💀 Dying Every Day
Dying Every Day is a podcast for mortals and curious minds. Each episode explores what it means to think like a mortal: to act, choose, change our minds within the limits of a human life, and remember to live.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, ...
The Limits of Self-Knowledge.
Welcome to Dying Every Day. This is Day 159.
We’re often told to question everything, seek the truth, and know ourselves.
But how much questioning is useful? Is Truth always good for us? And can we acknowledge our limitations without becoming bitter about them?
My friend Brandon Tumblin from The Strong Stoic Newsletter returns for a conversation prompted by passages from Dostoevsky, using Julian Baggini’s How to Think Like a Philosopher as our starting point. We explore the difference between Stoic acceptance and the resentment of the Underground Man, whether being limited means being flawed, and why admitting we might be wrong can make room for growth.
The conversation moves from doubt and decision-making to the uncomfortable work of self-knowledge. Through The Truman Show, The Matrix, and an imagined workplace feedback exercise, we ask whether learning the truth always helps—and how much depends on our readiness to hear it.
A question to carry with you:
Where could a little less certainty make room for a better question?
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, ...
—
Thank you for listening; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, remember to live.
J.W.
P.S. Catch up on recent (and past) meditations in the archive!