Daniel Schmachtenberger | Reality, Meaning & Self-Development | Modern Wisdom Podcast 179 

the fact that you let him talk uninterrupted for like 20 minutes straight and bring out such brilliance, wow, we need more people like you who know how to run a good podcast. keep it up

This needs 8 billion views.

Man, I could listen to Daniel for hours. His perspectives are on a whole another level

Apparently I'm following the "wisdom" thread. The "Rebel Wisdom" channel introduced me to Daniel-- who has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary thinkers. He has helped me to make sense of the world and articulate what was previously only a sense or feeling. This conversation was brilliant. So much gratitude to another wisdom--- "Modern Wisdom" -- for sharing this insightful and thoughtful conversation. Cheers, Mate!

I am in awe of Daniel but I also want to know who is this guy interviewing him. I really appreciate him bringing Daniel in for this interview. He knows how to interview, does not interrupt Daniel and you can tell he is so engaged and asks relevant questions. It was a conversation with a genuine intent to learn from the person being interviewed. I love it! Thank you so much for being such a great host/interviewer.

I only found out today Daniel exists and instantaneously became one of my favourite intellectuals. I'd like to see more of these conversations.

Please bring Daniel back as often as you can ! His wisdom is the nectar we all need to tap into .

Words are insufficient vehicles of gratitude. Daniel, thank you so much for cultivating an ecology of love and truth. Even as skeptical and fractured as my simple brain is, i feel that every single thought you deliver, comes from an authentic and selfless place. As a man whose worn a lot of uniforms, at midlife I wear a lot of shame and have looked for years to find a “good man” upon the earth. The epistemological quagmire of asking: “what is worth valuing?” has been one which has paralyzed me for a couple years, and which an external environment of rivalrous game theory has failed to answer. The work you do is so valuable and your thoughts will have posterity. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.

The reason for me that I find DS so enthralling to listen to, is that he does not try to tell you what to think, but rather he examines what has gone before and by using his analytical tools and his long time trained common sense, he shows and encourages you to tackle this for yourself, the man is an inspiration.

Listening to deep thinkers like Daniel helps one see the waves, layers, and profound beauty in everything. It’s like music, but in words, and it just flows on forever around us. Thank you.

Having listened to and read everything I can find by Daniel to date, I'm frequently searching RU-vid - I'd say twice weekly - looking for any new conversations with him. He seems to have such a nuanced understanding of so many important ideas and expresses himself in such a crystal clear way. This conversation did not disappoint, a bit different from the usual catastrophic risk and collapse conversations but I found it deeply profound. A further exploration of ideas hinted at elsewhere. A lot to digest and try to integrate here. Thank you for making this happen!

I think this is one of the best conversations I've EVER heard on RU-vid. Thank you. I have, for some good time now adopted the 'Predator/Prey' model for my life and though I became stronger, I have also become less empathetic BUT lately, this drive I have is beginning to exhaustedly lose it's steam and I feel listless/despondent. I feel it's time to seek the unconditioned as he says.

"To have or not have are states of consciousness. Meditating to change a state is still coming from a state of lack & 'what's in it for me'. Shift happens when I stop thinking I need anything from the world in particular & there's a connection to 'life' fullness, & pursuing a state or 'what's in it for me' stops being the question. & 'are there others who don't know how to shift that I can help becomes a more interesting question. ..I think life starts there." Nice.

This is one of the most incredible discussions I have ever witnessed.

