Purpose and Sobriety: An Interview with Jackson Crawford

[@johnconnor4136]

Just wanted to comment here to proudly share that I've been sober for 1,825 days.

[@stolman2197]

I've spent most of my adult life trying to convince teenagers that they can be interested in what they're interested in without worrying about what others think

[@Jalkr]

That's what unschoolers excel at. They learn what they want, when they want. And do just fine in the real world

[@cindybidwellglaze7698]

Congratulations on seven years sober. 🎉🎉🎉

[@MC-hx6xn]

27:28

[@scottnance2200]

Okay, Jackson. I went to an excellent university (University of Virginia) and an excellent law school (University of Michigan). I teach at a very good law school (William & Mary). So I know something about quality education. I speak Swedish, so I know at least a little something about the Norse languages. And you videos are as high quality, as effective an educational tool, as anything I have ever encountered. You are the future of specialized education. That somebody like me can access a world-famous expert on an admittedly niche subject that I love may even make the Internet worthwhile.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

While I didn’t pursue higher education that far, I can agree with you wholly.

[@fizeekpoaster]

Great conversation, Jackson. Congrats on so many years sober, very inspiring.

[@Zoroff74]

What impressed me the most about the sobriety is the rationality priority that made Jackson so readily accepting of the dependency, and later the depth of the abuse and subsequent choice to just quit immediately. As someone who has spent 35 years thinking about human behaviour and cognition, cases like this are rare and wonderful to behold.

[@peterszeug308]

Very inspiring! Shame on me for having had missed thus far, how great of a rolemodel you are!!!🎉🎉😊😊😊

[@agesisafk131]

Thank you Doctor. Last I heard you speak of sobriety I was 5 months sober. At 2 years+ and listening to you speak on it again means a lot. A professor is, at its core, one who professes. You sir are the quintessence of a Professor.

[@stanandflan]

Thanks for sitting down and chatting with us, and being the embodiment of the Cowboy Hávamál! We learned a lot from you, genuinely. Let's go to Finland and do Glima!!!!!!

[@breakingdry]

Finland? Glima?! I means, sure, welcome to Finland! But why do an Icelandic sport in Finland, where nobody knows what Glima is?

[@CailinRuaAnChead]

Dr Crawford you absolutely are a big deal, don't sell yourself short. You are very knowledgeable and quite the inspiration

[@阳明子]

Dr. Crawford is such a fantastic speaker.

[@Norascats]

Thank you for your recovery story. It can happen to any of us. You recovered on time. 40 years here.

[@samjon4]

Good man on textbooks. I no longer require textbooks in any of my classes, so long as students have access to the texts. College textbooks are a monopolistic racket.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

I actually kept a few of mine simply because of how much I spent on them. (Mainly the ones I kept were found to actually be useful, so they earned a spot on my shelves.)

[@cindybidwellglaze7698]

"Success from doing what I'm told not to do" is very inspiring. ❤

[@fredeuhrbrand3789]

Congratulations Jackson. I am one of the people you helped just a little bit. I'm going almost 3 years sober now. Thank you. Cheers :-)

[@TheBibleHistoryShow]

“Top layer of the priesthood.” Might have to steal that

[@redbeard3946]

This was great. I've always considered sobriety for a small amount of time and the idea of saying "I'm going to forgive myself even if I fall off the wagon" does actually make a lot of sense. Thanks!

[@MichaelWalker-de8nf]

I'm sober 16 years in June and I've never looked back. Thank you for sharing your story and teaching a half Dane about his kin. I appreciate you so much. Oh, and I'm a Spyderco fan as well ❤🤘🏻

[@paulahayward7148]

Currently trying to get my perfectionism out of the way to finish the third chapter of my dissertation, so thank you.

[@Drewe223]

Love this interview. Always wish you did more content just talking to people, you’re a great conversationalist. Only issue with this was the audio quality.

[@j-rod4217]

This was brilliant. Thank you brother.

[@melissahdawn]

I appreciate the perfectionism discussion most of all. It is paralyzing, it helped me to redefine it as complete, but this talk is better to realize matters are not final.

[@Glassandcandy]

This is like “My Dinner with Andre” but inherently way cooler.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

@26:05 and this is probably why this word in modern Faroese and Danish means "boy". The forms being drongur and dreng respectively. Great interview, and congratulations, Jackson.

[@mytube001]

The Swedish form, "dräng", came to mean "farm hand".

[@weepingscorpion8739]

@@mytube001 Yes, I knew there had been some semantic shift there too but just wasn't sure. Tack!

