David John Roden is a philosopher interested in eccentric alternatives to humanity. He is the author of Posthuman Life: Philosophy at the Edge of the Human (https://amzn.to/2U20JEU). If you'd like to discuss this conversation with me and others, suggest future guests, or read/watch/listen to more content on these themes, request an invitation to join Other Life: http://bit.ly/join-otherlife-via-youtube ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_4ItOIY7A

When push comes to shove, many people on the radical left will explicitly admit that one of their top priorities is maintaining a good reputation among other people on the radical left. The problem is: what if there are systematic errors in what's defined as good and bad, true and false? Now that we have the internet, you don't need to be a hostage to your reputation in small social scenes. Just write that shit up! Email people that seem interesting. Make a video or record a conversation with a friend. You don't need permission from anyone. You have to trust what you actually think, every human being has to try to say what they really feel and think. That is true revolutionary politics. And if you're being real, someone somewhere will understand you and you'll feel so much more valuable and real and free than if you had stayed hostage to your reputation around a small group of people. Truth is one of the most radically liberating and egalitarian and peace-generating forces in the world, but if you want to seek it you have to let a small number of silly people dislike you. That's just how it is, but it's great once you really get going! Also, let me give you a little secret from within the radical left. 90% of people interested in radical left politics will admit in private that public left moralism is bullshit, they just don't want to risk their reputation saying so. Everyone is just waiting for everyone else to pull the plug on it. So just do it. It's so easy lol. Just say what you really think and feel, be good to each other but be free and have fun, speak in your own language, tell people to fuck off with their reading lists and read whatever and whoever the fuck you want, talk with anyone, everyone, and if people talk shit about you, just politely inform them that "nobody believes you anymore and actually what I'm doing is radical politics thank you goodbye and good luck!" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Q4tFaavoU