The Tim Ferriss Show

Stephen West is a father, husband, and host of the Philosophize This! podcast.

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Timestamps:

[00:00:00] So it begins.

[00:06:11] Stephens challenging childhood from San Diego to Child Protective Services.

[00:07:55] How Stephen supported himself after dropping out of school at 16.

[00:09:37] The physical wear and tear of warehouse work (and unexpected upsides of the job).

[00:11:48] How Stephen discovered philosophy through googling wisest person in history.

[00:14:07] Defining philosophy as a disruption of common sense and gym for rethinking.

[00:16:06] The 4-Hour Workweek as a philosophical text.

[00:19:27] A philosophical shift around Ralph Waldo Emerson.

[00:22:18] The transition from warehouse work to starting Philosophize This! with friendly encouragement.

[00:27:47] Authenticity as the secret sauce to Philosophize This!

[00:32:24] The discomfort of comparing old episodes with new.

[00:34:15] The current state of Philosophize This!: 225 episodes, Patreon, ads, upcoming book deal.

[00:37:18] The value of focusing on content quality before monetization.

[00:38:44] Most popular Philosophize This! episodes thus far.

[00:40:00] Philosophize This! episodes Id like to hear.

[00:41:20] Thinking of philosophy as a verb, not a noun.

[00:46:44] The concept of amor fati (love of fate) and its practical application.

[00:48:41] Wittgensteins ladder as a metaphor for philosophical growth.

[00:51:36] Stephens perspective on philosophy as a process rather than a set of protocols.

[00:54:43] Philosophies that have personal meaning to Stephen: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil.

[00:56:40] Simone Weils concept of attention and self-emptying.

[00:59:26] Stephens approach to simplicity and sacrificing efficiency for meaning.

[01:04:07] Valuing time and playing the long game.

[01:06:01] How philosophy lives in the shadow of what we give credit to (science, psychology).

[01:08:31] The value of philosophy in generating better questions.

[01:10:06] Stephens future plans: possibly writing philosophical fiction.

[01:19:05] Stephens billboard.

[01:21:41] Recommendations for getting started with philosophy.

[01:24:29] Gilles Deleuze and concepts as machines.

[01:26:55] Why do we believe what we believe?

[01:30:40] Stephens evolving relationship with religion after starting as a New Atheist.

[01:32:33] Exploring mysticism and religious phenomenology.

[01:37:51] Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Bren Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Mat, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a special inbetweenisode, which serves as a recap of the episodes from last month. It features a short clip from each conversation in one place so you can easily jump around to get a feel for the episode and guest.

Based on your feedback, this format has been tweaked and improved since the first recap episode. For instance, listeners suggested that the bios for each guest can slow the momentum, so we moved all the bios to the end. 

See it as a teaser. Something to whet your appetite. If you like what you hear, you can of course find the full episodes at tim.blog/podcast. 

Please enjoy! 

This episode is brought to you by 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter.

Timestamps:

Craig Mod: 03:16

Ev Williams: 13:49

Richard Taylor: 23:57

Full episode titles:

Craig Mod The Real Japan, Cheap Apartments in Tokyo, Productive Side Quests, Creative Retreats, Buying Future Freedom, and Being Possessed by Spirits

Ev Williams The Art of Pivoting (e.g., Odeo to Twitter), Strategic Quitting, The Dangers of Premature Scaling, Must-Read Books, and More

Richard Taylor and Greg Broadmore, Wt Workshop Untapping Creativity, Stories from The Lord of the Rings, The Magic of New Zealand, Four Tenets to Live By, and The Only Sentence of Self-Help You Need

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rich Barton is the co-founder and co-executive chairman of Zillow, a company transforming how people buy, sell, rent, and finance homes. Before Zillow, Rich founded Expedia within Microsoft in 1994 and successfully spun the company off as a public company in 1999. He served as president, CEO, and board director of Expedia and later co-founded and served as non-executive chairman of Glassdoor.

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Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Start.

[00:05:30] Eddy Cue magic.

[00:06:14] Rich’s morning routine and workout philosophy.

[00:13:38] How Brad Chase at Microsoft taught Rich to swing big.

[00:15:46] The failed DOS for Dummies book bundle project.

[00:18:52] Steering a company toward a culture of innovation.

[00:20:26] Rich’s journey from management consulting to Microsoft.

[00:24:34] How Expedia came to be.

[00:32:32] Pitching and recruiting team talent.

[00:37:18] Degree design at Stanford.

[00:39:45] Realizing the value of real work as a youth.

[00:41:44] A fascination with Italy.

[00:43:01] Selling Expedia to Barry Diller/IAC.

[00:43:51] Dara Khosrowshahi’s role in Expedia’s acquisition.

[00:45:23] From a post-Expedia sale sabbatical in Italy to the birth of Zillow with Lloyd Frink.

[00:55:41] “Big pond, good fishermen” as business criteria.

[00:56:50] Early Zillow mistakes.

[01:00:05] The Zestimate: Zillow’s killer feature.

[01:01:29] Making lemonade from the lemons of Zillow’s launch day server crash.

[01:03:49] Rich’s provocation marketing playbook.

[01:05:30] Regulatory battles and resistance to industry disruption.

