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Why Evil Matters: A thoughtful deep dive into the question of why evil really does matter
If you aren’t familiar with Alex Tsakiris then you might at least have come upon one or more of his podcasts. He has named his series - Skeptiko. Why Evil Matters is an exploration of many, many things but appears to have a primary purpose which isn’t to make a case that there is such a thing as evil - but why it matters.
Any experienced listener to the Skeptiko podcasts should know at some point how Skeptiko came about and why. Briefly, Alex found himself in a life situation where he had the luxury to spend focused time on asking and seeking answers to some of his most burning questions. And his method for doing so was to become familiar with the various works (books, studies, interviews, etc.) of interesting, mostly cutting-edge thinkers, scientists, researchers, philosophers where he would then reach out to many for discussion whereby these discussions became podcasts that have come to make up a library of 500 or so as of this date (March 17, 2021). It should be noted that Alex interviews contributors to all sides of the various subjects he explores including heavy duty skeptics.
Alex’s journey began in 2007 and he’s still at it today.
What makes Skeptiko unique besides Alex’s one of a kind combination of drive and personality is that Skeptiko is, more than anything else, the sharing to the world one man’s journey in exploring these questions. And this is done so freely (there’s no paywall).
One thing I’ve come to accept about Alex and his method is this. The moment you think you understand a position he holds, the next he blows your conclusion right out of the water by asking questions that, in a way, seem to be from a position quite different that the one, I, as a listener, concluded he held. This is the Alex Tsakiris, “Skeptiko” method. In my early experience with the podcast, this would frustrate me. Now, I have come to embrace the brilliance in this approach. And this is what keeps Skeptiko ever alive and ever more relevant to what this planet is facing today.
All the above is important to know for my ability to share a proper review of Why Evil Matters.
So, to get to the review, I have to mention that it seemed it was in June of 2019 Alex published a monologue podcast where he asked four questions –
Question One is, are we biological robots in a meaningless universe? But actually, he considers the answer as settled and so the actual question is, how can this still be propped up by mainstream science?
Question Two is based on Alex’s conclusion that in the core of our psychology there is a fundamental discontent. And so, the question is because it seems to Alex that this has simply been accepted. Alex’s question is, is it possible to change that state? Is it possible we can raise that state?
Question Three has arisen from various interviews where there’s discussion of what Alex has labeled as “extended realities.” The question is, what is our relationship between this (time-space) reality experienced by our ordinary consciousness and this extended reality which, of course, involves our own extended consciousness. And does this suggest our ordinary consciousness and the reality it experience is a lesser reality, if you will… Lesser in the sense that it is further away from the ultimate reality. To summarize – what is our relationship between our reality and the larger reality?
This leads to the fourth question - Why is there deception, why is there evil?
This led Alex to the doorway of this deep dive exploration of evil and where he ended up is in asking the question, Why Evil Matters.
The book, Why Evil Matters is an organization of this exploration. And not only of this specific question but the questions he had to ask just to get to this final question which, as the title says, became a statement. In following Alex’s exploration I came to conclude the asking of “Why Evil Matters” is the penultimate question of our times. The book is a public sharing of his own personal journey in asking these questions. Alex uses his “Skeptiko” method which is presented to listeners via these dialogues… dialogues with dozens of fascinating individuals who each have their own areas of expertise. The book features highlights of these discussions and spans the discussions he’s had in his show since he asked the four questions noted above. What the book does is organize the flow in an order which, I conclude, builds up to the most optimistic landing place one can find themselves within the framework of such a difficult subject.
Alex’s book takes the reader right to the threshold of asking this question to themselves while providing the reader a plethora of questions and the explorations of those questions which must be considered along the way to this final ultimate question/statement.
The book may be viewed as never actually, definitively answering the question in any firm and single way. Instead, the book takes the reader along for the ride through all sorts of considerations that left this reader sensing I could far better answer the question for myself than I could before I read this book even though I had previously and carefully listened to every single podcast featured in the book.
