Ep 266: Value Stacks

Matt and Michael sit down on a Thursday night (breaking the Wednesday ritual) with Dalwhinnie scotch to talk about optimism in uncertain times, the nature of perception, and why we see what we look for—not what's there. They explore the "gorilla study" and how our values shape what we perceive, dive deep into Brett Weinstein's idea of noting your beliefs and what it would take to change them, and wrestle with the unsettling concept of "indexicality"—the disappearing link between reality and what we see on screens. From Michael's new cufflink shirt ritual to the Carrington Event of 1859, from AI-generated realities to the ethics of the Kingdom of God, this episode wanders through questions of truth, humility, and what it means to be alive in a world of manufactured realities. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Thursday Night Whiskey [04:30] The Gorilla Study: You See What You Look For [12:45] Values Precede Perception [18:20] Noting Your Beliefs (Brett Weinstein) [25:00] Indexicality: When Nothing Is Real [35:30] AI and the Death of the Real [45:00] The Carrington Event: 1859 [52:00] Gratitude as a Practice [58:00] All Are Welcome at the Table [65:00] Inadmissible Evidence & the Kingdom of God References: No one gets away with anything - https://youtube.com/shorts/xbNtDcgipmE?si=1hQSVzkO0SsiuFA3 Indexicality - https://youtu.be/tvwPKBXEOKE?t=885 Carrington Event - https://grokipedia.com/page/Carrington_Event @spaceweathernews on X - https://x.com/SunWeatherMan Find us here: x.com/mattmccloskey x.com/michaelvaclav All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A