Being in the World

I had the incredible honor of delivering the commencement address to UC Berkeley Philosophy department's graduating class of 2024 during this time of momentous social upheaval. As an alumnus who studied under legendary professor Hubert Dreyfus, a pioneer in applying existential phenomenology to critique technology and "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), it was powerful to return and share reflections with these bright young minds. In my speech, I recounted how studying the work of Bertrand Russell and other great philosophers at Berkeley changed my life. Bert Dreyfus's courses in existentialism opened my eyes to how philosophy embodies everything from our skills to our cultural practices, inspiring me to switch my major and subsequently use film to explore the human condition. I shared stories from my philosophical journey putting theory into praxis - from studying flamenco in Spain, to making films examining monogamy and technology through an existential lens, to establishing a philosophy conference in Bombay Beach, on the shore of the Salton Sea. I explained how existential anxiety from the groundlessness of existence can transmute into awe and authenticity. Referencing the courageous student protests against injustice, militarism, and the violent suppression of Palestinian rights that have rocked campuses, I applauded the graduates for embodying philosophy's highest calling by questioning entrenched power structures and assumptions. Like the great philosophers before them, they must continue to challenge authority, respond authentically to circumstances, and take pride in being of no "value" to the status quo. Their critical thinking and reevaluation of values is urgently needed. I ended with an encouragement to creatively marry theory and praxis as modeled by philosophers like Dreyfus and Angela Davis, and to embrace the groundlessness of existence with wonder. Congratulations UC Berkeley Philosophy class of 2024 - go forth, be philosophers and change the world! Thank you to Alva Noe for the invitation, to Dulcinee DeGuere for help with editing both the speech and the video, to Patrick House for his deep insights, as well as to Mark Wrathall, Eric Kaplan, Aaron Bornstein and Iain Thomson for their suggestions.

"Filmmaker Tao Ruspoli and neuroscientist Dr. Patrick House engage in a wide-ranging discussion that explores the nature of truth, myth, and meaning. The conversation begins with an examination of the significance of the number 40 in various cultural and religious contexts, revealing how this seemingly arbitrary number has been imbued with profound meaning throughout history. Ruspoli and House delve into the power of storytelling, discussing how myths and folklore can shape our understanding of the world and ourselves, even when the stories themselves may not be factually accurate.The discussion then turns to the role of active and passive bearers of tradition, drawing fascinating parallels between the transmission of folklore and the spread of parasites in the natural world. Ruspoli shares personal anecdotes about his father's storytelling, while House offers insights from his research on mind-controlling parasites. The two explore the tension between the pursuit of factual accuracy and the value of "ecstatic truth," ultimately questioning the cultural and contextual nature of truth itself. Throughout the podcast, Ruspoli and House engage in a thought-provoking and often humorous dialogue that challenges listeners to reconsider their assumptions about the stories we tell and the truths we hold dear." -Claude

A tour of legendary, academy award winning production designer Dennis Gassner's home in the Hollywood hills. Dennis Gassner (born October 22, 1948) is an American-Canadian production designer. He is notable for his work on Bugsy, Big Fish, Into the Woods, and Blade Runner 2049, his collaborations with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes, as well the James Bond films Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre, the latter two directed by Mendes. He has been nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, and has won once. Gassner was nominated for the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film for his work on Quantum of Solace, and won for his work on Skyfall.

A both very intimate and very expansive conversation with Dulcinee about creativity, addiction, mental health, technology, "artificial" "intelligence", politics, relationships, and more.

