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Secret History #16: The Big Bang of Greek Civilization

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This content explores the origins and evolution of Greek civilization, arguing that its foundational innovation stemmed from a shift from centralized, empire-based control to a decentralized system of competing city-states (poleis), which fostered intellectual and cultural flourishing, exemplified by Homer's epics. It further posits that ancient Greek thought, particularly its engagement with the spiritual and emotional through oral traditions and literature, offered profound insights into the human condition, particularly regarding forgiveness, which is contrasted with modern society's perceived over-reliance on logic and materialism.

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Good morning. So today we do Greek

civilization. We are focusing on Homer

who wrote the Iliad in the Odyssey.

A couple years ago I taught the great

books. So we read the Bible, uh Dante,

um Paradise Lost, the Iliad and the

Odyssey. And believe it or not, the

students favorite book was the Iliad.

And this was written maybe 3,000 years

ago by this Greek man living in a

different time, different culture. Even

today, Chinese teenagers

think he's wonderful. Okay. So, Homer

is, I believe, the big bang of Greek

civilization. All right. So, let us

summarize where we are. Okay. Let's

review where we are. Okay. So remember

that in the beginning you have this city

emerge in a major trade route

and it occupies a major river

and over time what will happen is that

as the city expands it will create

colonies along the river and this will

create warfare among the city states

because they're trying to control trade.

Okay. And this leads to what we call open

cooperative

competition. And as I keep on saying

this is a system that will lead to

tremendous innovation.

Okay. And this is what happened in

China, in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. But

then over time what will happen is that

an empire will emerge and this will

create a bureaucracy.

Okay. Now bureaucracy has three major

characteristics. The first is centralization.

And because of centralization, you have

now have a monopoly and so you have a

decrease in competition which means that

the society is no longer innovative.

meaning that um no people are no longer

free to express what they want. All

information is centralized. The third is writing

writing

So writing is a system of control as

opposed to a system of knowledge creation

creation

or self-expression. Okay. So these are

the three characteristics of an empire

and um this is true for all empires.

This is true for manian Greece.

So remember Minanian Greece is the

empire that ruled the AGNC during the

Bronze Age. What's interesting though is

when the branches collapsed,

this system allowed for massive innovation

innovation

which gave us the Greeks. Okay, so let

me explain why. First of all, you now

have centralization, but you now have

something called the polus.

So you basically have a return to the

system of open warfare. The polus means citystate

citystate

in Greek and it gives us the word

politics. Why? Because these polices

were at war with each other always and

because every citizen

um had to risk his life in a war. Every

citizen had the right to speak. Okay.

So before every [clears throat] decision

was made, all the citizens could debate.

And so as a citizen, you were required

to speak in front of others.

And as a result, you even though you

could be a farmer, you had to educate

yourself. You had to gain knowledge. You

had to learn the art of speaking, what

we call rhetoric.

And this allowed for

massive education

and innovation in Greece.

Um the polist because everyone had to

learn they had to change the writing

system from one of propaganda to one of

knowledge seeking. So they changed their

writing system. So during the mian age

the wring system is called linear B.

And line B um is a hard system to learn.

But that's the point.

They want the writing system to be hard

to learn because then only the elite can

learn it. And that's what differentiates

the elite from the people, right? But

now that everyone has to learn, you need

you need a more efficient writing

system. And so they incorporated they

created a new system called the alphabet.

which is the same system [clears throat]

we use today because it's so effective.

Okay, so let me explain what the

alphabet is. [clears throat] All right,

so in the beginning when we first start

to write, we had pictograms. Okay, so

this is the sun. This is the moon. Okay,

sun and moon. As you can see,

these are just pictures of words. Okay,

that's the first step. But then people

realize, you know what? We we actually

don't have to write down. We actually

don't have to draw down draw out the

pictures. We can just use symbols. Okay.

So now you use symbols like maybe an O

and this. Okay. This is now becomes a

sun moon.

And then people realize you know what

there actually a lot of words we cannot

draw out. But if we make the symbol

representing a sound as opposed to an

idea, that' be a lot more efficient,

right? And so now um you can create new

words. This is the word now for monsoon

because all you're doing is you're

adding two sounds together. Okay? And

this is what I call a syllary. Okay? So

And um the Chinese system is what I call

an idoggram.

idiogram. Okay. So it's it's not

representing sounds, it's representing

ideas. All right? And then people

realize, you know what,

for it to be most efficient, to be most

flexible, to be most versatile, we can

just have the symbol represent a part of

a sound. Okay? So rather than a complete

sound, just a part of a sound.

So now this becomes

M. This becomes S. Okay. And so you now

get the word sum.

And this is where we get alphabet from.

What the Greeks did was they added

vowels to the system.

Okay. And this is the most efficient

writing system in the world. It's really

easy to learn as you know uh from

English class as opposed to Chinese

which is very hard to learn. Okay. So

now you have the alphabet which

increases literacy and learning

throughout the Greek world

for entertainment. What they did was

they invited bars, poets to come and

give recital to talk about the legends

of the past and this gave rise to the

most famous

poet of that time named Homer and we

will discuss Homer today. Okay. And so

in a in a centralized system, Homer

could not have have arisen because Homer

would have would have been a

propagandist. But now in this

decentralized system where everyone is

looking for entertainment for knowledge

Homer can arise and Homer will be the

greatest poet of Greek civilization and

he's considered to be the father of

Greek civilization. Okay so we will

discuss Homer today and Homer is famous

because he wrote two books the Iliad and

the Odyssey actually he didn't write the

books he recited the the poetry and then

his students wrote it down because he

himself was illiterate and we also think

he was blind. Okay, so the Iliad and the

Odyssey are about the Trojan War. Okay,

so let me explain to you what the Trojan War

War is.

[snorts]

Okay, so um from last class you know

that uh Troy was the center of the

world. It was the heart and center of

global trade and that's why pirates kept

on raiding Troy. Okay. Now, as you also

know, facts become stories and stories

become exaggerated over time and that's

what gave us the legend of the Trojan

War. Okay. So, let's go over the um

basic outline. So, there are uh the gods

of Inman Olympus. The king god of course

is Zeus.

And the three goddesses are Hera,

who is the queen god. They are Athena,

the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite.

who is the goddess of love. Okay. Hero

is the queen, the mother. Athena and

Aphrodite are the daughter of Zeus. So,

it's one big family.

One day, um they discover a golden apple

on Mount Olympus. And the golden apple

says to the most beautiful in the world.

So, of course, all three believe it must

be mine. And so they fight and they

fight and they fight. And Zeus

is going crazy because they won't stop

fighting. So Zeus has an idea. He will

have a contest.

And on this contest, the golden apple

will be awarded to one of the three.

Okay. But now he needs to find someone

stupid enough to be the judge. And he

finds this person named Paris. And Paris

And so Paris meets the three goddesses

and of course each goddess is trying to

bribe Paris.

So Paris says Paris if you pick me

I will give you a kingdom. I will make

you a king. And Paris like that's a

really attractive offer. Okay. Then

Athena says hey if you pick me I will

give you all the wisdom in the world.

you will be the wisest man in the world.

