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The Bledsoe Show

The show formerly known as "Bledsopia" On this podcast, you’ll learn from thought leaders who are dedicating their lives to being a positive force for your physical, psycho-emotional and spiritual health. Your host, Mike Bledsoe, seeker of truth & perpetual student, spotlights premier thought leaders in the fields of emotional & intellectual expansion, behavior change, sexuality & alternative medicine that empower you with the tools and inspiration to transform your mind, body, & spirit. Every week, this is your opportunity to get downloads from exceptional people that will guide you to the connections between your own source, to live your best life & enjoy the process.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Apr 4, 2022

00:00.00

mikebledsoe

Welcome to Monday morning with Mike and max and today we're gonna be talking about ancient wisdom with modern technology because if you don't hold both of these at the same time really well in the year Twenty Twenty Two you're probably gonna have a hard. Time thanks for joining us max.

00:22.25

Max Shank

Well, thanks for having me in the year Twenty Twenty two since we started counting because if you look at how long homo sapiens have been in this current form. We've been around a really long time and depend to you ask. Roughly two hundred thousand years does that sound correct to you I believe as homo sapiens. Okay, so it's ah it's really hard to actually imagine timelines that long it's.

00:46.53

mikebledsoe

Ah sure why not? That's what they said on Discovery channel.

00:59.40

Max Shank

Almost impossible to truly hold in your mind. The fact that ancient egypt was 3 to eight thousand years ago 3 to seven thousand years ago and what's interesting is a lot of the questions that people ask today and a lot of the. Ideas that people feel are unique Today have been asked and answered thousands and thousands of times both spoken and written over the years and I think considering a the fact that we are animals. Who basically look for survival sex and supremacy more or less in that order even without the spoken and written word is an important foundational point for this so human nature which is really animal nature has not.

01:50.34

mikebledsoe

Um.

01:55.91

Max Shank

Changed really at all in thousands and thousands tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of years but the technology has changed dramatically in that amount of time.

02:09.16

mikebledsoe

Yeah, it's um I as we start talking about this I think about there's a ah 30 hour presentation on Youtube by John Vervaki Dr. john vervaki and it's called awakening from the meaning crisis Highly recommend it if you're a philosophical nerd. You're going to love it. Um, and so what he does is he walks you through the stages of human consciousness and really ah you know. Our written history is very short compared to that 200000 year span that max is just talking about and he basically is able to start ah a in-depth conversation about the development of consciousness with the jewish people. Hebrew people and then how it then makes it over to the greeks and the the way the greeks start making sense of things and I but I believe there was either socrates or aristotle who started talking about what makes us. Human is our ability to use logic and to be able to plan ahead of time to be human is to be rational and that is to have that self-awareness and then ask questions and to develop. Wisdom your job as a human being if you want to become more human he talks about developing wisdom which we're going to get into and also getting in greater touch greater contact with reality and in order to develop wisdom. You have to get into greater contact. With reality and so ah in in order to get in greater contact. We have to become more accurate with what is and this is why max and I get really likely notice that we get really deep into semantics because. Words matter because ah, each word creates a distinction of reality you know and if you have a limited vocabulary your ability to interact with other humans in a way and and with your own mind in a way that puts you in touch with reality can become very very difficult. So um.

04:38.86

Max Shank

Well not only that not only that but the content of your thoughts determines your reality big time.

04:40.41

mikebledsoe

I Think about.

04:46.19

mikebledsoe

Absolutely yeah, you're you're projecting most of what's going on in what you would consider your reality as a projection of of the mind. Um, that's why 2 people can be sitting at the same event and. Have a completely different reporting of those events happens all the time in courtrooms and and then if we're if we're talking about anything beyond the current moment if we're talking about the past there has been a lot of research to show that people. Remember things. Not only do they remember things differently from person to person but they remember them differently over time and one of the studies that really stand out to me in regard to this is they did ah they researched people's ability to what did they report to the police. Ah, right? after a crime versus what did they say once they got on the stand and and then also what kind of impact did the questions that the police officers were asking the people how does that impact their memory of it and so.

05:53.99

Max Shank

The.

06:02.50

mikebledsoe

Um, I'm very wary of relying on my own memory or other people's memories to ah in order to be in contact with reality because I know that that simply may not be the case. Um, and so. Man Why am I talking about memories. Yeah, your your perception does does create a reality and how you remember things in the past paint how you're gonna behave now and so ah.

06:32.81

Max Shank

Well I meant from a very practical standpoint. It started with it. It started with semantics right? And the reason we go through these semantics so much is if you hold the word depressed.

06:39.30

mikebledsoe

Yes, yes.

06:50.10

Max Shank

In your mind as meaning a certain thing or even worse as something with a very nebulous meaning you might attach a certain word to your identity and there will be a domino effect to your entire psyche which is going to have a domino effect to your entire life and so just. Being able to ah clean, the slate and have ah an emptiness that you can put stuff back into rather than being saddled down with all of these destructive half ideas. That aren't really fully formed so you don't have a grasp of what's going on in your own mind and it's this very circular destructive cycle if you're not very conscious about the words that you use with yourself and with other people.

07:40.38

mikebledsoe

Yeah, well let's dig into because we're talking about ancient wisdom and and modern technology and in speaking of semantics. Let's Define wisdom max. What's your definition.

07:55.55

Max Shank

Knowing yourself and acting accordingly.

08:00.30

mikebledsoe

I Like that the um, the way I think about wisdom is that you um, you, you're aware of cause and effect you're watching when I do this. This happens when when other people do this this happens. You don't wisdom doesn't necessarily have to be all based on your own mistakes of her Failures. You can watch other people's mistakes and Failures. So I think that wisdom is largely. Um.

08:29.10

Max Shank

Then.

