Why Are We Glorifying Insanity? - Konstantin Kisin (4K)

Healthy masculinity (as exemplified in 1990s Gillette ads) shows men being responsible, respectful, kind, strong, looking after children, and teaching younger men—not the emasculated weakness or demonization portrayed in modern messaging

“healthy masculinity is the '90s Gillette ads that's what it looks like um men being responsible men in relationships with women being respectful being kind but also being strong looking after their children teaching younger versions of men how to be men”

The Theo Von podcast fraud, where Colin Thompson defrauded multiple podcasts of approximately $4 million through cast media by intercepting advertiser payments, illustrates the dangers of outsourcing business functions to third parties.

“allegedly defrauded of approximately $4 million and then calls out the fraudster in a video in an unexpected turn of events Colin Thompson the man who is working under cast media and with theovon is is accused of orchestrating a fraud operation that cost Theo Von's podcast the this past weekend and potentially other podcasts an estimated $4 million”

Climate-related deaths have decreased by 50 times over the last 100 years, and more people are killed by cold weather than hot weather.

“climate related deaths have decreased by 50 times over the last 100 years that's Alex Epstein has he been on your yeah we haven't had him on but yes oh dude you I mean you guys would [ __ ] love him”

Men are attracted to women; this is not toxic masculinity but evolutionary fact; the problem is not that men notice women but how men act after noticing.

“men are attracted to women I've heard about let's sit with that for a moment I've heard about that so you know this idea that you're going to be barely clad and men aren't going to notice that yeah sorry that's that's not what our brains are for learned our brains are for looking at your ass that's what they're for that's what they evolved for”

When India became independent in 1947, average life expectancy was 37 years old; today it is approximately 82 years old, and this is because they burn fossil fuels.

“when when India became independent in 1947 average life expectancy was 37 years old in India and today it's I think 82 and that's because they burn fossil fuels”

Constantine has observed that the first British podcaster in the media space who had a growth mindset was key to his success, unlike others who became stuck or bitter.

“you've been the first British podcaster who was in our space who when I've met has been from a who had a growth mindset which is why I said when we first started how unsurprised I am by the amazing success you're having because you've always had that attitude”

Men face structural disadvantages in education (worse academic performance in brain-based economy with assessment systems optimized for female traits), employment, mental health, and suicide rates—these are rarely acknowledged in the way other group disadvantages are

“there are structural disadvantages that are faced by men as well right that very few people are willing to accept at the moment socioeconomically men are falling behind education employment mental health work currently suicide awareness Suicide Prevention Week in the UK”

Climate solutions proposed would be worse than the problem itself, so honest criticism of climate policy is possible while still accepting climate change as real and serious

“if you say anything about how we're approaching that issue you are denying that climate change is real or you are denying that it's a problem or you're denying that we should address it no I just think your idea how to fix it is stupid right”

Kisin's view on vaccine mandates: broadly against them unless the disease is genuinely extremely dangerous and deadly; the COVID case came down to a risk-reward equation where most people assessed the COVID risk as not exceeding the vaccine or mandate risk

“there's never ever ever any reason for for the government to mandate vaccines and I broadly agree with that unless the disease is really like dangerous and deadly...the fundamentally it came down to a risk and reward yeah equation and most people considered that the risk of getting covid was not greater than the risk of either getting the vaccine or of opening up mandated vaccines”

Charisma comes from comfort with oneself in front of others, not natural talent—stage time (thousands of hours) builds this comfort, which is why experience translates across speaking, performing, and interviewing contexts.

“this is going to sound like a [ __ ] answer but actually it's stage time is just like air miles on the clock like with pilot you have to fly a certain number of miles um but you know I always think about you know whatever Charisma whatever else it is is really about a comfort with yourself in front of other people”

About 80-85% of women report wanting the opportunity to be stay-at-home mothers, but most cannot afford it; this is the greatest gift a partner can give to women—the opportunity to choose homemaking if desired

“about 80 85% of women say that being a stay-at-home mom is an opportunity that an option that they aspire to have yes and financially for most people it's very difficult right now”

Asking a billion-plus Indian people to stop burning fossil fuels is not possible or just, given that fossil fuel use created their improved life expectancy.

“are we saying to a billion plus Indian people they're not allowed to do that anymore do you know what I mean like the way we talk about this issue just it it's it's a cult it doesn't make any sense it doesn't make any logical sense”

The gender pay gap for young adults aged 21-29 shows women earning more than men; the actual problem is the motherhood penalty, not a gender gap.

“between the ages of 21 and 29 women earn a grand and a bit more than men do right the the the gender pay Gap isn't a gender pay Gap it's a mother pay Gap right that's the the penalization comes to mothers”

When you had set trajectories, they hurt some people (those who didn't fit), but when you remove all trajectory, everybody becomes lost; this is worse than having restrictive paths for most people

“in the past we had a kind of like set trajectory you're supposed to follow which hurts some people because because it wasn't the trajectory for them well when you take away all trajectory then everybody's lost and I think a lot of people are in that position now”

Luxury beliefs (like 'there are no differences between men and women') are affordable only for those who can insulate themselves from consequences—working-class people can't afford to ignore real sex differences in their practical lives.

