Confucius (or, What to Do When Elites Break The Rules) | Philosophy Tube

[@PhilosophyTube]

I tried to make a nonpolitical video about Chinese philosophy and Confucius was like "Nah dog"

[@hexx6120]

😐 I don't get it

[@threehotdogs]

谢谢大哥，我是个香港人。加油！我爱你！

[@razorel]

cancelled :0

[@joannassienkiewicz1997]

A nonpolitical PhilosophyTube video? Thank God we avoided that fate

[@jesspavlichenko5745]

🥺 I haven't watched the whole video yet of course but what about Lao Tzu

[@olefredrikskjegstad5972]

"... and then he died" This is a very underrated joke that slips by unless you know a little Chinese history. Qin Shi Huang sought immortality, and ended up ingesting several "immortality elixirs" with ingredients like mercury in them, which modern scholars theorize may very likely have cut his life short. F in chat indeed.

[@mathieuleader8601]

mercury did a terrible thing to Voldemort

[@Equistration]

F

[@mellonthegrey1976]

So, similar to Gilgamesh?

[@marciamakesmusic]

The parallels to today are staggering. Inb4 Trump actually injects bleach

[@beruman]

"and then he died" (news of trump getting corona) well that impression has potential

[@sasharenee252]

The Ji Family's been awfully quiet since this dropped

[@cacksm0ker]

Top 10 philosophers Ji family was afraid to diss

[@drdoominstien713]

to be fair they've a little quite for a while now

[@amellirizarry9503]

idk if the are supposed to be the 500bc version of the Lannister or the republicans

[@carolinemcgovern4488]

@@amellirizarry9503 They give off huge republican vibes to me.

[@jeffreylaporte6525]

@Nigel1048 I don’t think any spelling using latin letters is older then a century or two

[@DavidCruickshank]

"If you set an example by being correct, who would dare to remain incorrect?" Confucius you sweet summer child.

[@xunzi4327]

David Cruickshank this passage makes sense when you read a lot more of the Confucian Canon. Just saying that makes the Jordan Peterson joke sting a lot more.

[@sleepyparadise8846]

Ned Stark, Ultimate Confucian

[@crystalheath6510]

This reminds me of the newest Thought Slime video where he talks about how people in the West Wing act when they are confronted with facts and logic.

[@mouyeii]

oh no. What happened to the supreme court, Confucius? What happened to the supreme court??

[@ujjwalmishra8962]

Bruh the naivity

[@zarathustracave5732]

Translating Chinese to English can have hilarious consequences. When I was in Beijing I kept seeing adverts with a helpful English translation that read "delicious fungus of milk" and I thought, "mmm that doesn't sound very nice". Later on I realised they were on about yogurt.

[@zarathustracave5732]

@lol ???

[@toothfairy10133]

they did say it was delicious!

[@louiemiddleton866]

"This product may, upon setup, have child's diseases." It was supposed to be "teething problems"

[@essie23la]

wait so is fungus and bacteria sorta the same in common (like, non-scientific) chinese? Or is it a poor translation of "fermented"?

[@zarathustracave5732]

@@essie23la no idea

[@SemiIocon]

Nobody thinks of their own society as having a lot of rituals, because when you grow up in it, they are second nature to you.

[@authenticbaguette6673]

Autistic people would like to say hello ..

[@oo88oo]

A fish in water sees no water.

[@AmunRa1]

Reminds me once when I was talking with a family member about standing for the national anthem with your hand on your heart, and how it was just a patriotic ritual of no real importance. The seemed to be completely offended by the term 'ritual' for that, despite the fact it's literally a ritual.

[@daedreaming6267]

@@authenticbaguette6673 can confirm...

[@hannajung7512]

@@AmunRa1 what I find hilarious on your story is that you called their precious gesture “of no real importance“ and they got hung up on the “ritual“ part...

[@patriciamcgeorge2575]

"The Chinese never had a secular enlightenment, which is why we need to teach them about the greatest Englishman of all time, Jesus"

[@hubertblastinoff9001]

This is like... Not even all that hyperbolical.... Like, during the height of the British Empire some Brits legit believed they were somehow the descendants of the ten Lost Tribes and Jesus walked on English soil....

[@idontknowanymore9966]

Hubert Blastinoff the british are a incredible species to study

[@FakeSchrodingersCat]

@@hubertblastinoff9001 What do you mean with "during the height" as if those people went anywhere? There are still people who sing Jerusalem and mean it.

[@yannickvanhoutte4403]

Well, put people on an island and you get strange results. Look at Japan. :p

[@hubertblastinoff9001]

@FightPeople Indeed. Quite so.

[@cloudfrost8403]

I went to an Oxford open day for philosophy. Professor: *talking about the wide variety of philosophy you can study at Oxford* Chinese student: What about Confucius and Chinese philosophy? Professor: We don’t do that here. He said something about Eastern philosophy not being analytical, and closer to spiritualism than Western philosophy, but he sounded almost exactly like the historian character.

[@alexei2249]

That's bizarre. Depending on your university within the United States, you can major solely in Eastern and Chinese Philosophy. Even my junior college has an intro to Eastern Philosophy class then again I am on the west coast where there is a massive Chinese population.

[@JL-dance]

im honestly tired of intro level philosophy being only about the greeks. there's no valid reason for us only to learn about plato & friends other than old white guy not wanting to learn something new about history

[@bellaforristal7099]

Yoo I study Philosophy at Ox and there are lots of student efforts to get Chinese philosophy more talked about - Minorities and Philosophy and People for Women in Philosophy are both active and there was loads of stuff on it last year!!

[@NotBamOrBing]

Excuse you, Sir Nigel Piss has a name, and it isn't "the historian character"

[@gwenrees7594]

R R R R R RAAAAACISM

[@itsrainbow123]

All of the business lesbian comments aged like fine wine and i am here for it

[@komlat253]

😆

[@ashkenazi-auntie]

abi priddy

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

@@ashkenazi-auntie correct

[@JohnQ5]

@@ashkenazi-auntie Always has been and, likely, always will be.

[@velvet16]

How do you warn someone that you're gonna call them a racist in Parliament? "Hey Boris, just letting you know dude, I'm about to call you a racist in like 10mins or so. We cool?"

[@tahaammari2094]

I wish I could like this more than once 😂

[@paulbottomley42]

I believe you have to warn any other MP if you're about to mention them in Parliament. Usually I think it is something of a formality but probably a bit different if you're planning on calling the Prime Minister a racist.

[@strangerdanger8831]

@@t.read6906 Y'all got civics lessons?? **stares in American**

[@velvet16]

@@t.read6906 That makes more sense. I had interpreted it as '"if you're going to say something that might be considered incendiary/a personal attack, you have to run it by the person you're targeting". Thanks for the context!

[@AbMaSync]

Let it be known, that inside the premises today, in approximately 10 minutes I will call the estimated named a bloody son of a...

[@ryanadams4812]

Little bummed Ollie didn’t jump into the scene in a Lara Croft costume.

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

Expected him to do so

[@MarceldeJong]

His guns were in the wash

[@PobortzaPl]

There should be some rule against KZbinrs promising their viewers a truly magnificent piece of content and failing to deliver it. Hashtag OllieMakeVideoWithLaraCroftCostumePrettyPlease

[@BartkovSmirnovsky]

Or Larry Croft

[@TealWolf26]

Me too

[@thatcurator5690]

Dear Philosophy Tube, You claimed you wouldn't make a callout video, yet this video is clearly a Ji Family callout video. Curious.

[@TheEvilCheesecake]

Ji Family please respond

[@augfairweather4530]

@@TheEvilCheesecake ahaha i read that in the Ian Drivel voice automatically

[@LOVE..Sherelle]

@@TheEvilCheesecake Ji Family's Philosophy Tube diss track coming up soon

[@hangukhiphop]

Don't forget Nigel Piss!

[@augfairweather4530]

@@hangukhiphop Noigel Piss yew have 24 hours to respond.

[@connorh7088]

The Master said: "The Gentleman is easy of mind while the small man is full of anxiety." "The Gentleman understands what is moral; The small man understands what is profitable." I said: "The man who knows what is moral but is full of anxiety is medium sized."

[@toothfairy10133]

huh, nice *grows about five inches*

[@nelsonmongare9515]

I think this is one of those mis translations Abigail mentioned. It should be read as "The gentleman understands what is moral. The soft dick man understands what is profitable"

[@eleSDSU]

@@nelsonmongare9515 Well, that's me, medium sized, moral and pointy.

[@truebrew2004]

@@nelsonmongare9515 The concept of a translation that uses “big dick energy” for these concepts has me in stitches!

[@Diego-zz1df]

"I'm full of anxiety, please help me." Confucius: "But... you're tall..." "Yes?" Confucius: "So you're saying you're full of anxiety, but you're also tall..."

[@Porcuponic]

If you say “fetch me my Lara Croft costume” in a philosophy tube video and don’t follow through...

