July 2, 2026 • 25 mins
The guys go solo this week to sit with one question: what did we lose when boredom became optional? A conversation about screen time, imagination, and the cost of never having a quiet minute with your own thoughts.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, this is Freddie Rodriguez and I'm Wilmer Valdorama. Welcome
to those amigos, and pretty I bored.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm bored.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You know this is turning to sound like an episode
of Blipping Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to be
back with you. I hope if you're listening to us
while you run, if you're listening to us while you're
driving on a delicious road trip or you're on a flight,
you know, thank you for allowing us into your tiny ears.
(00:45):
And if you're watching us, I'm we're in the same
outfit as the last episode.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's right. We don't change, and.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
It's because we don't like change. And speaking of change,
some things are really changing. Yeah, and that's a great
segue into this episode. Right, you killed the baker man,
Thank you man. So on this episode we're going to
tackle you and I Freddie. Yeah. The power of boredom,
the power of boards aka turning the brain off. I
(01:14):
was in parentheses, per leo' clem. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm
gonna read this because I think it was very important.
Let's see the idea that we've engineered boredom out of existence.
It might be wars for it. Every micro gap, elevator line,
red light, the ninety seconds before a friend shows up
(01:38):
now gets filled in with a screen. The episode of
the question, right, the the episode question is did we
lose something important when we made it impossible to where
we just sit there?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
That's that's an interesting question. You know, I don't know
if we've lost anything. While you know, you gave a
great example there about when you're waiting for a friend
or something, you kind of turn on the screen. But
when we started to talk about the subject matter, what
came to mind was, remember when we were kids and
we were born. It's what motivated our creativity, being bored, right.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's what powered it, so powered it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Right, you're bored, so all of a sudden, you take
two action figures, for example, you take two g i
Joe's right, and you start to make up a story
with these two Gi Jones and they're fighting and they're
doing this, and they're going on an adventure. And so
boredom sparked creativity, and so did we lose creativity? Now
that boredom or the space or the void of boredom
(02:45):
is filled with screens and social media and iPads, what
do you think, Well, you have and you have two
young Toby, right, So.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
We reminded our daughter that that's why her toys were for. Yeah, right,
Like I started out there, and that's when I started realizing,
like she was like going to watch a movie, Like, well, honey,
that's what your toys are for. Go make a movie, right,
And so she's really starting to embrace that. So I
hear her making voices in her room all the time,
(03:17):
or she's maybe talking to ghosts. Oh but maybe not.
Maybe it's just really her imagination is running wild. But
I think, going back to your question, here's what the
concern really is. Because one can say, oh, we are
(03:40):
receiving more information, therefore it could be in information within
our interests, So therefore you see it as an investment.
But what is the cost of you not able to
give in your brain a moment of stillness, which is
the moment that energizes and energizes the wonder of going farther,
(04:04):
you know, lifting heavier, you know, thinking out loud. When
you're internalizing so much, how much are you able to externalize?
And I think one of the things that boredom has
created the space for is for this the migration of
the screen, and now you're internalizing so much it becomes
an introvert, you know generation where like most of these
(04:27):
internal conversations are happening as an intake as opposed to
the shared of ideas. You know. So I don't know,
I wonder, I wonder if what it's doing is is
kind of diluting our opportunity to be more wondrous with
the world we are actually experiencing and living, our ability
to connect to others. And then the other thing that
(04:50):
happens in boredom is that now it could also serve
I mean, the fulfillment of the boredom with screens. It
could also you know, continue to cultivate that comparison to
things that are only real on social media, they're not
really in real life. And people's achievements and success and
(05:13):
online look like it's immediate, and why not. Why is
it not happening to me when we came from a
generation rule so that goes, this takes time. You're gonna
have to put some work, there's gonna be some hours.
And I feel like, you know, I noticed it a lot,
and you know, the younger generation is that you know
that if it doesn't pan out right away, they gotta shift.
(05:35):
I gotta go a different thing, and when that doesn't
pan out, I'm gonna try something else, you know. And
everyone also to do with what they see online and
the if it doesn't happen right away, then it's maybe
they were wrong, you know, And like the truth is,
some of these things take time. So I don't know.
I mean, I'm I am just giving you a perspective
from what I see and from some of the young
(05:56):
generations that either I work with or experience and you know,
and the you of life. You know. But it does
feel to me that that if you, you know, if
you continue to supply your boredom with a screen, it
depends on like what is that screens playing for you?
Whether it allows you to fire up and go farther
(06:18):
or internalizes you and says like, you know, where is
my confidence and going there? If I'm never going to
amount to what I'm seeing. So if you have a
constant signal that's telling you something else, because your algorithm
is seeing the insecurity and the things you're clicking and watching,
you know, like is that poison? You know. At the
risk of sounding like the old guy in the room,
(06:41):
I think like, you know, I also think that this
that there's another soon, you know, arriving generation that's just like.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Everything looks the same now, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
These trends are making everyone sound the same, look the same,
use the same filters, use the same trends, and I
think that they're now board with what's incoming. So I
feel like we're in stock in the style of generation.
