The Conduit: Recent Episodes
Josh & Lyndon
We started this platform to provide a space for important ideas and thoughtful discussion. There are a lot of domains in the world that could be improved upon, we also have a lot to be grateful for. The Conduit is about identifying the complexities of 'the bad', and advocating for the reasonable progression of 'the good'. The meeting of morality, rationality and progress is where our conversations converge, we thank you for joining us on the ride.
This episode we raise a bat to the last 50 episodes and we look into how class divides society.
Thank you as always for joining us on this journey so far, we look forward to the next 50.
- Josh & Don.
This week we had the pleasure of connecting with Andre and Bruno all the way over in Portugal, due to time constraints we made it a shorter chat. But hope you enjoy none the less.
In this episode Josh and Lyndon discuss the phenomenal philosophical cartoon: Tear Along the Dotted Line, and explore other impactful cartoons and rom-coms. And it wouldn't be The Conduit if we didn't drop in Effective Altruism.
As always we thank you for joining us!
J & L, 2022.
This week Josh and Lyndon had the pleasure of sitting down with the co-founder of the meta-charity The Life You Can Save, Charlie Bresler.
Charlie earned his PhD in Social and Clinical Psychology from Clark University, became Director of Behavioral Medicine for The California School of Professional Psychology Fresno (CSPP-F), and was a full-time professor and founder of a teaching clinic for treating anxiety & stress disorders.
After this, he was recruited to The Men’s Wearhouse as head of human resources, stores, and marketing and ultimately President. Following his work in the for-profit sector, however, Charlie stepped down in order to fulfil a long-standing desire to work directly on social and economic issues, especially wealth inequality.
In 2013, Charlie became volunteer Executive Director of The Life You Can Save, a non-profit dedicated to reducing extreme poverty and its devastating effects on over 700 million people globally. Through Charlie's financial support and leadership, the organisation has influenced substantial amounts of funding and the allocation of aid resources towards the most cost-effective and beneficial methods for improving and saving lives.
We hope you enjoy the episode!
In this episode Josh stumbles his way through some of Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics first principles lessons, and Lyndon shares some deep insights from Christopher Hitchens to pay homage to him, being 10 years passed now.
We thank you for joining us for what has been a great first year of podcasting, we will catch your ears in 2022!
From addiction to business owner, yoga teacher, 6 figure corporate shill and comedy savant. We welcome you to the Davo experience!
And Merry Christmas :)
Love, The Conduit.
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon reflect on what they achieved for the turbulent year that was 2021, their plans for 2022, and discuss a model for progress and improvement described in the 80,000 Hours article, "Be more ambitious: A rational case for dreaming big (if you want to do good)."
The referenced article can be found here.
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon reflect back on... drumroll ...their favourite books for the year, as well as discuss how books they read shape and change them as people.
Rather than list all the mentioned books here, we will just let you smart people find them online if you like the sound of any.
Thanks, as always, for your support of The Conduit.
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon begin to look back on the year that was. What they learned from starting a podcast, what keeps them coming back, Josh's new studies and Lyndon's new career were all discussed. The theme of reflection will be continued for the coming few weeks.
We thank you, as always, for listening. Your support has meant the world to us.
Referenced material:
The Social Animal: the hidden sources of love, character and achievement - David Brooks
In this week’s episode, Lyndon and Josh talk about the following:
Josh’s existential crisis as caused by food-poisoning Social media and how it fits into our lives, the consilience of knowledge, meta-learning and mapping out new fields of knowledge, receiving and sending nice messages.
Material referenced in this episode:
Consilience by Edward O. Wilson
San Fransicko by Michael Shellenberger
Philosophy of Men's Health Podcast by Jonathan Souter
Empty Stats podcast
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon riff on the topic of mastery, discuss the why behind some of their personal projects, as well as how they approach skill development. As usual there is the typical nonsense interspersed throughout.
Referenced material: The Practice by Seth Godin The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon talk about some books they've been reading and insidious ideas. In particular, they focus on the problems posed by equality.
Items referenced:
Lyndon's blog posts - Part 1 and Part 2
Leisure: The Basis of Culture
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon attempt (mostly unsuccessfully) to provide more definitive, black and white thoughts on a variety of topics.
Issues covered include: The axioms of ThereforeThink and the podcast, horse racing, alcohol, as well as the usual nonsense around words, dating, and books.
Referenced material:
The simple truth
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon attempt to dissect altruism from a number of angles. Evaluating why it's important, the ways our minds can stop us from doing us much good as we can, the role spontaneity plays, and how Effective Altruism ideas might proliferate into the mainstream more.
Thanks as always for listening!