08:37.80

mikebledsoe

Built upon taking personal responsibility for the things that are going on in your world and because if you are if you ever look out at the world and or you look at your own life and you blame somebody else for the way something is turned out in your life. You're robbing yourself of wisdom and you're robbing your ability to see how the impact of your actions thoughts all these behaviors how they have created the current situation and so somebody who is wise typically people who are wise you look at them and go wow they made a lot of mistakes earlier in their lut in there. And their life and now they they now know what? like yeah you got the old guy in the corner going hey little Johnny you may not want to do that and I was like why not and then does it anyway and then gets fucked up. You go? Oh ah so the the wisdom is. A lot of times people will associate age with wisdom but it really has to do with you know where are you paying attention and were you were you looking for? What was my role in creating any situation that's happening so when I think about wisdom I look at it like that. There's. Individual wisdom that's developed and then obviously the the collective wisdom and looking at ah yeah, and this is where like these buddhist monks that get together and they all meditate together and and they're very scientific in a way they're studying you know.

09:56.62

Max Shank

The.

10:10.97

mikebledsoe

But when we do this? What's the result we get happens in yoga as well and there the collective wisdom is when you get a lot of agreement. It's like oh we all did this 1 thing together and we all got this result and there's ah, there's ah, a collaboration and then we write it down in a book. And that gets passed down and so this is this is where I I really do enjoy reading what would be considered ancient wisdom ancient text because there's so much. Um, there is a lot of wisdom in there and it can help you avoid a lot of painful mistakes.

10:48.49

Max Shank

Yeah I think when you say wisdom to me that's knowledge because I think knowledge is knowing what to do and wisdom is doing what you know pretty much so the way I see it. There's a slight difference. But.

10:49.48

mikebledsoe

As you move forward.

11:05.60

mikebledsoe

Um.

11:07.81

Max Shank

I Can also perfectly understand the logic to your definition too.

11:10.30

mikebledsoe

Yeah, yeah, so so we've got wisdom. We got a couple to you know knowledge Wisdom Ah, let's define.

11:20.60

Max Shank

They all, they're answering ancient questions. Let's just put it that way a lot of questions have been asked since the beginning of human history where did we come from that's creation. What do we do while we're here. How do we balance out life and live life and then what happens after life death or destruction and basically every culture in the world has different myths or different stories. Ah, it's Funny. A myth is just ah. The the news a long time ago, right? So we asked the question hey where did we come From. How did we get here? How did everything get here. There are all these creation myths and there are a lot of similarities and differences we have How does how is balance.

11:59.35

mikebledsoe

Yeah.

12:16.60

Max Shank

Ah maintained. How should we live our lives and then what happens after we die and usually the way balance is maintained in our lives is there's a carrot or a stick upon our death that says if you lived a good life. You go to heaven if you lived a bad life. You go to? hell. And that is a very common thread in many different cultural fabrics so to speak you have the traditional heaven and hell you have ancient Egypt you have your heart weighed against a feather to see if you get to go. Ah, to the good place or suffer a second death. So a lot of these questions have been asked for many thousands of years of what to do with your life and what do you think? Mike? What should we do with our lives.

13:11.10

mikebledsoe

I think it's I think we should I think one of the pieces of wisdom that I've adopted over the years is looking at what's useful versus true and i.

13:13.51

Max Shank

According to wisdom.

13:27.81

mikebledsoe

When we talked about oh where did we come from what was the origin of the the world where what happens after you die and of course every tradition has their stories and I think what you're getting at you got the the heaven and health Piece. What is the Utility. Of believing that you're there's ah, a heaven or a hell at the end of the lifetime and that is to get people to behave a certain way and and so the utility for society to adopt a religion is to to help create order.

13:55.20

Max Shank

No doubt.

14:06.71

mikebledsoe

And ah this is where a lot of Western spirituality goes is you know? Well we're preparing for something later. Not right now and so which does create order and then if you go to the east and you look at.

14:17.20

Max Shank

Ah.

14:25.41

mikebledsoe

A lot of those traditions and how they came about which um, ah, a bigger I think both have their their utility and in the east it's more of yeah, you're creating your own heaven or hell and in every moment and. Everything that's happening is a complete There's no progress so in western philosophy spirituality there's a beginning and an end and in eastern philosophy it tends to be circular like now there's no beginning and an end. It's just it's there's seasons and cycles. It's winter spring summer fall. They call that some sorrow and the ah I mean the truth is that that both exist. Yes, there is a progression of humanity over time. Ah, if you look at the universe. It's spiraling in a direction. There's an expansion happening. But it's also moving in a spiral. It's moving. There are seasons and cycles. So there are aspects of it that are predictable and then there are aspects of it that are not predictable so when I think about what's true if you talk to an eastern philosopher. They go. Well, you know it's just a season and cycle. It's not that important what's important is that you just maintain the quality of your own mind in this moment and create heaven on earth in this moment and then yeah, the the west says who gives a fuck about what's happening right? now go blow yourself up. For for allah and you'll get 72 virgins and so these these are extreme. Yeah, well, it's it's ah yeah, ah Hebrew um, yeah, well, it's it's not necessarily.

16:00.82

Max Shank

They're they're they're from the west. Um I believe Middle East not to be a stickler for geography.

16:14.51

mikebledsoe

It's east us. But when we but well when we look at.

16:16.90

Max Shank

It's all relative right? There are different cultures and they have different ideas of how you achieve some sort of Nirvana or happiness or peace or fulfillment right.

16:21.40

mikebledsoe

Or the. Yeah, well the origin of these philosophies that christianity came from which is what our culture is largely based off of based off judaism which is the same thing as based off of Islam. They're all come from. They're all considered western ah philosophy is is where it spring from so it went from. Ah, judaism hebrew to Greece and then came over whereas you had a completely different track going on in the east and that's why I talk about these 2 things. But then yeah, there's utility to both. So um, I really think about let's not get too attached to what's true or not. Because that is what happens as people get way too caught up on what's true instead of recognizing what's useful and so what I find to be useful is to say yeah, both of these things are true like we have no idea what's going to happen when we die and we. Have an opportunity to ah to create heaven on earth in this very moment. So why don't we just do both. Why don't we have a nice life while we're here in this moment and do well and help each other out and find peace in our own mind and let's also make some progress and see if we can. Make a better tomorrow than than what we have today. So I have no idea how I got to that point. What's that.