Chris has the best Jordan Peterson podcast and the best podcasts with Daniel. This is an underrated channel as far as I'm concerned. Good work, thank you sir

3:16 World needs very different minds and sensemaking from ones that it needed in the past. 4:30 It's easy to understand and act like real fully developed human without being one. Virtue signaling and human development. 7:30 Deep honest inquiry into the motive. Unconscious motives. 12:45 What does it mean to understand motivation? Knowing what you want to want truthfully. Being default biproduct of conditioning, and knowing what kind of character you want to be is also conditioned. What is actually worth wanting? 18:40 Meaninglessness as space for freedom. 20:38 Science can say only what is, not what ought to be because of process of science, which is inherently third person, while experience always feels in first person. 24:15 Metaphysics of apex predator and evolutionary advantage of cruelty. 30:50 Difference between being apex predator and being a [shitty] god. 34:45 Mutually assured destruction. Why it no longer works. As well why nature exploiting economy no longer works. Planetary boundaries. 40:05 Power of god without god's wisdom and god's love. Globally catastrophic destruction. 45:20 As the body isn't just cells, society isn't just people. Preventing society cancer. 53:50 Reacting, condoning and having boundaries. How to react properly to social entropy. 57:58 Wisdom cannot be made algorithmic. Consciousness isn't computation. 1:02:30 People wondering what purpose of life without experiencing being alive. 1:09:10 Mind as emergent property of universe. 1:15:35 Lack mindset and Being Enough. 1:23:40 Being like children. Is being conscious and knowing pain of living equals suffering? 1:26:11 Every emotion has value and place. Emotional and cognitive wholeness of connection to reality.

For a genius, Dan always seems like he's just been woken up with a monumental hangover.

One of the most calming and thoughtful voices on RU-vid. When he pauses before answering I lean forward. Its 3am and he still wanted to add a final thought with so much clarity. .....

This guy needs to go on more podcasts, Joe Rogan should host him next.

I'm incredibly grateful for this video. I usually don't comment on any videos but this is different on so many levels. Dear RU-vid algorithm, this is relevant content.

I've just discovered Daniel a week ago, and I already have learned so much from him. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, it is a life changing experience to listen to what you have to say.

I don’t know how this video showed up on my feed but I’m so glad it did - what a fascinating interviewer and interviewee. There was so much wisdom in your interactions and I will need to watch it again to take notes! And I’ve subscribed to your channel. Keep up the great questions and topics 🙏🏾

Daniel is one of the most important thinkers of our time imo, thank you for expanding his platform.

That was the very best interview I heard with Daniel. His Wisdom is exceptional and the capacity of talking so that one can really deeply understand and relate to what he is bringing forth. Also the interviewer did a very good job. He allowed Dabiel to develop his thoiughts, didn't interfere, asked good questions at the right moment and was relating to the guest. That's what an interviewer's job would be, but it actually is not happening all the time. Thanks to both of you. I am really grateful.

Just brilliant. More like this pls.

i have to turn this off every 15 minutes to think about what was just said. yt doesn't get better than this podcast.

I really enjoyed this conversation, Daniel seemed very relaxed and it was lovely to see him smiling and with his hair slightly tousled :) I got the impression that he enjoyed your company . I thought you did a tremendous job of the interview, thank you greatly for your work :)

I can't put sufficiently into words on how much value & food for thought this conversation brought to me. I hope this goes for as many others as possible. Thank you for sharing 🙏 Be well

I thought I was the only one thinking about this.. clearly am wrong. Thank you universe for showing me this

So absorbing listening to such an intelligent person speaking at length about a plethora of topics in this manner. Brilliant interview Chris 👍

