logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
1h 25m

87: Lessons from The Master: The Analect...

Neil Soni, Nat Eliason, and Adil Majid
About this episode

Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Analects of Confucius and virtuous living.

We cover a wide range of topics including:

  • Confucian virtues
  • The differences between Confucianism and Taoism
  • The value of friendships between the young and their elders
  • How to govern through example in a Confucian way
  • Transmitting the values of ancients to contemporary times
  • Ancient Chinese religions

And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow NatNeil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.

Mentioned in the show:

Books mentioned:

People mentioned:

  • Rumi (24:35)
  • Richard Rohr (48:26)
  • Johnathan Bi and David Perell (54:00)
  • Graham Hancock (1:14:51)

Show Topics:

(0:00) Feedback about the Made You Think title – time for a possible rebrand?

(1:44) Tangent Fuel Coffee and Desnudo Coffee in Austin

(8:18) TikTok SEO's early days and Nat's experience on BookTok

(12:40) About Confucius

(15:45) Socrates, Confucius, and Buddha lived in the same 100 years

(18:12) Confucianism vs. Taoism

(20:28) The meaning of Books 10 and 18 in Analects

(23:20) Confucianism vs. Stoicism

(24:35) Confucius or Rumi? Adil reads quotes from each and Nat and Neil guess the author

(31:34) The Golden Rule appearing in Analects - twice!

(33:54): How to retain an author's original meaning while translating their work, especially when translating poetry or religious texts

(36:35) How The Clouds by Aristophanes contirbuted to Socrates’ death

(38:00) The meaning of filial piety and how Confucius prescribes mourning for one’s parents

(42:03) How our society is stratified by age and the difficulties in making friends with people much older

(48:26) Falling Upward by Richard Rohr

(52:20) The narcissism of small differences and Girard

(54:55) Governing through virtue and example

(59:15) Genghis Khan breaking up groups with homogenous sets of beliefs – TK LINK Genghis Khan series

(1:00:03) Parallels between the decline of the Roman Republic and the US – TK LINK Rome series

(1:05:10) Unexpected appearance of the word “God” in the text, ancient Chinese folk religions, matrilineal cultures

(1:10:48) Confucius's views on friendship and how to choose your friends

(1:11:47) Confucius transmitting values from earlier periods which were abandoned by his contemporaries

(1:14:51) Graham Hancock interviews and conspiracies

(1:20:15) “The pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves”

(1:24:00) Final notes and wrap-up

If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode.

You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We’ll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads.

Thanks for listening. See you next time!

Up next
Jun 24
121: The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
“Prime Intellect was an uncertain god. It had acted because it had to, but if it had been human its hand would be shaking on the controls.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! This episode dives into The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams, a soft sc ... Show More
1h 5m
May 20
120: Wired To Heal: Regeneration and The Body Electric
“The greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be a far greater threat on a global scale than warming, or the increase of chemical elements in the environment.” Welcome back to another episode of Made ... Show More
57m 47s
Dec 2024
119: Surviving Against All Odds: Endurance by Alfred Lansing
“In that instant they felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. Though they had failed dismally even to come close to the expedition's original objective, they knew now that somehow they had done much, much more than ever they set out to do.” Welcome back to another ... Show More
1h 36m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 8
Alone in Antarctica | The Windiest Place on Earth | 1
It’s 1912, the golden age of Antarctic exploration, and teams from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition are preparing to journey into the wilderness. One trio, led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, will venture the farthest — traversing 700 miles roundtrip of uncharted ... Show More
42 m
Aug 6
Shipwreck off Australia: Dragged Towards the Rocks
A merchant vessel departs Tasmania. The scheduled journey time is two days. But 18-year-old Mick Doleman and his crewmates will end up at sea for far longer than that. When their ship goes under, the seamen will find themselves stranded in a vulnerable life raft. The hellish expe ... Show More
54m 29s
Jun 4
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
Jun 2
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
Apr 2025
547: First African American Astronaut to Walk in Space on Lessons from His Missions and Embracing Infinite Possibilities
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 547, an interview with Bernard Harris, an astronaut, physician, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and author of Embracing Infinite Possibilities: Letting Go of Fear to Find Your Highest Potential. In this episode, Bernard Harris, the first Afr ... Show More
56m 44s
Jun 2
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
Jun 3
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
Jun 2
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
Jun 2
Wondery Presents: How to Survive Against the Odds
Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brinkHow to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores ... Show More
6m 2s
May 14
Stranded on Ice: Polar Bears Prowling…
Glen Gantz is a biologist from Utah who likes to take a walk, or a row, on the wild side. In August 2000, he embarks on a never-before-attempted challenge: a 12-day rafting trip down northern Canada’s perilous Firth River… alone. It was always going to be tough, but things take a ... Show More
56m 40s