The Scott Adams School - 06/11/26 AKIRA THE DON joins!

Okay, we are live. I love that. I need a whole board of sound effects from you.

You need a soundboard. Everyone should have a soundboard. I feel like when you're just wandering around outside, you should have a soundboard.

I know.

You walk into a room, you have a soundboard.

I mean, I make my own sounds all day long. Look who's here, you guys. Stop it. It's Akira the Dawn in the house.

I love it.

Owen's not here yet, he's coming. But look, it's Akira. Finally, we did it, we did it. I told you, I promised, he's here.

Yeah, it's been very difficult. I was up till 4:30 in the morning trying to get all this stuff working, uh, for all of us. Yeah, and then I got up at 7. So if I start like being weird, it's because I'm sleep deprived and, um, confused.

But weird is the rule here, weird is the rule. Everyone's saying hello to you. Can you see the chat, Akira, or no?

It's kind of the far away. I don't yet have a monitoring screen that's big enough for my weak tired eyes to properly read, but if I squint in this direction, you see that it's less aesthetically cool, but I can see someone going Akira, Akira, Akira, and so on. Terrified to move the laptop because—

don't move—

there's so many variables here. And like, I was like digging through all these hundreds of boxes that have come from Texas to my new studio here in Nashville to find the right wires and stuff so I do this thing, having just moved from Mexico.

It's all pretty nice.

Yes.

Shout out chat. What's up, Chuck? What up, Chunks? What up, Persuasion Club? What's cracking, baby? Yeah, beautiful days of your life.

Oh my gosh. Okay, so we have YouTube, Rumble, X, and Spotify, and of course Locals all going. So you guys, let's do a sip. We're actually going to do two sips. I'll show you why, but let's do the first one with Scott Adams right now.

I refer to Naval all the time as the smartest person I know with the most impressive talent stack. But, you know, it's a dangerous time. And after we do the simultaneous sip, which I'm hoping Naval, you'll join me with. Let's do the simultaneous sip. We don't need a preamble.

Go. Boom!

Oh my God.

Thanks, Brian. I will say, given your stellar introduction, I do have to point out that Scott is a recluse and doesn't know very many people. So that definitely helps.

If I ever meet somebody smarter, you're going to get demoted from smartest person I know.

Okay, you guys, and I just, I can't live with just that. So if you guys will have a second sip with me. All you need is a cup or a mug or a glass, a tank or chalice or stein, a canteen, jug, or flask, a vessel of any kind. Fill it with your favorite liquid. I like coffee. And join me now for the unparalleled pleasure, the dopamine hit of the day, the thing that makes everything better. It's the simultaneous sip, and it happens now with Akira.

Go! You got that down. Are you reading that off anything, or have you got that locked now?

I've got that locked down. Nice. Locked down, baby.

I feel it took Scott Adams like fucking 6 years to get that locked down.

We, yeah, we, we workshopped it for years until it got that, that rhythm. We had mason jars in there and everything. Oh yeah. So Akira, listen, I don't have so many questions, but I, I just, oh wait, here I know I have questions. Not so many. I was going to say so many. Here comes Owen. Let's bring in Owen. All right, and I think I'm going to change us over here.

There you go. You got it. Says Bookish Girl, you got a great job there. How about that?

Oh, thanks, Gracie. I love you. Very smooth. Very smooth. So, Owen, hi.

Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Akira.

What's up, Owen? How you doing? Doing great.

You guys, look at this fancy camera work. It's just what you wanted, a big Akira and little Erica and Owen. So, Akira, I debuted— I debuted We All Have Problems the other day, but I— it was just kind of like quick and brief. We didn't— I didn't do a big focus on it. So first I had a question for you. Hit me. Okay, so I'm just gonna play a very quick section of your— of this, um, music video you did. I'm just gonna play like a couple of minutes or a minute, and then I want to talk to you about it in one second.

Which music video is that?

This one. It's literally everything. And on top of that, you've got TikTok doing these videos.

Oh, it's the soccer one.

Yeah, I can play that if you want.

Okay, you know, and my— yeah, because my question for you is, did you pick this song because of Scott Adams' emotion?

Yeah, well, every time I, I do I do something, it's because, uh, it stands out to me in some way, and it announces itself in some way, and it requires, uh, it just requires transforming into what it seems to be, what, in my mind. And the second he started speaking in that fashion, uh, you could kind of see him change. If you rewatch the original clip, something kind of comes over him, and he kind of allows himself to sort of become a conduit for something in a funny sort of a way, which is something that's purely his, but it's also something universal, which is why that resonates so deeply.

And I think I wanted to— not that I want to get this out of the way, I just— it's very emotional. And I listen to your songs often. And yesterday I asked the group, I said, after the show, in the comments, write down if, you know, you could spend an hour chatting with Scott Adams, what would you talk about? And, you know, it was very interesting. I read everybody's comments, um, but then when I rewatched this video again, I was like, oh, you know what, I think I do want you to play. Do you have the— can you do the video or just the audio? Because what I wanted to point out was he said, at the end of my life, I don't think I'll be thinking about Dilbert, I'll be thinking about watching Disney movies with my stepkids. And you you know, and things like that. And then I was like, wow, that's what I'd want to ask him. Is that what you were thinking about? I mean, we were really with him till the end and he was very focused on all of us. But it's just interesting to be on a journey with someone who took us all the way to the end and knowing the things that he wondered that he would think about. And I loved everybody that said they would ask him about Did you meet Jesus? Are you in heaven? You know, like, these are like the things that we all want to know. So I just, I love this. I, I think this, this is one of the, our favorite ones. So let's, um, let's remember this and take a listen.

