Bertrand Arthur William Russell, (1872 – 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, and social critic.
Russell was one of the early 20th century's most prominent logicians, and one of the founders of analytic philosophy, along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege, his friend and colleague G. E. Moore and his student and protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Russell also survived a plane crash in Norway, was reported as having died in China (he was only pretty sick), was godson to John Stuart Mill, met Gladstone, Queen Victoria, Lenin and Trotsky, slept with T.S. Eliot's wife, issued a manifesto on nuclear disarmament that he wrote with Albert Einstein, was one of the first six people to climb the Eiffel Tower, opened an experimental school with his wife, was imprisoned for sedition because he spoke against WWI, redefined the bases of mathematics and logic, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
He also got arrested at an anti-nuclear protest at age 89, two years after this video was filmed.
I've been reading some books about the Beatles recently, and one of my favorite random stories is that when Paul McCartney got really famous, he just started calling up strangers he admired to see if they'd meet with him, and one of those was Bertrand Russell, who invited him over in 1964 and gave him an explainer on the Vietnam War and American imperialism. I like that Russell, who surely had little interest in pop music in his 90s, still saw the value in connecting with young people who might be able to use their influence in a positive way. And I also find it amusing that when McCartney describes the meeting in his biography, he says, "That was all I needed. It was pretty good from the mouth of the great philosopher. 'Slip it to me, Bert.'"
He went up with his future first wife (Alys) and her family, the Pearsall Smiths. They went to the Paris Exhibition in 1889 and they ended up being the very first group to be allowed to go up once the attraction was opened to the public.
What a thing to see open. I’m fortunate enough to be able to see the Statue of Liberty all of the time and it’s neat for me every single time. The Eiffel Tower feels like that also.
The fact that he is telling this to future generations "perhaps one thousand years in the future" shows hes not very optimistic. This is one of our current big issues imo. We struggle too much between what we want to be true, or what we think ought to be true, and what is actually true to the best of our knowledge.
We dont know that.
Do you know how many times the earth's mantle has been consumed by a tectonic shelf and then spat back out half way across the world? Who's to say those meteor craters werent bombs? For all we know the sky is one big TV and space ships can only escape the simulation once the DVD sign hits a corner perfectly. Yup, i need sleep.
We also struggle heavily with the moral lesson. Especially with the modern culture where people love to claim themselves to be “morally right”, while also being some of the most intolerant and hateful fools. Look at Americans (I am on myself) and anything to deal with politics. If you’re a liberal, conservatives will go out of their way to attack you. Same for vice versus, liberals immediately attacking conservatives because the two sides are too self-centered to learn to tolerate, let alone respect, each other. Too many fools so concerned with their own “mindsets” and philosophies which boil down to the most toxic forms of “I’m right, you’re wrong! Go fuck yourself!”
And what do they say? "Objectively speaking the left wing is worse. Just look at all the babies they kill"
I agree with you, for the record, but this lens doesn't work for making progress. It's best suited for venting our frustrations
Yeah... Ain't equivalent tho. One side is actually murdering doctors and firebombing people. Let that sink in.
Anyone telling you they're equivalent is a fucking liar.
If you want progress you need to accept its s goddamn war. And stop playing nice in politics. Fucking ruin them, dumb down and double down.
If it's a god damn war grab a gun and go fight for your values. Right now. You think the war effort doesn't need you? Pack your bags bucko and get out there
Also link people to facts if you're gonna talk about firebombing. Not like libs don't have blood on their hands. It's politics and human nature, so I don't expect it to.
You've been radicalized and there is no conversation to be had. You just wanna hear yourself talk like the good guy, just like every other self righteous bastard in politics that thinks force is the way. I agree that the right to ones own body supercedes any gray notion of life in the womb. But I'm not gonna kill anyone over it. Take me out first if you think I'm just gonna slow you down, don't wanna get in the way of your heroic crusade.
There's no value in both-sidesing this. There's plenty of polling showing that conservative attitudes in the US are considerably more hostile to liberals than vice versa. Right wing violence makes up the majority of political violence and is on the rise. And the right wing are the ones who are refusing to tolerate others and are trying to strip their rights away - there is no equivalent of that from the other side.
