder. It's gonna present you with a lot of challenges. To finish off this episode, because I think I really painted that picture. I feel like I need to leave that picture alone now You know, I feel like we've finished that conversation We get the point But I do want to talk about something weird I just want to talk about something weird. Okay
Starting point is 00:33:41 this is weird and I don't know what you guys are going to think of this. So we'll see. Ever since I was a child, it has really bothered me that everything that we take as fact, you know, history and science, especially, but even math, I don't know, morals, all of this. All of this has been created by humans. And on one hand, like that's an incredible thing. I mean, it's impossible for me to comprehend the fact that humans, people like me, like you
Starting point is 00:34:19 have developed science and have figured out our history have developed science and have figured out our history, even before there were cameras and video cameras to capture what was going on, that we've been able to figure out what's morally right and wrong as a whole. All of this is pretty magnificent. But I've always had a level of skepticism in a weird way about all of these things that we look at as fact in a way. I think a lot of us look at science, history, math, morals, all of this as fact. When we learn these things at school, especially, we're taught everything as if it's a fact.
Starting point is 00:35:08 Now, listen, I'm not, I'm not, imagine I say all of that to say that today I'm announcing that I am a flat-earther. That's not what I'm saying. Okay, I'm not saying that. But also, I don't even judge people who are flat earthers, for example. People who believe the earth is flat. Listen, they're not hurting anyone with that. Okay, if any of them are hurting anyone with that belief, then I have a problem with that. But if they're not hurting it,
Starting point is 00:35:39 most of them are not hurting anyone with that belief. If they wanna believe that the earth is flat, and if they have their own little evidence of that, you know what, who am I to judge? And the other thing is, with anything like this, we like normal people don't know for sure. I know that this sounds crazy, but with any concept that's man-made, I have to be skeptical because humans are not machines.
Starting point is 00:36:21 They're not robots. They're not perfect. You know, with science, there are mistakes with data collection, with history, there's mistakes in the way that things are analyzed with math even. There could be, I don't know, some sort of equation that is incorrect. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:36:51 You get what I'm saying, though. I guess the thing that's always bugged me is wondering how much of the reality that we believe as fact is like slightly mistaken, is slightly incorrect. For example, let's use dinosaurs as an example. Scientists drew up dinosaurs based on what information they had about dinosaurs. Now, that's fossils, that's probably DNA or something of some sort. I don't know, I actually don't know, so don't ask me.
Starting point is 00:37:30 But, you know, scientists didn't have dinosaurs to look at in front of their face. There's no photo of a dinosaur. So, the sort of depiction that we look at today of what dinosaurs look like could be completely false. It could also be completely accurate, fair enough, but it could be completely false because we've never seen a dinosaur. Human beings living today right now on this planet have never seen a dinosaur. So how do we know for sure that the way that we perceive dinosaurs today are correct? You know what I'm saying? It could be
Starting point is 00:38:17 flawed. The science there could be flawed. There could be a mistake. You know, it's not impossible that 10 years from now scientists discover something new about dinosaurs. They find something who knows, deep in the earth or something, a fossil deep down that they never found before that shows something completely new and it changes the entire story of what we think about dinosaurs. Now this is just an example, okay. story of what we think about dinosaurs. Now this is just an example, okay? But you get what I'm saying here.
Starting point is 00:38:47 Even the stuff that we look at as the pillar of our truth, the peak of our truth as humans. Science, history like dinosaurs and shit, the big bang theory, et cetera. All of this is still up for debate. You know, scientists are still studying these things. Historians are still studying these things. Mathematicians are still studying these things. Psychologists are still studying these things. Like, whatever it may be, these things are still works in progress. And although we feel like we've arrived
Starting point is 00:39:27 to some conclusions on these things, they are not fact. And in fact, is anything a fact? I think the only thing that we can confirm as facts are things that we have done in our lives. But other than that, there's like a 0.01 percent chance that things that we believe are true, you know, in these categories that are so heavily studied, et cetera. There's a chance that there's some error there that we don't know about, that we can't even comprehend.
Starting point is 00:40:13 You know, scientists may say, well, there are no aliens on this planet. We went to the planet, we sent a spaceship out to this planet. There's no aliens there. We checked But then what if the what if the aliens are in the middle of the planet or what if the aliens are invisible? You know what I'm saying now listen I know you're like Emma. What the fuck are you talking about but also We just don't know what we don't know There are things that we cannot comprehend as humans.
