What Happened To The Education System? - Dr. Phil

Summary

In this compelling dialogue, the conversation explores the challenges facing education and societal norms, highlighting issues like declining math and reading proficiency among students, the impact of COVID-19 on education, and the questionable effectiveness of certain teaching methodologies. It delves into the profound changes wrought by the internet and smartphones on society and personal identity, scrutinizing the role of social media in shaping perceptions and behaviors. The discussion further examines the effects of changing societal values on patriotism, the family unit, and the importance of critical thinking, amidst a backdrop of concerns over 'woke' culture and its implications for freedom of speech and thought.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Dr. Phil discusses the challenges facing American education, noting declining academic performance and the lack of effective teaching methods.
• 📚 The impact of COVID-19 on education is highlighted, with Dr. Phil expressing concern over the lasting developmental and educational gaps caused by school closures.
• 🔍 The conversation delves into the proliferation of ineffective teaching programs in schools, emphasizing the need for empirical evidence to support educational methods.
• 💡 Dr. Phil critiques the culture of victimhood and entitlement in academia, suggesting it undermines the merit-based achievements and erodes the value of hard work.
• 📱 The transformative effect of the internet and smartphones on society is explored, particularly regarding the shift in how young people view and engage with the world.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 An emphasis is placed on the importance of family and strong familial relationships as foundational to a healthy society.
• 🖼️ Dr. Phil discusses the negative effects of 'woke washing' and the revision of classic literature, arguing it distorts historical context and lessons.
• 🗣️ The conversation highlights the dangers of enforced speech and thought conformity, warning against the suppression of free expression in society.
• 👥 Dr. Phil stresses the significance of maintaining open and honest dialogues, advocating for understanding and factual discussions over ideological conformity.
• 🛡️ The importance of personal integrity and not staying silent to make others comfortable is underscored, encouraging individuals to speak up against societal pressures.

Q & A

What is the significance of maintaining strong family relationships according to the script?

Strong family relationships are crucial because they serve as the backbone of society, offering support and a sense of belonging. When families are closely knit, individuals can approach their family members with any issue, fostering an environment where problems can be shared and solved together.

How does the script suggest addressing academic underperformance in schools?

The script suggests that the adoption of ineffective teaching programs without empirical support has led to academic underperformance. It recommends reassessing these programs based on objective competency gains and emphasizes the need for a change in approach to improve education quality.

What impact did COVID-19 closures have on students' educational progress according to the discussion?

COVID-19 closures created significant educational gaps due to the abrupt shift to remote learning and the interruption of traditional schooling. These gaps, combined with pre-existing challenges, have left many students academically behind, causing long-term effects that might impact their entire lives unless addressed.

How is the decline in patriotism and its consequences depicted in the script?

The decline in patriotism is presented as a troubling trend, indicating a significant reduction in national pride and identity. This decline is concerning because it reflects a growing detachment and critical perspective towards the country, potentially undermining social cohesion and the collective commitment to national values.

What are the perceived dangers of 'woke washing' and rewriting historical content?

The dangers of 'woke washing' and rewriting historical content include distorting historical facts and lessons, thereby preventing readers from learning from past mistakes and understanding the context of historical events. This can lead to a sanitized version of history that fails to convey the complexity and nuances of societal progress and regression.

According to the script, how does social media impact the mental health and self-esteem of young people?

Social media impacts young people's mental health and self-esteem negatively by promoting unrealistic life standards through influencer culture. It encourages comparisons with fictional and embellished representations of life, leading to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and increased mental health issues.

What role does language and expression play in societal dynamics as discussed in the script?

Language and expression are depicted as crucial components in societal dynamics, with changing terminologies reflecting broader social and cultural shifts. However, the enforcement of specific language and the silencing of dissenting voices can also lead to a lack of genuine dialogue and understanding among different societal groups.

What strategies are recommended for individuals to maintain their sense of identity and resilience amidst societal pressures?

The script recommends individuals to 'be who they are on purpose,' emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, authenticity, and living according to one's values and beliefs. It also suggests making decisions based on rationality and results to navigate societal pressures effectively.

How does the script view the intersection of technology, particularly AI, and personal privacy and safety?

The script views the intersection of technology and personal privacy as problematic, highlighting issues like 'sextortion' facilitated by AI and catfishing. This underscores the need for critical digital literacy, awareness of online dangers, and the importance of maintaining strong familial support systems as safeguards.

What is the script's stance on the evolution of academic standards and the potential consequences of lowering them?

The script criticizes the lowering of academic standards, arguing that it undermines the quality of education and the preparation of students for real-world challenges. It advocates for maintaining high standards to ensure students are effectively equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed.

Outlines

00:00

🔥 Challenges in Education and Media

This segment addresses the speaker's perception of being in a contentious environment due to his commonsensical approach that tends to challenge popular industry norms. It delves into the concerning state of education in Illinois, where a significant number of schools have students who failed to meet basic proficiency in math and reading, highlighting the systemic issues within the academic system. The speaker attributes these failures to ineffective teaching methodologies and a lack of accountability, emphasizing the dire consequences of educational neglect on the country's academic standing and the future prospects of its students.

05:02

🚧 COVID-19's Impact and Societal Shifts

The discussion transitions to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' mental, emotional, and educational well-being, pointing out that the closure of schools exacerbated existing academic deficiencies. The speaker then shifts focus to broader societal changes driven by the advent of the internet and smartphones, likening this digital revolution to the Industrial Revolution in terms of its profound impact on human behavior. The segment critically examines how the internet, particularly social media, has altered youth behavior, leading to increased comparison, lowered self-esteem, and a detachment from real-life experiences.

10:03

👥 Social Media's Influence and Educational Ideologies

This part explores the negative ramifications of social media algorithms on young users, suggesting that these platforms deliberately engage users with upsetting content to increase engagement at the expense of their mental health. Furthermore, the speaker criticizes certain educational ideologies and methodologies promoted within schools, arguing that they lack empirical support and fail to improve student competencies. The narrative suggests a disconnect between the ideals taught in elite universities and the realities of educational outcomes, advocating for a reassessment of these educational paradigms.

15:05

📚 Language Policing and the Erosion of Critical Thinking

The speaker addresses the issue of language policing and its prevalence in academia and the corporate world, expressing concern over the suppression of critical thinking in favor of ideological conformity. The discussion highlights the absurdity of some inclusive language mandates and their potential to undermine the essence of effective communication and learning. The speaker warns against the dangers of victimhood culture, where social status is increasingly tied to perceived grievances rather than individual competence or achievements.

20:09

🤯 The Dilution of Academic Standards

This segment delves into the troubling trend of diluting academic standards under the guise of inclusivity and fairness, using examples from education where the criteria for grading have shifted away from merit to factors such as effort or interest. The speaker strongly opposes this trend, arguing that it compromises the integrity of professional fields and undermines the value of hard-earned expertise. The narrative calls for a reevaluation of educational policies that prioritize equity of outcome over equity of opportunity.

