Modern Wisdom &#8211; Chris Williamson

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

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14 Lessons from 5 Years Of Modern Wisdom - #589 Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

It's Modern Wisdom's 5th birthday!!

5 years ago on February 12th 2018 I launched this podcast with a conversation in my old company's office in the North East of England. Over the last 589 episodes, 1000+ hours and nearly 2000 days of working away on this project I've learned a lot, and today I'm going through some of the most important lessons and insights I've picked up.

Expect to learn the importance of a wide vocabulary, why all amateurs are narcissists, why learning about the reasons for your actions can liberate you or destroy you, whether you should trade youth for money, if you should be known for your takes or your work, why envy not greed drives the world, how to stop getting stuck in old patterns and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (02:00) A Richer Vocabulary Means a Richer Life (06:10) The Tension Between Success & Desire to Feel Like You’re Enough (13:12) The Danger of Believing Your Limitations (20:00) The Vestigial Pattern Bias (27:48) Envy Drives the World, Not Greed (31:25) Do You Want to be Known for Your Work or Your Takes? (39:20) Would You Trade Money for Youth? (47:13) Proximate & Ultimate Reasons for Human Behaviour (54:31) Don’t Outsource Your Self-Worth (59:11) The Tocqueville Paradox (1:03:55) Don't Underestimate How Normal the Normies Are

Extra Stuff:

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Would Any Man Choose To Be Cucked? - Dr David Ley - #588 Feb 11, 2023

Show notes

Dr David Ley is a clinical psychologist and a board member of the Sexual Health Alliance whose research focuses on issues related to sexuality, pornography and mental health.

Your partner being intimate with another guy should evolutionarily be one of the biggest fears of a man's life. Actually encouraging this behaviour seems almost unthinkable, and yet cucking is becoming a much more common pursuit and one of the most popular categories of online porn.

Expect to learn the stats around how common cuckolding actually is, whether cuckolding could cover up a husband's desire to be with another man, how often this goes wrong and destroys a relationship, whether sex addiction is an actual thing, some surprising research around porn addiction, how religiosity predicts dysfunction with porn and much more...

Sponsors:

Get 15% discount on Mud/Wtr at http://mudwtr.com/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM)

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (00:26) Why Dr Ley Studied Cuckolding (04:23) How is it Possible for Men to Find Pleasure from Cuckolding? (15:13) Is Cuckolding Repressed Homosexuality? (22:17) The Weird Dynamics of Female Cuckolding (29:00) Wider Implications of Cuckolding & Porn Use on Society (34:24) How Should Children Be Taught About Sexuality? (42:31) Role of Shame in Men’s Relationship with Porn (49:10) How Porn Use Impacts Motivation to Find a Mate (53:43) Advice for People Who Want to Improve their Relationship with Porn (58:18) Where to Find Dr Ley

Extra Stuff:

Check out Dr Ley's website - https://www.davidleyphd.com/

Follow Dr Ley on Twitter - https://twitter.com/DrDavidLey

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Of Human Behaviour's Weirdest Quirks - Rory Sutherland - #587 Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Rory Sutherland is one of the world's leading consumer behaviour experts, the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Advertising and an author.

Humans are an odd animal. Our behaviour sometimes makes very little sense, but when we exchange our money for products it can make even less sense. Thankfully Rory has spent decades studying the most fascinating parts of consumer psychology and today gives us some insights.

Expect to learn why having a Japanese toilet might change your life, why I've become addicted to first class airline cabin reviews, how ChatGPT will impact the marketing world, how to increase your luck in life, whether vaping should be banned, why VR hasn't taken off, if I'm buying McDonald's grease-proof gaming chair and much more...

Sponsors:

Get the Whoop 4.0 for free and get your first month for free at http://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Go to my sponsor https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom for 10% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help

Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and more from Athletic Greens at https://athleticgreens.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (00:26) Rory’s Thoughts on Liquid Death & Reverse Branding (05:04) Advancing the Ways We Watch Television (16:10) Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (20:20) Why Isn’t VR More Popular? (27:29) A New, Supersonic Jet to Replace the Concorde (35:43) ChatGPT’s Impact on Advertising (50:26) Rory’s New Purchases (1:01:01) The Current State of the Vaping Conversation (1:07:58) How to Increase Your Chances of Getting Lucky in Life (1:14:15) People No Longer Use Nuance (1:24:40) Why We Need to Stop Mono-Thinking (1:35:35) Typos that Turned Out to Be Successful (or Welsh)

Extra Stuff:

Buy Alchemy - https://amzn.to/3DyaBfo

Follow Rory on Twitter - https://twitter.com/rorysutherland

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Do Women Take Sexy Selfies? - Dr Khandis Blake - #586 Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Dr Khandis Blake is an Evolutionary Social Psychologist at the University of Melbourne whose research focuses on status seeking, the menstrual cycle & sexual politics.