And Paris like, okay, that sounds cool.

Sure. And then Aphrodite says,

I'm going to give you the hottest girl

in the world. And Paris is like, yes,

that's what I want, man. Okay. So, he

marries Helen.

Um, this this this may sound strange to

you. like why would you give up power

and wisdom for you know sex and so I was

talking to my wife about this cuz I I

didn't understand Paris's choice right

and she said of course you pick Helen

because what matters to guys is status

face right [snorts] you're a king but

there are lots of other kings you have

wisdom but like who knows you have

wisdom right but hey if you're walking

around the world with like the hottest

girl in the

you feel good about yourself. Okay, so

of course you pick Helen. So there you

go. My my wife knows more than I do. All

right, but anyway, so now

this is a problem because now Hera and

Athena are pissed off and they want

revenge. In fact, they're so pissed off

they decide they're going to destroy not

just Paris, but the entire Trojan people.

people.

Okay, they're going to wipe out Troy

from the face of the earth. They want

revenge. Another problem is at this time

Helen is married to Menalos who is the

king of Sparta and his brother is

Agammanon who is the king of Argos and

Spartan Argos are the two most powerful

places in Greece. So Agamman is the king

of kings. He is the king of mine Greece.

And so they organize this huge army to

attack Troy to

retrieve Helen. Okay.

Um and this will go on for 10 years,

this battle in Troy. And this will give

rise to many legends that Homer will use

to entertain the Greek people after the

fall of the Minian Empire. Two of the

most famous heroes of this time and

there are like hundreds, okay, are Achilles

and and Odysius. Odysius is known for

being the wisest of the Greeks, the

greatest strategist. Achilles is known

for being the bravest warrior. Okay. Um,

Odysius will come up with the idea of

the Trojan horse, which is what ends the

war. Because, as you know, what will

happen is the Greeks will sneak inside a

horse, a wooden horse, pretend that it's

a gift to the Trojans. The Trojans will

take the horse inside the city. The

Greeks will sneak out at night and kill

everyone. Okay. All right. So, that's

the um

story of the Trojan War.

What Homer will do is he will take this

epic, okay, this legend and turn it into

a great story. He does not tell the

whole story. He only tells a part of the

story. He tells a story of the battle

between Achilles and Eggman. Okay, so

let's go over the plot of the Iliad.

All right. So the story begins like this.

this.

has arrived in Troy with his entire

army. But Troy is a walled city and

these guys are pirates. So they cannot

uh destroy Troy. So what they what they

do is well they're pirates. So they go

and they go and raid other islands that

are allies of Troy. And what they do is

they capture booty which includes

beautiful young girls. Okay? And they

have these girls as sex slaves. Now the

custom of war is that if a girl belongs

to a powerful family, that family can

choose to ransom her back and you have

to give her back. Okay. Now it turns out

that Agameanon likes his girl, but she's

she's the daughter of a powerful priest.

And the priest says, "Give me back my

girl and I'll give you a lot of money."

And man says, "No, I like her and I'm

lonely, so screw off." So this priest

gets angry and prays to Apollo and

Apollo unleashes a plague on the Greeks

and everyone's dying. Okay? And so Achilles

Achilles

discovers what's happened and he

confronts Agamenon in a war council and

he says, "Ega Manon, you have to give

the girl back or else we're all going to

die here." And says, "Fine, I will give

her back, but only in the condition that

I take your girl." And of course,

Achilles is pissed off. He's like,

"That's not fair." And like, "Too bad.

I'm king." And so, Achilles says, "Fine,

but I will never fight for you ever

again. I'm going to let the Trojans

destroy you

here. I'm going to I'm the greatest war

in the world. I'm going to sit back and

I'm let the Trojans destroy you. Okay.

So after after that meeting, Achilles

goes to his mother who's a goddess. Her

name is Fetus and she's a river goddess.

And and Achilles says to Fadius,

"Listen, mother, could you help me out?

Could you tell Zeus to help the

Trojans?" The reason why is I want the

Greeks to lose so that they beg me to

save them.

I came to Troy to be a hero. So

let the Trojans win and then I'll come

and save the Greeks and I'll be a great

hero. So that's what Fetus does. And Hector,

Hector,

who is the prince of Troy, okay, he's

brother to Paris. He discovers that

Achilles is absent from the battlefield.

So he leads the Trojans against the

Greeks and they're destroying the

Greeks. They're at the point where sorry

at the point where they've almost

reached the Greek ships and they want to

burn down the Greek ships because if

they do that the Greeks cannot resupply

themselves and they will all die in

Troy. And so at this point Odysius and

the other Greeks say to Eggmanon, "You

know what? We need Achilles. Please

please get Achilles back into the

battlefield." And says, "Fine. Tell him

this. Tell him I will give him my

daughter in marriage. I will give him

all the treasure in the world if he

comes and fights for us. So Adysius and

the Greeks go to Achilles and says,

"Please, please, please help us." And

Achilles says, "Nope." Why? Because Agon

is not here. Where's Agame, man? I don't

need his daughter. I don't need all this

money in the world. I'm going to die

anyway in battle. So screw off. Okay. So now

now

Achilles and Eggman are stuck because

Achilles wants Eggman to apologize, but

Eggman doesn't want to lose face. So

there's a real threat that the Trojans

will destroy the entire Greek army.

Okay? And they're about to reach the

ships and burn down the ships. And

Achilles is watching this and he's like,

"Why aren't the Greeks coming and

begging me again?" Okay? He wants the

Greeks to constantly beg him so he can

say no. And the Greeks and the Greeks

are like, "We know that. So we're not

we're not going to come." So then what

happens is Achilles, he's so nervous

that he sends Petroles, who is his

lieutenant, to go talk to the Greeks and

say, "Hey man, what's going on? Do you

need Achilles help?" And the Greeks say

to him, Petroas,

we know Achilles, he's got this terrible

temper. He's not going to come save us,

but maybe you can save us, Petroles. And

chocolate says, "Yes, I can be the hero

now." So he runs back to Achilles and

says, "Achilles, you We're all

going to die here. Let me go fight." And

Achilles is like, "Fine, you you can go

fight, but only the condition that you

just save the ships and you do not push

the Trojans back to Troy." Okay, that's

my glory. Do not steal my glory. So, of

course, what Procus does is he tries to

win all the glory for himself. He forces

a duel between himself and Hector and

Hector kills Petetrois. Now Achilles is

pissed off and and Achilles is like

screw this. I'm going to go kill Hector.

Okay, so now Eggmanon and Achilles are

best friends because they both want to

kill Hector. Achilles duels Hector,

kills him, and he is now the greatest

warrior in the world. He's proven

himself to be greatest hero in the

world. He's saved the Greeks. He's

killed Hector. He's adventurous friend

Petolis. He should be the happiest man

in the world, right?

And this is the genius homework. He now

falls into a deep depression. He

mutilates Hector's body. He ties

Hector's body to his chariot and rides

around the city of Troy. And all the

Trojans are screaming in horror. The

gods are like, "This is disgusting,

man." The Greeks are like, "No, man.

