Ep 272: The Lost Art of Waiting

Matt and Michael open with a meditation on waiting—something they used to do constantly without realizing it. Remember standing outside school, wondering if your ride forgot you? Or running out of gas on the interstate with no cell phone? Those moments weren't just inconveniences; they were built-in spaces for our minds to wander, to sit with the unknown, to discover what we weren't looking for. The conversation spirals through the tension between "builder mode" and presence, the Dunning-Kruger effect of parenting, and why the most honest Oscar speech is simply "I want to thank God." They land on a paradox: the more skilled you become at anything, the less certain you feel. Along the way: Salvador Dalí's spoon trick, the MMA fighter's fiancée, why Chesterton says true believers in themselves end up in asylums, and whether we're wired for God—or just wired to need something bigger than ourselves. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Opening: Fleeting Memory [00:24] Banter & Oban Scotch [01:22] Barton Springs & Slowing Down [03:15] Kids These Days: Instant Communication [05:07] Running Out of Gas on I-10 [09:23] The Value of Sitting With the Unknown [11:01] Real Conversations vs. Prepared Thoughts [16:21] Dreams, Sleep, and Processing [18:13] The Shores of Ignorance [20:03] Delayed Gratification & Maturity [22:26] Sabbath as Imposed Rest [30:30] The Midlife Crisis as Waking Up [36:50] Control, Death, and the 38-Year-Old MMA Fighter [42:42] Success, Luck, and "I Want to Thank God" [60:14] Maturity, Faith, and Moving Into Uncertainty [78:31] Closing: Put It Down, Pick It Up, Pay Attention Resources: • G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy — https://www.amazon.com/Orthodoxy-G-K-Chesterton/dp/1493750421 • Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning — https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X • Roger Penrose — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose • Thomas Sowell — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell • Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time — https://www.amazon.com/Wrinkle-Time-Madele-LEngle/dp/0312367546 • Tom Petty: Running Down a Dream (2007) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0886517/ • Annihilation (2018) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2798920/ • Dunning-Kruger Effect — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect • Marshmallow Experiment — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment • Barton Springs — https://www.austintexas.gov/department/barton-springs-pool • Harry Chapin, "Cat's in the Cradle" — https://open.spotify.com/track/0CNJc8fP9R25aykybX5xkD • John 15 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015&version=NIV • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14513804/ Fact Checks: • ✅ Roger Penrose is a physicist/mathematician, not a neuroscientist • 📖 Salvador Dalí's "spoon technique" — Confirmed • ⚠️ Archimedes displacement story — Michael conflated details 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