[@josselyncool685]

Came here to say the same. Ollie in Laura Croft cosplay or GTFO!

[@snowblood74]

@@josselyncool685 I'm 99% sure there will be fan art of this.

[@JackDearnley]

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

[@ireallyhatemakingupnamesfo1758]

Absolutely, I’m unsubscribing in protest until my philosophy daddy bends to my fanart dreams

[@davidshi451]

He's wearing it under his suit of course! At least, that's what I tell myself.

[@hwsmart99]

"Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!" Doesn't dress up as Lara Croft. I'm disappointed in you, Ollie.

[@vivvy_0]

@герой Alexander Antonov hey hey

[@daddyleon]

*+Dreamer* Yeah, it was somewhat to be expected, wasn't it?

[@scarfboy]

I was immediately invested in that. Such a tease.

[@ZijnShayatanica]

I was sorely disappointed, but... I prefer to believe that it was ONLY because he doesn't (yet) own one. Hopefully it's foreshadowing!

[@daddyleon]

@@ZijnShayatanica Does it require much? Pretty generic stuff, right? A simple tank top, maybe some toy guns. Perhaps it's the lack of breast tissue and considers balloons are inappropriate?

[@Maylott]

"Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!" Cuts to Ollie clearly NOT dressed for Tomb Raiding. I thought this channel stood for something, maaaaan!

[@butwithcats265]

Amen! And all of us sitting here waiting to have our understanding of our own sexualities expanded yet again.... dropping the ball, Ollie. Tsk.

[@grey1883]

That was immensely disappointing. Some sharp angles would have really brought the video together.

[@lexzetusko]

I was really hoping he would have cut to himself in a Lara Croft cosplay, for the giggles

[@the_exegete]

Not even any jodhpurs, disgraceful.

[@minaondrums]

Honestly, I had to take a cold shower after he said that 😅

[@audreyzhang5394]

Kudos to all the old comments calling Abigail a business lesbian lmao

[@redblaquegolden]

Ohhhhhh! I didn't realize this til now, but my favorite type of Lesbian is Business Lesbian.

[@kellanlevi5663]

😚👌 Aged like fine wine

[@Gracequestionmark]

HAHAHA

[@d.w.stratton4078]

Bruh, is one even a lesbian if one is not a business lesbian?

[@TheMindIlluminated]

Too bad Abigail is male

[@superdark336]

In short, Confucius be like: *everything is on fire and collapsing, people are screaming and running around, theres explosions* we live in a society

[@nemesiszer0708]

And then killed two guys in a train

[@anone.mousse674]

The Master said: Slonk gang weed

[@bbqseitan7106]

Confucius is the dog in the flaming house meme Everything’s on fire and he’s pouring tea like “everything IIISSSS fine”

[@Diego-zz1df]

Jordan Peterson: "We need a rigid hierarchy, the nuclear family and religion to preserve social order. Here's this book with my 12 teachings." Confucius: [raising from the grave] "Imma sue ye for plagiarism, mate."

[@monageeuk6504]

Olly: "I don't really think of our society as having a lot of rituals like that" Me, an autistic: *hysteric laughter but also crying*

[@EmmaxHobbits]

The ritual of "asking" how the other person is after a greeting. Followed by the ritual of answering with a glossy lie about "living the dream" or "doing well"

[@davidshi451]

Oh man, reminds me of Hannah Gadsby's comedy!

[@gretablackwell495]

As someone with ADHD: seconded.

[@monageeuk6504]

@@EmmaxHobbits I gave up doing this years ago and I have no regrets.

[@monageeuk6504]

@@davidshi451 some absolute quality comedy

[@Gingrnut]

“Fetch me my Lara Croft costume!” Olly, friend, don’t get my hopes up like that!

[@doctormead7829]

Gingrnut Someone has better make some goddamn fan art of Ollie as Laura Croft!

[@AndromedaChace]

I got way too excited

[@Laurell_Silentshade]

I was expecting a couple volley balls stuffed down a shirt.

[@Kalleosini]

I was absolutely disappointed when he wasn't wearing a teal tanktop and shorts in the next scene.

[@KravenTheHaunter]

I knew I wouldn't e the only disappointed viewer.

[@gobbledygooker1075]

She should get an Oscar for this year-long performance

[@SarahET]

It's probably more than a year long performance, she said she only started to write the script for coming out video a year ago

[@ollieshane7835]

YESSSS

[@dysmissme7343]

Damn- honestly though It’s flawlessly smooth

[@s.thomson2372]

She has worked as an actor too after all, I imagine it came in handy a bit 😸

[@Whiskey2shots]

Honestly looking back at it, IMO it is more obvious that she had begun to transition but at the time I was just like ah cool she has longer hair

[@asdffjsdjasd]

The lack of Eastern thought in Western philosophy courses is a serious disservice to students. I took a class in college on the philosophy of science and we skipped from ancient Greece up to the Renaissance. Our professor briefly mentioned that the center of learning shifted to the middle east during the middle ages but we didn't learn the name of a single middle eastern thinker and anything farther east wasn't even mentioned.

[@NawidN]

I hope modern philosophers will choose to learn about them, maybe eventually make it so "Western philosophy" courses become "philosophy" courses.

[@arthursimsa9005]

That is equally dismissive of Western Medieval philosophes though.

[@NMahon]

In fairness those courses are awful for learning anything in detail, their purpose is to give you a broad scope of time early in your degree to give you something of a basis and so that maybe you find something you're interested in to focus on later in your degree.

[@dionysianapollomarx]

It would've been a real benefit. Considering, for example, that Aquinas was an Avicennan-Neoplatonist, meaning Thomism developed in part from the Neoplatonist groundwork of Avicenna, an Islamic philosopher, who was also a polymath. Avicenna also influenced Albertism, Scotism, and Ockhamism, which were Medieval Catholic philosophical movements. He also influenced Omar Khayyam, probably the first philosopher to be atheist and be open about it in the Muslim world. There's also Ibn Khaldun who invented an economic philosophy before Ricardo and Smith. There's also Averroes, who formulated a hierarchy of Being. There's also one of my faves in al-Farabi, who developed ideas in conditional syllogisms and analogical inference, which were Stoic, and was considered in his time as Second Teacher, following Aristotle as First Teacher. Don't forget the Japanese quite recently. There's Hajime Tanabe, D. T. Suzuki, and Kitaro Nishida. Hajime and Kitaro were of the Kyoto School, and they approximated ideas in modern and contemporary Western philosophy, using concepts translated into Japanese and developed further by reading Western ancient thought and testing ideas through Zen practice, if I'm not mistaken. They are still very influential. Honestly, I've been taken to reading comparative philosophy and it seems there's a lot of niche to break into.

[@KC12344325]

It's kind of bizarre that I learned more about Confucius in my 100 level intro to East Asian Studies class than someone with a PhD in philosophy :/

[@Dachusblot]

"Imagine everyone on earth woke up tomorrow 50% more moral." Mitch McConnell: "Joke's on you, 50% of zero is zero."

[@huitzilopochtlisexy9975]

You need a thousand likes

[@Dachusblot]

@Chris Sears I live in Texas so I can very much sympathize with your pain.

[@Diego-zz1df]

Me: [looking at Schumer and Pelosi] "Shoulda said 50% more competent."

[@genericyoutubeaccount579]

@Chris Sears The facts of McConnell's life are undenyable and they made him the person he is. If you had been in his shoes and had seen the lynching of Clarence Thomas and the slandering of Robert Bork you would have accepted a amoral worldview as well.

[@BlindErephon]

@@genericyoutubeaccount579 Cool, because Clarence Thomas got confronted with allegations of sexual assault, and Bork got some mean and probably true shit said about him, Mitch McConnell is fully justified in sitting on some six hundred pieces of legislation duly voted on by the House, and deciding on his own that none are going to go to be debated and voted on by the Senate. Cool cool, I didn't know it was fine to abolish democracy on the down low like that and let ONE senator decide what is and isnt going to be considered by law. Cool job, Kentucky, good and cool.

[@edelbrosnan6222]

How have I lived here my whole life unaware of the fact that a major governmental process involves a guy with a big stick having a door slamed in his face & him responding by passive aggressively banging on the door?

[@the_demon_cat337]

I was going to say what the actual heck then I remembered I’m american so I really can’t talk.

[@meltyblend]

It is my FAVORITE ritual, it’s so ridiculous

[@Ana_crusis]

No idea

[@melm4251]

in australia we have those big sticks resting on the tables in parliament too, not sure if they get used in a similar manner but i wouldn't be surprised if they do lol

[@Aperson4470-g5l]

@@melm4251 we have black rods in Australia, yeah.

[@XerxesTexasToast]

Abby: These characters mean "electric" and "brain" Me: Oh so a computer? Abby: SMART FLOWING THINKING ELECTRIC MEAT

[@Kajifox]

It's a great demonstration of two very different interpretations of what a computer does and how the language reflects them. It's neat.

