Key Thinking (Allowed): Recent Episodes
Keith Telfeyan
Casual philosophy & cultural criticism with Keith Telfeyan. Keith is a writer and artist born in California, living in Berlin. He takes a contrarian perspective toward triggering topics, but with curiosity and compassion. Support Keith on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/keithtelfeyan
I think of myself as a hedonist - I pursue instant gratifications, even at the risk of long-term goals. Does that make me an addict? I recently accompanied a friend to a sex+love addiction anonymous meeting. They gave me a pamphlet with 40 questions. I answer them now.
California: 40 million people, 12% of the USA, 52 House Representatives (down from 53), 1 of 2 senators up for (re)election, a slew of top Democrats up for re-election, including Gavin Newsom. It's not always clear which way to go here, and of the nine offices, I'm splitting my vote somewhat evenly between Dems and Reps, because I think conservatives do have ideas and attitudes worth injecting to our suffering state. I value balance more than anything, and despise ideological indoctrination, so it's worth finding opportunities to side with people who see the world differently. I'll also be abstaining from a few races, including Governor, because neither candidate sits well with me. CA Senator: Alex Padilla US Representative (30th District): Adam Schiff Governor: - Lieutenant Gov: - Secretary of State: Shirley Weber Controller: Lanhee Chen Treasurer: Fiona Ma Attorney General: Nathan Hochman Insurance Commisioner: Ricardo Lara Member State Board of Equalization: - Superintendent of Public Education: Lance Christensen
Everyone running for government positions in Los Angeles is left of center - there are no conservatives or Republicans in these races. That said, some candidates are more radically far left than others, and some are more sensible. This city has been plagued by homelessness for too long, all under the watch of the Democratic party. Crime is on the rise. Am I crazy for wanting a different perspective to hold public office? To balance things out a bit? I'm not eager for conservatives to take over at all, but I have no allegiance to tribal progressive thinking. Instead, I'm scouring the stances of each candidate for sensibility, concern for the commons, and action. Rick Caruso for Mayor Hydee Feldstein Soto for City Attorney Paul Koretz for Controller Mitch O’Farrell for City Council (District 13) Adam Schiff for US House of Representatives (District 30) No on LH No on SP Yes on ULA Yes on LACC LA No on County measure A Yes on County measure C
Liberty, efficiency and respect for the commons - these are my guiding principles as a voting citizen. I don't believe in moralizing through legislation, and I prefer pragmatism over idealism for its own sake. It's also crucial to contextualize every policy decision, to consider its costs as well as benefits, and to scrutinize the players, profiteers and motives behind each argument. All that said, hopefully we can all appreciate our shared goal for the flourishing of humankind. The California mid-term election ballot is here, and I offer an explanation for the seven propositions: Prop 1: Yes to officially legalizing reproductive autonomy Prop 26: Yes to decriminalizing sports betting on tribal lands Prop 27: Yes to decriminalizing sports betting online, taxed for state funds Prop 28: Unsure about $1 billion specifically for K-12 arts/music education Prop 29: No to overcomplicating dialysis clinics Prop 30: Yes to taxing multimillionaire earners to fund electric vehicle infrastructure and to fight wildfires Prop 31: No to prohibition on certain tobacco/nicotine products
I spoke last time about energy as fuel, and as a tradable, creatable commodity. Now I'd like to speak more to this amorphous, spiritual form of energy. This is a quick meditation on the invisible forces in our lives, and how we might perceive them.
en·er·gy /ˈenərjē/ noun 1. the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity. "changes in the levels of vitamins can affect energy and well-being" (Similar: vitality, vigor, life, liveliness, animation, vivacity, spirit) 2. power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines. "nuclear energy"
I'm recuperating in my hometown at my parents' home, passing time with video games and other indulgences, wondering about life and what I should really be doing with myself. It's a balancing act, to be sure: being nice to yourself while also monitoring your habits for dangerous tendencies. We pursue what makes us feel good - that's not exactly pleasure, but more like flow and being present. All sorts of interests can accomplish this; some of us pursue one or two, others like me pursue many of them. It makes me wonder what I should really be doing at any given moment... Life is full of so many possibilities...
