"This Is Why War & Conflict Is Rising" - Eric Weinstein's Thoughts On Jordan Peterson vs Sam Harris

Summary

The speaker discusses their ambition to create a film and TV studio, aiming to impact people through entertainment with a core message, much like 'Kung Fu Panda' or 'Star Wars'. They emphasize the importance of reaching youth during impressionable moments, while also valuing the engagement with adults. The conversation delves into the concept of 'portals' as transformative experiences, drawing parallels to 'The Matrix' and the growth mindset. The speaker advocates for embracing multiple perspectives and the synthesis of opposing views, highlighting the utility of skills in self-development and the potential of music as a unifying and transformative force.

Takeaways

• 🎬 The speaker aims to build a film and TV studio to create impactful content with a core message, like 'Kung Fu Panda' or 'Star Wars'.
• 👦 The focus should be on youth as they are at an impressionable stage in life, but not to neglect adults in the content creation process.
• 🎥 The concept of 'portals' is used to describe transformative moments or ideas that can significantly influence a person's perspective or life.
• 💡 The speaker appreciates the use of 'violent' language as a metaphor for the intensity and force of creative and transformative acts.
• 📖 The Matrix is cited as an example of a universal 'portal story' that resonates with audiences and challenges their perceptions.
• 🤔 The speaker ponders whether some people think in archetypal metaphors and how it affects their writing and understanding of the world.
• 📚 The importance of not losing the 'awe' in scientific understanding is discussed, using the example of orthology and the study of birds.
• 🎸 The guitar is used as a metaphor for the concept of 'impurity' being essential for harmony and utility in skills.
• 🔄 The concept of 'fixed mindset' vs 'growth mindset' is introduced, emphasizing the latter's role in personal development and change.
• 🎵 The practicality of skills is highlighted, showing how understanding and applying them can lead to tangible outcomes and personal fulfillment.
• 🚪 The 'Four Chord Song' is mentioned as an example of how simplifying complex ideas can make them accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Q & A

What is the main goal of the content creator mentioned in the transcript?

The main goal of the content creator is to build a film and TV studio, aiming to impact people through entertainment with a core message, similar to the impact of movies like Kung Fu Panda or Star Wars.

Why does the content creator believe in focusing on youth?

The content creator believes in focusing on youth because they are at an impressionable moment in their lives, where emotional connections can be made and growth mindsets can be instilled through impactful content.

What does the creator mean by 'incepting them with a portal'?

Incepting them with a portal refers to植入 (implanting) ideas or concepts into the minds of the audience during a moment of emotional resonance, creating a lasting impact and shaping their perspectives.

How does the creator relate the concept of 'violent language' to creation?

The creator relates 'violent language' to creation by suggesting that the act of creation is akin to an act of violence, as it involves breaking and reshaping existing norms or ideas to give birth to something new.

What is the significance of the Matrix story for the creator?

The Matrix story is significant for the creator as it exemplifies the concept of 'portal stories', where characters journey through different layers of reality and experience transformation, which aligns with the creator's interest in impactful storytelling.

How does the creator view the balance between rationality and spirituality?

The creator views the balance between rationality and spirituality as a necessary tension that can lead to a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the world. They believe in the importance of embracing both aspects to avoid falling into the extremes of either.

What does the creator mean by 'camping but not decamping'?

The phrase 'camping but not decamping' refers to the tendency of people to rigidly adhere to one viewpoint or ideology without exploring or integrating opposing or alternative perspectives, which the creator sees as a hindrance to growth and understanding.

How does the creator describe the concept of 'Steel Manning'?

'Steel Manning' is a concept the creator values, which involves sincerely and accurately representing the arguments of someone you disagree with. It's about understanding and acknowledging the strengths of opposing viewpoints as a way to foster constructive dialogue and personal growth.

What is the 'portal' the creator is trying to get people through in terms of mindset?

The 'portal' the creator is trying to get people through is the shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. This involves recognizing that one's talents and intelligence are not fixed traits but malleable ones that can be developed and improved over time.

How does the creator use the guitar as an example of impurity leading to utility?