Yeah, great.

If you've never heard this, you're in for a treat. And Owen and I will mute ourselves. Hang on, guys, we're going to get it. Here we go. Here we go. Can— okay, Akira, we don't hear it. You know that, right?

No, I didn't know that.

I thought you did hear it.

Oh yeah, no, we don't hear it.

Hang on a sec. Why would that be? I can definitely— hang on. Yeah, I haven't got that hooked up. I can play the song. Uh, okay, so I'll play the song.

Awesome.

We definitely have audio working. Yes, sorry, have YouTube on that computer over there working, but next time everything will work.

Honestly, we are just so happy. All right guys, get ready, get ready. I did put you on the spot too.

It's literally everything. And on top of that, you've got TikTok doing these videos, childless adults saying how great their weekends are because they don't have any kids. Now I have two feelings about that. Number one, they're totally right about how great the weekend is for them kids. However, I'll just speak for myself. There's almost nothing I ever did as a single person that was as fun as getting up on a Saturday morning and watching my stepdaughter at the time play soccer. There's nothing I did that was more fun than that. And was it easy? Nope. There was driving and waking up and getting food and making sure everybody's taken care of. You gotta bring chairs down and cancel everything else. It's a lot of work, but there's nothing I did that was more fun than that. Watch you might step over, please honor. Watch you might step over, please honor. That's it. Couldn't top that. Watch you do my stuff to Art Place, Arthur. Watch you do my stuff to Art Place, Arthur. The second thing, like the best moments ever. Do you ever think about what you would remember if your life flashed in front of you like you're dying? I don't know if that really happens, but do you ever think like, what do you call your life? Because I find that there are moments that I call my life. You ever have that? Like, I don't think if my life were flashing before my eyes, I don't think I would think about my Dilbert career. You have 35 years of doing it every day. I don't think I would think about it. I'll tell you what I would think about if I can. I would think about watching Disney movies with my stepkids. That's it. That's what I would think about. There's nothing I think that was more, more fun than that. Watching my stepdaughter play soccer, watching my stepdaughter Never say goodbye.

Never. Ah, I love that. I, I mean, I felt like we had to revisit that song, and I felt like I just had to get it over with. I was like, keep my composure, Erica, you got this. Um, it's— I mean, I'm looking at everybody's reactions. It's just, you know, it's the important—

I was on here, uh, I met Shelley, like, on here, and I told her about how, you know, because that's the song that I would always think about her when I was making that song. And this was before I, you know, I think if I even had a visual imagery of who she was, but, you know, I'd read Scott Adams talking about her And I would think about her when I was working on this song and that period of time when he was devoting himself to that aspect of being. Yeah. And of course, now what feels like a very short time later, Shelley's no longer with us. Ida. But the song remains.

Yes, the song remains. And you're right. And the first time I heard that too, I thought, wow, what is— Shelley, think, like, the amount of love Scott had for his family, the stepchildren.

He was one of these guys, you know, he would talk a lot. You knew him via his work, and he would talk about his work and his work processes, and he would talk about the world, and he would tell you things about the world and one's relationship to the world and navigating the world, the user interface for exploring the world. And sometimes it was easy to forget that he was also just a man like all of us. And I think of that a lot with regards to his last weeks and how that's really what that brought home. I think I was— I can't remember who I was talking to. I was talking to someone, they were saying that they were— that kind of saddened them seeing him in that state. And it saddened them because they'd really held him on this high pedestal and then seeing him like that. And I— but for me, For me, I felt that was kind of the point. That was kind of the final message. In the same way Norm Macdonald had his final message, which was that wonderful joke, the, uh, I didn't even know he was sick. Uh, Scott Adams' final message was, no, like, really, you— I am like you, which means you can do what I did, like I did, if you so wish. One man can change the world. I think that was what I always got from him, was that one man can change the world.

Always mentoring right till the end. I mean, literally, literally the day he passed, he was gonna try to be on the show, you know. It's just, um, it's like, it's just incredible. And I just feel like, I don't know, I feel like he said, um, I mean, just sounds so strange, but I feel like he set like a good example. Like, we don't have to be super fearful. Um, it is you know, death is, you know, where none of us are getting away from it, right? So I don't know, I feel like he said a good example about it. And I know a lot of people were uncomfortable, and a lot of people were like, I couldn't watch, like, you know, I couldn't watch him like the last month. And, you know, it really bothered them. And I just, you know, for me, I just felt like, you know, what a gift, because we were with him through— so many of us for 10 years, through so many ups and downs and trials and tribulations and Prisoner Island and deaths and, you know, marriages, divorces, you know, everything. And It just sort of felt fitting that he took us along even right to his memorial service that he livestreamed. So yeah, it's pretty amazing.