“the principal luxury belief of our time is there's no difference between men and women that's a luxury belief there are people who can afford to have it but most people can't afford to have that belief and then all else follows from this”

Thomas Sowell's maxim 'there are no solutions, only trade-offs' is Kisin's favorite quote ever, capturing the essence of honest policymaking

“we've totally forgotten that every there are no Solutions only trade-offs my favorite quote ever from Thomas sa yeah it's lovely”

Men are biologically disposable in ways women are not: in a small tribe, if you send all women to war you lose the tribe; if you send all men and one returns, the tribe can still repopulate

“biologically men are disposable the way the women aren't for the obvious reasons if you have a tribe of 10 men 10 women you send the women off to war you're screwed you send the men off to war one comes back you can still replenish the population so men are disposable always will be much more than women”

The conception of fragility as something to aspire to or be rewarded for represents a tyranny of the minority where the norm-setting is driven by edge cases rather than the central tendency

“we've got this sort of tyranny of the minority in some regards that fragility is something to Aspire toward or at least it's something which is rewarded in a variety of different ways”

The big unanswered questions remain: where do people get meaning and purpose in a society with fewer children, delayed adulthood, and fewer traditional trajectories; online activism may fulfill this for some but its actual fulfillment value is questionable

“where do you get meaning and purpose in your life now in a society that has few and fewer children in which young people are delaying adulthood longer and longer and longer um where do you get meaning and purpose exactly for now for some people that's you know online activism but actually how fulfilling that is I don't know”

Bjorn Lomborg posted during a heatwave that the number of forest fires is the lowest it's ever been and hurricane numbers in America are declining, suggesting that claims of climate catastrophe are exaggerated.

“bjon lomor during that oh my God Heatwave we're all going to die kept posting stuff about you know like actually the the number of forest fires is the lowest it's ever been then the number of hurricanes in America is etc etc etc”

Trade-off denialism—the refusal to acknowledge that every decision has both positive and negative consequences—prevents honest conversation about complex issues like climate change

“we live in a world of trade-off denialism what's that mean every decision has tradeoffs it has positives and negatives and if you go well we should do this and someone goes yeah but what about the thing that and then you can never really acknowledge it's like the climate catastrophe right no one wants to talk about the fact that many of the solutions that are being proposed would be worse than the problem”

We must be able to make normative statements about what is generally true for most people (e.g., pairing with an opposite-sex partner and building a life together is better than not doing so for most people) without the one exception negating the rule for the 95%

“we have to be able to say for most people most of the time pairing up with some of the sex that they are attracted to and and building a life together is better than not doing that we have to be able to say that without the one person who was in an abusive relationship what about me right yes we understand you but we're talking about the 95% of people right”

People need to be careful about what rules they want enforced on others, because those same rules will eventually be enforced on them by ideological opponents; the 'don't judge someone by one occurrence' standard should be applied consistently across ideological lines

“you should be careful about trans transgressing rules that you want to be enforced so if you want the don't judge somebody by one single occurrence rule to be enforced and then you don't enforce it that as you said before that tiit fortat game it opens up”

Any ideology that pits men against women or women against men—whether certain forms of feminism or incel worldview—is toxic, damaging, dangerous, and unhealthy; men and women need each other fundamentally

“any ideology and I mean any ideology that pits men against women or women against men is toxic and damaging and dangerous and unhealthy and that includes some forms of feminism and that includes you know the incel worldview”

The free speech debate is complicated because platforms have moderation dilemmas: content is so powerful that unrestricted speech can coordinate violence/coups, but moderation can prevent revolutions like 1776

“the argument for moderation as an content moderation is that the technology so powerful if you can start an assault on the capital or an undermining of an election or whatever it is or a riot or a a mass shooting or whatever if you can start that from your phone the technology is too powerful to be left un uncontrolled”

The origins of COVID matter tremendously because if it came from gain-of-function research in Wuhan, and this isn't acknowledged and gain-of-function research continues, another pandemic is likely; credible assertions exist about COVID's lab origins but are politically suppressed

“if this came from a lab in Wuhan because of gain of function research and we are not willing to be honest about that and gain of function research continues why wouldn't we have another pandemic I never looked into this much I know that uh Sam had Matt Ridley and somebody else somebody else on his show we've had Matt on to talk about this as well yeah and the truth is we don't know”

Tribal mechanics are multiplied by a thousand when enacted online because everyone scrutinizes you, creating weird pathologies like anonymous commentators from abroad influencing national discourse

“it's Tribal mechanics but multiplied by a thousand correct because it's online with everyone scrutinizing you yeah and so you have these weird pathologies like you've got and it's not comment on him personally but you've got like a guy who lives in Malaysia commenting on American culture War issues and getting like millions and millions of views for his commentary”

Most major institutions (media, civil service, political parties, corporations, education) have been captured, corrupted, or perverted and now project a worldview onto the public that the public does not share

“most of the major institutions whether that be media whether that be the Civil Service whether that be uh the political systems the parties the uh the corporations the education system they've all been captured or corrupted or through some other mechanism become uh the projectors of a certain world view onto the public who do not share that world viw”

Those concerned about wokeness have embraced victimhood narratives themselves (claiming cancellation, persecution), but the solution is not more victimhood rhetoric—it is to step into power by building alternative institutions, media organizations, and communities

“I think everyone's embraced this now we all now do it I feel like those of us who've been concerned about wokeness have sort of got into that place where we are like I'm a victim I've been canceled I've been this and I've been that and I think it's time actually for us to step into our power now and go okay well we've created these New Media organizations we've created alliances we've created Community we've created things”

COVID response was worse as an operational/logistical vaccine than never having COVID at all would have been; accepting minor inefficiencies (masks, delays) would have been preferable to the vaccine injury to public health institutions

“if we are to have something that comes around the next time and it does kill [ __ ] all children under 10 or all women or whatever the [ __ ] it's got some incubation period of 28 days and a mortality of 40% it's just a scop it's another scop...literally would have been better if Co hadn't happened right”

Yes, free speech causes harm, but the harm is worth it because suppressed speech creates worse harms: corruption of public discourse goes underground, becomes conspiratorial, and prevents correction

“yes it causes harm but the Harm's worth it uh and uh we don't make that argument because it's too honest and you know complicated and unpleasant and whatever but the other side of the argument is terrifying to me...I do think the former or sitting president of the United States should be able to speak in public”

The binary between order and chaos (Peterson's framework) is useful but incomplete; modern experience is characterized by excessive chaos (too many options, no guidance) and insufficient order (no clear expectations or paths).