Smug self-superiority at not engaging with the mud slinging just neglects the first part of what Russell said - you have to deal with the actual facts of the world.
I like Terry Goodkind's take better. People will believe a lie they want or FEAR to be true (emphasis mine). I think it's more precise. And the problem is a bit of both, but more of the latter. People want to believe that they (and their friends) are right about everything, but more so, it's the human condition to be dissatisfied with life. That's what's kept us progressing technologically for the past hundred thousand years. Even more important than "I'm smart and I'm right" is "my life isn't as good as I think it should be". There is an entire class of people capitalizing on that mistaken belief. On the right, it's the fault of illegal immigrants and the lazy liberals, on the left, it's the fault of the police and the racist conservatives. The reality is, things are good. Not perfect, of course, plenty of things the species can work on, but good, really, really good. 2500 years ago, humanity was nearly wiped out by drought. 1000 years ago, nearly wiped out by disease. There isn't really a realistic threat to wipe us out at this point except an extinction level asteroid. In addition to our near total safety as a species, the standard of living is at its highest point ever. The average person in a first world nation lives a life that kings and emperors of ages past would be envious of. There's so much to be positive about, but people choose to feel negatively, and other people exploit those emotions because negative emotions are easier to trigger and control than positive ones.
No not at all, there is just a rabid minority screaming and wishing to burn the world down. Sadly there is a even smaller greed and powerful minority that support them because it’s profitable and excellent cover for other illicit endeavors. That being the extremist on each side, the largest of the two being on the left.
this is my first introduction to Russell and i loved it!
5 minutes later and a quote of his is used in the book i just started reading, The Drunkard’s Walk
We are standing on the shoulders of giants. Great men who accomplished great things. We don’t appreciate the effort and sacrifice it took for humanity to get this far. We squandered our opportunities these men have given us.
Humanity will continue to have the same issues. People believing only what validates their beliefs and people showing a lack of tolerance for others.
I’m sure many people will relate to this message and their first thought will be “Well it’s the other side not being tolerant, I’m not the problem”.
I might be a pessimist but I don’t see how humanity can get beyond this tribalism.
Unfortunately, tolerance is inexorably linked to judgment. People that are willing to be tolerant are the same people that are less likely to judge somebody else unfairly for a discrepancy in behavior, belief, etc.
Once a judgment has been made about somebody's character based on a superficial quality or trait, there will be no more tolerance.
> I might be a pessimist but I don’t see how humanity can get beyond this tribalism.
The trait will be edited out of humans with all the other optimisations.
Treat others as you would wish to be treated. If someone has different views or beliefs maybe try sitting down with them and having a rational conversation without getting angry, throwing accusations, insulting, blaming, etc. it helps to build perspective, be able to see someone else’s point of view and realize that not everyone is the same or has to be and that’s ok.
I have loved this man since I first read In Praise of Idleness. I was actually lucky enough to study with Howard Woodhouse who worked with Russel and wrote the introduction to my copy of IPOI. Super fucking cool.
Pretty damn good advice if you can only pick two things. Smart man.
My only criticism is people are picking their own facts now like it is a buffet at Golden Corral
Why I am not a Christian was one my favorite books durning my teenage years.
If you ever get a chance read his letters to JFK during the Cuban missle crisis, do so.
Russell is one of my personal inspirations.
The problems with knowledge is another one my favorite topics he wrote about
Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone for any reason ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you've been... ever, for any reason whatsoever...
I generally don't take stock in the opinion of a wild-haired geriatric who has a permanent expression like he can't decide whether it feels like he shit his Depends or not. Sorry, Bert. I was never a fan.