[@jdprettynails]

That part killed me. I had to pause the video for a good 10 minutes to calm down!

[@KaishaLouise]

it's 2 am and if i laugh too loudly the neighbours tell me off... this part was an amazing struggle :')

[@kirstencorby8465]

"Electric meat." That's what WE are. Humans.

[@51stcenturygirl]

Exactly

[@bigglithium]

It’s a little more complicated than “if you can read traditional chinese, you can read an ancient Chinese scroll.” Sure, you can read it but you might have a tougher time understanding it. The “language” has changed a lot since Confucius’s time. Furthermore, there’s a BIG difference between the written classical standard used by scholars and written vernacular Chinese. The relationship between the two is like that of Latin and it’s Romance descendants. The former, used basically only in writing, is full of words and constructions that might have been spoken in the past and have fallen out of use. Also, Ollie’s Jordan Peterson voice gets me BAD every time

[@sweetpeabee4983]

Yea, most ppl can't read classic & u need to basically do a degree that covers it, like history or smth, is my understanding. Traditional is also not really the right term for classic Chinese, as simplified & traditional are both used to describe modern Chinese writing systems. 🙂

[@shakeitlikeanaries128]

Isn't that the next point that he makes with thunder storm flesh or computer and the do unto others as you would have others do to you?

[@eddlake5694]

Yea classical Chinese and modern Chinese are different

[@bigglithium]

​@@shakeitlikeanaries128Good point! I might be mistaken but that's not how I understood it. Ollie's completely right about ‘電腦' and uses it to illustrate how NEW words have been made using characters that were used in a different sense in the past. ‘恕’ is more about how it's hard to both interpret and translate classical Chinese to English in general. I'm trying to point out that classical Chinese is really hard to understand for modern speakers unless one is specifically trained in it. For example, 偃, "to bend/to cower" (21:54) is never used in modern vernacular Mandarin (might be used in other Chinese languages like Cantonese).

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

I think this video would've been improved if Olly had co-written it with a Chinese historian or philosopher.

[@ViveLRoi]

"Clever Thunderstorm Flesh-that-Thinks" okay that's it, that's my next D&D character. A warforged raised by tabaxi, it totally makes sense.

[@nocturnalniceties6585]

Oh, a glorious choice. I love Tabaxi naming conventions, good stuff.

[@mirmalchik]

I believe the mandarin phrase translated both literally as "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks" and in a human way as "computer" would be transliterated into pinyin as "diànnăo" (the diacritical marks indicate that the pitch of your voice would fall on the first syllable 'dian' and fall briefly before rising on the second syllable 'nao,' but don't worry too much about the stresses. no matter how hard you try at first without listening to many hours of speaking, your inflection will sound unnatural to native speakers, if my experience is anything to go by.)

[@s0upkitten]

"the small man is full of anxiety" ok come for my whole life then

[@AnkhAnanku]

same

[@augfairweather4530]

felt that, short men rise up

[@juno6624]

@@augfairweather4530 rise up? Yeah, you'll need that

[@augfairweather4530]

@@juno6624 hey 😔

[@everburningblue]

"Unlike Great Britain, the most ethical country the world has ever known." It's 7 in the morning and I've already laughed my daily rations.

[@BG-wz1iu]

Country lol

[@PepperoniMage]

24:00 Lmao, ending a Trump impersonation with "And then he died." on the same day as him catching 'rona. Dammit Olly, what did you know?

[@rekagaal]

28:45 * if y'all are looking for the spot.

[@gagrin1565]

My client wishes to invoke his right to remain silent.

[@enriquegarciacota3914]

I don't know who this Jordan Peterson character is so instead of googling I'm going to assume it was The British Confucius.

[@chickenintrousers6723]

Enrique Garcia Cota Actually a Canadian Kermit the frog that got stupid popular with the American conservatives

[@sceaserjulius9476]

2020 is bananas

[@noemibolivar5945]

I just can't say enough how much I appreciated the character of Nigel. I'm tired of orientalism and imperialist ideology othering cultures as foreign and "backwards", when in reality there's a lot of stuff we ~wEsTeRnErS~ do that's pretty freaking bonkers

[@horseenthusiast1250]

Yeah, that was really refreshing. And that orientalist lens also shows how shallow the people using it are, since not only do they not understand their own country does equally "Strange" things, they also don't understand that when you've lived in a culture for a hot minute and you know the context behind how stuff works, things generally make A Whole Lot More Sense!

[@emily-hj2hh]

Yes. Thank god we don't get a cringe take on long robes and a beard and a bad accent spouting off "ancient and simplistic" proverbs and poetry like most creators would attempt. The value of WEIRD (white educated industrialized rich democratic) is so often seen as purely exceptional, the now dominant understanding of right, the myth of progress, when you look at history there are direct parallels with exactly the same atrocities, the same people hated and marginalized, and sometimes the best you get is some culturally relative approach where a type of understanding and "tolerance" is assumed with the same Western biases, and that to be respecful means to see all as valid, instead of critiquing another culture past and present as an opening to critiquing our own. Plus to think of culture and people as homogenous, ever, misses so much nuance. And Orientalism - ooff.

[@TheoEvian]

Orientalism actually kinda elevates the Other a lot of the times. Like "Oh, that spiritual and elegant china! We need to protect it from modernity and industrialisation by colonisation!" kind of thing. And the interesting thing is that today there is a lot of "occidentalism" in East Asia.

[@emily-hj2hh]

@@TheoEvian Oh absolutely. I had a professor try to say that some stereotypes were good - not good as in romanticized and fetishized, but "good" as in that positive isms are good to have. I live in the US and here the elevations of Asian people as the "model minority" are incredibly common, simplistic, and damaging. And I've seen a lot of Western white Buddhists really glorifty the "simple" life of rural East Asia, and even the supposed appreciation and enlightenment of those who live in abject poverty and of course, only pick rice and make pottery and appreciate every moment. And to say that China isn't modern and industrialized is tinged with quite a bit of irony. Maybe that depends on definition? I'm also not sure the Uighur Muslim camps are exactly spiritual, among other things. And any attempt at trying to homogenize and generalize a region or culture is always danger, be it for romantic reasons or in an ethnocentric and negative way. Speaking of anti Chinese talks. The rhetoritic of that one orange man whose name I do not like to speak or even dare to type, it's gotten much more brutal here. Much more brutal. But everything has. And you're right, "occidentalism" definitely can be prevalent. The one orientalism I don't see being elevated is towards the Middle East.

[@justbeyondthecornerproduct3540]

I agree, more of Nigel

[@GogiRegion]

Imagine the reaction of the Ji family getting told that someone 2,000 years later was going to publicly call them out to people all around the world on a scale that they never could imagine.

[@willydirt9355]

or care

[@MarkLinJA]

If one really is to look at even the surnames of China today, those that originated from branches of the 姬 (Ji) family make up a good majority of it. However, those who hold the Ji surname itself has become rarer and rarer.

[@asteroidnix9908]

Thank you for making this video. As a Chinese native speaker, it’s always interesting to hear western interpretations of our texts. One thing I think we have to keep in mind is that our perception of concepts are often bound by language; for example, some cultures do not see blue as “blue” because they do not have a designated word for that specific range of light wavelengths. Back to the language. The characters, by themselves and without context, usually encompass all or some of the meanings provided by the English translation (while some only stand true if the character is used in combination with other specific characters), and conceptually, we do not necessarily make distinctions between these meanings unless it is specified by the other character(s) it is used in combination with (in other words, “words”). As a result, some of these texts could be easily comprehensible by Chinese speakers, but made more confusing if you look into it as a non-Chinese speaker with a dictionary. It’s especially difficult, I imagine, with ancient Chinese since they tend to be much less elaborative, thus providing even less contexts. That being said, I’d also like to provide that many progressives in the eastern hemisphere, myself included, despise a lot of Confucius’ ideals; for example, his advocacy for rigid social roles and the mentality to conform to those roles. I personally have much more affinity towards Taoist philosophical ideals, and our culture is shaped by not only Confucianism, but also Taoism, Buddhism, as well as other schools of thoughts (though they have intermingled a bit through history).

[@GoatZilla]

The texts aren't any more "comprehensible" by Chinese speakers, just more weaponizable.

[@fakename2969]

👍

[@brentwalker3300]

Unfortunately, the Communist Revolution decided that most of the old traditions were corrupt and needed to be erased from Chinese society.

[@bellebelle7532]

Brilliant comment! Thanks so.much for sharing an important explination (if one desires to better understand the relivant contenent and its contex ) from a native Chinese speaker. Much appreciation and limitless positive power, Bellè xXx

[@rachelrose4691]

I spent a few months in Taiwan as a kid and ever since the difference between how words work and the way that must shape communication and how we perceive the world, has been stuck in my mind. Thank you for this comment, it put my thoughts and assumptions into words and has given me some knowledge to be able to learn more.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

"Patron of Several Charities Trying to Alleviate Problems Exacerbated by Companies He Owns"

[@draxiss1577]

That's my favorite one.