[@danemeow8]

This was incredibly insightful to watch. some cool questions and even better answers that made me think more than I have before about the Norse Gods and mythology. I also truly appreciate you talking about sobriety as I too struggled for a long time and am now happily about 9-10 yrs sober, and I agree it needs to come from within, and sometimes the impetus can be a fairly practical one if you are mostly functional, but it doesn't detract from the determination in my experience, as long as you truly mean/want it. Very awesome chat, THANK YOU! PS as an artist I really enjoy when you talk about colors and color theory in Old Norse or the Myths, I think the one about the color blue and black was one of your first videos I watched, (I also heartily enjoyed the Dinosaur themed vids lately) so thank you

[@beepboop204]

i cant do sober (unless California Sober counts) i am very much a Sinclair Method guy. most important thing i got out of doing a cooccuring disorders program is recognizing that "i am doing the best i can" where ever i am with my struggles. i still struggle with purpose, but i find purpose in adhering to my routines. cheers and thanks for sharing

[@Glassandcandy]

Thank you so much for uploading this. My brother really likes your stuff on Vikings and is currently suffering from the throes of alcoholism. If my brother won’t listen to me or our mom then maybe hearing you talk about it will help him realize that he needs help and that it is possible to recover and fix his life. Alcoholism runs rampant in my family. My other brother and I had to organize an intervention for my dad because he was drinking himself to death. My uncle is functionally disabled as what’s called a « wet brain » from decades of homelessness and severe alcohol abuse. He can’t dress himself, he can’t fix himself a plate of food, he barely talks, he even has bathroom accidents- alcohol has effectively turned him into a 60 year old infant. I worry one day that will be me and my brother, and I’ll be taking care of him because the only other option if I don’t is his becoming a ward of the state.

[@kennethjohnston9736]

Good conversation, coffee, and cigars will bring out the philosophical side of most people!

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

Seems like a good way to get some good thinking done.

[@theskoomacat7849]

I'm proud of you Dr. Jackson, I'm trying to quit as well. Good luck in the future!

[@lordhuggington9615]

Stay Sober!! Well done.

[@MrsCyImsofly]

Thank you

[@Richard0292]

This was excellent. Thank you.

[@jaysonparkhurst7422]

I'm very grateful for having listened to this conversation

[@clazy8]

Love the story of your grandfather.

[@hjalti0000]

I'm actually glad you decided to take your expertise out of the college classroom, which, as you said, is just fleecing people. I wouldn't know basically any of the things I now do if you hadn't. Because let's be honest: Who was going to fly to America, or move to a different state, just to learn about the old Norse language? Very few have the ability or the finances to do so. But now that it's on the internet, anyone, anywhere, can learn. And yes, I realize being a "youtuber" is rather tongue-in-cheek, and perhaps not as glamorous as some other line of work. But you're one of those unique figures (now, in history) with the right knowledge in the right place and time. So don't underestimate your value.

[@Henrique-wy6cv]

Keep it up Dr!

[@maxsonthonax1020]

Purpose goes a long way. Finding that anchored within yourself & actually out in the world simultaneously, able to be pursued, is key.

[@styledtoperfectionx]

Had to pause the video to read the Hávamál for dummies blog😂 Worth it. Ps. excited to sign up for your beginners Old Norse class this summer!

[@woolwell_farm]

Great conversation on all counts, and major congratulations on seven years. Forty-nine years here, have never looked back. 8-)

[@oniwrath]

It's always interesting to hear these stories. Even in a more casual conversation. Great pod bro! 😁👍🏾

[@melisnAk]

And I thought your channel was "Rock&Roll" before😊this. So glad I found it. Thankyou for sharing. Felt very relatable, and humanized you. And was helpful. Im terrifies of the DT's. And also like the $ part thats about all would probably make me quit😑my kids are grown fyi lol.would love ❤️ to see more like this. Congrats on your sobriety.Just a girl,trying to get sober in Alaska

[@paulaunger3061]

Thanks for sharing. Jackson is a wonderful speaker, so interesting. I've thoroughly enjoyed this interview - and congratulations on seven years sober! xxx

[@2dazla8]

Great discussion, all. I enjoy your KZbin channel, Jackson. And, congrats on your almost nine years (if this was recorded in 2022) of sobriety!! 🖤

[@WasOne2]

KZbinr? Did you mean Public Educator? Public Education is wonderful.

[@Mikkel-Hansen]

This was great, thank you.

[@phillipr.mctear8962]

cool ! Jackson

[@andrewkeiper62]

I think I’d describe you as a public scholar. Also, congrats on seven years!

[@x.sanctus]

Congrats on your lasting sobriety! I'm a big fan of your content.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

I have The Wanderer’s Havamal and I love it. It’s a heady read, but the explanation of how to pronounce and read old Norse along with the interpretation into English is awesome. I think I’m going to have to find the Cowboys Hávamál. 😂 On the Oath note, I think it all also serves as a warning to not issue “I swear…” as often and as flippantly as people do these days. I take my word deathly serious and don’t make promises that I haven’t given due consideration to fulfilling.

[@xwngdrvr]

I've got 99 problems, but a niche ain't one.