25:10

🌐 The Misuse of Standardized Testing and Inclusive Language

The conversation turns to the controversy surrounding standardized testing, with the speaker advocating for the SAT as a tool to identify gifted students from underprivileged backgrounds. The critique extends to the overreach of inclusive language, pointing out the impracticality and sometimes absurdity of certain terminologies promoted in the name of inclusivity. The speaker suggests that these initiatives, while well-intentioned, may inadvertently obscure clarity and hinder effective communication.

30:14

🛡️ Corporate and Academic Virtue Signaling

This part criticizes the performative activism prevalent in corporations and academic institutions, where language and ideological conformity have taken precedence over substantive action and critical inquiry. The speaker shares personal experiences of navigating these pressures within the media industry, illustrating the challenges posed by enforced language standards and the expectation to publicly endorse prevailing social narratives. The discussion reflects on the broader implications of such practices on freedom of speech and intellectual diversity.

35:15

🔄 Societal Pushback Against Ideological Overreach

The speaker reflects on instances where public pushback against ideological overreach has manifested, such as consumer reactions to corporate campaigns perceived as intrusive or excessive. The narrative suggests a growing fatigue with forced endorsement of certain ideologies, advocating for a more balanced approach that respects individual beliefs and choices without demanding public conformity. The speaker hints at a potential shift in public sentiment, indicating a desire for a return to more authentic and less prescriptive social interactions.

40:16

🏛️ The Danger of Rewriting History and Presentism

The discussion addresses the contentious practice of altering historical texts and symbols to conform with contemporary values, a phenomenon referred to as 'woke washing' or 'presentism.' The speaker argues that such actions not only distort historical understanding but also fail to acknowledge the lessons that can be learned from the past. The narrative cautions against the erasure of historical context in favor of a sanitized version of history that aligns with current sensibilities.

45:19

🌍 The Polarization of Public Discourse

This segment examines the polarization and entrenchment of beliefs in public discourse, particularly on social media platforms. The speaker criticizes the adversarial nature of online interactions, which discourages genuine dialogue and the acknowledgment of opposing viewpoints. The narrative advocates for a more open and constructive approach to discussions, emphasizing the importance of admitting mistakes and considering alternative perspectives to foster a healthier and more informed public conversation.

50:21

🛠️ Strategies for Resilience and Empowerment

In this concluding part, the speaker offers principles for personal empowerment and resilience in the face of societal challenges. Key strategies include living authentically and with purpose, making decisions based on rationality and desired outcomes, and maintaining open and honest communication within families to strengthen relationships. The narrative underscores the importance of self-care and self-awareness as foundational to contributing positively to one's community and engaging in meaningful social interactions.

Keywords

💡Academia

In the script, 'Academia' refers to the institutional environment focused on education and scholarly activities, particularly within schools, colleges, and universities. It highlights the concern about the current state of educational standards, where issues such as low proficiency in basic subjects like math and reading are prevalent. The discussion suggests a systemic failure in academic institutions to adequately prepare students, linking this to broader educational policies and the adoption of ineffective teaching methods.

💡Mainstream Media

The term 'Mainstream Media' in the script implies the major news and media organizations that have a wide reach and influence over public opinion. The speaker discusses their role in shaping societal narratives and the personal experience of pushing back against prevalent ideas within this industry, suggesting a conflict between individual viewpoints and the dominant media narrative.

💡Social Media

Social Media is discussed as a double-edged sword in the script, highlighting its transformative impact on society and individual behavior. While it offers unprecedented access to information and connectivity, it is also criticized for contributing to mental health issues, spreading misinformation, and creating unrealistic standards through the portrayal of curated lives. The conversation points to the role of algorithms in amplifying negative content and the potential long-term effects on the family unit and societal values.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking is mentioned as a skill that seems to be diminishing or undervalued in the current educational and societal context. It emphasizes the ability to analyze information objectively, evaluate arguments, and form reasoned conclusions. The script suggests that a lack of critical thinking contributes to the acceptance of unverified information and ideologies, particularly in higher education, affecting the ability to discern truth and engage in productive discourse.

💡Victimhood Culture

The script addresses the phenomenon of 'Victimhood Culture,' where there is a perceived societal shift towards valuing victim status as a means of gaining attention, sympathy, or moral authority. It critiques this trend for encouraging individuals to compete in expressing grievances rather than fostering resilience or problem-solving, which may detract from addressing the experiences of those who have faced genuine adversity.

💡Equality of Outcome

Equality of Outcome is critiqued in the script as an unrealistic and potentially harmful goal, suggesting that it ignores the inherent differences in individual effort, talent, and circumstances. The conversation points out that striving for identical outcomes for everyone, regardless of input, is a flawed approach that can undermine merit and individual achievement, with references to academic settings and the broader societal implications.

💡Free Speech

Free Speech is highlighted as a fundamental value under threat by current social dynamics, particularly in the context of censorship, compelled speech, and the policing of language. The script argues for the importance of preserving the freedom to express diverse viewpoints without fear of retribution, emphasizing that open dialogue is crucial for societal progress and understanding.

💡Family Unit

The Family Unit is portrayed as a foundational element of society that is facing challenges from various quarters, including technology, social media, and shifting cultural norms. The discussion underscores the role of strong family bonds in providing emotional support and guidance, while expressing concern about the erosion of these relationships and its implications for individual well-being and social cohesion.

💡Technology's Impact

Technology's Impact is explored in terms of its profound influence on human behavior, communication, and societal structures. The script reflects on the rapid evolution of digital tools and platforms, acknowledging their benefits while cautioning against the negative consequences, such as decreased face-to-face interactions, reliance on digital validation, and the potential for manipulation through algorithms.

💡Educational Standards

Educational Standards are a central theme, with a focus on the decline in basic academic skills and the effectiveness of teaching methods. The conversation highlights alarming statistics about student performance and critiques the education system's failure to adapt and improve outcomes, pointing to the need for empirical evidence-based approaches and accountability in curriculum decisions.

Highlights

Discussion on the impact of social media and technology on society since the industrial revolution.

Examination of academic achievement and the declining state of education in the US.

The influence of COVID-19 on educational gaps and its long-term effects on students.

Critique of certain teaching programs and methodologies in schools.

The concept of 'quality of input vs. quality of outcome' in education and society.

The critique of elite universities and the contradiction of promoting equality of outcome.

Discussion on the perceived attack on the American family unit and society.

The effects of social media algorithms on the mental health of young users.

The discussion on the manipulation of language and its implications on society.

Highlighting the challenges of maintaining free speech in corporate and academic environments.

Exploration of the consequences of a victimhood culture.

The importance of resilience and individual purpose in navigating societal challenges.

Critique of the current education system's inability to adapt and effectively teach students.

