Politically High-Tech
A podcast with facts and opinions on different topics like politics, policy, technology especially AI, spirituality and development! For this podcast, development simply means tip, product and/or etc. can benefit humanity. This show aims to show political viewpoints and sometimes praises/criticizes them. He is a wildcard sometimes. For Technology episodes, this show focuses on products (mostly AI) with pros, cons and sometimes give a hint of future update. For Development episodes, the podcast focuses on tips to improve as a human spiritually, socially, emotionally and more. All political, AI lovers and haters, and all religions are welcome! This is an adult show. Minors should not be listening to this podcast! This podcast proudly discriminates bad characters and nothing else.
Politically High-Tech
289- Finding Nuance in a World of Emotional Immaturity with Dr. Joshua Caraballo
Elias welcomes back Dr. Joshua to dismantle misconceptions about LGBTQ+ identities and discuss how faith, emotional maturity, and psychological wellness intersect with our political landscape.
• God is about love, not hate – targeting LGBTQ+ people contradicts genuine religious values
• People are more than their sexual orientation – they achieve, help others, have families, and deserve to be seen as complete human beings
• Most adults function at an emotional maturity level of 8-12 years old, explaining the prevalence of defensive reactions and hatred
• The psychological concept of feeling superior through religion or politics creates a dangerous feedback loop that's difficult to break
• Dr. Joshua introduces the PERMA model of happiness, emphasizing the importance of engagement with personal values
• Midterm election predictions: Republicans likely maintain Senate control while Democrats have opportunity in the House
• Taking breaks from political doom through engagement with local arts, nature, and community activities is essential for mental health
Support local theater! Dr. Joshua invites listeners to see "The Play That Goes Wrong" in Conifer, Colorado this August - about 30 minutes west of Denver.
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welcome everyone to politically high tech with your host, elias. I have a returning guest here. He was great the last time. I mean we touched so much on on the debunks me being anti-LGBTQ+, some people have thought of that I wasn't even questioning that and you know what. It was set up as a gotcha, but I was pretty okay with those. Okay, next big question Are you against LGBTQ just because you believe in God and all that?
Speaker 1:As a first world, god is about love, so let's cut that crap out of the way. As a first world, god is about love. So let's, let's cut that crap out of the way. And if God really did hate gay people, I mean don't get me wrong he disagreed a lot of things that we do, let's be honest. But you know, the New Testament was the clearer version. The Old Testament is what is more like what you should not do. Ok, it was a lot of faulty people. Ok, a lot of those characters were flawed, even though they were the quote unquote chosen ones. The New Testament had to clarify a lot of things, even dumb it down a bit, because we humans were falling apart.
Speaker 1:Okay, but just because I believe in God and the higher power doesn't make me want to. You know, target every LGBTQ plus person, treat like a video game, kill them like the enemy and just say look, I'm fulfilling God's crazy vision, I'm correcting the human race. No, he's about life. That's the devil's work. The devil is about death and hate and destruction and all that. Okay, let's just be clear about that. But I'm going to stop my yammer because I could go on these monologues If you don't stop me. These monologues could take, with no limits, to an hour. But I'm going to stop right here because I want to hear his voice as well, and he is a returning guest and I try to cover as much things as I can. Dr Joshua is back and he is going to provide nuance, and it always doesn't have to be the LGBTQ plus lens, it could be in any lens, really because he has great knowledge of that group, even more than me.
Speaker 1:I would say I have some knowledge, but I'm not a beginner, nor I'm an expert. I'll never claim to be an expert for LGBTQ issues, but I do have some knowledge because I was exposed to it as a teenager. Come on, I grew up in New York City. It was easy for me to bump into someone who lives on a non-traditional lifestyle. Let's just say, like that, non-traditional, a different lifestyle. Okay, is it bad? No, I say to each his freaking own. That's the most libertarian I'm going to get.
Speaker 1:Culturally, I don't care what the hell you're doing. That's not even the first thing I'm thinking about, unless it relates to something, but most of the time I think about it. I'm more curious about the person and their ideas. If it's relevant, then I ask questions. I'm not going to ask oh, what are you doing in the bedroom? That's none of my damn business. He asks me that question. It's none of his business. The fact that we got to label it like that to me has been problematic. Let's just focus on the individual. That's always been my frame with the lgbtq frame, not because of the people, that's just the framing of it. We have to really pay attention to sexual orientation. They're a lot more than a sexual orientation. They achieve great things. They help other people, they have family members and all their human beings. You may not agree the way they live.