But the next generation is going to be like I.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Think I want to read a book now, yeah, yeah,
read a book, or maybe if they are going to
be on the screen, change their algorithm to something different
other than like the guy driving the Ferrari.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I mean that said, that said, there's something to be
said also about this generation. That is, ability to consume
and intake content is astronomical. And there's also something to
be said about what they've achieved in making the world
smaller by communicating in all the different ways, whether it's
(07:41):
content creation, whether it's you know, commuting with each other's accounts,
you know, on a global scale, following each other's footsteps,
or whatever. There's something to be said about this generation,
how much they've disruptive and how much they've advanced the
ability of humanity to connect.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yeah, Like like, for example, I don't know about
you or what your algorithm is.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Like, but like I've become more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
The stuff I get from you, Like three in the morning.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think this morning too, I think you did.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I've become more financially literate. I've learned more about finances
and stocks and like certain things that seemed foreign to
me before that maybe would have taken me a little
longer to learn from someone where some of my algorithm
(08:40):
is diverted to people explaining it to me in very
sort of layman terms, you know, in order for me
to understand. And so I think, oh, well, what if
a young person were to see something like that, it
would make them more financially literate and other other subject
matters as well. You know, I think that I've I've
converted my algorithm more or towards that, you know, whether
(09:01):
it's that or being more spiritually inclined and stuff that
I've learned through that, or you know, as opposed to
like you said, you know, like the guy driving the
Porsche and me trying to emulate that dude or whatever
else is in there.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You know, I've been inspired by the curation of iconic
clips from movies of the past, the or the scenes
that have lived in people's memories that now are surveysurfacing
on my algorithm is really interesting. Like what like you know,
like moments in The Godfather, you know, or like moments
(09:36):
or like just like iconic moments from The Spartans, you
know where where you know, there's this iconic scene the
obviously Jar Butler shout out to Jar Butler, one of
the homies, like I love my guy. He's amazing, and
a lot of grant memories with him. But there's a
moment where he kicks you know, somebody on the chest
and throws him down the pit. You know. But what's
(09:57):
beautiful about that moment that people forget is that in
that moment when he's talking to I guess the Persians
or whatever, forget where who he was talking to, forget
the other character where he was coming from. That because
a lovely actor. And before he does anything, he looks
over at his queen and the queen goes whether not
(10:22):
tells her, tells, tells her our brothers Maximus know what's
what was his name? Nothing?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Maximus was Russell.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
No, that was Wressell Crew. By the way, I just
watched the Gladiator again, That's why I said Leonidas. So
he looks at Leoni. So Leonidas, before he does anything,
he looks back to his queen, and his queen gives
them this not like give it, you know, like get
our respect back, and it was all he needed to hear.
(10:55):
And Leonidas just decides we are spartan and like, you know,
and kicks him in the chest. And it was this
iconic moment where you're like, this guy gives no shit.
This guy's a bad you know. So this scene like
reminds me that behind every iconic decision a man has
ever made, it's always been It's not it's always, but
(11:20):
most oftentimes it's made with the consideration of family, consideration
of protection, and the confidence of your right hand, you know,
person who is you know, the queen of your home,
you know, or the queen of your life. And he
looks over and she gives she gives him the nod
like go you got permission to go get a respect yea.
(11:44):
And or it could have been the other way, like
don't do it, not worth it, and you would have
just stepped down right like it's like they hold this key,
you know. So that scene popped up on my algorithm.
I'm like, oh man, these these are the iconic moments
of cinema that I love so much.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah yeah, so maybe so maybe then then the point
here is to say, you know, if you're bored and
you're going to spend that much time on screen, make
sure your algorithm is for something, is tuned to something
that that that's outside of I don't know, material stuff
or stuff that that changes people.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Have you embraced Instagram as or Facebook as like as
a as a form of inspiration or as a form of.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Instagram I have? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, man, yeah, Like Facebook is a little problematic.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
I don't do Facebook. I should, you know, I get
I just get so overwhelmed by by so much of
that social media that I mean, you know, if I
had a if I had people doing it for me. Yeah,
but but it's just me right now, you know. So
I just do sort of the Instagram stuff and I
like the format of it. I like, I like the
(12:53):
inspirational stuff. Like I followed Lewis Howell, right, who's one
of our guests. I love the stuff he posts. Yeah,
it's stuff like that that that's been like my teacher.