17:49.21

Max Shank

So so productivity pretty much do so Productivity is the is the way to live. It doesn't matter what is true just do what is productive and make up your own goals.

17:58.99

mikebledsoe

Yeah, well you look at I think it was up was it socrates you know, true, good and beautiful if you pursue those 3 things life is gonna be pretty good. Do what's true. Do what's good and do what's beautiful and i.

18:10.32

Max Shank

That's a great way to go.

18:17.24

mikebledsoe

When I hear true I think of being in contact with reality not necessarily like a and I when I think about the Capital T truth I Think about that. That's my simple. That's what I in my own but personal wisdom says the Capital T truth is. Simply what is is right here reality right? now anything outside of that is got a ah degree of bullshit in it.

18:43.73

Max Shank

Man we could go down that rabbit hole big time. But I'm gonna for once. Keep this ship steered in the singular direction because you you decide for yourself. What's important in life. Unless you get it from somewhere else and I think that's where intuition can come into play a lot now. Intuition is a little different than instinctual desire for pleasure because. You can go down the path of 7 deadly sins total excess that sort of deal and you may not find the joy or fulfillment that you're looking for and in fact, more likely than going to actual hell. When you die for overindulging in these 7 deadly sins. It's more likely that it's a metaphor for creating a hell or an uncomfortable experience within your own life by overindulging in certain things. So I think. Coming back to intuition is very valuable and that's how the scientific method starts anyway is with observation and intuition you you go with your intuition to determine what kind of experiment you'd like to carry out. In the first place to see how that feels for you and this is how I like to connect it with the idea of identity because people get so trapped in different identities. It's like oh I'm a red t-shirt but guy I'm a blue t-shirt guy I'm a. But. I'm a white or I'm a black or I'm a man or I'm a woman and it's very it's very limiting when you're a creative creator so you have all of this potential to create things as a creature but we limit ourselves with this identity. When in fact, we would be so much better off using our intuition and our powers of observation to see what we find intrinsically enjoyable beyond some external result. It's sort of like putting the cart before the horse. If you do something just because you absolutely love doing it. The result is going to be way better and way more fulfilling than if you do something just because of the result that you may get so I think starting with intuition.

21:37.20

Max Shank

And observation to I guess observation and then intuition to figure out what feels intrinsically good that gives you an unfair advantage about any against anyone who's gonna do the same thing as you because you're gonna love every second of it and it's not gonna feel. Difficult at all because the whole concept of easy and difficult to me is you know there are things that are difficult like doing 10 backflips off of a cliff and landing on your feet but more practically difficult just means anything you don't want to do.

22:13.86

mikebledsoe

Yeah I Think that's a that's a really. Yeah,, there's there's doing something you don't want to do or or doing something that you may want to do that gets you a poor result that's also worth worth Noting. We won't go down that we talked about the marshmallow test before ah but ah, but.

22:34.70

Max Shank

Yeah.

22:38.56

mikebledsoe

But I what I think of when you're talking about that is the the 2 modes that people may operate from when when seeking happiness and 1 is having and the other one is being and if if you're caught up in the having mode. Of being and in creating happiness. There's never enough and you're gonna run out of runway and some days there's gonna be plenty and other days there won't and ah there there will never be enough and then the being which is thing if we look at.

23:02.10

Max Shank

There's never enough.

23:18.90

mikebledsoe

A lot of the new age Community. At this point, a lot of them. You know one of the things they do well is there is this focus on how are you being and then that attracting all these other things. Um the the pitfall with that is if you are trying to change your being so that you can have. Already fucked up. It's like oh I want I'm going to use the secret I'm going to use the law of attraction to get that lamborghini. Yeah, and you'll see how enlightened I am by the size of my house and at the beach.

23:45.49

Max Shank

To win an enlightenment contest.

23:53.20

Max Shank

Right.

23:56.46

mikebledsoe

And so the ah because I'll be able to attract more whatever and so.

24:00.99

Max Shank

That goes back to our earlier thing of survival sex and status right? and status is really about sex. Anyway, we were talking about the very beginning Beyond language or even deeper than language even other animals.

24:08.76

mikebledsoe

Remind me.

24:19.64

mikebledsoe

E.

24:20.13

Max Shank

They're going for survival first and foremost then they're going for sex which is typically a factor of your status and so the way we explore status now is glittery tits and ferrari's more more or less.

24:28.26

mikebledsoe

Yeah, yeah.

24:36.40

mikebledsoe

Through.

24:37.90

Max Shank

I mean I don't want to put too fine a point on it. There are other ways to gain status some people like to gain actual power over other people like having political clout. But you know largely it has to do with a man's ability to provide. Into the future because women have gotten more and more intelligent or calculated with their discernment So now. Ah you know a mongo type of giant man who's dumb can't provide as well as a frail nerd who. Knows how to create value and wealth and security long-term.

25:19.31

mikebledsoe

Yeah, absolutely so going going back to having versus being modes. Um I think that what what you were alluding to before is if you if you don't. Have the being part nailed down, you're gonna be It's gonna be easy to convince you to do a bunch of shit. You don't actually want to do so you can have all the stuff that you think is gonna create happiness and if you're operating from that place and then we introduce. Technology these technology is yeah, it's tools and it's ways of leveraging our own minds and bodies to be able to accomplish more with less effort and so if you're adding a lot of you know if you're if you're on a ship and. All of a sudden I you know we're going the wrong way. But we're going fifty knots if we're going really fast then you know some people are so excited that you're going fast but have no idea what direction they're going in and ah. That's what happens with technology. It's like oh I've got this iphone in front of me and I've got this laptop and I've got you know a 4 our-wheel drive truck that can go anywhere you you give these things you give these ah you give these things guns.

