The Moth and the Flame: Can Reason Compete with Instinct?

21st-century humanity is threatened by numerous self-generated existential threats to its continued survival. These include socio-political disintegration, ecological collapse and the potential ramifications of AI.
The nature of this challenge is comparable to the most prominent scientific hypothesis as to why moths fly into flames — an accidental hijacking of an evolutionary adaptation that leads to the death of individuals.
What this hypothesis is and how it relates to the decline of humanity is what we are going to be exploring on this episode of The Living Philosophy.
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⭐ Support the channel (thank you!)
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Media Used:
1. Mesmerize — Kevin MacLeod
2. End of the Era — Kevin MacLeod
3. Lost Frontier — Kevin MacLeod
4. Juniper — Kevin MacLeod
5. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
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⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:49 The Flight of the Moth
2:30 Disrupted Evolution
3:36 Moth-Man
6:02 Mothbook
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#thelivingphilosophy #philosophy

[pillage_party_and_papacy]

Does reason need to control instinct or can reason balance instinct?

[masnx]

I never did like the saying, "Everything happens for a reason". I prefer to say "Everything happens and then you reason." Great vid, thank you!

[gabrielsimpson]

Instinct is behind reason until one introduces self-awareness to the thought process

[motownmoneygang]

Thousands of years of humans using fire yet moths still haven't gone extinct. With that, my hope they will eventually adapt still lives.

[noahmcdaniel]

It’s such a great story though, it’s hard to believe it will have a bad ending. This is how we evolve. Confronting this. We will not let our instincts drive us to oblivion. The post-truth era I think goes beyond business. That is the motive yes, but the result is pushing our epistemic boundaries to their breaking point. I think it had to happen, I think the root issue is in all of our minds. We don’t know how to think and communicate. Our entire system of knowledgizing is fucked.

It may get worse first, but for about 6+ years I’ve had this feeling that to evolve we need to go through something extremely heavy, and that it’s coming. I’m bipolar and that was endemic in my earliest manic experiences. I didn’t really know what we needed to go through, I just recognized an unbreachable informational divide, but the nature of it is getting clearer.

[OneConsciousnessWithAaron]

Excellent. I thoroughly enjoy the way you think. Ego impulses are, I would contend, our instincts. The thoughts about “to get” is egoic, thoughts about what we are and always have is free consciousness. Seems to me, in your case, the mode of the knower has been found:)

[ScorpioHR]

We know more about cosmos than our own seas and we know more about celebrities and influencers than ourselves and people closest to us, we grew with. As long as people are going to run away from themselves, we won't find peace and we'll chase happiness in possessions we can show off to the others, instead of in the solace of our minds.

[satnamo]

Aeon is a child at play with energy balls with colors because to die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

[thehighpriestess]

Oh, how lovely to hear a *Voice of Reason*, and only down the road a piece (well it's a piece of about 3-4 hours, but that's not too bad ) I find that when one tries to tell the Moths to stay away from the flame, the Moths tend to say "Flame? What flame?", and then YOU are
the problem, because they don't want to hear it. "Ignorance is Bliss" makes sense to me now. Sadly, when you are on the other side of that ignorance, the Moths who won't even entertain the truths can make ones life less than blissful.

[stephencarroll]

Now I think I’ll go and read some Beckett for some light-hearted cheer, after that grim prognosis!

[Mosaic]

Another great video and beautifully said, as daunting as the message is. Thank you!

[Motorlizard]

CONGRATUUULLLAAATIONS on 8k subs! Great video!

"The social dilemma" on netflix was a great take on the mothbook part I think, there is definitely a problem with capitalism fundamentally catering to our lower desires, there has been so much progress and so many changes societally within the last 100 years I can't help but fear there are more unforseen consequences coming our way.

[Mon]

It's interesting how the process of making videos itself can inspire new videos, as I believe has happened here with the Moth and the Flame.
Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts!

[xkagutaba]

if we're using metaphors, moth is a prime metaphor of destruction, since in the old days, it was defined as "that which gradually and silently eats, consumes or wastes any thing" [1]. so, on the bright side, this 'moth into flame' might just mean 'destruction of destruction' (ergo 'creation of creation'?). tho, one would be tempted to conclude that this new metaphorical meaning might refer to the Gaia resetting itself via mass extinctions.

[1] Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

[DSAK]

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer

[milosvasiljevic]

RIght knowledge can help reason to control insticts as much as it can...and therefore satisfy insticint as much as it can.

[rikkikeen]

I just read Psychotherapy east and west by Alan Watts, written in the 60’s. In addressing the western problem of fragmented Christian egos without belief in Christianity, Watts essentially concludes, leaning on Jung and Freud that humanity has no choice but to embrace his instincts/spontaneity/Eros and that reason should play second fiddle as this “separateness” is essentially an evolutionary mistake. I felt very uneasy with his conclusions for exactly the reasons behind this metaphor of moth/flame! Christianity really did powerfully keep our nature in check..reason battling instinct and colossal collective repression. It’s vacuum is immense! But good luck in believing the resurrection for our salvation… the future is going to be mental!

[dlloydy]

Really well examined & explained. Interesting concept, I never would of thought about this at all yet at the same time am very aware of it. Intriguing

[Bheem]

In relation to free rational acting and acting based on instincts can you say something about schopenhauers phrase "you cannot will what you will"? Where does our will come from and can consciousness and mindfulness be a tool to master our will or are our actions for now and forever based on a will whose origin we will never know?

[peterlynley]

I have often thought that an interesting reality show would be to put a group of teens on an island with strangers and take their smartphones away. They would each get $10, 000 if they could last a month without them. I honestly think that some of them would have nervous breakdowns. I used to work in a shopping mall and they could only keep those things in their pocket for brief periods of time till the next text message came through. It's like being plugged into the Borg. Kind of disturbing. I'm pretty libertarian in my political sensibilities but I'm not sure if it would not be a good idea to just ban them for anyone until they reach adulthood and their psyche has matured and stabilized. Maybe I'm just an old fart who is overreacting and the kids will be alright but I don't think growing up with these things welded to your hand is a good thing.