[01:10:44] Founding Glassdoor and its “give to get” data collection model.

[01:12:58] Avvo and rating attorneys — legal challenges as marketing.

[01:16:11] Digital marketplaces and Google disintermediation concerns.

[01:19:52] How Rich names companies to be memorable.

[01:25:28] Why Rich recommends leaving fear out of the provocation marketing equation.

[01:26:48] Working with Benchmark Capital.

[01:30:37] What serving on a board looks like and Rich’s membership criteria: “Is it local? Is it fun? Is it lucrative?”

[01:39:00] Rich’s motivation and regimen for staying healthy in his 50s.

[01:47:13] Cultivating leadership through absence — the two-week disconnected trip.

[01:49:34] Building a good company by keeping good company.

[01:51:42] Developing the skill to fire people as a win/win proposition.

[01:54:41] Rich’s family tattoo design and symbolism.

[01:57:29] Advice for balancing family and professional life.

[02:01:08] The benefits of distributed workforces post-pandemic.

[02:03:23] Recommended reading.

[02:12:17] Rich’s billboard.

[02:14:25] The importance of sabbaticals and disconnecting from digital devices.

[02:17:41] Taking up Procreate digital art during COVID.

[02:19:05] Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss 

Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss

YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss

Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss

Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Philip Goff is a professor of philosophy at Durham University. His main research focus is consciousness, but he is interested in many questions about the nature of reality. He is most known for defending panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the physical world. He is the author of Galileo's Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness and Why? The Purpose of the Universe.

This episode is brought to you by:

Our Place's Titanium Always Pan® Pro using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals”: https://fromourplace.com/tim (Get 10% off today!)

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Connect with Philip Goff:

https://philipgoffphilosophy.com/

https://x.com/Philip_Goff/

https://bsky.app/profile/philipgoff.bsky.social

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Start.

[00:06:24] What is panpsychism?

[00:11:19] Common misunderstandings about panpsychism.

[00:16:08] Roger Penrose and quantum consciousness.

[00:17:26] Gödel’s incompleteness theorem.

[00:19:22] The challenges of scientific consensus on consciousness.

[00:21:35] Integrated Information Theory (IIT).

[00:27:17] What early quantum pioneers like Max Planck and Niels Bohr thought about consciousness.

[00:33:15] Defining consciousness and qualia.

[00:35:41] Galileo’s Error: How science removed consciousness from study.

[00:41:03] Materialist vs. panpsychist.

[00:43:30] The neuroanatomical seat of consciousness debate.

[00:45:41] Scientific challenges around the public observation of consciousness.

[00:50:35] Exploring potential payoffs and ethical considerations of figuring out consciousness.

[00:57:01] How virtual reality reminded Philip to appreciate ordinary reality.

[01:00:31] Bertrand Russell and William James as philosophical heroes.

[01:02:05] Science seems mum on the matter of matter.

[01:06:53] William James and mystical experiences.

[01:09:20] Philip’s journey as a “heretical Christian.”

[01:19:23] Why Philip left Christianity at age 14.

[01:20:20] Rediscovering mystical traditions within Christianity.

[01:31:41] Karen Armstrong on the modern corruption of religious belief.

[01:33:56] Is true belief a prerequisite for building a community through religion and enjoying its therapeutic benefits?

[01:48:40] Psychedelics and numinous experiences.

[01:51:36] Sufism and mystical poetry.

[01:56:10] Renaming traditional religious terms for broader accessibility.

[02:01:09] The potential resurgence of religion and new spiritual movements.

[02:05:42] Philip’s billboard.

[02:08:36] Parting thoughts.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Robert Rodriguez is a film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, and composer. Rodriguez has written, produced, directed, and edited a series of successful films including El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frank Miller’s Sin City, and many more. Robert recently launched Brass Knuckle Films, an investable action film slate.

This episode is brought to you by:

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Terms & Conditions apply. APY as of 12/27/24 and is subject to change. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage, LLC for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.

*

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Start.

[00:08:19] Recounting what’s happened in the 10 years since Robert’s last appearance on the show.

[00:11:23] The freedom of limitations.

[00:14:08] Fruit-bearing “failures.”

[00:16:09] How Robert stumbled onto his own brand of counterintuitive parenting.

[00:18:42] How fan investing for Brass Knuckle Films works.

[00:23:59] How to effectively pitch a movie idea.

[00:26:55] The time to start your art is now. Aim high.

[00:33:00] The value of learning by doing.

[00:43:31] The power of labels to elevate or diminish our ambitions.

[00:47:51] Why lack of access is a myth.

[00:49:08] No human doubts — when not knowing is half the battle.

[00:54:25] Fear forward past the confines of the comfort zone.

[00:59:02] Interactions with the enigmatic Rick Rubin.

[01:01:53] Harnessing the creative spirit: action first, inspiration second.

[01:07:00] Living is reliving: why Robert wants you to start journaling.

[01:15:38] “Don’t just parent. Partner.”

[01:22:47] In defense of what some call nepotism.

[01:28:27] Why the double R naming scheme in the Rodriguez household?

[01:30:04] Tribe talk.

[01:33:38] Robert’s favorite exercise-related life hack: the rock walk.

[01:36:15] Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss 

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.