August 5, 2024 • 21 mins
Buckle up for another fun ride with The Gen X-istentialists! Bunny and Scot take on some of the most random, thought-provoking, and just plain wacky questions courtesy of Mega Wheel the Magnificent. In this episode:
🎙️ Would you rather be the smartest person in a dumb world or the slowest person in a smart one? (We’ve got some strong Frankenstein vibes here.)
🎙️ Choosing role models for kids: What makes a good mentor, and why Lassie’s probably the better choice over Dino or Astro.
🎙️ Soulmates and subjectivity: Is there really just one "the one," and is everything subjective? (Spoiler: No.)
🎙️ Top 3 candy bars: Find out why Bunny’s all about the Zero bar and Scot’s devotion to Watchamacallits.
As always, there’s laughter, insight, and a little philosophical pondering along the way. Have a question you want added to the wheel? Send it in, and it might just be featured!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Generation X. In general terms, it was born between 1965 and 1980. Lachkinite. Independent.
(00:15):
Existentialism. Modern philosophy focusing on personal experience, human ability and
responsibility in an otherwise meaningless universe. We're the cause. This is the effect.
We're the Gen X existentialists.
(00:39):
Welcome in my friends to the Gen X existentialist podcast. My name is Scott. And I'm Bunny. And this is a show where we expound upon all kinds of things. Gen X related, non-Gen X related, morally related.
It's from a Gen X perspective. It's from a Gen X perspective. Exactly. And how do we do that? How do we determine the topics we spin?
(01:02):
Megawheel the Magnificent, which I'm going to do right now. We are spinning a wheel with thousands. I'm going to say thousands because it seems like there's thousands now of questions that you can add to.
And we'll tell you how later on the show. And this is, oh my God, this is a long one. Okay. Would you rather be the smartest person in a world full of dumb people or the slowest person in a world full of smart people?
(01:31):
Wow.
I feel like I'm already the dumbest person in a world full of smart people. So I think both would be incredibly frustrating. Yeah, I don't think smart people on average are super empathic.
Like if you're like really super intelligent, empathy doesn't seem to always go along with that. So I don't think you get really a fair shake if you were the dumbest person. I think they'd treat you pretty badly. Yeah.
(01:56):
I think you'd get incredibly frustrated if you were the smartest person in a dumb world. I think people that are really, really smart tend to end up getting lost in their pursuits. And I think that's where the seeming lack of empathy comes in.
That said, I'd still like to be the smartest person in a dumb world. Yeah. Because at least I could probably make a living off of that at least.
(02:19):
Well, I mean if you're the smartest person in a world full of dumb people, and that's how the question actually phrased it. Smartest person in a world full of dumb people should be able to manipulate and maneuver that world to their best advantage and be king of the mountain as it were.
Unless you're beaten down. It depends on how dumb the population is. If we're talking like Neanderthal beat you with clubs because you're some kind of witch, you know, that'd be bad.
(02:46):
That's a good point. What if as the smartest person you're kind of viewed as Frankenstein's monster and they come after you, you would have to be a benevolent dictator. Yeah. You would absolutely have to. You'd have to keep your smarts on the down low too for the most part.
You'd almost have to kind of see 3PO it and kind of allow yourself to be portrayed as a god. And be a gay robot.
(03:09):
I'm just thinking cladding myself in shiny armor, you know, however you want to look at it.
You know, do you want to just be known as the smartest person or as a god? And if you could get yourself to that level, you're probably okay.
Until a drought happens or something like that and you prove to be somewhat fallible.
(03:30):
There are problems either way you go. Yeah, there is no good answer.
So let's spin Megaheel again. See if we can get something else to yap about here.
And our next topic is...
Okay. Neither one of us has kids. So this is purely hypothetical. How would you choose a role model for your children?
(04:01):
I think a role model for your children needs to be someone who... someone you know, someone you trust.
Hopefully that's you or someone in your immediate family like a grandfather or an aunt or something like that.
I think if it were my child, what I would want as a role model, I would ultimately like to be my child's role model.