The importance of family communication and support in the digital age.

The potential risks and benefits of embracing technological advancements in society.

The discussion on the importance of critical thinking and fact-checking in a rapidly changing world.

Transcripts

it seems like you're throwing yourself

into the thick of it here you're pushing

back against a lot of ideas that are

very popular in your industry of

mainstream media does it feel like a bit

of a war

zone uh sometimes it does uh it seems

like um the more common sensical I get

the more I rattle people's cages but

that's okay I'm used to it I saw a study

recently of Illinois public schools in

2022 that found zero students p the

state math proficiency test at 53 Public

Schools almost all of whom are majority

black and at one school which is a prep

school designed to prepare students for

their Medical Careers the per student

spendings

$47,000 for reading it's only 30 schools

and only one out of 10 kids or less can

do math at a grade level in 930 schools

which is more than a quarter of all of

the schools in the state what do you

think's happening with

Academia well that's a complex question

that uh requires a complex answer but I

can tell you the result of it is as a

country we're certainly not leading uh

academically the way we have in the past

whether it's math science reading uh

whatever we're just simply not uh

leading the charge and I can add to what

you said by saying that

nationally uh over 30% of fifth grade

ERS can't read at the most basic level

uh 30% of eighth graders can't read at

the most basic level but what's

happening is they're continuing to get

passed on to the next grade and the next

grade and the next grade and that's

happening I guess because they get paid

for passing the kids moving on to the

next grade uh

but I mean if you're not reading on GR

on grade level at the third or fourth

grade your chance of dropping out before

you graduate goes up uh like four times

normal um and if if and there are some

groups that goes up six times normal so

if we can't at least get these kids

reading we're in a lot of trouble

educationally in this country and it

doesn't seem like anybody's got a good

plan to do anything about it because

it's being

acknowledged um kind of superficially

but nobody does anything about it well

kids are going to school unless there's

some secret attendance rate changes that

I've not seen kids are attending you

know from whatever it is 9:00 a.m. until

3:30 p.m. they are in classrooms with a

teacher and the teacher is saying things

to

them I don't understand what is

happening if basic reading and math

competence isn't being

met well a lot of these school systems

have adopted

programs of of teaching subject matters

that just simply didn't work and there

was no empirical data to suggest that it

would work but yet they spent millions

and millions of dollars on these

teaching programs that just simply don't

work uh but they've embraced them

they've spent money on them they put

time into them uh but they're not

yielding the results what what are these

what are these programs what are they

well they're programs that they buy

commercially somebody comes up and they

said okay we're going to you know we're

going to take this approach to teaching

reading you know whether it's phonetics

here or it's another word structure here

or it's a it's a math approach here and

you have to look at this stuff uh to see

okay we have a competency level when we

start then you get to the other end and

you say all right let's check competency

and see how much they've gained in terms

of Competency on an objective test not

one administered by the vendor but on an

objective test how much competency have

they gained how much have they mastered

uh the subject matter and if it's if

it's not a substantial

increase then they need to do something

different and when you talk about

Illinois and they're using the state

test and it's not showing uh competency

with these kids you can't continue to do

the same thing and you know there are a

lot of these programs out there that

just simply aren't showing competency

from state to state um and they need to

change they need to do something

different now one of the things that I'm

concerned about is when covid

hit uh there were some really bad

decisions made that

created bad results mentally emotionally

developmentally socially

educationally um that those gaps have

not been closed some progress has been

made but not near enough to close that

Gap so if they weren't doing great to

begin with and then they shut the

schools down for two years and cre

create a gap and that Gap hasn't been

closed now you've got kids that are

going to really be frustrated in being

behind a curriculum and so they wind up

being

demotivated and I think it was a bad

decision to shut it down the way they

shut it down I said so at the time I say

so now and I think we're going to pay

the price for that this generation is

going to be behind uh for their entire

life life if something doesn't happen to

close the gap yeah you say that trends

that we're seeing aren't the result of

society's Natural Evolution but they've

been unquestioningly designed to

undermine our society in general and the

family unit in particular if that's

right who is designing

them

well it depends on which area you're

talking about uh let's talk about for

example

uh both un unintended consequences and

intended

consequences um I think for example if

we recognize that right now um we're

seeing a

generation that

is dealing with the internet the

technology of the smartphone the

technology of um you know iPads and

access to information that a generation

ago simply wasn't there now some of this

is by Design some of it is unintended

consequences um for example I started

the Dr Phil show in

2002 uh I started being on television uh

several years before that but when I

started the Dr Phil show the first text

message had never been sent there just

there weren't any text

messages it wasn't a thing they didn't

do that now think how much things have

changed since then because about

089 uh it's like big airplanes flew over

the United States and just dropped

smartphones on this society and I think

that was the biggest

change uh in in the human race since the

Industrial

Revolution think about what happened

with the Industrial Revolution up until

that point we were very much an

Agricultural Society right we farmed we

made we we grew the foods that we ate

and that was the cycle and so like 95%

of society uh was agricultural okay then

you move forward 25 years and maybe it's

dropped now but then when the Industrial

Revolution hit everything got mechanized

people moved into the City and a lot of

changes took place nothing has changed

the human race like that until the

Advent of the internet and the

smartphone and when that smartphone hit

and we're walking around with computers

in our hands what happened everybody

went from walking around like this to

walking around like this and young

people stopped living their lives and

started watching other people live their

lives and something happened when that

occurred they started comparing their

lives to the lives they were watching

lived out on the internet on social

media platforms and so they started

comparing themselves what they didn't

realize is the lives they were watching

were fiction they were fantasies these

influencers that we have and I I can't

tell you how many I've had on that say

yeah I'll post things up say okay I'm

going to wear this I'm going to wear

that I'm going to the NBA Allstar game

tonight and I'm doing this I'm doing

that they put all those clothes on they

take all those videos they post them all

up then they take those clothes off they

take them back to the store and get a

refund because they couldn't afford to

buy them to begin with they aren't going

to the NBA NBA Allstar game to be to

start with that's just all a fiction so

the kids sitting home watching like you

know who am I'm nothing I'm not going to

any All-Star game I don't have those

kind of clothes and so their self-esteem

takes a beating and they're comparing it

to somebody that's doing the same damn

thing they're doing which is sitting

home in a bean bag eating Cheetos

they're doing the same thing as the

other person is but they don't know that

because they're 16 so their self-esteem

takes a beating their self-worth takes a

beating and they don't have friends

because they're watching lives lived

instead of living their own you know the

average teenager has like one or less

really good friend because their lives

are being lived virtually okay so you

know that's maybe an unintended

consequence you said okay so who is it

that's got these conspiracies that are

after us well let's look at the social

media companies for example uh people

know that their kids spend too much time

on social media what they don't know is

that those are driven by algorithms and

