An evening with Chris and MattJohn

[Yoda]

Okay, not really. Awhile back I did an audio test with MattJohn to see how sound carried in the new office (well, it's not really new any more, but you get the idea), so we hopped on Skype, talked about free will and determinism for a long time, and recorded it. Yesterday I finally got around to editing it, which involved very little actual work, but required that I sit and listen to the whole thing again.

Anyway, a little was chopped off in the beginning, I think, but it isn't much and I think the last hour or so is completely untouched. This probably will be interesting to very, very few people, but it seems worth posting all the same.

Two things to note: first, apologies for how blaring my voice is. I was experimenting with certain microphone setups and didn't really get it right, so my audio is not nearly as even and balanced as MattJohn's and is probably unpleasant to listen to when I speak a little bit louder, even though I was talking at a pretty normal volume. Also, there's a little language, though not much.

Enjoy? (http://www.movieforums.com/upload/mattjohn_edited.mp3)

[Yoda]

Hey, I don't talk fast. Everyone else thinks slow.

Anyway, I do talk fast, particularly in casual conversation about topics I'm interested in. The volume, however, as I mentioned in the post above, is a technical issue.

But yeah, I mean, I did say it's about free will and determinism, so if you're not interested in those topics, you probably won't want to listen to this. I'm posting it mainly because it seems weird to have it and not at least put it somewhere, not because I expect it to be especially entertaining.

[Sedai]

I will give this a listen when I get a chance, as I am interested in this stuff!

[John McClane]

Yeah, I agree with Yoda that this won't be interesting to most people, but we had to post it somewhere! :D

[mark f]

So Chris, have you slowed down or sped up during your years on TV and radio? You sound the same as you did during our "interview".

[Yoda]

It totally depends on the context. I still talk too fast in general, but I've slowed it down in general, I think. If I'm talking unusually fast here, it's probably because I was just thinking of it as a normal conversation and not something for public consumption.

I'm usually better so long as I remember to remind myself right before it starts to slow down. It's easy to forget, though, and pauses on radio or TV feel much longer than they actually are, so I think there's a natural tendency to exaggerate their length and overcompensate.

[Yoda]

We'll have to do that again, too. I'll be better next time!

[Saully]

This just gave me an idea! What about if some of us chatted up on Skype? And we could be talking about... Movies?! I don't know. Just a thought.

[SamsoniteDelilah]

Great conversation, guys. I'm about half way through and am stopping to make a sandwich. Couple of thoughts before I do:

MattJohn arrives with a huge amount of information and is adept at discussing it. Matt, your enjoyment of the topic really comes across. Fun to listen to! And good job keeping Yoda on task - monumental undertaking. ;)

Chris, have you considered doing a podcast series like this? (Or have you already, and I'm just clueless?) You'd be a good moderator/interviewer. Early on in this, you establish that you're going to be challenging what's coming, but you maintain a friendly, collaborative tone. And I don't think your voice is annoying or jarring at all, just by contrast to Matt's and only really at the start.

Couple of questions do come to mind:
What is Matt writing?
Does everyone else know what the Medieval philosophers believed?

[/compulsive reviewing]

[John McClane]

I was writing my senior thesis for my undergraduate degree when we made this recording.

And thank you for the compliments! :)

[Yoda]

Wow, you're actually listening. I'm torn between being flattered and wondering what's wrong with you. :D I didn't expect any non-dorks to partake.

Yeah, I admit, part of me has thought about doing something more formal with this. How many times have you heard about someone who starts doing one thing just to learn something, and then realizes they enjoy it so much that it supplants the original purpose? Like "I was buying a house to fix up for my mother, so I got into real estate development." I have often wondered if doing something as random as a technical trial-run for a movie podcast might just lead into a series of casual, philosophical conversations. It does come a bit more naturally.

It does help, of course, that MattJohn and I have talked and have a good natural rapport and respect each other.

Re: what Matt's writing. The podcast is from around April; he was writing his thesis, which he's since finished and defended and all that (EDIT: d'oh, posted right after him). So yeah, the fact that I could understand any of that stuff talking with a guy who's not only smart, but was right in the middle of writing a flippin' thesis, was a relief. You can tell throughout that he's immersed in that stuff and came very prepared as a result.

[SamsoniteDelilah]

Chris, we've posted together for almost nine years. If this is the first time you've wondered if something's wrong with me, you hold the record! I come to this a total newb, and you two succeeded in making it accessable and informative. That's cool stuff.

Matt, how did the defense go? Did you find this exercise was helpful with that?

[planet news]

Just started it.

Yoda's vocal level is at about a here: ---











Matthew's is at about a here: ---


---0

[John McClane]

Matt, how did the defense go? Did you find this exercise was helpful with that?The defense was pretty engaging and it took them about 20 minutes to call me back in for my grade, which was about 3 times longer than everyone else I asked. In the end, though, I got a B- because they took everything into account: my goal, the writing, and the presentation.

I felt pretty damn good about the grade considering how I squeezed a year's workload into a month and a half. However, I felt like my professors were a little disappointed.

And yeah, this discussion helped make my presentation a lot tighter.

BTW, my intended goal was to make this subject material more accessible to the general public because I was constantly banging my head against the wall during my research, so I'm happy to hear that you feel like I accomplished that.

[wintertriangles]

Whatever happened to podcasts we were talking about starting?

[TheUsualSuspect]

^^^^ ditto.

[Yoda]

Life, man.

Life.

[Yoda]

More serious answer: I'll be trying to give them another go soon. This conversation was specifically designed to iron out a few technical bugs. But I'm, like, married, and stuff. And we have to paint some more rooms. It's crazy, I tell you, crazy!

[planet news]

For those who didn't listen, allow me to summarize what occurred.

1) Yoda doesn't believe there is such a thing as soft determinism.

2) Yoda doesn't like DFW's style of refutation.

3) McClane says "Massatuchets"

4) Yoda thinks the free will debate is done. He thinks it can only exist in a place outside the material realm but in constant contact with it (???)

5) Yoda might read DFW's book sometime.

6) McClane might read Wittgenstein sometime.

7) Yoda's cat is named off of something in Firefly.

8) McClane hasn't seen Firefly.

9) McClane has seen Serenity.

10) Serenity is better when you haven't watched it in a while and then watch all of Firefly.

11) Yoda gets a special feeling when doing philosophy.

[John McClane]

All important things to know.

[John McClane]

So I listened to this again. Holy crap! Osmo, free will, logic, possible worlds? Don't do drugs, kids.

[Sexy Celebrity]

You guys talked about free will? I'm sure you got it wrong.

[Swan]

Who is this MattJohn guy?

[Sexy Celebrity]

McClane is MattJohn. Yoda is Chris.

[John McClane]

Also, Chris' clicking and typing in the background drives me nuts.

[Yoda]

It's even worse now that I have a mechnical keyboard.

If someone wants to run it through Audacity and do some noise removal, that'd probably help.

[John McClane]

I was locked away in one of the private study rooms with a high ceiling, so that's why I sound so sexy.

Also, did you ever read it, Chris?

[Yoda]

Stupid 10-foot ceilings making me sound ugly.

[honeykid]

:laugh:

[Yoda]

Also, did you ever read it, Chris?
Didn't see this ninja edit. No, haven't read it yet.

If anything my reading list has gotten longer and more intimidating. It's nice to have so many great things vying for attention, but it can be a little overwhelming, too. And it tends to be one of the first things to fall by the wayside when there's work to be done.