(04:25):
I know that doesn't always happen, but I think in a quiet way that's the way my parents were with me.
It's like I never considered them like, oh, I want to be just like my dad. I want to be just like my mom or something, you know.
But I think being around people who walk the walk as opposed to just talking the talk when they have to.
(04:47):
I don't want a friend. I want a mentor. I want someone who I can learn from and someone who I can trust.
It's almost like an apprenticeship.
Yeah. I mean, look at me. I'm Yeoman dad. I don't know. That's what I want. I want somebody who leads not only by parable, but by example.
(05:12):
So how about you?
A role model for kids, obviously the mother and father are right up there.
And like you said, it's not a known thing. It's not a directed thing. But as a child, you're growing up, you see that.
And if you've grown up without a dad or without a mom, there are certain aspects there that you're going to find elsewhere of how to live.
(05:39):
But like I remember going to work with my mom like on Saturdays and just hearing how she answered the phone and how she treated people.
She was an insurance agent, how she treated people at the agency and worked with them and tried to help them.
I saw my dad get up and go to work every day and come home and talk about work. So that that work ethic, you know, I saw what he did taking care of our cars and stuff like that.
(06:03):
Those little things that you don't realize are lessons. But in reality, they are. And, you know, decades later you go, why am I doing this?
Oh, because I saw my dad do it. And it makes sense. And it's the right thing to do. It's the right way to do it.
Why do I handle customer or, you know, coworker phone calls the way I do? Because I saw my mom treat people this way.
(06:28):
And this is the right way to treat people. But beyond that, what we typically consider role models, a lot of people would go, oh, this sports star or this artist or this musician, things like that.
If you can't talk to the person, I tend to think that they're not really a role model per se, even if it's somebody where you've read their life story and you know how they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.
(06:56):
And they have this this great origin tale. If it's not somebody that you can have direct face to face contact with, I don't think they can be an actual role model.
They can be somebody you put up on a pedestal that you really like. But a role model, like you said, is somebody that's a mentor.
I think this is the part where I get to be the asshole that tells people with kids how to raise kids, even though I don't know how.
(07:22):
I think you have to guide your child towards something positive like that.
You need to have a hand in it because if you don't, somebody else will be the role model for your kid.
And it may not be someone who has their best interest or your best interest at heart.
There's plenty of creepos and predators and fucking weirdos out there on the Internet that, oh, write me kids, talk to me.
(07:46):
I understand this kind of creepy, you know, pedo kind of vibe about them.
There's tons of that out there now. And the problem is it's much more accessible to people now than it ever was in our childhood.
I mean, you had to run into the creepy aqualung guy or whatever down at the park.
You know, that that was your mistake of running into something like that.
(08:10):
Nowadays, there's people out there just all over the place on the Internet looking for things.
So I think you really need to take an active role in raising your kids in all aspects.
And that includes helping them with role models.
And if the role model isn't you, you have to have enough of a spine and ball up about it.
But you just you're OK with it. You know, and that's the thing, too.
(08:31):
Any role model is going to be OK with the person they're mentoring branching out because let's face it.
I mean, if you're a mother or father, your kid starts playing baseball.
Their coach and the people that coach the team are going to be role models of a sort.
Sure. You know, other players on the team, too.
(08:53):
If you're new to the game, but you're playing with people who've been doing it for a few years, you're going to watch.
You're going to learn. Those are role models. Really.
People, I think just that term role model gets put on this pedestal like it's going to be some bright, shining paragon of everything that is right and good with the world.
(09:14):
And that's not really what a role model is.
I think most people have had role models, hundreds of role models in their life, probably.
Yeah. Yeah. And you'll continue to have role models in your life as you age.
I mean, that's they're they're called mentors.
Now you get into the professional world, you become a mentor and then you go back to just being a guy that you know, other people might dig.
(09:35):
So, well, and just have a hand in what your kids are doing is my only advice.
You know, take an active role in finding out who their role models are and maybe putting them in front of people that you find more acceptable to be role models.
Yeah, I would definitely agree.