[@yunikage]

the stolen dictionary gag is funnier than it has any right to be

[@stephaniel2850]

It really is- I think it's the way he just keeps going as if he'd read a definition 😂

[@enjolraswaters7491]

ikr xD

[@andromedacowboy]

can someone explain ?

[@jaojao1768]

@@andromedacowboy I think it is a joke on the fact that some online dictionaries are behind paywalls now

[@913zzzn]

True😭😭😭

[@KirinDave]

"Declares he'll build a wall and then dies." ... P... P.. prophecy?

[@mihailmilev9909]

100th like hehe

[@AngelVocal]

👀

[@theocean1973]

😁🤞🤫

[@jakjam300]

I am from the future. It is indeed a prophecy. Just wait.

[@David-sq2en]

@@jakjam300 October the 8th?

[@gewreid5946]

It's important to keep in mind that confucius was teaching young bureaucrats and officials. So it's less about what to do when the elites misbehave and more about why it's important not to misbehave if *you are* the elite.

[@chaiyasitdhi]

He taught a lot how to control and limit the power of the higher authority like the king. Many scholars inspried by his teaching (and those of 'Confucian' sages like Mengcius or Xunzi) in the later ages sacrificed their lives to speak truth to power.

[@allykholodov]

as someone who is neurodivergent, the everyday rituals we have in modern society, the ones that are unwritten and created, enforced, and regulated only by the masses, can end up seeming confusing and complicated to an outsider. i find it very interesting to put together philosophies such as confucius's and my own efforts to learn these rituals in order to mask, since they both observe the moral values behind certain rituals. this allows for something of a study of society, not as it is organized through bureaucracy, but rather as it is constructed as an entity comprising multiple individuals.

[@TealWolf26]

Especially because many of them are legacy rituals born of a different age for a different purpose that we kept around because reasons. Like an appendix. I like to picture a post-collapse civilization that compulsively washes hands before entering a building or as a greeting.

[@davidshi451]

Any rituals in particular?

[@allykholodov]

@@davidshi451 my personal favorite to learn about are the rituals of language. seeing which words convey what meaning in which context, how grammatical rules change in certain regions/accents when enough native speakers make the same mistake (for example, "it went good" instead of "if went well"), how swearing can be appropriate in certain contexts and slurs can be deemed appropriate when they are reclaimed or even just if the audience isn't bothered by them (like in the rap song scene in the movie white chicks), how there could be entirely separate dictionaries for the vocabulary one might use in familiarity versus in officiality, and each nuance of this (how we speak differently with our close friends than we do with acquaintances than we do with teachers than we do with superiors than we do with groups of people, etc.) etymology is so interesting because it helps us understand where these customs come from (for example, many swear words come from religion, though i've seen this more in quebec french than anywhere else) and why they were born. also, as someone who evolves in a very bilingual environment, there are twice as many rules, and it can be super interesting to compare them. i know people who know up to six or seven languages, and whenever they learn a new one, especially if it is associated with a drastically different culture, it's fascinating to hear about the dos and don'ts of different languages. the list is really long when it comes to language, and this is just scratching the surface, but what i like the most about it is that everyone has their own language rituals engrained into them, and they only need to look inward to realize the complexity of them. i don't know how intelligible this was, but i hope it was somewhat helpful ( :

[@altertopias]

@@allykholodov that sound very interesting tbh, maybe u should do like a blog or video about it (or podcast)

[@allykholodov]

@@altertopias thanks! i'll definitely try to do something like that

[@lincolnjohn8227]

Kids, what did we learn today? If you're ever confronted with something you don't understand, just claim that the person who wrote it never had a secular enlightenment and move on. Edit: Thanks for the likes :3

[@Shams-fe6lq]

I didn’t learn anything because I haven’t had a secular enlightenment

[@VillagerCometh]

I love how we're all respecting her pronouns despite the way she had presented at the time, wish there were more communities like this its heartwarming to see!

[@pm146]

I actually thought I had misclicked on another channel's video. Amazing what change she was able to make!

[@SimonClarkstone]

I recall she later revealed that (by this point in her life) her appearance as a man when filming was a temporary disguise, and she was living as and looking like a woman the rest of the time.

[@Lynch2507]

"Churchill's Heroic Heroism and why the Irish should shut up and be grateful" deserves so much more recognition

[@Chris_Tinacan]

Totally missed that, good man for pointing it out.

[@AnonymousGhostwriter]

Don’t forget “dreams that the Duchess is Cambridge would step on him”

[@AnonymousGhostwriter]

*of

[@hangukhiphop]

Don't forget the Indians!

[@MrPinknumber]

"It may appear to be an enormous waste of money and time-" *puts pipe in mouth and stops* Funniest joke of the video, right there.

[@stephaniel2850]

And the subtitles always make it even better xD

[@xunzi4327]

If you follow along with the Mohists, that’s a great counter argument to the monarchy. The Confucians, not so much.

[@Axius27]

KZbin has been freezing all morning for me, so (even though there was still movement on the screen) I had to make sure that the internet hadn't crashed on me :P

[@bonniea8189]

@@stephaniel2850 Doh! I forgot about the subtitles! Now I have to re-watch (oh, darn).

[@marianogrillo8667]

So long story short, Confucius’ writings were trying to say “Kiss ya homies goodnight every night”

[@deekswap695]

There is literally no moral philosophy that would go against kissing yo homies good night. So do it

[@appleslover]

I wish I had a homie

[@gena1384]

@@appleslover lol hey

[@lucyk8935]

apple's lover wanna be homies? 👉👈

[@paninu]

@@appleslover h-homie tiem?

[@oneghost1257]

Imagine having the level of confidence it must have taken to go somewhere public and start talking about Confucius into your phone. This is what I strive for.

[@trapclowers9523]

If you where born at the time it happened then you wouldn’t think of it.

[@Benjumanjo]

It doesn’t take confidence, it’s harmless, perfectly legal, uncontroversial, literally nobody cares if you do it.

[@oneghost1257]

@@Benjumanjo My guy I feel uncomfortable having a regular conversation in public

[@rruhland]

“Smart flowing electric thinking meat” is gonna be my new cyberpunk-themed new wave cover band.

[@WendingWind]

*smart flowing, thinking, electric meat

[@avadarkness666]

Kraftwek would approve 👍

[@mattp1337]

Please tour with Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks. They're really quite good.

[@Winterappleby]

Unrelated interlude in the video just to say: soooo weird that the British parliament is that strict about what members can say about other members, meanwhile in Australia our politicians are one step away from calling each other cunts and our first and only woman Prime Minister was routinely harassed and called every offensive name under the sun. Honestly, I don't know which way I would rather have it, our parliament sounds like a bunch of 10 year olds having a schoolyard argument.

[@TealWolf26]

*looks sheepishly at our American "presidential debate"* I know that feel, mate.

[@Winterappleby]

@@TealWolf26 It's embarrassing really, all of them. They're all a pack of insecure manbabies that never grew out of their nappies.

[@Yal_Rathol]

to be fair, almost every parliment sounds like children having an argument in the schoolyard. the canadian one is the kid who will hold their breath until they get what they want, the british one is the kid who throws a fit if you don't follow all their made up and unspoken rules, and the australian one is the kid that snuck vodka into school in a waterbottle and is picking a fight with everyone.

[@Ryan-nd4kc]

LMAO politicians in Brazil literally fight inside Congress. Like they really punch each other and nothing happens.

[@Ryan-nd4kc]

There's this story of former president Color's father, Arnon de Mello, and a guy named Silvestre Pericles who both brought guns inside the Senate to kill each other because of a fight they had, they ended up killing another guy who had nothing to do with anything that was happening. They were both released from prison in that same year.

[@vd2485]

Every time she pulls up the “dictionary” I keep forgetting the recurring bit. She gets me every time! She’s like “I’m gonna read from the dictionary now” and I’m like “okay, sounds good :)” and then she DOESNT read from the dictionary and each time I’m like :0!! **gasp** (Edited for the new pronouns. :) Have a nice day!)

[@Rolan7196]

I kept anticipating the bit (after the first time) and giggling with relief. It's really interesting how light gags like this can ease an informational lecture!

[@johndododoe1411]

@@Rolan7196 His dictionary suffered a typical modern ransomware attack.

[@The5lacker]

Your dictionary doesn't ask you to send bitcoin? I thought everyone's did. ... Shit, I may need a new dictionary.

[@batnacks]

It does annoy me a bit though, because I do want to know

[@brendaleelydon]

@@batnacks psst...m-w or dictionary, heck even google will do it for ya. :-D

[@AndroidInHumansClothing]

Are we finally going to see Abi wearing the Lara Croft Outfit then?????!!!!!