Speaker 2:Well, it's america last time I checked pursuit of happiness, we did we forget about. All right, let me shut up. Let's welcome back Dr Josh. What do you want the viewers and person to tell you? What I do in my bedroom? And I wouldn't expect someone else to give me those details either. Definitely none of my business.
Speaker 2:It's funny because when you were talking I've known this before, obviously, but I was thinking it's called sexual orientation, right, and it's like, well, it kind of makes sense that people start to think about sex because it's in the word. So, yeah, I can't really fault people too much for being curious and thinking about those things. But when you put it that way, it's very obvious that what you're talking about is, for the most part, what gets people icky about it is what happens in the bedroom. But being gay, being queer, being under that umbrella and I'm not here to speak for every queer person on the earth it's really my perspective that I bring to the table. But we're so much more than that and anyone who's gotten over the age of 45, I shouldn't say anyone, a lot of people I think you start to realize for the most part because when you're 18, it's like, yeah, the whole world revolves around sex pretty much Thinking about it, especially males. According to the research, they think a lot more about sex than females. But you know, who knows what the reality is. That's just research that I've come across. And yeah, it used to be like, oh my gosh, like the whole world revolved around that, like how do I get some and where do I go next? But at a certain point in time for me it was like around, you know, the 40s, and now I'm a 48.
Speaker 2:It's like that's the least, it's the last thing that I'm usually thinking about. It's like so, as I navigate the world as a gay man, it's like my lens is not like sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. And so when I'm put into that kind of category, I just think this is not my problem, this is that person's problem. Who's putting me into that category. It's like, hey, don't feel the need to kind of tell you that you're thinking about this all wrong. You know whoever might think that way. And then they start to say, well, I don't care what you do, as long as you don't put it in my face.
Speaker 2:It's like do you know how many times I've lived my life around straight people who have put everything into my face. It's like the first time I saw PDA public displays of affection. It was not gay people, it was straight people, and the way they were doing PDA was, in my mind, probably the most disgusting thing I've seen just slobbering all over each other, and that's never been the thing that I wanted to do. So how am I putting anything in your face? Just by living? Is that how it's happening?
Speaker 2:Because if that's the case, then the only way to stop that is to get rid of all of us on this earth, and if that is what your goal is, I don't want to talk to you anyway, because out of the two of us, the person who thinks that way is probably the person who doesn't need or deserve to be on this earth.
Speaker 2:If that's your worldview that everyone, except a certain type of person, whether that be Christian or otherwise, are the only ones who deserve to live and thrive and be happy on this earth, you are the problem, not us, and we had talked about this in our last conversation, where it's like all human beings have a percentage of nefarious behaviors, bad people, et cetera, and they're not the majority of people.
Speaker 2:We don't need to spend more time on that, since we've talked about it already. But what that means to me is that if you're concentrating on one type of community way too long, you're doing yourself a disservice, because you're not really giving yourself the opportunity to learn more about people beyond the stereotypes that you were given, or you're fed through mass media or otherwise. So it takes a concerted effort to look beyond, by God, if you want to live on this earth and integrate with other human beings. It is worth it. It has to be worth it, because then what the hell are we doing here? Yeah, no, no, I like that. It is worth it. It has to be worth it because then what?
Speaker 1:what the hell are we doing here? Yeah, no, no, I don't. I like that. And I had to start that provocative because I'm just tired of that kind of framing. You're much more than your sexual orientation. Come on, he's a successful psychologist, research and all that can you focus on. Or maybe, if you want to know about his ethnicity, we could focus a little bit on that. Let's focus on parts of the person. So just this thing.
Speaker 1:It's more of the immaturity of people and I have a hot take here. I really have a hot take. A lot of people are emotionally eight to 12 years old, emotionally, and this is why the hate is through the roof. I don't care, as someone who was in his mid-30s have seen people around my age or even older act like petulant, entitled children with their stupidity and their commentary and their conflation and projection. You people are emotionally childish. If you know you're emotionally mature, give yourself a pat on the back. Look, because it's so stupid. Look, it can be my personal life, my work life. I've seen it all over the place. I think people are just more emotionally immature, hence this hate. And look, I'm just going at a cultural, foundational level. I normally attack at a political level, which is slightly higher, I guess. But people are just so emotionally immature. If you're going to be this despicable and that hateful just because of that one little thing, let me quote the Bible. We all fall short of the glory of God. That means even the conservative people. Even those who listen to the Bible and sniff the Bible's dust every day fall short of glory of God too. It's not just LGBT, it's not just minorities. You privilege people too. As long as you're a human being, congratulations, you fell short already. Exactly that's all it takes original sin.