those algorithms are feeding these

children

content that is designed to upset

them they're not giving them content

they want to see they're not giving them

content that uplifts them they're giving

them content that upsets them mentally

and emotionally why because that gets

them clicking more and the more they

click the longer they're on the longer

they're on the more ads they can run by

them the more ads they run by them the

more shared rev they have so there have

been studies done where they'll put a

13-year-old girl up because it meets the

requirements and they'll just put her

name up and within minutes she's getting

toxic content about losing weight or

doing this or doing that they'll put the

same profile up and in the description

they'll say weight loss and the amount

of toxic content that algorithm feeds

her goes up six times eight times 10

times as much she starts getting

feedback about 400 calorie diets she

starts getting anorexia sites she starts

getting all kinds of things fed at her

and she starts click click click because

it's making her anxious and

upset now that is by Design and there's

no consideration for the welfare of the

child who they know it creates anxiety

it creates depression and it gets the

kid hooked in and now they're addicted

to the content they're addicted to the

phone it pulls them away from their

family and the longer they're on there

the more susceptible they are to

Predators the more susceptible they are

to these other influences and you that's

eroding the overall fiber of the family

so all of these things

combined uh you've got people that they

start dating later they start driving

later they all of the things that we did

at a younger age when I was

15 uh years old

355 days and 23 hours I was down to DMV

waiting to get my driver's

license now they're not in any big hurry

because they're not really engaged in

the world that's not a good

thing yeah it seems like most of the

information that people get on the

internet at the moment is built not to

teach them about the world or tell them

anything that's true but to just be the

most viral mimetically absorbable

messaging that they can and what you see

with this is messages that are the most

viral are the ones that go the furthest

not the ones that are the most accurate

a good example of this would be uh

America is a bad country it's it's

uniquely cursed or toxic or or malign in

some way and you put a really

interesting study up about patriotism on

the decline and that's just falling

through the floor it's like a tiny a

tiny amount compared it's like half less

than half of what it was only a short

while ago yeah and that's shocking uh I

mean that's that's shocking and and

that's troubling to me because I love

this country I mean I really do is it

perfect of course not I mean we we've

got things we need to work on but I I

love this country and I love it enough

to acknowledge that there are problems

with it um but there are things that we

need we need to acknowledge them in

order to work on them uh but there are

things that you put on your to-do list

it's not things that you reject the

entire American experiment because it's

not perfect it's just things you put on

your to-do list things that you want to

do a better job of um but you I've said

that I think a lot of these Elite

universities right now are not teaching

critical thinking um you you've got a

lot of this ideology that is it sounds

to me a lot like socialism sounds to me

a lot like

Marxism um teaching that we're that

we're going to be successful when we

have a quality of

outcome that's insane

you're not going to you're never going

to have a quality of outcome because you

have different uh qualities of

input you have some people that work

hard you have some people that don't you

have some people that are smart and

talented you have some people that

aren't you have different levels of

input you're going to have different

quality of outcome and when you've got

universities that are teaching which

seems to me to be astoundingly

hypocritical you you've got Elite

universities that are charging hundreds

of thousands of dollars for an Elite

Education and then they're

teaching that there should be a quality

of outcome well if that's true why am I

paying you hundreds of thousands of

dollars for an Elite Education if we're

all supposed to come out the same then

what the hell I need to be paying you

all this for uh I can just go hang out

on a corner and we're all going to get

the same thing what do I need to be

paying you this for well the

universities definitely seem to be good

at teaching students to be victims or

that getting their feelings hurt by

words and being injured by something

that someone said to you should be a big

deal yeah and they're medicalizing those

feelings you know we used to get our

feelings hurt so okay sticks and stones

will break my bones words will never

hurt me but now they've medicalized that

so when they say okay this professor

asked me to write a paper that's

contrary to my value system and I'm

offended so I've now entered the

offended sweep stakes and I'm telling

you that that's mentally and emotionally

hurt me so it's like the intentional

infliction of emotional distress you go

file that complaint with the Dean's

office they've now got to deal with that

and so we've had more professors fired

in disciplined in the last several years

than we've had since the McCarthy era

because

the students have learned how to word

all of this in such a way that it has to

be dealt with because if a student um

commits suicide or hurts themselves in

some way and the university didn't deal

with it now they have a liability

problem so professors are getting caught

up in that now some of them are jerks uh

you know some professors do jerky things

and probably need to be but not as many

as we're seeing now yeah it's very

interesting what happens when the bar

stool gets flipped upside down so

typically in society what you want is

someone's reputation and their status to

be associated with their competence and

this is because people who are competent

are valuable because they can do things

and not the whole gamut of all of the

different things that people can do that

is constrained by your ability to do

something in reality you can't fake

being more competent than you are

because people will just say well show

me show me this degree of competence but

if status is afforded to the people who

are the biggest victims you can fake

there is a bottomless pit of how low you

can go with claiming victimhood well

this is the degree of psychological

distress that I've gone through this is

the amount of trauma that I've suffered

this is the amount of whatever it is two

things happen there first off it create

creates a very dangerous slippery slope

status game because people can continue

to just one up each other and make

claims that aren't ever checked in the

real world and the second thing is

people who actually do go through

difficult times they they're part of a

larger group of people most of whom are

made up of those that haven't actually

been through something that justifies it

you are lumping in together people

who've been through really difficult

times with people who just want to feel

special yeah and and it is a race I mean

you you you described it I mean people

are truly in a victimhood mindset and

it's kind of like well I can outdo you

because I have this status I'm

I I have this claim that I can make I

came from this this background or I have

this ethnicity or I have this in my uh

in in my family background or whatever

and if if you start considering this and

you start changing your yard

stick um you're in a lot of trouble

because I I can tell you if if we start

lowering standards and there are some

schools that grade someone on math for

example uh based on their willingness to

learn it their interest in learning it

what what does that even mean well I

I've had an interesting conversation

about that

recently um there was a professor that I

I I won't name I'll let him do that if

he wants to uh but he was talking about

teaching black students and he is black

uh Standard English and he caught all

kinds of hell for it because they said

he was being

oppressive and he said no no I'm not

wanting to replace the way they

communicate I'm wanting to add to

it you know they can talk in the way

that they are are in their neighborhoods

and in the way they've been brought up I

just want to add a layer on that because

if they go out into the world and they

try to compete for jobs they're going to

need to speak the language of where they

go and he caught hell for that and then

they were talking about relative math

scoring and they were saying you you

have to grade them on their interest in

learning it if if they don't care about

it then you can't grade them on the same

standard is someone that's interested in

it um well that is absurd to me and I

look I don't want to get on an

