Unemployedidealist
By Jeremy Davies
The varied musings of a soul attempting to do important things first and the absolutely necessary when (or if) I find time.
UnemployedidealistApr 13, 2024
00:00
52:09
205 Is it ever safe to Organize
Organizations can be very effective. But what happens when the organization outlives its purpose. I think it takes on a life of its own…and part of yours.
May 09, 202429:43
204 Invitational Heterosexuality and Sending Grandma to Hell.
Get the pitchforks and torches. I think this podcast will make everyone mad. That’s not my intent. I just realized I have to have a better answer to a question few people dare ask.
May 01, 202435:12
203 How to Complain About Church Music: A Positive Vision
Join my wife and I as we discuss the concept of the Corpus of Church music.
Apr 27, 202439:15
201 When does the Right go too Far?
I consider myself politically right leaning, based mostly on my acceptance of the inevitability of the Pareto distribution. In an effort to recognize “the beam in my own eye,” I grapple with what it looks like when my personal position spirals into a pathology.
Apr 24, 202456:48
202 The Extra Sixteenth: A story from Lakeside Imagination Vol.1
If this is your first visit to my podcast, Welcome! I hope you will enjoy the story from my new book. For my regular listeners you probably won't recognize me without my footsteps, squeaking snow, and gurgling pack. Don't get to used to it. I'll be back on the trail soon!
Apr 18, 202418:26
200 A Walk with my Youngest Son Keith (Quality begins poor but improves a little by minute 5)
For podcast 200 I do something new. I didn’t plan to but something emerged. My son wanted to go for a hike. I wanted to record a podcast. So I invited him to be my guest. Keith is twelve so this might be a fun podcast to share with children.
Apr 13, 202452:09
199 Compromise Revisited
I address specifically a core Idea that I often mention peripherally. I suggest the counter intuitive idea that compromise fuels extremism.
Apr 09, 202435:07
198 New Covenant Credibility
I deviate from my norm and make a podcast while driving. Listen to my specific best guess at what makes my perspective unique even compared to others like Jordan Peterson whose perspectives I greatly appreciate.
Apr 08, 202431:22
197 Original Sin and the choice to categorize Good and Evil
Why does it seem like Christians universally identify the second sin as the original sin. Could it be because they don’t want to face their guilt?
Apr 08, 202440:27
196 Optimized Clarity
I used to try to universalize all my thoughts. If I thought them, probably everyone should. I think I am changing. I try to guard against saying, or even thinking, that I know what’s best for others. But I believe that speaking more clearly and truthfully is always the best choice. Join me as I try to figure out if there is someplace where unexamined half-truths might be optimal.
Mar 19, 202440:25
196 Perception Values and Self Rule
Because there are an infinite amount of things to perceive and an infinite number of levels at which to perceive them, your perception of reality is dependent on values. If you want to optimize your existence you have to be able to intentionally adopt an alternate value structure. Can you do that?
Mar 11, 202449:50
195 Building Scaffolds and Incentivizing Inventing Meaningful Endeavors
It seems every improvement in the quality of life has inadvertently decreased the value of human effort. The only way that marginalized humanity will find meaningful life’s is if they become their own inventors and designers of a meaningful existence. No one can do it for them. But maybe we could reward inventiveness instead of hopeless victimhood.
Mar 09, 202401:08:20
194 Two Covenants part 4 of 4 Two Covenants and Two Types of Worth
Your understanding of how the two covenants which divide the Christian core texts differ cannot help but mold your view of God and life. Maybe considering my view of that distinction will help you approach the divide less haphazardly.
Mar 07, 202452:38
193 Two Covenants part 3 of 4 Covenants and the Hero Archetype
Your understanding of how the two covenants which divide the Christian core texts differ cannot help but mold your view of God and life. Maybe considering my view of that distinction will help you approach the divide less haphazardly.
Mar 04, 202451:21
192 Two Covenants part 2 of 4 Why the Covenants Won’t Mix
Your understanding of how the two covenants which divide the Christian core texts differ cannot help but mold your view of God and life. Maybe considering my view of that distinction will help you approach the divide less haphazardly.
Mar 01, 202433:08
191 Two Covenants part 1 of 4 A Central Distinction
Your understanding of how the two covenants which divide the Christian core texts differ cannot help but mold your view of God and life. Maybe considering my view of that distinction will help you approach the divide less haphazardly.
Feb 28, 202449:34
190 Overcorrection
We are all making various mistakes as a community service, so those most closely observing us can avoid them. How nice of us! But very often those avoiding our perceived mistakes will over correct. When I overreact to the overcorrection I can easily disincentivize people from continuing to optimize their behavior. Or maybe I could adopt a more humble and useful approach.