It's been teaching me stuff you know, uh, and even
like you just said, like the cinematic stuff, it just
kind of reminds you of of of moments in cinema
and just like how good, how good certain movies are,
(13:14):
how good certain actors are, how good certain TV shows are?
Right because you wouldn't normally do that. You wouldn't sit
down on your couch and put in a DVD or
look for a movie or scroll to a scene. Right,
It's like it's right there right in front of you bone,
you know, and you get that instant, that instant gratification
right now.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
That's great, man. I think I think you you you
come full circuit to a point where you know that
the social media has been giving this like villainize energy.
But I would dare to say that that social media
as a reflection of where you are within your journey
(13:54):
as you know, as a human and as a person.
And sometimes you go into rabbit holes that then eventually
the rabbit holes cultivat's images back to you, and sometimes
you're in search or something very positive, something really you know, definitive.
And I think that I think that Instagram or social
media in general, whether it's TikTok or or x or
(14:17):
threats or whatever you're on. It could be an engine
for inspiration, it could be an engine for creativity, you know,
but he could also be you know, you're poison And
I think it's it's used at the discretion of where
(14:38):
you are in your heart. Yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Did you have a hard time turning it off, like
turning your brain off?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I think in general, not with social media. I can
put those social media down anytime, but but I have
a tough time turning off my brain.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, even when you're hanging with the fam.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
With that, like if if my daughter, my son's around,
my lady needs me, you know, like I'm there, you know,
and I'm engaged and I'm just occupied doing what they're
doing with them. But the moment like that's taken care
of or everything smooth on that whatever my brain starts,
you know, it's like it feels like you know when
RoboCup is is, you know, looking through the through the
(15:19):
vision and all of a sudden you're running files and
folders and like profiles or whatever. My head is like that,
are you are you?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Like damn I should have said X instead of Y
in that meeting or no.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Once I move up from the meeting, I know that
I have the power to email people back, like what
do you mean? Like like, but to your point, it's
like some of us feel like, oh man, I need
to have nailed that meeting. I forgot to say this. Yeah,
And you're like, so You're like, but I can't reach
out to them back or I can't call them back.
I have not at that bone. I'll just email them
(15:51):
with that I forgot. Oh yeah, So I just like
I have I have to get there. Yeah. Yeah, what
about you?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, same same, you know, I'm my brain is just
constantly constantly going.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Man.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
There's there are times that I wake up at like three,
four in the morning and the thing that I was
thinking about at two in the afternoon pops back in
my head and I'm like, oh man, I should have
done this or or or or something that I'm prepping for.
I'll get an idea. I mean there's been times where
I'll if i'm writing or whatever, I'll get an idea
like four in the morning, man, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Like, oh my god, I got to write this down
or else.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
If I go back to sleep, I'm gonna forget it
and it'll be me like like on my phone at
like four in the morning, like, and I can see
Elsie Turner like look at me.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm like, oh god, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
She's she's awesome about that stuff. She's really really supportive.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But yeah, well that's nice.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, that's nice.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, my house was a little more testy about that. Yeah.
Well it's it's because I get it. I get where
they're coming from. But you know, sometimes I'm really not
just recreationally, like it's not recreational for us. Sometimes I'm
just looking at scenes. I'm looking at things. I'm like
looking at inspirations, some things that get like, you know,
sometimes I'm getting you know, I'm getting like official news
(17:13):
from something like something's happening overseas. I'm seeing the videos
from both different countries. I'm seeing the perspective like it together.
So I'm always in my head of trying to get
more understanding what's happening outside, you know, the world. And
that's a quick way to kind of pop in and
pop out.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Are you disciplined about like, Okay, it's time to shut
it off, it's time to be with the fam, it's
time to watch the same focus.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
On Truthfully, we do our best. Yeah, but it's not perfect.
You know, like there'll be a moment of silence and
going full circle to our episodes theme and be like,
you know, it's a funny thing, and then like some
funny meme you know, turns into then the real, then
the real turns into a sketch, and then like you know,
(18:00):
I find a stand up comedian. I'm like, oh, he
has a really funny bit on screen, and like and
I go and I'm laughing. So you get my comedy
from there. Because television is so soft hitting when it
comes to comedy. I don't I don't tune to watch
comedy anymore.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Really, yeah, nothing, there's nothing that inspires you. Zero. What
was the last thing that inspired you in the comedic space?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I liked the Studio a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, the studio, Yeah, you know, it was crazy, that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Was really crazy. But I liked that you had to
go they had to go there. You know, this is
the end the movie. Yeah, Okay, it's not just Seth Rogan.
Although I love Seth Rogan. He's brilliant, he's a great guy.
I love him. He's a great dude, super respectful, super nice,
(18:49):
very collaborative. He's a good dude. But I think it's
like it's that renegade group of people that decide that
like they gotta hit hard the other West. Isn't that funny? Yeah?
