Stochastic Arts: The Cure for Narcissism - a podcast by Ryder Richards

We first pick on Rene Descartes for championing internal reasoning as a way to know yourself, instead of community, objective reality, or some form of morals and ethics. In Matthew Crawford's "Shopclass as Soul Craft" he mentions this division as he draws our attention to subtle distinctions about how people relate to the world. Primarily, how does one make a choice and act on it when "desire" drives our rationalizing? 

We discuss  "disposition" in your job, and the flaw of being an "idiot" by being your private (internal) self when in a public role (your job) and confronted by external problems. 

One problem is the internal reasoning where a model of the world exists in your mind, but does not function well in reality. The intellectual model cares not for the particulars of reality, and is ASSERTIVE whereas someone engaged with the external world and it's subtle nuances must be ATTENTIVE. 

The "stochastic arts" are not necessarily to create or PRODUCE something, but similar to a doctor or mechanic, they receive a complex thing (something which can never be comprehensively known) and must attend to it as a forensic investigator to PROMOTE the thing to a better state of being. This is at direct odds with self-involvement and narcissism... at least it is if the doctor or mechanic is good. 

https://thewilltodiy.com/step-17-stochastic-arts-the-cure-for-narcissism/

3:36 The Wild West of "desire" driving" action.  

4:49 "Brave New World" mistaking ends/means for progress: morality is a fart 

6:11 Why is someone an "idiot"? They are being private while in public.

8:19 The lure of "easy intellectual mastery" over the messy particulars of reality 

10:09 The stochastic arts: to promote (not produce) requires humility and "attentiveness" which may be the cure for narcissism.

 

 

 

 

 

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