“Peterson had the ordering chaos like Paradigm out there uh it feels like there's a [ __ ] hell of a lot of chaos and not a massive amount of order for people”

Online spaces enable victimhood fakery in ways physical presence does not because anyone can create any avatar and project it while living in a mansion, hiding their actual circumstances

“the online World rewards it and it also allows people to fake victimhood in a way that in person you can't really like if you see someone living in a massive house you go well you may be in in some ways but you're actually well taken care of here but online you can create any Avatar you want and that Avatar can be projected onto the online space from a mansion”

An extreme or absurd ideological belief functions as both a loyalty test for one's own tribe and a threat display to the opposing tribe, with the more absurd the belief, the more it signals trustworthiness within the group and dangerousness to outsiders

“an absurd ideological belief or an extreme ideological belief is a show of fty to your own side and a threat display to the other right and the more absurd or extreme the belief the more likely it is that your own side can trust you and that the other side should fear you”

Our opinions are scrutinized and held as more important than our deeds, while our actions remain private, creating systematic incentive misalignment where public persona diverges from private behavior

“the fact that our opinions are more important than our deeds and our words are scrutinized while our actions are done in private”

In comedy, the more a male comedian talks about being a feminist on stage, the sleazier and more evil he is backstage—this is a golden rule that never fails, reflecting a compensation mechanism where people hiding wrongdoing perform public virtue

“when I was a standup comedian in the comedy world there's a golden rule of this the more a comedian talks about how he's a male feminist on stage the sleazier he is backstage that's it it's like a golden rule never fails always the same”

Online discourse creates impossible communication standards where any generalized statement can be countered with an exception, making normative statements nearly impossible without extensive caveating

“if you make a statement a generalized statement you might say exercise is good for you and somebody will be like yeah but what if you've got an e injury and before you know it like you hate disabled people like that's kind of how the conversation happens”

Many people feel disquieted by life changing around them while they feel left behind, experiencing events as happening to them or for others rather than for themselves; the information ecosystem and reliability of different media sources contributes to this disquiet

“people feel like they're being left behind they feel like life is happening to them or happening for other people and they're not a part of it and I I get that like I you know [ __ ] it's disquieting life is going on my friends are moving on the world is changing and I'm all confused”

Twitter rarely sees people breaking the fourth wall to admit outright misconduct; instead it operates as permanent sardonic tennis where everyone delivers witty insults without acknowledging genuine wrongdoing

“there's very rare it's very rare on Twitter to have someone uh break the fourth wall and say that was out of order you're not allowed to say that everybody plays this sort of permanent game of sardonic tennis right here's some Blas comment about how you suck or some smart snipe back at what you said and oh I hit it back across the net with something else no one actually says what they should say which is that's [ __ ] out of order”

New media over-rewards charisma and passion while massively under-rewarding attempts to cling to truth; it encourages pursuit of exciting takes rather than accurate ones

“New Media has its own problems um it over rewards Charisma it over rewards passion it it massively under rewards any attempts to uh cling to truth it encourages people to go off in the pursuit of the most uh exciting t take and Truth isn't always exciting”

Disillusionment with captured institutions naturally produces an equal and opposite reaction of reflexive contrarianism, which is understandable but people should be encouraged to move beyond it toward truth-seeking

“I don't judge people for that because I I think that's an element of my thinking you know a kind of I think it's very understandable the disillusionment with the way the institutions have been captured or have been corrupted or perverted or what whatever it is that's happened to them um it is natural that that would produce an equal and opposite reaction um I encourage myself and other people to go beyond that”

Sam Harris's various podcast appearances created a narrative of his own embarrassment; his statements about Trump and COVID revealed worldviews (Trump bad regardless of consequences, COVID threat overestimation) that many Trump skeptics privately held but weren't stating publicly

“there seems to be something it's almost like there was resentment sat on the internet latent resentment sat on the internet waiting for Sam to [ __ ] up and then he did a thing I don't think it was personal to Sam I think particularly on his Trump comments there are a lot of people who were like this is what we always knew the Trump haters think deep inside”

A Bud Light marketer's statement that their customers are 'old-fashioned' who 'don't do' inclusivity revealed the contempt corporate brands have for their core consumers; it's not the marketer's job to educate customers about values—it's to sell products

“her her angle was our our customers are [ __ ] that was her angle are [ __ ] yeah what's a [ __ ] customer well it was just uh it's just these guys who've got like a you know old-fashioned sense of humor...we're going to educate our customers and I'm like you sell beer that's not your job sell them the [ __ ] beer and shut up right”

The trans issue is the lightning rod of contemporary culture because it encapsulates multiple anxieties; corporate focus on trans issues is less about moral concern and more about attracting attention through provocation