A lot of people would say things like he would give advice or something and people would be like, oh, well, that's easy for you to say. You're a famous cartoonist. That's easy for you to say. You're Scott Adams or what have you. And what that really drove home at the end was, no, he was a man. He was a human being like you're a human being. We all have whatever obstacles we have. We all have problems, as the song says. We are all born and we all die. Doesn't matter how rich we are. Doesn't matter if we know the president. Doesn't matter what. Like, that's what hap— that's what humans do. His was a human story, and he showed right at the end that he really was human. And a lot of people, because a lot of people, like, literally can't quite equate the fact that they're seeing a person on a screen or something. With them being like them. So some people do find it hard to integrate certain lessons and ideas that they might get from these people because they feel themselves separate to those people. They feel there's somehow some other kind of being, some kind of immortal thing. And Scott, in his final days, really drove home the point that, no, I am like you, and you therefore can be like me and do whatever you want with your life.

You can change.

And I see that as being consistent throughout his life. I mean, his first, you know, major book that really took off was the, the How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. So it wasn't about, you know, look at all the great success I had, let me teach you how to do it, which is a lot— there's plenty of books out there that sound like that when you read the title and get into it. But, you know, he was kind of taking the opposite approach. Let me tell you about all the ways I failed and how I still managed to succeed somehow. And, you know, there was a— the only similar example I know of is like James Altucher, who would be very open about his failures.

Yeah, yeah. And funnily enough, I was listening to a lot of James Altucher when that Scott Adams book came out. I always talk about how Scott Adams was hugely influential on Meaning Wave, and it was at the same time. So Scott Adams was very influential on me coming up, doing the music, coming up with the idea of putting kind of affirmations and self-programming into music. And I did a couple of songs like that. And then I heard James Altucher say on a podcast, uh, quadruple down on what's working. And one of those tracks I'd done that week, I'd put out 3 tracks that were kind of experiments, and one of them was this first Meaning Wave track with Jordan Peterson. Uh, so I said, okay, we'll coterie people down and do more of this thing. So I feel like James— did I— James and Scott did a podcast, didn't they?

Yeah, yeah, they did.

Yeah, I know, I know Scott Adams has been a guest on James's podcast and probably the other way around. I don't remember, but I know he's been on James Altucher's podcast multiple times, so I think it's more than once.

And yeah, you know, like Kurt Vonnegut's concept of Karas from Cass Cradle. Like there are these people who are kind of like in your family, you might never meet them, or maybe you will meet them. They might live halfway across the world, but you're somehow connected. I feel like they were in that school. Mm-hmm.

Well, they're both very smart people.

They're both very accomplished and successful, but also with a lot of failure and ups and downs and a willingness to be very open about it and not ashamed in that way that people will sometimes hide the most useful thing they could share with someone because they're ashamed.

Yeah, well, Scott Adams was good. He had no fear of embarrassment or shame. Like, everything just is what it is. It is what it is, you know. If you fail, I mean, isn't that the way to learn? Okay, that didn't work, now what, right? So I love that. I love that he would tell us about all the startups he tried and all the things he would try to invent. And, you know, we— what was the one called? WenHub. And, you know, all the different things you read in his book How to Fail that he was working on. I'm like, oh my Oh my God, this guy was so driven. Like, he took no time off, and it was like he was always working, working, working, thinking, thinking. And you're gonna have to fail to succeed. So get Scott Adams' giant bong, Nikki. There you go. That's right. That's a man that needs a big bong.

And I think most people have, you know, a mix of success and failure, but a lot of people only talk about the successes, you know, and they come back to that shame and embarrassment. But, you know, if you really understood a person, you know, Scott Adams' basket case theory where everyone's a basket case, if you really got to know them, and I think that's true. And I certainly could tell the story of my life as a huge failure or as a huge success, and they would both be true.

That's right. So Akira, I would love if we could do We All Have Problems. That's the one I did a quick debut of, and a lot of people weren't here and they didn't get to hear it, but it's kind of like what we're saying. We all have problems, right? Everybody's— no one's infallible. Everybody's got their ups and downs.

You ain't a unique snowflake.

Exactly. I'm a unique snowflake and I have problems.

I'll melt in heat. You are a unique snowflake, but you're also not unique. So there's always the dichotomy of everything in life is these two things are true. You are a unique thing of which there is only you that cannot be replicated or photocopied. Yet you share a huge amount of your being with everyone else. And right, these things are correct. I got you, let's go.

All right, here's one that's more about, uh, just enough. This one's very relevant to me. This one's very relevant to me. Yeah, the usual old frame is that if you're having some bad luck, you think that you're unusually unlucky because it happened to you. You think of all the things that Could happen to anybody. And then you think, oh man, why are all these things happening to me? Why me? Why do I have all these problems? That's the old way of thinking. Here's the reframe. Reframe is everyone has problems. Everyone has problems.

We all have problems.

Yes, we all have problems. Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Everyone has problems. We all had problems.

Yes, we all had problems.

Yes, we did.

Yes, we did.

Everyone has problems.

Everyone has problems.

Just the fact that you don't know somebody else's problem, that's pretty gutsy of you to think that your problem is bigger than theirs. You don't know their problems. You don't know anything about people's problems. The really big ones they keep to themselves. You know, sometimes you see that if it's a physical thing, like in my case, but generally speaking, generally speaking, people's battle is inside their head. Then that could be quite a fierce battle. You don't know what's going on in there. So the moment you think Why me?