26:45.57

Max Shank

I Feel attacked.

26:55.39

mikebledsoe

Guns are a great technology. Um Blockchain is ah is a fantastic technology that's emerged ah all of these things in the wrong hands in the in the hands of idiots will cause death destruction and and. It's it's not ah, a good look. But you put this in the hands of people who are you know who've already figured their own shit out and they can create some really cool stuff. You can live a really good life. You can you can do a lot of good for other people. And you you also get to fucking enjoy it which is very very rare I I hang out with a lot of the entrepreneurial community people that have money and are very successful and yada yada yada and I don't think there are any more. Um, a lot of them are any more happy than than someone who's working a tip old 9 to 5 making you know a quarter of the money.

27:58.75

Max Shank

I Think there's a big distinction I would like to make between you mentioned the being and the having and I think there's also the doing which is a little different than being.

28:09.40

mikebledsoe

Um.

28:15.10

mikebledsoe

Yeah.

28:17.70

Max Shank

And clearing your being so that you're as empty as space as fluid as water not to sound too. Ah fruity language over here is X I.

28:31.93

mikebledsoe

He's a fruit cake folks.

28:36.77

Max Shank

Um, definitely I have some homosexual tendencies when it comes to just I don't know I like nice things I like to use flowery language sometimes I don't know I'm a simple creature. No.

28:49.15

mikebledsoe

You you heard you heard it here first folks? um.

28:55.35

Max Shank

No one's a hundred percent straight I mean back when I was watching pornography I I liked there to be at least 1 penis in there even if there were 2 ladies so I guess I was like 33% homosexual in my preference there.

29:13.21

mikebledsoe

Welllthough this are you is ah I mean the whole it's ah it's a manmade concept. Ah the that there's a really cool mental model that everybody every everybody.

29:21.80

Max Shank

I know you think I'm sexy Mike you can just come right out and say it.

29:29.46

mikebledsoe

Why do you think I was over at your house all the time. Ah,, there's this really cool mental model that everybody uses. It's used early on in textbooks. It's hard to miss and it's the spectrum. It's There's this thing on the left and there's this the opposite of it is on the right. And ah, you can be somewhere in the middle and you go from left to right? and ah, it's It's so and interesting to watch people put things like sexual preference on this scale.

30:06.48

Max Shank

Where it's binary.

30:07.57

mikebledsoe

Of Ah, yeah, it's binary exactly and so it's It's really really interesting to watch people do that I mean I've done it I Still do I I Love the spectrum it.

30:19.89

Max Shank

Spectrums Spectrums make labeling difficult which is what our whole culture is in love with we love putting a very precise label on something and that's why we often miss the nuance.

30:34.60

mikebledsoe

Yeah, so I mean so you have the linear spectrum but I like to think about a more 3 dimensional spectrum which would be let's let's have a ball. Let's have a sphere and and there's a lot of things in the middle. Um.

30:34.89

Max Shank

And the context.

30:44.70

Max Shank

Right.

30:50.91

mikebledsoe

Why am I bringing that up man I'm bringing up a lot of show on the show that I'm losing track of where I was at I cut back My new tropics Max What's the problem.

30:53.24

Max Shank

Well I think it's important I think it's important to understand that the problem you're having right now in this conversation is the same problem of focusing too much. On the definition of your being. The last thing you want to do is be proud to be a man or proud to be white or proud to be a woman or proud to be a you know fairy godmother. Whatever it really is so silly and you don't want to get stuck too much.

31:11.77

mikebledsoe

You know.

31:29.68

Max Shank

In trying to define your being being should just be enjoying where you're at it shouldn't be thinking about who you are too much. It should be recognizing that you are not a fixed State. You are a dynamic changing growth. It's classic. Growth Mindset versus Fix Mindset and even though the the book flow is really a challenging read for the reader. It's got some good information in there and that is where I come in with the idea of the doing. Rather than just the being like if you spend too much time in the being it can be entertaining to wax philosophical. But if you spend too much time there you become like a prisoner in your own mind instead of enjoying the emptiness. Of your being and focusing on the intrinsic joy of doing and getting into that flow state and that's where you become like an animal traversing the terrain or a big cat hunting their prey you become focused. You become the task. Instead of being focused on yourself I can't think of a worse psychological prison than being focused on the definition of yourself so much and that's one of the biggest emphases of our very sick culture right now is what are you.? Are you a blue t-shirt guy. Are you a red t-shirt guy. Are you a lady? are you you a she are you a they are.. It's what's a worse prison than that. So I say instead of that. Go back to the intuition and the observation to figure out the doing. Where you become the task and that is something that we've known about for a long time. That's chopwood Carry water. That's um, you know the yeah Boom tying it all back.

33:25.82

mikebledsoe

Yeah, ancient. Wisdom yeah that there's um I brought up this this video I saw on Instagram yesterday I followed a lot of the teachings of a Christian and Murty are you familiar.

33:42.41

Max Shank

So one of Bruce Lee's main influences.

33:46.16

mikebledsoe

Yeah I think so and he he was talking about when you when you identify with an organization a group a religion or a race or a gender when you identify with any of these things. You are isolating yourself and a lot of time he was saying you know what? if you lived a life where you did not identify with any particular group whatsoever and at the first thought of that a lot of people would respond to him with. You know? Well, you'd be I You would be checking out of Society. You would not be participating and he would say no, it's the Opposite. You're open to the the all of humanity the moment that you identify with a group.

34:31.63

Max Shank

You have a more open connection with everybody.

34:43.23

mikebledsoe

You have just cut yourself off from and and you've isolated yourself to a very ah small small portion of humanity and ah and and the truth and and you're even isolating yourselves from people in that group because you're all in agreement about.

34:52.96

Max Shank

It's horrible.