“the trans issue for reasons I actually think are quite understandable and obvious is the lightning rod of our time um so I'm not surprised that that caused the reaction that it did...giving so much attention to it is what prompts these Brands to to go down this route”

Both women and men are tired of men being demonized in contemporary culture; women with sons especially don't want their partners or sons to be feeble or lacking in strength and capability

“my wife who's complet I always say my wife is completely apolitical and as a result of that extremely based right like she hates this [ __ ] and I can't tell you how many women I speak to who are very very tired of men being demonized in this way...especially given that a lot of those women will have sons and they want their partner to be good and healthy they don't want them to be feeble”

Chivalry (protecting women as the more vulnerable sex) is a thread connecting door-holding etiquette to not-hitting-your-wife ethics; breaking the chain because of changing circumstances can cascade downward where people who never learned basic respect lose all guidance

“a lot of the guidance that was given to men previously around chivalry it is simply a difference of degree not a difference of kind to go from men should hold the door open for women and make sure that she gets to the front door safe at night to you shouldn't hit your wife it is one one single thread”

The "fuck you money" stage (financial independence that allows refusal of undesired work) is a prerequisite for "fuck you freedom" (time/autonomy independence), which is prerequisite for "fuck you family" (prioritizing immediate family above all else)

“[ __ ] you money right you're able to become oh I did see that yes sufficiently financially independent that money you you don't need to do things you don't want to do [ __ ] you Freedom you don't need to do things that you don't want to do but then the final stage I see amongst my male friends who are you know 30s and 40s is the [ __ ] family”

One trans woman reported being horrified by the lack of attention and presence when presenting as male; people crossed the street when she approached, illustrating how men are ignored while women receive attention

“there was this video of um uh I think it was a trans so a woman who became a man or looked like a man or whatever who was absolutely horrified by the lack of attention oh people crossed the street when they were walking towards it wasn't even just that it's just like people ignore you when you're a woman you get attention and people just ignore a guy”

The American founding in 1776 would not have happened with moderated social media because King George would have suppressed the communications coordinating the revolution

“do you get 1776 if there is Twitter and it's moderated I don't think you do because who would allow a revolution to happen you think King George would allow the spreading of misinformation right”

Los Angeles entertainment culture optimizes for status and success as the primary values, creating a society where all interactions are transactional and people see each other as objects; this is spiritually desolate and explains why people need religion

“I am not a religious person not yet anyway but when I was there I was like I can see why people need religion this place needs God it [ __ ] does I'm serious man like the way people think about other people like if all you have is your success if your value derives from your status and success whoo that gets dark quickly”

Hollywood movies shape American understanding of America far more than actual travel to America does; people watch movies and think they understand America when they don't understand the reality at all

“never realized how powerful Hollywood is at shaping our idea of what reality is because the movies like we in in Britain we think we understand America right because we watch their their content that's why but that's not the reality of America at all”

Because people cannot escape the need for multiple identity-based causes or victimhood narratives, they gravitate toward a single vector (like climate catastrophism) that provides moral seriousness and a sense of purpose.

“this is why Co was so captivating on both sides because it gave us a righteous War to wage uh and again when you've got a multiplicity of ways that you can go with your life the manbox has been blown open nobody says that you should be this to for masculinity maybe I don't even need to get into a relationship I can just boss [ __ ] or like Insel my way through the next however many decades of my life do all this sort of stuff ah he a single Vector along which I can move I'm no longer in an open field I'm on a set of railway tracks”

The primary value of nightlife events is the other users/attendees, not the facilities, which creates unique mimetic dynamics where perception of popularity drives actual attendance, unlike normal products where users are incidental.

“nightclub events it's one of the only Industries where the other users of the product are the primary value of the product itself so if you ask one of your friends on you in your 20s mate how was last night and they'll say mate it was amazing so many girls in that club go hang no I asked you how your night was I didn't ask who were the other people that went to the event”

The Bud Light controversy was not primarily about the Dylan Mulvaney gift—it was a release valve for broader accumulated resentment at years of corporate political messaging and the sense that institutions are lecturing ordinary people about elite values

“when you look at the Gillette M toxic masculinity ad if you look at all the other instances where corporations put Pride flags...I think what people felt was here again we've got a corporation just absolutely taking the piss lecturing the ordinary public and thrusting these very Niche issues onto what is a very very like normal household beer and you just can't escape this [ __ ] that's what I think people feel it's kind of a straw that broke the camel's back”

The contrarian NPC is no deeper in thinking than the mainstream NPC; reflexive contrarianism is as unthinking as reflexive obedience to authority, both are following scripts rather than thinking independently

“the contrarian NPC is no deeper thinking than the mainstream NPC they're just the inversion of it...being a black sheep might make you different but you're still a sheep”

People love doomsday narratives, and there is an appeal to the worldview that civilization is at the gates (from the anti-woke side) and also to the worldview that the planet is dying (from the climate side).