The creator uses the guitar as an example of impurity leading to utility by explaining how the uneven distribution of frets along the guitar's neck (based on the principles of even temperament in music) allows for easier key changes and harmonization, which would not be possible with pure mathematical intervals.

What is the significance of the 'Four Chord Song' in the creator's discussion?

The 'Four Chord Song' is significant in the creator's discussion as it illustrates how a simple and accessible approach to playing the guitar (using a coffee mug to strum only three strings) can enable beginners to play popular songs quickly, demonstrating the utility of skills and the potential for anyone to create music.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 Content Creation and Impact

The speaker discusses their motivation for content creation, which is to build a film and TV studio. They believe in the power of entertainment to impact people, particularly through messages at the core of films like Kung Fu Panda or Star Wars. The speaker emphasizes the importance of reaching youth at an impressionable age, while also not abandoning adult audiences. They mention the advice of Jeffrey Canada and the concept of incepting ideas during formative moments.

05:02

🚪 The Power of 'Portals' in Storytelling

The speaker delves into the concept of 'portals' as a powerful storytelling device, using the Matrix as an example of a universal story that resonates with people. They discuss the importance of balancing rationality and spirituality, as represented by figures like Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson. The speaker also touches on the idea of archetypes and how they shape our understanding of stories, suggesting that a balance between different perspectives is key to avoiding 'madness' or extreme views.

10:04

🎵 The Intersection of Music and Science

The speaker explores the relationship between music and science, particularly through the example of the guitar. They discuss the concept of 'even temperament' in Western harmony and how it allows for easier key changes and modulation in music. The speaker also talks about the mathematical principles behind the vibrations of strings and how these principles are encoded in physics, influencing the music we create and enjoy.

15:04

🛠️ Skills and Their Utility

The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the utility of skills, using the example of learning to play the guitar. They discuss how skills can be used to achieve desired outcomes, such as connecting with others or expressing oneself through song. The speaker also talks about the concept of 'growth mindset' and how it allows individuals to change their perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors, ultimately leading to different outcomes in life.

20:05

🎸 Simplified Music Techniques

The speaker presents a simplified method for playing the guitar using a coffee mug, which allows for immediate song playability without the pain and calluses associated with traditional finger fretting. They demonstrate how this technique can be used to play major and minor chords, and even entire songs with minimal effort. The speaker suggests that this approach can serve as a 'portal' for those who feel musically hopeless, offering a new perspective and access to the joy of creating music.

Keywords

💡Content Creation

The process of producing and sharing digital media content, such as videos, articles, or podcasts. In the context of the video, the speaker is focused on creating impactful content that can resonate with people on an emotional level, aiming to create a film or TV studio with a message at its core.

💡Emotional Connection

A psychological state where individuals feel a strong bond or affinity with something or someone. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of establishing an emotional connection with the audience through their content, believing it to be a powerful way to influence and impact people.

💡Youth and Impressionable Moments

Refers to the stage in life when individuals are particularly susceptible to influence and change due to their developing minds and experiences. The speaker in the video talks about targeting youth as a key demographic because of the potential for shaping their perspectives during these formative years.

💡Growth Mindset

A concept introduced by psychologist Carol Dweck, which describes the belief that one's abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. The speaker in the video uses this term to discuss the importance of adopting a mindset that embraces learning and self-improvement.

💡Violent Language

In the context of the video, 'violent language' is used metaphorically to describe a forceful and impactful way of communicating ideas, rather than actual aggression or harm. It signifies a powerful and transformative approach to dialogue and expression.

💡Portal Story

A narrative technique used to describe a transition or journey from one reality or state of being to another. In the video, the 'portal story' is used as a metaphor for the transformative power of stories and experiences, particularly in the context of personal growth and change.

💡Archetypal Metaphor

A metaphor based on universally recognized symbols or themes that represent deeper meanings or concepts. The speaker in the video discusses the idea that some people think in terms of archetypal metaphors, which can shape their understanding and expression of complex ideas.

