Video summary
In this episode of *Crushing a Tuesday*, host Alex O'Connor interviews Cosmic Skeptic, who reflects on his transition from daily vlogging to becoming a prominent critic and debater regarding religion. The guest explains that while he initially approached religious topics with the intent to debunk them and convince listeners that God does not exist—a stance he felt was necessary for spiritual autonomy—he has recently shifted his approach due to concerns about leaving people feeling nihilistic after dismantling their worldview. He now focuses more on affirmative explorations, such as deep dives into Gnostic gospels and biblical scholarship, acknowledging the difficulty of addressing existential crises like loss of purpose without offering a constructive alternative. This evolution marks a move away from confident atheism toward agnosticism, allowing him to respect the validity of feelings like awe or gratitude that often lead people back to religious sentimentality, such as feeling spiritual on an airplane ride. The conversation delves into the nature of faith and the challenges inherent in "trying" another religion without genuine belief. Cosmic Skeptic draws a parallel between asking someone to live as a Christian for seven days versus living as a Muslim; he argues that one cannot truly test a worldview like Christianity by merely performing external actions, such as selling possessions or fasting, because these acts require an internal conviction of truth first. He cites the biblical story of the rich man who left Jesus with a saddened heart to illustrate that adopting Christian philosophy demands significant personal sacrifice and moral transformation, particularly for those proud or wealthy. Consequently, he posits that Christianity has not been "tried and found wanting" but rather "found difficult," noting that certain theological commitments, like denying the divinity of Jesus, make it impossible for a believer in Christ to genuinely test Islam's core tenets as a trial run. A significant portion of the discussion addresses the epistemological standards required for belief, using an analogy involving musician Jacob Collier and composer John Cage. The guest questions what praying felt like to Augustine or how God would appear to someone with deep musical insight, suggesting that while specialized knowledge offers unique depth, it does not necessarily make a concept inaccessible to others who might enjoy the experience more simply. He critiques the common online tendency toward rudimentary objections against religion and equally simplistic arguments for its existence, such as looking at trees. Instead of expecting God to be found at the bottom of every text or argument he examines, he admits that while his skepticism has lessened slightly over five years since a speech in Boston, nothing yet convinces him definitively of God's existence. He maintains high bars for certainty and prefers entering debates with an open mind, hoping the other person can convince him rather than attempting to prove them wrong immediately. Throughout the interview, Cosmic Skeptic emphasizes that trust is paramount when engaging with such profound topics, a sentiment he repeats as a mantra regarding life in general. He contrasts his current content strategy with earlier episodes where he felt less satisfied, noting that genuine excitement before and after recording serves as the best metric for a successful episode. This enthusiasm stems from treating guests like friends rather than adversaries, allowing for natural banter about mundane topics like buying Max charges or floating in saltwater tanks alongside serious philosophical discourse. Ultimately, the dialogue underscores the importance of unceremonial effectiveness—finding satisfaction in crushing average Tuesdays through consistent effort and thoughtful engagement—rather than optimizing only for magnificent moments. The episode concludes with a reflection on how blending friendship, humor, and deep inquiry creates an environment where complex ideas about faith, doubt, and purpose can be explored without judgment or forced conversion.
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trust really is
everything God damn it I really like the
idea of crushing a Tuesday you shouldn't
be optimizing to be effective on one
magnificent perfect needle thread of a
day but you should be able to have it so
that your average Tuesday just gets
crushed
so I'm about to record with Alex okono
Cosmic
skeptic he been on the
show four times
before open the door
Alex how are you did you Vlog I was a
daily vlogger for a time were you really
what did you Vlog about I vlogged about
you know my really exciting life at the
time of like going and buying Max
charges had to delete all the videos
because I realized that I just gave away
where I lived where I studied mother's
address all of that yeah the bus route
that I took you know all of it was just
sort of for the world to see is this is
cool to see this place man I've seen it
so many we been here before no never
this is interesting i t it sort of feels
like I'm drinking the Dead Sea or
something one of those flotation tanks M
you tried a flotation tank I did yeah
how' you get on
um I was really bored for an hour I was
just I was just naked and bored
um like I get it's supposed to be like a
like maybe I'm sort of not focused
enough maybe I need to sort of get
better at meditation or whatever but it
was it was very much just like okay cool
I'm I'm I'm committing I'm going to do
an hour in the dark floating around it
was kind of cool like you know it's a
novelty at first because you're like
whoa you know I'm floating and then
you're still floating an hour later
nothing's happened then you get out and
that's it and then there's salt
crystallizing in your ears for the next
few week that's because you took the
earplug out I did out all right bathroom
break and then let's [ __ ] get
cracking Alex gets significantly more
foreplay from me than normal guests do
usually just sort of like a and then
away we go
ortic but it means I talk about that
stuff a lot of people care about
religion in Christianity and so do I I
think it's interesting but it doesn't
have that the reason that so many people
look up like the the gym stuff or like
how much protein should it's because
it's applicable you know they're excited
