"If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you
expect to find it?" - Dogen
- Existential Inquiry and Personal Investigation : Leo emphasizes the importance of conducting a personal investigation into the nature of reality, not just accepting truths delivered by authority figures. This investigation involves deep philosophical questioning and using one's own contemplative process to discern truth.
- What is truth and why seek it : Leo starts the inquiry by pondering the necessity of truth for understanding reality. He addresses the imperative of not being content with a false model of the world but seeking a model that reflects reality as it is.
- The danger of preconceived notions : The inquiry process requires shedding biases and approaching the investigation without attachment to specific outcomes, whether they align with personal desires or established worldviews.
- Science and its limitations : Leo discusses the complexities of science, acknowledging that science is made up of a multitude of theories and that what is considered true today might be disproven in the future. He raises the question of which scientific theories to trust while considering the possibility that science might not have all the answers.
- Denying external authorities : Leo stresses the importance of skepticism towards external authorities and the responsibility of the individual to assume the role of their own authority in the journey for truth, without blindly accepting hearsay.
- Valid methods of inquiry and starting without prejudice : Leo talks about approaching the truth-seeking process without bias towards methods like reason, intuition, experience, or even voodoo and witchcraft—staying open to all possibilities when beginning the inquiry from scratch.
- Cultural and personal biases : He warns against allowing cultural and personal biases to predetermine the dismissal of non-mainstream methods like witchcraft in seeking truth. This stance requires questioning everything, including deep-rooted cultural beliefs.
- Challenges of distinguishing truth from falsehood : When confronted with different methods of truth discovery, such as witchcraft or academic study at a place like Harvard, the difficulty lies in the need for direct experience with each method to compare their veracity. Most people bypass such a thorough comparative process, often dismissing unfamiliar methods as nonsense without proper investigation.
- Cultural biases affecting truth-seeking : Leo highlights the influence of one's upbringing on the approach to seeking truth. Whether one grows up in a Christian, atheistic, or any other type of household can significantly steer them towards seeking truth through the lens of that specific worldview, despite the fact that being born into a particular belief system is purely accidental and not an assurance of its truthfulness.
- Critical introspection in truth inquiry : The inquiry into truth isn't merely a rational or scientific process devoid of emotion. Personal biases and emotional attachments heavily influence one's pursuit of truth. Leo stresses the need for self-awareness and critical examination of one's own preferences and early cultural programming that can distort the quest for truth.
- Psychological and emotional intricacies : Leo sheds light on the complex psychological and emotional landscape that can complicate efforts to uncover truth. Personal resistances, manipulability, indoctrination, and various societal delusions contribute to the challenge, necessitating a deeply introspective and conscious approach.
- Impact of vested interests on truth : The pursuit of truth is further complicated by the influence of vested interests across different sectors, such as business or medicine, where economic agendas can shape beliefs and suppress certain truths, as evidenced by historical accounts of false scientific theories, medical malpractices, and corporate deceptions.
- Starting the investigation with inherent biases : Leo makes it clear that chasing truth does not start from a blank slate. Pre-existing theories, biases, and cultural conditioning skew the process. Deciding where to start investigating amongst thousands of philosophies and worldviews is shaped by subjective preferences, often culturally ingrained, which could misguide the pursuit altogether.
- Importance of self-awareness and honesty in the process : Leo underlines that self-awareness and honesty are crucial in this work. Recognizing the culturally conditioned preference for certain methods of investigation, like science, requires skepticism to ensure a genuine search for truth devoid of external influence.
- Foundational assumptions of truth : To ground the search for truth, Leo acknowledges that some assumptions are necessary to begin; however, he urges caution. These assumptions must be critically revisited because early errors can lead to severe deviations in the inquiry process, much like a poorly laid foundation can doom a skyscraper.
- The complexity of the truth-seeking journey : The inquiry into truth quickly spirals into complexity, with myriad directions and possibilities to consider. This inherent difficulty is why few people engage deeply in this type of existential investigation, despite its profound importance for understanding life and reality.
- Reliability of reason : Leo questions the assumption that reason automatically leads to truth. He challenges viewers to ponder whether they have really proven that reason leads to truth, or if they're simply accepting a cultural belief without critical analysis.
- Peer pressure and cultural programming : Leo points out that humans live in societies that exert enormous peer pressure and are subjected to a barrage of media that influence their ideas, many of which have historically been proven wrong. He suggests these influences play a significant role in shaping beliefs, potentially away from truth.
- The agendas of institutions : Leo poses the possibility that institutions like the media, schools, society, business, and even science, might not prioritize truth, but rather have their own agendas focused on survival, ideological perpetuation, or profit.