“there is an appeal to that worldview and and if you look back NE neither of us are old enough but in the 1970s the planet was Cooling and everybody was terrified of global cooling terrified terrified of the population bomb absolutely now we're terrified of the depopulation it's it's what we love we love to think and I think there's a kind of like we live in special times oh like a mass solipsism yeah”

For men, the greatest threat to their own life is themselves (suicide); you personally are not the greatest threat to you because you feel fulfilled, successful, and in charge of your life

“if you are a man the single biggest threat to your own life is yourself you are more likely to die by your own hand...I've got suicide I've got suicide in my family so I know but I don't think you are the greatest threat to you that's true but...you just said you do and yet you are not the greatest threat to you why is that because you're fulfilled because you're successful because you're striving and achieving”

Nobody is truly a free speech absolutist; everyone's absolutism breaks when personally threatened, which is why executives who claim free speech absolutism quickly reverse when pressured

“the other argument is terrifying to me I don't think I've told the story publicly but last time I did question time...they went to the labor woman who was there very nice woman and she without batting an eyelid went I think we should have the safest internet in the world”

Optimizing for safety and optimizing for freedom are inversely related; the government official pressured to prevent harm will choose increasingly strict censorship, just as governments always have

“imagine you are in the hot seat and you've got the CIA the FBI the heads of government the whoevers your friends coming to you and going if you don't do something people are going to get killed and they are going to get killed and that's on your conscience”

The solution to men's problems is not feeling sorry for men but for men to be better; men should pursue greatness, improve themselves physically/emotionally/psychologically/mentally, and obsess with performance and fulfillment

“the solution to men's problems is for men to be better what's that mean uh you know what I mean look at you this is what your entire life has spent on bettering yourself physically emotionally psychologically mentally you're obsessed with performance you're obsessed with being better”

A person's values and worldview are communicated not through their words or opinions but through their deeds and who they are when the cameras aren't rolling

“what I would say as well is you know we were having a lot of tech issues on the day that we interviewed Sam and he sat there for like a good hour while we were trying to scrambling to get the microphones to work and he was the most decent human being that we've had on the show who someone really is when the cameras aren't rolling”

Ancient clay tablets from Egypt and Rome show that people have always complained about employees not showing up and made elaborate excuses for absence—human nature hasn't changed despite technological advancement.

“I saw a report from an ancient stone tablet from I think Egypt or ancient Rome uh that was a justification for why this employee hadn't turned up to work it was a sick note that he'd written and it's this [ __ ] elaborate story about what happened and the the wife and there was the catastrophe and all this stuff”

Good leadership requires both masculine traits (strength, willingness to say difficult things) and feminine traits (empathy, compassion); you need to raise both bars at the same time, not trade them off

“if you want to be a good leader for example right you need to be strong and you need to be able to say the thing that people don't want to hear and make yourself say the thing that you don't want to say because you don't want to upset people and other hand you also need empathy and compassion too like you want to be raising both up”

Men are in an era where being an actual man with drive, ambition, strength, and the desire for status/power/money is advantageous because the competition is removing itself by adopting emasculated values

“this is the best time in some ways to be a real man because you clean up the competition is is outing itself is taking itself out of the picture if you act like a man you clean up that's the position we're in”

Both 30-40% of Democrats and Republicans fear their children will marry someone of the opposite political belief, showing how tribalism has reached mating market significance

“there's a number of 30% or 40% of Democrats and Republicans fear that their son or daughter will marry somebody of the opposite political belief”

Woolly mammoth de-extinction and dodo bird reintroduction use genetic engineering to reverse human-caused extinctions and ecological damage, creating symbolic reminders that invasive species introductions have consequences.

“they're going to implant a uh whatever it's called stem cell plur potent stem cell inside of the Asian elephant so an Asian elephant will give birth to a woolly mammoth and then after a sufficiently long amount of time they'll get placed up north and they can do all sorts of awesome stuff uh for helping to fertilize the Arctic uh and he also wants to bring back the dodo bird the interesting reason he wanted to bring back the dodo bird was the reason that the dodo bird was killed off was because of unsustainable uh hunting practices”

Left-leaning women are experiencing a mating market problem where men exhibiting drive, ambition, and masculinity tend to come from opposing political views, forcing them to choose between values alignment and actual attraction

“there's a number of uh left leaning women who are lamenting the fact that they can't find a man who meets both their political preference and also will woo them appropriately on the on the date right”

If one believes Trump is as bad as Sam Harris thinks, then thinking along the lines that no matter what the other side does nothing is as bad as Trump is logically coherent; this is not the problem, the problem is the initial threat assessment.

“if I thought Trump was as bad as Sam thinks it'd be very tempting to think along the lines that Sam thinks along and likewise with Co if I thought this was like Eola that spreads”

Corporations replace their branding with pride flags in Western countries but do not do so in Russia, China, or the Middle East, revealing that corporate activism is virtue signaling rather than principled commitment.

“they replace their brand with not in the Middle East not well obviously not yeah did they do it in Russia they can't do it in Russia I doubt it”

Tech executives face a genuine dilemma: they are incentivized to encourage engagement, but engagement is achieved through amplifying anger and division, creating an impossible position

“I don't envy the big Tech Executives uh because it's a really hard job because the on the one hand you incentivized to encourage engagement and on the other hand the engagement is achieved by amplifying anger and Division and all of these things”

The solution to unhealthy social media use is developing a healthier relationship with the online world, which Kisin models through reducing time spent, decreasing engagement in dunking/mockery, and being more responsible in speech

“I think the answer to this is is a healthier relationship with the online World in particular uh My Hope Is that we get past this stage and work out how to use all of that stuff better I see it in myself like the way I use social media now is very different to the way I would have used it even two years ago so um I'm much more responsible”

Being responsible on Twitter is disincentivized because the platform rewards certain behaviors and punishes others—if you refuse to join in group pile-ons, you are labeled a loser