So we'll move on and give Megawheel a magnificent another spin and see what kind of wackiness we can come up with.
(10:01):
I feel something weird coming. I don't know. I hope so.
Have we at some point done a question?
Do you believe in soulmates?
I feel like we did.
Probably it's had to have come up in some point.
And yeah, I do feel I feel like there's people that you've known.
(10:24):
I feel like there's old souls, you know, when you have that instant connection with someone that you can't really explain.
Yeah. Yeah, that's probably got a little something to do with it.
But I don't think there's that one person out there that's that's the one person for me.
It's the only person out there. Now I don't believe in like one and done.
(10:45):
I think there are plenty of people out there that you can connect with on a soul level.
Yeah, I think the traditional definition of soulmates, like like you're saying that the one just the two people coming together.
I don't necessarily buy into that.
But yeah, that there are people that you connect with that somehow some way like you can finish each other's sentences.
(11:09):
And sometimes it's just because you've known each other so long.
Like lots of times you're saying something and I know exactly where you're going to go.
And I assume it's the same thing with me.
And luckily, we know each other well enough that we let each other complete the sense.
Because every once in a while, there's a surprise at the end.
You never know. But there are things like that.
(11:31):
And the question follows up with why or why not.
It's more of a gut instinct. Like, sure.
Sometimes you just meet somebody and you're immediately copacetic with them and there's no logical reason why.
But you just are. And it's it's kind of cool and entertaining.
So we will remove that so it never comes up again and give the wheel another spin.
(11:52):
Thank you, soulmate.
Goodbye, soulmates. May the question never arise again.
Huh. I like this one. Is everything truly subjective?
No. No. Why not?
(12:15):
Is gravity subjective? Depending on what vehicle you're in.
But I'm saying if I shove you off a roof, is gravity subjective?
You know, as shown in many cartoons until Wile E. Coyote realizes he's gone off.
Don't look down. That's what we're saying.
You know, is breathing oxygen subjective? Is eating every day subjective?
(12:39):
No, I mean, no, not everything is subjective.
I know that there's a big push nowadays, especially with younger generations, that everything is this sort of gray area.
Everybody's chaotic, neutral and everybody's, you know, I can just do whatever I want because, you know, it doesn't matter.
There's no good or evil. There's just me and my heart, my passion. Fuck you.
(13:03):
There's plenty of stuff that is, that in our realm currently is truth.
And you just can't get around it.
No matter what you think or what you feel or how you perceive yourself to be, there are truths in this world.
Yeah, I don't like going dancing on the solipsistic ice, as it were.
(13:25):
I don't think everything is truly subjective. There is an objective reality.
How we experience it can be subjective, especially if the way that you experience things is a little bit off.
If you've got vision difficulties, trouble hearing, sensory things, then dance.
(13:52):
I would say if I put you in a room and I suck all the oxygen out of it, I don't care how autistic you are, you're going to suffocate.
That's a truth.
That's an objective reality. We have to breathe to survive. We know that.
So you're right. Some things aren't truly subjective, but our experience of them is how we deal with death, how we deal with getting up in the morning,
(14:16):
how we deal with what shows to watch, what music we like, how we like to live our life.
Those things are subjective, but they're still bound by the objective reality.
True.
And it gets into all kinds of fun epistemological questions. What can we actually know?
It's got pulling out the one dollar words.
(14:37):
And ontological questions about what is the nature of reality.
That's awesome. In the last two minutes, I've used solipsistic and ontological and epistemological.
That philosophy degree is coming in so handy on this one just forward question.
I love shit like this. So is everything truly subjective? I think we're very much a no in that answer there.
(15:04):
So we will move on to another question from Mega Wheel the Magnificent here on the Gen X existentialist podcast.
It's that tense dead air waiting for the wheel to roll down.
What?
OK, whoever came up with this question needs to be whacked.
(15:26):
Who is the best pet? Lassie, Dino or Astro?
You mean Dino?
Ah, Dino. OK, from the Flintstones. Got it. My bad, everybody. I just saw.