Speaker 1:Okay, do I have to break that down? And I have to sometimes have to be. Yeah, sometimes I have to be a snob. Yeah, I don't care to comment. So I should say eliza, such a snob, you know what I'm happy to be a snob. Yeah, I don't care to comment.
Speaker 1:Just say, well, I'm such a snob, you know what I'm happy to be a snob sometimes, because I tried a nice approach, I tried a rational approach. It goes over your head or you fall asleep on me, but if I get you agitated, that means I'm agitating your demons, and to me that's an achievement to me. Sometimes I don't need your approval, I don't. All right, and I'm sure dr josh could agree with me that all as well, and listen, that's, that's all I'm going to say. But besides me ranting about the emotional immaturity of people, I could go on for another hour on that because I could. I could, you know, I could write my own phd, my thesis on why, why humans are immature, and I'm sure I'll win a nobel peace prize.
Speaker 1:I'm sure I'm onto something with that. Um, yeah and it, and I took it for someone I forgot to listen to in a podcast. He said a lot of people are emotionally 8 to 12 years old. I said you know what? I perfectly agree with that, because he just asks a simple question.
Speaker 1:All day they get all wild up. You challenge their point of view just a little bit, they get wild up. They act as if you're killing them, as if you're killing them, as if you, as if you're cursing at them. They get violent. I don't know that's your problem, not mine. You know, and I'm sure you're dealt with those people too, that you you're just kind of trying to poke, you know, trying to help them grow, and some get real defensive and start lashing out, cursing you out and all the above and maybe even throwing stuff. Oh god forbid. But you know, certain people do that because you are, you are attacking. Well, you're only, yeah, you're pointing out something that they know, it's true, but instead of trying to face it, they rather defend it. So that's what I'm going to say. Yeah, anything else you want to add?
Speaker 2:before we switch up on that, I think it's difficult because, well, we can label it in many different ways. You can call it immaturity, whether it is emotional immaturity or otherwise. I think to add to that conversation is that it explains that any sort of human behavior outcome cannot be explained through one variable, and I'm not saying that that's what you or the former podcast that you're referring to was trying to do. But what ends up happening sometimes is people will listen to explanations for people's behaviors and they'll fixate on something that really kind of irks them or they believe was probably the underlying reason for that behavior. I think it's really helpful to remind ourselves that there's usually multi-variables, many variables that are at play when we talk about these human phenomenon, and I think one of those things that we don't think about very often is how people get high off of the feeling of being better than others. It's why there's a proper time and place for everything. So if you're doing a race, as an example, and you win or get close to winning or beat your score from before, it feels so good because you feel like you've elevated yourself, you are getting yourself to a place where you're achieving something, and if you have that sort of competitive mindset, it doesn't have to enter into everything you do, but for like a race or something, it's like, wow, okay, I did better in my age group than these people, and that same feeling carries over into things like religion. So if you feel that you're closer to God, your relationship, the way that you're behaving and making decisions in your life is much, much closer than perhaps a lot of other people in the world. That feels good. You actually feel superior, whether you realize it or not, and I think by acknowledging that and I'm not saying superiority or this feeling that I'm talking about is actually the reason why, why it's yet another one of those variables to add to the table. And I think it's important because anyone, no matter who you are, can get kind of stuck and wanting more of those hits so that you feel better about your decisions and you create sort of this like feedback loop for yourself where not too much else matters, because this is where you excel in life. And the more you feel those hits you know like a drug the harder it is to kind of come down away from that, because that's what you're building in your mind as your way of just navigating through the world, and so there's a, so there's a theory behind how to make yourself happy. There's many, but the one that I really like is called PERMA, and the reason why is because what we just discussed is the P in PERMA P-E-R-M-A.
Speaker 2:I won't go through the whole acronym because I don't want to take up your whole hour, but what I will say is that the P stands for positive emotion, and what we just talked about is positive emotion. But what I love about learning about positive emotion is that everyone has their own threshold when it comes to it. Whether it's because you're gaining positive emotion because you're in a religion that is making you feel that you're getting closer to God, or whether you're engaging in chocolate, eating some chocolate, there's only a matter of time and a threshold by which you have what's called diminishing returns For chocolates, and for me it's like after the third chocolate I'm kind of done, and if I do any more I'm probably going to get sick. In religion it's harder. It's not like three hits of religiosity and now you've reached your threshold.
Speaker 2:It's different, but I will say that people get engaged and spend a good portion of their lives trying to navigate through something like religiosity and feeling superior about it.