about learning some some actionable you
know life advice but people know from
the start they're probably not really
going to get that from me because I'm
being a Critic and so it's a little bit
like I do a debate and I convince a
bunch of people that like God doesn't
exist like hrah great awesome now like
veils fell from their eyes go forth and
find your own you now now now some you
know now some kids have watched a video
and they used to believe that their life
had theistic purpose and now they're
nihilists awesome
congratulations um not guilty but
because because at least not recently
because I've tried to be very cautious
about about what I say how I say it you
didn't used to be there no because
because I I was so wrapped up in the
whole religion was evil and terrible you
need to regain your spiritual autonomy
and you know think for yourself and all
that kind of stuff and well of course I
still think that's true to a degree but
I've begun to recognize that the emails
that you see where somebody says you
know I'm I became an atheist and I don't
free will and I'm having a bit of exal
Crisis W yeah this does actually stuff
matters literally true but functionally
false matters and you need to you need
to be ready with something to say if
you're going to if you're going to stand
up and say you don't think God exists
someone says okay I agree with you you
convinced me but now I feel like my life
doesn't have purpose you better have
something to save that person you know
and that's that's that's a to that's
that's a difficult thing to to to
shoulder and so I I try to be much more
careful and also I'm trying to find
something more affirmative to to talk
about to to to to do to be so now a lot
of people like oh You' got a bit soft
it's because I I don't want to I don't
want to get up and be like yeah like cut
this down total [ __ ] we're going to
like debunk it and then people go yeah
awesome so so what what what now
actually I feel a little bit empty
inside like your problems good it it
can't workism so yeah you know what I
mean so so now so now it's more like Oh
Let's do an interesting deep di into
Gnostic Gospels and biblical scul [ __ ]
and all this kind cuz I find it very
fascinating but it doesn't have that
saying I'm going to like try to debunk
your worldview and good luck how do you
deal with it as a longlasting
a um I don't know but probably by being
an
agnostic I I I I'm not I like I I I
really cringe at the sort of a lot of
lot comments and things I see on YouTube
and online where where people are just
sort of like well this is all obvious
[ __ ] and and giving like quite
rudimentary objections and things but
doing such confidence like I cringe in
the same way that I cringe would people
say Obviously God exist look at the look
at the trees whatever you know there is
a version of that I think that works um
you know like I I I I'm I'm not that I'm
not that you know I I
what is it the yeah like sometimes I
feel like there's room for there's
enough room for doubt like I'm I'm
pretty suspicious of materialism because
of Consciousness that glows my mind um
you know I I understand the feeling that
sometimes you feel like you want to you
know like communicate with someone or
something you want to like apologize to
the universe you want to be grateful to
the universe I understand how that can
attach to a personified God saw a
comedian last night who said you know I
I become religious again every time I
get on a Boeing plane you know I read
the little manual every man knows God
when he's at his L yeah I I see this a
Boeing and believe in God again you um
like you know I I totally understand all
that and there there's there's there's
room for all of that and so I don't have
to deal with the confident atheism
because I'm not confident atheist yeah I
said this I can't remember who I was
talking to who the [ __ ] was I talking to
I was talking to somebody about this and
I was talking about I remember a speech
that you gave studing fromont Theon was
it in Switzerland you do something in
Europe about five years ago four or five
years ago talk about what uh I've looked
in the oh that was in Boston
Massachusetts was it yeah and you're
stood in front of a thing um well there
was another one as well that you did I
think that I seemed like was in like
some [ __ ] European country basically
you're stood in front of electon and you
say I enter every discussion with a
theist desperately hoping that this
person is going to convince me of the
existence of God and yet I'm sort of
found wanting but that's such an
interesting frame right to go into it as
opposed to I'm going to prove to you
that you are wrong it's I have quite
High bar for certainty yeah I'm going to
keep it here and I'm going to hope that
you are able to jump over it and I'm
going to stress test you until you can I
I cringe a bit when I because you know
how I say like people are moving towards
the narrative and all this kind of stuff
and I I look at look at what I said
there so about how I tried all of these
different approaches it's like well yeah
but like was that really the way to be
doing you know should I expect to find
God at the bottom of of a bunch of of
you know texts you know reading this
reading that do and okay yeah what and I
thought right and I sort of very
rhetorically said you know nothing I
I've experienced nothing after all that
and I was like well is I'm thinking
after like is it is it nothing nothing
that speaks like nothing that's
convinced me that's true but like the
way I word it like nothing that speaks
to the existence of God in the universe
I was like is that I really I really
didn't upload it cuz I was like so
believe what I'm saying now like nothing
nothing that's convin me God to
existence nothing to the degree that I
want or expect but has there been like
nothing at all well you know like oh
well I think that this argument for God
is is more compelling than I did five
years ago yeah that's not nothing I mean
it's something so maybe it was a little
bit too I wasn't I wasn't really sure
but it gets the point across that like
you know I I've I've tried but then it's
like you know how much have you already
tried it's diff it's difficult to know
you know um GK chess ISM said um
Christianity has not been tried and
found wanting it's been found difficult
and not tried you know because to really