- Admitting we don't know : The starting point for existential inquiry, according to Leo, is to admit sincerely that we don't know what the truth is, rejecting the illusions of certainty provided by cultural or educational institutions.
- Testing the validity of reason : Leo challenges the concept that reason always leads to truth by suggesting that finding even one instance where reason led to falsehood undermines its reliability as a truthful method.
- History of 'reasonable' beliefs : Leo reflects on history, showing that what was once considered reasonable (like certain religious beliefs) may now be seen as not true, illustrating that reason and belief in truth are not inherently linked.
- Open-mindedness in existential inquiry : Leo emphasizes that true open-mindedness requires considering all possibilities, even the seemingly absurd, without judgment, as part of the quest for truth.
- Probabilities and truth : Assigning probabilities or dismissing ideas based on one's current understanding or cultural background risks falling into the trap of assuming knowledge one doesn't have, as true open-mindedness entails considering all possibilities evenly.
- Existential Effort and Inquiry : Leo emphasizes the necessity of actively engaging in truth-seeking rather than merely contemplating it. He compares the process to physically checking under one's bed for a "space kangaroo" to demonstrate the difference between theoretical and practical inquiry. He addresses the objection that searching for truth is laborious and not guaranteed to yield results, contrasting it with living a conventional life focused on personal pleasures.
- Cost of Finding Truth : Leo acknowledges the potential sacrifices involved in searching for truth—years that could otherwise be spent on life's enjoyments. He states that this is the price of seeking to understand how reality actually is and that without valuing truth, one will likely never discover it.
- Possibility versus Certainty of Truth : Leo raises the question of whether truth can ever be discovered or if the pursuit of truth is inherently futile. He suggests that the possibility that truth is unreachable is a truth in itself and that, in theory, to confirm that no truth exists, one would have to exhaust every conceivable avenue.
- Commitment to the Inquiry Process : Leo speaks about the deep commitment required to pursue truth, emphasizing that when starting the inquiry, one does not know if it will be possible or worthwhile. He also acknowledges that even though he has discovered truth himself, this does not alleviate the need for others to discover it for themselves.
- Individual Journey of Truth Discovery : Leo argues that truth must be discovered individually and cannot simply be told or taught by someone else. He insists that a person cannot genuinely differentiate between beliefs, opinions, and perspectives without first discovering truth themselves and that many people wrongly assume they are truth-seeking when they actually base their judgments on cultural assumptions.
- Methods of Discovering Truth : Leo lists potential methods for discovering truth, such as reason, history, reading books, intuition, science, observation, and direct experience. He notes the complexity in assessing the reliability of these methods and the problem of which authority or source to trust in this evaluation.
- Direct Experience and Reality : Leo considers direct experience to be the most fundamental proof of one's existence, suggesting that awareness of being alive might be the most unquestionable truth. He questions, however, the reliability of our senses and memories, highlighting the uncertainty of existence and our perceptions of reality.
- Continuous presence of 'sense of being alive' : Leo suggests that regardless of activity or beliefs throughout life, the consistent element is the sense of being alive, proposing it could be foundational to reality, with everything else being details within this framework.
- Questioning the nature of existence : Leo delves into questioning whether there's anything beyond individual experience, contemplating the reality of other humans and external objects, and whether the sense of being alive constitutes the entirety of reality.
- Speculation on the uniqueness of individual existence : He entertains the possibility that one's own life might be the entire universe or that reality is confined to individual direct experience, acknowledging this might seem outlandish but reminding viewers that no conclusive knowledge precludes such ideas.
- Doubt regarding the authenticity of memories : Leo challenges the reliability of memories, contemplating whether they are true past events or present constructions, questioning the very nature of time and existence.
- Perception as a byproduct of evolution : He discusses the role of evolution in shaping perceptions, noting that different organisms might experience reality in vastly different ways, which leads to skepticism about the universality of human experiences such as colors and sensations.
- Fundamental role of direct experience : Acknowledging direct experience as fundamental to concepts like science, reason, and religion, Leo argues that without it, these constructs lose validity since they're all perceived through direct experience.
- Skepticism towards perceptions : He presents classical skepticism about the trustworthiness of perceptions, questioning if visual and sensory distortions make it unreliable to accept feelings, colors, and sensations as fundamental truths.
- Seeking certainty in truth : Leo highlights the challenge of achieving absolute certainty in truth-seeking, avoiding speculation, and questioning how to discern true knowledge from convincing falsehoods.
- Impossibility of outsourcing truth discovery : He conveys the impossibility of relying on external authorities for discovering truth, emphasizing that self-reliance in this process is essential and that even self-consultation is problematic as it assumes prior knowledge of truth.