Poetry & Beats by Dulcinee DeGuere Piano and Synths by Tao Ruspoli The boundaries of your bias Trickle, trembling With a shudder that you deny Though it wraps you in a fog So taught your veins start to pop I’m trying to rupture something I can’t see But it dangles right in front of me Entangling my dreams with delusion And death The stench of which flirts, converts, and perverts The precious flames of what I thought I could be An animal A siren Anything other than this flesh How can I cauterize this wound This womb that pulses with fire, desire The dire necessity To rip skin from flesh And uncover what’s underneath But somehow, always We speak of other things Freedom, And the sun Because we’re scared of duration We’re just fucking impatient And no one taught me how to breathe Try, and try again Try, and try when Try, and try again Try, and try when Yucca Valley, California September 7, 2023

Tao and Dulcinee discuss the deals they've made with each other to successfully quit smoking, meditate, and drastically reduce phone time. They also discuss the nature of technology, art, artifacts, and how to remain human in a technological world.

Tao takes a walk with his friend Eric Kaplan, a TV writer (Futurama, Big Bang Theory, etc.) with a PhD in philosophy. They try to get to the bottom of what makes a good story and what makes a good storyteller. Yucca Valley July 13, 2023

Dulcinée is a filmmaker, conceptual/performance artist, & Systems Architect for the Bombay Beach Biennale. Tao and Dulcinée have a frank and vulnerable conversation about both personal and societal mental health following her recent Bipolar 2 diagnosis. Speaking publicly about it for the first time, Dulcinée and Tao explore the complex landscape of contemporary mental health, using both an autobiographical framework and a sociopolitical analysis, to outline the personal, the psychological, the political, the philosophical, and the communal aspects of being in the world...

Tao talks to chatGPT4 about its philosophical, political, and creative implications. Part 2 of 2

Tao talks to chatGPT 4 about its philosophical, political, and creative implications.

Eric Kaplan is an American television writer and producer. His work has included shows such as Late Show with David Letterman, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Malcolm in the Middle, Futurama, The Simpsons and Rick and Morty. He also worked on The Big Bang Theory throughout its run.  Kaplan was raised in a Jewish family in Flatbush, Brooklyn where his father was a "storefront lawyer" and his mother taught high school biology at Erasmus Hall. 

Kaplan graduated from Hunter College High School and Harvard College (where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon) in 1989. Prior to committing to a career in professional writing, Kaplan had been an English teacher in Thailand. After that he took five years of philosophy graduate school at Columbia and UC Berkeley.  Starting in 1986, Kaplan interned for Spy magazine, where his duties included mopping the floors and writing blurb-length film reviews.  

Career in television

Eric Kaplan's first television writing job was with Late Show with David Letterman which he worked on for a year and a half before quitting and moving to Hollywood to look for a job in "half-hour" work. It was at this time that Kaplan learned of Matt Groening doing a show set in the year 3000. This show would turn out to be Futurama. After applying for work on the show using some writing samples, Eric would have to, as he says, "sweat it out", for over a month before getting the job. 

Upon Futurama's cancellation, Kaplan went to work for the short-lived comedy series Andy Richter Controls the Universe, writing just one episode. After Fox dropped Andy Richter, Eric Kaplan then began work on the hit show Malcolm in the Middle, Eric also wrote the "Girlfriends" episode of the popular HBO series, Flight of the Conchords.  Futurama In his first year with Futurama, which was also the show's first season, Kaplan served as story editor on every episode. Though having an input on many aspects of the entire first season, Kaplan would not get a writing credit until 9 episodes in. After this premiere season, he would be promoted to producer status. This was a role that he would keep through the show's end. He returned to those roles in the Futurama DVD movies.

Work in Philosophy, Does Santa Exist? Kaplan's "Does Santa Exist?: A Philosophical Investigation" was published by Dutton Books in 2015. It is a serious and humorous work of philosophy. He has also contributed to "The Stone", The New York Times philosophy blog. Kaplan has a PhD. in philosophy from UC Berkeley. His doctoral thesis discusses the humour in Søren Kierkegaard.  Kaplan was interviewed in 2020 by lifelong friend Roger Kimmel Smith (whose father, Robert Kimmel Smith, wrote the book The War with Grandpa, which in 2020 was adapted into a motion picture starring Robert De Niro). Their conversation about humor and philosophy was released over the YouTube channel When Humanists Attack.

Topanga Canyon, 2002

Chris and Anya visit Tao in desert after an around the world trip. 