I'm like, is that somebody that I don't know?
It's Lassie. I mean, that's very simple because I don't want a pet trying to have a conversation with me like Astro.
(15:51):
And I don't want some big lummix moron pet like Dino who makes a lot of noise and knocks down doors and stuff and stands on top of me.
You know, Lassie is your standard pet that you can send outside and let him do his thing or let her do her thing.
And when Timmy falls down the well, she'll let you know.
Yeah, but you know, how often does that happen? Every episode.
(16:14):
Yeah, pretty much.
But yeah, Astro always bugged the hell out of me because he does the whole ruck ruck barge, you know, this thing.
It's like I don't I don't want to have a conversation like a meaningful conversation with my pet.
I'm sorry. And see, that's just the weird gray area.
It's like, you remember the snorks? Remember that show where they had like a snork was like also a pet of the snorks?
(16:39):
Yeah, it made it gets into a gray slavery weird area here where it's like a caste system.
And I think if you have an animal that basically can do 90 percent of what a human can do, it can walk on its upright, talk and vocalize.
It can use its hands or paws or whatever it's got.
It gets into a weird gray area where you're like, well, you're still my pet.
(17:00):
So fuck off. We're going to the vet. Yeah, it's weird.
So it's it. There's a thin line here.
And this is something we were talking about at work a couple of weeks ago, because I think someone I work with knows someone that has a monkey as a pet or knew someone in their area that had a monkey as a pet.
So it led to that conversation. Like, do you really want a pet that is so close to humanity that can like grab a knife out of the drawer and potentially slit your throat if it took a notion to do you want that as a pet in your home?
(17:38):
And my answer is unequivocally no.
Yeah. But in this question, Lassie, Dino or Astro, I got to go the exact opposite of you. I'm going with Astro.
All right. Or I'm going with Scooby Doo because like all of it wasn't in there.
He wasn't in there. But I'm going with Astro. If if our cats, if we could find some way to like give them vocoders so that they could actually like talk to us in English, I would be the happiest just overjoyed.
(18:12):
I think it would be incredible to actually know what they're thinking and and see what's going on, because essentially cats, they just view you as another big kind of misshapen cat.
You know, whereas dogs kind of view their owners, it's separate. There's kind of a master, master pet kind of thing going on there. With cats, you're just part of the tribe.
(18:37):
So I would really love to be able to communicate with our cats, especially Rorschach, because just a look on her face sometimes like, you know, there's something going on in there and it's probably hilarious.
But she knows she can't get through to you, so she doesn't even bother. I just love the idea of that.
(18:58):
So pets that can communicate with their owners or their team love that idea. It's a beautiful thing.
But I also get where you might not want that. Yeah, because it could get kind of distressing. Yeah, I would think so.
Want to give Megawheel one more spin? Of course.
That was an interesting question, though. Thank you, whoever sent that in. It really was.
(19:23):
Before we hit the next question, you want to talk to people about how to get in touch with us?
You know, drop us a line where you're viewing this, be that Spotify, RSS, YouTube, we're everywhere.
So just drop us a line. We'll get a little notification. Let us know what's going on in your world or send us a question.
Yeah, we love questions will immediately get added to the wheel. And if you send in a good enough question, we may just make it the topic for a show. That's true. So get spicy. Love that kind of stuff.
(19:54):
OK, last question for this show. Ready? I need your top three candy bars. Top three candy bars. What you call it?
Zero bar and special dark. Really? Yeah. Special dark. Special dark. Gross. I also like coffee crisp. If we're going outside of the bounds of the U.S.
(20:20):
I'm a big fan of coffee crisp. I would put that over special dark. But yeah. Wow. OK.
Oddly enough, because I don't eat candy bars. Hardly ever. Like around Halloween, I'll have some. But I agree with you.
Number one, watch them call it is the best fucking candy bar that has ever been made. Based watch them call it Likers. Yeah. Yeah.
(20:43):
Number two, Kit Kat. OK. Number three, Nestle Crunch. All right. Or a crackle. Depending. Either one's fine. Basically the same thing.
