The title of these talks that I'm giving here is "Mind Over Mind."
And I'm going into
All the various problems
Which have to do with the control of the mind
And so, I might
Introduce what I'm going to say by saying it from different points of view
For example, if you're interested in communications
It will be the problem of feedback
Or if I may put it in theological terms
How does man follow the will of God
If the will of man is perverse?
The theologians say
You cannot do this without having divine grace
Or the power to follow the will of God
How, then, do you get grace?
Why is grace given to some
And not to others?
If I cannot follow the will of God by my own effort, because my will is selfish
How will my will, which is selfish, be transformed into an unselfish will?
If I cannot do it, because I am already the selfish will
Then grace must do it
Then grace must do it
If grace has not already done it, why not?
Because I didn't accept it?
But by definition, I have no power to accept it because my will was selfish
Must I then become a Calvinist
And say that only those people
Who are predestined to receive grace will be able to live the good life?
The good life
Then, we come back to the inadmissable position
That people who live evil lives do not get grace because they are not predestined to it
Out of the infinite wisdom of the Godhead
Then God himself must be held responsible for their evil deeds
And I'm going into
All the various problems
Which have to do with the control of the mind
And so, I might
Introduce what I'm going to say by saying it from different points of view
For example, if you're interested in communications
It will be the problem of feedback
Or if I may put it in theological terms
How does man follow the will of God
If the will of man is perverse?
The theologians say
You cannot do this without having divine grace
Or the power to follow the will of God
How, then, do you get grace?
Why is grace given to some
And not to others?
If I cannot follow the will of God by my own effort, because my will is selfish
How will my will, which is selfish, be transformed into an unselfish will?
If I cannot do it, because I am already the selfish will
Then grace must do it
Then grace must do it
If grace has not already done it, why not?
Because I didn't accept it?
But by definition, I have no power to accept it because my will was selfish
Must I then become a Calvinist
And say that only those people
Who are predestined to receive grace will be able to live the good life?
The good life
Then, we come back to the inadmissable position
That people who live evil lives do not get grace because they are not predestined to it
Out of the infinite wisdom of the Godhead
Then God himself must be held responsible for their evil deeds
I don’t mind the denunciations frankly
I mind the lies
Well, I mean intellectuals are very good at lying
They’re professionals at it
They have wonderful technique
There’s no way of responding to it
If somebody calls you, you know, an antisemite
What can you say?
“I’m not an antisemite?”
Somebody says you’re, you’re a racist, you’re Nazi or something this
You always lose
I mean
The person who throws the mud always wins
Because there’s no way of responding to such charges
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
I do not think that the state ought to have the right to determine historical truths
And to punish people who deviate from them
I’m not willing to give the state that right
Even if they happen to fall
“Are you denying that gas chambers ever…”
Course not
But I’m saying if you believe in freedom of speech
You believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like
I mean, Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked
Right?
So was Stalin
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
There’s two positions you can have on freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
With regard to my defense of
The utterly offensive
The people who express utterly offensive views
I haven’t the slightest doubt that every commissar says
"You’re defending that person’s views"
No, I’m not
No, I'm not
I’m defending his right to express them
And the difference is crucial
And the difference has been understood
Outside of fascist circles
Since the 18th century
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
That’s right
I mind the lies
Well, I mean intellectuals are very good at lying
They’re professionals at it
They have wonderful technique
There’s no way of responding to it
If somebody calls you, you know, an antisemite
What can you say?
“I’m not an antisemite?”
Somebody says you’re, you’re a racist, you’re Nazi or something this
You always lose
I mean
The person who throws the mud always wins
Because there’s no way of responding to such charges
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
I do not think that the state ought to have the right to determine historical truths
And to punish people who deviate from them
I’m not willing to give the state that right
Even if they happen to fall
“Are you denying that gas chambers ever…”
Course not
But I’m saying if you believe in freedom of speech
You believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like
I mean, Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked
Right?
So was Stalin
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
There’s two positions you can have on freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
With regard to my defense of
The utterly offensive
The people who express utterly offensive views
I haven’t the slightest doubt that every commissar says
"You’re defending that person’s views"
No, I’m not
No, I'm not
I’m defending his right to express them
And the difference is crucial
And the difference has been understood
Outside of fascist circles
Since the 18th century
If you’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means you’re in favor of freedom of speech
Precisely for views, you despise
Otherwise, you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
[Chorus]
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
You’re in favor of freedom of speech
That means precisely for views you despise
Freedom of speech
Otherwise you’re not in favor of freedom of speech
And you can decide which position you want
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
The language you use has meaning!
The language you use has meaning!
That’s right
That’s right
I find like, I have some beliefs that are too inflammatory to even discuss
Unfortunately
[Chorus]
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
But mostly I find all these things ridiculous
First of all, I hate that we force people into identifying themselves by little, tiny, uh...