[@herrklugscheiser2330]

Asking the really important questions

[@mattgilbert7347]

Confucius: "12 Rus For Life" I'll show myself out.

[@KnjazNazrath]

Errybody gansta 'til Confucius come with his bois.

[@brometheusjables2644]

Genius. You may allow yourself back in to stay...

[@borekursbmv]

A classical example of mistranslation.

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@Banexay I have returned! My place in the social order is clear.

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@Banexay My ass is definitely an elite ass.

[@tenkaikagaya]

“Nigel Piss” is such a weird way to spell “Niall Ferguson”.

[@Matt__B]

If you write it in Chinese, the same characters can also be read as "David Starkey."

[@AnonymousGhostwriter]

I’M SCREAMING

[@hangukhiphop]

Brother of Turd Ferguson

[@Molotov49]

"THE CHINESE NEVER HAD A SECULAR ENLIGHTENMENT"

[@Areuils]

As someone who is and speaks Mandarin Chinese, I was very confused when you were talking electric brains until you said computer. That was just something I never thought about and have made me think of other words I use that are kinda convoluted and confusing when not given the context

[@curtmacquarrie]

I've had a weird experience as a native English speaker (canadian) moving to England where I ostensibly speak the language. So much more of what we say is established through convention rather than the literal meaning of words than I really imagined. of course there is idiom and local sayings and dialects that are different but that is to be expected. But then there is almost an entirely different lexicon of the most common words and phrases. Words and phrases that I understand but are so rarely used in my experience are commonplace here. Words and phrases that are commonplace for me are foreign here. It's interesting.

[@CDexie]

@@curtmacquarrie oh that happens EVERYWHERE. And it's an inevitable outcome of communication. Think about how nonsensical and full of gaps your day-to-day communication with your family would be to an outsider.

[@daddyleon]

@@juniperfox1064 Electric brain might not be, but the characters (and the ones that is made of) also mean other things: 6:33 "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks". I mean, it makes sense, in hindsight, if you think about it...but you gotta think about it.

[@jospinner1183]

@@daddyleon "Electric brain" is kind of a better descriptor of modern computers than the word "computer." I mean, sure, a computer is _ultimately_ doing computations, that that's not really how people interact with computers.

[@daddyleon]

@@jospinner1183 I really like your thinking. But I do disagree, the word "brain" conjured connotations like "thinking" and "consciousness" and, fundamentally, we don't know if it even could do that. It might not even be possible. Not because carbon is better and silicon is impossible to have consciousness working, but because it's all just one big question mark. If it could think and be conscious, yes!! Please, let's call it an electric brain! That be an amazing term.

[@TomKilworth]

The Chinese characters thing made me spit out my tea! I'm learning them at the moment (in Japanese) and there are so many combinations that make you think along those lines before realising that IRON UNDER SOIL is just the subway

[@neoqwerty]

I love this so much. I learned one by accident from a character's name: Ryouma: DRAGON HORSE... but it also means just "an excellent, fast horse" colloquially.

[@blu4get]

地铁 lmaooo "earth iron" 电话 "electric speak" 西瓜 "western melon"

[@brentwalker3300]

@道德真精 "chika tetsu"or "dixia tielu". But what do you mean, "WTF is subway"?

[@d0xter742]

@@user-nm1ot3ko5fthat does not look very japanese to me

[@Alaxion]

@@user-nm1ot3ko5f I think subway is just metro

[@luisa9628]

It's weird that they don't teach eastern philosophy to a philosophy major when all the continental philosophers were obsessed with eastern philosophy. Seems like some pretty huge context is missing.

[@bbqseitan7106]

Maybe, and hear me out, xenophobia? racism? Idk but most philosophers are shit heads and their words are only worth something when you can draw from the encyclopedia of human history

[@johnbradley1139]

Took a philosophy course in college. When actually asked about Eastern Philosophy, the prof explained that Eastern Philosophy is not actually philosophy, because it's not devoted to thinking about thinking. That prof was a jackass on many levels, and I think his point of view was just good ol' white Western racism, but I also think it's a popular point of view among philosophy profs.

[@cemperable]

@@johnbradley1139 I mean, this can a reasonable argument. There is a somewhat famous story involving Derrida, for example, where he got shouted at at a philosophy conference in Shanghai for claiming that China has never developed philosophy, and that there's only "Chinese thought". The problem is that the term "philosophy" is heavily imbued with a Western view on what philosophy is and how it should be done, and beyond that, in what tradition it should stand. Derrida would argue that when people say "philosophy", they think of Socrates and Plato, and then of the Enlightenment, and so on, and because the word is used and understood like that, therefore, Confucius is not a philosopher. What your professor said is really just another instance of this. He feels that philosophy is something that reflects on the process in which it is made and thought, in the manner that Western philosophy does, and if you come from that point of view, Chinese thought just can't be philosophy. I actually don't think it is necessarily a bad thing to make a distinction between different traditions of thought, but, of course, as the parent commenter noted, it can get pretty absurd. When you teach about Schopenhauer but don't teach Buddhism, you lose a lot of opportunities to make fun of him, and therefore defeat the point of teaching Schopenhauer.

[@johnbradley1139]

@@cemperable It's an argument that can be supported semantically. That's not the same as a reasonable one. And mostly it's just gatekeeping... "We invented the word, and you can't have it." We have only one functional word in basically all Western, Romance-derived languages that means "one of many schools of thought," and that word is "philosophy." That same word also refers to the specific, Greek-derived norms of Western Philosophy. So "philosophers" use the one, lesser meaning, to deny other cultures validity under the greater, more far-reaching meaning. But for functionally the entirety of white, male, European philosophers to effectively say that no other civilization can "love wisdom" because they didn't go to the same school is pretty colonialist/racist. Also, Derrida wrote a LOT of books for someone whose central conceit was "you can't ever really understand anything that anyone ever speaks or writes, because no two people have lived the same life."

[@proudfootz]

I studied Chinese philosophy at university, but I think it was out of interest rather than being a requirement.

[@VermisTerrae]

"Clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks" is my favorite phrase for computer now 😹

[@michaelfradley6950]

I thought it was going to be “brainstorm” 😆

[@nattiedraws]

I find it amazing how Confucius was so intelligent on bitcoin

[@genericname8727]

Ahead of his time.

[@popejaimie]

Confucius is Satoshi nakamoto

[@nahometesfay1112]

@@popejaimie wow that really did it form me thank you

[@ianhunt9520]

The dictionary thief b-plot is fucking gold

[@misslenorelee6322]

refrencing for my own benifit later the B plot time stamps are 04:43 , 07:58 , 17:40 and 20:55

[@bookbook9495]

I hope the dictionary thief is doing better

[@spacegay9309]

best redemption arc since avatar the last airbender

[@Leafeon56]

I once asked a friend who was a classics major what the classics stance on "death of the author" was, and she said, "we try to contextualize what the author said as much as possible, so what they meant IS important," and later went on to say "well, sometimes we cant guess what they meant, so its time to break out the Ouija Board and just ask them." and that lives in my brain rent-free. RENT FREE

[@alicewyan]

Then there's John David Ebert who actually goes and finds a medium to interview the philosophers he's interested in

[@Marlun42]

"You are not the first person to live through times like these" Less comforting: We are *still* living through times like these after 2500 years...

[@HenryTitor]

“Just another day, lads”

[@clarkeybaby2955]

Or is it just more of cycle of "times like these" and "time not like these". More reassuring, I think, cos it means there's a better time after this one.

[@devilskind92]

@@clarkeybaby2955 Times not like these seem very few and far between. And they tend to only apply to middle-class, because poor people have been in times like these every since... forever, I think.

[@clarkeybaby2955]

@@devilskind92 Very true. I would argue that even if you're at the bottom, your circumstances can still change for the better. I know it rings hollow but I think it's worth believing that something good will come.

[@AJJ129]

So he’s like Socrates his disciples wrote fanfics about him?

[@Blueberry_Koi]

Yes

[@TuskyBaby]

Gosh its crazy how often Bitcoin shows up in ancient Chinese texts. So forward thinking!

[@tessfairfield6435]

“We are gonna build a beautiful wall” And then he died Olly getting crazy accurate over here

[@Minihood31770]

F

[@doubtful_seer]

Hopefully....

[@doubtful_seer]

I mean what?

[@doubtful_seer]

Help, the fbi is at my door

[@masterbasher9542]

And now, Philosophy Tube would in lens, suddenly (or totally) feel like Nostradamus.

[@Bigfatbutterfly02]

Just me, a young, female historian popping over to the comments to see if anyone else literally met Sir Nigel Piss at their university. Or even, a couple of them. Were they running the history department? Yeah, same here.

[@orifox1629]

I watch someone talk about a Prager U video with one of those guys doing the whole "Actually british imperialism was good actually, because we c i v i l i z e d the world and made everything and everyone better."