35:02.46

mikebledsoe

1 aspect of the entire universe and can potentially miss who that person is outside of that 1 thing and so you know I get some conversations with people around. You know, ah race and gender and the victimhood and and all of these things and I get frustrated at times and they're like are you frustrated because that ah that and I got I'm frustrated because the only I'm I'm trying to help you and. You're not even willing to help yourself. You're so caught up in this argument I can't there's nothing that I can do I can't I can't hand you any amount of money I can't include you any more than you're already included in and to participate in whatever it is that we're doing until you let go of the identity. As long as you hold on to that identity. It's it's you're inflicting this on yourself all the way now if you give that up and then you're being inflicted upon then now we have violence. There's a there's a real problem with that. But when we look at society as a whole right now. What I think. What most of us are witnessing is this this heavy identification with an organization group. Whatever it is and it's ah it yeah, it's creating massive isolation and isolation creates suffering.

36:30.44

Max Shank

And it's just ah, perpetuating this us and them mentality that this this whole idea that you should define yourself by 1 variable of your being is insane. You know. White pride black pride. These are just racist ideas. They're stupid like why would you? Why would you be proud of that. It's because you're so desperate to be part of a group because you can get status within that group. It's like a kid joining a gang because they have no family right. And if you don't have anything to offer yourself as an individual. You'll think oh gosh I can get some status even if I provide no value by just saying like I'm I'm part of this crew essentially so it's a part of our deep desire for community.

37:18.92

mikebledsoe

Yeah.

37:26.88

Max Shank

And when you have someone isolated like that It is much easier to get them jump in to some ah sick fractured part of a community. Oh big time.

37:36.57

mikebledsoe

Very easy to control very easy. Can I mean you I mean it's very easy to I like using politics as ah as just ah, an example because ah, no matter what political party you're looking at there is a. Oh are you? This are you? This are you? This have you checked these boxes. Well you you would be you would you wouldn't really be that if you didn't do this that you're not with how many um how many black leaders have been called white supremacists in the last couple years.

37:56.92

Max Shank

Us and them.

38:13.99

Max Shank

That That's a pretty funny one. That's that's a pretty that is a pretty funny one I mean some of the stuff I see is so outrageous. That's one of the things where I'm like this black guy is the black face of white supremacy and I was like huh.

38:14.94

mikebledsoe

Because they didn't go with. They didn't agree with Blm um, and it the.

38:29.70

mikebledsoe

Well I remember it happened it happened 1 time it happened with the guy that was running for the governor of ah ah of ah California and well well and and I and I was like oh that's interesting. But then I watched it happen over and i.

38:32.22

Max Shank

Okay.

38:36.77

Max Shank

Oh God here we go.

38:49.40

mikebledsoe

I think I've witnessed it over a dozen times at this point it's it's kind of like the boy who cried wolf though. Yeah I.

38:55.20

Max Shank

It's rhetoric and it's effective rhetoric if you know remember if I ever run for office. All my opponents are racist pedophiles. That's all I Got to say they're bad I'm good and they're bad I help nuns cross the street I work at the orphanage I.

39:04.21

mikebledsoe

I.

39:12.91

Max Shank

Have a rainbow flag in my front yard and those guys are racist pedophiles. It's It's such a classic ah appeal to Authority ad Hominem attack which takes us right back to heaven and hell God The Devil These are not new ideas. There's a bad guy and there's a good guy. And if you can make people believe that a guy is bad. They will blindly ignore any rational thing that person might say and if you can make people believe. That one guy is good or God then they will blindly trust anything that guy says this is not new stuff and that's why it's so important to start with your gut and then you were talking about Aristotleian logic. It's really important. To have the tools to determine if something is reasonable, rational and true and it is difficult because most things the answer is not enough information and in fact, that's a ah, really valuable thing to. Notice is that when you have a true false question. There are usually 3 answers True false or not enough information to answer the question and most of the time there's not enough information to answer the question.

40:42.29

mikebledsoe

Yeah I think you said something really brilliant there and I I want to I want to zero in on just one piece of it which is the I think the the. Primary technology that needs to be mastered in order to use all other technology in a very useful way that's going to benefit yourself and others is the technology of language and you're you're talking about rhetorical fallacies and. Understanding language to a degree in which you can see when people are being manipulative with their language when I when I watch ah politics when I watch ah when I'm at the airport and I look at a Tv and I see. Advertising and commercials and I for for different goods and services and when I stumble across stuff on the internet I I get a good chuckle out of it because I can see the the Nlp the neuralistic programming I can see the manipulation. It's ah and it's interesting and and I think I have ah a very a somewhat unique perspective to be able to spot these things for a while I I thought it was insane that everyone couldn't see these things but there's there's 2 things that I've identified that I've done that that uniquely. Qualifies me and I bet there's hundreds of other people that that have done these 2 things and 1 is I used to have a top secret clearance in the Navy and I saw and I worked in communications and I saw an incredible amount of message traffic coming through ah about some. Secret shit and what I witnessed 12 hours later on the news is that all these different news agencies would be reporting on the thing where I saw the the reports we had were you know it was bullet point this happened then this happened this is how this is how we responded because. You create us. It's called a sit rep you create a situational report so that we can learn from it and make better decisions in the future. It's a life or death situation on creating these sit reps. You would not create one and then put a bunch of flowery language in it or or put anything that. Might not be true to make yourself look better. You don't do that because right? So you don't do that and then so I'm looking at at what I would trust to be very factual information.

43:16.00

Max Shank

Um, you don't hide it within 10 pages of prose.

43:30.17

mikebledsoe

Then turn around 12 hours later and I'm watching the news and I see Msnbc reporting it 1 way Fox reporting it another way Cnn reporting it another way and I just remember one day after being just. Months and months of sifting and looking and and being exposed to these 2 things happening at the same time and I go holy shit they're they're manipulating the the public at large and then I and then I I leave the navy.

43:55.63

Max Shank

Ah, the.