It is no surprise that women try to enhance their beauty, put on makeup, wear high heels and sometimes take off some layers for photos. But what predicts beautification? Is it all a product of the patriarchy or is it something else? Just why are women making all this effort?

Expect to learn whether women condemn promiscuity more when they have sons, what predicts a high prevalence of sexy selfies, whether society has an incel problem, the relationship between makeup and female assertiveness, how income inequality motivates some very odd behaviour and much more...

Sponsors:

Get 10% discount on all Gymshark’s products at https://bit.ly/sharkwisdom (use code: MW10)

Get a Free Sample Pack of all LMNT Flavours with your first box at https://www.drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout)

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (00:26) Why Do Women Take Sexy Selfies? (06:55) Predicting Increases in Sexy Selfie-Taking (16:25) How Income Equality Impacts Intra-sexual Competition (22:14) Do Sex Ratios Influence Beautification? (28:51) Causes of Conflict Between the Sexes (35:04) Should We Worry About the Future of the Dating Market? (49:37) Does the West Have an Incel Crisis? (1:02:57) Is it Easier for Men to Self-Improve than Women? (1:10:54) Dr Blake’s Background in Gender Studies (1:18:19) Where to Find Dr Blake

Extra Stuff:

Follow Khandis on Twitter - https://twitter.com/KhandisBlake

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are Smart People Actually Happier? - Adam Mastroianni - #585 Feb 04, 2023

Show notes

Adam Mastroianni is a postdoctoral research scholar at Columbia Business School and a writer whose research focuses on how people perceive and misperceive their social worlds.

Does being smart make you happy? Does being dumb make you miserable? Why did the guy who created eugenics also get published in Nature for a revolutionary way to cut a cake? Adam is one of my favourite writers so today I get to ask him all these things.

Expect to learn why super smart people can be so stupid, Adam's issue with the productivity approach of eating frogs, whether you can learn arithmetic by smell, why humans misjudge what other people want to talk about, why we forget so many of the things that we've learned, how come it's trendy to call the general public stupid and much more...

Sponsors:

Get 83% discount & 3 months free from Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/MODERNWISDOM (use code MODERNWISDOM)

Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and more from Athletic Greens at https://athleticgreens.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Get 20% discount on House Of Macadamias’ nuts at https://houseofmacadamias.com/modernwisdom (use code MW20)

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (05:23) Why Aren’t Smart People Happier? (16:25) Adam’s Issue with ‘Eating the Frog’ (25:12) The Strange Work & Tests of Sir Francis Galton (34:31) How We Misjudge Conversations (38:26) What the Media is Overlooking in Society (41:04) Why We Forget So Much of What We Learn (49:45) How Adam Overcomes Writer’s Block (1:00:30) How We Misperceive the Sanity of Others (1:06:55) Is It Possible to Overcome our Inherent Biases? (1:11:11) Where to Find Adam

Extra Stuff:

Follow Adam's Substack - https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/

Check out Adam's website - https://www.adammastroianni.com/

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How To Take Control Of Your Attention - Dr Gloria Mark - #584 Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

Dr Gloria Mark is the Chancellor's professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California and an author whose research focuses on human-computer interaction.

Not being able to focus and suffering with distracted attention is one of the most common complaints amongst people in the modern world. The ability to stay focussed on a single task for a long period of time is hugely beneficial and yet has never been more difficult to achieve.

Expect to learn what attention actually is and how it works, the average amount of time that people spend on a single task in the modern world, why attention is so easy to distract, whether multitasking is actually a thing, how to take back control from your distractions, how to deal with guilt around being distracted, the best way to design your daily routine for maximum focus and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (00:56) Is Our Attention Worse Than it Was 20 Years Ago? (05:15) Misunderstanding How Attention Works (10:12) The Basics of our Attention System (17:13) Is ADHD Becoming More Common? (20:37) Seeing Attention as a Precious Resource (24:47) It Isn’t Humanly Possible to Multitask (32:42) Is our Relationship with Technology Addictive? (38:29) The Impact of Algorithms on our Attention (46:52) Developing the Skill of Self-Regulation (58:45) Don’t Use Social Media on Your Break (1:03:12) Designing Your Day for Maximum Focus (1:13:29) Where to Find Dr Mark

Extra Stuff:

Buy Attention Span - https://amzn.to/3HzL1ZC

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Population Collapse A Real Risk? - Stephen J. Shaw - #583 Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

Stephen J Shaw is a data scientist and filmmaker.