It's inevitable that we feel disappointed, and disappoint others in our interpersonal relationships. How do we handle it? What is to be done with the negative feelings involved? Whose responsibility are these feelings? A close friend disappointed me in a very casual, small way - nothing to fight over at all - and yet we did manage to have a little fight about it. Why? Let's think about it.
Do our feelings matter? What's the point of them? I feel things, but I try not to talk about them too much, except as they pertain to useful thoughts. Maybe I complain about life as much as anyone, but does anyone want to hear about it? Lately I'm feeling especially disorganized and out of sorts. Maybe it's useful to think through this sort of feeling, this annoying feeling of not having things together. I would very much like to be a more organized person, for everything in its right place.
I'm currently disabled from a recent injury, and thinking a lot about what it means to be "able-bodied", and this idea of ableism. And that gets me thinking about the tremendous social pressure these days to use "inclusive language". No one likes to feel excluded, and I can say now with experience that it's no fun to feel like the world was designed without you in mind... But is it really possible to help marginalized people with language? Is that the sort of help people really need? Or might we be enforcing such language for more nefarious reasons, like promoting our own self-satisfaction? Ultimately, it is inevitable that we all feel excluded from time to time, alienated very fundamentally from the world and others, and I just wonder what the point is to use nicer language around hard truths. I, for one, don't feel much better to be coddled and pandered to through language. I'd much prefer real help, like through attention, love, medicine, encouragement, etc. Ultimately, our lives are much more impacted by interpersonal relationships, not through any sort of hegemon of language and systemization. So why don't we work to be more inclusive where it actually matters?
Characterized by having a fear or disdain of woke ideology. After meandering around the topic of trans activism, I've settled on sharing my triggered thoughts and feelings on all such topics here: the commonality behind all radical leftist PC language in general, which evokes in me more than anything else a strong sense of ALIENATION. What is this strange new world order we're subject to, and why must we submit to it?? How many friends and connections do I lose as a result of dissenting? What's more alienating: acquiescence or rebellion?
Roe v Wade has been overturned, officially. This topic remains such a difficult one for us to discuss collectively. For me, to record this alone, in my room, it's somehow a meditative experience. Join me as I think out loud in all sorts of directions, free (as possible) from all the noise I've been seeing on the internet.
I'm embracing contrarian thinking. I've never thought of myself as controversial, but people tell me I am. I just appreciate nuance, and despise groupthink. It's important to seriously consider facts and goals before forming opinions, and this podcast offers a space to do that.
Roe v Wade is in danger. What does this mean? Is it really as bad as liberals say? And what kind of victory would that mean for conservatives? There's plenty of nuance here that I think is worth considering.
A critique of going to a baseball game, and going to the cinema. Both of these collective experiences should be nicer. Uptight, rigid attitudes and declining quality of product are making them unpleasant.
My dad and I are trying to make a best-of classic rock list. I think it's interesting how we each approach this sort of idea. And one has to wonder, perhaps: is it even worth it? How much energy is worth giving any random project?
Thinking through some of the complexities in this sad act of war by Russia against Ukraine. Is peace possible with Russia? Or does it have too many irreconcilable issues, geopolitically and psychologically?
Freedom, specifcally personal liberty, is one of my fundamental values. There are some current events that might be threatening it. The Canadian government's threats against a trucker Convoy, and the recent attempt at canceling Joe Rogan, are both kind of interesting topics to discuss through the lens of personal freedoms. When are we not allowed to say what we think?
I like recognizing the pagan roots in our holidays. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, where the sun is at its lowest point. It's a good reminder of the delicate balance of life, of how unkind nature can be, but how bountiful it can be in the future. I'm feeling especially pensive this year, especially worn out, and also sick. I have Covid.
What does it mean to have an open mind? Is it possible to have strong convictions if you're mind is actually open? Are there any dangers to opening your mind to certain ideas? Is it always the coolest thing, or is passé now to be open-minded?
Kyle Rittenhouse is a 17yo boy on trial for murder right now in the USA. Is he guilty? I don't think so. And I say that without any ideological allegiances. Let's take out our political biases and look at this case as rationally as possible (if it is even possible). There's a lot to unpack here.