Feb 21, 202429:50
189 Emotional Optimization
Logical people (like me) are often tempted to tell emotional people (like my wife) “stop feeling that way!” Which isn’t helpful. In this podcast I suggest a hypothesis which might help me understand the benefits of my wife’s perspective and help her overcome emotions which she has identified as “not useful.”
Feb 18, 202441:45
188 Worship, Participation, and Performance.
This advice on how to prioritize participation in worship, comes from 25 years of singing with inmates in jail
Feb 17, 202442:07
187 Narcissistic Pathologies related to Conspiracy Theories
I believe there is a specific point where adopting conspiracy theories becomes a problem. I also believe there are some simple guards against crossing that line.
Feb 16, 202437:05
186 A Repentance Narrative
What would repentance look like if you believed in a God who wanted you to succeed, not a god who wanted to prove you are a hopeless failure.
Feb 13, 202442:29
185 Understanding Activism part 2 of 2. A Hopeful Alternative
An experience I once had as a guitar teacher gave me a perspective which could transform Activism into something less polarizing and more beneficial to those struggling with confusion about some very basic dimensions of identity. Pardon all the mixed metaphors.
Feb 03, 202401:03:06
184 An attempt to Understand Activism part 1 of 2
Growing up possessed by Christian Ideology, I found it easy to believe that people who disagreed with my position did so because they liked being wrong. I am trying to change my approach. I try to begin my analysis by seeking to understand how someone like me might be convinced of the imperative of activism, and find the smallest error that might lead someone like me astray. I’m not sure that gender and sexual orientation activists will appreciate my civil approach, but I am sure I want to extend to them the courtesies I would appreciate from others.
Feb 02, 202454:53
183 Three Motivations
I think it is possible to make a meaningful differentiation between the positive motivation when you pursue a goal you expect to reach and when you pursue a meaningful goal that you may never reach. I analyze these two motivations and connect them to the motivation of fear.
Jan 24, 202445:24
182 The Dragon and the Snake
If the snake is the incarnation of a dragon which the walls of the garden cannot keep out, what’s a hero to do? A hero can feel helpless when his fair maiden is confronting a snake of addiction or worthlessness. Maybe this can help him find an effective strategy.
Jan 22, 202420:32
179 The Christ and Organized Religion part 3 of 3 the anti Christ and Church.
Could the organizing of Christianity been motivated as an attack on the central message of the Christ. I’m not sure I like my conclusions.
Jan 19, 202433:18
181 Descriptive Identity
A young man stumbles on the difference between descriptive identity and the ambition to identity.
Jan 17, 202431:29
178 The Christ and Organized Religion part 2 of 3. The mind of Satan.
This set of podcasts follows on from “Evidence Needed”. Understanding how the spirit of the Christ might be under attack requires drawing some conclusions about whether Satan has a conscious existence. Which requires some clarification of my conclusions about the nature of God’s existence.
Jan 15, 202436:46
180 A Non-Catholic Eucharistic Allegorical Puzzle
My continuing conversation with a Catholic friend. This isn’t meant as an argument or criticism of the spiritual construct of the Eucharist. I’m just trying to describe my puzzlement in a lighthearted manner. I prepared it in response to a video my friend sent me. Feel free to join our discussion by weighing in at Unemployedidealist@protonmail.com
Jan 12, 202419:02
177 The Christ and Organized Religion part 1 of 3. The mind of God
This set of podcasts follows on from “Evidence Needed”. Understanding how the spirit of the Christ might be under attack requires drawing some conclusions about whether Satan has a conscious existence. Which requires some clarification of my conclusions about the nature of God’s existence.
Jan 12, 202436:15
176 Aiming Low and the Courage to Whine
Doesn’t sound very inspiring but maybe it’s a useful strategy to avoid the pitfalls of isolation and resentment.
Jan 05, 202431:47
175 A Useful Definition
Join me as I try to figure out why all the attention given to bullying seems to have only made the problem worse.
Jan 04, 202427:17
174 Amoral and Immoral political thought. Part 2 of 2. The Prequel
Personality traits applied to political thought forced me to optimize my approach to people who weren’t as “infallible” as I used to think I was.