Why me? Why me?

Why me? The reframe is everybody's got problems. You don't have the special problems. We all have problems. Yes, we all have problems.

Yes, we do.

Yes, we do. Yes, they did. Everyone has problems. We all have problems. Yes, they all have problems. There's this thing, Greg. There's this thing, Greg. There's this thing, Greg. Problems. It's not music, it's music plus.

I love it. Music plus. You guys, did you love that? Doesn't it— I mean, it's just— Akira, it's such a good thing that you do this meaning wave music because— oh my gosh, I have an itchy nose. Um, does that mean Scott's here?

Okay, so he was laughing at me last night trying to set the studio up.

Oh yeah. He was laughing at me on Monday. I'll tell you about it one day. So I love that you do this because it's almost like this ambient music with a message and rhythm and it keeps you going and it keeps you positive and it keeps you thinking. I just think it's so good just to have blasting through the house or in your ears or whatever. Did you hear, have you ever heard from Jordan about your songs?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Jordan was like almost as soon as I did— did you hear that?

Yeah, was that like a toaster?

That was a cha-ching. So if like someone buys something from my shop, my phone goes cha-ching, which always makes me think of Scott Adams, which is— we'll play that song in a bit maybe. Yes, that's fine. That's every time that I hear that noise, I think it's Scott Adams. That's amazing.

Uh, yeah, yeah, let's make him cha-ching today.

A sip, I would say.

Yes, a sip to cha-ching, you guys. Anytime someone buys something from Makira, you're gonna hear a cha-ching.

Meaningwave.com. Um, yeah, the first Meaningwave song I did, like, technically was, uh, 2017. It was sample Jordan Peterson talking about the utility of hierarchies and being a good plumber. And like, he heard it like almost immediately. I think Michaela sent it to him, uh,, and he retweeted it and he said, I don't know what he's up to, but this is interesting. And then I did like the full JBP Wave mixtape and then he went, oh, what's going on here? This is, and he wrote something about, I don't know what this, this is up to, but it seems like this is good. Da da da da. And then we started communication and then we started emailing each other and then he had me on his podcast and then he came on my podcast and we had, we've stayed in touch over the years.

Um, oh, awesome. We hope he's doing well. You know, we hope he's doing well. Indeed. Oh, I love that. Is there anyone that you haven't done yet that you're thinking about doing?

Yeah, of course.

Are we allowed to know?

I don't like to talk about things until they're done. It's this funny— again, right? So there's this whole thing, you got the whole like fake it till you make it, be it till you see it type thing, right? That's true. It's also true sometimes if you talk about things before they happen, you can bugger them up. Okay, and you can also ruin the experience for people. I like to surprise people with things. I like to put— drop a thing and people go, oh my goodness, I had no idea this was gonna happen, amazing, that type of thing.

Yeah, I wish I could say a whole lot of prophetic things right now so you could make one for me, but you know, it's not going to happen.

So, so you never know, Erica, you never know.

I mean, I've had some wing bangers, that's for sure.

Let me, let me ask a more general question, like how do you do your research to find these things?

Um, well, I, I, uh, I listen to a lot of things. I read a lot of things, uh, where, you know, I do a lot of walking. I try to get 10K minimum, and that's a great time to listen to things, whether it's audiobooks or podcasts or lectures or what have you, and also reading. So I'm constantly on that. And then sometimes when I'm, uh, I also— people send me things all the time. Like I've said before, a couple of the Scott things were a result of like loads of people all at once messaging me going, oh my God, tune in right now. So I think, and, uh, and then when, if I have, I'm also constantly working towards a sort of greater narrative. So I will sort of investigate people that might have spoken about a certain thing that I want to get multiple angles on, uh, in this sort of grand narrative. And then sometimes I'll be working on, you know, an individual voice. And I'll be spending a lot of time just purely going through that person, sort of looking for the stuff that, as we were talking about, kind of calls out to me. And as Jordan Peterson once said when he was talking about reading the Bible and finding understanding aspects of it, a passage that glitters. Yes, we're always looking for something that glitters.

Yeah. So you're lucky you have a platform where you can say, I want to be useful. I want to spread a great message, a positive message, something that will help people. And I think I think through music is a great way. We all love a rhythm and a song, and I think that's a perfect way to— Hooked on Phonics, right? Wasn't that the thing where they put lessons to music and then people really absorb them more?

Well, he said, he was like, I don't listen to music, it's dangerous. Ching, ching.

Ching, ching. Take a sip. Ching, ching. Every time I'm taking a sip.

Every time a ching, ching rings.

Take a sip. Okay, um, sorry, so I didn't mean to interrupt you.

Now interrupt my phone interrupting you.

I really should—

I don't know how to turn it off. It's a new phone as well. Everything's new. I got a new home, new studio, new everything, new country, new squirrels out in the yard.

Uh, yes, I too am obsessed with my Disney yard, so I relate. I've got the bunnies, the squirrels, the birds.

I've got crazy I stepped outside this morning and I counted 20 of them.

Oh, are you feeding them?

No, I ain't feeding them. I think they feed themselves. They come out of the tree, they come running around. I ain't got to feed them nothing. Um, you know, they're self-sufficient. They require no charity.

That's right.

That's not welfare squirrels. They get after me.