[@AgusSkywalker]

@@orifox1629 Yeah, H. W. Crocker III. A fake historian who lies about the British Empire.

[@sheleavitt06]

One of my history Professors literally said that if a people didn’t have a written language (that we can read) then they didn’t really have a civilization🤦🏻‍♀️

[@CrisSelene]

@@sheleavitt06 I met one of those. Wasn't even a history professor, a literature one. She said that the germanic people were inferior to the Christian missionaries who "civilisied" them because they didn't have a proper written language, therefore they were not advanced enough. And that the Christians did them a service by introducing them to a system of faith with a deep philosophy behind it, unlike their polytheism (bitch what?) When I tried to counter argument that you don't measure a civilization by those standards, she told me to shut up, what would I know.

[@orifox1629]

@@sheleavitt06 wow that's so incredibly colonialist. Linguists would yell so much at that guy. Most cultures didn't develop written language on their own. Written language has only been invented independently 3-5 times (inclusive). So I guess English speaking countries never had civilization because they just use a derivative of an egyptian script? so i guess the only known civilizations are the Maya, the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Summerians, and possibly (though there's strong evidence apparently that they derived theirs from the Syriac script) the users of the Brahmi script. (i included Mayan in the definite side because i've heard that recently it has been decided to be a full writing system and not just a proto-writing system)

[@hazellye8720]

Nigel Piss needs to be a recurring character

[@theslightlyhillyrider969]

"Churchill's heroic heroism and why the Irish should be grateful" seriously got me there

[@hmsthunderchild128]

OMG HI HAZEL (- jake)

[@ragavanvijay8189]

B L A C K R O D

[@theharbingerofconflation]

He needs a longer subtitle like: Lord Piss of Water Closet Defecatingshire

[@dwnjang]

patron of several charities trying to alleviate concerns exacerbated by his company

[@kwcl176]

* the "儒" that means moist is actually 濡. It has the "氵" on the left which usually relates to water. The ”亻“ in 儒 usually refers to things related to people

[@bannermanigans]

O H D E A R

[@felooosailing957]

How can you relate these ideas though? Is there really no relation, I would guess that they are pointing out to something in common.

[@kwcl176]

@@felooosailing957 ok, i think it is quite common back in the ancient days for people to copy famous works because printers didnt exist. If you wanna read a book, you have to find a copy and copy the entire book down yourself. So its possible for people to write some of the characters wrong, especially when they look similar. This meant that when we decipher ancient chinese text, sometimes, the words arent exactly correct. We actually have to think about any words that look similar and find out the real word that should have been used in the context of that passage. This is why the word 儒 may mean 濡(moist) in the ancient context, because people are mixing the two words as they write. Looking at the ancient texts, the word 濡 (moist) is already used in this "氵" form during Confucius's era, meaning that this word isnt created in later dynasties. So this reduces the possibility of 儒 having the meaning of moist until later when there is a new word created to mean moist. I would stand by my first explanation that the word 儒 never meant moist, it was only due to errors in copy that created such confusion.

[@kwcl176]

@@felooosailing957 alright, so I was thinking maybe you are asking why the two words look so similar, so I did some further research. The two words originate from the word 需, but in hieroglyphs back then, the word looks like this 雨 (on top) +人 (below). To explain, it looks like rain is falling down onto the person below. This is used to describe someone who just stepped out of the shower (hence water is dripping down like rain) or someone whos sweating a lot. So it's quite easy to understand why 濡 means moist/wet as the word develops. For 儒, it is slightly more complicated. For that we look at another word, 去 and法. The word originated similar to 雨+人 but this time it is 人(on top)+口(below). In this context, the 人 doesnt just mean a person, but a renowned person, something like a teacher or an official. And the 口 means their words. Combined, it becomes the word 去 which means go, as in going to seek a teacher to ask him for his wisdom. The other word, 法 has a 氵(water sign). The symbolism of water can mean "to follow" or "to listen", since water flows following the shape of their surroundings. Hence, following what the teacher says, 法, means "the law". We obey the law. Going back to 儒, although the word doesnt have a 氵, the word itself from 需 already has a water element to it. The rain is a form of water, and that wets the entire person from head to toe. Using the symbolism of water, this can mean to follow/listen with your entire heart and soul. Combined with the meaning of 人 as teacher/official, the entire word means following the teacher/official. And later, the word becomes a noun, refering to those teachers and officials who are being followed. Hence the current definition of 儒.

[@Kirhean]

I get the sense that it's much simpler than people think. It's a pun. He's Moist because he does the gruntwork of actually managing things instead of sitting in court sipping tea. Y'know...he's sweaty.

[@TapDat52K]

Confucius: "Lads...I think I know how to fix this" Oh no...

[@appleslover]

Fixing things is socialism. Wait..

[@canukforce]

checks to see how many times China broke in it's history.

[@appleslover]

@@canukforce *"China is whole again, and then it broke again"*

[@JavierMD42]

@@appleslover Let's see how China is doing. *It broke again*

[@saltyjustice4444]

The People: The rituals suck and everything is breaking down Master Kong: Do the rituals harder The People: Okay *Everything collapses* Master Kong: Damn it, maybe if we did the rituals *even harder*...

[@TheoEvian]

They tried to do exactly that in Edo Japan

[@olddog476]

Mozi: I Told you so.

[@kristianjensen5877]

*rituals intensify*

[@daedreaming6267]

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[@WraithMagus]

I think it's a little unfair to judge Confucius purely on political activism terms, because as far as I've read about him, that wasn't his driving purpose. (I should point out that because of my eurocentric education, I mainly learned of Confucius from David Graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years.) Confucius represents to China essentially the same shift from what Nietzsche called "Master Ethics" to "Slave Ethics" that occurred in the west with the change from pagan religions and ethics to monotheistic religions and ethical models. Basically, in Taoism or paganism, might made right. As with how a lot of Conservative "Christians" like to believe today, wealth is proof of your own virtue. If you weren't virtuous, the gods wouldn't let you have all that wealth, so if one man is wealthy and powerful and another is poor and destitute, that is just proof that the strict social hierarchy is working, and if the poor are hunted and eaten by the rich, then they must have deserved it. (I'm sure those poor people had been suspended from school for marijuana possession at some point or otherwise Were No Angel, the fact that they were killed is proof they are a sinner deserving of death. You can tell it's good reasoning by how circular it is!) The "Slave Ethics" response was to say that there are measures of a person's worth beyond their material goods or accomplishments, and that just having a statue of yourself built or getting some major plaza where they drop a ball every new year named after yourself doesn't mean your actions were just or ethical. The thing that Confucius was so adamantly opposed to was the commercialization of ethics. Buddhism was an Indian religion spread throughout China mostly by Chinese merchants that liked the way that Buddhism talked about debt. Buddhism holds that to attain enlightenment, one has to sever worldly ties, which includes repaying all debts so as to have a state of total social balancing... and taken in literal terms, this means a literal balancing of the checkbook with all debts repaid, including to those moneylenders preaching Buddhism. One way in which one had to repay debts was to one's parents (you are born owing your parents a debt just for giving birth to you), which it's worth noting was pushed by the temples as being most heavily repaid by paying for the Buddhist funerary rights for your parents when they died. Basically, pay for a Buddhist funeral service or go to hell. Peasants went into debt for these expensive funeral services. It was the leading cause of debt (a literal debt taken on to repay a metaphorical one that was thrust upon people unwillingly in the first place), to the point that in times of famine, peasants would sell themselves and their whole families into slavery to pay for their parent's funerals. The Buddhist temples, having nothing to do with so much money, basically collected all the precious metals in the world (all of Europe's metal coinage at this time was being traded to China for porcelain and silk to the point Europe ran out of coins) until they were making enough 30 foot tall solid bronze/silver/gold statues of Buddha that China periodically had to raid temples on pretenses just to get some of the metal back for the world economy. (See also the gilding of Vatican City after the Spanish plundered the Aztecs.) Faced against that, simply saying "money doesn't buy ethics", or that proof of whether someone is "qualified" to change the world doesn't come from owning a large enough corporation to bankroll multiple KZbin channels that preach your views of the world seems pretty alright by me. Compare him to Jordan Peterson if you want, but Confucius never said that anyone who disagrees with the entrenched power structures is a "virtue signaller" that should just go clean their rooms.

[@anfisachern8570]

“AALphAaAbEeT” ah yes also known as what reading words is like as a beginner-level esl student

[@horseenthusiast1250]

Oof, lol...English is my first language, but that's also what it felt like learning to read Yurok (it uses phonetic spelling in the Latin alphabet, but like. For a few weeks it was reeaaally hard to convince my brain that ay = English ai, and ue = English oo).

[@zoetv2170]

Amen! as an ESL teacher from a Latin American country I felt that to my core xddd

[@larsbonau4067]

I feel you. As a German, I strongly oppose the idea that it is possible to know how an English word is pronounced just by reading it.

