Being in the World Dr Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli

I had the incredible honor of delivering the commencement address to UC Berkeley Philosophy department's graduating class of 2024 during this time of momentous social upheaval.

As an alumnus who studied under legendary professor Hubert Dreyfus, a pioneer in applying existential phenomenology to critique technology and "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), it was powerful to return and share reflections with these bright young minds.

In my speech, I recounted how studying the work of Bertrand Russell and other great philosophers at Berkeley changed my life. Bert Dreyfus's courses in existentialism opened my eyes to how philosophy embodies everything from our skills to our cultural practices, inspiring me to switch my major and subsequently use film to explore the human condition.

I shared stories from my philosophical journey putting theory into praxis - from studying flamenco in Spain, to making films examining monogamy and technology through an existential lens, to establishing a philosophy conference in Bombay Beach, on the shore of the Salton Sea. I explained how existential anxiety from the groundlessness of existence can transmute into awe and authenticity.

Referencing the courageous student protests against injustice, militarism, and the violent suppression of Palestinian rights that have rocked campuses, I applauded the graduates for embodying philosophy's highest calling by questioning entrenched power structures and assumptions.

Like the great philosophers before them, they must continue to challenge authority, respond authentically to circumstances, and take pride in being of no "value" to the status quo. Their critical thinking and reevaluation of values is urgently needed.

I ended with an encouragement to creatively marry theory and praxis as modeled by philosophers like Dreyfus and Angela Davis, and to embrace the groundlessness of existence with wonder.

Congratulations UC Berkeley Philosophy class of 2024 - go forth, be philosophers and change the world!

Thank you to Alva Noe for the invitation, to Dulcinee DeGuere for help with editing both the speech and the video, to Patrick House for his deep insights, as well as to Mark Wrathall, Eric Kaplan, Aaron Bornstein and Iain Thomson for their suggestions.

"Filmmaker Tao Ruspoli and neuroscientist Dr. Patrick House engage in a wide-ranging discussion that explores the nature of truth, myth, and meaning. The conversation begins with an examination of the significance of the number 40 in various cultural and religious contexts, revealing how this seemingly arbitrary number has been imbued with profound meaning throughout history. Ruspoli and House delve into the power of storytelling, discussing how myths and folklore can shape our understanding of the world and ourselves, even when the stories themselves may not be factually accurate.The discussion then turns to the role of active and passive bearers of tradition, drawing fascinating parallels between the transmission of folklore and the spread of parasites in the natural world. Ruspoli shares personal anecdotes about his father's storytelling, while House offers insights from his research on mind-controlling parasites. The two explore the tension between the pursuit of factual accuracy and the value of "ecstatic truth," ultimately questioning the cultural and contextual nature of truth itself. Throughout the podcast, Ruspoli and House engage in a thought-provoking and often humorous dialogue that challenges listeners to reconsider their assumptions about the stories we tell and the truths we hold dear." -Claude

A tour of legendary, academy award winning production designer Dennis Gassner's home in the Hollywood hills.

Dennis Gassner (born October 22, 1948) is an American-Canadian production designer. He is notable for his work on Bugsy, Big Fish, Into the Woods, and Blade Runner 2049, his collaborations with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes, as well the James Bond films Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre, the latter two directed by Mendes. He has been nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, and has won once. Gassner was nominated for the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film for his work on Quantum of Solace, and won for his work on Skyfall.

A both very intimate and very expansive conversation with Dulcinee about creativity, addiction, mental health, technology, "artificial" "intelligence", politics, relationships, and more.

Poetry & Beats by Dulcinee DeGuere
Piano and Synths by Tao Ruspoli

The boundaries of your bias
Trickle, trembling
With a shudder that you deny
Though it wraps you in a fog
So taught your veins start to pop
I’m trying to rupture something I can’t see
But it dangles right in front of me
Entangling my dreams with delusion
And death
The stench of which flirts, converts, and perverts
The precious flames of what I thought I could be
An animal
A siren
Anything other than this flesh
How can I cauterize this wound
This womb that pulses with fire, desire
The dire necessity
To rip skin from flesh
And uncover what’s underneath
But somehow, always
We speak of other things
Freedom,
And the sun
Because we’re scared of duration
We’re just fucking impatient
And no one taught me how to breathe
Try, and try again
Try, and try when
Try, and try again
Try, and try when

Yucca Valley, California
September 7, 2023

Tao and Dulcinee discuss the deals they've made with each other to successfully quit smoking, meditate, and drastically reduce phone time. They also discuss the nature of technology, art, artifacts, and how to remain human in a technological world.