You know, even like Stuve Carole also like I love him,
you know, he's really good. I haven't watched Rooster, but
I heard that's really good.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, classic like Bill Lawrence, you know, shout
out to Bill Scrubs Together Enthusiasm the way, Yeah, that's
buck Wild. I like. The stuff that makes me laugh
is like like FX had put out like a slew
of shows that were like dark comedies, you know, like
Fargo or like or like Mystery in Between did the show?
(19:34):
Or even Atlanta? Right, I don't know if you ever
dove into Atlanta. It's really weird and quirky and like,
I like that really sort of weirdo smart humor. It
makes me. It makes me think and laugh and a
yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
As we kind of kind of wind down into our
theme of the episode here, yeah, I would like to
read something that our producers put together. It's really interesting
and in twenty fourteen, University of Virginia study people left
alone in a room with nothing to do but a
button that gave them a mid electric shock often chose
(20:10):
to shock themselves rather than sit quietly in their thoughts.
Roughly two thirds of men and a quarter of women.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So what does that say people can't be alone with
their thoughts. It's they haven't been conditioned to do that,
they have no.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Skill to I mean, what does it say, right? Because, Yeah,
if they're sitting in a room and the only thing
that's in there is a button that shocks them, maybe
they maybe in within their humanity they are taught to
their living is to feel. Yeah, and if they're not
feeling and sitting in their silence, yeah, does it? There
(20:55):
is there a desperation to continue to know that you're alive?
Did you feel like you're wasting time? And therefore you
might as well feel feel something?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So you press it and press it and you're like,
at least I'm feeling something. So it's the initial thrill
of like what what does it do? Then it's like
you press the button and it shocks you, and then
there's the aftermath of like, I wasn't expecting that, but
it wasn't that bad. But it was bad, but it
wasn't that bad. Let me try one more time. And
(21:28):
you just made a procedural type of you know, inner
investigation on like how far can I go? How many times?
Is it going to feel the same the third time?
What about the fourth time? Now that I'm expecting it,
is it a different feeling? So it's like the back
and forth kind of fulfills the time. And now three
(21:50):
to four minutes went by and you weren't alone. You
were just there with the story you were telling yourself. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But when we were kids, right, and we would be
alone with our thoughts, but we would always be doing something, right,
There'd be toys, OR'd be i mean, just being.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Finger and the electrical socket over and over and over again,
you know, right.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
But but we at least had like toys, or we
had like cartoons, or we had coloring books, like there
was something. I mean, that study says like it's either
you shock yourself or you're like in solitary confinement in jail.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Right, Yeah, that's what it's saying, right, Like I guess
if you're in such an extreme Yeah yeah, yeah, I
only know this is incredibly depressing. Yeah it's tough. It's like, yeah, no,
that's just what it is. But it's interesting to think
about that and like, now you now replace that button
(22:47):
with your phone and whatever you're swiping on either hurts you,
worries you, Yeah, makes you feel bad. Dopamine rush it
makes you feel Yeah, this makes you escape for that minute,
it gives you that release, but then you go back
(23:07):
to feeling bad. You know. It's like it's the the
is the difference between you being sitting by yourself and
being content waiting to put snags and like the continue
at the breast of the button. But do you think that?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Okay, so when we were kids, right, like like we
were from that generation. We're from like the TV generation, right,
which turned on the freaking TV. Right, So what's the
difference between.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
What we were doing when we were kids.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
And watching TV then someone looking for their entertainment on
their phone as opposed to like what's available putting.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
It on what's available on it?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
No what I'm saying, But it's the same tick that
we had, right, Yeah, we had a tick when we
were kids and we would turn on the TV.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Now that aspect, the thing is the same. Yeah, But
I think what the only difference is that you have
access to stuff that we were that we were sheltered from.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, and when we were kids, right, we would turn
TV on at a certain point and then we would
turn it off right and then we would go do
other things. We're here, it's like twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, once the show was over in credits, you went
to the backyard.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Because you weren't gonna just sit there and watch the
news with your dad. You're just gonna go ride a bike.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Now. See the accessibility of it that and it.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Goes by quick, man, Like once you're scrolling yeeah, like
this you talk about in the morning, I'm sending your
stuff like this, I blink, it's three am. I'm like, oh,
I gotta put this down.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, yeah, especially when it's funny.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Man, right, so I send you some funny stuff. But no, yeah, yeah,
so stupid. Well, we're gonna spare everyone, uh you know,
the what what we send each other on Instagram because
it's so silly. But thank you for listening. Great perspective,
great things to think about as we continue to curate
our life and experiences and the things that we do
(24:56):
to kind of connect with one another. And if no thoughts, no, hey,
this is Wilmar Valdarama's just Freddie Rodriguez And see you
guys in the next one,
Hey, this is Freddie Rodriguez and I'm Wilmer Valdorama. Welcome
to those amigos, and pretty I bored.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm bored.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You know this is turning to sound like an episode
of Blipping Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to be
back with you. I hope if you're listening to us
while you run, if you're listening to us while you're
driving on a delicious road trip or you're on a flight,
you know, thank you for allowing us into your tiny ears.