[@shenzhong2942]

YES it’s exactly how i sounded when i first came to america and start to learn english

[@fractalcat3696]

How the hell did we NOT notice??? An acting goddess.

[@mai-ya-hee]

I know right? She’s amazing

[@KaterynaM_UA]

EXACTLY

[@TealJosh]

Pardon my ignorance here. I'm a broken person. But is saying "I didn't notice" after the official coming out the polite thing to do? To celebrate it? I know that speculating about people in public is inappropriate and damaging, but I personally wasn't surprised when she came out. The kicker here is that I'm hyper vigilant due to PTSD and I notice social cues where some(or most?) don't. I find it hard to believe that my perception is this twisted.

[@mme.veronica735]

@@TealJosh It varies from person to person but for myself at least It'd be pretty validating. It'd be people acknowledging my femininity through out my life and proving that yes I was a woman even when they didn't know

[@hawyee9090]

@@TealJosh personally, i've always found it kind of uncomfortable for people to comment that they already knew i was trans or bi after coming out. it feels a bit like the person is trying to steal my thunder or prove that they're The Best Ally TM instead of actually listening. however, in abigail's case, she is a public figure and unlikely to see any given comment, so i think anything short of tweeting or dm-ing her directly is probably okay :)

[@misteryA555]

This business lesbian speaks good words!

[@MrZauberelefant]

Funnier than it should be

[@chrisgreer7180]

I died laughing

[@wishingwell_333]

i....

[@8Rincewind]

Business lesbian is a great character idea 😅

[@permanentstateofawe6544]

Business lesbians immediately conjures up images of Tilda Swinton and Emma Thompson.

[@korikian]

That Jordan Peterson impression escalated into Kermit the frog territory, i half expected a manic arm flail at the end. Love it!

[@onyourleft5648]

*kermit voice* “What you need to understand is the neo-marxists pulled a beautiful slight of hand”

[@MarkSiefert]

“YAAAAAAAAAAAY!”

[@effie8547]

I legit thought Peter Jordanson was going to pull off his philosophy tube mask at the end of it. Dead on the mark.

[@DamnZodiak]

I can't decide if you just saved JP or ruined Kermit for me. Whatever it is, they're now forever entwined in my headcanon.

[@irlshinigami4390]

Thing is ........he actually sounds like Kermit the frog.....like all the time. And I don't know why I didn't hear it sooner

[@MrMatt135791113]

Your Jordan Peterson sounds aggressively like a caffeinated Kermit the Frog.

[@yoavsnake]

Well...

[@LKAChannel]

"your" is really redundant here

[@butwithcats265]

Every Jordan Peterson sounds aggressively like a caffeinated Kermit the Frog

[@TealWolf26]

Is.....he not?

[@maxroyston5342]

so... an accurate impression?

[@bunk-o2495]

after I watched 'Identity' earlier today I've just let my autoplay keep showing me older videos. I've noticed new nuances to the things being said, and had moments where I remember thinking I noticed a deeper meaning to something she said but assumed that as a trans person I was... Idk? projecting, or assuming stuff. I've found a lot of comfort in Abigail's videos over the years, and especially the last few months, and found those moments (that I *thought* I was reading too much into) especially helpful. So I hope it's clear how deeply, from the very bottom of my heart I mean it when, I come to this particular video, and,I say: Seriously, that dictionary joke and Sir Nigel Piss are some of the funniest jokes/bits I have ever seen of all time.

[@bunk-o2495]

@@ppppppqqqppp I mean I wasn't 'looking' for signs and at the time I didn't even register them as like "oh is she...?" like, Abigail being trans didn't occur to me honestly. I just meant that like... some of the jokes or insights or whatever she would make would strike in me a chord in my deep gender feels. and historically that's something that I've usually only encountered via other trans people, but at the time it honestly was just something that was more like "oh it's nice that she *gets* even if she's cis", which is obviously a statement now recontextualized and you're right, reading into people and looking for signs is creepy and rude, and making assumptions based on that is worse still, but honestly I don't think that's what I was doing, in this case

[@DanGrant365]

@@bunk-o2495 you are 100% okay, I appreciated your comment and where you were coming from. It's cool that you were able to find solace in Abi's past videos. Thales, while I believe your intent is genuine, please give it a rest with going in everyone's comments. Allow persons to express themselves and their thoughts. No, I don't think any of the such comments you've responded to are doing any harm. I do think it can be counterintuitive to go on extrapolating about what people's response to Abigail's coming out signifies for how people relate to gender in general,while discounting the intent behind what's being expressed here.

[@londondeer]

@@bunk-o2495 She helped crack my egg last year and now everything just looks so different. It's funny how blind we can be towards ourselves and other people alike :') I'm so thankful for her insight and how much it helps me recontextualize my own life

[@elimh1354]

"Our government officials aren't supposed to insult each other" *distant, faint American sobbing*

[@HoundofOdin]

That's far more accurate than I'm comfortable admitting.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

I think we lost decorum when a man was nearly beat to death in the Halls of Congress shortly before the Civil War began.

[@emilyrln]

*Highlights:* • sweet intro/outdo music. • “The Cambridge Chinese-to-English Dictionary translates [X] as...” “...Send bitcoin, nerd.” • BLACK. • ROD.

[@gwenhope9931]

And of course clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks

[@domesticcat1725]

And of course everything professor nigel piss says

[@Liliputian07]

and the peterson impersonation

[@Knubbelbubbelbubbel]

the computer thing had me laughing tears

[@supershinigami1]

Could you explain the stolen dictionary joke to me? Why not just say what it means? I had to google it myself and found out. Not that I'm complaining about that though.

[@davidw.carstens7367]

I feel like this video somehow perfectly mixes contemporary, experimental philosophy tube with old school, stare into camera and talk about what some old dudes said Philosophy Tube. And I love it. It's amazing.

[@sanityisrelative]

With bonus amazing hair.

[@gorddude]

Sir Nigel Piss is incredible and had me crying laughing. I do hope he returns in a future video someday

[@miloformiles]

HE HAS MADE HIS GLORIOUS RETURN

[@christianmurray1986]

"It may appear to be an enormous waste of money and time..."

[@matousfiala5925]

"we've seen what happens when rulers do the Confucian 'they go low, we go high' thing. All it takes is a handful of clowns like THE BLOODY JI FAMILY to decide they're gonna obstruct everything until they get their way and the whole thing collapses" oh wow, that seems extremely relevant in the US nowadays, extremely with the passing of justice Ginsberg

[@xunzi4327]

Matouš Fiala there are chaotic men, there are no states that are chaotic themselves. There are men who create order, there are no rules that create order themselves. Rules are the beginning of order, and men are the beginning of rules. Without a gentleman, even if one has complete rules, one will fail to apply them appropriately, and so there will be chaos. - Xunzi chapter 12. Yeah, I’d say so.

[@AMVactivists]

"they go low, we go high" was part of the Corbyn campaign mantra.... I think that's what he's referencing.

[@xunzi4327]

AMVactivists it’s Michelle Obama

[@AMVactivists]

@@xunzi4327 or both...? But eh.. the Obama's never lost an election

[@nahometesfay1112]

@@AMVactivists it's also a common phrase. You may be familiar with "taking the high road"

[@ML-ig4vk]

I use to debate with my dad about the pillars of Confucianism when I was kid. Those debates about yi and li influenced my decision to pursue public interest as a lawyer. Civic duty is the balm of the soul

[@emilehoffmann4620]

Awesome! Have always thought that the belief in the goodness of the civic structure, would spur the defense/ 'proper working' of it

[@horseenthusiast1250]

Nice! I hope you have a very satisfying career. I think it's really important to teach kids early on how to learn about and understand things, and how to present their thoughts, since it's a skill they'll need a lot as adults. Philosophy is such a great teacher of those skills!

[@yoavsnake]

+

[@blackcat1642]

You mean "public defense"?

[@jessjose3638]

Awww

[@KeenoKolumna]

with the mustache he looks like how I imagine every character in agatha christie books

[@MountSilky252]

Possibly Agatha Christie as well

[@justausername]

"But even knowing that definition it still feels like I'm missing some context" killed me

[@justinn9691]

“Someone fetch me my Lara Croft costume.” *doesn’t* ... WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY. THERE ARE RULES!

[@Nonsense010688]

he didn't do the ritual...

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Olly shows his Lara Croft costume or we riot.

[@valyushalee2320]

@@renatocorvaro6924 Abby!

[@gfox-ck5xx]

@Owen Howard [Student] we hope comrade. we hope...

[@TheAyanamiRei]

I am legit sad there was no Lara Croft costume T_T

[@ncbgaming1159]

As a Chinese-American (ABC), I spat out my drink at "clever thunderstorm flesh that thinks"

[@usenlim]

As a Indonesian born Chinese I always wonder what other Chinese people around the world outside PRC think about themselves. Could you share?