Speaker 2:It doesn't really make you happy above and beyond after a certain point in time, and then you start to feel like something's not right with your life, something's missing, and that's what I think is touching on what you said.
Speaker 2:You know what you're saying may not be 100% true, but you don't know how to do anything else or talk about anything else. And when you double down and get angry and upset because someone is attacking it, it's because you feel like you're actually losing yourself, because you've tied your entire identity to that very thing that you fought so long for. That's the threshold by which you cannot find any more happiness in that particular aspect. So, going back to PERBA, it is only one portion out of the five pieces of that acronym and by keeping that in mind, you know that religion by itself is not going to bring all the happiness that you need. You know that feeling superior over other human beings is not going to give you all the happiness that you need. You know that feeling superior over other human beings is not going to give you all the happiness that you need. It's only a slight portion of it.
Speaker 1:I'll be getting that listeners and I'm going to switch my topic to something. Well, let's just get the worst one out of the way. Let's get the political one out of the way. And you want to have fun with midterm predictions? Um for 2026, um, let's see. Well, the dems will be able to take the senate or the house, oh, the president. Well, so forth. That's locking the republicans for the next couple of years.
Speaker 1:For those of you who are democrats or would just hate trump, you just got to kind of deal with it, unless something crazy happens, god forbid. I don't like Trump. I don't want anything bad to happen to him either. Let's just be absolute. I want to be absolutely clear and be mature. Do I like Trump? No, but I don't want anything bad happen to him either. You know, hopefully he'll change. I'll put a big question mark on that one, but he seems to be doubled down on some of his insanity. So let's have fun while we're little predictions, and I'm not going to go on the state and local, because we both are in safe blue. I'm in New York. That's going to be blue for a while. Colorado is going to be blue for a while too, based on stuff I was able to study. But on the Congress, and since the House Republicans have the slimmest majority in history, will the Dems be able to take it back?
Speaker 2:I wish I had a crystal ball for real, and I wish that I had some sort of way of trying to figure out and coming very close to like a 95 to 99% accuracy rate in terms of what would happen in the midterms. I obviously don't know what will happen. I will tell you how I feel today, though, which is not too positive. I unfortunately feel that the Democrats and let me just be very clear, and it's been a while since we last talked and I am an independent, I do lean more Democratic. No-transcript that and when I vote, I do vote more Democratic, although I know we don't really need to talk about those details, but I'm just being super honest about who I am and the Republicans have taken hold of power for the most part right now. You're right about that slim slim majority, but they're not playing by the rules. That is very obvious, and that's what really kind of scares me and makes me think that it doesn't really matter what we think is going to happen. I think, at this point in time, we've seen that, now that they're in power, they more than likely will try to hold on to that power by any means necessary, even if it means not doing things that are legal, and so I love how there are people out there talking in a positive way, like I talked to my friends and they say I really think midterms are going to just turn the tables and the voters are going to show them. That might very well be the desire of our voters, but I don't think that's going to really matter. Unfortunately, and again, I don't know this for sure, so I don't have any insider knowledge and I do hope that I am wrong. But by all indications I trust when Republicans, especially those in the White House and the president, spews lies about our last election that it was rigged and stolen and those lies have not gone away. I trust and believe them when they say that they should have never left the White House the first time and that he will seek a third. I don't know what to call it now. There's no such thing as a third. You know time here in America.
Speaker 2:But if the Supreme Court is saying sorry, but you need to stop deporting individuals and you need to, you know you need to do this or that and the answer is like well, sorry, we're not going to do it or we're going to lie about it. It's already been done. We're going to flood the gates with all this other stuff. So people are confused, including myself. I mean, there's plenty of evidence out there from my perspective that shows that I don't think they're going to leave. So the fact that we have elections, the fact that things that we might want change as citizens of this United States of America that we live in now, I don't think it matters, because they don't care about what I say they.
Speaker 2:But I'm very pinpointed as to the people who are changing all of these laws or ignoring the constitution as an example and habeas corpus. This is evident to me. I mean, it's very clear that our rights, our thoughts, our desires are not what is imperative to them. They'll say that it is, but their actions show otherwise. So that's my doom and gloom, future thoughts about what will happen next year right, because that's when we have the midterms. I hope that doesn't happen. I just I don't think it's going to matter.
Speaker 1:Sorry, no, it's okay, I didn't ask for a crystal ball or insider information. I just want to get your perspective Right, right? So me? Normally I'll be the doom and gloom guy. I normally will agree, but I do see some. I see two different things are going to happen.