airliner and be flown by a pilot where

they lowered the standard because they

didn't have the background to master the

skill set I don't want to have brain

surgery by someone

who they lowered the standard for

anatomy and physiology courses because

they didn't get the proper background to

prepare them for it and they just fired

an NYU Professor after 20 or 30 years

because the students were whining that

the course was too hard I don't want to

be operated on by these this was a

Premed course I don't want to be

operated on by someone who complained

that the course was too hard so they

fired the professor and brought in some

hack that didn't require them to know

everything they needed to know about

brain structure so now uh they're a

resident and they're going to do brain

surgery on me no thank

you uh I don't want to do I don't want

somebody fighting a fire at my house

that they lowered the standard on

firefighting techniques because they

didn't have all the opportunities as a

child I'm sorry that's just not how you

get by In This World the problem is that

Academia and the qualifications and

the standards that people are brought to

in

Academia are malleable they can continue

to be moved the a the B the C all of

this stuff can be positioned around to

retrofit the desire the motivation the

skill set

the ability of the school the problem is

when you get into the real world that

bridge either stays up or it doesn't and

that plane either stays in the sky or it

doesn't and that brain surgery is either

a success or It Isn't So yeah you can

continue to manipulate the standards to

which students are being held up until

the point at which they get into the

real world and as you say you end up

with some pretty some pretty squarely

outcomes yeah and the problem with that

is these kids are being

taught that it is relative it's not

relative you get out into the

competitive world it's like you know I

grew up in athletics it didn't matter

who your parents were it didn't matter

what neighborhood you came from they

were interested in who could jump

highest who could run fastest and who

could knock somebody on their ass that's

what they were interested in they didn't

care about anything else it didn't it

didn't matter um that's what and that's

why that's what I loved about Athletics

it it didn't matter how much money you

had or who your parents were it just

mattered who could get the job done on a

given day and that was a real equalizer

for me because we were really poor and

when I stepped onto that field it did

matter anymore uh everybody was the same

you all started out the same and that

was a great equalizer and I and I think

that's great and these kids who don't

have they don't show up having had the

same experiences to get them ready uh

for admission to that

school uh if you're going to fix that

problem you need to go back at the

beginning and fix that from prek forward

uh they might be in a neighborhood where

the tax base is really low so they don't

get good schools they don't get good

resources they don't good get good

teachers that's where you need to fix

that you don't lower the standards when

they get there you go help those kids

from the beginning so when they show up

they are competitive you know all these

schools have dropped the SAT now because

they say it's racially biased the

research says that's not true the

research says that at is an opportunity

for those gifted kids in the Inner City

Independent of their grades to show that

they in fact are gifted and it's the one

thing that can lift them out of that and

put them into that school because it

shows their native intelligence but the

schools won't reimplement it because

they will be judged if they do and

they're more interested in virtue

signaling than they are actually helping

those underprivileged kids

that's the one thing that can poal them

right back into that school even if they

don't have the grades they have the

native intelligence the the motivation

and the learning ability uh but they

won't use the SAT because they're virtue

signaling and it's on the no good list

well it tells you everything you need to

know that the SATs have been stopped but

legacy admissions haven't right and

research is very clear the SAT helps

those underprivileged kids because it

identifies those that have the brain

power to jump up to that level what's

the problem with inclusive

language well it's gotten to the point

of being

ridiculous um that

it there's um there there are some of

these you you you can't um they're

trying

to so hard to not offend the victim

class

so we can't say women anymore we've got

to

say bodies with vaginas you can't say

hip hip hoay

anymore uh because it could offend

people with a hip injury you're kidding

that's not that's not a thing that's not

a thing it is a thing that's not a thing

you can't have an admissions office at

some universities now you have to call

it office of enrollment

management why because if you say

admissions office that suggests

somebody's going to be rejected so it's

now has to be

called uh office of enrollment

management you can't now say you you

can't now say

rapist or

murder suspect supect or convicted

murderer you have to say justice

involved person so you weren't raped you

were involved with a Justice involved

person Injustice involved person perhaps

Justice this is wild you can't say you

can't say minority anymore you have to

say historically

excluded I imagine the research for this

book must have just been thrilling going

through oh oh my God uh bodies with

vaginas birthing people um here's a good

one for you okay here's a good one for

you

nibbling like the edge of a biscuit no

nibbling is a gender neutral term for

your nieces and

nephews

it's it sounds like sibling but it's

nibbling um and lunch and learn you used

to Brown Bag can't Brown Bag anymore

it's lunch and

learn I don't even know what that is but

no M no matter what it is that how just

how widespread is this because we I've

seen these articles I've seen these

pieces about the insane new word that we

we they're menstruating people or the

the humans with smaller feet or whatever

it is that you need to kind of repurpose

but just how widespread is this are the

isolated incidents what how big of a

problem is it well

um it's pretty widespread in

universities and Fortune 500

corporations you know that's the problem

uh Chris you get

into um you know I'm I spent 21 years on

the air at CBS and I'm still involved

with CBS I have uh

a prime time show on Thursday nights at

9 o' um so help me Todd we've got

another one in pre-production now um for

their Paramount plus we've got um uh

other dramas and and all that we work on

with them and um they air a lot of my

library

episodes uh still so I'm I'm still in

business with them but uh you

they have language police I mean it's

words you can't say words you need to

say um they sign their letters with

pronouns

um

it's the things that you you you can no

longer say America is the land of

opportunity you can no longer say the

most qualified person should get the job

because because those trigger people

that might not be the most qualified so

you can't upset them uh and this is

pretty rampant in major corporations and

universities U just like trigger

warnings and you know you you asked me

earlier you said well you know who is it

that's pushing this well I'm telling you

who's pushing it it's it's it's it's

virtue signaling corporations and

univers

ities um and they're the ones that are

shaping um the minds of our young people

and hiring them with expectations I I I

I know a university Professor that got a

90-day suspension I believe without pay

uh because he was talking to a student

that came up with a or was discussing a

project and the the project design and

he said no that's kind of lame I don't

think we should do

that the fact that he used the word lame

got suspended for 90

days it makes me so uncomfortable

because I again I've read these news

articles online but it almost feels like

fiction it feels like some crazy outlier

event that's not a big deal and I don't

know anybody that's been a part of this

and yet you've been exposed to them

you've had conversations with them

you've seen it firsthand in your own

industry and I guess you know my two

worlds have been promoting nightclubs

and doing a podcast they may be the two

final frontiers of free speech because

no one on the front door of a nightclub

or on a podcast really cares all that

much about trigger warnings so to me it

hasn't entered my sphere it almost seems

like a fantasy and yet you're saying

that it's happening in the real world

well I think it's something like 80% of

the universities have in engaged in

trigger warnings but you're not involved

in it because you're

entrepreneurial uh you work for you and

you don't hold yourself to that

ridiculous yard stick that ridiculous

standard um and when you're

entrepreneurial you're focused on

results not virtue signaling and that's