I aim for a minimalist life with maximum output. I succeed at one of those more than the other. I believe technology and design can help solve my output issues by removing barriers - both physical and mental - in my work. This applies to travel as well, and to my neurodivergent brain in particular.
I took the Wahl-o-Mat online quiz and it tells me I should vote for the Humanist party. "(Die Humanisten) see themselves as a social, liberal and progressive party that focuses on the freedom of the individual. In doing so, she invokes evolutionary humanism and advocates a critical-rational political approach that relies particularly on scientific knowledge and - regardless of the political trend - is open to all effective political concepts." I go through the 38 questions and compare my answers to the Humanists, as well as the SPD, and also the AfD, just out of curiosity.
Just a bit of an anxiety attack on an autumn day; lots of admin stress. I'm bad at bureacratic work.
Just a few thoughts on the Afghanistan situation that I haven't heard articulated yet. Mainly: Is this even a real, legitimate sovereign country? Maybe its borders are an inherent problem. Maybe the global community should help the major ethnic tribes in the region establish their own autonomous states. Do Westerners who support isolation as a foreign policy really have such little conviction in their own underlying value systems? It seems evident that the Western system of governence (based on enlightenment values) has led to bountiful human flourishing. Why is it so bad to encourage other places to adopt this? Maybe it's more a problem of methodology (specifically the American neo-conservative type). Who is the enemy here, really? Maybe it's worth reminding ourselves about jihad, and its history. And perhaps there's somethere there to learn about the value of passion.
"A flâneur is an ambivalent figure of urban affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander detached from society with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of industrialized, contemporary life." I am a flaneur. "The flâneur was, first of all, a literary type from 19th-century France, essential to any picture of the streets of Paris. The word carried a set of rich associations: the man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street. It was Walter Benjamin, drawing on the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, who made this figure the object of scholarly interest in the 20th century, as an emblematic archetype of urban, modern (even modernist) experience.[1] Following Benjamin, the flâneur has become an important symbol for scholars, artists, and writers. ... The term has acquired an additional architecture and urban planning sense, referring to passers-by who experience incidental or intentional psychological effects from the design of a structure." "The flâneur's tendency toward detached but aesthetically attuned observation has brought the term into the literature of photography, particularly street photography. The street photographer is seen as one modern extension of the urban observer described by nineteenth century journalist Victor Fournel before the advent of the hand-held camera."
Presence, awareness and trasnscendence of ego - reflections on reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. Be one with the universe.
Pride Month honors the hardfought accomplishments of the gay rights movement, but has become a sort of husk of what it's meant to honor: a limp season of market pandering to an already progressive USA. Rainbow flags are worn by countless logos, signifying a point so obvious to so many as to constitute almost nothing.. except dutiful virtue signaling. What's the point of all this?
Drugs are substances that alter consciousness, broadly speaking. But their subsets are vastly different: psychedelics are nothing like opioids, and even within a class like uppers, crystal meth is wildly different than caffeine. Let's think through the reasons why people take various drugs, explore the underlying implications and consequences, and contextualize each case, especially within party culture.
Here's an endorsement to travel again. I can recommend Miami, Florida, for people that want some fun and sun. Covid is less threatening these days and it's time to get back out there.
I used to be "pro-Palestine". Now I'm "pro-Israel", but to be honest, I'm mostly just annoyed by how society talks about this topic. Why is this the singular geopolitical issue that bascially everyone has an opinion about? And why is it so much trendier and cooler to support Palestine?
What is sexism? I don't even know anymore tbh, but I know it's a sort of third rail that I sometimes flirt with, depending on context. I want to discuss this honestly and openly, and really explore what sort of ideas I hold that could be problematic. I'm taking an IDR Labs test here to figure out if I may indeed hold any sexist attitudes.
I remain pretty agnostic about it. People that want a vaccination should get one (and have access to it). The goal is herd immunity; the real goal is freedom of movement, open culture and a return to "normalcy". I want to live! And if getting a little bit of death in my arm leads to that, then I'm for it. But it should be a personal decision, ultimately.
