What's "Natural" anyway?

We discuss some modern misunderstandings about what the word "natural" and "nature" used to mean in the classical definition. This partially demonstrates just how wildly some words have changed over the century and it will give you a better understanding of how people not laboring in the Current Year looked at things.
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[@TheAnimateor]

>pausing the video every 5 seconds to read the memes instead of listening

[@flambo1500]

Downloading this one before youtube commits a crime against nature

[@MpSniperM1911]

after watching the entire video i had the same thought

[@MpSniperM1911]

videos.lukesmith.xyz/ at least if youtube zucc himself his videos will be online, but i think it's easier for the entire globe internet to be zucced instead of just google sites. And something i'm trying to change/do is memorizing stuff and not relying on "it is on youtube and i can get anytime"

[@reneramirez2951]

You can watch it on lbry.tv too

[@joshuajohnson3296]

youtube-dl is back up on Github so go for it!

[@MpSniperM1911]

@@joshuajohnson3296 i downloaded when they submited youtube-dl to the DMCA github, (i don't have the "nerd' vocabulary but i think you can understand)

[@Sanaki131]

lets be honest, you're just doing these videos to show off your latin pronounciation skills

[@kot3405]

>tfw latin is pronunced basically the same way my language is (classical) feels good

[@bigfish3428]

naaatuuuurraaaaa

[@kot3405]

​@Giovanni Pezzin (im no linguist or dont speak latin even, keep that in mind) my language (polish) shares most vowels with latin but there are some extras in both (i do _think_ most of extras of latin are present in polish not letter represents them; you often reduce vowels at the end of the word) as for consonants: v=ł, c=k

[@189Blake]

He sucks at pronunciation tho.

[@189Blake]

@Giovanni Pezzin You're right, any anglophone learning languages is an achievement in itself. XD

[@GhostofTradition]

I still don't know which disto is the most based and natural

[@flambo1500]

openbsd

[@MpSniperM1911]

@@flambo1500 not a distro but i get what you mean (i just want to install but the thing don't want to be installed on my notebook somehow)

[@desktorp]

@@hansymillery8309 patrician tastes, sir

[@Willwantstobeawesome]

Gentoo represents the generative process of compilation

[@8w73]

I actually opened this comment to see if there was a dumbass who already said TempleOS. I'm not surprised.

[@Ryan-rn3sq]

Coomers eternally BTFO.

[@nickc3856]

don't care still gonna keep my 40 Volt Belle Delphine FapMaster Pro 5000 blowup latex doll with 6 speed pulsating anoos hole

[@A_Box]

@@nickc3856 So... unnatural.

[@Phelan666]

Burnt The Fuck Out

[@A_Box]

@@abdulwahabjag Every day we stray further away from Jod.

[@hapatraditionalist1478]

@@abdulwahabjag Mankind is no longer deserving of His help.

[@JacobWK]

Are these like Not related minis?

[@Assault_Butter_Knife]

Not related > Linux """"content""""

[@Alejandro-vp1op]

This is all about minimalism

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

minix > linux

[@irreadings]

@@Assault_Butter_Knife Yeah, I wish we could have more linguistics, philosophy and theology content on this channel

[@dimitardimitrov3421]

Luke’s videos are some of the few around YT that don’t make me feel like I’m wasting time

[@filipmilosavljevic8316]

This is literally one of your best and most BASED vids ever. You should even dedicade a Not Related ! episode to it or for linguistics (love the linux stuff too tho)

[@hamobu]

So basically 'nature' really meant 'natural order'.

[@alicekohler9405]

if you didnt already make the distinction between the two given the context. You are either non-British or sub 80 iq.

[@wesleyrm]

He spoke of nature as nativity.

[@wesleyrm]

@@alicekohler9405 I think "Natural order" does not really make any conclusive distinction, in fact. What Luke talked was nativity, which indeed has a closer meaning to the original nascor/nasci/natus.

