Ep 291: We Are There Yet

Matt and Michael open with the paradox of getting your ass kicked and somehow feeling more alive because of it. Matt shares his realization that there is no "there" to arrive at. The car ride IS the destination. Flat tires, closed restaurants, broken grinders. That's not the interruption of life. That IS life. Then things get deep. They wrestle with Dawkins vs. Lennox on justice and whether the universe has a moral order. They explore why science itself presupposes God, why atheism requires its own kind of faith, and why Lennox's answer about morality is devastating. All men are created in the image of God, even the ones who don't believe in Him. The back half dives into inversion. How we try to make reality conform to us instead of conforming ourselves to reality. They tackle sex, polyamory, pornography, and C.S. Lewis's insight from The Abolition of Man. If you optimize for the purpose of a thing, you destroy the thing itself. Optimize for pleasure, and you end up in misery. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Intro [00:23] Getting Your Ass Kicked [02:06] Are We There Yet [03:20] 110 Bad Shots [03:40] Success Rate of Legends [05:23] Count It Pure Joy [08:09] Why Participate at All [11:01] Dawkins vs. Lennox [13:23] What Is Meaning [17:59] Science Presupposes God [22:03] Is Atheism Rational [25:11] Image of God in Atheists [27:05] The Great Inversion [31:37] Sex and Specificity [38:48] Celebrating What [44:21] The Purpose of Sex [48:08] The Abolition of Man [51:29] Optimize for Pleasure [56:27] The Polyamory Question [64:53] Money Won't Fix It [66:48] Children and Their Parents [71:16] Where Am I From [73:09] Wrapping Up Resources: • The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis — https://www.amazon.com/Abolition-Man-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652942 • John Lennox — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennox • Richard Dawkins — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins • Chamath Palihapitiya on Lex Fridman — https://lexfridman.com/chamath-palihapitiya/ • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley — https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523 • James 1:2-3 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A2-3 • Dallas Willard — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Willard • Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodoxy_(book) • Wedding Crashers — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396269/ Fact Checks: • ✅ Picasso total works estimated up to 150K — Verified, but includes prints and ceramics, not just paintings • ✅ Married people report more sex than singles — Verified by multiple studies • ✅ Gretzky quote on missing shots — Verified • ⚠️ Thatcher quote — She said "socialism" not "communism" • ⚠️ Jordan's 7% success rate — Needs context, likely refers to broader success metrics not field goal percentage • ⚠️ Massachusetts abortion legislation — Characterization of signing ceremony needs context 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 Shores of Ignorance — https://shoresofignorance.com Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/2BnhB2qVLP4gdRjy7R0uo0 Apple Podcasts — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shores-of-ignorance/id1438899219 Sovereign Goods — https://sovereigngoods.shop Cafe Medici — https://mediciroasting.com