This is a war crime. We don't want to

get involved. Okay. Achilles is going

crazy. He can't sleep. He can't eat. All

he can do is mutilate Hector's body. All

right. So now, so now the gods are

watching this and saying, "You know

what? Um, we shouldn't allow this

because this is a war crime and Hector

was always um a good subject. So let's

broker a piece between Achilles and Pry

who is the father of Hector. Okay,

because in this world it's important to

bury the dead because only by burying

the dead can they find eternal peace.

Okay, so Prime wants wants a body back.

So Prime himself cannot sleep and both

Achilles and Prime agree to this deal.

The gods send Prime into Achilles tent

and Achilles is busy. Okay, Achilles is

distracted and Prime is sitting next to

him. And at this point, what Prime can

do is take a dagger and stab Achilles in

the neck and avenge his son, right?

What he does instead is he kneels down before

before

Achilles and kisses his hand. He submits

himself before Achilles.

And Achilles is so

aed by this that he recognizes that Pry

is the greater hero. That Pry has more

courage than he does. And now Achilles

submits to Pryam.

And the two forgive each other and

weep together. And this is how the idiot

ends. Okay, this is a story

that tells us that the real battlefield

is not out there in the shores of Troy.

The real battle is inside our human

heart. Okay. Why does a Achilles fall

into depression? Because he himself

knows he's he's the one guilty for

killing of Petetrois.

Maybe it was Hector who

killed Hecles, but it was Achilles who

made it possible. Why? Because number

one, Achilles didn't have to get in a

stupid fight with a mountain. Okay.

Number two is when the Greeks came came

to beg, Achilles could have could have

said yes. Okay. And then number three is

Achilles did not have to send Metropolis

into battle.

So Achilles know in his heart that he

was guilty and as such he could not

forgive himself

and so he fell into depression and so

pry by forgiving Achilles allow Achilles

to forgive himself.

Okay so it's it's a problem of

forgiveness and this is the hardest

problem in human society. How do you

forgive those who've done wrong to you?

And how do you forgive yourself for

doing wrong unto others? This is the

hardest problem in human society. If you

if you can solve this problem, you you

can now create a great civilization.

That's what Homer did. Okay? Homer

showed us that this is the greatest

problem in the human heart. And when we

forgive each other, we make the world a

new. We rejuvenate the world. We change

the world from one of the destruction

into one of vitality. Okay. Pry him by

sacrificing himself by having the

courage to forgive Achilles.

Change the destiny of himself and his

son Hector because Achilles

gave Hector back and told Pam, "Not only

will I give your son back, but I will

make sure that you have enough time to

ensure a proper funeral for Hector."

Achilles himself will ensure the Greeks

will not attack Troy during the funeral.

Okay. And that's the beauty power of

the Iliad. It is the most shocking

ending ever. It's the most beautiful,

the most poignant, the most tragic

ending ever.

Even today, we cannot match it. So the

question now is how is it that home and

the Greeks had such wisdom and today

we don't

and the answer is their minds were

different back then than they are today.

Okay. So let me explain why. [snorts]

Okay. So you know from psychology that

we have two hemispheres in the brain.

Okay. A right hemisphere and a left

hemisphere. The right hemisphere is a

creative, emotional,

caring hemisphere. The left is the

logical, analytical, utitarian

hemisphere. Okay? So, right does art,

maybe left does math. Okay? We know this

from simple psychology. Now there's an

American psychologist

psychologist named Julian James

and he proposes a really interesting

theory. His theory is actually what's

happening is the right hemisphere is

receiving information from the universe

vibrations from the universe and the

left hemisphere is interpreting this

information into reality. Okay.

Okay.

All right. So remember we we discussed

Kant. What what does Emanuel Khan say?

Emanuel Kant says that

there are two realities. The nomina the

world the things in themselves and the

phenomena the things to us.

Okay. So what happens is that our brain

interacts with the nomina and then

filters it back into the phenomena.

Okay. And it uses a filter time and space

space

in order to perceive things. Okay.

Gu Hegel says that this nomenai is the

gist. Okay. The universe. And as we

discussed the universe are just

vibrations. Okay. Vibrations.

And so if you apply all this to this

theory, what's happening is our right

brain is receiving these vibrations and

then our left brain is just is

transforming these vibrations into

everyday reality. Okay. Then the

question then is how do we interpret

these vibrations? Well, for most of

human history, we've interpret them as

Okay?

And even though it's not factual, it is

truthful in that it allows us to better

understand the universe and it better

allows us to understand ourselves. Okay?

By embracing this model

of the brain, we have access to wisdom.

Okay? The wisdom of Homer and the

Greeks. And that's why back then

the Greeks are much more creative and

wise than we are today. Okay, does that

make sense? Okay, because what we've

done today is we've shut off this part

by saying nope, all that matters is science,

science,

logic and materialism. Okay, so we've

shut down the right brain

and we only use left brain today. That's

why we are less creative.

Right? So that's the argument I will

make to you today. All right.

All right. The great big bang the

beginning of Greek civilization. All

right. So this is Julian James. Okay.

and he wrote a book called the origin of

consciousness in the breakdown of the

bicchimeal brain. Okay, bicyal mind is

just the left and right hemisphere and

these two work together. The right is

the receiver of the universe. The left

All right. So he gives an example of

this. Okay. Why is it that in ancient

times when kings died, we buried them

with lots and lots of gifts. We bury

them as though they were still alive.

And the answer is from our perspective

they were still alive. Okay. The burial

of the important dead as if they still

lived is common to almost all these

ancient cultures whose architecture we

have just looked at. This practice has

no clear explanation except that their

voices were still being heard by the

living and were perhaps demanding such

accommodation. These dead kings propped

up on stones whose voices were

hallucinated by the living were the

first gods. Okay, does that make sense

to you?

We lived in a world where we're using

both our left and right hemispheres and

as such we saw spirits, dietes, gods all

around us. Okay, we interacted with them

and they gave us both inspiration as

Okay, and so um this is a Viking

ship burial where a king is being buried

with his ship and his horses as though

he was still alive. Okay? Because from

their perspective, he's still alive.

He's still able to give us his wisdom.

This is the cult of the skull, which is

what we found in most Neolithic

cultures, okay? The most the earliest

agricultural societies. Why? because

they practice ancestor worship and they

believe that these skulls were living

and they could help you access the dead

in the spirit world and and and draw

This is a book the constant serpent by

Jurian Narby. Okay. And he tells us that

listen, if you just do some basic

research, this understanding of the

universe where our right brain receives

spirits and left brain interprets it in

reality, it makes a lot of sense. Okay?

Because all the the entire universe is

itself consciousness.

Okay? It's all mind and matter is just

what we perceive.

I began my investigation with the

ignimma of plant communication. Okay?

plants are able to communicate with with

each other. We know the scientifically.