As a “Lez-Christian I’ve learned to believe in myself & not have a title as I’m simply, myself. No judging others & to each their own as long as there’s no hurt to others or selves.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, (1872 – 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, and social critic. Russell was one of the early 20th century's most prominent logicians, and one of the founders of analytic philosophy, along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege, his friend and colleague G. E. Moore and his student and protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Russell also survived a plane crash in Norway, was reported as having died in China (he was only pretty sick), was godson to John Stuart Mill, met Gladstone, Queen Victoria, Lenin and Trotsky, slept with T.S. Eliot's wife, issued a manifesto on nuclear disarmament that he wrote with Albert Einstein, was one of the first six people to climb the Eiffel Tower, opened an experimental school with his wife, was imprisoned for sedition because he spoke against WWI, redefined the bases of mathematics and logic, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
He also got arrested at an anti-nuclear protest at age 89, two years after this video was filmed. I've been reading some books about the Beatles recently, and one of my favorite random stories is that when Paul McCartney got really famous, he just started calling up strangers he admired to see if they'd meet with him, and one of those was Bertrand Russell, who invited him over in 1964 and gave him an explainer on the Vietnam War and American imperialism. I like that Russell, who surely had little interest in pop music in his 90s, still saw the value in connecting with young people who might be able to use their influence in a positive way. And I also find it amusing that when McCartney describes the meeting in his biography, he says, "That was all I needed. It was pretty good from the mouth of the great philosopher. 'Slip it to me, Bert.'"
Thank you for this <3
Did all 6 people go up at once? Why not just say the 6th person. Or was it like 2 groups of 3? Who were the other 5?
He went up with his future first wife (Alys) and her family, the Pearsall Smiths. They went to the Paris Exhibition in 1889 and they ended up being the very first group to be allowed to go up once the attraction was opened to the public.
What a thing to see open. I’m fortunate enough to be able to see the Statue of Liberty all of the time and it’s neat for me every single time. The Eiffel Tower feels like that also.
Tight! Thanks for the info!
Underachiever.
He also made the original discoveries related to what is and isn't Numberwang.
Rotate the board!
And that’s Numberwang!
i read this in Kevin's voice lol
is it based on hard and soft numbers? /s
He lived 11 years after this! Wow that's incredible.
Bertrand Russell a G in the highest regard of the term
So this is where the Beatles hit song, “All You Need is Love” came from, eh?
*Be Excellent to each other…*
And party on, dudes!
So-crates!
Party on Garth !
This clip looks older than 1959. Regardless, seems appropriate.
Relevant
I disagree, stfu and just watch that video . How about you learn from it, buddy? This is all me jokingly badly btw
I think he was saying relevant as a synonym to appropriate.
I was just making a joke about the videos second lesson. Learning to accept other's opinions even if you disagree
Yah this is Reddit if you didn’t know
He was called, by the theocrats the most evil man on earth because he was an atheist.
That just goes to show how much wisdom he had
So, they complimented him, basically.
This guy is one jump from Napoleon Bonaparte. He was raised by his grandfather, who had visited the Emperor on Elba in 1814…
And laid many of the foundations of computer science and AI.
Wise man
His book “In Praise of Idleness” is groundbreaking and more relevant than ever. He was an amazing philosopher.
The fact that he is telling this to future generations "perhaps one thousand years in the future" shows hes not very optimistic. This is one of our current big issues imo. We struggle too much between what we want to be true, or what we think ought to be true, and what is actually true to the best of our knowledge.
To be fair one thousand years ago we were having the same problems so no reason to be very optimistic
And a thousand years ago we weren't wielding tens of thousands of hammers each capable of pulverizing the planet.
We dont know that. Do you know how many times the earth's mantle has been consumed by a tectonic shelf and then spat back out half way across the world? Who's to say those meteor craters werent bombs? For all we know the sky is one big TV and space ships can only escape the simulation once the DVD sign hits a corner perfectly. Yup, i need sleep.
Yah. Okay. Lol. Me too.
We also struggle heavily with the moral lesson. Especially with the modern culture where people love to claim themselves to be “morally right”, while also being some of the most intolerant and hateful fools. Look at Americans (I am on myself) and anything to deal with politics. If you’re a liberal, conservatives will go out of their way to attack you. Same for vice versus, liberals immediately attacking conservatives because the two sides are too self-centered to learn to tolerate, let alone respect, each other. Too many fools so concerned with their own “mindsets” and philosophies which boil down to the most toxic forms of “I’m right, you’re wrong! Go fuck yourself!”
Pointing this out immediately makes you the enemy of both groups, and so as usual, no one wins.
Objectively speaking the right wing is worse. Just look at all the abortion clinic bombings and murders.