I really love the analogy of perceiving anger as a mind virus and trying not to be infected by it when reacting to someone else's anger at 50mins. I think that's a thing only for healthy people though because PTSD is now understood as a somatic injury of overwhelm of the nervous system. The brain struggling to make meaning of the trauma (the psychology of PTSD) is secondary to the physical stress/overwhelm. In the case of PTSD sufferers/survivors like myself I needed to embrace and sometimes act out my anger in physical ways to purge the physical overwhelm by yoga, bioenergetic exercises, TRE, punching a pillow or screaming. If I had refused to express the anger (and perceived it as a thing that was infecting me) I wouldve felt repressed and further stressed, and the panic attacks wouldve been even more intense. Its also good for people abused and denied their righteous anger as children to find their anger which helps them become aware of and defend their personal boundaries. Being numb/dissociated to your feelings, especially anger, is how a lot of victims of childhood abuse end up getting retraumatized as adults since they cant physically feel when someone is crossing their psychological or physical boundaries. Theyre missing the ability to register their inner alarm system. So maybe in terms of being traumatized, the need to sometimes accept and express anger is like vomitting (to use the virus analogy). The trauma has created an accumulation of overwhelming emotions, including anger, and so needs to be expressed in a safe way (not taking it out on other people) to heal the sufferer. *After* you've purged your own, then its good to do as Daniel says and try not to be infected by other people's anger in the future by putting up good boundaries. I also find it distressing and interesting that he says theres no algorithm for getting compassion right. Reminds me of the Royal Institute's lecture "Theres Is No Algorithm for Truth". The speaker meant it in term of AI programming but I thought, "how do you program an algorithm for recognizing default reality when default reality is integrated, coherent, but isnt a stagnate thing?....or how do I explain integrity to someone who doesn't have it and certainly doesnt see the value in it, or even seems to benefit materially from not having it?" I think ultimately truth (or compassion, or any good quality) might have to be recognized as a set of anything that meets an objective criteria but doesnt have to *be the critieria and only the criteria, and that anything added post-criteria cannot conflict with the established criteria*? Makes me wonder how we could identify integrity, or integrate-able variations of subjective truths to the objective Absolute reality? Like a math problem has one correct answer but many ways to get there. How do we recognize and verify contextual truths/reality within ourselves or write an algorithm for it? I can feel with my conscience if something betrays my integrity, but its usually intuitive before its an intellectual reason why....and Ive been thinking lately how do I explain why I have integrity, especially compared to someone who doesnt and certainly doesnt see the value in it if theyre more successful than me in certain ways? I do feel my integrity is a biological imperative, that's its deeper than a psychological learned behavior. But I really struggle to explain how I "just know" when something is wrong or right. I have no doubt empathy provides a kind of context to integrity or the ability to integrate other people's perspectives (which allows for bonding with them), and that its no coincidence people low on empathy are also low on integrity and that ability to see the bigger picture outside of selfish motives that directly benefit them. Im just not exactly sure how my empathy modulates or fact checks the integrity of another person's perspective in real time and gives me a quick gut reaction if something is "wrong" or right...especially since whats right seems more fluid yet absolute a criteria. Something that feels "wrong or off" seems to be easier to identify somehow. Thats why the "best" lies are the ones that tell a half truth. I can recognize a version of the truth and even if I don't agree with it, I can accept it, whereas I can never accept something that just seems wrong/off. It just doesn't feel good to integrate things that feel ... wrong. A truth I don't personally subscribe to is still integrate-able. Not sure what my point is here. Just watching this at 4am and brainstorming the nature or Integrity and Truth.

Thumbs up, Daniel Schmachtenberger and Russel Brand - that would be a podcast for the ages !

Wow, I'm going need to listen to this a few times!

Daniel ❤❤❤ I'll never forget the first time I listened to him. Such a unique, deep and humble thinker. What a wonderful conversation between two honest, courageous and wise men.

Bam Margera really cleaned up his act since Jackass 3

What a great interview. Daniels insights and his ability to communicate them are stunning. Thank you!

I'm so Happy to have encountered this. This was an amazing listen! I hope he will come back on the podcast!

One thing that makes Daniel so interesting is how incredibly articulate he is.

D. Schmachtenberger is looking a bit like T. McKenna these days.

Just 5 minutes into this and I am already in awe.

1 minute in, salutations exchanged, and Daniel is already in serious, deep, analytical, abstract thought.

Everyone of Daniel's interviews blows my mind. So good

I've been on this journey for most of my life. I can't say that I know how it started, but in an ironic twist, my development has resulted in it being harder to relate others. Explaining my journey and revelations is/are like trying to describe color to the blind. So while why connection are few, they are far deeper and richer. The Jordan Pederson quote at the end was excellent. Also Daniels book end thoughs are fantastic too.