Me, I feed them all. I give them like a buffet. I love them. They have names.

That's the thing, you're creating problems. You've created dependency.

No, no, no, it's good. They're generational squirrels from my girl Shirley who passed away last year.

RIP.

We did have a question. Can you— someone wants to know if you could do one of these songs like in the form of like heavy metal.

I have done. Check out, um, what would you check out? The Warpath album, the third album I did with Jocko Willink. That's got a lot of metal aspects in it, certainly. Scott Adams. That's got a lot of metal influence. Um, I did quite a few things over the past couple of years that have got aspects of metal in them, but, um, as far as like pure, pure straight metal double kick drum stuff, like that, that sort of thing will be occurring. The glory of the joy for me of what I do is I'm not bound by like genre outside of my own and whatever the sort of voice and the song and the message requires, I get to do. So I could never get bored. Some people would just get really bored because it's like I have to keep making the same like synthwave song or over and over or whatever it is, right? Whereas like, that is not an issue for me in this world that I've created.

That's amazing. And how was Mexico?

Uh, Mexico is like a crazy dream. I was there for 5 years and I've been here for 2 and a half weeks and it already feels like a strange, a strange dream.

Um, why did you leave?

Well, Mexico? Yes, because like, I miss you guys. And, uh, you know, one of the main things is like my son, uh, pretty much grew up in the USA. We moved to the USA, um, like when he was like 1 and a half or something like that, and we lived in LA at that time, and he was on Hollywood Boulevard, and he grew up on Hollywood Boulevard running up and down like high-fiving SpongeBob and that sort of thing. And, um, you know, when we got locked out of the US in 2021, uh, he was very, very good about it, um, He was very good about it and he was very resilient. And because of the internet and what have you, he's able to keep playing with a lot of his friends and stuff like that. Oh, I just had like a kind of like sort of a year and a half ago or something like that, I couldn't sleep and I went and sat on the sofa and my eyes were full of tears. And I realized, I realized that my son needed to be around his own people, um, you know, as he entered his teenage years. He needed to be around people that have shared cultural, um, sort of heritage and references and language. Simple things like language. Imagine being trying to be 13 and trying to chat up a girl and you like speak full-blown Spanish and you've got janky Spanish. It's like you don't need like these extra obstacles. Right. That was the main thing. Um, you know, and then as far as like, you know, before we got locked out of the USA in 2021, 2021, we'd been planning to tour initially. Uh, we've never, we've never done a Meeting Wave tour and we were planning to do that then. Never got to do that. I'd kept, I was being invited on these TV shows and things of that nature that I never got to do. So there was a lot of stuff I didn't, I couldn't do. Being in Mexico. And also, it's very difficult to get a hold of comics, right? And other such luxuries. Um, you know, like, I was very happy to be able to get a comic book.

And go, ah, I mean, yes, it's beautiful, the sun, the pool, but you're right.

I lived in paradise. I met some wonderful people. It's a very tranquilo way of life. No one's stressed about politics or anything like that. No one really cares. People aren't talking about culture war stuff. The family unit has not yet been destroyed, things of that nature. There's so many wonderful things about it, but I needed to be here. I'm not yet ready to sort of duck out of the fight, so to speak.

Good for you.

My boy needs to be in the game.

How's your son doing being in the United States now again?

He almost immediately, within a week or something, found a gang of friends. He had this idea. We were watching Stranger Things, and he wanted it to be— He pictured his life like that, like riding around on bikes around the neighborhood with kids and that sort of thing. And he's literally got that. He immediately, like, literally found some kids that they've become great friends. And, uh, so that whole aspect has already sort of begun for him. Perfect. He's very happy boy. And we go to the movies a lot. We got the unlimited Regal thing. Like, that was just stuff like that. It's difficult to go to the movies in Mexico because, like, everything's translated into Mexican and dubbed. In Mexico, movies is so cheap, it's crazy. Like, 3 of you can go for like $10.

Wow, right?

That was kind of a rude awakening. The cost of cinema in, uh, the United States right now, right now is mental, right? You try get like a popcorn and a couple drinks, that's extra $45.

Yeah, we're at peak mental right now in the United States.

You gotta be smuggling, you gotta be smuggling cinema, you know what I mean? You got to have the contraband.

Yeah, you got to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in under your shirt, that's all.

You got to bring your squirrel food.

It is amazing though that, you know, movie when I was a kid used to be kind of a cheap way to go out, you know, like would just be— I don't know if it was $5 or even less per ticket, and, you know, I don't know what the snacks were, but I'm sure it was a whole lot less than it is now. And now it's like almost like a premium experience, you know, they, they've had the fancy seats and they Theater. Yeah, but it's like, you know, most people hardly ever go, and I probably hardly ever go really. It's maybe once or twice a year.

I go so much now because I've got that unlimited thing, and they're doing this thing I always wanted them to do. I was like, just stop playing these crap new movies and play the good old ones, and they're suddenly doing that now. Yes. My boy was out here first with, with my wife, and he was like, oh, they're showing Ferris Bueller tomorrow, Dad. I was like, what? I never got to see Ferris Bueller in the cinema. He saw Ferris Bueller. We saw Arietty. Flipping Trainspotting is on next week.

Oh, that's fun. I might go then.