[@alicekohler9405]

@@wesleyrm cope

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

Yes. Nature in this case is closer to "essential" than "forest stuff". In a way it doesn't really make sense if your entire worldview is only materialist, because it is kind of an essentialist concept. It posits that every entity or being has a core essence, or a rightly ordered way of being, and that what is natural is congruent with that, and what is unnatural goes against that. In a way it is a kind of higher-order Truth then just what goes on in the biological or mineral world. An implication of a sort of platonic form that is within those material things but rules them. No not everyone necessarily thought of things exactly the same way, but I think this captures the general spirit.

[@literallynobody3311]

Luke i think your website has a rendering bug, it doesn't have any drop downs, the information is all easily available and organized and everything is so ugly and not wholesome!

[@cortezphenix9569]

it's great!

[@serratedwarstep]

The Nature Boy Ric Flair just took on a whole new meaning.

[@SoundsFromSound]

Woooooooo!

[@berkentekin8291]

In Turkish, nature means “doğa” and interestingly, “doğ” means to be born.

[@keedt]

same in Russian, приро́да, роди́ться. Most probably calques or loan translations.

[@soooslaaal8204]

In spanish it also conserves the latin root, "naturaleza" is nature and "nacer" and words using the root "natal" refer to the act of being born

[@J43rv1]

[userer.jpg meme redacted] Holy shit Luke, you are the realest of the real

[@albertoderfisch1580]

funny

[@DavidJBurbridge]

Interesting. Anybody who has ever practiced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu of course knows the originator Helio Gracie. He was the joint patriarch of the clan together with his brother Carlos. Anyway, Helio was pretty kooky but he had developed an effective system of wrestling with his brother based off of a dying strain of Judo they learned from Japanese immigrants who took part in "Vale Tudo" competitions. I'm going by memory here, and this is kind of a meme in the BJJ community, but he was famously against non-procreative sex. This lead to a lot of people making fun of this but he was pretty steadfast in his belief that sex is a creative activity He described being a young man and dating young women. They'd be interested in sex but he'd straight up tell them "Are you ready to have my child?" Most would balk at the suggestion - they were interested in sex but not getting pregnant. His idea was that non-procreative sex is not natural, and even if it is very pleasurable it wasn't fulfilling its purpose. Given this video I'm seeing what he meant in that. When Helio died he had dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and they probably number over one hundred now. They're also wealthy.

[@LukeSmithxyz]

Interesting. Most people in antiquity with this view of nature weren't so "extreme" that they thought that all sex acts should end in procreation, just that it is criminal to *impede* its potentiality, but I do think there were a couple early Christian theologians who went as far as saying that married couples should not have intercourse at all without the expectation of children. These people were usually thought as extreme by their contemporaries, but they have been out there.

[@DavidJBurbridge]

@@LukeSmithxyz I'm not sure about the specifics of Helio's practices but he might have agreed that the negative part is impediment of procreation where it is otherwise expected. I'll have to look up what he actually said.

[@A_Box]

#goals

[@MonkeyPunchZPoker]

All of which begs the obvious question: is watching porn with someone trying to get pregnant against nature (if you don't masturbate of course)?

[@0mnislasher1]

@@MonkeyPunchZPoker it doesn't beg that question

[@ArtyCraftZ]

I demand a source for all the artwork

[@Ihavegivenup825]

I second this.

[@h1dd3nllama]

@Macedonicus ​ @John Smith @Oleg libgen.lc/pictures/0-E/D/ Dore, Gustave

[@h1dd3nllama]

@Fortune Favours the Friendly right, he may well be in the libgen picture archives too

[@altEFG]

I hope you'll make more videos like these, Luke. They feel like a mini Not Related episode and a nice break from endless screetching at technology.

[@user-hd8tg4em2n]

Luke, this video is great. Awesome teaching! I'd like to request you make more of these types of videos.

[@malvarrosa1938]

I just realized that the meaning displacement is very much less severe in my mother's tongue, Spanish. I'm very curious about why that is

[@cortezphenix9569]

Pues, es que... Latin is much more similar to Spanish, than it is to English.

