Marco

Hello fellow philosophers,

I’m Marco and I have been interested in philosophy for a number of years and have travelled quite a journey when I discovered Freedomain Radio.

I can’t remember when, maybe when I was 15, I read Sophie’s World and that was my first contact with philosophy. It was very interesting to read about all those philosophies and it opened up a completely new world to me. What I liked most from the book were the Epicureans. As I understand it, as the idea that you should live life to the fullest, it stayed with me ever since (though I am sure Epicurus’ philosophy is much more complex than that).

From then on I read countless books about philosophy and incorporated ideas into my life if I thought they made sense.

In 2007 I discovered (LaVeyan) Satanism, which is a very interesting philosophy and not quite what people think. It’s an (kinda) atheistic philosophy (so no believe in a devil!), which says that there is no god; but if there was one, Satan, as he is portrayed in works like “The mysterious Stranger” by Mark Twain and “Paradise Lost” by John Milton, would be a much better alternative. They say all religion is showbiz, and therefore added some show to their philosophy. You should search for truth no matter what people might label you, so (partly out of spite) they embrace the worst label there is.

That’s Satanism in a nutshell. I was a Satanist for some time, but if I was still a Satanist when I started listening to the podcast, Stef definitely brought forth some arguments that put the nails into the coffin. However, I still find it very interesting, so if you want to talk to me about it, feel free. Especially LaVeyan magic is still something that I quite like discussing, especially as I still think it is a valuable concept (Definition of magic: “The change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally accepted methods, be unchangeable.“).

After I read that LaVey was influenced by Ayn Rand I read Atlas Shrugged and was totally hooked. I read the Fountainhead, We the living, Anthem, and half her non-fiction. I wasn’t convinced by her ethics but from then on my political opinion was what I call “Objectivist politics” (but now I'm an anarchist).

As I lead my life I developed my own philosophy, so I stopped calling myself a Satanist. When I discovered Freedomain Radio, I was pleased to find out that what Stef was saying either matched my opinion or his arguments were so compelling that I accepted them. I am an anarchist now, and let me tell you: Being a Satanist was far easier than being an anarchist when discussing ideas, who would have thought.

I am currently at Ep 847 (I feel like I am in a time machine, haha). I also listen to Stefs current episodes, when they come out and the bronze podcasts (yeah me for donating! :-))

So where am I now? I am a 23-year old German. I am now doing an internship in Leonberg at an international Company and I am very, very happy here. Like when I was studying in Vienna, I have taken the chance to develop my thinking here. There are no parents, no friends with weird ideas, nothing to distract – just life to test my theories .

I watch NASA vidcasts and receive the SpaceX newsletter – Astronomy and space exploration is just awesome. I study math and I think instead of using the “two plus two is four” metaphor from Orwell Stef should really start using the “every bounded sequence has a convergent subsequence” metaphor ;-).

I am looking forward to discussing ideas with you! Feel free to write me!