Tao and Anya, host of A Millennial's guide to Saving The World, discuss astrology and whether it's possible to find meaning in it in a similar way we find meaning in fictions and mythological tales. They discuss archetypes and the collective unconscious and stories that can help guide us through this life without a need to "believe" in something supernatural or anti-scientific.   

Many people assume, for instance, that astrology is all nonsense. It is true that astrology has nothing to do with the stars. The horoscope may say that you were born in Taurus, but the constellations today have moved and horoscopes no longer correspond to the actual positions of the stars. … But people criticize astrology as though it had something to do with the stars.

– C. G. Jung in 1929

We see that menstruation has a moon period, yet it does not coincide with the phases of the moon; otherwise all women would menstruate at the same time, and they don’t. It simply means that there is a moon-law in every woman and likewise the laws of the stars in every human being but not in the relation of cause and effect.

• C.G. Jung, December 11, 1929

The fact that it is possible to reconstruct a person’s character fairly accurately from his birth data shows the relative validity of astrology. It must be remembered, however, that the birth data are in no way dependent on the actual astronomical constellations, but are based on an arbitrary, purely conceptual time system. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the spring-point has long since moved out of the constellation of Aries into Pisces, so that the astrological zodiac on which horoscopes are calculated no longer corresponds to the heavenly one. If there are any astrological diagnoses of character that are in fact correct, this is due not to the influence of the stars but to our own hypothetical time qualities. In other words, whatever is born or done at this particular moment of time has the quality of this moment of time.

• C.G. Jung

Patrick House's new book 19 Ways of Looking at Consciousness now available everywhere books are sold...Get it, read it, give it, talk about it, post about it, and let us know what you think.   Thanks everyone!

We go deeper.

Tao and artist James Ostrer delve into murky waters of colonialism, white privilege, art, gentrification, addiction, and commodification.

See James' brilliant work at www.jamesostrer.com

Adam Freeland is an old friend, desert neighbor, and brilliant music producer and DJ. Adam & Tao wax philosophical about the nature of music and the music of nature.

Samir Tabar helps run one of the world’s largest publicly listed Bitcoin miners, Bit Digital. Before that he helped established one of the world’s first psychedelic venture capital funds, Noetic. Before that he was co-founder of Fluidity, a company extensively featured in the Harvard Business Review as being the first to tokenize New York real estate. He was also Head of Capital Strategy for Bank of America, and started his career as a lawyer for Skadden, Arps. He graduated from Columbia Law School and Oxford University. He has a book coming out later his year titled ‘Mission Matters’.  

He's also Tao's former girlfriend's new boyfriend...they discuss polyamory, Palestine, economics, politics, philosophy and more.   

Watch video on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else podcasts live.

Dr. Patrick House and Tao discuss the last 8 days spent on the island of San Servolo, (former monastery, leper colony and insane asylum,) where they attended a conference on the neuroscience of consciousness.

Christof Koch is a German-American neurophysiologist and computational neuroscientist best known for his work on the neural basis of consciousness. He is the president and chief scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. From 1986 until 2013, he was a professor at the California Institute of Technology.  

Tao and Christof sit down at the tail end of an 8 day conference on the neuroscience of consciousness held on the island of San Servolo, off the coast of Venice, Italy.

Tao sits down with billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen, Chairman of the Berggruen Institute, on the eve of giving his institute's Prize for Philosophy and Culture to Peter Singer. The $1 million award is given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world.   

Tao asks some challenging political and philosophical questions, asking Nicolas if there should be billionaires in the world, notwithstanding the good they may be capable of doing, especially given how arbitrary and unjust allocation of wealth can be, and given Nicolas's own youthful flirtations with Marxism and his love of famously leftist philosophers like Jean Paul Sartre.  Video version available on YouTube.

https://www.berggruen.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Berggruen

Tao and Dulcinee (writer, director, editor, producer of both films and of the latest  Bombay Beach Biennale,) have an honest, open, and wide ranging conversation about their relationship, including what it's like to work and play together and how to integrate their love and sex life (including consensual power exchange and D/s dynamics,) with their creative and career ambitions and their social and political ideals.