[@malvarrosa1938]

@@cortezphenix9569 It is, but I don't think that explanation suffices because english used to have that meaning but overtime it lost it but in spanish the nature of things is it essence, and I wonder what historically happened for that process to take place in one language in a more notable fashion from the other

[@malvarrosa1938]

@basteAndTurkeypilled lol no the stickness to the catholic church instead of changing to the protestant one roots in the inhereted philosophycal views held by the spanish that directly clash with the worldview embedded in the reformist church. Catholicism is a consequence more than a cause

[@iwnl_vale]

I realise anglos don't understand the original definitions of words like nature way more than latin derived language speakers.

[@nickkrasovsky238]

Anglos a Germanic culture, adopted Latin words to flex their knowledge of foreign tongues.

[@Apollo-tc6sy]

You should do a video on the modern definitions of natural and synthetic.

[@txoricin]

This is so _B A S E D_ I can’t even...

[@hansnotig6250]

just replace based with woke... welcome to 2017 cringe

[@hansnotig6250]

@@xerneastrainer8111 wait some years, til you realize how cringe this is

[@EvilThePyro]

boomer talks about natural stuff while playing minecraft in real life.

[@arrtemfly]

cool! fun fact: in russian, натура -- read literally as natura in latin -- still has the same (more or less) meaning!

[@movization]

yep, and for green stuff outside of window we have another word - priroda

[@arrtemfly]

@@movization люби природу, мать твою!

[@misterkefir]

Exactly the same in polish.

[@ubersoy2000]

Натурал😳

[@mustfaaboassd]

I know I might be alone but I love these videos more then the tech vids

[@reggiestickleback7794]

The art is making my eyes coom

[@enguibuck]

In "De rerum natura" ejaculating on a boy is depicted as a perfectly natural conduct. So: homosexuality does not go against the "old" definition of nature (at least prior to Christianity). We use today the terms "natural science" and "natural phenomena" and it doesn't mean "things that happen outside the window"; the meanings of "nature" and "natural" have evolved, but to say that they are "utterly different" is a long stretch; the old meaning is not absolutely detached from the current understanding of the words. Usurers in Dante's Divine Comedy are in hell because they sin against Art, not because they sin against nature; and it has being argued that homosexuals are there because they became obsessed with sex and not because homosexuality per se is a sin against nature. A naturalistic fallacy is a naturalistic fallacy regardless of how much you pigeonhole the term "nature".

[@mtnvortex]

Very nice, brother. I've been a strictly Linux, then Arch-based and Gentoo user for 11 years, and I just found you on Woes' schedule. I'm so glad to have found your channel, man. Looking forward to hanging around.

[@graysalmon5650]

Hey Luke, first off... Greetings from Ecuador. I enjoy your Linux content very much... Having said that, I enjoyed this video so much more. Nowadays, it seems we are leaving in some sort of Orwellian society where words are either being disappeared, or their meaning have been changed, and we as a society have become too lazy to even study the roots and meanings of words in whatever language we use. We disregard the classics to favor shallow, meaningless, and trashy modern 'literature'. I hope to see more of this type of content as I enjoy it very much. Keep up the great work. Ad meliora.

[@oldgrub]

Hi, I’m from Spain and I’m considering moving to Ecuador and buying land and stock. How’s life there? Is it as unsafe as people tend to say?

[@graysalmon5650]

@@oldgrub Hello, and hope everything is good with you. Well it depends off where you go. Most cities now are on the dangerous side with the exception of a couple. Cuenca being one of them which is pretty safe, however is on the expensive side. However it is beautiful and very colonial if you into that type of thing. If land and stock is what you interested in, then you have other options and will depend on whether you want to live in cold or hot weather. Depends on your liking. however if it's hot weather you are looking I would suggest you look for places in the south rainforest region, there are a few towns that are ppeaceful and beautiful albeit it may have difficulties with modern technology like internet access and stuff. I mean you could get it it's just a bit more difficult.

[@oldgrub]

@@graysalmon5650 thank you so much, amigo

[@graysalmon5650]

@@oldgrub Anytime pana.

[@nimbusinu1139]

At this point I just use yt to watch luke smith videos

[@ezequiel5260]

why not watch him on LBRY?

[@LukeSmithxyz]

videos.lukesmith.xyz RSS: videos.lukesmith.xyz/feeds/videos.xml?accountId=3

[@goeiecool9999]

@@basedbuddha777 You have achieved comedy.