Yeah, they're showing all the old stuff. We went to see, because he's into The Amazing Digital Circus, like all other people of his age, which is a YouTube animation, and they were showing it in the movie theater, and he dressed up as one of the characters, and there were all these other kids all dressed up as the characters, and it was rammed, and it was like an event. It felt joyful. And then the trailers were all either old movies or new things made by YouTubers. And I had so much hope in my heart because I feel that's basically the right balance. It's just like, let's pretend the past 15 years of creepy propaganda didn't exist. Let's honor the great stuff of the olden days and let's have some new people come in and make some things and make new movies.

Please, please. You don't have to remake everything.

That's what they're doing, these little YouTube guys, is they're making new things. It's kind of like Tarantino and his homies, they would film movies. My son had some friends around the other day, they were making a movie outside, like, oh yeah, I was gonna say the same thing.

Um, so it sounds like that Circus movie is like a Rocky Horror Picture Show for maybe younger kids.

Yeah, kind of. That's a good— I would say that's a good, um—

I was thinking the same thing. Um, all right, so maybe I'll go to the movies if they're going to play the old stuff and I can still sneak a sandwich in, in my bag. Um, Bring your own chips. All right, so do we do Cha-Ching or do you want to do something else in between?

We can do Cha-Ching. I've been— yeah, I have a visual that I've been working on for Cha-Ching. I haven't got into it yet. The Problems one, for example, is an in-progress music video which will be finished over the next few days, I think. And Cha-Ching, we have an in-progress thing happening. So all this is exclusive for you.

Oh my gosh, you guys, exclusive! You ready? Cha-ching, coming in hot.

It's not music, it's music plus.

This is a song, it's music plus.

How do you like being criticized?

This is a refrain for the Patreon.

Don't you hate getting criticized? Everybody hates it. It's not something you enjoy. Here's a reframe for you. Every criticism you receive, just play this sound effect when you get it. Ready?

MiniWave.com.

Every time somebody criticizes you, you just made money. Do you know why I say that? Because you just made money. It's true. If somebody criticizes my livestream, and I'll tell you, the biggest criticism I'm hearing is that my shelves are boring. Now, do I feel good that you're telling me that there's something about my thing that I do every day? Is it good? Good? No. Nobody likes to be criticized. It's not like you can enjoy it. But how do I receive it? Do I receive it as, ah, I guess I suck? I could, right? How easily could I receive criticism like that is like that. God, I'm an idiot. Why didn't I see it? Obviously those shells need something on them. That'd be really easy, wouldn't it? I don't, I don't, I don't. Here's how I hear it. I know exactly what to change to do a better job because you told me. That's like money. You know, somebody hands you a thing that will definitely make you money. What is your feeling about it? You feel, oh, I hate it when people give me a thing that makes me make money. I'll bet most Most of you think exactly that. You think, I hate criticism. Not me. Not me. Not me.

Years ago— Me neither now.

When people would criticize my comic, I would hate it, of course, but then I would say, oh, a lot of people are saying the same thing, so I'll change it. And then I would make that change, and that made me rich. I literally got rich by being criticized. And understanding the criticism as, as, as— Every time I hear one, I say, wait a minute, you just told me how to get richer. The same applies if you're not trying to get rich. Suppose you just wanted a better social— the best advice somebody gave me was the cruelest thing anybody ever said. One day my female friend told me how negative and what a bummer it was to listen to me because I was complaining about stuff all the time. Now I was not aware that I was a big complainer. I had no idea. I thought I was a person who talked about my day, funny parts of this. So in my mind, I had no idea that I was having an effect on other people. Once I learned that, you know how powerful that was? I was able— because it was something I could change— I would become aware of the ratio of negative things I said, positive judging. It was probably the most important change I've ever made to my social toolbox. I would say that that one change really, really changed my life. Cha-ching!

And actually, it works, I swear to God. I heard him say this years ago and I've been cha-chinging ever since. It's mental.

That's the, that's the reframe.

That's the reframe.

So the next time you get criticized, whether personally or whether professionally, say to yourself Just try it, like actually say that, those, that little, uh, sound. Not figuratively, I'm not talking figuratively. I mean actually say that.

Actually say Everybody shout out a cha-ching at home. Just say it like Scott said.

Cha-ching! Cha-ching for years. And I first heard that, I was like, oh, that's the song right there. And then I like saved it in a folder, and then I like lost a hard drive or something like that. And I was like, I want to make that cha-ching song. What happens to that? And then no one could ever find it. Uh, Jay Plemmons, who's like, yes, of finding Scott Adams samples, he couldn't find it. Like last year I was like, can you remember what thing this was from? And he's like, I remember that. And there was one, uh, show where Scott Adams kind of mentioned it, but it wasn't the one that I'd heard and it wasn't the one that was really the oomph. And then I mentioned it, um, it might have been— when was that? I mentioned on a livestream like 3 weeks ago or something, and someone in my chat was like, oh yeah, I know that one. He sent it to me like immediately.

Oh wow.

Then after the stream I made the song. Boom, boom, boom. And that was it. And it's a thing of glory and wonder. And also when he's talking about that cha-ching thing, he also tells a really cool story about John, his tennis playing buddy who taught him a load of game. He put him onto a lot of game. Right. And that's also going to be another song.

Oh, shout out John. John might be listening right now and I'm going to message him after in case he missed a shout out to him.

