What do Joe Dispenza, Jordan Peterson, and the Music Pedant at every hipster party have in common?They all kill curiosity — the one trait that fuels connection, reason, and genuine understanding.In this episode of The Loneliness Industry, public philosopher Jordan Reyne unpacks how capitalism, science, and self-help culture all feed the same mechanism Karl Jaspers called “un-reason” — the death of curiosity. Using humour, philosophy, and real-world examples, Reyne reveals how “fake endings” in conversation (the faux terminus) shut down inquiry, divide people into in-groups and out-groups, and keep power, profit, and prestige intact.Through comedic dialogues with:The Music Pedant (the gatekeeper of cool),The Western Spiritualist (the holier-than-thou salesman), andJordan Peterson (the tool-defender of failing paradigms),this episode maps how dogma replaces curiosity across science, spirituality, and social life — and how that loss of curiosity isolates us from each other.Part one explores how inquiry dies; part two will follow where profit thrives when it does — in beauty, health, and self-improvement industries.🧩 What’s Covered Just how vital curiosity is to connection, intimacy, knowledge and understanding. Why an absence of curiosity is literally un-reasonableThe meaning of un-reason and why Karl Jaspers saw curiosity as essential to reason itselfHow Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm theory explains scientific “stuck phases” and dogmatic backlashWhy capitalism kills curiosity (Adorno & Horkheimer’s critique of market-driven knowledge)How “tools” like IQ tests and BMI become holy grails defending broken paradigmsExamples of faux termini — conversational “fake full stops” that shut down dialogue.How un-reason drives loneliness and alienation by replacing connection with performanceA six-question “Faux-Terminus Detection Kit” to keep curiosity aliveWhy curiosity, not compliance, is the true act of rebellion under capitalism🧠 Philosophers & Thinkers MentionedKarl Jaspers – concept of un-reason and the role of curiosity in reasonThomas Kuhn – Structure of Scientific Revolutions and paradigm shiftsTheodor Adorno & Max Horkheimer – critique of capitalism’s suppression of inquiryKarl Popper – falsifiability and the problem of unfalsifiable claimsImmanuel Kant – the paralogism and errors of reasonRichard Lewontin – genetic variation and the fallacy of racial intelligence(With comedic mentions of Copernicus, Einstein, and even NietzscheThe Loneliness Industry, Jordan Reyne, capitalism and reason, un-reason, Karl Jaspers, Thomas Kuhn, paradigm shift, Adorno, Horkheimer, Popper, Kant, curiosity and reason, dogma, faux terminus, critical thinking, Jordan Peterson critique, Joe Dispenza debunked, pseudo-science, self-help critique, science and ideology, loneliness and capitalism, structural loneliness, empowerment narratives, connection vs performance, philosophical podcast, public philosophy, anti-self-help, body metrics critique, BMI and bias, IQ and racism, epistemology, cultural critique, modern dogma, paradigm collapse.