[@hineko_]

at this point they literally banned everyone else I watched.

[@nimbusinu1139]

@@hineko_ based and schizopilled

[@BPTtech]

Just getting a notification when I been subbed for a long time, loved the Albion Seed, Schumpeter, and Linux app vids. glad you're still on the beat Luke!

[@constructivist6]

Have you read E Michael Jones? You talking about the seventh circle reminded me of Barren Metal and Libido Dominandi.

[@AngryDrake]

>usurer.jpg meme redacted Legit laughed.

[@user-wc3zi7lh4g]

2:46 Is that a Mandelbrot set?

[@misterkefir]

Yup.

[@dj3904]

just the sheer amount of dank images combined with what is being said is on another level here.

[@aenesidemus8819]

This principle of nature is best articulated as: "As far as the intention of nature appears in the constitution of man, we ought to comply with that intention and act agreeably to it."

[@wolfie8890]

what intention do you find? you seem to be presupposing a purpose or ultimate goal when there isn't one. Why is nature confined to reproductive purposes? Can it not be in extension when engaging in the passions of life? Is nature not propagating its modalities through the biological and causal constitution of the body that commits these 'sinful' actions? Read Spinoza!

[@kenba8176]

I’ve been waiting for this one

[@avavaviv1]

It's 2020 and there are still people out there who think nature means the green stuff..

[@uponthefaceoftheabyss4254]

God Bless you Luke, I wish you a very Merry Christmas

[@fABIO-cs3un]

I speak Italian and I've always asked my self why the word "Natura" was so close to nascita, natalità etc

[@tomgee8211]

I listened to the entire first season of Not Related on my hour long commute to work. Great to Listen to. I like the longer form videos, where you just go off on some random subjects ( Favorite was the Hominids/Out of Africa stuff)

[@hughjanimal9734]

2:32 My fam has always had this painting in the living room.

[@Koj4]

Huh, the Natural Numbers being called that makes even more sense now.

[@trailblazingfive]

Finally some quality content!

[@birdbrid9391]

kinda rude

[@linuxinside6188]

All of his videos have quality than your favorite box openers .

[@MattyFez]

Ah yes, the teleological argument against using systemd originally presented by Saint Terry.

[@arcade5765]

hahaha

[@user-oy2hr4mw9w]

"userer.jpg meme redacted" LMAO You are very based, my brother in Christ!

[@Enigmahax]

amazing video, it really makes you wonder about the world we are living in

[@jonphinguyen]

Aquinas in the thumbnail?! YO BASED AND CATHOLICPILLED

[@sigmundfreud4472]

@Walter Balatsch #blessed

[@zacharycarbon4312]

when rms published - into the void, an alternative to proprietary griftware; because he licensed freely, it was good.

[@nonnisite1954]

Just found your channel... this is really great stuff!

[@juzujuzu4555]

Great video, hope to see more of these. Live streams are great, but these might actually get some audience that isn't following Luke Smith in a way like disciples.

[@user-ro1cc8tz6d]

in turkish; doğa -> nature doğurmak -> birthing

[@treebeard7140]

Just found your channel really awesome content this is the stuff that keeps me up at night haha

[@Pariatech]

Oh boy we're reaching dangerously high level of based in this video!

[@DaneQueed420]

More philosophy, less think pad videos haha

[@chrisx1197]

I like your content Luke, keep it up. Thanks

[@alexanderbakhtin8596]

So I guess this is created with the script Luke flexed a while ago

[@LukeSmithxyz]

Lol yes. It can now deal with text and you can customize the background and foreground colors, etc.

[@GodwardPodcast]

Even as late as Emerson's famous essay "Nature," there was a widespread understanding of the "old" definition as you're giving it here. Crazy how fast we can lose ourselves by losing a few key terms.

[@nathanhayes8228]

Very cool. Not gunna lie, I definitely don't pay attention to your technology videos but this is what I subscribe for.

[@stuckmannen3876]

Nice pictures bro!

[@felixlipski3956]

Thank you!! So inspiring... 😌😌😌

[@hughjanimal9734]

*[userer.jpg meme redacted]*

[@st0a]

The long noses...