But yeah, watch them call it Kit Kat and crack or Crunch Bar. Well, that was fast. Yeah. But it took us right up to the edge here.
If you do have a question, send it in. We'd love to hear from you. Hope you enjoyed the show. This has been the Gen X existentialist podcast. My name is Scott. And I'm Bunny.
(21:10):
And we'll catch you next time. Have a good one.
(21:40):
Thank you.
Generation X. In general terms, it was born between 1965 and 1980. Lachkinite. Independent.
(00:15):
Existentialism. Modern philosophy focusing on personal experience, human ability and
responsibility in an otherwise meaningless universe. We're the cause. This is the effect.
We're the Gen X existentialists.
(00:39):
Welcome in my friends to the Gen X existentialist podcast. My name is Scott. And I'm Bunny. And this is a show where we expound upon all kinds of things. Gen X related, non-Gen X related, morally related.
It's from a Gen X perspective. It's from a Gen X perspective. Exactly. And how do we do that? How do we determine the topics we spin?
(01:02):
Megawheel the Magnificent, which I'm going to do right now. We are spinning a wheel with thousands. I'm going to say thousands because it seems like there's thousands now of questions that you can add to.
And we'll tell you how later on the show. And this is, oh my God, this is a long one. Okay. Would you rather be the smartest person in a world full of dumb people or the slowest person in a world full of smart people?
(01:31):
Wow.
I feel like I'm already the dumbest person in a world full of smart people. So I think both would be incredibly frustrating. Yeah, I don't think smart people on average are super empathic.
Like if you're like really super intelligent, empathy doesn't seem to always go along with that. So I don't think you get really a fair shake if you were the dumbest person. I think they'd treat you pretty badly. Yeah.
(01:56):
I think you'd get incredibly frustrated if you were the smartest person in a dumb world. I think people that are really, really smart tend to end up getting lost in their pursuits. And I think that's where the seeming lack of empathy comes in.
That said, I'd still like to be the smartest person in a dumb world. Yeah. Because at least I could probably make a living off of that at least.
(02:19):
Well, I mean if you're the smartest person in a world full of dumb people, and that's how the question actually phrased it. Smartest person in a world full of dumb people should be able to manipulate and maneuver that world to their best advantage and be king of the mountain as it were.
Unless you're beaten down. It depends on how dumb the population is. If we're talking like Neanderthal beat you with clubs because you're some kind of witch, you know, that'd be bad.
(02:46):
That's a good point. What if as the smartest person you're kind of viewed as Frankenstein's monster and they come after you, you would have to be a benevolent dictator. Yeah. You would absolutely have to. You'd have to keep your smarts on the down low too for the most part.
You'd almost have to kind of see 3PO it and kind of allow yourself to be portrayed as a god. And be a gay robot.
(03:09):
I'm just thinking cladding myself in shiny armor, you know, however you want to look at it.
You know, do you want to just be known as the smartest person or as a god? And if you could get yourself to that level, you're probably okay.
Until a drought happens or something like that and you prove to be somewhat fallible.
(03:30):
There are problems either way you go. Yeah, there is no good answer.
So let's spin Megaheel again. See if we can get something else to yap about here.
And our next topic is...
Okay. Neither one of us has kids. So this is purely hypothetical. How would you choose a role model for your children?
(04:01):
I think a role model for your children needs to be someone who... someone you know, someone you trust.
Hopefully that's you or someone in your immediate family like a grandfather or an aunt or something like that.
I think if it were my child, what I would want as a role model, I would ultimately like to be my child's role model.
(04:25):
I know that doesn't always happen, but I think in a quiet way that's the way my parents were with me.
It's like I never considered them like, oh, I want to be just like my dad. I want to be just like my mom or something, you know.
But I think being around people who walk the walk as opposed to just talking the talk when they have to.
(04:47):
I don't want a friend. I want a mentor. I want someone who I can learn from and someone who I can trust.
It's almost like an apprenticeship.
