Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2020-12-28
Books mentioned on #149 – Diana Walsh Pasulka: Aliens, Technology, Religion, and the Nature of Belief
Diana Walsh Pasulka is a professor of philosophy and religion at UNCW and author of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, and Technology. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.
Diana Walsh Pasulka recommended The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche, The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil, Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt, Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey J. Kripal, and Mutants and Mystics by Jeffrey J. Kripal, and discussed The Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant, On the Essence of Language and the Question of Art by Martin Heidegger, The Book of Genesis by Ronald Hendel, The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and others, and Mutants & Mystics by Jeffrey J. Kripal. Lex Fridman discussed American Cosmic by Diana Walsh Pasulka and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Critique of Practical Reason
Discussed“so emmanuel kant is one of the he was uh basically in the 1750s he wrote critiques of reason and things like that”
Where to get it
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American Cosmic
American Cosmic by Diana Walsh Pasulka is a fascinating exploration by a religious studies professor that investigates the intersection of unidentified anomalous phenomena, modern technology, religion, and cultural mythology.
Discussed“they have a book on purgatory that came before your uh american cosmic yes i wrote a book on purgatory”
Where to get it
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On the Essence of Language and the Question of Art
Discussed“so another um philosopher that philosophers actually don't like at all but religious studies people do is martin heidegger so martin heidegger has some great essays one is called what is a work of art”
Where to get it
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The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is a classic philosophical novel that explores individualism, artistic integrity, and the conflict between independent creators and collectivist societal pressures.
Discussed“and then from that you can derive an ethics about how to live life like what is the what is the good ethical life and all the virtue of selfishness”
Where to get it
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The Gay Science
The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche is a philosophical work that examines morality, the death of God, knowledge, and the pursuit of a vibrant, self-affirmed existence.
Recommended“and you did ask me to talk about some of the books that made the largest impact on me and the nietzsche's gay science is one of them it's one of the best books ever”
Where to get it
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On the Genealogy of Morals
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche is a foundational philosophical text that investigates the historical evolution of moral concepts, specifically contrasting master and slave morality.
Recommended“and the nietzsche's gay science is one of them”
Where to get it
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The Singularity Is Near
Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near is a prominent techno-futurist book exploring the merging of humans and artificial intelligence and the technological singularity.
Recommended“but when i read the um kurzweil's book about the singularity to me it read just like um religious language”
Where to get it
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The Book of Genesis
Discussed“He uses a religious reference even he says you could think of the matrix of the movie as a new as the new um book of genesis for our new world”
Where to get it
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The Genealogy of Morals
Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals offers a radical critique of traditional morality, tracing the historical development of concepts like guilt, conscience, and the slave revolt in ethics.
Discussed“foucault this um other philosopher french philosopher actually takes up this idea and creates his own framework called genealogy from it so the genealogy of morals”
Where to get it
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Eichmann in Jerusalem
Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt is a profound and controversial work of political philosophy and journalistic reporting that examines the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Jerusalem.
Recommended“one is called eichmann in jerusalem where she attend attends the nuremberg trials and she basically makes this really astute observation about evil”
Where to get it
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The Life of the Mind
The Life of the Mind is a book by Hannah Arendt that explores the philosophical foundations of thinking, willing, and judging, alongside related works by the author on political theory and totalitarianism.
Recommended“she has another book called the life of the mind which is gigantic and i don't think anybody will read it but frankly it's one of the best books i've ever read and i've read it many times and basically the life of the mind and the life of the mind she asks a very simple question”
Where to get it
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Authors of the Impossible
Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey J.
Recommended“but he's um his i think his best book or the one that impacted me the most is called authors of the impossible and his book is his writing is very much like nietzsche's writing in the sense that he it's almost as if he reaches out of the pages and he grabs you and kind of slaps you around”
Where to get it
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Mutants and Mystics
Mutants and Mystics is an academic exploration by religious studies scholar Jeffrey J.
Recommended“uh there's a great one he's written called mutants and mystics where he talks about the comic strips uh the um gosh why can't i remember the name of the person he just died stan lee he talks about the history of the comics by stan lee and they're all paranormal they all start off super paranormal and it's fascinating”
Where to get it
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Mutants & Mystics
Discussed“uh there's a great one he's written called mutants and mystics where he talks about the comic strips”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (9) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“the following is a conversation with diana walsh basulka a professor of philosophy and religion at uncw and author of american cosmic ufos religion and technology”
“They have a book on purgatory that came before your uh american cosmic”
“so a lot of people would call the ufo narrative today like uh and this is what i talk about in my book like a myth right the ufo myth”
“um i liked in american cosmic i attained the status of full professor so i was like okay i can pretty much write this book like i want to do it and i did”
“and they believe that they were also in contact with these non-human intelligences and they were getting what they called downloads of information and creating sometimes with tyler d in my book creating technologies that were real and they were selling them on nasdaq for you know a lot of money like you know say a hundred million dollars or”
“so i was at a conference and it was a small conference um of very interesting people in california on the pacific ocean and jacques was there and um this is actually opens my book this is the book this is the i go i the preface to my book i go on this ride he takes me through silicon”
“so i published my book with oxford which is an academic press and you don't get paid with an academic press”
“now what's fascinating is that i begin my book by going out to a crash site in new mexico i have to get blindfolded with um my well to tell you the truth the story is that i'm with tyler who's an invisible and he wants to show me a place in new mexico where a crash happened”
“they spoke the vedas which were the sacred traditions of india they wanted off”