Because we oppress people we further oppress them by forcing them to identify themselves as
What I consider less than human
So if someone says, "I am proud to be Black." I go, that's too bad for that guy 'cause it's a retarded thing to be proud of
We see it with White power, if someone says, I'm proud to be White we see how ridiculous that sounds
But we don't see it when a person says because they've been oppressed I'm proud to be Black
But it is ridiculous, we've pushed them into a corner where now they're going to spend their whole life identifying themselves
By the pigment of their skin
Which is a sad waste of life
Or if you say, "I'm proud to be gay. That's what I am and that's how I'll live my life."
Oh boy, you're really limiting yourself there and it's too bad and I know you've been forced into it
By being pushed down and oppressed, but it's still very, very sad
And I don't think of myself as Canadian
And I think it's a terrible thing to say you're proud to be a Canadian or proud to be an American
All that stuff is nonsense
You may as well be proud to have lungs
You didn't accomplish nothing
You were just born somewhere or, you know, you were just born with a skin that's a certain color
Or born with a sexual attraction to a certain type of person. That stuff's all
It's all just little, miniature things in life that are so unimportant
And when people try to tell me that God is not important
But that this nonsense is important
I couldn't disagree more
[Chorus]
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
[Outro]
There are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
There are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Unfortunately
[Chorus]
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
But mostly I find all these things ridiculous
First of all, I hate that we force people into identifying themselves by little, tiny, uh...
Because we oppress people we further oppress them by forcing them to identify themselves as
What I consider less than human
So if someone says, "I am proud to be Black." I go, that's too bad for that guy 'cause it's a retarded thing to be proud of
We see it with White power, if someone says, I'm proud to be White we see how ridiculous that sounds
But we don't see it when a person says because they've been oppressed I'm proud to be Black
But it is ridiculous, we've pushed them into a corner where now they're going to spend their whole life identifying themselves
By the pigment of their skin
Which is a sad waste of life
Or if you say, "I'm proud to be gay. That's what I am and that's how I'll live my life."
Oh boy, you're really limiting yourself there and it's too bad and I know you've been forced into it
By being pushed down and oppressed, but it's still very, very sad
And I don't think of myself as Canadian
And I think it's a terrible thing to say you're proud to be a Canadian or proud to be an American
All that stuff is nonsense
You may as well be proud to have lungs
You didn't accomplish nothing
You were just born somewhere or, you know, you were just born with a skin that's a certain color
Or born with a sexual attraction to a certain type of person. That stuff's all
It's all just little, miniature things in life that are so unimportant
And when people try to tell me that God is not important
But that this nonsense is important
I couldn't disagree more
[Chorus]
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Because there are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
[Outro]
There are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
There are certain things in society, that you're not allowed to believe
Or speak publicly
And so I'll just never say them
And I'll just leave them in my little head
Because I’m talking with the person who gave us the A and B Game, Blue Church, Jordan Hall, and part of that is this idea which is a religion that's not a religion and coming – trying to come up with a post religious faith
Because here is the idea, this is probably in some ways my most radical idea
I wanna do what like Augustine did as the Roman Empire is falling
He laid the foundation
He laid the cultural cognitive grammar for an entirely different culture and they stole the culture bottom-up
He laid the cultural cognitive grammar for an entirely different culture and they stole the culture bottom-up
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
From the imperial system
The imperial system at some point then clamped down again
But nevertheless, we shifted
We shifted out of antiquity
We shifted to a different world
So I want to try and do that
I want to try and create that systems of meaning, the religion that is not a religion, the ecologies of practices, the communities, the networks of communities
All of this, it's already happening
We really empower it both in terms of its grammar
Give it the best scientific tools for engineering the practices and the ecology of practices
I basically wanna steal the culture
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
From the people who have been abusing us for such a very long time
And I usually don't speak politically 'cause I think the political framing is often a deep misrepresentation of the issue
At least the way in which political discourse has been sort of been ossified, sort of been ossified in ways make choice, no longer really relevant
And you know Christianity stole the culture away from the elites, it's time
Now new elites form, they always will but the culture changed and it changed in an important way and that's what I'm trying to do right now
That's what I see myself doing with a lot of these other people
That's what I'm trying to do right now
That's what I see myself doing with a lot of these other people
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
[Bridge]
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
And the whole point about the metaphor is we can't, we can't win by playing the game (Their game)
That's right
My way of trying to understand what it is to not play their game and to shift over to, into a totally different game
To shift the culture, it's to steal the culture
The only thing I could get from history that's been able to do that are religion
But for reasons I've articulated, I don't want
And it’s not personally, I mean in terms of the functionality, I don't think the standard model, the axial age model of religion is going to do what we need in order to steal the culture as deeply as we need to steal it
Because here is the idea, this is probably in some ways my most radical idea