Yeah. I mean, look at me. I'm Yeoman dad. I don't know. That's what I want. I want somebody who leads not only by parable, but by example.
(05:12):
So how about you?
A role model for kids, obviously the mother and father are right up there.
And like you said, it's not a known thing. It's not a directed thing. But as a child, you're growing up, you see that.
And if you've grown up without a dad or without a mom, there are certain aspects there that you're going to find elsewhere of how to live.
(05:39):
But like I remember going to work with my mom like on Saturdays and just hearing how she answered the phone and how she treated people.
She was an insurance agent, how she treated people at the agency and worked with them and tried to help them.
I saw my dad get up and go to work every day and come home and talk about work. So that that work ethic, you know, I saw what he did taking care of our cars and stuff like that.
(06:03):
Those little things that you don't realize are lessons. But in reality, they are. And, you know, decades later you go, why am I doing this?
Oh, because I saw my dad do it. And it makes sense. And it's the right thing to do. It's the right way to do it.
Why do I handle customer or, you know, coworker phone calls the way I do? Because I saw my mom treat people this way.
(06:28):
And this is the right way to treat people. But beyond that, what we typically consider role models, a lot of people would go, oh, this sports star or this artist or this musician, things like that.
If you can't talk to the person, I tend to think that they're not really a role model per se, even if it's somebody where you've read their life story and you know how they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.
(06:56):
And they have this this great origin tale. If it's not somebody that you can have direct face to face contact with, I don't think they can be an actual role model.
They can be somebody you put up on a pedestal that you really like. But a role model, like you said, is somebody that's a mentor.
I think this is the part where I get to be the asshole that tells people with kids how to raise kids, even though I don't know how.
(07:22):
I think you have to guide your child towards something positive like that.
You need to have a hand in it because if you don't, somebody else will be the role model for your kid.
And it may not be someone who has their best interest or your best interest at heart.
There's plenty of creepos and predators and fucking weirdos out there on the Internet that, oh, write me kids, talk to me.
(07:46):
I understand this kind of creepy, you know, pedo kind of vibe about them.
There's tons of that out there now. And the problem is it's much more accessible to people now than it ever was in our childhood.
I mean, you had to run into the creepy aqualung guy or whatever down at the park.
You know, that that was your mistake of running into something like that.
(08:10):
Nowadays, there's people out there just all over the place on the Internet looking for things.
So I think you really need to take an active role in raising your kids in all aspects.
And that includes helping them with role models.
And if the role model isn't you, you have to have enough of a spine and ball up about it.
But you just you're OK with it. You know, and that's the thing, too.
(08:31):
Any role model is going to be OK with the person they're mentoring branching out because let's face it.
I mean, if you're a mother or father, your kid starts playing baseball.
Their coach and the people that coach the team are going to be role models of a sort.
Sure. You know, other players on the team, too.
(08:53):
If you're new to the game, but you're playing with people who've been doing it for a few years, you're going to watch.
You're going to learn. Those are role models. Really.
People, I think just that term role model gets put on this pedestal like it's going to be some bright, shining paragon of everything that is right and good with the world.
(09:14):
And that's not really what a role model is.
I think most people have had role models, hundreds of role models in their life, probably.
Yeah. Yeah. And you'll continue to have role models in your life as you age.
I mean, that's they're they're called mentors.
Now you get into the professional world, you become a mentor and then you go back to just being a guy that you know, other people might dig.
(09:35):
So, well, and just have a hand in what your kids are doing is my only advice.
You know, take an active role in finding out who their role models are and maybe putting them in front of people that you find more acceptable to be role models.
Yeah, I would definitely agree.
So we'll move on and give Megawheel a magnificent another spin and see what kind of wackiness we can come up with.
(10:01):
I feel something weird coming. I don't know. I hope so.
Have we at some point done a question?
Do you believe in soulmates?
I feel like we did.
Probably it's had to have come up in some point.
And yeah, I do feel I feel like there's people that you've known.
(10:24):
I feel like there's old souls, you know, when you have that instant connection with someone that you can't really explain.