a that's a great place to be Chris uh I

know I've been entrepreneurial all my

life so um but if you're in a if you're

in a

corporation um and you got a bunch of

board members and all that are really

interested in signaling that they're

really dialed

in it it starts spreading and the

universities are teaching this to our

kids so a question I've always had is

how much of what we're seeing internally

is coordination it's part of some grand

plan to try and take down America

America or to undo the will of the

people or to confuse them or to make

them feel like victims or narcissists or

whatever it might be how much of it is

that and how much of it is just

cowardice from people who don't want to

lose their job just normal job anxiety

oh well this is the new meta this is the

new meme that everybody needs to follow

this is toxic Compassion or performative

empathy and this is what I need to do in

order to be able to keep my job I don't

want to lose my job so I'll just comply

how much of it is coordination do you

think and how much of it is job anxiety

well I I think these these Fringe

activists uh are very coordinated I

think they use bot armies I think they U

scare people and threaten people and I

think a lot of people are like hey it's

a lot easier to just don't say anything

it's a lot easier to just keep my mouth

shut keep my head down and go on but I

tell you what I think that um that

pendulum is starting to swing back the

other way and if you wonder if people

are really buying into all of this you

can look and see how they vote when they

can vote silently like with their wallet

uh you saw what happened at Target when

they had the tuck

friendly um

clothing for children I mean up right

there for children to walk by you saw

what happened with Bud Light uh when

they push the CH

transgender and I think most

people um are like hey Live and Let Live

if this person is transgender and that's

what they want to

do who am I to say what they should or

shouldn't do but when you start pushing

the agenda and say it's not enough that

you're okay with what I do I need you to

stand up and

announce that you endorse this it's not

enough that you just Live and Let Live

you got to stand up and tell everybody

that you endorse what I'm

doing then they're they're pushing to

the point that people are going to say

enough is enough and too much is too

much you don't get to tell me what I'm

supposed to do I I don't I don't need

you to endorse what I'm doing and don't

demand that I endorse what you're doing

and I think that a lot of these

activists do not speak for who they say

they represent

present because I've had a lot of people

in these groups that say they're not

talking for me this sounds perilously

close to what Jordan Peterson was

warning everybody about six seven eight

years ago

even well it it is in that he was saying

that the Canadian government is

requiring that you use this language and

he was saying I will not be compelled by

the government to say what you're going

to tell me I'm I should say and that's

not happening here and it's even worse I

think because we do have freedom of

speech with the First Amendment we're

muzzling each other th I mean this I

feel like I'm mean George Orwell's 1984

sometimes when I'm seeing us requiring

each other to use certain language and

certain words we're doing it to each

other it's not the government coming in

and stepping on our rights it's we're

we're musling each other we're requiring

each other to do certain things rather

than allowing people to do what they

want to do what about the dangers of of

rewriting as

well well you know

they I've heard that referred to is woke

washing and I've seen some of the books

like Huckleberry Finn who have which

have been

Rewritten um and um it changes the

meaning of the books so much that it it

they they changed the book so much that

the meaning of the book has changed and

the whole my reading of the book was

that it was a commentary on racism at

the time I mean even when it was written

it was it would certainly be a a a

criticism of of racism by today's

standards it was a criticism of it at

the

time and but they're going to take that

out how are how is a reader a child

that's reading that book a teen that's

reading that book going to learn the

lesson in the book if you take it

out I I I don't understand that I I I I

don't get that um it it doesn't make

sense to me and I I see them uh tearing

down statues and changing the names on

some of the schools because these people

owned slaves well you have to now say

enslaved person um 250 years ago well

you know what that's something that I

refer to in the book is presentism not

my term I I learned it from someone else

um and that very simply is taking

today's

standards mores and

folkways and applying it

to something that happened 250 years ago

as though 250 years ago they were

supposed to say two centuries in the

future this is going to be different so

I need to forell the Future and hold

myself to that standard was that

abominable Behavior yes of course it was

abominable Behavior was it was it our

proudest moment in American history of

course it was it was terrible the way

these people were treated and and abused

and sold it was it was horrible do we

want to hide that from

our our our children growing up now and

learning the history of America you

can't hide that how are they going to

learn that is the lesson right that that

is the lesson I mean the

they're they're tearing down statues of

of people that crafted the Declaration

of

Independence they they're tearing down

Lincoln who wrote

the uh U it it's more than I can take

sometimes um but presentism is like

let's say there's a street in your

neighborhood and the speed limit is is

20 so you drive through through their 20

for days and days and days for months

and months and months and then they come

along and say well we're going to change

it to 10 well you think there's a lot of

kids have moved in neighborhood we're

going to change it to 10 so they come

and give you a retroactive ticket for

driving 10 over you well wait a minute

the speed limit was 10 at the time was

20 at the time well it's 10 now so we're

giving you retroactive tickets cuz you

were driving 20 but it was 20 when I was

doing 20 I know but it's 10 now you

should have known we were going to

change it to 10 so we're ticketing you

for driving 20 when it was 20 that's

what they're doing now it's like we're

going to criticize you and tear down

your statue because you were doing what

was acceptable at the time because it is

not acceptable

now

I yeah judging judging the people of

Yesterday by the standards of today

especially when the standards are moving

unbeliev believably quickly is never

going to be a good idea no one is able

to live up to in fact very few people

are able to live up to the standards of

today from today you know there's even I

have seen a lot of conversations online

that people from the trans Community the

LGBT community talking about some of the

different ways that it can be confusing

to understand pronouns or it can be I

understand that it's challenging too I

get it wrong as well it's said look if

you person who is supposed to be the

Arbiter of truth right now gets it wrong

there's no surprise that people would

have gotten this wrong previously the

thing that's interesting are the trend

that I

think seems new genuinely novel and new

is how cemented people are in their

beliefs how much less open they seem to

be about changing their mind that if

they have a belief that is intrinsic to

their sense of self they hold on to it

tightly they do not want to change it if

they do that's admitting failure and let

like destru C and they can't deal with

it how much truth do you think there is

in saying that people are less

openminded now than they were before Oh

I think they're very entrenched I think

it's confirmation bias they look for

what they look for what reinforces their

existing

belief and they are really closed off to

new

information um and and you you said it

very well when you said it's it's

changing so fast it's hard to keep up

with it now um if I'm doing a show that

uh has to do with the

lgbtq uh Community um I have

researchers that check the

glossery for what is preferred or

acceptable now even if I did it a month

ago because it may have changed and look

I I want to be respect respectful I mean

if if this is if this is the language

system they have I I I want to be

respectful in describing it I I even

said in the book I was I said I'm going

to try and describe this the way I

think they look at this now and I'm not

setting up a paper tiger I'm I'm going

to try and give you as real an

explanation of how I think they descri

cribe sex versus gender Now versus what

they did before and if I'm wrong go to

this website and check it to get it

because I'm not I'm not trying to say

this

wrong but in this day and time what they

try to do is catch we used to say catch