“this is why this is why it's disincentivized this is coming back to the point about incentives social media rewards certain types of behavior and punishes others so if you're the guy that says maybe we shouldn't you know pile on this person if your team is doing the piling on you're like the the one who's not willing do you know what I mean not willing to join in with stoning somebody and that's why you're a loser”

Jordan Peterson's breakthrough success came from telling people to take responsibility rather than pursuing victimhood, offering an alternative to the incentive structure that rewards claiming victim status

“this is why Jordan Peterson was so successful when he broke through because he was saying to people take responsibility”

The heterodox media sphere has problems, the legacy media sphere has problems, and independent anonymous creators are also unreliable; no single media source can be trusted completely and individuals must synthesize from multiple sources

“the heterodox sphere has its problems the Legacy Media sphere has its problems independent creators that just get to [ __ ] post anonymously on Twitter and Reddit also I like very unreliable”

Mainstream media should play a role of deep research, factchecking, and reporting, which they fail to do; new media cannot do these things at scale because they lack budget and infrastructure for verification, creating a role vacuum

“we don't have a budget to employ a bunch of people to do extensive research on things or to do factchecking for us so we can't do certain things that the mainstream media can do and should do the problem is the mainstream media isn't doing it either right”

Not everything can be fixed in a podcast conversation; certain things require serious research and deeper study that multi-hour conversations between two podcasters cannot accomplish, even though new media creates incentives to oversimplify

“I think where I agree with Sam even though I disagree with him on covid and and to some extent well to a large extent Trump and all those things is there not everything can be fixed on a podcast that is absolutely true there are certain things that are a matter of research and deeper study”

Kisin favors maximum freedom in media because people aren't stupid and will eventually seek out wholesome content; people can learn to compare sources and make up their own minds over time

“I think the truth is we need a vibrant ecosystem in which all of these different pieces play their own different roles um which is why I'm in favor of Maximum freedom because that's where you get everybody doing their thing and then you know over time people this people who want wholesome content if you like when it comes to facts or information or whatever can seek it out because people aren't stupid”

Sam Harris's Twitter controversy was preceded by worse claims on the Locals paywall section about COVID, where Kisin felt Harris was overestimating threat severity and prepared to demand drastic interventions as a result

“we talked about covid on locals which was the paywall section of the interview and what he said there I found quite what did he say I don't remember the wording and people have to go and watch it but it was you know I came away from that thinking that you know he's overestimating the threat and as a result of that is prepared to do some pretty drastic things”

Communist and authoritarian societies cover up failures (radioactive leaks, biological disasters) in patterns that would be familiar to anyone from those societies; if COVID came from gain-of-function research, similar cover-up patterns would be expected

“I grew up in a in a communist Society um and what communist societies do when there is something and all societies do this to a Lar extent because people don't like to to expose their own flaws...they will cover it up...if this is a product of uh gain of function research getting out into the real world which is credible that there's there's very credible assertions about that”

Young men feel their difficulties are dismissed as whining from patriarchy they don't feel part of; they're being made to pay for advantages their fathers/grandfathers had, which is unfair punishment

“many young men feel their difficulties are often dismissed out of hand as whining from a patriarchy that they don't feel a part of it seems like a lot of modern men are being made to pay for the sins and advantages of their fathers and grandfathers”

Trigonometry has invested in building a large team and infrastructure rather than maximizing immediate profits because the goal is to create a platform that can develop other creators and build alternative media institutions

“we've kind of created a factory for making content I want to bring people in who don't want to build their own Factory but who are very good as creators of making content...one of the reasons I haven't made their few money uh is that we have a big team as you do but we have we've always had a big team because we wanted to create the foundation for what we're about to do”

Everyone has embraced victimhood now across the political spectrum; the right-wing snowflake sphere is as prevalent as the left-wing snowflake sphere, but receives less public attention.

“yes the right-wing snowflak a sphere that nobody really ever talks about I'm pretty sure that you hate that even more than you hate leftwing snowflake as feere”

If we put a menu of options on the table, people do not have to choose all of them; using the guitar lesson analogy, not everyone wants guitar lessons but that is not an argument against offering them.

“you feel free not to go along with whatever we're putting on the table it's like if we put a menu of things on the table you don't have to eat everything no one is making you eat the gluten it's the Ricky jaice guitar lessons thing right no Want guitar lessons so”

With Brexit, showing up with EU flags at the Proms is not an effective way to achieve a second referendum; the method is disconnected from the goal.

“with brexit it's a political decision that is not reversible unless you have another referendum which in which case you free to campaign to have another referendum if that's what you'd like I'm not sure showing up with EU flags and the proms is the way to achieve a second referendum just I'm not political expert but that I there is a like a Resurgence of activism occurring at the moment”

Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket; this describes the trajectory of activism careers.

“every great every great cause begins as of mov movement becomes a business and eventually degenerates into a racket and there are many people in this country who made a career out of being prominent remainers”

Making energy more expensive through net zero policies causes pensioners to freeze to death in winter in the UK, which is not a desirable outcome if the goal is to improve the world.

“you know pensioners freeze to death every winter in this country now that doesn't seem like a good thing to me I don't think making energy more expensive for poor elderly people and them freezing to death on their own in their homes in the winter I don't think that's what I don't think if we were setting out to improve the world that would be one of the ways that we do that”

People in order land see people in chaos land as vigilantes, and people in chaos land see people in order land as tyrants; this binary opposition makes coherent dialogue impossible.