[@txoricin]

The _Small Hat_ triggered the algorithm

[@andersontorres6557]

.\

[@magnum333]

talk about censorship...

[@rbledsaw3]

> #

[@def9216]

Loved the meme selection. Smart guy, Luke.

[@Pariatech]

Luke is just a more articulate Varg. When will you start writing books?

[@fredericktarr8266]

A more sane but also Catholic popecuck Amerimutt Varg.

[@grahamthomason8796]

@@fredericktarr8266 you're probably joking, but for the record Luke isn't Catholic and says that if he were he'd be a Sedevacantist

[@pepepopo7100]

Thanks, very informative and super based.

[@THNKKY]

That gave me a lot to think about!

[@Smickyo]

Great video, just in time for Yule

[@owenjohns6301]

Luke thanks for making these more theological videos. I am enjoying them.

[@acts.412]

This is a great video Thank you :)

[@c.deg.7982]

Powerful boomer slideshow energy. Next Luke will roll out the CRT TV with VHS on a trolley. Or perhaps bust out an overhead projector.

[@burlydugong4851]

Luke, you have used "nature" and "natural" numerous times in your previous videos. I would love to know if you used it in the contemporary or the classical sense because as you just established the difference is critical!

[@MrJoseklon]

Your website background color is UNNATURAL

[@botbeamer]

Wow, really deep video bro Thomas of Acquinas was very smart

[@accountname4271]

C'mon, Luke. Let's get that Javascript tutorial up and running already.

[@AdolphusOfBlood]

The nature of things vs nature, people will understand what you're saying if you say "the nature of things" as it still holds this meaning.

[@majinperez6993]

I'd like to add taxes, regulation, red tape, bureaucracy, land zoning, contraception, and all the other things a certain tribe has bestowed upon us...

[@KabutoZombie]

is it just me or does "usury" sound a lot like that one other word you know the one something something greatest ally

[@sjuvanet]

wat can u pls elaborate?

[@d4rkAlf]

How would you relate celibacy to this context? On the surface level, it might look like willfully choosing to not procreate is also a "crime versus nature"? Is keeping a celibate lifestyle somehow also immoral? (I already have a feeling that celibacy, of course, is not a crime against nature. But I would love to hear the rationale beind it!)

[@JK-pi6ji]

hm.. not answering your question, but celibacy for catholic priests was certainly an erroneous practice in history, as it is foolish to breed out the intelligentsia.. some might have become priests to please their parents (Bernard Bolzano) and end up regretting it, because it was a great burden to bear. As it is indeed the natural thing to marry and have children. And another evidence could be that celibacy in some cases led to the 'unnatural vice' in some priests (pedos). On the other hand, like you, i don't think there's anything wrong with opting out of the entire game, although i'd also be curious, how it could be justified. (just imagine trying to explain your grandma you're choosing to not have kids, she'll think you have gone mad)

[@hedgeearthridge6807]

According to Christianty, a lack of sexual desire is considered a blessing. One could remain celibate and focus his/her life on serving God, rather than a spouse. But if one does have sexual desire, that's also a blessing in it's own right, and he/she should seek to be married and procreate. Contrary to Catholic traditions, choosing to remain celibate while having sexual desire is very dangerous. That's how you end up with pedo priests and such. Too much room for temptation. If you want to have sex, then get married and do it all you want. If you don't want to, then don't do it. Yes, it's really that simple.

[@alternateperson6600]

@@hedgeearthridge6807 if you have strong urges, you work on bridling them. You are not going to marry just because you want to coom, right?

[@himl994]

In the Christian context, celibacy is, you could say, the complete submission of that particular good to the highest good, which results in a higher good than child bearing. This is not to say that child bearing is not a good, but you have to understand that goods exist in a hierarchy. We all participate in that hierarchy at different degrees. The ultimate good for a human is to be united to God. So, celibacy in this context, is not a rejection of humanity, or a corruption of the natural order, but a radical acceptance of human nature. If you for example decided to not engage in sexual relations because you hate sexuality, you would be corrupting the natural order, but giving up that aspect of yourself to a higher good is moving up in the hierarchy and thus becoming more human. It might go without saying that not everybody is called to that in this life, and that’s okay.