If that was Alex’s goal, at least in my case, it was achieved.
If you aren’t familiar with Alex Tsakiris then you might at least have come upon one or more of his podcasts. He has named his series - Skeptiko. Why Evil Matters is an exploration of many, many things but appears to have a primary purpose which isn’t to make a case that there is such a thing as evil - but why it matters.
Any experienced listener to the Skeptiko podcasts should know at some point how Skeptiko came about and why. Briefly, Alex found himself in a life situation where he had the luxury to spend focused time on asking and seeking answers to some of his most burning questions. And his method for doing so was to become familiar with the various works (books, studies, interviews, etc.) of interesting, mostly cutting-edge thinkers, scientists, researchers, philosophers where he would then reach out to many for discussion whereby these discussions became podcasts that have come to make up a library of 500 or so as of this date (March 17, 2021). It should be noted that Alex interviews contributors to all sides of the various subjects he explores including heavy duty skeptics.
Alex’s journey began in 2007 and he’s still at it today.
What makes Skeptiko unique besides Alex’s one of a kind combination of drive and personality is that Skeptiko is, more than anything else, the sharing to the world one man’s journey in exploring these questions. And this is done so freely (there’s no paywall).
One thing I’ve come to accept about Alex and his method is this. The moment you think you understand a position he holds, the next he blows your conclusion right out of the water by asking questions that, in a way, seem to be from a position quite different that the one, I, as a listener, concluded he held. This is the Alex Tsakiris, “Skeptiko” method. In my early experience with the podcast, this would frustrate me. Now, I have come to embrace the brilliance in this approach. And this is what keeps Skeptiko ever alive and ever more relevant to what this planet is facing today.
All the above is important to know for my ability to share a proper review of Why Evil Matters.
So, to get to the review, I have to mention that it seemed it was in June of 2019 Alex published a monologue podcast where he asked four questions –
Question One is, are we biological robots in a meaningless universe? But actually, he considers the answer as settled and so the actual question is, how can this still be propped up by mainstream science?
Question Two is based on Alex’s conclusion that in the core of our psychology there is a fundamental discontent. And so, the question is because it seems to Alex that this has simply been accepted. Alex’s question is, is it possible to change that state? Is it possible we can raise that state?
Question Three has arisen from various interviews where there’s discussion of what Alex has labeled as “extended realities.” The question is, what is our relationship between this (time-space) reality experienced by our ordinary consciousness and this extended reality which, of course, involves our own extended consciousness. And does this suggest our ordinary consciousness and the reality it experience is a lesser reality, if you will… Lesser in the sense that it is further away from the ultimate reality. To summarize – what is our relationship between our reality and the larger reality?
This leads to the fourth question - Why is there deception, why is there evil?
This led Alex to the doorway of this deep dive exploration of evil and where he ended up is in asking the question, Why Evil Matters.
The book, Why Evil Matters is an organization of this exploration. And not only of this specific question but the questions he had to ask just to get to this final question which, as the title says, became a statement. In following Alex’s exploration I came to conclude the asking of “Why Evil Matters” is the penultimate question of our times. The book is a public sharing of his own personal journey in asking these questions. Alex uses his “Skeptiko” method which is presented to listeners via these dialogues… dialogues with dozens of fascinating individuals who each have their own areas of expertise. The book features highlights of these discussions and spans the discussions he’s had in his show since he asked the four questions noted above. What the book does is organize the flow in an order which, I conclude, builds up to the most optimistic landing place one can find themselves within the framework of such a difficult subject.
Alex’s book takes the reader right to the threshold of asking this question to themselves while providing the reader a plethora of questions and the explorations of those questions which must be considered along the way to this final ultimate question/statement.
The book may be viewed as never actually, definitively answering the question in any firm and single way. Instead, the book takes the reader along for the ride through all sorts of considerations that left this reader sensing I could far better answer the question for myself than I could before I read this book even though I had previously and carefully listened to every single podcast featured in the book.
If that was Alex’s goal, at least in my case, it was achieved.