I would love to. John put Scott onto so much game.

Yes, John.

That just was like 10 minutes of Scott just like glazing John's game.

Oh my God, I love it.

Um, so Akira, that's powerful. Like, so someone like me, uh, I get like a lot of comments. I read them all because like, uh, it's valuable, like, like Scott talks about in that, you know. But like, and you'll get like 100 comments going, oh my God, you changed my life, and then you get one comment saying something like really mean. And like, if you're an amateur, the mean thing will stick with you and it'll become a bad thing and what have you. Cha-ching completely flips that out. It totally flips that out. And even if you like, you can, it's a bit like the Jocko thing. Jocko has good, right? Something bad happens. There's a good side to it. You're going to look into it, right? There's always some kind of good. Get after it. But the, uh, the cha-ching thing is kind of, in some ways it can be even better than good. Cause like, what's the good in some asshole comment? Oh, okay. Maybe there's something useful in there somewhere, but cha-ching, that's, that's not just good. That's money. I love it. So I got to get myself a cash register, one of them things, and add it to my like DJ setup. I don't think I should even get it on the soundboard. I think I should get an actual one of them cash register things. Yeah, thump that guy, the big old one from like the mercantile. Exactly that.

Yeah, like you hit it with your fist to cha-ching. So if we start cha-chinging in the live stream, if I just shout out cha-ching, that's because I saw some mean troll comment and I'm cha-chinging you.

And then you have the chat.

I know. Yes, see ya. Oh my God. Oh, and I'll be cha-chinging you. Um, I had a question though about, um, AI. So, you know, there's like, what's that one called, like Suno or something? So people are making AI songs. Is this going to affect you? I don't think so.

No, so I've been saying this since, since the whole thing started, right? And a shout out to Naval on this. I did a record with Naval and he's very good at crystallizing wisdoms and concepts and what have you, or just making something a little bit more, more sticky. And, uh, you know, there's no one can compete with you on being you is one thing, right? So what, what people can copy you, people been copying me my whole life. I was often early on things and then someone else would do it a little bit later and then they would do well on it and cause I was too early type thing. And that used to annoy me, but it doesn't at all anymore. Um, no one can compete with you on being you, right? So if you are being a pure uncompromised version of yourself, that cannot be guessed. That can only be replicated after the fact. So if you are A, being a pure uncompromised version of yourself, and then you're continuing to make new things, you will always be ahead of a human or even a, a robot. That whatever robot, no matter how sophisticated it is, it cannot have the Byzantine conduit of your, the sum experience of your life, your tastes, your loves, your joys, your experience and all that, right? And if you are being a pure expression of that, then that cannot be, uh, replicated. Now, AI is very good at replicating or generating mid, right? So if you want mid, and if you're in the business of mid, I should say if you're in the business of mid, You're in trouble cuz AI is like a mid machine. You know what I mean? If you're making mid music, it, AI can perfect mid music, right? If you're making mid movie scripts, boom, mid movie scripts. If you're a mid, like talking head yapping on TikTok or whatever, AI could do that too. No one gives a fuck. So mid, you're screwed. And I don't consider that a bad thing. Uh, that could be a good thing. All those people making mid would probably be better off doing something else anyway. You know what I mean? Or maybe it will encourage them to not be mid and to be pure expressions of themselves and not just copy everything else, cuz that's the easiest in the short term. So that's my feeling on that.

That's a, that's a great message. There's a lot of creatives out there that are definitely worried about, you know, AI replicating, um, you know, what they do. But you're right, they— it can't. And if you're ahead of, you know, if you're the one that's the originator, You're ahead of the AI because you're doing it first your own way.

So you do need to continue to make stuff, but this is also, this is, you know, encouragement to do that, to get in the zone, to stay in the zone and to keep, because, you know, people get depressed when they stop doing that. People get, they like get in the zone, they make something great, they're all happy. Then they like get lazy or something and then they get all depressed and then they can't get back in the zone, stuff of that nature. So I would take all of this as encouragement. And motivation to just be the best version of you and make great stuff and be an uncompromised version of you. Don't be worrying about what other people think. Don't be trying to, oh, maybe this is what's cool right now or whatever. Just do you. And they can't do that. They can't do you.

That's great advice. That's great advice for everything. And I remember the first time Scott Adams said that he just doesn't get embarrassed. I literally, I mean, it was 100 years ago, right? And I literally said to myself, oh, you know what? I'm not going to get embarrassed either. Like, I just was like, oh, you know what? I'm not going to get embarrassed. And I don't. And I don't care because it's your life, you guys. So be as authentic to yourselves and what makes you happy, to who you are, as you can be because you're going around once, right? We're going around the world one time in this body with what you have and what you know, and just fulfill whatever it is that's authentic to you and not to— and you know, I was just saying this to someone yesterday. I have a beef right now with influencers, like all these people that are like, oh, taking up space.

All influencers.

I cannot, I can't. Like these people that like go to Hawaii and they're all lined up to take like a shot, like they're the only one there and they're twerking on the beach. And I'm like, you're all the same, the same voice, the same vocal fry, the same no lift in their voice. They're all just like, a lot of those are already AI.