Starting point is 00:40:47 It's like dogs, you know, dogs can only comprehend so much. They can't understand physics. They just can't. Their brain capacity just isn't there. They just can't go there. They can't do geometry. By the way, thank God dogs aren't as smart as humans. Like, what a pleasure it is to be around a dog who just doesn't give a fuck about anything except for food and snuggle time into squirrel. Like what a pleasure to be around something like that.
Starting point is 00:41:26 But my point is, humans have a psychological limit as well. Like we can only understand, comprehend so much, and then it's just like, we can anymore. So we have to wonder how much is out there that we don't understand that we can't comprehend? How much of the stuff that we take as fact is not fact or is incorrectly understood. How much of that is out there?
Starting point is 00:41:56 We don't know. We just don't know. Nothing is 100% fact. At least in my opinion, I guess there are some things that are 100% fact, but there are a lot of things that aren't, that we can never fully 100% confirm. I don't know, this is just something I've always played with in my head. It's always been something that's been on my mind. Like, I can't remember a time in my life when that wasn't on my mind and didn't drive me crazy, even at school, you know, and we've be learning stuff. I'm like, but are you guys sure? You know what I mean? Like,
Starting point is 00:42:28 are you sure? There's so much that we don't know for sure. Listen, if you think about it too much, it will drive you crazy. So I wouldn't recommend that. With everything that we think that we know as humans, there's always gonna be a tiny question, Mark. I think you never know anything for certain unless you've seen it with your own eyes. That's kind of what I believe. I don't believe anything unless I've seen it with my own eyes
Starting point is 00:43:01 because there's just too many variables for me to ever take something as fact without having seen it with my own eyes. And even if I see something with my own eyes, there's still a level of skepticism because it's like, well, I might have perceived this wrong. You know, I might have seen this incorrectly. There could have been some sort of illusion happening that made me see something that wasn't true. You see what I'm saying? Listen, this is an extreme way of thinking.
Starting point is 00:43:32 I don't think it also doesn't run my life. I must say it's not like this tortures me too heavily, but it is something that I toy around with in my brain a lot and I have for a long time. I don't know, I just wanted to share it, but please feel free to just, no, you know what, I was going to say, please feel free to judge me for it, but also, come on, didn't we just talk about how we're supposed to hear each other out and how healthy that is? So if you disagree with me and you're like, no, Emma, there is no tiny question mark in life.
Starting point is 00:44:09 Everything that scientists have concluded or historians have concluded or whatever is fact. If they say it's fact, then it's fact because they're scientists and we trust them. Fair enough. Because by the way, I think there's a lot of times when it is true that scientists, historians, philosophers, psychologists, whoever come to a conclusion that is 99.999% true.
Starting point is 00:44:36 We are so, we're basically certain that it's true. There are so many times when that happens. Most of the time, that's what happens. But for me, for some reason, I always have a tiny question mark with everything that I hear, just wondering what happens if there's a discovery that disproves this. You know, I do trust things like science. I do trust history. I do trust psychologists. I do trust philosophers. I do trust them. But I'm just saying that human error is so inevitable that I have to wonder if there's, you know, any mistakes in there that we have yet to discover or we've yet to figure out.
Starting point is 00:45:30 I think that's the point of all of this. I think the chance is there, and I just think about it sometimes. So here I am sharing it, and maybe I will regret it. So we'll find out later. Anyway, thank you guys for listening. What a fun convo. It's always such a fun convo. I love hanging out with you guys. Thank you for listening.
Starting point is 00:45:58 I really love and appreciate all of you. And if you enjoyed this, come hang out every Thursday and Sunday. New episodes every Thursday and Sunday. We talk about anything. Anything goes. We talk about anything. Check out Shamble and Coffee, my coffee company, if you'd like. Use code AG15 for a little discount if you're feeling it.
Starting point is 00:46:22 Feel free to tweet me at AG podcast or Instagram message me at anything goes to just talk. Tell me what's been on your mind. Tell me what you think of the recent episodes. And that's all I got for today. As always, I think I need a nap after this. Like this kind of worked my brain out. I kind of had a little brain workout. I think I need to take a nap.
Starting point is 00:46:46 So I'll talk to you later. Bye.

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