HBH 43: The Mysterious, Tragic Death of Edgar Allen Poe

In this episode we begin a groundbreaking, never-before-attempted, altogether unprecedented series on the history of being human.  We are going to cover some of the best people who ever lived. Aside from my Dad, that is.Today we cover the "Moral Circle" concept, as a way to introduce just one of the criteria that will be going into deciding who is truly good, and who is truly not in the running.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

On this episode we cover the famous, ancient "Ship of Theseus" thought experiment, and then stretch it into relevance for the very modern possibility of tranfering our psyche, and possibly our very identity, to a digital format.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Being Bipedal was a key step in becoming human. Many of our other abilities, and liabilities, began with bipedalism.  On this episode:When bipedalism?Why bipedalism?We dispell some myths and establish some likelihoods about this uhique and pleuripotent trait.See the video of this episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZa3WwVyNeo&t=390sBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Borges wrote:“Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire”Time is the dimension we all inhabit, through which we propelled in only one direction. Why is this? Can we account for time's arrow? Can we reverse it?  Why does time only move in one direction?See the youtube episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbXv7vMOjJ8Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Most of us have had the feeling that we have experienced something before that we know we could not have expereinced before.  It can vary intensity from a slight familiarity to a sure conviction that we have seen, heard, smelled, or othewise lived through what we know in our mind to be novel.What is this feeling? What does it mean if anything? Is there any point to it?See the Youtube Episode here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdqn4mAh-ZYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

Today we go in depth about the death of John Allen Chau in 2018, including a complete reading of his own personal diary of the terrifying, disturbing events around North Sentinel Island. Events that he willingly waded into.  Was he a hero or a villain?  Selfless or Narcissistic?  Chances are very high the verdict you render will depend greatly on your own temperament, backgorund, and beliefs. In other words, your opinion of John will depend on which tribe you are a member of.Art by Ian ArmstrongTo support this podcast:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support

Part 1: The most tribal of tribes, the Sentinelese of North Sentinel IslandWe don't know much about them. We don't know what they call themselves, what they think the world or universe is like, what they believe about the rest of humanity. We don't know how they are organized, what they worship, how they see right and wrong.What we do know is that the North Sentinelese are the most tribal of tribes -- hostile to outsiders, uninterested in changing or developing along 'Western' lines, and unwilling to extend any moral status to vistors. In 2018 a young American Christian missionary, John Allen Chau, was killed by these people. Was it murder of an innocent or defense against an invader? Sadism or self-preservation? To understand what happened, we will first look into the history of interactions between the people of North Sentinel Island and outsiders, contacts that went occasionally acceptably, but usually very badly, for one party ot the other. To support this podcast:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support

Hitler was a failure who achieved the opposite of nearly all of his stated intentions. But was he insane as well?  His life and legacy might argue he was, but what do the experts say?If he was insane, what was the diagnosis? And if he was not insane, how do you account for his actions?Was he a meth head, dragon chaser, narcissist, psychopath, schizophrenic, oedipal conflicted anal regressive, or what?  In this episode we explore the body of literature devoted to explaining the motivations and actions of Adolf Hitler, and ask the question of whether he should be explained at all.To support this podcast:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support

He's one of the most reviled people in Western history -- a man whose cruelty, jealousy, and violence are proverbial. And yet his legacy is much more nuanced, his person more complicated than most of us know. One thing that is not in question is that he died a miserable death; in pain, angry, and resentful. Was it, as Josephus said, divine justice? Was it foul play? Spoiler: as bad as it was, it appears to have been neither, and can be easily explained.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.

I have released my first TouTube video and this is the audio -- see the episode here:https://youtu.be/uVfn5Ar1rmg?si=e3TE_6tCWEuQxf7hSchrodinger's Cat Quick and Easy Yes, this is based on a longer podcast episode -- but hey, you've got to start somwhere!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-being-human--5806452/support.