Moral Foundations Theory attempts to explain individual differences in psychology and political intuitions, as well as to make sense of the many instances of moral outrage and offense that are increasingly seen in public debate. This is part 2of 2 episodes, in which I take this Moral Foundations test: https://www.idrlabs.com/morality/6/test.php
Social scientists argue that there are substantial variations in human morality, and that these differences influence not just a person's decision making and reasoning processes, but also their political outlook. In recent years, researchers and scholars from all over the world have converged on the framework on Moral Foundations Theory in an attempt to explain these individual differences, as well as to make sense of the many instances of moral outrage and offense that are increasingly seen in public debate. By drawing on findings from their research, this test aims to give you your scores according to the Moral Foundations framework. This is part 1of 2 episodes, in which I take this test: https://www.idrlabs.com/morality/6/test.php
"The houseless community" is being kicked out of Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles. Activists are protesting this as an issue of compassion for the homeless - the city and police are the villains in that narrative. But how fair is that? Is the argument to just allow the homeless to stay in our city parks? Yes, the city has to do a lot more to solve homelessness, but how is this a bad step?
I'm restraining myself. Sometimes I really just want to rant about something in this stupid world, but then I feel embarrassed by it, as if you'll judge me too much for saying something controversial or "wrong". But what if you don't actually understand what am saying? Or what if you think I don't understand you, but I do? Why is dialogue so hard anyways?
I want the caution to accept things I cannot change, the daring to change the things I possibly can, and the wherewithall to know the difference.
Do you believe in magic? Fate, destiny, astrology, tarot? When are weird events more than just coincidences? Maybe the energy we put into the world manifests in tangible ways. Or are we just imagining things?
Ok I admit it: I'm getting older. I care a little less about new music, career obsessions and even girls! Us millennials are no longer the "young people". And I'm noticing small things in Zoomers (Gen Z, born post 1996) that make me conscious of a subtle generation gap. Is it possible teens and college kids care way more about the pandemic, for instance? Are more supportive of a nanny state and authoritarianism? That's probably too vague, but they're coming of age in this very time. Also, "ageism" (as discrimination) is real. I didn't talk about this, but wanted to put it out there!
It's ok to acknowledge mistakes - we all make them! I'm ok with embracing my regrets, and trying to use them to gain wisdom through accrued life experience. It's hard though, especially when obsesssing over every missed opportunity, every wrong turn in life while lying in bed at night... We don't make it any easier for each other, the way we scrutinize our social utterances, our trendy beliefs or angry rants - as if those momentary thoughts define each of us as people. Such a rigid, unforgiving world we live in. Do we need it?
Homelessness is bad. That shouldn't be a controversial statement. Why aren't we doing more to solve it?? Is this really a politically divisive or difficult topic? The morality of it is clear: to let more and more people live in the streets is pathetic - it's an embarrassment! Let's honestly address this.
I'm not appreciating whatever rubric is being used to determine what is "essential" these days. I know what I need in my life, and I don't feel like the government understands it. I appreciate a concern for public health, but I think we're losing track of balance these days.
My take on the DC stuff, radical belief systems these days, threats to our livelihoods and how it's all just a bunch of noise, in a way. It's important that we regulate our emotional responses to all things, and prioritize in our lives things that actually matter to us, really. Like love, hobbies, bonding, etc, you know?
"Zwischen den Jahren" is the theme of this quick podcast ep. I'm on a bit of a holiday with my parents and brother, recording this in a very slow, somewhat dulled mindset. I talk about some holiday movies and what it means to be traveling right now.
This is a stream-of-consciousness one, a little lighter, a little empathetic, and of course some politics, but also depth. Let's be one with the universe yall.
Trans activism has been simmering for a while. I've been paying attention, wondering what my role is as a well-intentioned person who cares about progress and justice. I've decided that it does not include adding he/him to my bio, my by-line, my email signature or anything else. I have a few reasons for that. Does it make me a transphobe or bigot? You can tell me.