44:01.13

mikebledsoe

And I start studying years later I study marketing and then I get deepened up into marketing I'm studying things like and Nlp I'm studying hypnosis I'm studying how language is used to to 1 influence yourself and influence others because you're you're influencing other. Yourself with every word that comes out of your mouth and through your mind is influencing you and which and the words that come through your mind include the ones that come from outside enter your ears and then go through your mind and so there are. Combinations of words and certain words when used in a certain way are have greater weight for influence with an individual so watching seeing the objective data come through watching how it's manipulated seeing how much bullshit. Actually does exist there and then learning how it actually works ah does put me in this very interesting position and part of me wants to stay on the rooftops and be like hey this is what like can't you know that this what it is but but.

44:59.82

Max Shank

Ah.

45:13.75

Max Shank

And.

45:14.94

mikebledsoe

People are fish in water who don't know that they're in water and if you in my experience I talk to certain people who are very intelligent and they are plugged into Twitter all day and they know who said what? And. What's going on in Ukraine and they understand like war policy and all this stuff and I go I'm looking like it's like all your information is bad. You don't have any good data points. So it's like if if we assume that what you.

45:45.30

Max Shank

The.

45:51.80

mikebledsoe

No is actually true then you're right? But the problem is is the premise for which you're making your argument is actually wrong and so the.

46:02.90

Max Shank

That's a big distinction is to know that you could have a valid thought process very logical and correct. But if the premise is false. The result is still false.

46:14.28

mikebledsoe

And this is this is a conversation that I I have some friends that are you know buried pretty deep and in these in some narratives and anytime I bring this type of stuff up. There's a. You can see the emotional reaction and the and the immediate rejection of of a of a statement I'm like you know what there's and my girlfriend I Go Why don't you like tell them about this or this or this I'm like they're not they they stop hearing me as soon as they. You saw that physical reaction. They didn't hear anything after that. Yeah I immediately got categorized as some crazy asshole. Ah yeah.

46:53.88

Max Shank

You're on, you're on the other team is the thing right? You're the devil. You're the devil. You're on the other. No seriously, you're on the other team and everything you say will be ignored or misrepresented or just. Blindly mistrusted. It's better to not have any opinions that are too strong. Actually there was a really good conversation. Um Gavin Debecker who wrote a gift of fear he was on Joe Rogan's podcast the other day and. Joe Rogan changed his mind about something in real time and it was really nice to see because Gavin Debecker is a good communicator and he's patient. Guy. You could tell in the conversation. It was worth. It was worth a listen I really enjoyed it and they were talking.

47:33.92

mikebledsoe

A.

47:42.56

mikebledsoe

Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go look that up right now? What? um.

47:49.41

Max Shank

Were talking about ah model mugging I think it was called and Gavin Debecker was saying it's awesome and it's ah you know a 6 hour course 1 hour a week for six weeks and Joe Rogan um at one point was like oh I totally disagree. You got to learn martial arts for a long time. In order to make any of those ah make any progress because otherwise you'll have this false sense of confidence and you know as a martial arts teacher in this and that and he was like that and Gavin De Becker said wow you have ah a really strong opinion about this and Rogan was like yeah I do and he's like well. Let me tell you something that you don't know and he talked about the 23000 people who had gone through the program and had had better results in violent encounters and explained more about the program was and. Hundred percent credit to Rogan because I've seen him do this a few times and it's one of the more admirable traits in a human being is he goes gosh I really didn't understand it was like that and that that makes a lot of sense and he completely changed his mind within minutes and it's so rare to see something like that. And it's really encouraging any time I do and you're much better off not having such strong opinions really about anything because those are those are the hardest holes to dig yourself out of because you dug those holes yourself. By having too strong of an opinion the ability to change your mind is the sign of an agile and flexible mind and we've talked many times how adaptability is the chief survival characteristic. So if you get caught in these fixed mindsets and opinions that. Really aren't based on true premises and valid thought processes. It's like an extra prison that you have attached onto your being and if you think of one of the ways to greater mental and physical peace. As relieving yourself of the psychological burdens of the ego and breaking the back of the ego so that you can dance and you know drum to the rhythm of the universe not to raja style then it makes sense that you would not want to engage. In having such strong opinions because they are really more burdens and they're not very practical most of the time either. It's not like you get anything out of it and we can tie it back to the way that we use technology people are so desperate to.

50:36.50

Max Shank

To wave their own little flag and just say hey everyone I'm smart I know what's going on. Hey hey everyone I'm smart I know what's going on, please please like me give me some sort of positive feedback positive attention and that's what I see um happen a lot is it's. Fishing for compliments from the people who are already your side and alienating the people on the other side even more so it makes no sense to me what you're doing that for except to make yourself feel better. You might as you would be much more honest to just say. Hey hey everyone could you give me a few compliments I'm I'm looking for some validation Today. Can you tell me I'm smart and good but people don't want to do that because it sounds ridiculous, but they're perfectly willing to par it out the narrative of their team. Without having done any kind of searching for whether this is true or valid. So you're safer to just not have too strong of an opinion about things. It's very burdensome.

51:47.13

mikebledsoe

Yeah, if your if your ego can withstand it. There's are you familiar with ah Byron Katie okay yeah she's um, she came up with something called the work and she.

51:56.20

Max Shank

That name sounds familiar.

52:04.68

mikebledsoe

She also wrote I think one of her books I've got it somewhere around here. It's called ah, 1000 names for joy and ah she her background is very very interesting and that she's not a psychologist. She didn't study spirituality. Anything like that and yet she became one of the most profound ah speakers and you know like you quote unquote therapists that ever lived and if you really want to be impressed with her. She does something called.

52:31.46

Max Shank

And.

52:39.47

mikebledsoe

Ah, the work and the turnaround and she has a 4 step process that she takes people through you can just Youtube Byron Katie the work and you'll be able to witness it and the the idea of the work is the premise of it is that. People are creating suffering in their own life. Oh I want to talk about this first. The way she got to where she is now is she lost her fucking mind she lost her. Ah she went through down this really negative. Rabbit hole ended up like walking through the desert and she was gone.

