Neoliberalism is a word which you may not have heard of- but its power probably affects every part of your life. Neoliberalism = liberal democracy (generally seen as good) + free market economics; but what does that really mean? What are the consequences of neoliberalism? How does it affect economies, societies, politics, and people?

This is one of the single most important questions out there right now, because for voters to make a better world for themselves they need to know what ideologies they're voting for. Educating yourself on what neoliberalism is and what parties support it can make the difference between you living in a better world or a worse one.

But of course, this is all very politically hot territory. Every person, paper, and influencer has an opinion on the economy, but without any evidence behind it it's just a random person's opinion. At Polymath, we do things a little differently. This video is a summary of the academic literature about neoliberalism- I'm presenting you with the facts, so you can make your own decisions. Enjoy!

Stress! We all feel it as a normal part of life, and you may be feeling it right now. But what actually IS it? Where in the brain does it come from? How does it link to the body? What are the effects of it? And how can we get rid of it?

We'll be looking at all this stuff and more this episode, so tune in and enjoy

How many genders are there- probably one of the most hotly debated topics right now. Everywhere you look, people bombard you with their opinions and political biases- but you deserve something better. Because the question of how many genders there are is something we've actually known already for years; it's just tucked away in the academic literatures of biology and sociology where online influencers never bother to look.

And it's actually shockingly simple- once you understand the real, scientific definitions of both sex and gender, the whole debate melts away. Today, we'll be exploring that literature- and showing you how to find it so you never have take some random influencer's word for it again.

This is, of course, a very delicate topic. But in Polymath, I will never try to tell you what to think, or try to spoonfeed you- I want to just present to you the facts, and let you make that decision yourself. Enjoy!

Anarchism! It's one of the most famous and hotly debated words out there- but what actually is it?

More specifically- what do anarchists want? Is it a world with no rules? Has anarchism ever been tried? How does the economy work? Is anarchism democratic? What, essentially, does anarchism REALLY stand for?

There's so much misinformation on anarchism online, but you deserve a video that isn't just some guy ranting about his own political beliefs. My 'agenda' is always only to give you genuine information based on the academic literature- and let you form your own opinions.

I actually made a massive anarchism video a while back, and if you want to check that out it's just Episode 19 on my channel- but this is a concise, accessible version which you can comfortably listen to in the background. Enjoy!

Is suffering built in? Is the universe a purposeless void? Or is negativity a product of human actions? Most importantly- how do we make life better for ourselves?

Welcome back to Polymath! This episode explores all these deep questions; but as usual, it's not just a 'hot take' from some rando online. Rather, I want to delve into a fascinating scholarly debate on all this by two thinkers- Steven Pinker and Eckhart Tolle (yes, those are their real names!).

Along the way, we'll be critically evaluating their positions with real evidence and scholarship from psychology. We'll be going through what the literature actually says about cosmic truths, human nature, and the improvement of the human condition- so you're getting all the accurate, comprehensive info you need. Enjoy!

You open your phone and start scrolling. What do you see? In music, media, and adverts what is it that people keep talking about? Foreign cars, designer brands, and cash; but why?

Materialism is the belief that wealth and conspicuous consumption (i.e. buying things so other people can see them) will make people think better of you- and that it'll make you happy. The flipside is that people who don't do this aren't worth listening to and can be dismissed. Materialism, in short, is the advocation of making and spending money not to meet basic needs, but as an end in itself. It is the view that an individual's social status and sense of worth is contingent on material accumulation.

Materialism is presented by people on your screen and in the music you listen to as beyond question. But we don't need to take randos' word for it: there's a massive body of scientific evidence on what ACTUALLY makes us happy and increases our social status. If we want to think freely and critically, we should turn to the scientific method rather than blindly absorbing what others preach.

The overwhelming weight of genuine, quality-assessed, evidence-based scholarship tells us that in reality, materialism is one of the most self-defeating views out there. It is directly antagonistic to achieving happiness, and will not bring you friends or respect. In any case, when you see a luxury car driving past you, do you think 'wow, what a cool person?' or 'wow, what a cool car?'

And this scientific consensus is validated by thousands of years of philosophy. Across continents and centuries, humanity's wisest repeatedly come to the conclusion that spending money for the sake of it will not improve your life. Real happiness comes from dropping out of the rat race and focusing on the meaningful things in life.

In this video, I present both the scientific and philosophical consensuses on materialism. Rather than giving you an unfiltered opinion- which gives me no more credibility than materialist influencers- I draw together the combined findings of science and philosophy to relay to you what people significantly smarter than me have figured out.

Enjoy!

What does it mean to be an Islamist and what do they want? What distinguishes Islamism from Islam? And is Islamism inherently violent? (no) And what are jihadism or fundamentalism?

In this episode, we'll be answering all these questions and much more. Islamism is currently a politically charged topic, but as always on Polymath this video is free of opinions, biases, or political agendas. The only purpose of this video is to use real academic scholarship and political science to analyse this ideology in a neutral way.

For more neutral explanations of political ideologies which draw on the social sciences rather than the arbitrary opinion of the presenter, feel free to check out my channel. Either way, however, enjoy!

What 'should' the role of religion in society be?

The West and the Middle East have very different attitudes to religion and its place in society: the former generally removes it from politics, the latter doesn't. The West is more economically developed and has higher HDIs than the Middle East; despite the fact that until a few centuries ago, Western Europe was a backwater compared to the thriving and sophisticated civilisations of the Middle East.

But are these two variables- secularism and development- related? What are the consequences of religion in politics? What happens when the basis of morality comes from a religious text? And if, as in more secular countries, the basis for politics and morality isn't religion- what is it? Why is the West generally secular anyway? What's different about it? And did that difference also enable the West's economic development?

In this episode, we explore all these questions and more. Religion is a very sensitive topic. This video is not meant to attack anybody or facilitate prejudice: and this channel will never tolerate that in general. This video seeks to use sociology, political science, and history to academically examine different civilisations in more detail, based on honest analyses of different religious texts and social science methodology. There are no agendas or ulterior motives behind this video: it's just one person trying to understand the world around them using social science, and attempting to relay that understanding to you.

With that disclaimer out the way, enjoy!