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PODCAST

Beautiful Illusions

Darron Vigliotti, Jeffrey Horton

Jeff & Darron ponder the intersection of reality, consciousness, and culture. These conversations comprise an ongoing attempt to construct meaning by exploring art and science, developing understanding of the context underpinning our current moment in time, and imagining possible futures for human civilization. No expertise here, just two guys who enjoy learning, thinking, and talking about big ideas, deep questions, and the “beautiful illusion” that is the subjective human experience. *New episodes

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

01:06:06

EP 19 - How We Learn Like A Scout: Critically...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/10/03

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:15 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 18 - Making Progress Better from September 20218:36 - AP English Language and Composition (College Board)12:23 - The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef12:26 - How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine...for Now by Stanislas Dehaene12:53 - See an

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01:05:18

EP 18 - Making Progress Better

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/09/05

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:12 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 17 - BI Book Club 1: The Reality Bubble from July 2021, where we discuss Ziya Tong’s 2019 book The Reality Bubble4:07 - Published in 1739, book 3 of philosopher David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, “Of Morals”, articulates what has come to be known as the “is-ought problem” which arises when someone makes

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01:09:06

EP 17 - BI Book Club 1: THE REALITY BUBBLE

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/08/01

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:23 - Listen to Mindscape Episode 133: Ziya Tong on Realities We Don’t See for an overview and discussion of ideas Tong presents in her 2019 book The Reality Bubble4:36 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 04 - Too Cultured from October 20206:10 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 01 - Why It’s Pointless to Start a Podcast In a Pandemic from

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01:11:43

EP 16 - Partisan Pizza

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/07/04

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:12 - The “Big Mac” pizza is one of of many “Gourmet Pizzas” served at Illiano’s Pizza & Italian Cuisine in Middletown, CT3:45 - See “The Definitive Guide to New Haven Pizza”, the “New Haven-style pizza” Wikipedia entry, and the website for Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana4:05 - I’m currently using Andrew Janigan’s updated version for NYC Thin-Crust

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01:14:16

EP 15 - The Mind of Gatsby: A Look Through the...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/06/06

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:00 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 12 - “A New Enlightenment: The Age of Cognitivism” from March 20212:09 - See Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett and Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aaronson2:30 - See the “Literary

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01:06:09

EP 14 - Talkin' Baseball Stories & Beautiful Illusions

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/05/02

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:19 - The Yankees beat the Indians 1-0 in Game 3 of the 2017 American League Division Series, see “2017 American League Division Series (ALDS) Game 3, Indians at Yankees” (Baseball Reference) and 2017 ALDS Game 3 Highlights3:25 - Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Box Score, August 2, 20193:34 - Yankee Stadium3:36 - We always park at the Harlem River

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01:24:02

EP 13 - What We Talk About When We Talk About...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/04/04

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:10 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 06 - “What We Talk About When We Talk About Politics”3:07 - See “U.S. Media Polarization and the 2020 Election: A Nation Divided” (Pew Research Center, 2020)3:45 - See “American News Pathways Project,” “How Americans Navigated the News in 2020: A Tumultuous Year in Review,” and “Misinformation and competing

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01:03:55

EP 12 - A New Enlightenment: The Age of Cognitivism

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/03/07

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:07 - See “Literary Periods, Movements, and History” (The Literature Network)5:10 - See “What is Enlightenment?” by Immanuel Kant - “Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding

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01:15:00

EP 11 - Darwin & The Dude: Darron's Journey to Poetic...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/02/07

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:41 - The Darwin Fish2:59 - “...you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone” (BobDylan.com) from “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (YouTube video)3:18 - See “What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution” (LiveScience, 2018) and “Darwin and His Theory of Evolution” (Pew Research Center)7:23 - Charles Darwin10:33 - See “Darwin on a Godless Creation:

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01:02:16

EP 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/01/03

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:05 - Treehouse Brewing Company2:30 - The Brewers Association trade group, which represents the majority of American Brewing companies, defines an American craft brewer as a small, independent brewer with an annual production of 6 million barrels or less, which represents roughly 3% of annual American beer production. Although the vast majority

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01:01:34

EP 09 - Lying About Santa: Naughty or Nice?