[@NosebleeddeGroselha]

I was having lunch while watching the video. I had to clean my table, and my screen.

[@pallingtontheshrike6374]

@@usenlim china’s doing some weird finnicky shit but it’s working the us is doing some weird finnicky shit and it’s… working???

[@joshuacollins385]

'DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU' Unless you're a masochist. That's a really important caveat.

[@lazergurka-smerlin6561]

Well, I doubt that masochists would want to be unconsentually hurt. But if they're into non-con that's a problem

[@potmki6601]

This surely doesn't cover the whole set of morals and has some important nuances. And proper consent is mighty important

[@lazergurka-smerlin6561]

@@potmki6601 I mean it would if people all thought the same about what is and isn't moral. But that certainly isn't the case

[@joshuacollins385]

@@potmki6601 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' has a lot of problems, because people want different things and have different needs. 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you if you were them' or 'Do unto others as they would like' or 'Make other people feel nice' might work better, but they all have problems too.

[@OnerousEthic]

Don’t forget the Sadists!

[@ashoka9306]

"someone fetch my lara croft costume" SHE WAS FORESHADOWING!

[@botanicallyaberry6406]

'''' The amount of hidden gems in the captions...the gift that keeps on giving

[@BladedArrowTBGamer]

We have a lot of unsaid rituals and expectations. If someone walkked into a elevator, pressed the button, and then turned and faced the wrong way you would feel very uncomfortable even though nothing he did was aggressive.

[@Harmonic0scillator]

Can I please use this example in my post? - it is an incredible one!

[@BladedArrowTBGamer]

@@Harmonic0scillator go for it

[@Kyrielsh1]

Same thing for shaking hands in some countries, it's the right hand... Just using your left hand repeatedly will make people go "what the heck, is he trying to piss me off or smth...?"

[@tinyblueunicorn7807]

Your example makes me think of that social experiment where three/four people stood in a lift each facing a corner/wall and when someone else got in they were confused but started doing it as well (despite not knowing why) and copying any other weird things they did too, because they felt the need to mimic what everyone else was doing and follow the unspoken rules of the lift. 😂

[@theboxygenie]

Wait, which way is the wrong way?

[@stoodmuffinpersonal3144]

Hey Ollie, just want to say: Your content is perfect for "recovering from bottom surgery" vibes. I appreciate it!

[@maglorian]

Hey, I hope it went well and wish to you all the good vibes you might want and need.

[@fragiledate]

eyyy hope youre doin great, congrats!

[@sofiaisindie]

Have a nice time healing from the surgery ✨💙💜

[@lomouche]

Congratulations to you, wish you a fast recovery!

[@thatsdisco]

congrats on being a top, comrade!

[@justintempus7406]

"You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter" ~Confucius.

[@lessonslearned2569]

And that is why, "May you live in interesting times," is seen as a curse.

[@krrowthemyuii]

This year of 2020 has sure taught us that one!

[@MaralMary]

Normal people: Brain Me, an intellectual: Smart flowing Thinking electric meat Side note, thank you Olly for inspiring me to make my own content!

[@wakingcharade]

i actually find the words languages around the world use for computer and how they came up with them - which we can actually track because it so recent - to be fascinating. in hebrew its 'that which thinks' more or less

[@MaralMary]

@@wakingcharade Me too! The french "ordinateur" comes from "ordonnateur," I believe "someone who puts things in order"

[@OverDorf1121]

Fancy meat computer

[@TheoEvian]

It actually is a really poor rendition. I'll use Japanese because it is a Chinese borrowing anyway, 電脳 actually means "Something that has to do with rain and dragons" "Something that has to do with meat and is read the same as 悩." Which actually shows how those characters are structured. For example you can come over a character (like for example 凝) and say "I dont know what it means but it has something to do with ice and is read something like gi?" which really shows you the pleasure you can get by learning to write them :D

[@wakingcharade]

@@TheoEvian i was told a good rule of thumb with kanji at least is don't get too caught up with the radicals in the kanji thats a recipe for insanity - sometimes they make sense - obviously dragon's have some kind of storm related elements - sometimes as you said its reading not semantic at all, other times they just evolved over time or have shifted meaning so far they aren't going to help you. Obviously there's etymology that can help you learn as with any language or writing but assuming that every radical is worth knowing the reason for, i've been taught at least, is going to lead to more confusion. But that the kanji in a compound always are there for a reason that can help you remember that compound

[@williamd2989]

'The British by nature loathe tyranny and embrace freedom, which is why the House of Lords is completely unelected.' As an Englishman, that hit hard and made me laugh.

[@braininajar8474]

+

[@yourlocalnerd7788]

As an english major I never felt anything more relatable as "Have you ever tried to read the Canterbury Tales?"

[@handsoaphandsoap]

When you said the Lara Croft line I was genuinely hoping you’d whip out a banging Lara Croft cosplay moment

[@francocarabajal9021]

Omg me too! But I guess it would've outshined or distracted from the topic at hand

[@Turnip_king]

Next vid?

[@Reruro]

Foreshadowing for sure

[@sodabread7956]

"...Unlike great Britain the most ethical country the world has ever known" Thanks for the biggest laugh I've had in ages 🤣🤣

[@bbqseitan7106]

U avin a lauff yeh mate?

[@klisterklister2367]

ah yes, and the nicest empire

[@appleslover]

*Sad Irish, Indian, native American, aboriginal Australian, Palestinian,Egyptian, Kenyan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, American noise in the background*

[@availanila]

To be fair, John Stuart Mills collected the series of ideals that are now known as human rights, he also idealised them as a birthright. 🤷

[@availanila]

@@appleslover funnily enough Uganda feels most slighted by the Brits out of all East African countries, and Somalia too.

[@TheMrBrosef]

You had way too much fun with that Chinese "computer" joke

[@mollypocrass4562]

Don't you mean just the right amount of fun?

[@yoavsnake]

I think it was just the right amount of fun

[@jamiel6005]

made me weep of laughter

[@gewreid5946]

Really loved that bit

[@owenb8596]

2:39 We had hints and we STILL missed it

[@InfiniteBubbles]

I'll get my Lara croft costume to search for more Hints...

[@sonicthehedgegod]

holy shit lmao

[@Frommerman]

Missed it again just now until you pointed it out. Goddamn it we are all big dumb idiots.

[@JackieTheCatfox]

As if she never wore makeup before she came out? She was pretty open about it.

[@sasak369]

My transfem gf was saying for like a year ahead that her trans-dar was going off. I would say it's not our place to speculate. I hold to that, but she she's certainly been vindicated.

[@noelwhite6650]

I'm taking "Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks" as a band name.

[@ophel1a]

DAMNIT, I feared I would encounter this. A tip of the hat to you, sir. Scoot your butt on up and ride Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks into the unholy ground.

[@theheirslair9581]

@@ophel1a don't worry, Electric Brain is still available

[@ophel1a]

@@theheirslair9581 You mean SMART FLOWING THINKING ELECTRIC MEAT™. Yeah. I trademarked that shiz.

[@Soulus101]

Oli: "Get my Lara Croft outfit" Everyone: Disappointment at lack of actual Lara Croft outfit.

[@the_demon_cat337]

I want to see that. I mean we all know it would look great on him

[@Deoxys911]

@@the_demon_cat337 That's for Patreon supporters' eyes only. 😉

[@lausenteternidad]

Yeah, I immediately started staring at his chest, hoping he would get his suit off. And got dissapointed when there was no laracrofting.

[@amelitalarson3702]

I almost want to complain about the false advertising, cause it really sounded like he would do it :P

[@Soulus101]

@@Deoxys911 philosophytube onlyfans fodder

[@npcx-mq6cr]

Probably if Confucius or Moses or whoever had just said "Look, just don't be an asshole" everyone would have spend the last millennia or two debating whether or not he actually meant appendix.

[@conquestv4024]

I think it's that overtime people add more and more shit on there story and messages, changing it to something else and old people with an politic agenda change their stories to benefit their side For example I heard that the bible was rewritten couple of time by the church to change the message of Jesus to make more profit for the church.

[@nonegiven5589]

@@conquestv4024 Oh yeah, the bible wasn't really made into what it is now until many years after when jesus was supposed to be alive.

[@Seth9809]

@@conquestv4024 Is there any proof of that?

[@potmki6601]

Don't be an appendix either, i guess, just to be safe

[@Alex-0597]

People would debate what exactly was meant by asshole and while modern generations would say that obviously owning slaves is asshole behavior, previous ones would say they were assisting the slaves by granting them homes and education and so it wasn't asshole behavior. So, nothing would really change.

[@mishapurser4439]

I always give my laptop a name. Don't ask me why, it just spontaneously became a thing since my first laptop. And I've decided to call my new one Clever Thunderstorm Flesh That Thinks. Which is a bit different from Lappy Toppy, my first laptop.