A difficult and explicit look at abhorrent behavior, especially depicted in various films. Why Irreversible is the most traumatic film I’ve ever seen It’s important that we calibrate our moral intuitions Victims and villains: what are the rules?
metoo, Harvey Weinstein, _The Morning Show _and power dynamics
Understanding maturity and agency The burden of male sexuality vs our higher ideals Michael Jackson (Leaving Neverland), paedophile who courted boyfriends R. Kelly (Surviving R. Kelly), Aaliya was 13-14, hebephile who imprisoned adolescents Jeffrey Epstein (Filthy Rich), ephebophile who corrupted teens and the legal system Chronophilia and age of consent, ppreciating differnces in physical maturity What counts as mental illness? What is trauma? Codes of conduct Systemic conspiracies might be worse than specific sex crimes Spotlight and the Catholic Church Male sexuality is messy at best, and too often vile Victimhood culture must parse out differences in agency and responsibility Sex acts themselves are fascinating. How do we separate kink shaming from policing actual abuse? CONTEXT MATTERS.
I'm embracing contrarian thinking. I've never thought of myself as controversial, but people tell me I am. I just appreciate nuance, and despise groupthink. It's important to seriously consider facts and goals before forming opinions, and this podcast offers a space to do that. LibLefts get made fun of a lot on reddit.com/politicalcompassmemes, and maybe that's fair. But it's how I identify, despite my contrarian attitudes toward other leftists, and my appreciation for centrism and other ways of thinking. Still, this is where I land. In this episode, I take the political compass quiz and talk through my answers.
Topics covered in this one: Podcasting as writing What is real? What can we trust? Covid news, election controversies The Social Dilemma and our individual realities Fake news masquerades generic ideas as facts Privacy vs vulnerability The Great Hack and weaponizing data We must be better at discerning information The psychology of conspiracy theories Vigilance against corruption Reality is satire The continued drama of the presidential election The current COVID lockdown Failures in journalism Psychology of isolation and online life Sympathies and responsibilities Russian hackers and the Mueller report The psychology of belief 9/11 as a meme The Overton window Big tech as nanny state Jonathan Haidt and the Coddling of the American Mind Black Lives Matter as a psy op The difficulty of dialogue in this world
How are you feeling? I've been better, and I want to talk through it. Society doesn't really know how to address the topic of mental health - not intrapersonally, not interpersonally, not more broadly, regarding the least fortunate on our city streets. And we're not quite aware enough of our typical behaviors and socio-political attitudes, and how our mental health contributes to such topics. So let's reflect on all this.
Some thoughts post election: I voted from Berlin, and I’m proud of that, even if my vote in New York doesn’t mean much. I really expected Biden to win easily, so again I have to eat my words, as the election remains too close to call. Too much deja vu, for sure. The Dems are pathetic. Regardless of what happens. I’m not too worried about Trump’s wild authoritarian LARPing. Leftists need to understand better why the’yre unappealing to average/swing voters. I wish we did more introspection and legit discourse about that, instead of demonizing our political opponents.
I'm not a big sports fan. I think sports are an imperfect entertainment, an emotionally draining investment and a poor substitute for narrative fiction. But we love sports as a society for deep psychological reasons, and it IS satisfying when our team wins. The Los Angeles Dodgers are my favorite sports team, and they've (finally) won the world series. I'm especially happy for my dad, to whom this episode is dedicated. He's overjoyed. Me? I'm just relieved, happy that I'm not disappointed.
Civic duty is important. But how much is voting a civic duty, really? Maybe it depends... Depending on your particular circumstances, voting can be really tricky, actually. One might wonder if it's even worth it... It probably depends on the urgency of the particular election, the details of your district, and the social pressure involved. Isn’t stigma a major factor in this decision? I'm personally having a tough time with all of it. There are quite few barriers for some, and apathy doesn't help. And whose fault is that?
I keep getting canceled. Not "officially" - I have no boss that can fire me. But I feel it all around, in so many of my social interactions and conversations. I feel the cold shoulder of prominent opinion turning on my provocative nature. Society doesn't seem to embrace contrarian thinking these days, and the room for challenging questions keep dwindling.
