Self-Defined Human Michael Korman

This is a strange episode but I kinda like it, so I’m putting it up here. It’s audio that was recorded on February 6, 2021. It was a livestream I did on Instagram where I was playing Donkey Kong Country 3 and talking about some stuff that had happened to me in the first year of the pandemic related to:
1. The music school I’d been playing at before the pandemic, and
2. A marketing group I’d joined that year.
The whole thing is a rant, but I hope it could be of interest to you if you’re a classical musician, a video game streamer, or if you’re in any way interested in online marketing or cancel culture. I bleeped out names because I don’t want this to be about names.
I think it works well as audio. You can watch the video on YouTube.
Hope you like it.

Lately, I’ve been a cheerleader for boundaries. That’s funny because the second episode of this podcast was called “Stop Setting Boundaries”. In this episode, I explain how my thinking has changed by reacting to Episode 2.
Timeline:
0:00:00 – Introduction
0:03:09 – Reacting to Episode 2: “Stop Setting Boundaries”
0:04:37 – Drama Triangle & The Empowerment Dynamic
0:08:00 – Boundaries let you have conversations
0:10:37 – How I look at boundaries these days
0:13:01 – “Violating” boundaries
0:14:49 – Topics on which I’ve demonstrated how to set boundaries
0:17:05 – Restraining order threat
0:18:08 – Being a Challenger
0:22:47 – Training your friends
0:24:29 – Virtue-signalling, being the bigger person
0:27:59 – “Accountability”
0:29:28 – Emotional issues
0:31:26 – Rosenberg Stage 2
0:34:18 – Jordan Peterson, responsibility
0:38:52 – Be explicit with the language
0:42:26 – It’s like a BPD thing
0:44:19 – Back to the list
0:46:06 – Teaching
0:46:22 – Friend zone
0:47:49 – “Michael, you’re acting like a victim.”
0:49:42 – I got derailed
0:52:37 – Back then I was all about acceptance
0:53:54 – Don’t say it to them
0:54:51 – You don’t need to justify
1:01:15 – Just stand still
1:04:18 – I wouldn’t even say any of that
1:07:57 – That’s it for this episode

Spiral Dynamics is a framework for making sense of the forces that drive culture. It helps you understand why YouTube commenters are such jerks. Also, why the Godfather cares so much about respect. And why Osho started his cult. And why air traffic controllers aren’t to blame for mid-air collisions.
I’d take it to a desert island.
Stay tuned for more episodes on the other colors.
(Instagram live, April 26, 2023)
0:00 – Introduction
3:17 – The Ice Cream Truck Song (the Entertainer)
6:55 – Spiral Dynamics
10:23 – Overview of the colors
20:01 – Zagreb mid-air collision
27:27 – Osho, Wild Wild Country
28:50 – Yellow (systems thinking)
31:19 – Purple (animism, shamanism)
34:08 – Still DRE
39:46 – Leo Gura (actualized.org)
42:55 – Red
44:29 – Sacred cows in FB groups
46:10 – Revenge of the Nerds
47:27 – Instagram algorithm
50:41 – Respect
51:40 – The Godfather
54:09 – YouTube comments

Only you can teach yourself how to read music. I have no power over you. The Universe will do its thing, and no, it’s not fair. But here’s a placebo to keep you company. It might even work.
(Instagram live, April 24, 2023)
0:00 – Introduction
1:30 – How to read music
10:44 – Major and minor keys
16:48 – The Karate Kid (homework 1)
18:21 – Major and minor chords
19:05 – The Empowerment Dynamic
27:36 – C major chord, treble/bass clef
30:02 – Spiral Dynamics (homework 2)
35:22 – Teachers don’t care about you
40:17 – Philosophy is stupid
42:32 – Weird Al
44:46 – Bo Burnham “Inside” (homework 4)
47:42 – Seventh chords
51:56 – Parting words

All about meditation, language, non-duality and waking up to b******t. This is graduate-level piano material. Actually, it’s a bit beyond that.
(Instagram Live from April 22, 2023)
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Meditation
10:10 Is classical music better than contemporary music?
11:30 Enlightenment
21:52 Form vs Function
25:45 A language exercise
30:43 Duality vs Non-duality
35:30 Why YouTube comments suck
40:40 B.F. Skinner, “Verbal Behavior”
41:42 The pandemic was a good thing
42:28 AI, revenge porn
47:48 Marshall Rosenberg, Amtsprache
51:49 Asleep vs awake people

Welcome to 4-dimensional space. Glad you could join me on this higher plane of existence. Now, let me set the record straight about some of y’all’s problems with me.
(Piano Time Live on Instagram, April 21, 2023)
Timeline:
0:00 – Introduction
1:39 – Golden Hour
5:48 – 3-step exercise to play with both hands
10:51 – The 4th dimension
19:18 – Für Elise
22:26 – Moonlight Sonata
24:59 – The Empowerment Dynamic and the Drama Triangle
28:56 – Jordan Peterson is awesome
31:49 – Nerds who correct “misinformation” on social media
34:19 – Osho, Wild Wild Country