Overthink

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.comWhat does it mean to be spontaneous? In episode 161 of Overthink, Ellie and David get spontaneous. They look at Aristotle’s theory of spontaneous generation, at spontaneity’s role in politics, and at the dark side of spontaneity. How do different cultures and physical spaces enable or inhibit spontaneity? What is the relationship between spontaneity and human freedom? And is Lenin correct in arguing that leftists need to resist spontaneity in political organizing? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts think through the relationship between spontaneity and habit, how spontaneity plays into the recording of Overthink episodes, and the habitual spontaneity of those with Tourette’s Syndrome.Go to Quince.com/overthink for free shipping on your orders and 365-day returns.Works Discussed: Aristotle, Physics Lucy Cooke, The Truth About Animals Jonathan Gingerich, “Spontaneous Freedom”Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure ReasonVladimir Lenin, What is to Be Done?Highlight: Vladimir Lenin on Spontaneity* Vladimir Lenin was a central figure in the Bolshevik party and played a prominent role in the 1917 Russian Revolution* In the second half of the 1975, there was growing discontent with the Czar and conditions were getting worse for the people, so spontaneous uprisings arose* Lenin asked how do we transform society? and how can spontaneous actions lead to collective change?* He understood spontaneity as something that “comes out of the blue” in a way—nobody could have predicted that it would happen now rather than a week ago* Spontaneously alone is not yet an organized struggle that is supported by a party and has revolutionaries devoted to it* Consistent uprisings require consciousness * Without consciousness, Lenin warns that just spontaneity would (1) make people only worry about what’s happening to themselves and their network and (2) cause reform, not a revolution

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.comWhat does it mean to be ill? In episode 159 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss illness. They explore how illness has been mythologized, how it may alienate us from our bodies, and how it impacts social relationships. Is science the solution to the mythologization of illness, or is the scientific model of illness its own form of mythology? How should we conceptualize illness? Is it as a “deviation” from a norm? And if so, what norm? Finally, what can we learn about illness from a phenomenological approach that centers the patient’s first-person experience? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts think about the distinction between the mental and the physical in connection to illness and the intersection between mind and body in illness.Go to Quince.com/overthink for free shipping on your orders and 365-day returns.Works Discussed:Georges Canguilhem, The Normal and the PathologicalHavi Carel, Illness: The Cry of the Flesh,Susan Sontag, Illness as MetaphorSK Toombs, The Meaning of Illness: A Phenomenological Account of the Different Perspectives of Physician and PatientHighlight: Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor* Susan Sontag famously argued that illness has often been mythologized and treated as metaphor, which then leads to dangerous and problematic consequences* She gives two main examples: tuberculosis and cancer* Before treatments were developed, they were both seen as arbitrary death sentences that essentially fell from the sky and could target anybody* The way we describe these diseases has important social consequences, like treating patients to be socially shunned and treated as contagious, even if the disease is not actually contagious* Another facet of Sontag’s argument is that fatal diseases are thought to be obscene* Our deepest fears become associated with disease* With tuberculosis, patients were thought to have a spiritual problem that caused them to contract it

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.comHello folks! Ellie and David just hosted an exclusive live yesterday which you can find here. We would love your thoughts in the comments or in our chat, as well as any questions or comments you have for the podcast :) Without further ado, we hope you enjoy the episode!Should we be sympathetic towards manipulators? In episode 157 of Overthink, Ellie and…