💡Rationality and Spiritualism

Rationality refers to the exercise of reason and logic, while spiritualism encompasses a sense of connection to something greater than the physical world. The speaker discusses the balance between these two aspects, suggesting that an overemphasis on either can lead to imbalance or 'madness'.

💡Steel Manning

A term from the rationality community that refers to the practice of accurately and charitably representing an opponent's argument, even if one intends to critique it. The speaker values this approach as it promotes understanding and constructive dialogue.

💡Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

A fixed mindset is the belief that one's abilities are unchangeable, while a growth mindset is the belief that one can improve and develop talents over time. The speaker encourages embracing a growth mindset to recognize the potential for personal change and development.

💡Skills Utility

Refers to the practical application and value of skills in achieving desired outcomes. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the utility of skills, suggesting that they can be used to accomplish specific goals and improve one's life.

Highlights

The speaker's goal of creating content to build a film and TV studio to impact people through entertainment with a message.

The importance of targeting youth at an impressionable moment in their lives for long-lasting influence.

The concept of using 'portals' as a metaphor for impactful, transformative experiences in storytelling.

The significance of balancing rationality and spirituality to avoid the pitfalls of either extreme.

The idea that people should not get trapped in purity but embrace multiple perspectives for growth.

The importance of understanding both sides of an argument to synthesize a more comprehensive understanding.

The concept of 'Steel Manning' an argument to better understand and respect opposing viewpoints.

The impact of having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset on one's personal development.

The practical application of the growth mindset in learning new skills, such as playing the guitar.

The explanation of the physics behind the guitar's fretboard and the concept of 'even temperament'.

The demonstration of playing a major chord using a coffee mug as a makeshift capo.

The concept of 'skills utility' and how learning new skills can lead to desired outcomes.

The importance of being open to learning and understanding different perspectives, even if they are challenging.

The idea that creativity and innovation often come from stepping outside of one's comfort zone.

The potential of using unconventional methods to learn and master new skills, such as the coffee mug trick for playing the guitar.

The value of connecting with others through shared experiences and the power of music in building relationships.

Transcripts

the whole reason that I create content

because I I know we don't know each

other well so you don't know this about

me but what I'm actually trying to do is

build a studio a film studio film and TV

okay uh because I believe that the way

to impact people is to make the next

Kung Fu Panda or The Next Star Wars

something that has a message at its core

but entertains people hits them at

olymic level it's an emotional

connection probably going to have to

focus on youth that bums me out because

um while I really enjoy that and I've

always wanted that to be a part of it I

don't want to give up on adults which is

if you know Jeffrey Canada is very much

his advice um but hitting people at an

impressionable moment in their life

whether that's youth or they're just

open with something that resonates

emotionally that is uh able to incept

them with a portal I'm very much using

your language on that I would normally

think of it as as growth mindset or

whatever but you're incepting them in a

moment with a portal that causes their

their portals are more violent then I

love it because I love that kind of [ __ ]