Yeah. Yeah, that's probably got a little something to do with it.
But I don't think there's that one person out there that's that's the one person for me.
It's the only person out there. Now I don't believe in like one and done.
(10:45):
I think there are plenty of people out there that you can connect with on a soul level.
Yeah, I think the traditional definition of soulmates, like like you're saying that the one just the two people coming together.
I don't necessarily buy into that.
But yeah, that there are people that you connect with that somehow some way like you can finish each other's sentences.
(11:09):
And sometimes it's just because you've known each other so long.
Like lots of times you're saying something and I know exactly where you're going to go.
And I assume it's the same thing with me.
And luckily, we know each other well enough that we let each other complete the sense.
Because every once in a while, there's a surprise at the end.
You never know. But there are things like that.
(11:31):
And the question follows up with why or why not.
It's more of a gut instinct. Like, sure.
Sometimes you just meet somebody and you're immediately copacetic with them and there's no logical reason why.
But you just are. And it's it's kind of cool and entertaining.
So we will remove that so it never comes up again and give the wheel another spin.
(11:52):
Thank you, soulmate.
Goodbye, soulmates. May the question never arise again.
Huh. I like this one. Is everything truly subjective?
No. No. Why not?
(12:15):
Is gravity subjective? Depending on what vehicle you're in.
But I'm saying if I shove you off a roof, is gravity subjective?
You know, as shown in many cartoons until Wile E. Coyote realizes he's gone off.
Don't look down. That's what we're saying.
You know, is breathing oxygen subjective? Is eating every day subjective?
(12:39):
No, I mean, no, not everything is subjective.
I know that there's a big push nowadays, especially with younger generations, that everything is this sort of gray area.
Everybody's chaotic, neutral and everybody's, you know, I can just do whatever I want because, you know, it doesn't matter.
There's no good or evil. There's just me and my heart, my passion. Fuck you.
(13:03):
There's plenty of stuff that is, that in our realm currently is truth.
And you just can't get around it.
No matter what you think or what you feel or how you perceive yourself to be, there are truths in this world.
Yeah, I don't like going dancing on the solipsistic ice, as it were.
(13:25):
I don't think everything is truly subjective. There is an objective reality.
How we experience it can be subjective, especially if the way that you experience things is a little bit off.
If you've got vision difficulties, trouble hearing, sensory things, then dance.
(13:52):
I would say if I put you in a room and I suck all the oxygen out of it, I don't care how autistic you are, you're going to suffocate.
That's a truth.
That's an objective reality. We have to breathe to survive. We know that.
So you're right. Some things aren't truly subjective, but our experience of them is how we deal with death, how we deal with getting up in the morning,
(14:16):
how we deal with what shows to watch, what music we like, how we like to live our life.
Those things are subjective, but they're still bound by the objective reality.
True.
And it gets into all kinds of fun epistemological questions. What can we actually know?
It's got pulling out the one dollar words.
(14:37):
And ontological questions about what is the nature of reality.
That's awesome. In the last two minutes, I've used solipsistic and ontological and epistemological.
That philosophy degree is coming in so handy on this one just forward question.
I love shit like this. So is everything truly subjective? I think we're very much a no in that answer there.
(15:04):
So we will move on to another question from Mega Wheel the Magnificent here on the Gen X existentialist podcast.
It's that tense dead air waiting for the wheel to roll down.
What?
OK, whoever came up with this question needs to be whacked.
(15:26):
Who is the best pet? Lassie, Dino or Astro?
You mean Dino?
Ah, Dino. OK, from the Flintstones. Got it. My bad, everybody. I just saw.
I'm like, is that somebody that I don't know?
It's Lassie. I mean, that's very simple because I don't want a pet trying to have a conversation with me like Astro.
(15:51):
And I don't want some big lummix moron pet like Dino who makes a lot of noise and knocks down doors and stuff and stands on top of me.
You know, Lassie is your standard pet that you can send outside and let him do his thing or let her do her thing.
And when Timmy falls down the well, she'll let you know.