53:14.14

Max Shank

Well, how did we get here? How did we get here. Didn't We do roughly the same thing I mean you and I lost our minds at least once E trent.

53:15.75

mikebledsoe

Back in the 80 s huh what do you mean. Oh for sure for sure. Um, but I don't think we were suicidal I only I wasn't suicidal when I when I lost it was one of sick.

53:31.65

Max Shank

We weren't so far gone maybe does suicidal mean you're like really going to do it or you just thinking about what it would be like because who doesn't think about who doesn't think about what it would be like.

53:41.36

mikebledsoe

Yeah, there's suicidal ideation. Yeah well of course there's suicidal ideation and then there's suicid all um.

53:53.60

Max Shank

I mean I have it all planned out like you you want to do it. You want to but I'm a perfectionist that that's why I haven't done it.

53:57.87

mikebledsoe

I Just want to I just go skydiving and not not pull the cord man just go skydiving I don't pull the cord. That's that's my mask you know if I'm ever gonna go. It's probably I'll do it.

54:08.62

Max Shank

The problem is I'm a perfectionist I'm still planning out the perfect suicide which is the only thing that's saving me.

54:11.96

mikebledsoe

Ah, ah. So ah, anyways, she she basically had ah a major mental breakdown and ah, you know there's something. Ah, there's a few people out there. Jeed Mckenna is another person who basically went through a mental breakdown took about 2 years to get through it.

54:35.61

Max Shank

Ah.

54:37.12

mikebledsoe

Which is what what they have in common is they stop believing their thoughts and they got down to they were able to stabilize the perspective of truth which is just a constant presence with reality without the.

54:42.32

Max Shank

Ah.

54:54.33

mikebledsoe

Ah, without stories narratives things like that getting a fixed and attached to so she has a 4 step process for any narrative you might have to pry your identity from it and so ah, the the.

54:57.89

Max Shank

M.

55:06.54

Max Shank

Ah.

55:12.99

mikebledsoe

The key issue is that people believe their thoughts and when you believe your thought to be true. You then identify for it with it. It becomes part of who you are and if you try to wrestle the belief out of somebody's ego. The ego is gonna fight back and say no, no, no Motherfucker. If I Let go of this then I'm gonna die going back to being accepted by the tribe because yeah, and so and so I need to be accepted by the tribe if I let this go. It's a very deep. Ah you know.

55:35.61

Max Shank

Right permanence.

55:50.26

mikebledsoe

Deep thing in your psyche. It's not something where you just hear me talk about it and go Okay I'm good with it I've been I've been hip to this conversation for a decade and I'm still you know wrestling with constantly questioning is this a belief or is this what I'm noticing or you know like there's a constant. Ah.

55:54.28

Max Shank

Are.

56:09.99

mikebledsoe

Questioning going on which I think is very very healthy if. You're not doing that if you haven't stabilized reality which I think almost you know, probably a handful of people alive on the planet have actually achieved that the rest of us are walking around with some type of narrative. Some people are so bought into it. They don't. Don't even know their beliefs might not be true and then to to be operating from a place where you're actually questioning your beliefs as and being based in something that's not reality is ah is ah I think a really healthy place to be and and that means that the ego has to you have to have a relationship to the ego. That is ah that is not so attached you know and if anyone is if anyone really wants to get to the core of beliefs and language and all that I think Byron Katie is likely the best. Practical resource There's some other really cool resources out there if you're really into the conceptual shit but she has got one of those practical tools I've seen out there.

57:17.61

Max Shank

So it all comes back to trying to ease suffering basically right because suffering is resistance and the opposite of resistance is acceptance so you accept the death of the ego which.

57:24.56

mikebledsoe

Now.

57:37.10

Max Shank

The reason people fear death of their body is because the story ends I I like to phrase it that way at least makes sense to me I would be willing to hear any argument to the contrary because I like a good argument, especially a civil.

57:41.61

mikebledsoe

That's right.

57:52.11

mikebledsoe

Um, I'm afraid of the horns and the pitchfork fellow. Yeah.

57:55.76

Max Shank

Argument. We're afraid of the devil that makes sense. Ah he seems pretty sinister. Guy seems like he would enjoy torturing you for a really long time. But anyway so jokes on him I dig it.

58:05.78

mikebledsoe

I Might like it though start jokes on him. Um.

58:14.70

Max Shank

Give it to me Diablo Man. Ah so we're talking about how to ease suffering pretty much and allow us to live with more peace more prosperity more productivity and. More productivity That's where technology comes into play and a tool is just a tool. It is in fact, ah more about how you use it So a scalpel in the hands of a child is very dangerous but a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon can. Save your life so understanding what you're trying to do with the tools you have available and is it more mindfulness is it more intentioned is it more deliberate. These are all Synonyms. Of course. But look computers are such crazy leverage machines but most of the time we're just floating stuff out there um to get validation which is an external trap rather than an intrinsic joy of doing and being. So recognizing what tools are most important in your life is a good place to start kind of embracing a minimalist attitude toward the tools that you possess and. Not necessarily does it Spark joy. But what is the real use of this can I get along without it and the same way. A computer can totally trap you on the internet if you don't have wisdom and you have a computer with internet Connection. You are fucked. Your your soul will be gone if you're going on Pure instinct and you have a computer with internet Connection. You're Gone. You need to have some wisdom to control these very powerful tools. It's the same with the refrigerator. Wow. What an amazing Concept. A refrigerator can store all this food. But if I have unregulated gluttony instead of wisdom which you know there are ancient proverbs that say eat until you're 80% full. It's It's the simplest thing. But that's why knowledge is easy but wisdom is really the practice of Knowledge. It's knowledge applied to your specific Situation. So I think having ah an appreciation for technology is maybe a good first step.

01:01:00.26

Max Shank

And recognizing how fortunate we are to have access to the goods that we have access to and to put yourself in a scenario where you don't have access to these tools and what life is like and then reintroduce them back. Into your existence. You'll have a greater appreciation for them and they'll you'll use them a lot more deliberately I think.