(00:45):
And if you're watching us, I'm we're in the same
outfit as the last episode.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's right. We don't change, and.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
It's because we don't like change. And speaking of change,
some things are really changing. Yeah, and that's a great
segue into this episode. Right, you killed the baker man,
Thank you man. So on this episode we're going to
tackle you and I Freddie. Yeah. The power of boredom,
the power of boards aka turning the brain off. I
(01:14):
was in parentheses, per leo' clem. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm
gonna read this because I think it was very important.
Let's see the idea that we've engineered boredom out of existence.
It might be wars for it. Every micro gap, elevator line,
red light, the ninety seconds before a friend shows up
(01:38):
now gets filled in with a screen. The episode of
the question, right, the the episode question is did we
lose something important when we made it impossible to where
we just sit there?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
That's that's an interesting question. You know, I don't know
if we've lost anything. While you know, you gave a
great example there about when you're waiting for a friend
or something, you kind of turn on the screen. But
when we started to talk about the subject matter, what
came to mind was, remember when we were kids and
we were born. It's what motivated our creativity, being bored, right.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's what powered it, so powered it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Right, you're bored, so all of a sudden, you take
two action figures, for example, you take two g i
Joe's right, and you start to make up a story
with these two Gi Jones and they're fighting and they're
doing this, and they're going on an adventure. And so
boredom sparked creativity, and so did we lose creativity? Now
that boredom or the space or the void of boredom
(02:45):
is filled with screens and social media and iPads, what
do you think, Well, you have and you have two
young Toby, right, So.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
We reminded our daughter that that's why her toys were for. Yeah, right,
Like I started out there, and that's when I started realizing,
like she was like going to watch a movie, Like, well, honey,
that's what your toys are for. Go make a movie, right,
And so she's really starting to embrace that. So I
hear her making voices in her room all the time,
(03:17):
or she's maybe talking to ghosts. Oh but maybe not.
Maybe it's just really her imagination is running wild. But
I think, going back to your question, here's what the
concern really is. Because one can say, oh, we are
(03:40):
receiving more information, therefore it could be in information within
our interests, So therefore you see it as an investment.
But what is the cost of you not able to
give in your brain a moment of stillness, which is
the moment that energizes and energizes the wonder of going farther,
(04:04):
you know, lifting heavier, you know, thinking out loud. When
you're internalizing so much, how much are you able to externalize?
And I think one of the things that boredom has
created the space for is for this the migration of
the screen, and now you're internalizing so much it becomes
an introvert, you know generation where like most of these
(04:27):
internal conversations are happening as an intake as opposed to
the shared of ideas. You know. So I don't know,
I wonder, I wonder if what it's doing is is
kind of diluting our opportunity to be more wondrous with
the world we are actually experiencing and living, our ability
to connect to others. And then the other thing that
(04:50):
happens in boredom is that now it could also serve
I mean, the fulfillment of the boredom with screens. It
could also you know, continue to cultivate that comparison to
things that are only real on social media, they're not
really in real life. And people's achievements and success and
(05:13):
online look like it's immediate, and why not. Why is
it not happening to me when we came from a
generation rule so that goes, this takes time. You're gonna
have to put some work, there's gonna be some hours.
And I feel like, you know, I noticed it a lot,
and you know, the younger generation is that you know
that if it doesn't pan out right away, they gotta shift.
(05:35):
I gotta go a different thing, and when that doesn't
pan out, I'm gonna try something else, you know. And
everyone also to do with what they see online and
the if it doesn't happen right away, then it's maybe
they were wrong, you know, And like the truth is,
some of these things take time. So I don't know.
I mean, I'm I am just giving you a perspective
from what I see and from some of the young
(05:56):
generations that either I work with or experience and you know,
and the you of life. You know. But it does
feel to me that that if you, you know, if
you continue to supply your boredom with a screen, it
depends on like what is that screens playing for you?
Whether it allows you to fire up and go farther
(06:18):
or internalizes you and says like, you know, where is
my confidence and going there? If I'm never going to
amount to what I'm seeing. So if you have a
constant signal that's telling you something else, because your algorithm
is seeing the insecurity and the things you're clicking and watching,
you know, like is that poison? You know. At the
risk of sounding like the old guy in the room,
(06:41):
I think like, you know, I also think that this
that there's another soon, you know, arriving generation that's just like.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Everything looks the same now, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
These trends are making everyone sound the same, look the same,
use the same filters, use the same trends, and I
think that they're now board with what's incoming. So I
feel like we're in stock in the style of generation.