so let's use violent language so I'm in

fact know that anytime in the future

since I'm going to adopt the word portal

uh that it just comes with a TM and your

name so I'm I'm certainly not trying to

to rip it off but I will help popularize

it they belong to us all and I I think

that that's you know really important to

me is that the portal story like the

Matrix

um is a universal and if you think about

it Neo just to see how well I remember

the film um you know Neo is kind of

searching for something he's leading

this underground Lifestyle by night and

he's sort of pieced together that

there's a something and this is what

brings Trinity into his life where

Trinity um is going to go out and contct

him and let him know that if he follows

the White Rabbit uh with an obvious

homage to Lewis Carroll so it's the

portal story within a portal story and

you know he goes into this uh Australian

SNM club uh which is very funny um that

this is his introduction to a world in

which Morpheus is going to take him

through the Looking Glass and that scene

of waking up you know uh in a completely

different context I think is it is the

violence of the portal I love that um

Neil Strauss called me out one time he

said all your [ __ ] language is

violent like what is that about but

creation is an act of violence oh can I

pretend that that's exactly why I do it

I don't know why I do it but that feels

so wonderful well you have to break

something right and you know if you

think about how we come into this world

uh our our mother's water breaks and

that is a moment in which that's a

[ __ ] portal right and literally this

is something that I find mind-blowing in

the Jewish

tradition um Passover is about the

escape from Egypt which whose name is

mitzraim which is a plural masculine

plural and it's the narrow places and it

is the literal birth story of the Jewish

people out of Egypt do you think there

are some people that just get I I have a

hypothesis that goes like this some

people think in archetypal metaphor I'm

not one of those people and it actually

has I think held me back as a writer

I've had to really like learn that or do

you think that it is um some people

dream in archetypes which is another

reason that I think that or is it that

just over these stories that we think of

now as archetype are are told sort of

bit by bit by bit and and shaped over

time based on what gets a reaction you

need you know uh the simple mind have

devils and angels on their

shoulders um One Step Up from that you

have Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson

whispering in opposite

ears and you need to camp and DeCamp

between the hyper rational now of course

I've been unfair to them both Jordan is

a scientist and Sam is a pretty

spiritual guy but their archetypes um

Sam is constantly reminding us for the

need uh of the need for rationality and

that spiritualism can be grounded in

rational and Jordan is really reminding

us that if you don't actually just let

that Spirit free that your mind has the

spiritual capacity built into it um yeah

there's there's danger on either side if

you're too rational or too spiritual and

too moved by the

archetype uh in both directions uh lies

nonsense but that tension is is magical

have you read The

Watchmen the by Michael Moore the comic

the Graphics yeah yeah so there's a part

in there if you remember the book is

broken into you've got the main story

and then you have Snippets from like a

book uh somebody's Journal a diary that

kind of thing and one of the Snippets in

there this hit me so [ __ ] hard was a

guy had written a book on orthology and

he said you know the problem with

orthology was just a study of birds the

problem with orthology is that we know

the size of the feathers we know the

orientation of the feet and we can tell

you you know the gap between the

feathers and you know down to the

millimeter and what it all means and all

that he said but we've lost the Poetry

of flight and we've lost the sense of

awe that a bird could Inspire that made

it such a symbol that we would put it on

coins or on temples and he said I never

want to get to that point where I'm so

blinded by the science that I lose sight

of the awe and I was like [ __ ] like that

gave me the chills I was like that is so

true and that like so I love Sam and

Jordan I think they're both

extraordinary minds but your notion of

being able to camp and DeCamp I think is

so important the ability to bounce back

and forth talk a little bit about that

and how you see that playing out today

in particular where people are camping

but nobody's

decamping well it's very interesting

people sometimes accuse me of um having

it both ways or middle of the road

nothing could be further from the truth

people get annoyed with that well they

they have the idea that you're you know

pick a side man why well because it's

pure because there's mush in the middle

from from their perspective and what I

view is wow you imagine that these two

sides have been Waring let's say for

thousands of years or hundreds of years

or even decades and it's not because

both you know both sides probably have a

point it's just not there's no synthesis

of that dialectic so you have these

these sides yelling at each other and I

always think if two sides have been

nailing at each other with smart people

on both sides for a long

time that's my cue that they're not they

haven't found a frame outside of flat

land they're trapped they have not found

the portal and so what I start doing is

I I invite them both into my mind

initially in a sandbox you know can I

