Sunday, May 27, 2012

How to tell shit from shinola



I could have sworn I already posted this, but I sure can't find it. Anyway, it's too good to pass up. If it's a duplicate post, I apologize.

This is Terence McKenna, apparently. That seems rather odd, given his Wikipedia entry, but here's what the video creator says:
As I replied to a similar comment earlier, this speech does indeed stand in stark contrast to much of what he said and believed, both then and later. It's a good reminder that we must guard ourselves against irrationally far more vigorously than we even do others.

6 comments:

AJ said...

I never heard of this guy, so I read the Wikipedia entry. Are we sure this is McKenna speaking in this video? The speech is a very sharp contrast to his life. I like when he talked about being presented with the intelligence test and passing it by not believing in all the weirdness. ???

Bill Garthright said...

I had the exact same reaction, Ann. That's why I posted that last bit, after I looked up Terence McKenna. I really have no idea, but that's what the person who posted the video claims.

I really liked these comments, but they don't seem to fit the person as described at Wikipedia, do they?

AJ said...

Not at all. Maybe he had a moment of clarity. I've heard that happens sometimes. :-)

Bill Garthright said...

Really, Ann? Well, I wouldn't know from personal experience, would I? :)

Markas said...

I have read and watched virtually everything McKenna, literally 1000s of hours and the Wikipedia entry needs to be corrected. McKenna never took his own novelty theory seriously and treated it as an interesting mental exploration. He abhorred belief without evidence and pseudoscience. He always remained a science based materialist reductionist who had glimpsed the transcendental and sought to push the limits of its understanding. This bit of McKenna posted here is totally consistent with the most important of his work. It's easy enough to judge for yourself on the youtube. He was one of our great modern thinkers.

Bill Garthright said...

Thanks for the comment, Markas. I posted this eight years ago, and I no longer blog at all. But I appreciate the comment.