I went to accept the idea that

hallucinations could be a source of

verifiable information. Okay? So, if you

feel as though a spirit is talking to

you, maybe the spirit really is talking

to you. And I end up with a hypothesis

suggesting that a human mind can

communicate and defocalize consciousness

with the global network of DNA based

life. All this contradicts principles of

western knowledge. Okay. So all the

entire universe is consciousness. Plants

have it, animals have it, we have it.

And therefore, if we open our minds,

we're able to communicate with the

entire universe and draw insight.

All right? And he goes on,

scientists know this, and our greatest

discoveries came from scientists who

embraced the consciousness of the

universe. Many of science's central

ideas seem to come from beyond the

limits of rationalism. Renee Deart

dreams of an angel who explains the

basic principles of materialistic

rationalism to him. Albert Einstein

daydreams in a tram approaching another

and conceives the theory of relativity.

James Watson scribbles on a newspaper in

a train then rides his bicycle to reach

the conviction that DNA has the form of

a double helix. Okay, so it's almost as

though a spirit is telling the secrets

So, and just ask yourself these

questions and you will understand that

maybe the universe is consciousness,

right? So, these questions are sometimes

you think of someone and then boom, that

person calls you. Is that strange? Has

that ever happened to you? Do you feel

as though you're being watched all the

time? Do you feel as though you're an

actor on a stage?

Do you sometimes feel you're compelled

to act as though something hasn't

control of your body? Okay. Possession.

Why do certain ideas pop in your head

all of a sudden? Do you sometimes feel

as though something planted an idea into

you? Why do you have dreams? Where do

dreams come from? What do dreams mean?

Do you sometimes feel as though you know

what someone else is thinking? Okay. Is

it possible you're sitting with a friend

and you know exactly what your friend is

thinking even though you're not talking?

Do you think sometimes that you're

having a conversation with a friend

inside your head? Okay, so your friend

is not there but you're having a

conversation with your friend. Do you

feel as though you have a guardian

angel? Okay, I'm sure you know you're

too shy to say this, but I'm sure that

you feel as though there is a spirit

Okay, these were not mysteries and

questions before because everyone

assumed we lived alongside spirits,

angels, and demons. Okay,

today we ask these questions before they

didn't ask these questions because

everyone just assume that yeah, of

course, we live alongside angels and

Okay. So, let's go to the Iliad. Okay.

And the Iliad, it shows us how the brain

worked at that time. A brain that was

both materialistic and spiritual. A a

brain that understood that we lived in

different dimensions. Okay? And the gods

had more control over us. And the gods

represented our emotions and the

workings of nature. Okay?

the Iliad. Now this is translation by

Robert Fagels.

So let's in the very beginning of the

Iliad okay Homer says this rage goddess

sing rage of Pilious son Achilles

murderers doom that caused Aens

countless losses hurling down to the

house of death so many sturdy souls

great fighter souls but made their

bodies carrying feast for the dogs and

birds and the will of Zeus was moving

toward its end. begin muse when the two

first broke in clash man on lord the man

and b achilles okay so the first thing

that a homer says is please inspire me

muse okay so what he's doing is not

creating what he's doing is channeling

he's drawing inspiration from the gods

okay when he's speaking to people he's

saying I am here as a messenger of the

gods this information is from the gods themselves

All right. So, this is the fatal

meeting. Oh, sorry, not the fatal

meeting, the clash between Eggman and

Achilles. The first meeting that starts

off the Iliad. So, Eggman says to

Achilles, "Give me your slave girl and

get out of here." Okay. And and Achilles

is screw you. I'm not going to fight for

you again. And but now Achilles is

pissed off. He wants to kill Eggman. Okay.

Okay.

Eggman broke off and anguish gripped

Achilles. The heart in his rugged chest

was pounding, torn. Should he draw the

long sharp sword slung at his hip,

thrust through the ranks and kill a man

on now or check his rage and beat his

fury down? Okay, so he can't control

himself. Okay, rage has overtaken him.

He wants to like step forward and just

kill Eggman on

as his raging spirit veered back and

forth just as he drew his huge blade

from his sheath down from the vaulting

heaven swept Athena. Athena's here now.

Okay. Before Achilles,

the white armed goddess Hera sped her

down. Hera loved both men and cared for

both alike. Wearing behind him pelis

sees his fury here. Only Achilles saw

her. None of the other fighters. Struck

with wonder. He spun around. He knew her

at once. Okay. So Achilles is a

hallucinating Athena. No one else can

see her. Okay.

Pal palace Athena. The terrible blazing

of those eyes and his winged words went

flying. Why? Why now child of Zeus with

a shield of thunder? Why come now to

witness the outrage Agam Manonan just

comm committed? I tell you this and so

help me it's the truth. I he'll soon pay

for his arrogance with his life. So he

really wants to kill a man. Her gray

eyes clear. The goddess Athena answered

down from the skies I come to check your

rage. If only you will yield. The white

armed goddess hero spread me down. She

loves you both. She cares for you both

alike. Stop this fighting now. Don't lay

hand to sword. lash him with threats of

the price that he will face. And I tell

you this, I know it. It is the truth.

One day, glittering gifts will lie

before you three times over to pay for

all his outrage. Hold back now. Obey us

both. Okay.

So, Achilles wants to kill Amanon, but

now he's being possessed by Athena.

Okay. And Athena says, "Stop."

So, he she urged and a swift runner

complied at once. I must. When the two

of you had down commands, goddess, a man

submits, though his heart breaks with

fury. Better for him by far. If a man

obeys the gods, they're quick to hear

his prayers. And with that, Achilles

stayed his burly hand on a silver hilt

and slid the huge blade back in his

sheath. He would not fight the orders of

Athena. Okay, so again, this is not

factual. Athena doesn't really exist,

but it's truthful in that it gives us

insight into how the human brain, the

human emotions work. Okay. Now, what I'm

going to do now is I'm going to write

this again in modern pros to show you

the difference. Okay.

Okay. So, this is what what I wrote

myself. Okay. It's bad writing. It's

modern pros, but but you're able to

compare and contrast. Okay. I don't need

you. Get out of my sight. Roger man on.

He spat on the ground. Achilles blood

boiled and he reached for the hilt of

his sword. He saw all I stare at him and

he stayed focused on Eggman. He counted

the seconds and the steps it would take

for him to sprint forward and strike him

down. His feet grew heavy and his legs

grew wobbly. He could not move. He felt

the thumping of his heart. Achilles

snapped around and walked out of the

room. He saw all eyes focus on him.

Okay, so this is factual but it's not

truthful. Do you understand? It doesn't

give us insight into why this is

happening. So the Iliad is truthful but

not factual. modern pros is factual but

So now as I said Achilles refuses to

fight. The Greeks are losing the war and

so the Greeks beg Achilles to come

fight. Achilles says no. And he sends

Petroles to um figure out what's going

on. And Petroles comes out and says let

me fight Achilles.

Okay. And at this point, Achilles should

just be like, "We'll fight together or

don't go if it's too dangerous."

Instead, he says this. [snorts]

So he pleaded lost in his own great

innocence. Condemned to beg for his own

death and brutal doom. Okay, he is

Petroas. And move now to his deaths, the

famous runner cried, "No, no, my prince

Petroles, what are you saying?