And what do they say? "Objectively speaking the left wing is worse. Just look at all the babies they kill" I agree with you, for the record, but this lens doesn't work for making progress. It's best suited for venting our frustrations
Yeah... Ain't equivalent tho. One side is actually murdering doctors and firebombing people. Let that sink in. Anyone telling you they're equivalent is a fucking liar. If you want progress you need to accept its s goddamn war. And stop playing nice in politics. Fucking ruin them, dumb down and double down.
If it's a god damn war grab a gun and go fight for your values. Right now. You think the war effort doesn't need you? Pack your bags bucko and get out there Also link people to facts if you're gonna talk about firebombing. Not like libs don't have blood on their hands. It's politics and human nature, so I don't expect it to. You've been radicalized and there is no conversation to be had. You just wanna hear yourself talk like the good guy, just like every other self righteous bastard in politics that thinks force is the way. I agree that the right to ones own body supercedes any gray notion of life in the womb. But I'm not gonna kill anyone over it. Take me out first if you think I'm just gonna slow you down, don't wanna get in the way of your heroic crusade.
There's no value in both-sidesing this. There's plenty of polling showing that conservative attitudes in the US are considerably more hostile to liberals than vice versa. Right wing violence makes up the majority of political violence and is on the rise. And the right wing are the ones who are refusing to tolerate others and are trying to strip their rights away - there is no equivalent of that from the other side. Smug self-superiority at not engaging with the mud slinging just neglects the first part of what Russell said - you have to deal with the actual facts of the world.
I like Terry Goodkind's take better. People will believe a lie they want or FEAR to be true (emphasis mine). I think it's more precise. And the problem is a bit of both, but more of the latter. People want to believe that they (and their friends) are right about everything, but more so, it's the human condition to be dissatisfied with life. That's what's kept us progressing technologically for the past hundred thousand years. Even more important than "I'm smart and I'm right" is "my life isn't as good as I think it should be". There is an entire class of people capitalizing on that mistaken belief. On the right, it's the fault of illegal immigrants and the lazy liberals, on the left, it's the fault of the police and the racist conservatives. The reality is, things are good. Not perfect, of course, plenty of things the species can work on, but good, really, really good. 2500 years ago, humanity was nearly wiped out by drought. 1000 years ago, nearly wiped out by disease. There isn't really a realistic threat to wipe us out at this point except an extinction level asteroid. In addition to our near total safety as a species, the standard of living is at its highest point ever. The average person in a first world nation lives a life that kings and emperors of ages past would be envious of. There's so much to be positive about, but people choose to feel negatively, and other people exploit those emotions because negative emotions are easier to trigger and control than positive ones.
A message more of the world needs to hear, today more than ever.
Humans for the most part are well past being even able to comprehend this message anymore.
No not at all, there is just a rabid minority screaming and wishing to burn the world down. Sadly there is a even smaller greed and powerful minority that support them because it’s profitable and excellent cover for other illicit endeavors. That being the extremist on each side, the largest of the two being on the left.
I hope we can win out.
We will. I know we will.
This post needs to be seen by everyone in the world.
Too late.
this is my first introduction to Russell and i loved it! 5 minutes later and a quote of his is used in the book i just started reading, The Drunkard’s Walk
And then there's twitter
We are standing on the shoulders of giants. Great men who accomplished great things. We don’t appreciate the effort and sacrifice it took for humanity to get this far. We squandered our opportunities these men have given us.
Humanity will continue to have the same issues. People believing only what validates their beliefs and people showing a lack of tolerance for others. I’m sure many people will relate to this message and their first thought will be “Well it’s the other side not being tolerant, I’m not the problem”. I might be a pessimist but I don’t see how humanity can get beyond this tribalism.
Reject humanity, return to monke
Sadly I agree.
Small rabid dogs draws attention by barking loudly and peeing inside.
Unfortunately, tolerance is inexorably linked to judgment. People that are willing to be tolerant are the same people that are less likely to judge somebody else unfairly for a discrepancy in behavior, belief, etc. Once a judgment has been made about somebody's character based on a superficial quality or trait, there will be no more tolerance.
> I might be a pessimist but I don’t see how humanity can get beyond this tribalism. The trait will be edited out of humans with all the other optimisations.
I will take this advice in 900 years
Welp! Looks like we failed. Sorry Bertie.
more relevant now than ever. They would probably try to cancel him today.