“the people that live in chaos land and prefer that look at the people in order land as tyrants and the people in order Land look at the people in chaos land as [ __ ] Vigilantes”

Constantine wants to take the best of US culture (enthusiasm, growth mindset, competitiveness, positive vision) and the best of British culture (restraint, tradition, stability) and meld them together.

“I want to take the best of the US stuff and the best of the British stuff and meld it together into into something really exciting [ __ ] yeah”

One of the most important gifts to bring to Britain from America would be enthusiasm—the American attitude toward possibility and effort is cultural strength that Britain lacks.

“I think it's probably going down very different paths in that you've gone to America where that attitude is prevalent I'd love to take it every time I go to America I come away buzzing but I'd love to bring more of that [ __ ] here that's how I see our future sat next to opposite Steven Bartlet yesterday and said if I could gift the UK anything it would be enthusiasm”

The reason to still talk about COVID is not nostalgia but because a future pandemic is coming and lessons must be learned while still fresh; the reason to move past Brexit is that it's a settled political matter unless you campaign for a second referendum

“with brexit it's a political decision that is not reversible unless you have another referendum which in which case you free to campaign to have another referendum if that's what you'd like...the reason to still talk about covid is that there is a future pandemic coming and we ought to learn the lessons of this one while we still can”

When Constantine's team interviewed Sam Harris, they had significant technical issues for an hour while trying to get microphones to work, and Sam was the most decent human being the show had had, revealing character off-camera.

“we were having a lot of tech issues on the day that we interviewed Sam and he sat there for like a good hour while we were trying to scrambling to get the microphones to work and he was the most decent human being that we've had on the show who someone really is when the cameras aren't rolling that seemed to me like a really important thing”

Constantine's view is that if one overestimates the nature of a threat, all else follows logically from that error; understanding this helps explain rather than condemn positions based on catastrophic threat assessment.

“my view on it is that if you overestimate the nature of the threat all else follows and I think on Trump and Co that that is where Sam in my opinion is is that's why he's doing what he's doing and saying what he's saying because if I thought Trump was as bad as Sam thinks it'd be very tempting to think along the lines that Sam thinks along”

Constantine did not put out the controversial clip of Sam Harris that went viral; they could have because they understood it was controversial, but they chose not to amplify it.

“and actually uh most people don't know this but that was not the most controversial thing he said in that interview in my opinion we talked about covid on locals which was the paywall section of the interview and we didn't put that clip out we could have done because we obviously understood that it was a controversial thing he said”

There is an inbuilt female frame placed around the conversation about male attraction and sexuality that does not fully account for the male brain's reward system and evolutionary history.

“there's a female frame that's placed around this conversation specifically that I don't think fully I maybe go as far as to say like sympathizes with the male brain reward system”

Constantine has had guests with very different perspectives (Navara Media co-founder, left-leaning creators) to understand different issues from different angles, because those perspectives are valuable.

“we've had a bunch of we just had the the co-found of Navara media on trigonometry the far-left YouTube no maybe not farle is it kind of corista supporting kind of people and others because we're trying to speak to different people from different uh places and really get to to what the bottom of is of different issues because those perspectives are valuable too”

Anti-Semitism on X has increased and requires blocking more accounts than previously; despite this, Kisin remains in favor of allowing anti-Semitism to be visible rather than driven underground, as public speech can be challenged

“there are people who say atrocious horrific [ __ ] there are people who will use the opportunity to be on a social platform to mobilize and do Terrible Things um now there's a big conversation now about whether there's a lot of anti-Semitism on X and actually there is there is I have to block more people...but I am still in favor of that being AOW out”

The worry with COVID is not only that we have not learned lessons but that we have got a 'vaccine injury' from the experience: vaccine skepticism has increased and everyone is stuck in their own corner with their own facts.

“my worry with everything that's happened with Co is not only have we not learned the lessons I feel like like you said we've got a vaccine injury from the experience and everyone is sort of stuck in their corner”

The positive vision beyond identifying problems is much harder to propose, which is why internet criticism focuses on problems rather than solutions—it's easier to criticize a problem than a proposal, and proposing solutions invites incoming criticism people preemptively avoid

“it's way easier to identify problems than propose Solutions right and you almost see this on the internet that if somebody identifies a problem it's kind of hard to criticize a criticism it's possible Right but it's way easier to criticize a proposal and it's almost like a defense mechanism that people have to frontload or front run avoiding the criticism that they know will become will be incoming”

Practical example of maximizing failure: choosing a vacation becomes stressful when comparing 30 hotels on booking.com; by the time you decide, the best options are gone and you're stressed before the holiday begins

“how many times have you done it going to go away on holiday with the misses and we're going to have a [ __ ] Airbnb or booking.com favorite list with 30 hotels or 30 places in and by the time that you get down to choosing them the choice has been made for you because all of the nice ones have gone and you're now two days before you leave right that's maximizing yeah and you're so stressed you need the holiday [ __ ]”

Kisin separates his assessment of Sam Harris into two parts: he has respect and grace for Sam due to their prior relationship and Sam's decency off-camera, even while strongly disagreeing with his stated positions on Trump and COVID

“with Sam what I felt was for me I don't know if it's true of other people but for me Sam has a lot of credit in the bank with me and so and so I felt that while I strongly disagree with what he said I think that was clear in the interview um he has enough credit in the bank with me that I'm willing to have a lot of understanding and a lot of Grace with him”

The shift from explicit dress norms for women to implicit expectations (watching gym videos with minimal clothing and expecting no male gaze) has created new standards that are unspoken and unfair.