Prophecies?" None that touch me, none I

know of. No doom my noble mother

revealed to me from Zeus. Just as

terrible pain that wounds me to the

quick. When one man attempts to plunder

a man his equal to commander a prize

exalting so in his own power that's a

pain that wounds me suffering such

humiliation that girl the sons of Akia

picked her as my prize and I sacked the

wall city one of my spear but right from

my grasp he tears her myon that son of

Atrus treated me like some veabond some

outcast stripped of all my rights so the

Greek army is about to destroy and

Achilles is concerned about his own

pride okay he's a very selfish person. I

man stole his girlfriend and he's pissed.

pissed.

Enough. Let bygones be bygones now. Done

is done. How on earth can a man rage on

forever? Still by God I said I would not

relax my anger. Not till the cries and

carnage reach my own ships. So you you

shot my my splendid armor on your back.

You lead our butterhungry Meridians into

action. And now in fact the black cloud

of the Trojans blast down on the ships

with full gale force. our backs to the

breaking surf but cling still to a

cramped strip of land the archives lost.

The whole city of Troy comes trembling

down on us, daring, wild. Why? They

cannot see the brown my helmet flash

before their eyes. Oh, they soon run for

their lives and choke the torn beds of

the field with all their corpse. If only

the mighty Amanon met with me with

respect. Okay, so the children are

attacking them because he's not in the

battlefield. But if you if you were on

the battlefield, the children would just

run away. Okay,

now as it is, they're fighting around

our camp. No spear rages now in the hand

of Damedes. Keen to save the Argos from

disaster. I can't even hear the battle

cry of Eggman on.

Break from his hated skull, but his man

killing Hector calling his soldiers on

his war cries crashing around me. Savage

cries of his children sweeping the whole

plane. Victors bring the archive armies

to their knees. Even so, Protis fight

disaster off the ships. Fling yourself

as children's full force before they gut

our holes with leaping fire and tear

away the beloved day of our return. But

take this command to heart. Obey to the

end. You can win great honor, great

glory for me in the eyes of all the

Argive ranks. And they they'll send her

back, my live and lovely girl, and top

it off with troves of glittering gifts.

Once you have whipped the enemy from the

fleet, you must come back. Even if Zeus,

the funding lord of Hera, let you cease

your glory. You must not burn for war

against these Trojans. Mad men lusting

for battle. Now about me. You will only

make my glory that much less. Okay. Me,

me, me. All cares about is me. Petolis,

you you can go a battle, but don't win

too much glory. Do not outshine me.

Okay. And because he says this, what

does Petus do? He tries to win all the

glory for himself. He engages in a duel

with Hector and he and it cost him his

life. Okay? So, it's Achilles fault this

is happening and he knows it. All right.

So, the psychology here is just so

insightful, so deep, so striking. So,

let's use an analogy to understand the

psychology. Okay,

let's pretend John and Jill are

boyfriend girlfriend, but they have a

fight like boyfriend and girlfriend do

and they break up. Okay, but they want

they long for each other, but they don't

want to apologize to each other. Okay,

so Jill tells her best friend Jane to

talk to John to try to get him to

apologize. All right, and then Jane goes

talks to John and John says, "You know

what? I've had it with Jill. I'd much

rather date you because you're more

beautiful and you're more, you know,

reasonable. And then Jason is really

excited because Jill is prettier than

she is, right? So she runs back to Jill

and says, "Hey, John asked me to go on a

date. Maybe I can use this opportunity

to convince him to apologize." And then

Jill says, "Okay, go date him, but what

if you do?

Don't kiss him." So what does Jill do?

Right? So this is reverse psychology,

right? Okay. So Jill knows that if she

says this, Jane's going to kiss John.

And Achilles knows that if he tells

Petus, "Don't win too much glory." But

is going to win a lot of glory, right?

And so what happens of course is that

Proacles dies now Achilles can now enter

the battlefield and win all the glory

for himself.

And that's what happens. Okay? He kills

Hector. He saves the Greeks. But then he

goes crazy.

What he does is he ties Hector to his

chariot and he starts riding around the

walls of Troy. It is a It is a war

crime. It's disgusting. It's hideous.

The children are going crazy. But the

Greeks are like, "We don't want this,

man." The gods are like, "What the

hell's going on?" Okay, so this is just shocking.

shocking.

It's it's it's a mutilation. It's torture.

All right. So now we move to the end of

the Iliad and at this point Pry the king

cannot sleep because his son Hector is

being mutilated by Achilles. Achilles

can't sleep because he cannot forgive

himself for the death of Protalis. And

so he takes it out on Hector. Okay. And

the gods are watching this and they're

kind of disgusted. The games are over

now. The gathered army scattered. each

meant to his fashion and fighters turned

their minds of thoughts of food and the

sweet warm grip of sleep. But Achilles

kept on grieving for his friend, the

memory burning on and all subduing sleep

could not take him. But not now he

turned and twisted side to side. He lost

manhood, his gallant heart. What rough

campaigns they fought to an end

together. What hardships they had

suffered, cleaving their way through

wars of men and pounding waves at sea.

The memories flooded over him, live

tears flowing. And now he lied on his

side, now flat on his back, now face

down again. At least at last he leapt to

his feet, one in anguish, amish along

the surf and dawn on dawn. Okay, he

cannot sleep. He's depressed. Okay, he

is racked with self-guilt.

He cannot forgive himself for what has

happened. Flaming over the sea and shore

would find him pacing. Then he yoke his

racing team to the chur harness, lash

the corpse of Hector behind the car for

dragging and haul him three times round

the dead patrica's tomb. And then he

rest again in his tents and leave the

body sprawled face down in the dust. But

a poly pity Hector dead men though he

was and warded all corruption off from

Hector's corpse and around him head to

foot. The great god wrapped the golden

shield of storm so his skin would never

rip as Achilles dragged him on.

And so he kept on raging, shaming noble

Hector. But the gods in bliss looked

down and pity Prime son. They kept on

urging the sharpeyed giant killer Hermes

to go and steal the body. A plan that

pleased them all. But not Hera,

Prooseidon, or the girl with blazing

eyes. They clung to their deathless hate

of sacred Troy Prime and Prime's people.

Just as they had at first when Paris in

all his madness launched the war, he

offended Athena and Hera, both goddesses.

goddesses.

But Zeus who marshes the storm clouds

warned his queen. Now Hera, don't fly

into such a rage at fellow gods. These

two can never attain the same degree of

honor. Still the immortals love Prince

Hector dearly. Best of all the mortals

born in Troy. So I loved him at least.

He never sinned with gifts to please my

heart. Never once did my altar lack its

share of victims. Wine caps tipped and a

deep smoky savior. These are the gifts

we claim. These are our rights. But as

for sealing courageous Hector's body, we

must abandon the idea and not a chance

in the world behind Achilles back. For

fetus is always there, his mother always

hovering near him night and day. So

would one of you gods call Thetus to my

presence so I can declare to her my

solemn sound decree. Achilles must

receive a ransom from King Pyam.