But the next generation is going to be like I.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Think I want to read a book now, yeah, yeah,
read a book, or maybe if they are going to
be on the screen, change their algorithm to something different
other than like the guy driving the Ferrari.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I mean that said, that said, there's something to be
said also about this generation. That is, ability to consume
and intake content is astronomical. And there's also something to
be said about what they've achieved in making the world
smaller by communicating in all the different ways, whether it's
(07:41):
content creation, whether it's you know, commuting with each other's accounts,
you know, on a global scale, following each other's footsteps,
or whatever. There's something to be said about this generation,
how much they've disruptive and how much they've advanced the
ability of humanity to connect.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yeah, Like like, for example, I don't know about
you or what your algorithm is.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Like, but like I've become more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
The stuff I get from you, Like three in the morning.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think this morning too, I think you did.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I've become more financially literate. I've learned more about finances
and stocks and like certain things that seemed foreign to
me before that maybe would have taken me a little
longer to learn from someone where some of my algorithm
(08:40):
is diverted to people explaining it to me in very
sort of layman terms, you know, in order for me
to understand. And so I think, oh, well, what if
a young person were to see something like that, it
would make them more financially literate and other other subject
matters as well. You know, I think that I've I've
converted my algorithm more or towards that, you know, whether
(09:01):
it's that or being more spiritually inclined and stuff that
I've learned through that, or you know, as opposed to
like you said, you know, like the guy driving the
Porsche and me trying to emulate that dude or whatever
else is in there.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You know, I've been inspired by the curation of iconic
clips from movies of the past, the or the scenes
that have lived in people's memories that now are surveysurfacing
on my algorithm is really interesting. Like what like you know,
like moments in The Godfather, you know, or like moments
(09:36):
or like just like iconic moments from The Spartans, you
know where where you know, there's this iconic scene the
obviously Jar Butler shout out to Jar Butler, one of
the homies, like I love my guy. He's amazing, and
a lot of grant memories with him. But there's a
moment where he kicks you know, somebody on the chest
and throws him down the pit. You know. But what's
(09:57):
beautiful about that moment that people forget is that in
that moment when he's talking to I guess the Persians
or whatever, forget where who he was talking to, forget
the other character where he was coming from. That because
a lovely actor. And before he does anything, he looks
over at his queen and the queen goes whether not
(10:22):
tells her, tells, tells her our brothers Maximus know what's
what was his name? Nothing?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Maximus was Russell.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
No, that was Wressell Crew. By the way, I just
watched the Gladiator again, That's why I said Leonidas. So
he looks at Leoni. So Leonidas, before he does anything,
he looks back to his queen, and his queen gives
them this not like give it, you know, like get
our respect back, and it was all he needed to hear.
(10:55):
And Leonidas just decides we are spartan and like, you know,
and kicks him in the chest. And it was this
iconic moment where you're like, this guy gives no shit.
This guy's a bad you know. So this scene like
reminds me that behind every iconic decision a man has
ever made, it's always been It's not it's always, but
(11:20):
most oftentimes it's made with the consideration of family, consideration
of protection, and the confidence of your right hand, you know,
person who is you know, the queen of your home,
you know, or the queen of your life. And he
looks over and she gives she gives him the nod
like go you got permission to go get a respect yea.
(11:44):
And or it could have been the other way, like
don't do it, not worth it, and you would have
just stepped down right like it's like they hold this key,
you know. So that scene popped up on my algorithm.
I'm like, oh man, these these are the iconic moments
of cinema that I love so much.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah yeah, so maybe so maybe then then the point
here is to say, you know, if you're bored and
you're going to spend that much time on screen, make
sure your algorithm is for something, is tuned to something
that that that's outside of I don't know, material stuff
or stuff that that changes people.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Have you embraced Instagram as or Facebook as like as
a as a form of inspiration or as a form of.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Instagram I have? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, man, yeah, Like Facebook is a little problematic.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
I don't do Facebook. I should, you know, I get
I just get so overwhelmed by by so much of
that social media that I mean, you know, if I
had a if I had people doing it for me. Yeah,
but but it's just me right now, you know. So
I just do sort of the Instagram stuff and I
like the format of it. I like, I like the
(12:53):
inspirational stuff. Like I followed Lewis Howell, right, who's one
of our guests. I love the stuff he posts. Yeah,
it's stuff like that that that's been like my teacher.
It's been teaching me stuff you know, uh, and even
like you just said, like the cinematic stuff, it just
kind of reminds you of of of moments in cinema
and just like how good, how good certain movies are,
(13:14):
how good certain actors are, how good certain TV shows are?