Over the last 7 years, Stephen has visited 24 countries and analysed millions of piece of data to work out what is happening with global birthrates and predict the earth's future population. The answer is shocking and literally every person needs to be aware of it.

Expect to learn how 70% of countries on earth are below the population tipping point, what the cause of such rapidly changing birthrates can be attributed to, why women seem to find motherhood less attractive in 2023, whether marriage rates need to be raised, if cost of living, hormonal birth control or environmentalism is to blame and much more...

Sponsors:

Get 10% discount on all Gymshark’s products at https://bit.ly/sharkwisdom (use code: MW10)

Get the Whoop 4.0 for free and get your first month for free at http://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Get 20% discount on Cured Nutrition’s CBD at https://curednutrition.com/modernwisdom (use code MW20)

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (00:17) Stephen’s Motivations for Studying Population Collapse (05:04) Whatever Happened to the Population ‘Bomb?’ (11:06) The Deeply Concerning Birth Rate of Western Nations (19:18) Do Women Want to Have Children? (36:07) Do Men Want to Have Children? (44:08) Are Finances Getting in the Way? (56:06) Is it our Moral Imperative to Have Children? (1:02:02) Why Industrialisation Correlates with Declining Birth Rates (1:09:22) Impact of Declining Birth Rates on the Economy (1:17:00) How Nations Can Improve Birth Rates (1:23:19) Where to Find Stephen

Extra Stuff:

Watch Birthgap on YouTube - https://youtu.be/A6s8QlIGanA

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok Dancing Through The Apocalypse - Zack Telander - #582 Jan 28, 2023

Show notes

Zack Telander is a weightlifter, coach & YouTuber.

TikTok may be a colossal waste of time, but at least most people consider it to be harmless. A recently blog post made me think differently and today we look at the world's first digital weapon of mass-destruction through pleasure rather than pain.

Expect to learn why Digital Dementia is a real phenomenon, how young girls are developing tourettes-like tics from watching videos, the dangers of atrophying focus through watching too much TikTok, why Grammarly and ChatGPT are no longer impartial, the awkwardness of vlogging a day in the life at Google when you get laid-off, whether calling a man bald is sexual harassment and much more...

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (01:22) TikTok Is Destroying the West (20:46) Grammarly Has Turned Woke (24:58) The Political Bias of AI Chat (34:18) Google & Meta’s Adult Daycare Ends (40:41) Calling a Man Bald is Sexual Harassment in the UK (46:21) Floyd Mayweather’s Return to the Ring (51:36) Dick Durbin’s New Supplement Law (1:00:16) Should You Approach Women in the Gym? (1:10:48) What’s Next for Zack?

Extra Stuff:

Gurwinder’s article - https://gurwinder.substack.com/p/tiktok-may-be-a-chinese-bio-weapon

Subscribe to Zack's YouTube Channel -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC94_fvLx7abZgs9LIkM7jxw

Get Zack's Program for $1 - https://www.patreon.com/zacktelander

Follow Zack on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coach_zt

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Understanding The Wonders Of Science - Neil deGrasse Tyson - #581 Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author and science communicator.

The universe is filled with mystery. Science has answered a lot and yet there's still so many fundamental questions which we seem no closer to understanding. What is consciousness? Are we alone in the universe? And why do people argue so much on the internet?

Expect to learn what would happen if the moon disappeared, how Neil has dealt with the fallout from Patrick Bet David's podcast, why Sir Christopher Wren was an architect troll, Neil's best answer to the fermi paradox, why the world of astropolitics will be very complicated, why your colon bacteria doesn't think very highly of you and much more...

Sponsors:

Get 5 Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D and more from Athletic Greens at https://athleticgreens.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Get 10% discount on your first month from BetterHelp at https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied)

Get a Free Sample Pack of all LMNT Flavours with your first box at https://www.drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout)

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro (02:35) Change the World By Being Effective (06:40) Neil’s Experience with Patrick Bet-David (11:00) Should Kids Study Maths Until They’re 18? (22:05) Society’s Need to Separate Opinion from Expertise (28:12) Dealing with the Harsh Truths of the Universe (30:30) Is There Consciousness Elsewhere in the Universe? (37:03) Should We Fear Living Microbes on Mars? (46:00) The Value of Metals & Rock from Other Planets (50:56) Consequences of our Moon Disappearing (54:13) Why Seasons are so Different in Game of Thrones (57:19) The Habitable Worlds Observatory (1:01:44) What Neil is Working On

Extra Stuff:

Check out Neil's book - https://amzn.to/3ZDrHlc

Follow Neil on Twitter - https://twitter.com/neiltyson

To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get in touch.