represent the other person's arguments

so they would say yeah man that's

exactly what I'm saying all right can I

do that for for both sides are there

multiple sides Beyond two and so once

you sort of have all of these things

playing in your

head then you start saying okay I'm

going to make an Outreach from one sand

sandbox to the other what if I'm

convinced that there is no God but that

religion is super valuable what does

that feel like or I'm convinced that

there's absolutely a God but that it

leads us into madness with um people

making claims that can't be

substantiated and we have to rever them

right whatever these things are so once

you start doing that that's why for

example years ago on the Tim Ferris

program I talked about using coilia you

just use a string of swear words to let

your brain know we're not in Kansas

anymore this is not safe space we're

working blue it's after hours it's time

to get creative it's time to get violent

and you have to be decent about it

that's like you know comedians if you go

to a you know I was just catching a set

at the comedy club at The Comedy Store

and that's pretty pretty brutal but on

the other hand it's happening in a room

everybody's there voluntarily and in

general you know it's there's a limit to

how bad it's going to get and so these

kind of rough spaces that aren't safe

spaces are are important if we're going

to be generative and you know my belief

is is that we all have to recognize that

the pure states are to be

avoided or rather that you have to

embrace multiple pure States because

purity of one particular kind or another

is where Madness comes from we have to

not uh we have to welcome the infection

man as you were talking like I was

getting the chills that to me that

notion

of being in what you're calling the

sandbox of being able to

um steal man the argument was it your

brother that came up with that phrase or

did he just bring it to the I think I

brought it to the wider world but it

came out of the sort of East Bay

rationality Community at least that's

where I found it so I love the the

concept of Steel Manning I think that's

so important of I think ideologically

people have to believe it is their

obligation to Steel Man somebody instead

of trying to um tear them down like to

First understand right to um and I say

that selfishly like one of the things I

don't understand is when you and I think

this is what you mean when you say that

the madness happens in the Purity I

think more from a biological perspective

that once the crop is completely

homogeneous it is [ __ ] at risk like

one thing goes wrong and the entire crop

is lost right one well even worse

imagine somebody uh who's eukaryotic

decides that they're infect infected

with their own

mitochondria like you know then the

thing that's powering every cell in your

body which was initially probably a

procaryotic infection uh it becomes

something you you need to rid yourself

of okay well in the process you're going

to just you know you're going to go

totally OCD it's like somebody told you

hey there's a quarter in your new

leather couch go get it you know and

there's no quarter there and you're just

going to rip the thing to shreds

yeah so getting people to um as as a

selfish driver to put themselves in a

position where they're constantly trying

to understand what the other person is

coming from so that they can adopt uh

anything that works right so Bruce Lee

said take what works discard what

doesn't add your own so having that

anybody whose primary goal is

self-development and yes we have the

guitar anybody whose primary goal is

self-development I think has to have as

a part of their operating system system

a desire to um first listen hear what

might be usable even if you think that

that's a rival Camp take on what works

discard what doesn't and then find a way

to leverage that so that you can do

things in the world and my obsession is

getting people to understand and this is

one of my portals um and this is the

path I was going down

earlier the reason that I'm so

interested in this particular portal

that I'm going to outline is it it will

change your life forever so it's on one

side of the portal you think that you

are made a certain way and that is that

and life is about making the most of the

gifts you were given or weren't or you

know making the most of a bad situation

however you want to look at it on the

other side of that violent Act of

Creation of stepping through that portal

or being kicked through or whatever you

realize that you can change your

perception and the perception will

change your beliefs which will change

your behaviors which will change your

outcome and the outcome of course is

where I'm obsessed so the portal I'm

trying to cram people through

is realizing that oh I'm viewing the

world from a fixed mindset to use Carol

D's um famous book uh mindset and I can

have a growth mindset so in one I

believe my talent and intelligence are

fixed traits in the other I believe

they're malleable traits and once I

believe they're malleable traits then I

can get into my grand Obsession which is

getting people to understand that skills

have utility so since we have a guitar

here this may be the perfect um

explanation that guitar that very guitar

that you're about to play out has gotten

me laid many times now that's a real

outcome because I wrote songs for my

then girlfriend and she was moved by it

it was it was a full recognition of her

psychology and what made her feel good

and made us feel connected and made her

feel sexual and because I could make her