Right because you wouldn't normally do that. You wouldn't sit
down on your couch and put in a DVD or
look for a movie or scroll to a scene. Right,
It's like it's right there right in front of you bone,
you know, and you get that instant, that instant gratification
right now.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
That's great, man. I think I think you you you
come full circuit to a point where you know that
the social media has been giving this like villainize energy.
But I would dare to say that that social media
as a reflection of where you are within your journey
(13:54):
as you know, as a human and as a person.
And sometimes you go into rabbit holes that then eventually
the rabbit holes cultivat's images back to you, and sometimes
you're in search or something very positive, something really you know, definitive.
And I think that I think that Instagram or social
media in general, whether it's TikTok or or x or
(14:17):
threats or whatever you're on. It could be an engine
for inspiration, it could be an engine for creativity, you know,
but he could also be you know, you're poison And
I think it's it's used at the discretion of where
(14:38):
you are in your heart. Yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Did you have a hard time turning it off, like
turning your brain off?
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I think in general, not with social media. I can
put those social media down anytime, but but I have
a tough time turning off my brain.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, even when you're hanging with the fam.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
With that, like if if my daughter, my son's around,
my lady needs me, you know, like I'm there, you know,
and I'm engaged and I'm just occupied doing what they're
doing with them. But the moment like that's taken care
of or everything smooth on that whatever my brain starts,
you know, it's like it feels like you know when
RoboCup is is, you know, looking through the through the
(15:19):
vision and all of a sudden you're running files and
folders and like profiles or whatever. My head is like that,
are you are you?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Like damn I should have said X instead of Y
in that meeting or no.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Once I move up from the meeting, I know that
I have the power to email people back, like what
do you mean? Like like, but to your point, it's
like some of us feel like, oh man, I need
to have nailed that meeting. I forgot to say this. Yeah,
And you're like, so You're like, but I can't reach
out to them back or I can't call them back.
I have not at that bone. I'll just email them
(15:51):
with that I forgot. Oh yeah, So I just like
I have I have to get there. Yeah. Yeah, what
about you?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, same same, you know, I'm my brain is just
constantly constantly going.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Man.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
There's there are times that I wake up at like three,
four in the morning and the thing that I was
thinking about at two in the afternoon pops back in
my head and I'm like, oh man, I should have
done this or or or or something that I'm prepping for.
I'll get an idea. I mean there's been times where
I'll if i'm writing or whatever, I'll get an idea
like four in the morning, man, and I'm.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Like, oh my god, I got to write this down
or else.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
If I go back to sleep, I'm gonna forget it
and it'll be me like like on my phone at
like four in the morning, like, and I can see
Elsie Turner like look at me.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm like, oh god, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
She's she's awesome about that stuff. She's really really supportive.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
But yeah, well that's nice.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, that's nice.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, my house was a little more testy about that. Yeah.
Well it's it's because I get it. I get where
they're coming from. But you know, sometimes I'm really not
just recreationally, like it's not recreational for us. Sometimes I'm
just looking at scenes. I'm looking at things. I'm like
looking at inspirations, some things that get like, you know,
sometimes I'm getting you know, I'm getting like official news
(17:13):
from something like something's happening overseas. I'm seeing the videos
from both different countries. I'm seeing the perspective like it together.
So I'm always in my head of trying to get
more understanding what's happening outside, you know, the world. And
that's a quick way to kind of pop in and
pop out.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Are you disciplined about like, Okay, it's time to shut
it off, it's time to be with the fam, it's
time to watch the same focus.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
On Truthfully, we do our best. Yeah, but it's not perfect.
You know, like there'll be a moment of silence and
going full circle to our episodes theme and be like,
you know, it's a funny thing, and then like some
funny meme you know, turns into then the real, then
the real turns into a sketch, and then like you know,
(18:00):
I find a stand up comedian. I'm like, oh, he
has a really funny bit on screen, and like and
I go and I'm laughing. So you get my comedy
from there. Because television is so soft hitting when it
comes to comedy. I don't I don't tune to watch
comedy anymore.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Really, yeah, nothing, there's nothing that inspires you. Zero. What
was the last thing that inspired you in the comedic space?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I liked the Studio a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, the studio, Yeah, you know, it was crazy, that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Was really crazy. But I liked that you had to
go they had to go there. You know, this is
the end the movie. Yeah, Okay, it's not just Seth Rogan.
Although I love Seth Rogan. He's brilliant, he's a great guy.
I love him. He's a great dude, super respectful, super nice,
(18:49):
very collaborative. He's a good dude. But I think it's
like it's that renegade group of people that decide that
like they gotta hit hard the other West. Isn't that funny? Yeah?
