Pros & Concepts

Episode 27: Naive Realism - I'm Right; You're Misinformed, Evil, and Stupid

November 22nd, 2021  |  45 mins 31 secs

ideas, philosophy, polisci, political science, politics, psychology, sociology

Phil introduces the idea of Naive Realism, and comes dangerously close to "enlightened centrism" at some points. Steve and Phil discuss how to have better conversations about politics, and how to possibly sway some people's way of thinking.

Episode 26: Self-Publishing ft. Jack Pierce - Putting Yourself Out There

November 7th, 2021  |  50 mins 21 secs

authoring, creative, editing, horror, self publishing, writing

In this episode, Phil and Steve interview horror author, Jack Pierce. Jack's podcast is Terror Trax, and we invited him on to talk about self-publishing. You'll notice we veer away from the topic quicker than usual, but we do tend to gravitate around that concept. So different from the norm, eh?

Episode 25: Ikigai - Finding Your Reason to Be

October 22nd, 2021  |  52 mins 9 secs

actualization, fulfilment, herpes, ikigai, japan, language, personal development, raison d'etre

In this episode, Phil and Steve spar off with research, trying to stump each other about the truth about Ikigai, the myths surrounding it, and how to best apply it to your life.

Episode 24: Urban Revitalization - Resurrecting Wastelands

October 5th, 2021  |  41 mins 35 secs

Today is a special day, we have a guest! His name is Storm Cunningham; he is an author, speaker, activist, and more, and he’s from the reconomics institute. His newest book is “Reconomics: The Path to Resilient Prosperity” and we speak about environmental revitalization in urban environments.

Episode 23: Ambient Knowledge - Personalized Culture

September 20th, 2021  |  50 mins 21 secs

china, culture, philosophy, psychology, sociology

Ambient knowledge refers to the knowledge of geography, customs, regulations, and other often-unstated information that would be useful to know. The outcome of not knowing can result in social gaffs, but more often it will simply result in squandered money through overpaying, scams, or fines.

Episode 22: Chiplessness - Making New Emotions

September 4th, 2021  |  47 mins 40 secs

Steve leads the charge on this episode which discusses the idea of "chiplessness", offered to us through the book How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett. We meander around the topic of emotions as per usual, and eventually declare that dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive.

Episode 21: Loss Leaders - Losing to Win

August 17th, 2021  |  46 mins 59 secs

business, business development, business strategy, pricing, self-development

Phil talks about loss leaders from both the consumer and business side in this episode. See one of the tricky ways that businesses try to get you in the door and separate you from your money with designed trails of temptation.

Episode 20: Self-Determination Theory - How to Find Motivation

August 9th, 2021  |  52 mins 18 secs

communication, counseling, interpersonal skills, motivation, personal development, psychology, self-improvement, sociology

Steve introduces his favorite theory of everything: self-determination theory. The three secrets to motivation are: autonomy, mastery, and connection.

Episode 19: The Hedonic Treadmill - Pleasure Disappears Over Time

July 23rd, 2021  |  55 mins 34 secs

happiness, hedonic treadmill, hedonism, philosophy, pleasure, psychology, sociology

Phil talks about the Hedonic Treadmill, what it means, and how to get off of it to enjoy life more. As usual, they meander around the point and tie in several disparate ideas.

Episode 18: Intuitive Eating - Listen to Your Gut

July 8th, 2021  |  49 mins 53 secs

diet culture, diets, health, healthy living, philosophy, psychology, sociology

Steve introduces the idea of Intuitive Eating and how it differs from "other diets" as described in the book, Intuitive Eating. Phil and Steve discuss the societal and social influences surrounding diet and fitness culture, including some of their own experiences.

Episode 17: Force Multiplier - Getting More From Less

June 25th, 2021  |  1 hr 2 mins

In this episode, Steve talks about getting lost in grocery stores and Phil talks about Force Multipliers, which can be defined as:

“In military science, force multiplication or a force multiplier refers to a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons (or other hardware) the ability to accomplish greater feats than without it.”

Episode 16: Emotional Maturity - Healing and Dealing with Immaturity

June 11th, 2021  |  1 hr 4 mins

counselling, maturity, parenting, psychology, self-help, self-parenting, therapy

In this episode, Steve leads the discussion on emotional maturity and, in particular, how it relates between parents and their now-adult children. It is largely a discussion of the book “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents”.

Episode 15: Time Arbitrage - Money is Time

June 3rd, 2021  |  50 mins 39 secs

arbitrage, business, entrepreneurship, self-development, self-improvement

In this episode, Phil starts talking about Arbitrage and the time form of that, but because he had no notes, he ended up meandering from topic to topic to do with entrepreneurship, business, and some common pitfalls he’s seen.

Episode 14: Meta - Of or Beyond the Self

May 25th, 2021  |  1 hr 9 mins

In this episode, Phil leads the discussion on all things meta, or at least all that he could find. Ranging from metacognition to meta-ignorance to meta-emotion, this one is more of a grab bag than most.

Episode 13: Transitional Stress - Change is Challenging

May 19th, 2021  |  1 hr 9 secs

change, psychology, sociology, travel

Steve introduces the idea of Transitional Stress, which can come from major shifts in life, including changing jobs, moving to a new location, or otherwise altering your life in a significant way. The episode focuses a lot on travel and culture shock, as well.

Episode 12: Idea Excavation - Finding Treasure in a Dump

May 12th, 2021  |  59 mins 40 secs

archaeology, excavation, ideas, nomological networks, philosophy, psychology, sociology

Phil introduces the concept of Idea Excavation, which can be shortly summarized as “take what’s valuable, leave what’s not”. Through Steve’s clarification, they also talk about “Learning from the Negative”, examining the traits something or someone lacks, and learning to better foster that missing trait in one’s self, such as patience, gratitude, compassion.