feel sexual then I got to have the

experience that I wanted to have and

also I wanted to connect and I wanted to

convey something to her and I wanted to

create the shared lexicon that you were

talking about you know we could adopt

the the Indian Cannon or the East Asian

can what the Canon like we were building

a cannon together and it was like to be

able to reference a song that I had

written for I mean it just like it began

to shape our lives together but that

started with my dumbass having to learn

how to play a G chord A C chord A D

chord right but those skills have

youtility they let me do something and

so the thing that freaks me the [ __ ] out

about people you're leaning back now

about uh about people that um they they

get lost in what you call the purity

they're stuck in their idea they're not

looking to steal man the other argument

they just want to know how they're right

is skills have [ __ ] utility like if

you learn something from that person

you're going to be able to do something

you weren't able to do that thing right

there is based on an

impurity the guitar which is even

tempered you going to break it out while

you explain all

right so I don't know whether your mics

can pick this up it'll probably pick it

up barely

I'll narate for anybody at home who's

watching and he will pick back up where

he left off uh he is pulling out the

guitar um and we're going to learn how

the guitar itself is born of impurity

I'm excited to hear the answer to this

I'm not sure that I can predict

it I think there might be one more than

you would imagine that thing always uh

surprised me with just how many latches

it has you want to help out show me

there we go there it

is all right like I said I make no

promises about uh the tuning well even

if we have just one string we can

probably figure out

something all right so first what's the

impurity this is based on

well so if you break the string into

three pieces so this would be your E

string but if I place my finger exactly

at the the midpoint will double the

frequency and if I place it a third of

the way through it should be giving me

three times the

frequency now that number of three times

the

[Music]

frequency is not actually the even

tempered version of three times the

frequency what do you mean even tempered

well we have 12 Frets in an octave okay

those have been specifically geared by

the person who made the guitar to break

that

12 uh break that octave which is a

doubling of the frequency into 12

exactly equal steps okay if you do 12

exactly equal steps then you will never

reach exactly three times the frequency

as you go up an octave which is 12 and

then seven more half steps which is 19

steps in total that's as close as you

can get so it's the difference

between and that sounds almost the

[Music]

same but there's actually a tiny

discrepancy and that's why we choose the

number 12 because only for 12 do we get

that tiny discrepancy and have a

reasonable number of steps in the octave

the equation if you're trying at home is

2 to the 19 12ths is almost equal to

three but is slightly below okay that

inur well I'm telling okay that impurity

is the basis for Western Harmony that's

the

great thing that the West did that

nobody else did because without that

what would happen um without that you'd

just have the

[Music]

pure so for example but I couldn't

harmonize with that it seems like I

could well if you had those as the exact

steps you you'd notice that you couldn't

switch Keys you couldn't modulate to

other Keys very easily so you've taken a

there's a crime in our fretboard and

you've taken the body and you've chopped

it up into 12 equal pieces and that

disguises the fact that our third uh

that our fifth in even temperament and

our fifth in physics which is the

Pythagorean fifth are not the same note

but they're so close that our ear can't

tell the differ I wasn't sure what I was

going to do at this moment in the

podcast I knew it would come where

you're saying a whole lot of words and I

don't understand how they add up I

understand each individual word but

strung together in the way that you're

stringing them together I can only nod

in

smile is there another way to explain

this cuz I here here was my hypothesis

with music that you understand math so

well that to you it is self-evident that

a guitar is math and to me it is not and

I experien a guitar entirely

experientially so whatever portal exists

between the experience of music and the

math of music I desperately want to cram

myself through because I think it'd be

[ __ ] amazing to understand that to no

no no I don't want to understand it I

want to feel it I want to I want to

understand at a body level okay and I

don't know if my mind is I don't like to

have a fixed mindset so I'm very open to

I just haven't had the key Insight

that's going to invite me through the

portal but it feels like the thing I

don't understand is math and that there

is a key insight to be had in math that

until I have that key Insight in math

your sentences will continue to sound

cool like when you talk it almost sounds

like poetry but I don't understand it

okay well the first thing you have to

know is that there are certain things

that are encoded in physics okay that

sound to us as if they were are composed

or like music and if I understand them

they're going to make playing the guitar

easier because I I want people to

understand what the punch line is if we

fight through and I figure I'm going to

just play harmonics that would occur if

we strung a cat gut between two

trees uh in Borneo okay okay

[Music]