Achilles must give Hector's body back.

Okay, does that make sense? So the gods

are fighting over what to do. And then

Zeus says, "You know what? Let's just

poke over a piece between Achilles and

Pry." Okay, so Prime agrees to ransom

Okay. So

again, we can write this in modern pros

and we can eliminate the gods. But what

you'll see is that it's not as powerful.

It's not as intriguing, not as truthful.

Prime cannot sleep and toss in his bed.

His wife and his children come one by

one to console the weeping king, but to

no avail. His servants try different

sleeping potions and one by one they

fail. In the middle of the night, he

screams at the moon and tears at his

graying hair. Prime aches for Hector and

feels guilt and remorse for failing his

son. Children spies watch Achilles drag

Hector's body day and night. They take

turns spying and they know that Achilles

cannot sleep. They report this news to

Prime and this gives him hope. He sends

an emissary to the Greek camp and

Agameanon agrees that is Prime's right

to ransom back his son as is a custom of

war. Even after the rage of Achilles,

Egameon sends a servant to talk of

Achilles. Achilles does not hear Prime's

offer, but he nods his head anyway.

Okay. So, it's less powerful. It's um

less truthful. It's less interesting. Okay.

All right. Now comes the most powerful

part of the iliac. Okay. This is

actually when pry and achilles meet for

the first time. And so what happens is

that prime is snuck into the tent by

Hermes and the the majestic king of Troy

slip past the rest and kneeling down

beside Achilles claps his knees and kiss

his hands those terrible menkilling

hands that has slaughtered prime's many

sons in battle. So the king has

opportunity to kill Achilles but chooses

instead to kiss his hand and submit

before Achilles. And this submission

destroys the pride of Achilles.

Okay, it's a emotional battle duel

between Prime and Achilles. And the

Awesome. As when the group of madness

seizes one who murders a man in his own

fatherland and flees abroad to foreign

shores to a wealthy noble host and a

sense of marvel runs through all who see

him. Soles Marvel beholding majestic

Pry. Okay, that's what Prime has done.

Prime is like a fugitive who's wanted

for murder. He escapes and he should be

a slave but somehow he's become wealthy.

Okay. So by submitting himself before

Achilles, Prime has changed the destiny

of the world.

His men marveled too, training startled

glances, but Prime prayed his heart out

to Achilles. Remember your own father,

great God like Achilles, as old as I am,

pass a threshold of deadly old age. Now

doubt the countrymen round about him

plague him now with no one there to

defend him beat away disaster. No one

but at least he hears you're still alive

and his old heart rejoices hopes rising

day by day to see his beloved son come

selling home from Troy.

Those words stir within Achilles a deep

desire to grieve for his own father.

Taking the old man's hand, he gently

moved him back and overpowered by

memory. Both men gave way to grief.

Prime wept freely for man killing Hector

probably encroaching before Achilles

feet as Achilles wept for himself. This

is the first time Achilles can now cry.

Okay, he cannot cry before.

Now for his father, now for Petraus once

again and they're sobbing roles and fell

through out the house. They forgiven

each other. Why? Because they love their

their

people. Okay, so Prime saw Hector in the

face of Achilles. Achilles saw his

father in the face of pry and because of

their love for

others they found love for each other.

So love is the unifying force of the

universe. Love is what allows us to

forgive ourselves and forgive others.

Okay. And this is the tremendous insight

of the Iliad. Okay. And to demonstrate

to you how powerful this insight is,

let's run a scenario. Okay. Let's do a

thought experiment. Let's just say

you're driving a car with your wife and

your child home from restaurant, okay?

And you've had too much of drink and

then you hit a car and your wife and

your child died. Okay, that's the first

scenario. Second scenario is

you're driving home and then a drunk

driver hits you, killing your wife and

your child. It's not your fault, it's

drunk driver's fault. Okay, the third

scenario, you're arguing with your wife

and you're not really watching the road.

Okay, then that drunk driver hits you

and kills your wife and your child.

Okay, these are three different

scenarios, right? Let me ask you a

question. In which scenario are you less

likely to forgive the drunk driver?

One, two, or three? One, it's your

fault. Two is it's his fault. Three is

it's his fault, but it's also your

fault. Which one?

It's number three, guys. Okay? Why?

Because you cannot forgive yourself

first. All right? If you cannot forgive

yourself, you can't forgive others. And

guess what, guys? In real life, it's

always number three. It's almost never

number one or number two. So,

forgiveness is something that we

encounter every day. All right? Every

day we make mistakes and because we

can't forgive oursel, we can make even

more and more mistakes.

Okay? That's a problem of forgiveness.

And this is the deepest problem in human

society. And so, what the tells us is

that the real struggle is not for power.

The real struggle is within our heart.

The real struggle is between ourselves.

If we forgive ourselves,

we can change the world. Right? If we

forgive others, we make the world a

better place because prime forgave

Achilles. Achilles able to forgive

himself and they made the world a better

place. Okay, that's the power of the

human heart.

And this is what gives rise to Greek civilization.

civilization.

Okay, the Greeks engaged in an oral tradition.

tradition.

And in the oral tradition, they were

constantly trying to figure out the

mysteries of the human heart. All right?

So uh this is this is uh Pericles giving

his famous funeral oration. So every day

people are speaking because that's what

a person does speaks before others. All right.

All right.

Um the Greeks were known for their

theater. This is the amphitheater in

Athens. You can see it seats about

10,000 people and this is what they do

for fun. They stage theater and everyone

watches it and the theater plays uh

plays byes is sopic or about the human

heart the mysteries of the human heart.

So every day people are thinking about

what it means to be human and that's and

that's why they have the greatest

This is the agara the marketplace where

people come together and just debate

they talk. So Sakanish was famous for

being in the agara the marketplace and

[clears throat]

This is the symposia. The symposia is a

gathering of wealthy people. What they

do is they drink wine and they talk

about philosophy, love, death, what's

meaning of life. Okay. Now, the wine is

interesting because they'll water down

the wine so it's not as strong, okay?

And they'll do this like for like the

entire night. This is Socrates engaging

in a symposium on love. That's what they

do for fun, guys.

This is a trial, Socrates. Um, so if

there's if if you're charged with a

crime, you face a trial and there's 500

people and you have to convince those

500 jurors why you're guilty or why

you're not guilty. Okay? All right. So,

this is an oral culture where every day

people are talking with each other and

that's the source of their creativity.

And what they're talking about is the

Ilia, the Odyssey. They're trying to

figure out what Homer meant, what Homer

was trying to tell the world in his poetry.

Um, this is Heroditus. So even if you

write, the first thing you do is when

you write, you will recite your writings

to everyone. So you understand what the

reaction is. Okay? Writing comes from

community. It comes from understanding

the feelings of others. Okay. Today we

just write by ourselves and that's why

All right. So, um this is Anakarina Nina

considered the greatest novel of the

modern period. It's written by Leo Toy

Stoy and um it it's a really fun novel.