[@lmartell8412]

You forgot bird spit! I love that story. Great interview.

[@lissymylass]

This was extremely interesting, and also helpful. I’ve been watching your videos for years -I grew up in Colorado, so they’re like a piece of home-and always wondered about how your background. I was curious as to how Vikings and Cowboys mixed. 😂 I kind of hit that point where I’m trying to start over after my life plans fell into ruins. I’m trying to start again, (going to college for the first time-starting in three days) and this was very encouraging. Thank you for putting it out there.

[@JakePryor-nj3iz]

Getting stuck in California would drive anyone raised in the mountains to hit the sauce.

[@melisnAk]

2 😮ok I'm only at 1 so I can do this. Thanks for sharing

[@EpikNyan]

Jackson, if it makes you feel any better about being on camera, sometimes I'll put your videos on in the background like a podcast! haha

[@wickerofthewood]

I think another thing that is difficult [culturally? emotionally?] about education and learning is that not only are we told that we didn't learn anything if we didn't pay for it, but we are also told that we didn't learn anything if we don't have a validating paper to show we learned it. If we spend four years studying but don't get a bachelor's, we didn't 'finish.' No matter how long or how seriously we pursue a subject, if we're not doing it to get a certificate of some kind then it's not 'formal' and that means it isn't as good. Universities can give us validating papers; KZbin cannot. This is not to say that KZbin -should- give us validating papers, because we shouldn't value them in place of the learning itself, but it's very difficult not to in this time and place.

[@cspahn3221]

26:50 queen

[@Jalkr]

As a parent whose sons and daughter were not sent to formal schooling at all, yet who all have productive well-educated lives, I am so very glad you've decided to have a KZbin channel.

[@polishedcryptid8212]

You can take the academics out of academia, but we will still talk about how awful working conditions in academia are.

[@punggung666]

Eeesh. The audio fluctuations are bothersome.

[@C_B_Hubbs]

TLDW: The mainstream education system nowadays is largely a racket. Being taught by people who are knowledgeable, competent, and passionate is what really matters. Shut up and listen. Mean what you say. Live by your word, even if for nobody else but yourself.

[@arkaig1]

The "auto-didact's lament" is not so much a lack of context, but a lack of proportion & priority. That's where educators can help with the next step in online learning. Or is that the sobriety, already? My [foremost] issue is tobacco... so I'm watching this scrolled down, eh.

[@DrFrankenskippy]

Great presentatiion ... I would argue that the acts deemed 'selfish' (there is no trying escape fate, moreso total acceptance of it and acting selflessly with that knowledge)TC 56:30 by many when observing some stories of the allfather are actually 'selfless' as all these aims are carefully orchestrated to assure the ultimate excessive imbalance shift towards chaos that would ensue otherwise is not at risk. You can see it as 'crazy wisdom' i.e. common people cannot see with enlightened vision and hence the acts appear crazy (the wilder self sacrifice and other acts) when they do not realise the ultimate balance of the cosmos at times depends on acts that that are hard to fathom. No pt taking these stories too literally of course as more can be absorbed metaphorically. So I would argue in the case of the 'eye' lost for wisdom it is mostly represented as the 'right' eye which represents the left (logical egoic aspect) of the brain so that the deeper intuitive creative right side can reveal greater wisdom and 'true sight'.

[@carstenbohemus8501]

There’s definitely a ton more niches, nitches, Nietzsches on KZbin.

[@CharlesOffdensen]

The Sagas are much closer to modern-day art than anything else from that time, like King Arthur stories for example. A big part of it is that the pagan viking society was closer to us. Women had a bit more freedom than in other medieval countries, people played sports and board games for fun, and people overall had more freedom. As for the creation myth, it is more or less the same for all Indo-Europeans. The world was created from the body of the Twin (Ymir, or Romulus). Thor's hammer is another example of the common Indo-Europan religion, or maybe even from an older religion.

[@DaeronValyria]

Good podcast. Just a lot of background noise.

[@chrisanderson3806]

nyfiken

[@Duskbear]

Very keen on listening to this, but the sound is ATROCIOUS.

[@redbeard3946]

I think I'm going to soldier through it while imagining I'm living inside a fishtank for an hour.

[@redbeard3946]

Oh 2x speed kinda helps.

[@BodyPressCorviknight]

it's not that bad

[@primaballerina84]

Gets better after a while, or I'm just adapting 😅

[@L-mo]

I find the cigar smoke distracting

[@toddapplegate3988]

No peer review. So yes but no

[@Mikkel-Hansen]

Things will change, this will come too, outside of unitversities.

[@DPRK_Best_Korea]

Peer review as it is within the University system is already a joke for the majority of fields.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

@@DPRK_Best_Korea The dirty little secret of modern research. When you have hoax papers credited to the hoaxer’s dog published in hard science journals what value can really be attributed to peer reviewing something about a dead language anyways?