do you recognize that uh yes I couldn't

tell you what it is if you played it

again it's I'm trying to do the lick

from Pretty Woman oh then definitely not

like by Roy orbit she walking back to

me so those notes are encoded into the

vibrating into the forier series of the

vibrating string okay so the point was

that I don't think that whoever wrote

that song that Roy Orbison made famous I

don't think that song is composed so

much as discovered it really just came

out of uh expanding a series of

vibrations for the wave equation of the

of of the vibrating string but because

of because of that right there's certain

things that people will say are cultural

like right

so oh from The Wizard of Oz are wise men

say right that alternation has to do

with the natural modes of a vibrating

string so all of our all over the world

people

hear as a natural tone right okay that's

just it just has to do with the fact

that your your vo your vocal chords or

any one-dimensional medium like a flute

or a string is going to have those

things as part of it but why does that

matter like to average person unless

this is going to help me get laid right

skills have utility unless this is going

to boil down to something that I can

functionally get something that I desire

you want to do that so let's let's take

the coffee you seem disappointed well no

is it is it that the math of this is

fascinating and beautiful to you are we

like in that moment where I want the

science and you want the awe you want

something I want to give you whatever it

is that you want and then I want to come

back all right so for example if I take

the second third and fourth

string and I play those that is a major

chord if the guitar is tuned to standard

tuning okay right now I'm going to

ignore the two strings closest to my

head and the one closest to the

floor right and I have the coffee mug so

assume that somebody has a guitar around

the house and it's in standard tuning so

now I

go

now I don't have to learn how to fret a

G chord or a c chord or all the things

that hurt my hand I'm just I got my claw

around the

mug

[Music]

right so I can start

immediately playing songs or I'll admit

that was [ __ ] cool okay the next

thing is is is that because the hard

[ __ ] just for people listening forgive

us since you can't see what's going on

but it the the part of learning the

guitar that is infinitely harder is the

Fring like using your fingers which

hurts in the beginning and you're

probably going to bleed and you have to

build these insane calluses and yeah I I

went to my guitar teacher and I said you

know what I'm I just don't think my

hands are built for this cuz I could not

do a bar chord to save my life so to see

you use a mug that effectively is right

so I'm throwing away most of the or half

of the guitar strings one five and six

and now I

this is going to be like a really bad

version of the Four Chord song MH but go

to YouTube put in the Four Chord song

look at the Axis of Awesome with all of

their songs so here's the here's the key

thing in the four chords

song three of the four chords are just

strings 2 three and five with the mug at

different positions along the

fretboard 12 7 and five these

Frets okay the only thing that you have

to throw in is that there's a minor

chord which is strings one two and three

Place played at the 12th fret position

now this will be a lousy version of the

Four Chord song but the key point is if

it comes to you in under two minutes

that you can now play all of the songs

in the Four Chord song badly with a

coffee mug and a guitar that somebody

else tuned then you're through a portal

so for example if you think let's try

Beast of Burden which is it's going to

be the wrong voicings so the musicians

will object to it

so

[Music]

I'll never be your Beast of Burden now

that's not a great version of the song

but for two minutes and you think you're

musically hopeless it's not too bad

we're talking about Mike einiger right y

this genius musician everybody thinks is

an amazing guy what's even better about

him is that he's a very generous teacher

he's a good friend great Kai how the

hell did you meet

him the network man as soon as you break

out you meet all these amazing people

when I followed the rules I didn't meet

anybody that's interesting that that's a

conversation worth having but finish

this thought and then so the thought I

was going to have is is that if you

think about that song that he wrote for

more or less for aichi that took over

the world I realize he wrote a song for

aichi didn't he do this um wake me up

when it's all over maybe I have no idea

wiser and I'm older wow I had no idea

that was him that's so it's like it's

the same four chords but he starts from

the minor chord in the in the cycle so

if you put them around it's like six

minor

so feeling my way through the

[Music]

darkness it's that cycle now my point is

that those are things that once you

learn the coffee mug trick mhm you think

okay I completely Miss A assessed how

difficult this was now was the coffee

mug trick is that the portal or did you

come to realize everything that you just

said from first principles read music

and I couldn't understand what was being

said to me when people tried to teach me

music the standard way so I had to find

my own way if you like that clip check

out the full powerful episode here and

I'll see you

there