What a phenomenal talent this guy is. Awesome 👏

Mr Schmachtenberger I love you. My brain is filled with awe and my heart is filled with hope. You make me excited to face the world's problems. briefly. Somehow properly understanding the dimensions of the problems makes them seem less insurmountable.

Daniel S for President!!

This is one of the most meaningful conversations i've listened to. would love to hear you two speak again.

That was wonderful! Thank you!

That is one of the best conversations I’ve listened to in a long while! Your presence draws out the best in your guests Chris! Get in mate!

ive watched hundreds of intellectual interviews like this, and must say this is definitely one of the best. you're a great interviewer and daniel is very articulate.

Listen to this episode in full by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify - link.chtbl.com/modernwisdom Get my free Ultimate Life Hacks List to 10x your daily productivity → chriswillx.com/lifehacks

Charming interviewer

Thanks for the Joseph Campbell quote !! (paraphrased) "people wonder about the purpose of life when they aren't engaged in the experience of feeling alive" .... Humans may not survive, but we can do our best to engage with the truth of LIFE NOW, as authentically as we can. We cam chose to learn each moment, and reach out for creativity. We can chose to live in a sphere of connection with the natural world. We can chose to communicate with empathy. We can chose to live each moment with attention and love for what is. We can strive to engage with our world to support and nuture, instead of exploit and control. We can chose to live in the AWE of the miracle of the COSMOS while we are still here, and celebrate.

By far my favorite free thinker. Incredible!

Definitely have him back!

Just wanted to come back to this video to say thank you! This interviewer is light years ahead of Tom Bilyeu. After listening to this interview his is basically unwatchable. This is an interviewer that is actually interested in learning and only adds information in a calm and relevant manner.

From where I'm sitting it appears to me that the problem is our ability to think and our acute sense of self awareness. Trying to use the thought process to fix any of these problems simply becomes part of the problem. It's a trap. This question, "Well what's the purpose of life?" has a simple answer. The purpose of life is its unfolding. The only control we have, and this may be debatable, is how we respond to it. My two cents.

Such incredible clarity of thought and expression. This guy is operating on a totally different level to most of us yet he is still able to relate back and all that without being condescending.

Amazing discussion, thank you for this. You've got yourself a new subscriber. Can't wait to dig into some more of your content.

SUCH an amazing talk..WoW! Thanks so much for sharing.

A wonderful dialogue! Strong interview and strong answers. Very profund and beautiful, a way to move forward for the human race.

Confirmation of more intelligent life is always great to see. At least we have that going for us, which is nice...

Abundant thanks Daniel ..... what a beautiful mind and heart! Such a gorgeous conversation.

Omfg what have I stumbled on to!! Pure gold that’s what.

The best and the only description of the meaning of meaning I have ever heard Thank you so much

Would love to see Daniel on Making sense podcast someday. I feel Sam and Daniel are an accident waiting to happen.

THIS WAS FUCKING AMAZING. I was moved to tears by the end. One of the best conversations on your channel by far! Pleeeease come back Daniel, what you have to share is so vital in today's time!! Thank you!!

this was fantastic. thank you so much! those last 30 minutes were especially moving. a brain "wash" we all could use.

He’s talking about dependent origination and interdependence. So beautiful

What the interviewer said from 1:24 to 1:26 reminded me of what Kahlil Gibran said: "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility."

Love listening to Daniel. It's been awhile since he was talking with Dr. Zach Bush, and those were great conversations, too. In this time of turmoil, good to have clarity through the haze.

Thank you, and I love cheering you on in your own journey. :)

Wow, I didn't have had time to look back in the old podcasts of this channel but this one is really a pearl. I put it in a playlist that needs to be revisited. Thank you.

"from an evolutionary biology perspective it's mostly just mate signalling, so whether it's a 150ft super yacht or its reading all the books in a particular space and presenting yourself that way... Mate signalling is the origin of it" nicely put

Excellent talk, thanks for making it available.