Jan 02, 202424:28
173 Amoral and immoral political thought. Part 1 of 2 the Monkey House.
I share a story, talk to a neighbor, and surprise five ruffed grouse. Comments are welcome at Unemployedidealist@protonmail.com
Jan 01, 202428:42
172 Seeds
A story from Lakeside Imagination vol. 1 for you to enjoy. Comments are welcome at Unemployedidealist@protonmail.com
Dec 20, 202324:32
171 A Reverse Engineered God
How do you separate the value of believing from the object of faith? Would there be a need to draw such a distinction if faith were personal? Is it possible to participate in an organized religion without defining the difference? The convoluted and wandering question takes further shape.
Dec 09, 202325:11
170 Convoluteder and Convoluteder: a Differentiated Miraculous
I discovered that when you are considering the miraculous nature of the Eucharist it might be helpful to differentiate two different perspectives of the Miraculous. It suggests the idea that we don’t get to demand miracles but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look for them.
Dec 06, 202330:34
169 A Diagnosis and the Spectrum of Negotiated Outcomes
I make a suggestion to optimize your approach to your relationships when misfortune hands you a challenge. (Obviously I approach this from a male perspective, but although in theory it can affect men and women in my experience the dietary aspect of this idea seems to stem almost exclusively from feminine sources. I recognize that imbalance but felt like an attempt to make it strictly gender neutral would make it sound inauthentic. Please share with me the masculine counterpart as you have observed it at Unemployedidealist@protonmail.com
Dec 05, 202334:00
168 Scalability
Our household motto is “It’s a good weird!” I know I appear unique, but would I have to be? Just how scalable is my experiment?
Nov 28, 202328:04
001 Religion for One part 1 of 4
I am convinced that most criticism of organized religion mistakenly attacks the philosophical foundations of the religion. If instead we challenged the assumption that religion ought to be applied to others, we may find the criticism much more helpful.
Nov 26, 202319:14
167 A convoluted and wandering question for a Catholic friend.
Not sure who might find this interesting. But here is an honest question, I don’t know who might want to answer it, but I finally have a way for you to give me feedback. I have a dedicated podcast email. Unemployedidealist@protonmail.com
Nov 23, 202346:16
166 The Battle for the 11th part 2 of 2 Short List Conservatism
At least two significant things go on in the name of conservatism. One I am for, one I am against. The last thing we need is another divide, but maybe making the distinction will allow a connection along a different dimension.
Nov 22, 202326:29
165 Battle for the 11th Commandment part 1 of 2
I offer a hypothesis about the ideal form of governance which may alter your perspective on the law.
Nov 14, 202330:56
164 Authentic Transformation
Young couples often wonder, “Am I too young to get married?”Older singles often wonder, “Am I being too picky?” Have you ever wondered if there was a unifying concept that could shed light on both questions?
Nov 12, 202328:60
163 Optimized for a neighborhood
Until recently humans were nested in concentric circles of people. As you progressed outward the your proximity, familiarity and availability decreased. Technological improvements have given us an unprecedented ability to jump to outer circles. The question is, what will such a jump do to us as humans?
Nov 11, 202334:12
162 Conservatism’s Unanswered Challenge
Much or the modern political rhetoric classifies Progressive as the alternative to Conservative. Given what defines classical liberalism, the change may be warranted. Progressives feel the solutions to today’s problems are things we haven’t tried before. Conservatives are sure the solutions of the past would still work. I tend toward Conservatism in my public persona while privately embracing a return to an ancient proposal so radical it appears progressive. Which is why I’m so frustrated at the cowardice of a conservative longing for the unexamined good old days while offering no strategic plan to recapture what we abandoned.
Nov 11, 202329:52
161 The living God and some rabbit trails
I believe in the idea of a God shaped vacuum in the soul of man. It appears that when man is deprived of God he will invent one. Which forces me to face the question: if I would invent a god if I didn’t have one, how can I know that didn’t happen long ago? Did I inherit a useful psychological construct? Or have I encountered a divine being?
Nov 10, 202342:19
160 First Order Easier and internal chaos (with a ten minute rabbit trail to start with)
Easier can describe the pathway to a goal. Does it become something more dangerous when it becomes the goal? (If you are uninterested in the results of a personal health experiment which is improving the quality of my sleep feel free to jump to 10:50 and skip that rabbit trail. )
Nov 09, 202347:58
159 Abundance Dimension part 2 of 2 (the prequel)
I have a habit (perhaps irritating to some) of laying such an intricate and exhaustive foundation for an idea that by the time I introduce the idea no one knows what I am talking about. So this is the introduction to the Abundance Dimensions (part 1) which I made while repairing my Dad’s car.
Nov 08, 202348:24
158 Abundance Dimension part 1 of 2
What if “Abundant Life” is more than just cheerful religious jargon? Could abundance be a specific dimension of life the can be realized once you discipline yourself to seek it?
Nov 06, 202327:08