The Gorman Limit

The Gorman Limit is a podcast where Neil Gorman tries to extend the limit of what he knows by thinking out loud and in public. The show has no set format nor release schedule.

Episodes

  1. 2021-05-18

    TGL 011 Negativity & The Death Drive

    INTRO: In this episode of The Gorman Limit, Neil talks more about the concepts of negativity as lack (rather than as bad) and the death drive. This episode is a continuation of Neil's work teaching a seminar on doing clinical work with individuals. CONTENT: 0:00 - 0:11 - I got this song stuck in my head... 0:11 - 5:00 - Introduction.  I'm reaching a seminar. In this episode, I'll be talking about the concept of...NegativityDeath-drive5:00 - 20:35 - The Negative Pt. 1  Negative does not mean "bad". Negativity as not having. Negative liberty V. Positive liberty.  Negative reinforcement v. Positive reinforcement.  It is the stuff we don't have that motivates us, more than what we do have. 20:35 - 28:21 - The Negativity P.t 2   Don Draper "Happiness is the thing you have before we need more happiness ."Having is good, but we are (generally) more focused on what we lack that makes us do things and stuff. 28:21 - 37:35 - Death Drive Pt. 1  The time before we are born is stress & anxiety-free. Freud says we might want to get back to that. Life is a struggle. If the struggle is enjoyable (if there is jouissance in it) then we desire to continue to live. If the struggle is not enjoyable (if there is no jouissance in it) then we desire to die. 37:35 - 44:28- Let's try to bring it all together.  There can be too much negativity (lack) and that fires up the death drive. The Ethics of Opting out, by Mari Ruti Necropolitics, by Achille Mbembe

    44 min
  2. 2021-01-27

    TGL 007 "I want to help people"

    TGL 007 Intro 0:00-9:20  I teach in a school of social work...When I ask students, Why are you here? Why are you studying this?” They will usually say, “Because, I want to help people.” When I follow that up with a question like, “What does that mean?” or “What would it look like for you to help people?” Students don’t always have a well-thought-out answer.What I want to do on the podcast today is think about that, to think about what it means to be helpful to other people. The signifiers in “I want to help people.” 9:20-23:50 The sentence: “I want to help people.” What is I? A body in space and time, with a mind, has the ability to act (speak, move, think, etc). What is want? A desire, wish, craving. What is to help? Using one’s knowledge and skills in a way that is useful to another body, or that improves the quality of life (the material conditions) of other bodies. What are people? Other bodies in time and space. Keep in mind: Being helpful is not only making other people feel good! Sometimes being helpful means doing things that other people find unpleasant, but they need to do it anyway. The difficulties in being helpful 23:50-43:15 Sometimes you want to help someone by doing something. Other times you need to help them by not rescuing them.The importance of witnessing. Concluding remarks 43:50-52:45 We sometimes want to help others, but what we really want is to help ourselves. It’s important to get your own experience of dealing with your own difficult emotions before you can help someone else deal with their difficult emotions.

    53 min

About

The Gorman Limit is a podcast where Neil Gorman tries to extend the limit of what he knows by thinking out loud and in public. The show has no set format nor release schedule.

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