This was incredible. But it will not be enough to just like Daniel and believe what he says. The real power is when it is “realized” in oneself, and there are changes in ones behavior and attitudes to the things we believe are worth believing in. And that may not happen in any other way other than within ones own inner relationship, which neither Daniel nor any other person existing has agency of. Except you. I feel this is something Daniel understands, and seems antithetical to the concept of cult and cult leaders, which is something Daniel certainly ain’t striving to emulate. I’ll keep trying to find my own authentic responses to my own relationships to everything and I hope you do the same.

I love listening to Daniel.

Brilliant interview. Daniel’s perspectives are insightful and well grounded as usual A thought about the question of meaning at around 17 minutes in: The deep subjective sense of life being inherently meaningful and worth serving makes sense objectively as wanting to protect and serve the only source of meaning we can know for sure exists in the universe - the life forms that have developed or have the potential to develop the capacity to experience and create it. This goes for love too, as well as any of the other concepts/processes that have come into existence through the evolution of intelligent life

Possibly one of the most interesting conversations you'll ever listen to . Thanks

A high quality and sincere conversation. Well done, gentlemen. Thanks!

Brilliant, like pretty much all that Daniel shares. Thank you for organising!

Glad you got him on here. He has a stable n rational mind.

I discovered Daniel only a few days ago and thank goodness. I was once a staunch fan of Sam Harris but lately he seems to be taking some wrong turns from my perspective. Daniel seems to have his shit together or at least lacks the confidence of a self-assured fanatic of his own ideals. His insight is astronomical and I've learned a good bit from him already. The man has a portion of my admiration and a larger portion of my respect. Please don't jump off the cliff of Reason into the abyss Apology disguised as Reason, Daniel. When you see wrong and know wrong, keep calling it what it is!

"The more I can reflect on biological predispositions that arise the less I'm controlled by them." Just 7 minutes into and such a gem. This will be a treat.

One of the best conversations I’ve watched in a while! Great post Chris x

Thank you so much for this talk! Daniel should certainly come back to talk about that last part regarding psychopathy, or any topic at all :)

Thank you for publishing this conversation. It's heart-opening to witness such well-rounded brain. I am working with you to understand how a human can open him or her self fully to all emotions yet steer towards love and co-creation.

From 3 mins to 5:25 is a great observation! The next 2 minutes just continues with more amazing observations! Edit; the whole talk is amazing!

(paraphrasing): At about 42:00 the statements that you sort out your own life, from your own cup of assets and then you help others sort out their lives from the assets that overflow from your own cup. That is very significant, and would be an interesting conversation by itself. At 55:15 the statement that there is no algorithm for boundaries or compassion, then there is no way to determine how much is right. I really love this.

I wholeheartedly support and appreciate everything about this. Even the comments section here is lit. 111 Likes and 0 Dislikes as of now. Keep it up!

"A depth of earnestness.. of 'what do I actually care about? & why do I care about it? & how do I reflect on what I find to be both true & meaningful right now? & what is right action based on what I understand to be meaningful, & how certain am I of what I think is true? & how biased am I?'"

wow, have a sub, Daniel was absolutely incredible but you were also able to follow and flow with him in those very deep perspectives in a way that created a very meaningful conversation. Fantastic job!

He's great.. This wisdom is comes w a lifetime of unconditioned observation

Fantastic! There is reason to hope knowing that there are people like this pawing over the problems we face in this age. Thanks heaps for posting this.

Amazing I made me go and be clear about my motives when I interact with others via validation sharing caring etc

Wow!.. I feel like I've finally arrived... to where it all begins!

All of it: 💎. 49:17 to 56:33 thank you for putting a concrete form to an inherently inner human dynamic, which possibly defines what the essence of being human actually means. I can relate deeply. Thanks. 🙏🏼

Good stuff to work with, I like the last part of this a lot; always find Daniel's thoughts clarifying

Daniel speaks for 5 minutes and I'm digesting it for 6 hours. He's a hologram from the future.

Thank you so much, loved this discussion, could listen to it over and over. ❤️