I wanna do what like Augustine did as the Roman Empire is falling
He laid the foundation
He laid the cultural cognitive grammar for an entirely different culture and they stole the culture bottom-up
He laid the cultural cognitive grammar for an entirely different culture and they stole the culture bottom-up
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
From the imperial system
The imperial system at some point then clamped down again
But nevertheless, we shifted
We shifted out of antiquity
We shifted to a different world
So I want to try and do that
I want to try and create that systems of meaning, the religion that is not a religion, the ecologies of practices, the communities, the networks of communities
All of this, it's already happening
We really empower it both in terms of its grammar
Give it the best scientific tools for engineering the practices and the ecology of practices
I basically wanna steal the culture
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
From the people who have been abusing us for such a very long time
And I usually don't speak politically 'cause I think the political framing is often a deep misrepresentation of the issue
At least the way in which political discourse has been sort of been ossified, sort of been ossified in ways make choice, no longer really relevant
And you know Christianity stole the culture away from the elites, it's time
Now new elites form, they always will but the culture changed and it changed in an important way and that's what I'm trying to do right now
That's what I see myself doing with a lot of these other people
That's what I'm trying to do right now
That's what I see myself doing with a lot of these other people
[Chorus]
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
And do everything I can
(And I can)
Do everything I can
(And I can)
I wanna help steal the culture – away
Steal it away
Steal it away
[Bridge]
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Now
Steal it away, steal it away, steal it away
Hey
And the whole point about the metaphor is we can't, we can't win by playing the game (Their game)
That's right
My way of trying to understand what it is to not play their game and to shift over to, into a totally different game
To shift the culture, it's to steal the culture
The only thing I could get from history that's been able to do that are religion
But for reasons I've articulated, I don't want
And it’s not personally, I mean in terms of the functionality, I don't think the standard model, the axial age model of religion is going to do what we need in order to steal the culture as deeply as we need to steal it
I've been free to do whatever I want
To make the shows I want anywhere I want with whom I want
In any style I want
So I, at first I don't know any other way
And by now I won't have it any other way
Life is good
Why settle for less?
Be open to experience
Be willing to try new things
Don't have a rigid plan except random acts of hospitality without judgment or fear
Don't be afraid to wander
Don't be afraid to eat a bad meal
You know, if you don't risk the bad meal you'll never get the magical one
But I think most important
[Chorus]
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful
Before I started traveling I thought that the human race as a whole will turn on itself at any moment, you know, venal, petty, cruel, arbitrarian
And it's true that all of those things exist in this world, but
I meet mostly pretty nice people
Doing the best they can, often under very, very difficult conditions
I met a lot of very nice people who've done very, very bad things that conflict with my deeply-held conceptions of justice and sexual equality or acceptable practice or religious views
There are a lot of gray areas in travel
But I think that on balance the world is filled with people doing the best they can, you know?
The best they can, you know?
[Chorus]
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
I've been fired many times during my cooking career
I was not a particularly good chef
I had a lot of problems at various parts of my career with narcotics
You know, I accepted failure as a chef because I was at various times a bad chef
And even a bad person
These days if I fail it's because I try to do something and did not succeed
Or I just was just was not able to do what I hoped to do or wanted to do
But I would much rather that
I would much rather fail gloriously than
Not try
I’m not interested in telling stories with competence
I’m looking at telling 'em with some style and originality and some creativity
To make the shows I want anywhere I want with whom I want
In any style I want
So I, at first I don't know any other way
And by now I won't have it any other way
Life is good
Why settle for less?
Be open to experience
Be willing to try new things
Don't have a rigid plan except random acts of hospitality without judgment or fear
Don't be afraid to wander
Don't be afraid to eat a bad meal
You know, if you don't risk the bad meal you'll never get the magical one
But I think most important
[Chorus]
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful
Before I started traveling I thought that the human race as a whole will turn on itself at any moment, you know, venal, petty, cruel, arbitrarian
And it's true that all of those things exist in this world, but
I meet mostly pretty nice people
Doing the best they can, often under very, very difficult conditions
I met a lot of very nice people who've done very, very bad things that conflict with my deeply-held conceptions of justice and sexual equality or acceptable practice or religious views
There are a lot of gray areas in travel
But I think that on balance the world is filled with people doing the best they can, you know?
The best they can, you know?
[Chorus]
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
Be humble, be grateful, be humble, be grateful
I've been fired many times during my cooking career
I was not a particularly good chef
I had a lot of problems at various parts of my career with narcotics
You know, I accepted failure as a chef because I was at various times a bad chef
And even a bad person
These days if I fail it's because I try to do something and did not succeed
Or I just was just was not able to do what I hoped to do or wanted to do
But I would much rather that
I would much rather fail gloriously than
Not try
I’m not interested in telling stories with competence
I’m looking at telling 'em with some style and originality and some creativity