This is the wrap-up video for the first month of the book club. This month we read, Robert Pirsig’s classic philosophical road trip, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This month I’m joined by Kalid Azad of BetterExplained.com to discuss the book.

Interested in joining the book club? You can subscribe here to get the video reviews, or you can join our Facebook group to participate in the live discussion:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/54380…​

If you want to buy the book, you can do so here:

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorc…​

The narrator and his eleven year old son, Chris, embark on a winding motorcycle ride through the American countryside. Along this journey we’re treated to a series of “Chatauquas” on philosophy. As they travel across the country, we’re introduced to the mysterious character of Phaedrus, and his battles with the traditions of philosophy. Culminating in a metaphysics of “Quality” the book explores not only a potential vision for the essence of reality but also a practical guide for how to live.

Note: Spoiler alert. Although the book club will be trying to stick mostly to non-fiction, this one is a bit of an exception. If you want to experience the ride without knowing the twists and ending, don’t watch this video.

Too long? Use the links below to jump to sections that interest you.

00:00​ – Book summary
11:52​ – Conversation with Kalid starts
14:10​ – The distinction between “classic” and “romantic” worldviews
15:38​ – On the historical significance of the book
18:45​ – Zen and the art of math?
20:24​ – Is “classical”/”romantic” wired in your brain?
24:15​ – Ghosts, knives and analysis
28:20​ – On “Copernican” revolutions and ghostbusting
29:04​ – Pointers and meta-knowledge
30:11​ – The analytical “knife”
32:35​ – Is our brain a knife by design?
35:42​ – Our brains are “radical simplification machines”
37:14​ – On the failure of formalisms
38:59​ – Godel, incompleteness and paradoxes in reason itself
41:04​ – Is math the most “true” thing we know?
42:05​ – Gumption traps and the practical value of the book
45:32​ – Peace of mind and digs on Japanese manufacturing?
47:10​ – Solutions to the monkey trap
48:04​ – Capital “Q” Quality
50:13​ – Is the metaphysics useful?
51:12​ – …but it is true?
52:19​ – Tyler Cowen on agnosticism
53:34​ – Is quality fundamental or emergent?
54:18​ – Scott can’t say the word “philosophizing”
54:47​ – We need to balance intuition and measurement
56:34​ – Final thoughts