01:01:28.48

mikebledsoe

Well sir that that feels like an end of show synnosis. Yeah yeah, yeah, same.

01:01:34.19

Max Shank

Boom I Love it. Yeah so I think the I think the modern technology is way Easier. We don't need to talk about it too much and I think the the ancient wisdom has a lot of facets to it. It. It does primarily center around questions people have been asking for a long time and how do you find peace in your being joy in your doing and gratitude in your having.

01:02:07.60

mikebledsoe

Yeah, beautiful, well said? Yeah I think about um, a really good example is you know how do you for those who use Instagram how do you use it are you are you a pure consumer that's just scrolling through that's. Being used by technology or are you are you using technology are you are you creating with it and not only are you creating but are you creating something that that brings you joy and brings other people joy and so I think about technology is simply an amplifier of it's going to amplify what is if. If if your life is full of destruction. You're gonna be able to amplify that destruction if your life is full of creative creative energy. You're gonna be able to create unlike you were be able to you were able to create before so be aware of that and the number 1 technology. That we all have access to is language. So what? what was that noise.

01:03:13.23

Max Shank

Dude I was gonna say the same thing I'm I'm right there with you. There's no, there's no more valuable technology than language. That's why you and I harp on it so much is because it is ah other than getting comfortable sitting quietly and just.

01:03:14.52

mikebledsoe

I.

01:03:30.40

Max Shank

Doing things in silence it. It is the the key to unlocking and relieving yourself of these burdens.

01:03:34.78

mikebledsoe

Yeah, if you can master that you can be the creator of your world and if you don't master that you will be the slave to other people who have mastered language. So ah, ah.

01:03:48.44

Max Shank

Pooh. We.

01:03:52.78

Max Shank

Ah, it reminds me. It reminds me of this thing I was reading about ancient Egypt where the the priest or the leader had ah a temple that no one else could go into and they would bring him gold and food and women and shit like that.

01:03:57.39

mikebledsoe

Ah.

01:04:11.82

Max Shank

And he told them that every night he had to negotiate Mott M a at which is balance with the equal and opposite world on the other side but of course no one could ah confirm this but I was just thinking what a powerful. Language swindle that is to say hey listen every single day I'm going to negotiate with essentially the other world or the underworld to make sure there's balance in all of our lives as long as you bring me all your gold and food and all this Stuff. While I go into that private room and handle this negotiation. It's it's crazy that you can get people to do things just by making noises with your mouth speaking of marketing and sales I mean it's Crazy. It's Crazy. It's Crazy. It's not Fair. It's not Fair. It's basically cheating because your relation with your relationship with yourself basically language related in a lot of cases understanding the definition of things your relationships with other people largely language related and then your relationship with your customers. You are setting the tone.

01:05:10.67

mikebledsoe

Yeah, go.

01:05:24.51

Max Shank

With every word you say it's It's not Fair. It's not fair that it's such an unfair advantage that if you can speak and communicate in a way that is both clear and inspiring. You can exponentially. Amplify. Whatever it is. You're slinging if you're slinging carpet cleaning or fitness products like myself. It is fully an unfair advantage and I can speak from experience.

01:05:45.14

mikebledsoe

Yeah, yeah.

01:05:55.80

mikebledsoe

Absolutely and an overlooked thing around language I think most people when they hear using language especially in the way we've been talking about it is in regard to marketing or Pr Politics Media they're thinking about the outside language. Well there's also the internal dialogue you're having with yourself mastering that will help you master yourself and then the next layer inside of that is the the thoughts that are made up of words that are operating in your subconscious. And I I believe that everybody has witnessed this whether they recognize it or not they witness something that's been living in the subconscious pop up into the conscious realm of their mind and they go where whered that thought come from that was fucking weird that thought's been in there. For a long time more than likely and ah, you're just now you just now have awareness of it and it's likely been causing your your personality. It's been causing behavior for you and you didn't even know it. So I think it's safe to say if you. This is one of those useful beliefs that I have which is 95% and I I say 95% to get people a little more credit but I think it's probably closer to 98 or 99% of what's operating in your mind is subconscious, unconscious and ah. We we give ourselves a lot more credit for thinking that we're we're doing things on purpose when most of what we're doing is is an autopilot function and ah for me it. It's really cool to do conscious programming where I am.

01:07:37.10

Max Shank

The.

01:07:48.44

mikebledsoe

Intentionally bringing thoughts into my mind that are going to move me where I want to go but I find even more power and subconscious programming if you learn how to hypnotize yourself and embed codes that you want to operate without any conscious effort. Throughout the day. There's ways to do that as well and maybe I should put together a course or something I told somebody recently at a mastermind that they go well what thing could you bring to the group that would benefit them well I could teach you how to hypnotize yourself. Everybody's heads turn. Never heard of that before I've heard of hypnotizing other people. Yeah, you can hypnotize yourself but you know what show is wrapping up so I to save that little trick for later later it. It's really simple so hit hit me up on Instagram if you want to know about it oll ah send you a free Pdf or something. Have to make it up.

01:08:44.62

Max Shank

Cool modern technology.

01:08:49.89

mikebledsoe

All right max it out where where are people finding you these days.

01:08:56.77

Max Shank

Well I'm currently at the top of a very tall mountain studying with a monk who is 500 years old to figure out the meaning of life and he says in another couple hundred years. We just might figure it out.

01:09:11.80

mikebledsoe

Nice, nice looking forward to hearing the answer to that I'm gonna be using all the new biotech that's available to live to for another 200 years so I think we're gonna be good to go. Ah, you can find me on Instagram at Mike Underscore blood so and yeah check out the blood so show for more content interviews go to http://matchschk.com. He's not gonna toot his own horn today for whatever reason so go to http://maschank.com and check out. Courses on how to do cool stuff with your body and I'll see you next time Levy Max

01:09:50.67

Max Shank

Love you buddy! Thank you.

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