2014 has been described as a turbulent year in the media, but there isn’t really a turbulent-free option, is there? Is there anything about turbulence that is good? Also, Jeff answers a listener’s question about the moral nature of red: when is violence healthy and when is it pathological?

EXCERPT 1 THE LESSON THAT IS, AT FIRST, TROUBLING, THEN REALLY QUITE RELAXING
“This is the existential human dilemma: none of us knows for sure whether we’re going to live through the night. There’s no turbulence-free option. I promised I would do an integral view of 2015 so here it is: 2015 is going to be turbulent. Stuff’s going to happen, that’s life on earth. The question is then, ‘How turbulent? In what ways turbulent? Is there anything about turbulence that we can see is actually good?’ With that lens brought into the situation, it turns out that 2014 is certainly a candidate, if not a shoo-in, for being the best year that humanity has ever lived through.”

EXCERPT 2 THE MORAL NATURE OF RED: WHEN IS VIOLENCE HEALTHY AND WHEN IS IT PATHOLOGICAL?
“We would describe something as being healthy if the person or organism is operating mostly at the leading edge of their capacity. For the vast majority of human history, wiping out the enemy is what healthy societies did. The healthy tribe, the healthy leader, in indigenous red cultures is the one who provided the most calories, safety, warmth and security for his tribe. At red consciousness you would feel toward any competing tribe the same way that people in modern consciousness feel toward an Ebola virus. You just kill them as fast as you can and good riddance.”

FULL PODCAST BELOW INCLUDES BOTH EXCERPTS PLUS FURTHER COMMENTARY ON:

  • The Taliban massacre of the Pakistani military’s children
  • The U.S. Senate Torture Report
  • Terri O-Fallen’s insight into ISIS and Al Qaeda
  • Seth Rogan and James Franco Interview Kim Jong Un
  • On living in a Golden Age: let’s be grateful and heartened

FULL TRANSCRIPT

The Daily Evolver | Episode 108 | Goodbye Turbulence, Hello Turbulence!

FULL PODCAST