Speaker 1:My prediction is the Republicans will keep the Senate. I've checked the analysis and all that. I think they're going to keep the Senate. They might even take another seat. That's the doom part. The Senate, I think they got it on lock for the most part because only three Republicans out of 23 are vulnerable. And even if the Dems somehow fit those three, they still got that bare majority through J, through jd vance, so it's not going to matter that much.
Speaker 1:Um, and that's the best case scenario for democrats, based on they have to pull a miracle. You have to pull a miracle. I'm going to be honest. In the senate, the crown chiefs pull a miracle.
Speaker 1:The house representatives is where I see great opportunity for democrats to cause upset. 40 seats are competitive, 20 almost guaranteed to kind of flip not guaranteed, but they could flip. I see great potential for Democrats to take some seats there, flip that and start putting some blockage to Trump's legislation. Yeah, let him do all those executive orders. All you need is the Democrat president to take over and just undo them. I mean, yeah, I mean, democrats have to play defensive for this year, 2025. But 2026, this is your comeback opportunity, especially on the House representatives. I could see that Democrats could take the House and historical trends will prove that. Otherwise, for the most part, except for the Senate, the Senate is going to be an anomaly because I think Republicans are going to be able to keep the Senate. That's my mixed opinion on that. I do see there's a lot of buyer's remorse. I've never seen buyer's remorse this quickly under Trump. West Virginians just own him. So that's something interesting. Protests are bubbling in all 50 states. Doesn't matter red, blue, purple, they're bubbling. So I think there's an opportunity.
Speaker 1:The problem with the democrats and I'm going to really just say this real briefly organize, organize. Stop doing your little acts, and this is a good opportunity for you to flip it. Chuck schumer, well, it's a good thing. I lost faith in you years ago. I don't expect much out of you, but the Democrats, yeah, need to organize here. This is coming from an independent who has voted more in a moderate right recently because you're not doing your part? Do I still vote Democrats on some issues? Yeah, I vote for my local ones because they're good, they do the job, they actually see people, they know their job as a public servant, not a freaking fake celebrity, okay, so I keep those in. I'm a purple girl. I'm still a purple voter. I look by logos, purple, but Dems. Yeah, I need to change some of your messaging.
Speaker 1:Your messaging is your biggest problem. You need something clear. You need something that hits, gets straight to the point. This is where the Republicans have thrived in, even though they could be lies, even though it could be overly simplistic. But you know what it works.
Speaker 1:People gravitate towards simplicity, period. Don't have an overly nuanced message. You could take care of that once you win. Then you could debate the nuances and details. But you're campaigning. They give ads, they're simple, they grab your attention. Tap that strategy.
Speaker 1:That's all I can say for the Democrats and the Republicans. Don't brag because you got a very thin majority. Okay, and some of that, you're going to lose it. Not the Supreme Court. You got down lock, true Supreme Court. You got down lock for a lot of years to come, but not in the House, and that's's gonna be enough to disrupt um trump right there is. He gonna still have the senate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the only thing you could do that easily is just change your cabinet members, especially those who quit, or just curse you out or whatever. It might be a revolving door door thing again, but I don't know. I haven't seen that as much. I think that's. I gotta give trump a little credit for stability this time, because the first term it was people going in and out, in and out, people quit, retiring, firing I never see so much for the cabinet, but I guess he's improved on that. Um, he only got rid of one so far that I know of. I'm sure it's probably a few more, but there's only one. That that the media has talked about. But I'm not gonna go too deep into it.
Speaker 1:That's my prediction, is a mixed prediction. I got a mixed prediction. I think it's gonna be a lame duck congress again, and it it's going to need to be, because that means Trump's going to have to moderate. If you want something to pass through, dems are going to have to moderate some of your agenda to pass some things, pass stuff that I think is going to benefit the most American people. That's all I can say from there.
Speaker 1:That's my prediction of the midterms. Republicans keep the Senate. That's my prediction of the midterms. Republicans keep the Senate. Dems can take the House. That's my. Could I be wrong? Of course I'm having fun here, so if I'm wrong, feel free to yell. Call me dumb, I don't care, I'm just not going to respond to you. They'll say oh, that's nice, throw your own predictions, give your own predictions. That's something you can do. Give your own predictions. Give your own prediction. There you go. That's something you can do. Give your own predictions in the comment section. What do you think is going to happen? There you go. Will America end? I don't know. There you go. Give that. That's all I can say. I think it's going to be a mix. He's doing what he's doing. He thinks the republicans are going to be there for 100 plus years. But I'll be dramatic. He's not feeling optimistic about that. I understand there's reasons, but I don't know.