[@brokenlegs8431]

It was simple hipocracy, being gay was viewed as icky so they considered it wrong. Celibacy was viewed as self control and as such despite being equally unproductive to "the natural world" was considered good

[@Phelan666]

Linguistics a should be required course for all fields. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[@shanghaislim1467]

I think this is very interesting and I agree that the word “nature” and “natural” have been subverted. However, I don’t believe that the average person in those time periods thought about whether sexual acts were generative or if they went against nature, the average person now doesn’t, so why would the average person then? Someone like Aquinas who was more intelligent than the average person, as well as being devout with his beliefs, had the ability to distinguish what was natural and what was not, most people don’t.

[@superchungus666]

great video!

[@reneramirez2951]

In the first example in Spanish we have a way to differentiate it, because if we read/hear "contra natura" (we understand the old meaning) it is not the same as "contra la Naturaleza" (current meaning) both are used in Spanish, I have heard it many times, interesting video...

[@nouidle]

Oh, so there is a nature as in "The nature of things"? That's something worthy of a 10 minute video.

[@cmalchik]

if destruction of the environment leads to destruction of the human species, isn't protecting the environment something generative/continuative/natural in the older sense?

[@KaiserTheAdversary]

I keep telling you Luke, you gotta check out Heidegger. I'm sure you'd greatly appreciate his discussions regarding the original Greek experience of Phusis in the Introduction to Metaphysics lectures and the decisive impact that Latin had on the development of Western thought.

[@xealit]

That may be just a current American-only fashion that “nature” means a “snapshot of all the green stuff” instead of some “natural order of things” sort of thing.

[@Konzon]

Based.

[@Stephenfg123]

I'm not from an english speaking country, and this video has made me very curious. Literally everyone I know uses the word nature in the way that you explained. Watching this has made me feel weird, like I'm in a parallel universe where words have different meanings. Question: Is it really that common for people in english speaking countries to misunderstand the meaning of the word nature? Can it really be called a misunderstanding? I mean... every society has it's culture. After all, cultural evolution has this property of assigning new meanings to words and symbols

[@fredericktarr8266]

Heterosexuality and non-compound interest rates.

[@JohnBuck]

Great video as always! Can someone please proved link to German artist which Luke uses for his wallpaper. Thank you.

[@saganawski]

Came for the code, but love these type of videos

[@DrButteFatman]

hey luke, you've spoken on livestreams about not being able to discuss certain things on youtube. do you think you could ever make videos in this style about those topics for peertube?

[@seamusoblainn4603]

I think this is a reflection of young urban people; "the nature of things" or the way animals and the world works, is a very common sense of the word.

[@m4kulatura]

i love how when luke says Natura (0:46) just like in polish. it is kind of funny

[@comodsuda]

Great RRRR. Really appreciate your pronounciation

[@patrickprucha5522]

completely agree with you!

[@akinhetito]

yeah , except people in the past lived exactly the opposite of what the few who's books we are reading wrote , it was always so and it is so now , what a few write is not in any way representation of how we live , there is no good old way and never was , but i do agree that the ideal is what we should strive to no matter how messy life gets

[@Ihavegivenup825]

Very nice.

[@teacon7]

This art is great. What are the chances you'd be able to label the classical pieces as like a subtitle or something? Low to middling? Thinking especially of the pic @ 5:13, but there were plenty of great ones.

[@phineasg7709]

The hippie voice is so good.

[@indermandteam]

You mentioned a good, and old, book for learning latin in a boomer rant quite a while ago, other than that one book, have you come across any other good resources on latin since?

[@LukeSmithxyz]

Maybe Collar and Daniel's? Check my page on it: lukesmith.xyz/articles/latin If you meant a book from antiquity, Isidore's massive Etymoligiae is a good thing for an intermediate Latin learner to read because the whole purpose of the book is to explain words and concepts in simple terms.

[@indermandteam]

@@LukeSmithxyz yeah, collar and daniels is the one I remember, went to go look for it in your old videos. That one sounds interesting will definitely look into that, thanks

[@indermandteam]

The Etymoligiae that is