Additional resources:
On Caring - Nate Soares (Minding Our Way)
What is Effective Altruism? Giving What We Can
This week we flesh out the contributing components of leading a spiritual lifestyle and why every rationalist needs to endeavour towards one, also why bad customer service is ruining the world.
Thank you all kindly,
Don and Josh.
In this episode we have a heated argument (for our standards) about vaccines and how involved the state should be in one's personal affairs. Also why Lyndon needs to stop dating hot blonde girls.
Thanks for being apart of The Conduit.
- Josh & Lyndon
In this inaugural episode of The Conduit, Josh and Lyndon discuss their comparative advantages, argue about whether mistakes are good or bad, and complain about being tired from doing a lot of recording that day.
Just another week where bugs are features.
Thanks for tuning in.
Lyndon's article on mistakes here.
Blog on meta-rationality here.
Hi listeners.
After more than 30 episodes of PhilosophyAu, it is time to begin a new part of our podcasting journey. This short recording details that next step. From here on out, the show will be known as The Conduit.We feel this is a better reflection of the role we play and how we can provide value.
Thanks for following along. We greatly appreciate it.
Josh and Lyndon.
This week we dissect Lyndon's self-doubts, discuss the role of money and success in happiness, and Josh outlines his beliefs about having a side-hustle.
Thank you very much for tuning in again, we tremendously appreciate your continual support.
Your hosts,
Lyndon & Josh.
This week we tackle how to find the valuable insights in dead dogmas, religion, politics and life. How do we isolate the baby from the bathwater and move forward productively.
Thank you very much for tuning in again, it is quite flattering for us both to have your continual support.
- Lyndon & Josh.
This week we reflect on: Brian Cronin, Pragmatism, entrepreneurial instincts, Object Orientation, Error Management Theory and, sadly, we pay homage to Spadesy. Thank you dearly listeners for joining us on this journey, we really appreciate your support!
This week Josh and Lyndon are delighted to host their friend, Brian Cronin.
Brian is an extremely thoughtful guy. Importantly, he is someone who is interested in helping shape the world for the better. This episode covers a lot of important topics, and we (as hosts) got a ton out of it. We hope you find it well worth the listen also.
We strongly encourage you check out Brian's blog: Infinite Grey
Find him on Instagram at: _briancronin_
Or check out the article he co-authored with Lyndon: Critical thinking and daring to know
In this episode Josh and Lyndon discuss a parallel universe where cocaine is legal and caffeine isn't, morality, status, and the role that moral virtues play in mate selection.
Video of Michael Pollan: hereLens model of judgement:hereThanks, as always, for listening. If you haven't already, please consider leaving us a review. We would greatly appreciate you helping others find our ramblings :)
We welcome longtime friend, nutritionist and dance floor extraordinaire, James Anthony. In this three way discussion we cover what makes for good friends, what are toxic friendships and should we marry our best friends. Thanks for listening!
Life is messy and confusing. We all misunderstand many elements of it. In this episode Lyndon and Josh speak about fiction, politics, and love languages, and some of the tools we can use to push towards a better understanding of the world and others.
Join me as I - Lyndon - take a look into who Josh is, what he values and how he's set up his Hinge profile. A conversation about fear, inspiration and the legacy he'd like to leave. We hope you enjoy it!
Join me as I - Josh - take a look into who Lyndon is, how he thinks and how he got the nickname Pictures Purcell. An exploration of identity, aspirations and regrets. We hope you enjoy it!
In this episode Lyndon and Josh discuss the second half of the Twelves Virtues of Rationality essay.
In this episode, Lyndon explores the topic of good thinking. The role it plays in both intellectual endeavours as well as mental health.
In this brief monologue Josh talks about one of the central ingredients to flourishing groups.
In this episode Lyndon and Josh discuss intellectual virtues and the role they play in innovation and guiding one's life. The conversation is based around the essay Twelve Virtues of Rationalityby Eliezer Yudkowsky.
The virtues covered in this episode are: Curiosity, Relinquishment, Lightness, Evenness, Argument, and Empiricism.
In this episode Lyndon builds on Josh's previous monologue, discussing two models he uses to conceptualise his own life. The first is the "many worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics and the quest of locating more favourable Everett branches. The second is life as a collection of explicit and implicit contracts which then dictate expectations and requirements.
In this episode Josh presents a short monologue on the concept of 'Retreating to an Inner Citadel', sourced from Isaiah Berlin's famous 1969 essay, Two Concepts of Liberty.
As always, thank you very much for listening and please embody the liberty to give us a review, if you so desire!