Speaker 2:I see two things at the same time, democracy needs to stay in place, and we're watching and witnessing democracy crumbling before our very eyes and I am not sure that the reality is really settling in on people, because we've been so embedded and we've been so privileged to be in a system that, for the most part, does work itself out, so that these swings that you talk about are natural swings that come with political um, the political landscape, and so when you're in a situation like this, by all indications of what's happened in the past, democrats will take the house, because that's usually what would happen there's a backlash. You know, and I just have this feeling we're not in the same, that things are not going to happen the way we think, because our constitution is being ripped up into shreds, the rule of law is not being followed, habeas corpus is thrown out the window for people. These are all facts, and so for us to go back to, well, things are just going to work itself out and pan out, just as we've seen in the past. I think I just don't see it and I hate being so negative, but I don't see any other way that until people in America start to wake up and say we can't live for this at all, I don't care who you are Republican, democrat, independent or otherwise that what's happening here is going to crumble America as we know it, and it's already happening. And to believe that I'm not saying you're saying this, elias.
Speaker 2:But I've come across a lot of other people, even my friends, who are behaving as if everything's going to be taken care of in the midterms and then we'll be on our way and things will be better, and maybe that'll happen, but maybe it won't. Maybe it'll be nothing like that, because what we're seeing now has never been done, at least for dozens of years, maybe not a hundred years or longer. None of us were alive during that time, so none of us have witnessed it, and so all we know is what we've been through before. And so it makes sense that we're having these conversations and a lot of people are looking toward and forward or looking for the midterms as like their happy place, like I can't wait. I mean, they're pouring a lot of substance into that. I hope I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:Like I said, Well, we'll see, right, only time will tell. That's why I say, yeah, okay, that's we get the doom and gloom of a whiff. Let's, let's definitely switch the topic down to something they this is a good one, taking a break from reality. Let's shift to that, shall we right? Yeah, there are ways that we could take a break from this very negative cycle. There you go, let me save this podcast before we we, you know, forecloses doomsday or something. I mean, we talked about this a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, music, exercise, meditate, um, you know, just go outside. I mean, it's nice weather. You know, we, you're itching closer to summer. Before you know, we're already there. I mean, officially speaking, even unofficially, it's starting. Let's just be real. In a lot of states, sometimes we start, so there's a reason for you to go out, smell, be with nature, or I don't know. Or if you're more of a couch potato video game, I'm a gamer, so I'm not gonna judge you. I'll be brutally honest. But that's what I'm doing now because it's nice weather. I mean, summer, I'm the most active, and, and fall, spring, uh, sort of winter, I'm lazy as hell. I'm just gonna be honest, I'm super lazy. But, um, what else are the other things that we could do to take break from this doom and gloom reality and ironically, there's a psychology expert that's going through it. That's not your. It should be the other way around Go ahead.
Speaker 2:No, I think, first off, there's a lot of times where human beings actually kind of gravitate towards happiness and well-being, without even understanding or knowing. It's something that we have as a natural way of looking at the world, and we're constantly looking at ways that we can get the most out of life. Now science comes in and helps us even more, because I'll go back to the PERMA motto P-E-R-M-A and the E is actually engagement engaging with the world and there's different ways that you could do that, and the science shows that one of the best ways to do that is by looking at what your value system is. And that can be hard for some people, because even for people like us, elias, that have lived for 30, 40 years on this earth, you ask so what are your values? It's kind of it's a tough question to answer, but when you can pinpoint what those values are and there are assessments out there, validated assessments, that can help you to hone in on what those values are there can be dozens of them you, and there are assessments out there, validated assessments, that can help you to hone in on what those values are. There can be dozens of them. You could look at it as your top five.
Speaker 2:But the point being I'll give you my top it's the appreciation of beauty and excellence. So there's only a short amount of time that goes by where, if I haven't come across something that I feel is beautiful and excellent and of course I get to define what that is but if I haven't been surrounded by that sort of thing, I start to feel like something's off, something's not right. And for me, here in Colorado and Denver specifically, there are a lot of opportunities to go outside, to the parks, to the mountains and see some really, really beautiful places, and I find that awe-inspiring, because that's what's underlying the value of beauty and excellence. It is this understanding of what awe can bring. And you could be awe-inspired by God, right, you could be awe-inspired by your friend. You could be awe-inspired by a podcast that really touches base on things. But what's happening there is engagement. You're being more engaged in something, whether it be in the workplace or at home, because it resonates with your values, and that's important. So finding additional ways to do that is really fruitful for you. Now, if you don't know what your values are, I would say you know.