You know, even like Stuve Carole also like I love him,
you know, he's really good. I haven't watched Rooster, but
I heard that's really good.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, classic like Bill Lawrence, you know, shout
out to Bill Scrubs Together Enthusiasm the way, Yeah, that's
buck Wild. I like. The stuff that makes me laugh
is like like FX had put out like a slew
of shows that were like dark comedies, you know, like
Fargo or like or like Mystery in Between did the show?
(19:34):
Or even Atlanta? Right, I don't know if you ever
dove into Atlanta. It's really weird and quirky and like,
I like that really sort of weirdo smart humor. It
makes me. It makes me think and laugh and a
yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
As we kind of kind of wind down into our
theme of the episode here, yeah, I would like to
read something that our producers put together. It's really interesting
and in twenty fourteen, University of Virginia study people left
alone in a room with nothing to do but a
button that gave them a mid electric shock often chose
(20:10):
to shock themselves rather than sit quietly in their thoughts.
Roughly two thirds of men and a quarter of women.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So what does that say people can't be alone with
their thoughts. It's they haven't been conditioned to do that,
they have no.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Skill to I mean, what does it say, right? Because, Yeah,
if they're sitting in a room and the only thing
that's in there is a button that shocks them, maybe
they maybe in within their humanity they are taught to
their living is to feel. Yeah, and if they're not
feeling and sitting in their silence, yeah, does it? There
(20:55):
is there a desperation to continue to know that you're alive?
Did you feel like you're wasting time? And therefore you
might as well feel feel something?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So you press it and press it and you're like,
at least I'm feeling something. So it's the initial thrill
of like what what does it do? Then it's like
you press the button and it shocks you, and then
there's the aftermath of like, I wasn't expecting that, but
it wasn't that bad. But it was bad, but it
wasn't that bad. Let me try one more time. And
(21:28):
you just made a procedural type of you know, inner
investigation on like how far can I go? How many times?
Is it going to feel the same the third time?
What about the fourth time? Now that I'm expecting it,
is it a different feeling? So it's like the back
and forth kind of fulfills the time. And now three
(21:50):
to four minutes went by and you weren't alone. You
were just there with the story you were telling yourself. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
But when we were kids, right, and we would be
alone with our thoughts, but we would always be doing something, right,
There'd be toys, OR'd be i mean, just being.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Finger and the electrical socket over and over and over again,
you know, right.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
But but we at least had like toys, or we
had like cartoons, or we had coloring books, like there
was something. I mean, that study says like it's either
you shock yourself or you're like in solitary confinement in jail.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Right, Yeah, that's what it's saying, right, Like I guess
if you're in such an extreme Yeah yeah, yeah, I
only know this is incredibly depressing. Yeah it's tough. It's like, yeah, no,
that's just what it is. But it's interesting to think
about that and like, now you now replace that button
(22:47):
with your phone and whatever you're swiping on either hurts you,
worries you, Yeah, makes you feel bad. Dopamine rush it
makes you feel Yeah, this makes you escape for that minute,
it gives you that release, but then you go back
(23:07):
to feeling bad. You know. It's like it's the the
is the difference between you being sitting by yourself and
being content waiting to put snags and like the continue
at the breast of the button. But do you think that?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Okay, so when we were kids, right, like like we
were from that generation. We're from like the TV generation, right,
which turned on the freaking TV. Right, So what's the
difference between.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
What we were doing when we were kids.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
And watching TV then someone looking for their entertainment on
their phone as opposed to like what's available putting.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
It on what's available on it?
Speaker 2 (23:44):
No what I'm saying, But it's the same tick that
we had, right, Yeah, we had a tick when we
were kids and we would turn on the TV.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Now that aspect, the thing is the same. Yeah, But
I think what the only difference is that you have
access to stuff that we were that we were sheltered from.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, and when we were kids, right, we would turn
TV on at a certain point and then we would
turn it off right and then we would go do
other things. We're here, it's like twenty four to seven.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, once the show was over in credits, you went
to the backyard.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Because you weren't gonna just sit there and watch the
news with your dad. You're just gonna go ride a bike.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Now. See the accessibility of it that and it.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Goes by quick, man, Like once you're scrolling yeeah, like
this you talk about in the morning, I'm sending your
stuff like this, I blink, it's three am. I'm like, oh,
I gotta put this down.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, yeah, especially when it's funny.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Man, right, so I send you some funny stuff. But no, yeah, yeah,
so stupid. Well, we're gonna spare everyone, uh you know,
the what what we send each other on Instagram because
it's so silly. But thank you for listening. Great perspective,
great things to think about as we continue to curate
our life and experiences and the things that we do
(24:56):
to kind of connect with one another. And if no thoughts, no, hey,
this is Wilmar Valdarama's just Freddie Rodriguez And see you
guys in the next one,
Hosts And Creators
Wilmer Valderrama
Freddy Rodriguez
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