I highly recommend it. It's a great

book. Okay. And it starts off by saying

happy families are all alike. Every

unhappy family is unhappy in its own

way. Everything was in confusion. In the

Oblunksky's house, the wife had

discovered that the husband was carrying

on an intrigue with a French girl. Okay.

So, it starts over an affair. What

happened is that the husband's um um

sister Anarina will come from um St.

Petersburg to try to um resolve the

issue, but then she'll fall in love with

another man. Count Ronsky who and they

have an affair together. Okay. And this

affair destroys their families

and it ends with Anna Karina's suicide.

Okay. Because what's happening is that

she's demanding more and more Krosky and

he can't keep up. He's he's exhausted by

the demands of Anakarina. So this is

what she says before she kills herself.

My love keeps growing more passionate

and egoistic while his is waning and

waning and that's why we're drifting

apart. She went on musing and there's no

hope for it. He has everything for me

and I want him more and more to give

himself up to me entirely. He wants more

and more to get away from me. We walk to

meet each other up to the time of our

love and then we have been irresistibly

drifting in different directions.

There's no altering that. He tells me

I'm insanely jealous and I've told

myself that I am insanely jealous but

it's not true. I'm not jealous, but I am unsatisfied.

unsatisfied.

I don't have any meaning in my life, and

I want this love to give me meaning.

Okay? So, it's almost like she's looking

for God. We've killed God, and now she's

looking for God in affairs, in sex, in

lust, and that's why she can't find it.

Okay. All right. So, what I'm going to

do is I'm going to take this and

translate it into heroic pros. Okay.

Let's see how Homer wrote this. I'm not

Homer, okay? But like this is how he

might have written it. Okay. And Aarina

went to the train station and sat on the

bench waiting for the train to come. Her

thoughts are empty and her head low.

Where do you plan to go? Someone asked

from the corner. That snapped Anna from

her trance and to her horror she saw

herself. But it was not herself. She was

older with graying hair and drooping

eyes. And Anna looked as though she had

seen a ghost. Okay, so she's

hallucinating herself 20 years from now.

All right. Who are you? you Anna shouted

in horror. "What do you want?" "Where

will you go?" the older Anna asked.

"Where's Watsky?" Anna shouted. She

looked around. The train station was

empty. "Okay,

"You know where he is?" the older Anna

said with a look of pity on her winkle

face. Anna got up and walked away. She

was being followed. So, she knows that

in time she'll just all be alone. Okay?

She sees her own future. "Anna, where

are you going?" the older Anna asked.

Stop following me, Anna shouted back, picking up the pace. I am going to a

picking up the pace. I am going to a place where you can't find me. Don't do

place where you can't find me. Don't do anything rash, the older Anna said,

anything rash, the older Anna said, chasing after her. Leave me alone, Anna

chasing after her. Leave me alone, Anna shouted, and she ran and ran, screaming

shouted, and she ran and ran, screaming and screaming. She tripped and fell into

and screaming. She tripped and fell into the tracks right in front of the train.

the tracks right in front of the train. So, and then she died. Okay,

So, and then she died. Okay, so if you do it this way, it gives you

so if you do it this way, it gives you more insight into the human mind, the

more insight into the human mind, the human psyche, right?

human psyche, right? And that's what what we've forgotten. So

And that's what what we've forgotten. So what happens when we stop believing in

what happens when we stop believing in the spiritual? What happens when we

the spiritual? What happens when we disconnect from the right hemisphere of

disconnect from the right hemisphere of brain? We clutter our brains with

brain? We clutter our brains with insignificant concerns, pursuits and

insignificant concerns, pursuits and details in search of significance. When

details in search of significance. When we kill God, anything can be God. Okay.

we kill God, anything can be God. Okay. So as I said, Anakarina with her fear,

So as I said, Anakarina with her fear, she's looking for God. She's looking for

she's looking for God. She's looking for meaning. And before when we

meaning. And before when we hallucinated, when we talk with the

hallucinated, when we talk with the gods, we had meaning. We had wisdom. We

gods, we had meaning. We had wisdom. We had significance. And now we've lost it.

had significance. And now we've lost it. And the result is what we call modern

And the result is what we call modern literature which is complete utter crap

literature which is complete utter crap by the way. Okay. And we know because

by the way. Okay. And we know because this is Virginia Wolf to the Lighthouse.

this is Virginia Wolf to the Lighthouse. Okay. It's considered the greatest one

Okay. It's considered the greatest one of the greatest novels of the 20th

of the greatest novels of the 20th century. It's not very good. All right.

century. It's not very good. All right. So this is um a woman talking to

So this is um a woman talking to herself. It's what we call stream of

herself. It's what we call stream of consciousness. There were the eternal

consciousness. There were the eternal problems suffering death. the poor.

problems suffering death. the poor. There was always a woman dying of cancer

There was always a woman dying of cancer even here. And yet she had said to all

even here. And yet she had said to all these children, "You shall go through

these children, "You shall go through it." To eight people, she had said

it." To eight people, she had said relentlessly that. And the bill for the

relentlessly that. And the bill for the greenhouse would be 50. For that reason,

greenhouse would be 50. For that reason, knowing what was before then, love and

knowing what was before then, love and ambition, and being wed alone in Jerry

ambition, and being wed alone in Jerry places, she had often the feeling, why

places, she had often the feeling, why must they go up and lose it all? Okay,

must they go up and lose it all? Okay, so her mind is wondering, wonder and

so her mind is wondering, wonder and wondering, and she's concerned about the

wondering, and she's concerned about the grocery bills. She's concerned about the

grocery bills. She's concerned about the future. She's concerned about of the

future. She's concerned about of the past. There's no discipline. There's no

past. There's no discipline. There's no focus to any of her ideas. Okay? And

focus to any of her ideas. Okay? And this is what we call stream of

this is what we call stream of consciousness. And it's the way we think

consciousness. And it's the way we think today. Okay. The reality is that we live

today. Okay. The reality is that we live in a world in which God is dead. In

in a world in which God is dead. In which we're not allowed to imagine a

which we're not allowed to imagine a spiritual world. Um and in a world in

spiritual world. Um and in a world in which we're only focused on the here and

which we're only focused on the here and now. And as such we live meaningless,

now. And as such we live meaningless, insufficient lives. And as such, our

insufficient lives. And as such, our brains are just focused on things that

brains are just focused on things that don't matter. Okay? And our brains

don't matter. Okay? And our brains become schizophrenic.

become schizophrenic. All right?

All right? Okay. Does that make sense, guys? Hey.

Okay. Does that make sense, guys? Hey. Yeah. Any questions? All right. Yeah.

Yeah. Any questions? All right. Yeah. Hi.

Hi. >> I I have a question about the

>> I I have a question about the the concept about forgiveness that you

the concept about forgiveness that you just mentioned uh that if you can't

just mentioned uh that if you can't forgive yourself, you can forgive

forgive yourself, you can forgive others. I think the example of this is

others. I think the example of this is China and Japan because China hates

China and Japan because China hates Japan because of the Japan invasion war.