Yeah, but you know, how often does that happen? Every episode.
(16:14):
Yeah, pretty much.
But yeah, Astro always bugged the hell out of me because he does the whole ruck ruck barge, you know, this thing.
It's like I don't I don't want to have a conversation like a meaningful conversation with my pet.
I'm sorry. And see, that's just the weird gray area.
It's like, you remember the snorks? Remember that show where they had like a snork was like also a pet of the snorks?
(16:39):
Yeah, it made it gets into a gray slavery weird area here where it's like a caste system.
And I think if you have an animal that basically can do 90 percent of what a human can do, it can walk on its upright, talk and vocalize.
It can use its hands or paws or whatever it's got.
It gets into a weird gray area where you're like, well, you're still my pet.
(17:00):
So fuck off. We're going to the vet. Yeah, it's weird.
So it's it. There's a thin line here.
And this is something we were talking about at work a couple of weeks ago, because I think someone I work with knows someone that has a monkey as a pet or knew someone in their area that had a monkey as a pet.
So it led to that conversation. Like, do you really want a pet that is so close to humanity that can like grab a knife out of the drawer and potentially slit your throat if it took a notion to do you want that as a pet in your home?
(17:38):
And my answer is unequivocally no.
Yeah. But in this question, Lassie, Dino or Astro, I got to go the exact opposite of you. I'm going with Astro.
All right. Or I'm going with Scooby Doo because like all of it wasn't in there.
He wasn't in there. But I'm going with Astro. If if our cats, if we could find some way to like give them vocoders so that they could actually like talk to us in English, I would be the happiest just overjoyed.
(18:12):
I think it would be incredible to actually know what they're thinking and and see what's going on, because essentially cats, they just view you as another big kind of misshapen cat.
You know, whereas dogs kind of view their owners, it's separate. There's kind of a master, master pet kind of thing going on there. With cats, you're just part of the tribe.
(18:37):
So I would really love to be able to communicate with our cats, especially Rorschach, because just a look on her face sometimes like, you know, there's something going on in there and it's probably hilarious.
But she knows she can't get through to you, so she doesn't even bother. I just love the idea of that.
(18:58):
So pets that can communicate with their owners or their team love that idea. It's a beautiful thing.
But I also get where you might not want that. Yeah, because it could get kind of distressing. Yeah, I would think so.
Want to give Megawheel one more spin? Of course.
That was an interesting question, though. Thank you, whoever sent that in. It really was.
(19:23):
Before we hit the next question, you want to talk to people about how to get in touch with us?
You know, drop us a line where you're viewing this, be that Spotify, RSS, YouTube, we're everywhere.
So just drop us a line. We'll get a little notification. Let us know what's going on in your world or send us a question.
Yeah, we love questions will immediately get added to the wheel. And if you send in a good enough question, we may just make it the topic for a show. That's true. So get spicy. Love that kind of stuff.
(19:54):
OK, last question for this show. Ready? I need your top three candy bars. Top three candy bars. What you call it?
Zero bar and special dark. Really? Yeah. Special dark. Special dark. Gross. I also like coffee crisp. If we're going outside of the bounds of the U.S.
(20:20):
I'm a big fan of coffee crisp. I would put that over special dark. But yeah. Wow. OK.
Oddly enough, because I don't eat candy bars. Hardly ever. Like around Halloween, I'll have some. But I agree with you.
Number one, watch them call it is the best fucking candy bar that has ever been made. Based watch them call it Likers. Yeah. Yeah.
(20:43):
Number two, Kit Kat. OK. Number three, Nestle Crunch. All right. Or a crackle. Depending. Either one's fine. Basically the same thing.
But yeah, watch them call it Kit Kat and crack or Crunch Bar. Well, that was fast. Yeah. But it took us right up to the edge here.
If you do have a question, send it in. We'd love to hear from you. Hope you enjoyed the show. This has been the Gen X existentialist podcast. My name is Scott. And I'm Bunny.
(21:10):
And we'll catch you next time. Have a good one.
(21:40):
Thank you.
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