be a Christian is is like saying on the
podcast it's a difficult thing to do
it's a difficult life philosophy to
adopt it Demands a lot of you Demands a
lot of personal sacrifice Demands a lot
of moral transformation it demands that
you you know I mean if you're if you're
a proud person you have to get rid of
that if you're a rich person Jesus isn't
very fond of being rich not very fond of
fond of having a lot of money um you the
rich man comes to Jesus and says Lord
I've done everything done everything
I've followed the laws I've followed all
the Commandments you know and Jesus says
there's one thing you haven't done go
home sell all of your possessions and
the man goes man goes away with a with a
saddened heart he's just spoken to Jesus
who's told him like you can join that
you can join the eternal life crew baby
you should prob to go sell all of your
possessions and even then the man is
sadden because he knows it's a big
sacrifice he's going to have to make you
know so it's not it's not an easy fit
you you know but I think there's only a
certain degree of like you can say well
try being a Christian but there you're a
certain action or certain ways of trying
on a worldview that you can only really
do if you believe it already you know
cuz what does it mean to try being a
Christian well well it's when like you
said for a moment just believe in God
come on yeah or like Christian teacher
is like take no fa for tomorrow um you
know sell your possessions become an
athetic it's like well I'm not going to
do that just on like a seven day trial
you got to be convinced it's trueth
first so some people will say well you
didn't really try you didn't like live
as Christian I'm like well you can't
expect me to any more than I can expect
you to live as a Muslim to prove to me
that Islam is definitely false you can
consider it think about it you can you
could try praying five times a day you
could try fasting or doing Ramadan but
you're not going to like do everything
that Islams you because that would for
start involve denying the Divinity of
Jesus which would be heretical and you
now you bad news for you the thing that
I thought was interesting in there was
that you were talking about how uh if I
have to go through a 50 premise argument
in order to be able to believe in the
existence of God really is it supposed
to be that hard oh man that's what I was
I knew there was something else I was
going to say I didn't mention it but I
thought about the fact that like
I heard of Jacob K here seing the name
why it's a musician like he's sort of
unironically competive notes it's a
musical genius just knows everything
about music and and I saw a comment with
it was like man I wonder what music
sounds like to Jacob col cuz he's just
so [ __ ] smart he knows everything
about music I remember thinking like
well there's an analogy with that to
like I wonder what you know praying felt
like to Augustine you know well maybe
like it was like had like a an at a
depth or whatever but but people will
recog recognize that although Jacob K
has got to have this very unique
interaction with with music because he's
studied it so deeply and understands it
in a way that most people don't even
understand what's going on at all the
music's no less accessible to them and
in fact they might enjoy it more they
might enjoy music more than Jac col
enjoys it ruin it for he's got some
depth of insight that actually makes it
more yeah what did what did music sound
like ja col what did God feel like to
Augustine I don't know but probably
about the same as the accessibility is
probably like you know music was just as
accessible to Augustine as God is to
Jacob colen you know yeah I heard I had
a friend who who um was was like with a
Christian M he said I just need a sign I
just need a sign and they turn around
the corner when they're talking those
one of those like boots of people
handing out Bibles that doesn't [ __ ]
count Trust Three is everything when it
comes
to swinging a mess trust really is
everything
God damn it pay the bills got to pay the
bills man need to pay the bills trust
really is
everything yep when it comes to
supplements a lot of Brands may say that
they're top quality yeah uh but few can
prove
it the original name for modern wisdom
before I came up with the modern wisdom
in the middle of the night 3 in the
morning the only time I've ever had
divine intervention on branding uh was
crushing a Tuesday which is this quote
from Tim Ferris and I really like the
idea of crushing a Tuesday his point
being that you shouldn't be optimizing
to be effective on one magnificent
perfect needle thread of a day but you
should be able to have it so that your
average Tuesday just gets crushed and
things work well in mundanity I guess if
that's even the word and
uh there's something cool
about un
ceremonial Effectiveness and it's not
the big walking out on stage moments to
thousands of people it's you know it's
not some day when you hit some Big Goal
you just went through a series of seven
out of 10 six out of 10 difficult things
you just move through them quite nicely
they were planned out well in advance
it's cool it makes me feel satisfied
Alex's episode was so much fun I've been
to be honest like a bit unhappy with the
first few episodes I've done where
genuine friends we've hung out a [ __ ]
turn travel together but I haven't
really got what I wanted out of him
really on any episode bits and pieces
today was like ah yeah really fun it's
kind of hard to know when an episode is
a good
one you just you just no I think being
engaged if I'm engaged that's a good
estimate that some non- insignificant
portion of the audience is probably
going to be engaged as well and I think
I said a while ago someone asked on a
Q&A about how do I choose guests and
it's just if I optimize for when I wake
up on the morning of an episode I'm just
super excited that's it I win that's all
that matters and uh yesterday and today
both days super excited before and after
it finishes you kind of have this it's a
you're thinking about stuff that you
talked about you you've got ideas that
are playing in your mind the best way to
judge whether or not it was a good
episode is was it exciting before and
was I fired up afterward this is the
nice this is a nice blend hang out with
a friend talk a bit of [ __ ] record some
ads go home it's perfect