Lex Fridman: commitment

Transcript context

…During grad school, I was reading Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, and he said, “I could sit with Plato and Cicero, and they would not flinch.” You know, by which he meant that the great conversation was for everyone, no matter what your skin color, no matter what your level of income, and even no matter your intelligence, you know? And I think that’s actually what, that’s why history comes alive for me, is because these are not alien people. You, you had asked how similar are ancient people to us psychologically. You know, and what their goals were for li- And I think the short answer is they were identical to us, which is why we can understand them. It’s why you should read things. It’s why you should read the Meditations because this is not just some dry whatever talking to himself in a culture that you cannot understand and can never recreate. It’s a human talking about being human, you know? And I think human nature has not changed, and I don’t think human nature will change. So we are flawed and broken, and we’re… that’s, that’s the human condition. We’re gonna be flawed and broken. So I don’t think… I actually think that’s the great, that’s the great question of history. If you wanna understand history, you have to know about human nature. What is our human nature? If you think it’s a blank slate and we can kind of educate ourselves to a utopia or, you know, like the Marxists said, then okay. Hasn’t really worked out, but okay. If you believe we’re basically bad, there’s a whole set of things that come with that. If you believe we’re basically good, there’s a whole set of… right? So, you won’t learn the appropriate lesson if you misdiagnose human nature. Yeah. I think the diagnosis that you’re kinda hinting at is, is seemingly the most accurate one, which is we’re flawed. A mix of good, a mix of evil, capacity for both. That’s right. That’s right. I mean, I have to teach my kids to be kind. I don’t have to teach my kids to be unkind. I mean, one of those is natural, and one is not. I think my kids can become kind, you know?…

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