Dive into the thrill of intensity, where skydiving meets philosophical ponderings! The hosts explore how adrenaline-inducing experiences shape identity and cultural norms, drawing from Aristotle and modern thinkers. They examine the dual nature of intensity, balancing attraction and fear, and reflect on its role in our emotional lives. The discussion ventures into accelerationism, suggesting that intensifying capitalism could drive transformative change. Both exhilarating and thought-provoking, this conversation challenges conventional views on the nature of human experience.
58:48
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
The podcast explores how intensity shapes emotional and physical experiences, highlighting the profound reactions tied to activities like skydiving.
Aristotle's concept of intensity emphasizes qualitative changes in characteristics that challenge traditional quantification, providing a philosophical framework for understanding intensity.
Intensity's cultural appropriation reveals its political implications, where both left and right envision drastically different futures shaped by the same philosophical ideas.
Deep dives
Experiencing Adrenaline: The Thrill of Skydiving
Skydiving can evoke intense physical and emotional reactions, such as increased heart rate, adrenaline rush, and a sense of danger. The experience of jumping out of a plane triggers unique bodily sensations, including vertigo and a feeling of weightlessness, which many find difficult to describe. It highlights the profound emotional and physical responses evoked by engaging in activities that push personal boundaries. The discussion revolves around the subjective nature of these feelings, raising questions about how we quantify or explain such intense experiences.
Aristotle's Concept of Change: Intensity vs. Measurement
Aristotle's exploration of change introduces the distinction between quantitative changes like growth and an elusive type known as 'more or less', which refers to changes of intensity rather than size. For Aristotle, intensity relates to qualitative changes in characteristics such as color or emotions without an increase or decrease in the quantity of the object itself. This distinction lays the groundwork for a philosophical discourse around intensity, which has been debated for centuries. It emphasizes the need to recognize qualities and experiences that cannot easily be measured or quantified.
Tristan Garcia: Intensity as a Modern Ideal
Tristan Garcia's work suggests that contemporary society has become obsessed with the idea of intensity, both in experiences and in people. This cultural shift positions being 'intense' as a moral ideal, encouraging individuals to embody intense qualities in their lives. Such an ideal raises implications for how society perceives and values personal experiences, where intensity ranges from positive to negative interpretations depending on context. The popularity of experiences like Burning Man exemplifies this pursuit of intensity that defines modern social interactions.
Bergson and the Nature of Consciousness
French philosopher Henri Bergson emphasizes that consciousness should be understood through the lens of intensity rather than mere measurement. He argues that conventional thinking about time and consciousness often reduces experiences to spatial terms, leading to a misunderstanding of their true nature. By recognizing the qualitative multiplicity of emotional and psychic states, Bergson invites a reevaluation of how we experience and interpret our inner lives. This focus on intensity provides a richer understanding of consciousness that resists oversimplification.
The Duality of Intensity: Accelerationism in Politics
The concept of intensity has been appropriated into both left-wing and right-wing accelerationist ideologies, highlighting its political implications. Left-wing accelerationists argue for the intensification of capitalist processes to hasten their collapse, while right-wing proponents envision a future where capitalism transcends human limitations. The duality of intensity signifies how the same philosophical ideas can be twisted to advocate for drastically opposing socio-political agendas. This demonstrates the complexity of philosophical concepts and their capacity for divergent interpretations and applications.
What do skydiving, guitar-playing teenagers, and deep-seated psychic states have in common? They're all intense! In episode 110 of Overthink, Ellie and David untangle the role of intensity in shaping our aspirations, cultural tropes, and political goals. They trace the concept’s history from its tricky roots in Aristotle's theory of change, passing through medieval science and princely romanticism, to the thrills of skydiving and breathwork today. They turn to Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze’s accounts of consciousness and emotion to explore how intensity looks beyond the scientistic impulse to categorize and quantify, and question if intensity is of any help in addressing capitalist acceleration today.
Works Discussed Aristotle, Categories Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Life Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Gustav Theodor Fechner, Elements of Psychophysics Tristan Garcia, The Life Intense: A Modern Obsession Mary Beth Mader, “Whence Intensity? Deleuze and the Revival of a Concept” Benjamin Noys, The Persistence of the Negative Nick Srnicek & Alex Williams, “#Accelerate: Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics” The Bachelorette Inside Out 2 (2024)