“do you remember when do you remember the first time that wearing just leggings became a thing cuz I do cuz it wasn't when I went to UNI so it was after 2006 it was after maybe it happened while I was at Uni so maybe before 2010 but I remember thinking wow that's like that's like everything on display that's kind of like no pants yeah but then also kind of not and then now it's like oh that's kind of like no pants well like that's kind of like just a thong but blue or like purple or Lilac”

Rather than each creator operating independently, consolidation is coming to the media industry as people realize paying 5 pounds monthly to 70 creators is administratively impossible; platforms like The Daily Wire have executed the consolidated model successfully

“I see coming down the pipe quite quickly actually is consolidation uh this idea that you're going to give five quid a month to your favorite 70 creators it's not going to happen the admin alone will kill you right so people are going to want a place”

A man living in Malaysia commenting on American culture war issues and getting millions of views is not actually contributing to anything; he is just fanning the flames of whatever is going on.

“you've got like a guy who lives in Malaysia commenting on American culture War issues and getting like millions and millions of views for his commentary and whatever and he just go I see what you're doing there but are you actually contributing to anything do you know what I mean uh because it's just flaming Fanning the Flames of whatever is going on”

Dana White's success in UFC and his personal philosophy ('bet against me, I'll prove you wrong') demonstrates that competitive drive and building are themselves sources of satisfaction beyond outcomes.

“I [ __ ] love that guy I love listening to that guy I love the way he dealt with Co I love everything about it you've seen that clip it went super viral a couple of times where he says bet against me [ __ ] can bet against me tell me it's not going to work I love that [ __ ]”

There is currently no ticket-tape parade for non-healthcare-professional positive causes in America; the last one not related to healthcare was for Nelson Mandela in the 1990s, reflecting a culture of activism that can only be against something.

“the last time that there was a ticket tape parade for someone that wasn't healthc Are Professionals in America for something not against something was Nelson Mandela in the &39;90s so you have a culture of activism and of public displays of passion however can only be against something”

Nightclubs systematically create artificial queue lines (thinner than necessary) and take photos to appear busier than they are, manipulating perception of popularity to drive demand—a common industry practice.

“sometimes nightclubs hold cues and sometimes they make their cues thinner than they need to be so they look really long and then they take a photo because it looks like it was busy and we did that we did that all the time we still do the fresh as week next week in Newcastle”

The Daily Wire's model of centralized content production (studios, editors, control infrastructure) is highly efficient but creates risk of bureaucratic ossification; parallel independent creator growth like Trigonometry's approach balances efficiency with innovation.

“dude it's a it's a machine workshop for creating content yeah over there's the merch Team all they do is make [ __ ] tumblers and designs for t-shirts yeah here's an entire 3x10 row of editors all working away”

Constantine finds Dana White's approach to business inspiring because he represents a conquering mentality and genuine commitment to vision, not performative positioning.

“I [ __ ] love that guy I love listening to that guy I love the way he dealt with Co I love everything about it you've seen that clip it went super viral a couple of times where he says bet against me [ __ ] can bet against me tell me it's not going to work I love that [ __ ] every single time man like that energy”

We are living through a digital revolution for which we are unprepared, and in 10-20 years we will look back at current social media use the way we view tobacco companies promoting cigarettes—recognizing we were causing significant damage

“I think that we are living through a digital Revolution for which we're not prepared uh naturally that's what Revolution is right it's a change in in the Paradigm of how we exist so I think that 10 15 20 years from now we will look back at the way we use social media now and be horrified by it you'll you'll be a little bit like you know tobacco companies promoting cigarettes as a healthy thing to do”

Constantine does not have the same relationship with Dylan Mulvaney as he does with Sam Harris, so the frameworks for evaluating them are different.

“I don't have the same relationship with Dy malany and I also think you haven't taken a world of wisdom from Dylan milany over the last you'll be surprised man you'll be surprised”

Constantine met his wife at 18, married by 20, and has been together ever since; this has been his single most beneficial source of inspiration, comfort, and support.

“my wife and I we we met by complete accident when we were 18 married by 20 and been together ever since and the just on a very practical like what did I get out of it level it's it's been the single most beneficial source of inspiration comfort you know pick each other up when you're down all of that”

Repeated exposure to activists and commentators benefiting from perpetual complaint about Brexit has made some people wealthy and famous; they have no incentive to stop despite Brexit being settled, illustrating how incentives lock people into continued grievance

“there are many people in this country who made a career out of being prominent remainers and when brexit was over what are you going to do so they just carry on...people who I know there's like one incident that occurs especially like public stuff like some catastrophe or News St like people that are still talking about meline mccan do you know what I mean like I understand [ __ ] terrible situation but there are people whose entire lives”

Travel across different American regions reveals they are essentially different countries with different religions, people, ways of thinking, philosophies, and cultures, contradicting Hollywood's simplified America narrative

“the more time I spend in the US it it makes it makes me more right-wing in the in the American conception of like states rights because I'm going there's no I I had a fly from Salt Lake City to LA and you get on the plane in Salt Lake City and you arrive in La which is not that far and you go these are different [ __ ] these are different countries”

It is easy and deliberate to get clicks on X/Twitter by dunking on someone, and Constantine knows exactly how to do it, but he spends less time doing this because he does not think it makes the world or himself better.

“it's very easy and I think especially on on X or Twitter whatever you want to call it to get clicks and I know exactly how to do that which is dunk on somebody and I spend less and less of my time doing that now because I just I don't think that makes the world better I don't think it makes me better”