Season 1: 08 – The Leader’s Resistance

This episode begins with Jonathan reflecting on why he hit resistance with the last question, delving into pride, nationalism and the power of emotion to sway. He considers the importance of focused attention and its relationship to meditation. Then he answers the next Illuminate question,  diving deeper into what matters to him: the power of language, finding your true voice, and how humans don’t need AI in order to connect with each other.

01.06                   Reflections on Card 6

02:00                  “Resistance comes from your attachment to your identity. That’s why letting go is so hard.”

04:50                  A lot of this is linked to pride. It’s the death star.

08:22                  As the evidence stacks up that we were wrong, we double down and shout louder.

13:40                  I see more clearly how through our conversation together, we had made our way to a more unified image of what meaningful change is: language and its relationship with truth.

18:16                  European Union as a human experiment in our desire and need to reconcile competing values, competing interests, doesn’t deny our national identities. It holds them together.

20:08                  The slogan “Unity in Diversity” is brilliant, a brilliant attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable.

26:50                  Hammering people with the facts and ignoring the emotion

30:30 – 40:06     Reference Card Reading: focused attention, distraction, getting lost in what matters

40:07                   Illuminate Question 7

41:03                   “I have something to say.”

43:00                  Language’s ability to convey volume, force and fragility

44:50                  Why can it be so debilitating for many to use their voice?

49:13                  Importance of authenticity

52:46                  A story of speaking up

55:56                  “I’ve found the courage to accept that language is what I do.”

1:08:45               “Choosing the word that comes next is one of the most human things we do.”

1:12:13               Through language, we get to dig to get a sense of what it means to be human.

1:15:00               “The truth is in the words” has changed me

1:16:35               We have gone down the wrong path in so many ways

1:22:10               If we communicate through AI, what happens to our trust in language?

1:23:15               We tune out to leaders speaking with banalities and platitudes.

127:33                 Humans don’t need machines to help us connect with each other.

131:33                 Final Answer