Speaker 2:This escapism that we're really talking about today is important, especially in this day and age. I just went from this whole doom and gloom thing and I truly do feel that way. But if I stay there for too long, I become the doom and gloom. I think it was Nietzsche who had come up with that. I don't know the exact words, but it was something like if you look into the abyss long enough, then you become it. I believe that, and the science backs that up as well.
Speaker 2:If you start to feel depressed and this is not clinical depression, so that's different If you're feeling depressed for more than two weeks or so, then you should go see a clinician. But if you're feeling depressed like for a few hours, there are things that can bring you out of that depression, right. Or you can choose to stay there and anyone that's felt that way. It's so easy just to lay down, pull the covers over your head and just be like no, I don't want to deal with the world. You're not really helping yourself because you're just staying to that dark cloud, and sometimes people need that so you can process whatever it is. But eventually this is the same thing with the news cycle, right? So you expose yourself to a news cycle that really puts you at odds with the world, and if you identify with a specific community, you may not even want to go out again, because you see that horrible things are happening in the world, with violence and whatnot. At some point, though, you have to shake yourself out of that, and if you can't lead the house to your point earlier, it's like well, what can I do? What are some ways that I can bring more laughter and lightness into my own world? And that's extremely important, especially in this day and age, because without that, it becomes so, so easy just to stay in the darkness and the cloudiness of what the world is offering at this moment in time.
Speaker 2:The last thing I'll mention about it is there's a good reason why we gravitate more towards negativity than positivity generally speaking, and the reason why is all of our brains are built in such a way to really hone in on and concentrate more on the things that are possible threats to us, and sometimes they're not threats at all, but our brains are kind of like picking it up as a threat, and so that's something that's worth sorting out, understanding and thinking about some more. So when you feel threatened from the world, are you really threatened? Like we had talked about the whole bathroom thing we don't need to get into again and trans individuals and feeling threatened towards a specific person. I use the example of a woman in a hijab who I know very little about because I haven't been exposed to that in my life, and so as soon as I see a person like that, I know that the only thing I can go by are the stereotypes that I've been given through mass media and otherwise that I hold within myself. And the only way to get beyond that is to really take an active stance to try to get through that negativity. It's the same thing with anything else in life.
Speaker 2:If you keep feeding yourself, you know, whatever it is, whether it's the news cycle or otherwise.
Speaker 2:You need to actively try to counterbalance that, and it's not going to be easy, because it's much easier in the brain to hold those negative things because our brain is trying to save us, our brain is trying to protect us from being harmed, and so once you understand that, it doesn't feel like so much of a fight, because how can you hate the side of you that's actually trying to protect you?
Speaker 2:Instead, you could try to help if you want to separate yourself into these two kind of sides and the side that wants to kind of drag you down and be against the world and we need to fight, and all this kind of stuff. Just coming with some loving kindness is like oh get why I'm acting this way, I get why I'm looking at the world or this group of people, uh, a certain way. And so now I know I need to be active, I need to consciously try to seek out the things that are going to make me happy, excited, laugh, all those things. And the more you do it and the more you seek it out, the easier it becomes. And so that's the power of psychology. That's why I love it so much.
Speaker 1:And let me just use my little historical hat. This is why we still exist, right, because how our brain operates I mean, there's this quote and it's such a profound one you know, what tends to be a solution eventually becomes a problem. And that applies here because you know, because we are, because what the brain is, what could be possibly threatening whatever. I mean, we live in a modern world. It's very different from prehistoric times where there's big mammoths trying to kill, so it kills with a big hairy bus, just cushion does right, that that's appropriate response for the brain.
Speaker 1:But since we still carry those cavemen, the air thought tendencies for time, it becomes problematic in the modern world unless you know, unless you live. You know, unless you go to live with a tribal. You know tribal people, oh, it's perfectly valid. You know the the brain is doing its job perfectly well. But you know something that has been a solution for a long time eventually becomes a problem, and I think I'm just gonna leave it at that. That's my little history brain, yeah, just coming in there. And this is why we still exist, ironically, yeah, yeah this is why we still exist, ironically, yeah, yeah, this is why we still exist.