Two Concepts of Liberty:
https://cactus.dixie.edu/green/B_Readings/I_Berlin%20Two%20Concpets%20of%20Liberty.pdf
In this episode Lyndon and Josh discuss the role that psychedelics have, hypothetically, played in their lives. The pair share some stories about their experiences, as well as talk generally about the nature of self-exploration and some common traps to watch out for.
In this episode, Lyndon and Josh sit down and discuss some of the concepts that have been most influential in the way they think. They discuss topics such as procedural fairness, agile methodology, evolution and more. They also build on their previous discussions around work-life balance and talk briefly about Josh's most recent musical release.
Thanks as always for listening!
"Origins" can be found here. Check it out.
In this episode, Lyndon and Josh discuss violence, domestic abuse, cultural forces and the idea of people as blank slates. They contrast the difference in the types of violence that men and women experience, as well as analyse the difficulties of solving some of these social issues.
If you have any thoughts on this episode, feel free to reach out. We would love to hear from you.
Alternatively, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating below. It really helps us reach more people and we’d be truly grateful for it :)
In this episode Josh and Lyndon have a wide-ranging discussion about what masculinity and femininity mean to them, as well as how some of the social conversations around sex and gender appear, to them, to be misinformed.
If you have any thoughts on this episode (or others), positive or negative, please feel free to reach out. Conversation helps us all learn!
Thanks for listening.
We often think our personality is who we are. More accurately, though, it is who we think we are. Because personality is measured via self-reporting it can be different to how others perceive us.
In this episode, Josh and Lyndon talk about their own results on a personality test they both took, comment on each others scores and discuss how their personal dispositions have impacted their lives.
"PrinciplesYou" personality test: https://principlesyou.com/
With the borders between work and life being blurred by working from home, among other factors, reports of ill-mental health have been on the rise. However, it is difficult to put a label on what the exact feelings are or what the problem is. In this episode, Lyndon and Josh discuss two of the issues that a lot of people have faced in recent times: Burnout and Languishing, that feeling of life just being "Meh."
We spend such a significant period of our lives working. Given this, it only makes sense to ensure that work functions as a medium for helping us achieve many of the larger objectives we have in life. But how much can we reasonably demand from our work? Should a career offer us meaning, connection and opportunity? Or, is work just how we acquire money by trading away our time? These aren't simple questions. In this episode, Lyndon and Josh do their best to approximate some answers and talk about their own approaches to work and career.
The word "real" is used in vastly different ways across society. In this episode, Josh and Lyndon analyse some of the different things they mean when they use the term "real" and explore what factors influence their perception of what is, in fact, real. They ask questions such as: To what extent is fiction or art real? Is being an influencer a real job? How real is democracy or money? And many more.
Thanks as always for listening. All support, shares and ratings are tremendously appreciated :)
How should we think about language? What are the benefits of free speech? What are the costs? In this episode, Lyndon and Josh discuss the role that words, speech and argument play in the evolution of human society.
How did we meet? What motivates us? Worst jobs we've had? What are our strangest habits? And many more questions. For this fun and interesting episode we invite you behind the curtain of PhilosophyAu, into our personal lives. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
Why do we state one value but act out another? Why are we so often late? Why are good intentions not all that matter? What have we changed our minds on? In this discussion we explore cognitive bugs, biases and the many ways in which they manifest in our lives.
How do we approach decision making, problem solving, navigating relationships and trying to improve the accuracy of our 'map'? In this discussion we cover some of the most influential and important mental models to possess.
Are meaning and productivity in conflict? Can we experience the arts to the fullest extent and maintain a scientifically inclined perspective? In this discussion we touch on the false dichotomies and how to make seemingly opposite lifestyles additive to one another.
Politics is how people can live together given we all have different visions, incentives, and starting points in life. So why do well intentioned people end up in conflict about how to achieve a harmonious polity? And, who is really 'the out-group'?
Are we following the groove lines set out by the flow of ideas in the zeitgeist? What does it look like to step out of that? In this chat we talk about large narratives that are baked into society, using mindfulness to create space for conscious decision making, and we debate alcohol consumption.
Do we really live in a meritocracy? Is that an ideal system for society? What does it mean for something to be good or bad without morality?
Why do we willingly embrace the discomfort of strenuous exercise and laborious studying but avoid a slightly awkward social interaction? How central is embracing discomfort to living a meaningful life? Here the discussion explores why we might choose to overcome the inertia or why we give in to the immediate gratification of avoidance.
Why do we learn and why does it matter? In this discussion we explore the purpose, utility and process of learning.
What obligation does one have to better the world? In this discussion we explore what it means to do good, who ought to contribute, and what moral framework supports operating in alignment with virtuous values.
This discussion explores the concept of Map & Territory, rationality and what we're doing here.