A wonderful and unexpectedly coherent conversation, given very little sleep...I had a lot on my mind and managed to express it thanks in large part to Eamon's top notch interviewing skills. Be sure to check out his podcast, Life is a Festival.

A wide ranging discussion in Lake Tahoe with 2 of my favorite people...

Burning Man 2021 was cancelled. 15,000 of us went anyway. Tao and Scott discuss, among many other things, the past 2 decades of Burning Man and what we may learn from the changing nature of the event about anarchist principles. 

ao, Chris and Anya have a three-way… conversation. Sitting in Tao’s shipping container gallery in Yucca Valley, the three of us speak about the interwoven relationship between life, death, sex, pleasure, pain and creativity, and how the absence of death can directly correlate to an absence of eroticism. We question the hypocrisies of mainstream environmentalism, and whether individual action can influence collective change. We also speak about disagreement, the purpose of podcasts, and the art of conversation.

Tao & Dr. Patrick House have an intimate and philosophical conversation about suicide. 

Anya Kaats is a writer and podcaster determined to redefine the way we think about and construct the world around us. She hosts two podcasts, A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World and Whore Rapport, where she has nuanced conversations about sexuality, gender, grief, trauma, regenerative agriculture, spirituality and more, all aimed to challenge the status quo. anyakaats.com and @anya.kaats on IG

Tao speaks to his dear friend and former sister-in-law, Chloe Cockburn.  

Chloe leads Open Philanthropy’s strategy for investing in criminal justice policy and practice reforms to substantially reduce incarceration while maintaining public safety. Prior to joining Open Philanthropy, she oversaw state policy reform work for the ACLU’s Campaign to End Mass Incarceration. Previously, Chloe worked with the Vera Institute and the civil rights law firm of Neufeld, Scheck and Brustin, and clerked for Judge Sifton of the Eastern District of New York. Chloe graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Classics and Visual Art, and has a JD from Harvard Law School. She joined Open Philanthropy in August 2015.

Tao talks with his friend and cinematographer, Christopher Gallo.

Gene is an artist and programmer interested in autonomous systems, collective intelligence, generative art, and computer science.  He codes, gives talks, teaches workshops, writes essays, and occasionally curate / organize.  He is interested in advancing scientific literacy through creativity and play, and building educational spaces which are as open and accessible as possible. His work is all free & open-source, and he records many of my lectures and tutorials.  Genekogan.com

Tao & Richard wax philosophical and Richard sings his dirty songs...

The Godmother of Bombay Beach discusses having 3 children before she was 18, the life and death of her first son Roger, her second son Adam's 20 year stint in federal prison for bank robbery, the evolution of Bombay Beach, the role of art and death in our lives, and much more.

Tao with renowned architect, professor, DJ, and Bombay Beach resident and enthusiast, Mark Mack. 

Patrick and Tao discuss the philosophical and scientific implications of virtual reality.

On Jealousy...

Patrick and Tao discuss making babies...do they want to? why or why not?

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli reflect on the relationship between science and philosophy, among other things.

Dr. House gives the talk he gave at the Bombay Beach Biennale on looking for elegance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then he and Tao discuss it.

...and we're back!

Dr. Patrick House and Tao Ruspoli wonder if their optimism for the beginning of the new era may have been premature.

1st  episode of Season 2 of the Being in The World Podcast, with Tao Ruspoli and Dr. Patrick House. Theme: birth and rebirth.

Part 2 of an ongoing discussion of beauty and the effects of technology on our conception and perception of it.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli take a philosophical, social and scientific approach to issues surrounding freedom of choice, morality, privilege, and lack thereof.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli undertake a critique of pure criticism...what is the role of criticism in art, culture and psychology? When are and aren't critics useful?

Lucy in the Studio with Diamonds