Seeing Public Figures as Human Beings

0:00 - Introduction
2:00 - How we're all composites of good & bad
4:00 - Judgment vs. understanding
5:33 - Humility & our fragile egos
7:03 - Our addiction to self-importance
8:48 - The problem of confirmation-bias
10:07 - Seeing Joe Biden as stupid
14:00 - Seeing Donald Trump as an arrogant jerk
17:30 - Letting go of our demonizing rhetoric
18:47 - Letting go of our self-importance
20:01 - Becoming a conduit for compassion & freedom

[@thattimestampguy]

0:00 We live in strange times 0:43 Idol/Demon/Human Beon 1:37 Contact with reality 1:49 Heal Divisive 2:47 3:50 Perceive real in play 4:25 Hardly ever understand, usually Judge each other 5:07 Judgement is easier, more common, faster 5:37 Understanding takes Humility, recognizing wrongness, fragile ego 7:02 Addiction to Self-Importance 7:28 Warm Bliss of Superiority over regulars and foes 8:11 Who doesn’t enjoy that? 8:49 The World is the way my judgement says it is 9:58 Skew Perception 10:28 Joe Biden - Stupidity, Fool, Nincumpoop 11:44 Calling each other stupid is a weak insult 13:45 Caricature division 14:13 Donald Trump - Narcissist, Big Ego Who wouldn’t want to be that? 17:40 Rhetoric is 1 thing 18:23 Drop it 18:47 Humility is essential

[@stephenpowstinger733]

I recall Aristotle saying politics is an important art but today it’s hard to have a sensible discussion of issues due to all the vilification of politicians.

[@marqpsmythe228]

Smart Video, Smart like Socrates. As for the “sophisticates” and politics: “…the superiority of the politician is only mediocrity raised to its highest power.” ~Gabriel Tarde

[@ericdodson2644]

Ha ha... nice quote!

[@tannerhagen774]

Brilliant video, I remember being young under the tutelage of adults and looking up to them as if they were some other race with all the answers only to find out, as an adult myself now, how utterly wrong I was. Interesting paradox, perhaps, of keeping the inner child alive (not so serious) yet not playing into these childlike approaches towards others that you so eloquently laid out.

[@ericdodson2644]

Yeah, it's one of life's great childhood tragedies when we discover that adults aren't actually gods... and that everyone's basically just guessing as they go along. Fortunately, it's also one of life's great ecstasies... because it means that we're quite a bit freer than we ever imagined. Anyhow, it's good to hear your "voice," as always. I hope you're well.

[@Craizon]

I love the message this video espouses as it is something that I have been working on for the past couple years. Now, as a 21 year old, I look back at my first time coming back home after going away for college. My parents were great at showing me that I was now an adult, and while still their baby forever, I am more so a peer as opposed to a subordinate (even though it took my dad some time to get used to). Being able to see my own parents as fallible human beings navigating this world to the best of their abilities, as everyone else does, allowed me to have better communication with them and understand why they do what they do. I then took that thinking into the public figure realm through sports. Athletes, especially ones that speak out for their personal causes, are nothing more than a person speaking their truth. After sports figures, I then was able to work on accepting politicians for the same thing. I do think its made me a much more empathetic person to everyone, especially in my personal life. Great video, great message, great man. You are a God who can do no wrong ED ;)

[@laneplaysuke8826]

I wanted to say hello while I'm watching the new video! I miss sitting in your classes in undergrad.. ahhh the "good ol days"

[@ericdodson2644]

Hi Elena... I hope you're well. I'm still in Carrollton, although retired now. Are you still in Georgia, or has fate carried you to some distant corner of the world? Well, wherever you are, I hope you're well and thriving. I always appreciated your presence as a student. Gratitude. Eric D.

[@laneplaysuke8826]

@@ericdodson2644 The world has carried me over to Clemson for my masters in counseling and I am learning so much :) And of course person-centered and existential are my favorites....

[@husseinmohammed8654]

Request 😬 Hello prof. Dodson I wonder if u can do another video about post-existentialism .. structuralism, deconstructionism and post-modernism ... P.S. I watched your video episode 6 of existentialism introduction ... Your videos matters, its life changing, cant thank u more.

[@davidohmart1336]

Most importantly dont trust them think for yourself question everything BE AN INDEPENDENT BE SMART

[@complexlogic8634]

Its funny how society is very critical of their public figures, only because the media deems it so...

[@dlloydy5356]

Great video. Bit corny to repeat maybe… a massive simplification I’m sure - ‘the world is a mirror’.

[@carl902]

How or why would you choose to see a public figure (overwhelmingly) funded by interests opposed to our values?

[@ericdodson2644]

Well, the answer to the "Why?" question has to do with how willing we are to perceive actors in the political domain in terms of the larger reality of the situation at hand... or whether our contact with that reality will be limited by the extent to which those politicians happen to agree with our own, preferred values and desires. And that larger reality would naturally include politicians' humanity -- the actual depth and substance of who they are as human beings, which of course has a lot to do with how they function in political office. And in any case, it's pretty much inevitable that some fraction of the time, politicians' values will be opposed to our own... and sometimes they won't. So, then the question is: Are going to let that happenstance determine the extent to which we're going to perceive who they are as human beings? Anyhow... I suppose that the answer to the "How?" question has mostly to do with learning to hold onto our political and ideological investments *loosely* .... and giving up the habit of clinging to them with a desperate, white-knuckled death-grip. When we're able to do that, then we can start to perceive the deeper reality of things, whether they accord with our desires or not. That's true not only in the political domain, but more generally in life itself. Anyhow, thanks for the thoughtful question. Gratitude. Eric D.

[@mattelgin]

ED and #2 for president!

[@ericdodson2644]

Ha ha... my #2 would probably make a better president than I would.

[@mattelgin]

@@ericdodson2644 Ha ha, yeah, I'm running on a similar platform if I ever do.

[@kaptinkanoodle5039]

This ties in well with themes such as "cancel culture"

[@dreamingdreamerdream]

Yes. Cancel culture is a psychological projection. People failed to recognize their own shadow and as a consequence projects them upon those people who make the same mistakes just like them. This is the failure to recognize their own inadequacies and responsibility and to blame others as an alternative.

[@redsparks2025]

sooooo basically no name-calling because what one calls others, others can call oneself

[@JK-bq3mw]

Burning Question I have for you is Do you know the celeb Candice

[@ericdodson2644]

No, you've stumped the celebrity panel. Who is, "Candice?"