somebody red-handed now we say catch

somebody with the wrong word in their

mouth it's not it's not what they really

feel it's just catch a misspeaking

and jump on that bandwagon and they they

really get they really alienate a lot of

real allies if they catch somebody

saying something the wrong way uh it

might be somebody that's actually a huge

supporter that just out of ignorance

said something the wrong way or

misspoke um and I I think it is hard to

keep up sometimes uh with what's

acceptable terminology I mean I try to

do it just out of respect and maybe I

get it wrong sometimes maybe I don't I

don't know I try well I suppose again

the problem here is that if there is

status associated with being a victim

there is an incentive for somebody to

find victimhood even where there isn't

any and I guess the other side is

that people know that most people are

trying their best most of the time I

think I I fundamentally believe that

most people are good the issue is I

don't think the people that are

enforcing these rules are particularly

good so they use their own theory of

mind which is deep down I don't think

I'm a good person deep down I know that

the things that I say publicly and the

things that I believe privately are the

same thing they understand that they're

playing this game they understand that

it's narcissistic and manipulative and

aggressive and malign and all the rest

of it and they then Port that same

theory of Mind onto everybody else that

means that when when someone messes up

out of good faith they don't see it in

good faith oh here's the The Smoking Gun

that tells us that Dr Phil is the racist

transphobic bigot homophobic Zionist

whatever that we always knew that he was

and this is proof of it it's like is it

that or is it just that language is

imprecise no I think some of it's even

worse I think some of it is larous

because if they can catch someone like

me using a wrong word or saying

something that they can say okay this

runs a foul of the the current ideology

then that's like gold because if they

can jump on my

coattail uh if they catch Joe Blow

saying it wrong that's not much good

they catch me saying it wrong you're

gonna get a lot of headlines how nervous

does this make you feel you know you've

spoken about this I asked you right at

the top you're in the mid midst of it

right you are patient zero for

mainstream media there is a lot of it

around you lots of plays lots of

notoriety associated with it what's that

like what's personally what's that like

for you on a daily basis to be walking

on EG eggshells well I don't walk on

eggshells I you know I've said before

there's good news and bad news uh when

you're dealing with me

um the good news is if if I'm involved

in something it's likely to get a lot of

attention the bad news is if I'm

involved in something it's likely to get

a lot of attention so that that's why I

mean really if if they can get if they

can get me in a headline

um then they get a lot of mileage out of

it so it can be you know Dr Phil's

Gardener has a wreck I mean my Gardener

can have a wreck 30 miles from my house

and it won't be uh Bob Jenkins has a

wreck it'll be Dr Phil's Garder has a

wreck I could have been in Europe at the

time but it'll the headline will be and

I swear I could I could stop on Sunset

to get a kitten out of traffic and it

the headline will be Dr Phil arrogantly

blocks traffic on Sunset uh because they

just get mileage out of it so I've

learned a long time ago that you you

can't make everybody happy so you might

as well do what you truly believe and as

long as I know in my heart who who I am

and what my intentions

are somebody prostituting that just

doesn't bother me I don't I don't think

there's anything particularly new about

that I think yes may maybe this has been

amped up a little bit but the news has

always been in the clickbait business

they've just got better at it it's a

case they have it's a case of headlines

whatever the most aggressive fear

stoking limic hijacking wordage that

they can come up with that's what

they're going to go for and that's the

way that that's the way that it's always

been and I don't know what to I'll I'll

butcher the saying but it is the true

the uh a lie travels around the world

while the truth is still lacing up its

shoes it's something like that yeah um

and there's actually been a study about

that I think MIT did it uh and it it

actually measured this and a lie travels

six times faster than the truth and the

reason for that is a lot is simple and

quick and black and white and the truth

is never that clean it's never that

quick it's more complicated so a lie is

good clickbait it's a clean headline and

so it travels real quick have you heard

of brandolini's law it's also called the

asymmetry principle it says it

says that it takes far less energy to

produce than to refute it

therefore the world is filled with

unrefuted yeah I believe it

what about I believe it talk to me about

family I know this is something that's

very important to you is there actually

an attack on family at the moment you

know I I I think there is and I'm so

sensitive to it because I think family

is the backbone of America I I think the

family unit is is the backbone of

America and if families are strong and

by strong I mean there are good family

relationships ship kids have a good

relationship with their parents they

stay in contact they they have I mean

while they're together they have meals

together they communicate together um I

I'll give you a tragic example of this

which will speak volumes um there's

something going around right now called

sextortion and most people won't know

what that mean you probably do no no

even me the terminally online guy

doesn't know what this is well this and

AI has you know I told you I'm going to

have to start dealing with AI as things

evolve what's happening is these these

people are generating images some of

them they may have stolen from somewhere

and some of them they

generate uh

completely made up and they get online

and start talking to a young

man and they send him this image of a

girl they talk to him like they're a 14

or 15 year old girl oh it's like it's

like AI catfishing yes exactly they send

him a picture they start talking to him

and say you know I like you so much I

want to send you a picture so they send

him a nude photo and it's like I I've

shown you mine you show me yours i' I've

shown you my body you show me yours and

he's like well I'm not going to blow

this so he does he he sends her one back

the second they get it they write back

and say I am not a 14-year-old girl and

I now have a naked picture of you and

I'm going to send it to your parents all

the people in your contact list your

pastor I've got your school year book

I'm going to send this to everybody and

humiliate you if you don't send me

$110,000 right now and I did three or

four stories about that last week and

one of of

them uh killed himself in an hour and 40

minutes he panicked and thought Oh my

God I'm I I'm going to humiliate my

parents and myself he killed himself

almost immediately another one killed

himself in a matter of a few days uh

they it was just horrible I mean just

absolutely horrible why because there

was a time when families were so tight

that if something happened to one of

them it happened to all of them and you

would go to your family W with anything

and you it was all together and now

there's we the relationships are so

distant they don't feel it anymore and

these kids felt alone they felt they

couldn't do it and then we had a few

examples there who did go to their

parents and say hey I screwed up big

time uh here's what happened and so they

parents said well

that don't even talk to him anymore just

cut them off and and of course the

answer to that if you get caught in that

trap is it was an AI generated picture

all you got to do is say that's not me I

wish that was me please send it to

everybody I don't care and hang up and I

mean you you're out of it but uh kids

don't think that way and they panic and

that's because they don't have that

relationship with their parents with

their family I always tell parents talk

to your kids about things that don't

matter so that line is open when it

comes time to talk about things that do

you got to do that you got to have it

where you can talk about

anything does this suggest that family

is under attack though is this not just

a a natural consequence Downstream of

there's more things to distract people

they can watch Netflix or play video

games or or go on social media how much

of this is an

actual purposeful

attack there are six billion views of

the hashtags toxic parent toxic family

toxic

mother on social media platforms right

now six billion

views of them pedaling

no contact toxic parent toxic

family yeah it's under attack people are

out there selling that sort of mentality

and these are people that don't know

come here from go sium about family