Japan because of the Japan invasion war. And after hearing this quote, I think

And after hearing this quote, I think China hates Japan so much even until

China hates Japan so much even until now. It is because that um China cannot

now. It is because that um China cannot forgive himself because he's too weak.

forgive himself because he's too weak. And also just like the third third

And also just like the third third situation that you just showed, Japan

situation that you just showed, Japan base and China is too weak to fight

base and China is too weak to fight back. So uh China cannot forgive his

back. So uh China cannot forgive his weakness. So uh he cannot forgive Japan.

weakness. So uh he cannot forgive Japan. >> Yeah. Um yeah, that's that that's a

>> Yeah. Um yeah, that's that that's a great analogy. I I can I completely

great analogy. I I can I completely agree. Yeah. Because if you're really

agree. Yeah. Because if you're really strong and confident, you just focus on

strong and confident, you just focus on improving yourself. You don't think

improving yourself. You don't think about other people. Yeah. Okay. Any more

about other people. Yeah. Okay. Any more questions, guys?

questions, guys? But but thank you for the comment. Okay.

But but thank you for the comment. Okay. All right. So, last thing I'm going to

All right. So, last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to read some YouTube

do is I'm going to read some YouTube comments. Um so, I don't have time to

comments. Um so, I don't have time to read YouTube comments, but my wife loves

read YouTube comments, but my wife loves reading YouTube comments and she sends

reading YouTube comments and she sends me YouTube comments and it's basically

me YouTube comments and it's basically my homework. Okay? So, if my wife sends

my homework. Okay? So, if my wife sends it to me, I I respond, right? So, let's

it to me, I I respond, right? So, let's look at some YouTube comments from the

look at some YouTube comments from the last video. Um, Wes andQatara says, "Hey

last video. Um, Wes andQatara says, "Hey man, what about Africa? What about Egypt

man, what about Africa? What about Egypt and African civilization?" And you know,

and African civilization?" And you know, I'm sure that Africa, Egypt, Sudan are

I'm sure that Africa, Egypt, Sudan are really, really interesting. I don't know

really, really interesting. I don't know enough about it to comment on it. Okay.

enough about it to comment on it. Okay. So, what I want to do is later on I want

So, what I want to do is later on I want to focus more on Africa. Okay. Okay, I

to focus more on Africa. Okay. Okay, I want to go to Africa and I want to learn

want to go to Africa and I want to learn more about continent so I can comment um

more about continent so I can comment um more about Africa. Like for me teaching

more about Africa. Like for me teaching is a learning journey. Okay, I teach to

is a learning journey. Okay, I teach to learn. Okay. Um so this uh YouTuber says

learn. Okay. Um so this uh YouTuber says bad Bentham says um I underrepresent

bad Bentham says um I underrepresent livestock in the economic system and

livestock in the economic system and this is absolutely true. Okay, if you

this is absolutely true. Okay, if you look at the steps the currency is

look at the steps the currency is actually livestock. Cattle, sheep are

actually livestock. Cattle, sheep are the main currency of the step people and

the main currency of the step people and it's what allows the step people to

it's what allows the step people to fight great wars because when they go

fight great wars because when they go off in wars they can bring the livestock

off in wars they can bring the livestock with them and therefore they don't have

with them and therefore they don't have any logistical issues. Okay. So this

any logistical issues. Okay. So this comment is absolutely right.

comment is absolutely right. Um

Um question.

question. So capital changes ultra signic nature

So capital changes ultra signic nature to utarian when hard work and motivation

to utarian when hard work and motivation get saturated. Why are we only going in

get saturated. Why are we only going in one direction that's getting saturated?

one direction that's getting saturated? Um

Um yeah, so this is interesting. So um we

yeah, so this is interesting. So um we have two natures, an altruistic and

have two natures, an altruistic and utitarian nature. And what we've

utitarian nature. And what we've discovered is that um if you break the

discovered is that um if you break the balance and you become too utilitarian,

balance and you become too utilitarian, it's almost impossible to move it back.

it's almost impossible to move it back. Okay? And that's why societies collapse.

Okay? And that's why societies collapse. How similar is this series to

How similar is this series to civilization series? Okay. So the

civilization series? Okay. So the comment is that I'm using a lot of

comment is that I'm using a lot of content that I used before in

content that I used before in civilization and yeah that that is that

civilization and yeah that that is that is a fair criticism and the reason why

is a fair criticism and the reason why is that um what I'm trying to do is I'm

is that um what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to better understand history. So

trying to better understand history. So what I'm doing is I'm trying to analyze

what I'm doing is I'm trying to analyze history from different angles. So last

history from different angles. So last year when I taught civilization, I was

year when I taught civilization, I was trying to just figure out how

trying to just figure out how civilization work. And this year what

civilization work. And this year what I'm trying to do is trying to apply the

I'm trying to do is trying to apply the idea of secret societies to the better

idea of secret societies to the better understanding of civilization. So I know

understanding of civilization. So I know some of the content is repeating itself,

some of the content is repeating itself, but the angle, the slant, the over

but the angle, the slant, the over thesis has changed. Okay? And I'm and

thesis has changed. Okay? And I'm and I'm going over a lot of this information

I'm going over a lot of this information in order to build a case of why we have

in order to build a case of why we have secret societies. All right?

secret societies. All right? um how do we manage to produce during

um how do we manage to produce during these horrible times? Same question I

these horrible times? Same question I asked myself yesterday. Okay. So, so the

asked myself yesterday. Okay. So, so the question is what if children when things

question is what if children when things are getting worse and worse and the

are getting worse and worse and the answer is because children is what gives

answer is because children is what gives us hope. Children is what gives us

us hope. Children is what gives us purpose. When you see that the world has

purpose. When you see that the world has collapsed or when you see the world is

collapsed or when you see the world is in chaos, you have children because

in chaos, you have children because children give you the energy, the

children give you the energy, the motivation, inspiration to fight for a

motivation, inspiration to fight for a better world. Okay? So I am probably the

better world. Okay? So I am probably the most pessimistic person on planet earth.

most pessimistic person on planet earth. Okay? I think the entire world is going

Okay? I think the entire world is going to hell. I have three kids. I have three

to hell. I have three kids. I have three young kids. And the reason why is well,

young kids. And the reason why is well, first of all, I love my kids. I love

first of all, I love my kids. I love having children. but also my children

having children. but also my children fill me with hope and energy

fill me with hope and energy and power to fight for a better world.

and power to fight for a better world. I'm only doing this I'm only teaching

I'm only doing this I'm only teaching this class. I'm only putting this on

this class. I'm only putting this on YouTube to build a legacy for my

YouTube to build a legacy for my children. If it were not for my

children. If it were not for my children, I would honestly not be doing

children, I would honestly not be doing this. It's really hard work. Okay. All

this. It's really hard work. Okay. All right. So, that is it for today. Thank

right. So, that is it for today. Thank you guys. Uh we'll continue next week.

you guys. Uh we'll continue next week. Okay.

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YouTube Transcript:Secret History #16: The Big Bang of Greek Civilization