Speaker 1:It wasn't for that, oh happy, you know, happy-go-lucky oh we would have been wiped out, right, yeah, meteors coming down, big creatures killing us, you know, we had the happy-go-lucky attitude, it's going to be okay, that one's gone.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's okay. No, we would have been wiped. This podcast will never happen. None of this conversation will never happen, okay, so let's think that protective brain. All right, that's all I'm going to say about that. I wish I got a lot more, but we are a bit in a time crunch now for something a little definitely more positive for our guests here. He is on a Broadway like production. I'm not sure he got the main role based. My impression is no, based on the posts. Tell us a little bit about, if you happen to, if you're going to colorado, especially time in august, because this production runs most of august, right, or you're in native colorado, you know whatever the heck your term is. If you're a native colorado resident, go check out his play. Just feel free to spill a little bit of tea about what what you're doing in um august?
Speaker 2:well, absolutely, thank you for the opportunity. So here in Colorado there is no Broadway, there's no off-Broadway, it's just theater. And I'm actually doing a production for a community theater that's in a city called Conifer, which is towards the west, near the mountains, away from Denver, but the play is actually one of the most produced plays or was these last few years and the last I saw on the internet and it's called the Play that Goes Wrong. It is a hilarious play and I actually play the role of the butler, so I guess you could consider that more of a supporting role, but part of the ensemble that really comes together for a lot of hearty laughs. And so, like you said, yes, it runs in August.
Speaker 2:If you are in the Colorado area, denver or otherwise, conifer is maybe about half an hour west of Denver, so not far at all, and I would love to see you folks. If you're able to make it, reach out. My contact information hasn't changed since we last chatted and, yeah, I just think it's one of those examples whether you're in the denver area or colorado or not, find out the times, carve out the time for yourself to be able to explore your city, the outdoors, local theater, whatever it is that gives you that boost of happiness, pleasure, laughter, whatever it is that you need, because it is so, so important. I hope you get that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean for every other state except for New York. Yeah, it's theater. You see, I'm trying to be nice here. Add a little New York pizzazz to it, even though technically it's not accurate. Let's just be honest. But yeah, it's theater. Come on. So support local theater. You know, if you hate the overly expensive Broadway, trust me, it's expensive. I've been to a couple of them. Oh my God, they are expensive. I would say they're worth it, but they are expensive. This one, I doubt, is going to be expensive. And you're supporting a local community. Come on, give some support to locals. Stop being obsessed with the news. Okay, this is another tool here. Support the local theater. Okay, do something positive. Okay, this is another possible solution right here, especially if you're a deer fan.
Speaker 1:And look, even though he's going to have the supporting role, let's just hope he knocks it out of the park so he can go overshadow the main character. Look at that. I'm trying to show you already. I never cheer for the main character. I'm kind of an asshole like that. I just never do. I'm just. I said no, you force me to like the main character. I would have forced it. So sometimes some of the support characters are the best. That's just my honest opinion. A little provocative, hey, you know who never know you could be the sassy mouth butler that provides wisdom or comic relief. I don't know, I'm just I'm now, I'm just spewing stuff, you know. So just because he has support role, that doesn't mean it's gonna be a bad role. There's ways to elevate it.
Speaker 1:Okay, sometimes I like to support character more than the main character. That's just me. I'm putting my bias proudly. Okay, I'm probably putting my bias and I and I'm very unapologetic about it. All right. Um, yeah, forget about the main character, because the main character is not a guest of this podcast. If it was a podcast, that's a big. Maybe. Maybe I'll be a little nice about it, but most of the main characters tend to be overrated and boring. Anyways, sometimes I like the anti. I like the anti, you know, the one who goes against the societies and their status quo. That's just me. That's just me. That's the liberal part of me. Disrupt the status quo with no arms.
Speaker 1:That's just me Alright, enough yammering. The only thing different is I'm just going to put that post that leads to that play. Support it, but all his context is going to be in the description of the episode. That's all I'm going to say about that. Anything else you want to add before I wrap this up?
Speaker 2:just thank you again for your time and what you do. I do appreciate it and it was a thrill and a pleasure to be on your podcast again, thanks, no, no problem.
Speaker 1:No, you use great, great insight. Trust me, I I learned too, so so I was like, yeah, I I gotta get, I gotta get you back. Um, so you know, you provide great value for the host and well and and slash old audience, because sometimes I kind of do executive decision and override the populace's option. Yeah, kind of kind of Donald Trump, like I know hypocritical I know sue me whatever.
Speaker 1:But um, hey, you, you'll thank me later, Once you get wiser and stop drinking your emotional Kool-Aid yes, I'm doubling down the emotional immaturity thing, Anyways. So this audio journey, or visual journey, has been completed. So whenever you're done listening to this podcast, you have a blessed day, afternoon or night.