Dynamics or how to heal a family or

anything about keeping a relationship

open or what the consequences are if you

cut off your family and if you

do and it's two years later and you're

now alone and lost and

depressed let me ask you where those

people will be then you w't be able to

find them in two weeks with a flashlight

because they're gone they don't know

squat about nothing they're just on

there spewing out blah blah blah blah

blah give me some white pills then what

are the what are the pr principles that

people can use to rely on to be more

resilient there's a lot of bad outcomes

at the moment that we've gone through

what are the ways that people can fight

back well that's because you ask

questions about problems that's why

we've gone through bad outcomes ask me

something

happy like the one you just ask of

course um uh number one be who you are

on

purpose um that yeah I I talk in the

book about 10 principles of a healthy

society and number one is be who you are

on purpose look you don't want to be

reactive to society don't just get up

and whatever comes your way on the

Internet or at work or your friends

don't be a

sheep be who you are on purpose and that

means you got a star in your own life

and I don't care you know people say

well that's easy for you to say Dr Phil

you've had your own TV show for 25 years

so yeah it's easy to start in your own

life I don't care if you're a plumber or

a teacher or an architect or an

accountant or whatever star in your own

life you've got people in your life

you've got children you've got friends

You' got parents you've got a church

you've got a team you play on what star

in your own life and that that means

you've got to decide what's important to

you and that I'm not telling you about

being selfish it's not selfish to take

care of yourself because you can't give

away what you don't have if you don't

take care of yourself if you don't love

yourself if you don't nurture yourself

you can't love and nurture other people

so if you let yourself get emotionally

bankrupt then you have nothing to give

to other people so be who you are on

purpose don't let the internet program

you don't let some IDE ology program you

choose who you want to be and what you

think is

important that is that to me is is so

critical and I I think you you pair that

up with the thought that make all choose

all behaviors based on

results and all thoughts based on

rationality and rationality means is

this thought based on

fact is it does it get me what I want

does it protect and prolong my life I

mean there there are just simple tests

that you can ask

yourself is is this really something

that that makes sense easy questions you

can ask yourself when you're thinking

something is this is this factual have I

verified this or is this something I'm

telling

myself um does it get me what I want

does it protect and prolong my life

these are things that you that that you

can ask yourself so choose your

behaviors based on people always teasing

me about saying how's that working for

you that's a pretty damn good question

to be asking you if you're doing

something how how's it working for you

if it ain't working change what you're

doing I love the I love the idea of

focusing on solving problems rather than

winning arguments I see so much so much

of the discourse online is all about

winning arguments rather than solving

problems here's a really interesting

example something I noticed on Twitter

which

is very rarely do you ever see someone

ConEd a point and say oh actually that's

that's really interesting that you said

that I'd never seen that that I didn't I

didn't see that before and there's two

two reasons first one being that

admitting defeat online is tantamount to

destruction it's embarrassing it's lame

you're supposed to have this perfectly

robust walled off Fortress of whatever

your philosophical worldview is and the

second one is that most of the rhetoric

is so adversarial and mean and cutting

and sardonic that who entering into that

type of an exchange wants to admit that

they're wrong it's so you've just taken

the piss out of me for a full thread of

of tweets I'm not going to say oh yeah

good one Dr Phil thanks for really

resetting my worldview I'm going to say

no you just called me a name before so

I'm going to call you a name and I'm not

going to believe what you say yeah and

and I'll I'll challenge you to look at

my threads and responses because I'll

have people call me everything but

decent and uh they get some good ones on

there and those are usually the ones I

respond to if if I respond and I don't

sit and typ of myself I have somebody I

tell I say all right write this down

because I type

like uh so I have my guy and I'll say

all right take this down um and I tell

them first off hey thank you for caring

enough to share your thoughts because it

took time for you to respond and um I

disagree with a lot of what you said but

I I hear you and I I I hope you'll

consider

this and fact check me and if if there

are some things I said that are not

factual then come back to me with it and

let's let's talk about that uh because I

had somebody the other day said oh I I

thought you were really into facts and

now I see you saying this I mean like

I'll never I'll never follow you again

and I said well hey thanks for saying

that you didn't have to respond at all

you could have just cut me off but

please fact check me and send me what it

is that I'm wrong about and if I am I'll

correct it and and tell you and let's

keep this dialogue

open and um he hasn't responded

yet

um because when I when when I'm doing

something on a show um I'll figure out

what I'm going to say and

do and I have what we call a brain room

and these are college professors I've

hired from around the country and

they're all over the political spectrum

and I'll have them research something

and they'll send all of that to me and

then I'll work out the points I'm going

to make

and and I'll send that back to them and

say is this

supportable and they'll say well yes no

or maybe and I'll get down to what

there's absolute empirical support

for and then when I do the actual show I

send the transcript to them to

check and make sure I didn't conflate

two things that weren't meant to be or

whatever and if I've said something that

is not what was intended or is not

supportable it comes out so they check

it before I do it and then I check the

they check the points I intend to make

and then they check the transcript

afterwards and then it goes to air so I

triple check things with a research room

before I ever say it and that book has

been scrubbed top side and bottom let me

tell you because I want to let me tell

you I want to be the place that deals

with facts

I I and if it's an opinion I say so I

say all right now I'm there aren't this

isn't one that lends itself to facts

this is just opinion so I'm going to

give you mine take it for what you will

I identify it if it's that way otherwise

I I give them the empirical data what do

you mean when you say do not stay silent

just so others can remain

comfortable what you said earlier about

I wonder how many people are just kind

of biting their tongue because they

don't want to take the Heat and I say I

don't think we can do that I think we

it's time we got to speak

up Dr Phil ladies and gentlemen I really

appreciate you coming on I very much

respect the fact that you're going

through all of these hurdles in an

effort to try and be balanced I think

it's

uh in some ways sad that you need to do

that just to protect yourself from being

caught out in the wrong the wrong uh

statement and also given the fact that

you reach millions and millions and

millions of people it's also important

because if we're struggling with

information and the quality of

information then the people who reach

the most people should be trying to

communicate it in the most accurate way

possible so yeah it's a a very

impressive way to live out your

philosophy well you know I think if

people are going to honor me with their

time I I owe it to them to do my

homework and U so I you know I'm gonna

I'm going to do the best I can and I

won't always get it right and when I do

I'll correct it and hopefully catch it

before it goes out and if not I'll I'll

say so so uh I I really enjoyed this

conversation you asked some U uh

challenging questions Chris so I I

really appreciate it I appreciate you

too thank you Dr you have to you have to

come up and see us sometime and um I'll

be down your way pretty soon I've got

some I got a lot of friends down there

Ron White and Joe Rogan and some other

guys down there that I hang with so uh

come through we'll do barbecue we can

play pickle ball we can do all of the

Austin things all right good deal if you

enjoyed that episode you will love a

selection of the best clips from the

podcast of for the last couple of months

and it's available right here go on give

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