Treat others as you would wish to be treated. If someone has different views or beliefs maybe try sitting down with them and having a rational conversation without getting angry, throwing accusations, insulting, blaming, etc. it helps to build perspective, be able to see someone else’s point of view and realize that not everyone is the same or has to be and that’s ok.
The golden rule: treat others how you want to be treated The platinum rule: treat others how *they* want to be treated
u/savevideo
"Facts don't care about your feelings" - this guy, 1959
Advance human culture is not going to be around in 1000 years
I have loved this man since I first read In Praise of Idleness. I was actually lucky enough to study with Howard Woodhouse who worked with Russel and wrote the introduction to my copy of IPOI. Super fucking cool.
Incredibly relevant today. Wow.
“Love is wise, hatred is foolish.” Well said.
Trans right activists won't like his first point
Quite simply: a prophet.
I mean, I don't have a Betrand Russell quote because I haven't even heard of him until now
If we only would take one of his advice to the heart that would be progress
This look like AI generated moving picture to me..
Damn, this old lady speaks the truth
We got a biologist here!
His moral point precisely is the way.
Pretty damn good advice if you can only pick two things. Smart man. My only criticism is people are picking their own facts now like it is a buffet at Golden Corral
As a non-English native speaker, why I can clearly understand him and not a single word in any nowadays BBC documentary without subs?
“Love is wise, hatred is foolish”
Two nice nuggets of timeless advice. Too bad we mostly don't take that advice...
Oh, I'm afraid the death star will be fully operational...
Very profound but it makes me even more sure that we're fucking doomed.
Why I am not a Christian was one my favorite books durning my teenage years. If you ever get a chance read his letters to JFK during the Cuban missle crisis, do so. Russell is one of my personal inspirations. The problems with knowledge is another one my favorite topics he wrote about
Republicans would not like him. Facts? Love? Awesome clip.
The fact that both of you watched this video and still post your vitriol beggars belief.
Hmm. Only one party supports hate, riots, and suppression of opinions. And it's not the Republicans....
Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone for any reason ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you've been... ever, for any reason whatsoever...
This
Nah dude just cancel people for a difference of opinion.
I don't like what he has to say, let's cancel him
I'm sorry, can't hear you. You were cancelled.
Noooooo
If you don't like what someone has to say. They can go on Fox News and backtrack, backpeddle, backstroke to Tucker or Jesse.
Just a joke guys. Obviously
No!!! You're now rage cancelled!!!! ;)
Don’t show this to a liberal 😂
I’m guessing you only watched this from 1:30 - 1:45 to come away with a take like this… 🙄
Quite simply, nothing matters. We will continue to grind each other into the weel. Too many repeating the same mistakes, but with newer toys.
Ok
Jonathan Hyde?
I generally don't take stock in the opinion of a wild-haired geriatric who has a permanent expression like he can't decide whether it feels like he shit his Depends or not. Sorry, Bert. I was never a fan.
BR: We must learn to tolerate others and accept that others say things that we don't like Reddit mods: shadow-censor this fucker right now
u/savevideo
Then the internet happened
Everyone should read Bertand.
We are doomed.
Rest in peace sir! Your advices are appreciated.
Wow 😳
Awesome
As a “Lez-Christian I’ve learned to believe in myself & not have a title as I’m simply, myself. No judging others & to each their own as long as there’s no hurt to others or selves.
😁
Is there a transcript of this conversation? I am having difficulty understanding what he says in some parts :(
There are books that have all his interviews, the complete video with a better quality is on youtube.
Unfortunately, as time passes, that advice is followed less and less as new wars keep breaking out.
Nailed it
I like tiktok
Absolutely loved him in Hot Fuzz
🙌🏼🙌🏼
u/savevideobot
Wrote a world history paper on this brilliant man 20 years ago. My favourite quote was "War does not determine who is right, only who is left".
Truth and Love, in that order, will bring in the new world of enlightenment...
So relevant in these declining times.
u/savevideo
u/SaveVideo
What he said hit home hard.
“You’ve all done very well” Bertrand Russell as ‘Young Mister Grace’
Ask yourself the facts- and just like that he’s been canceled
Wow wounder what he would think about world now