Our modern political fight is full of tired slogans, ambiguous chants and outlandish demands. Let's get specific, and target a true enemy of the people: the war on drugs. This policy - American and global - unjustly targets minorities and the poor, it costs billions of dollars a year, and it infringes on the personal liberties of citizens. Insofar as the war on drugs aims to ameliorate the problem of drug abuse, it turns what is clearly a health issue, into a criminal issue, solving nothing. It in fact exacerbates the social problems it purports to solve. In this episode, I expound on these main arguments against this stupid and wayward federal initiative: it is socially unjust, it is a fiscally irrepsonsible, it is antithetical to our sense of personal freedom, and it turns a health issue into a criminal issue. This episode also appears on YouTube as a videocast. I recorded this (for the first time) in front of a camera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEiLO3glCLU
I'm looking forward to Donald Trump no longer being president, for many reasons. For that to happen, Joe Biden must be elected in November. If you live in a swing state, please vote for him. If you don't, I can't blame you at all if you don't feel like it. I outline the reasons why Biden - and the Democratic party generally - is hard for me to support these days.
This news story caught my eye today. I want to make a point about it: the police can be stupid, violent, poorly trained, misguided, aggressive and overly burdened... without being racist. Let's reform the police so this kind of story doesn't happen, even if the victim isn't black. Or can we only reform policing in the context of race?
What is feminism? Are you or I am feminist? It depends on the meaning of this word, and on context. Let's explore the ideas of this political movement over time, and also ponder its more personal, psychological implications.
Despite continual progress, the USA remains unequal and unjust across a variety of metrics. Insofar as race remains a major issue in the fight for social justice, we should be dealing with it. But is "White Fragility" a productive way to confront such issues? I answer a 20-question test to figure that out.
The Enneagram is a model of nine personality types. It is commonly used in self-help, business management, and spiritual development.
The abstract concept of equality has become probably the number one virtue for many of us, especially in the current protest movement. But what is equality, exactly? How do we do we measure it? And at what costs should it be pursued? It's helpful to think of equality in at least two key ways: equality of opportunity, and equality of outcome. I advocate for the liberal freedom of equal opportunity, for which we must continually strive. I denounce the pursuit of equal outcomes, which is a radical Marxist impossibility.
We need to think openly and collaboratively about the hard issues surrounding race inequality. We also need police reform. But the academic movement of Critical Race Theory asks us to do something else: look inward, into our murky souls, and ask for something like redemption. I’m skeptical of intersectionality and modern social justice. I think these movements miss the point, and careen way past our political goals. But my cousin studies this topic and sent me some introspective questions, so I'll answer them now. Maybe it will help the national dialogue.
This is an epistemological look at current events: health, masks, epidemiology and ongoing virus issues - contextuslized as an ominous backdrop to the protest movement. What can we even know about the details of the protests, and of the fundamental bases for them?
We react to injustice with outrage, appropriately enough. But would it make sense to temper our enflamed emotions with some reason and rationality? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna put it out there.
Chernobyl (2019) is an HBO miniseries about the 1986 Soviet nuclear power plant disaster. It's excellent. Here's why. Note: the original file has been updated. The proper version is 58 min.
In preparation for a holiday to the Lesser Antilles, I thought I'd try and explain what this place even is. This episode is in conjunction with a more detailed article, with maps: https://www.journalofthere.com/content/2019/the-caribbean
LGBT is an acronym (one of several variants) that aims to encompass a myriad of individuals and indetities for the purpose of grouping together a series of political issues, all of which supposedly circle the topic of sexual identity. This is a lot to dissect: the political issues are diverse, and I wonder how helpful it is to nest this discussion around sexual identity.
I'm loosely tying together here some questions from isidewith.com, about the reach of government on commercial property, and the reach of religion on government property.
Abortion is a political issue, but really, it's a personal issue. It's also a moral one, and a social one. Let's delve into the many aspects of this very complex topic, and figure out why things get so political.
Should the President be able to authorize military force against Al-Qaeda without Congressional approval?Should the US assassinate suspected terrorists in foreign countries? It's important to think carefully about complex issues. There's nuance to all of them, and even if the answer seems clear, I'd like to consider the other points of view.
Hi everyone, my name is Keith. I'm an artist and writer from California, living in Berlin. I am embarking on a public thinking through of various issues - political, psycholgicial, philosophical. This is episode 1: an introduction, and a bit of background about me.