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/12/20

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode*A note about the audio in this episode - due to COVID this conversation was recorded in a large garage on a brisk 40 degree November Sunday, so there’s a bit of natural reverb, along with the buzz of propane heaters and leaf blowers audible in the background. Like so many things over the past 9 months, it’s not optimal, but we make the best of a challenging situation,

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00:48:57

EP 08 - System 2, Superman, & Simulacra: Jeff's...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/12/06

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:03 - Existentialism entry from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) and Existentialism: Crash Course Philosophy #16 (YouTube video)2:20 - Atheism (IEP)6:07 - The Quran, The Book of Mormon, The Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Daoism10:41 - The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow14:46 - Subliminal: How Your Unconscious

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00:52:42

EP 07 - Boxing Aristotle

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/11/22

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:00 - See the Ten Year Reading Plan from The Great Conversation Reading Group3:07 - A Game of Thrones Novel & HBO TV Series 4:34 - Bo Knows Bo, No Direction Home, On The Road5:58 - See “Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound.”7:55 - See The Republic by Plato, Ethics by Aristotle, and Politics by Aristotle8:41 - See System I

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01:00:56

EP 06 - What We Talk About When We Talk About Politics

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/11/08

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:5:53 - See “This is why you get worked up about politics, according to science” (CNN, 2017)7:58 - Difficult Conversations by by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen11:04 - “According to Peter Ditto, a psychology professor and researcher who studies motivated reasoning and what he refers to as “hot cognition” - the interface between passion and

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01:02:49

EP 05 - It's Alive!

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/10/25

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:15 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Wikipedia entry on Frankenstein)2:25 - Google image search for Frankenstein (and for Herman Munster)4:20 - The movie The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was the sequel to Frankenstein (1931), and featured Boris Karloff in the now iconic depiction of Frankenstein’s Monster 6:04 - See “Frankenstein Reflects the Hopes

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00:45:29

EP 04 - Too Cultured

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/10/11

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:00 - Context with Brad Harris podcast episode “The Two Cultures, by C.P. Snow” from November, 20182:06 - “The Two Cultures” by C.P. Snow3:16 - “What is Science?”3:34 - History of Science4:45 - Snow gave the Rede Lecture at the University of Cambridge in 1959 - “The Rede Lecture”, named for Sir Robert Rede, an English judge who provided an annual

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00:52:30

EP 03 - The Examined Life

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/09/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:The Art of Manliness Podcast episode #430 “Why You Need to Join the Great Conversation About the Great Books”Ten Year Great Books Reading Plan“Apology” and “Crito” by PlatoThe Art of Manliness Podcast episode #587 “How to Get More Pleasure and Fulfillment From Your Reading”“The unexamined life is not worth living” “I know that I know nothing”“Of 2

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01:01:56

EP 02 - Our Back Pages

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/09/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:Bob Dylan lyrics by song titleNo Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan by Robert Shelton“I Want You” from Dylan and The Grateful Dead’s 7/4/87 show in Foxboro, MA - not the exact version on the album (in terms of Dylan’s enunciation it’s actually better), but you get the idea.“I Want You” from Bob Dylan’s 1966 masterpiece Blonde on

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00:55:56

EP 01 - Why It's Pointless to Start a Podcast in a...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/09/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References: “No one can opt out of this pandemic. And that will change us forever.” by Alissa Wilkinson published by Vox on April 13, 2020:“The Pre-pandemic Universe Was the Fiction” by Charles Yu published by The Atlantic on April 15, 2020This episode was recorded in August 2020The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and

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00:10:04

EP 00 - Introducing Beautiful Illusions

Beautiful Illusions ·

2020/09/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:1:46 - Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of the Overman (Superman, or Ubermensch) as presented in the prologue of Thus Spake Zarathustra: “I TEACH YOU THE SUPERMAN. Man is something that is to be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass man? All beings hitherto have created something beyond themselves: and ye want to be the ebb of that great tide, and would

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