Author: Crowhill

P&C drink a homebrew fail from Crowhill, then discuss various sociological perspectives on religion.

If you look at religion from an evolutionary or sociological perspective, what function does it serve? How was religious belief a positive adaptation? Or was it?

Sociologists and evolutionary psychologists who study this question have come up with some interesting theories about the benefits of religion, and why it helped humans advance. P&C consider the “New Atheist” perspective on religion and compare it with other secular approaches.

P&C drink and review Wook Bait IPA by Left Hand Brewing, then discuss the privilege enjoyed by attractive people.

Let’s face it, the world stops to admire the attractive person — especially the attractive young woman.

Attractive people are more likely to get called back for a job interview, more likely to get the job, and earn more when they get it. Attractive salesmen get more sales for more money. It’s easier for them to find a mate, they have an advantage in politics, and are seen as more competent, kind and trustworthy.

P&C drink and review Fresh Roasted, a delicious, peanut-flavored English Ale from Lancaster Brewing.

The boys go on to review some of the history of communism — the Frankfurt school, and various publicly stated communist objectives — and review how well they’ve done advancing those objectives.

The “classless society” has never been the true objective of communism. The actual agenda is and has always been a one-party, totalitarian state.

So, how are they doing with their goals? 

P&C drink and review an IPA from Great Lakes Brewing Company, then talk about the change different generations have seen over time.

How would a time traveler from 1900 view 1990? Or again, how will someone from 1960 view 2050?

The boys review important changes in each decade of the 20th century, then make some predictions for the future.

P&C drink and review Chesapeake Wheat from Flying Dog brewery, then ask why the United States seems to be the only nation that’s continually down on itself.

From the very top, people all constantly ragging on the United States. Our president, vice president, and their entire cabinet, keep tearing us down. We’re told we’re inherently, systemically racist. That we were founded on racism and white supremacy.

Who wants to live in a country like that? Who wants to fight to defend a country like that? How does this affect our foreign policy?

P&C drink and review a porter from Founders, then discuss the declining standards in dress.

How people dress in public matters, and our common standards have been declining for decades. P&C aren’t fans.

What are the social and personal advantages of dressing better? Quite a lot, actually. Put simply: dress better and people will treat you better.

Jordan Peterson says you should dress like the person you want to be.

Along the same lines, Nietzsche said “Every great man is an actor of his own ideal.”

And ZZ Top says “Every girl’s crazy bout a sharp-dressed man.”

P&C drink and review Inescapable Fate from Nepenthe Brewing, then discuss quality of life issues in U.S. cities.

Lovely places around the country are falling apart because the local officials are failing to do their jobs. Venice Beach. Fells Point. San Francisco.

Some prosecutors in these locations have decided not to prosecute “quality of life” crimes, and quality of life is deteriorating.

What’s to be done? In Baltimore, businesses have created an escrow fund and are withholding their tax payments until the city starts doing its job. Will that help?

The boys drink and review Hysteria’s “What You Want,” then continue their “shortcut to the classics” series, with special guest Longinus, by reviewing a few Mark Twain short stories.

• The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
• A True Story
• The Diary of Adam and Eve
• The $1,000,000 Bank-Note
• A Dog’s Tale

P&C drink and review Pigweed’s latest homebrew, then discuss the ruckus in Virginia, where a teacher was fired for failing to toe the line on transgender ideology. A parent rebellion ensued, exposing the high-handed tactics of the educational establishment, and their contempt for parents.  

The schools are learning that most people don’t like Critical Race Theory, and don’t want it taught to their children. 

This kind of push-back seems to be catching fire all over the country, as parents realize how radicalized the school system has become, and how little the establishment shares parents’ priorities, or … even cares what parents think.

After reviewing a wheat beer from DuClaw, the boys review some of Iain McGilchrist’s findings on differences between the functions of the two hemispheres, and what they say about how we view the world.

The left and right hemispheres have very different perspectives on life. The right tends to look at the big picture, while the left tends to be more task-specific.

When the two hemispheres are cut, scientists are able to communicate separately with each side, and have learned some very interesting things about how the two sides of our brain function, and what biases they bring to the world.

McGilchrist is concerned that our society is becoming too left-brain focused, and believes we need a correction.

You might also like the companion episode, Analytical vs. intuitive thinking.

The boys drink and review Young Buck, a Maibock from Key Brewing, then knock out five topics in five minutes each.

The lab origin hypothesis. There’s a lab in Wuhan, China, that works on “gain of function” in coronaviruses, which, by an astonishing coincidence, is where the virus started — but somehow the idea that the virus came from the lab was a crazy conspiracy theory.

Zoom life — what we’ve learned about virtual meetings during the pandemic.

Sobriety checkpoints — are they legal? Should they be? They seem to reverse the presumption of innocence.

Vaccines — are you a crazy, awful, conspiratorial monster if you choose to avoid the vaccine?

9-0 SCOTUS decision on Catholic organizations being involved in foster care.

The boys review two homebrewed bourbon barrel-aged stouts — both from the same recipe. One from this year, and one from a couple years ago. Then they the change in parents’ attitudes towards safety.

In the 70s we didn’t wear helmets or knee pads, and we didn’t use seat belts. How much safer are we today? How much safer do we feel? It seems that we’re way safer, but feel more vulnerable.

What about sports? Do kids collect neighborhood friends and play ball, or do they have to wait until the adults organize it for them? Do they ever learn to make their own rules, negotiate and resolve conflicts?

What has caused this dramatic change in attitudes?

The boys review their Strauss challenge (in which they brewed two homebrews, one with 100% Vienna malt and one with 100% Munich malt), then discuss two different ways of approaching the world — the broader meaning vs. the specific, practical meaning — and how a skeptical / analytical view of the world contrasts with a more intuitive view.

One view might be called sentimental, or following an unprovable grand narrative, while the other might be called practical, rational, hard-headed or maybe “objective.”

Should everything be “rational”? Sometimes things that seem irrational have a hidden origin or meaning that shouldn’t be easily dismissed.

Why don’t these U.S. citizens get the same representation as residents of the 50 states?

P&C drink and review a west coast IPA from local Hysteria Brewing, then discuss statehood for DC and PR.

Is “taxation without representation” a fair way to characterize the U.S. attitude towards the District of Columbia.

The constitution says Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over the federal district. Is that a good idea?

Or … to put it the other way … do you want the seat of government under the control of one of the states?

And how about Puerto Rico? Should it be a state? Under what terms do we admit new territories as states?

P&C drink and review Hysteria’s Barleyfine, then discuss military recruitment.

How do you inspire young men to join the armed forces and put their lives on the line for the country? According to the Biden administration, wokeness is the key. What we need, they think, is flight suits for pregnant women.

The boys recently watched four recruitment videos: one from China, one from Russia, and two from the U.S. — one for the army and one for the CIA. The Russians and the Chinese are appealing to masculinity, strength, discipline, self-sacrifice and other traditional disciplines. The U.S. videos are all about voyages of self discovery, wokeness and narcissism.

The military is about shedding your individual identity to become part of a bigger cause, specifically service to the country. But Biden thinks other things are more important.

Our enemies are laughing.