- The potential for skepticism to reveal truths : Leo posits that by maintaining skepticism and investigating direct experience deeply, it's possible to uncover fundamental truths despite skepticism's potential to question even basic experiences like the sense of being alive.
- Skepticism's self-consuming nature : Sharing his personal philosophical journey, Leo describes how extreme skepticism led him to question the trustworthiness of skepticism itself, landing in a state of continuous inquiry rather than definitive skepticism or belief.
- Circumnavigating Skepticism : Leo delves into the paradox of skepticism, suggesting that full skepticism eventually undermines itself, leading to a "no-man's land" where one is neither a skeptic nor a blind believer. This state is metaphorically described as an infinite corridor where glimpses of truth are like fleeting glances of an animal's tail – elusive but consistently present during the scrutiny of skepticism.
- Truth in the Process of Inquiry : Throughout the process of existential inquiry, Leo identifies a persistent element of truth that is intuited but not fully graspable. He articulates that reasoning and common sense, despite being tools for this investigation, often reveal a kernel of truth that guides one's contemplation and skepticism.
- Dual Nature of Mental Inquiry : Leo contrasts the logical conscious mind, which actively engages in questioning and analyzing thoughts, with a deeper, intuitive faculty that operates in the background, piecing together a larger picture of the inquiry. This process raises the question of the reliability of intuition versus logic in discerning truth.
- Reality vs. Beliefs about Reality : He highlights the critical distinction between objective reality itself and our subjective models or theories about that reality. Leo prompts viewers to recognize the difference between simplified abstractions of truth and the elusive "it" – the very essence of reality.
- Philosophy's Role in Daily Life : Leo emphasizes aligning one's actions with one's philosophical assertions, using one's lifestyle and reactions to life events as indicators of true underlying beliefs, beyond intellectualized or superficial philosophical positions.
- Consequences of Ignoring Existential Questions : He stresses the emotional labor inherent in existential contemplation and its potential to cause psychological disturbance, yet asserts its necessity for burning away conditioned ideologies and reaching the truth.
- Value of Epistemological Engagement : Leo insists on the importance of epistemology and active engagement with the process to avoid conforming to discriminatory ideologies and societal conditioning. He advocates for the continuous implementation of self-discovery and challenging of personal and external authorities.
- Authenticity in the Quest for Truth : Leo concludes with a plea for rigorous self-honesty, aiming to reconcile one’s professed beliefs with one's genuine actions and emotions, urging individuals to live in accordance with their true philosophies rather than being swayed by "fake, flowery" constructs.
- Introduction to Epistemology : Leo highlights the significance of epistemology—the exploration of human knowledge—as an undervalued yet vital topic, crucial for understanding all aspects of existence. This foundational area is often left untouched in academia, religious teachings, and spiritual circles.
- Awakenings without epistemic clarity : Leo warns that spiritual awakenings or mystical experiences can be clouded by unexamined ideologies and cultural conditioning, potentially corrupting their purity if one hasn't deeply engaged in epistemological work.
- Encouragement of active participation : Leo urges viewers to actively engage in the inquiry process, comparing it to solving mathematical proofs that require step-by-step logical processing to understand the full picture and outcome.
- Necessity of faith in truth-seeking : He claims that in order to invest in the exhaustive search for truth—a process requiring significant time and effort—individuals must possess a faith that the process itself holds intrinsic value, regardless of the results.
- Questioning as a critical approach to life : Leo stresses the importance of questioning one's own beliefs, cultural norms, religions, sciences, and authority figures to avoid dangerous conformist behaviors and ideologies, which have historically led to atrocities and discrimination.
- Existential reflection as a lifestyle choice : Leo asserts the necessity of contemplating existence—our undeniable reality. He suggests that understanding existence can potentially improve our quality of life and fundamental decision-making processes.
- Ownership of the inquiry process : He emphasizes the personal responsibility each individual holds to initiate their own journey of truth-seeking, highlighting the limitations of relying on external sources like books and videos.
- Learning through self-deception : Leo claims that through the process of existential inquiry, one learns about the mind's deceptions, which not only enhances self-awareness but also offers protection from the manipulation of others.
- Value of truth in practical life : The pursuit of truth—understanding reality as it truly is—is vital for a functional life, Leo argues. Properly aligning one's philosophy with concrete actions is indicative of genuine pursuit of truth and introspection.
- Encouragement of continued exploration : Concluding the discussion, Leo encourages the viewer to keep exploring the concepts introduced regarding truth, to engage with the resources provided on actualized.org, and to recognize the broader importance of philosophy as a life-transforming discipline.