Like, it's already happened. A lot of those are already—

yeah. And we feel it though. Like, we feel it as consumers, you know, that there's no connection. It's just flat. So I, I think I, I think I like the idea of people just taking away their embarrassment and fear and just going for it and be authentic and keep creating and maybe incorporate some of the things into it. Like, maybe you incorporate a little piece of AI into what you're doing, but the rest of it's you, and that's okay too. But just keep moving forward. Um, don't cave and don't stop being creative and letting a machine do it for you if you are actually a creative person, is my thought, or you'll lose it.

But that's— well, that aspect is, is I think taken into consideration, is the, the— a muscle not exercised will atrophy, whether that's creative muscle, whether that's a physical muscle, whatever it is. So sometimes there are technologies that will come along that will make it easier to do certain things, but that does come at a cost of losing that skill. How many people can do, you know, rubber hose animation, post, you know, Pixar type stuff, that whole 2D Disney style that was perfected? How many people could even do that now, etc., etc.? So, you know, everything that comes along has that shadow side to it, and it's always been that way ever since man picked up a rock. You could either create or you could go cave someone's skull in. And, uh, and that's the choice of the individual is how you go about utilizing these things that come along.

Owen, did you have a question? Because I just won't shut up.

Well, no, I mean, I agree with what, what you're saying in terms of creativity being something that I think is a little bit outside of what AI is really capable of. It does have certainly the capability to create music and create art and create all these things that at least look like it. But I think it is simulated art. It's not real art because it is basically just a conglomeration of all the training. And to your point, it's probably just sort of mid stuff because it's not going to be exceptional because that would be out on the edge of what it was trained to do and it normally wouldn't go there.

Um, direction. So I think I've seen like great people, uh, make actual art, uh, using these tools. It's possible it required— but it requires an artist. To actually direct it. You know, someone like Emily Yuchas, who does The Will Stancil Show, she's been an animator for like 20 years, and then she found Suno and she utilizes that, and that's opened up this massive realm of creativity for her. She's super excited. And sure, you listen to her talk about it, she's like, I don't see the difference between me using this or like Seth MacFarlane using like a crew of Korean animators, like working, you know, for no money. Me 24 hours a day. Like, at least the robots feel no pain when I'm telling them to do my evil vision.

Yeah, but like, I think Scott talked about how, you know, it's sort of taste and discernment was a big part of his comic writing, you know, and that he might do a whole bunch of comics or come up with a whole bunch of ideas, but it was always the way he felt that would just, you know, make him— guide him in terms of what's really funny or what he should keep and what he should throw away. And I think that's probably true for a lot of artists, that it's about knowing what is going to resonate with people, or knowing what really resonates with you.

Or, um, you know, Stanley always used to talk about that. He's like, he doesn't write— he didn't write for other people, he wrote for himself. And he figured— what was his quote? I did put it in a song. Like, he figured if it would work for him, then it would work for other people, because he's not that different to other people. So it's like, and I would say this to my son, you know, if there's something that you wish existed, you should make it because other people will wish it existed too. That's like, that's, that's a ka-ching, that's free money on the table. Like, if you wish that something existed, whether it's a show or an idea or an app or whatever it is, you go make that thing. Someone else will want it too.

Because, you know, I just think it's, it's really hard to put that into a computer, you know, to like model that.

Yeah.

Exactly, on its own, right? For a computer to sit there and like try and be the— and be the undirected dream machine of true dreams.

Uh, yeah, yeah. And I, and I, I'm not an artist, or at least I wouldn't describe myself that way, and I, I don't use it for that, but I do use AI at work all the time. And I think it is somewhat of an analogy there where, you know, I use it to create documents, to create you know, a lot of things for work. And but what I have recognized is that it does need a lot of guidance. It needs me to push it in the right direction, needs me to review everything and say, no, that's wrong, do it this way instead. And a lot of that is again back to intuition. It's like, is this going to really read well when my client sees it, or is this really going to accomplish whatever it is I'm trying to accomplish with this thing that I'm creating? And Um, you know, a lot of that, again, you, you sometimes I can't really, you know, know upfront until I see something. So I might draft something with AI just saying, you know, create this thing. Here's what I know about it. Come up with something. But then when I read it, I'm like, oh no, no, no, no, you're missing all kinds of things. And you know, then it, it just sort of might be like a little bit of getting past writer's block where it's like, yeah, I can now exert my judgment on something as opposed to a blank page. And so I think maybe the same is true for a lot of artists that, you know, they could use it to come up with ideas, but the final idea is probably not what the AI came up with the first time.

Yeah.

Or maybe it is, but you still made a decision. Like maybe that one. So like, and I always laugh when I hear even the word artist now, Scott Adams kind of made amusing to me. We would used to talk about artists as a prerogative, but, uh, an artist I, I feel it's someone who makes decisions, like, consciously, like, deliberate decision, right? So you're acting with the deliberateness of purpose. So if you're painting, you've got, like, the brush goes there and that goes there. Or if you're one of those, like, less deliberate painters, you could— it's still a decision to be the less deliberate painter. So, like, however you approach your life, if you're being, uh, deliberate, acting with a deliberateness of purpose about the choices you apply to your life, whatever you're doing, that there is an art in that. And that, that is an artist. And Your life can be your masterpiece. So I would say, uh, 1A, it's that it's acting, it's making decisions actually deliberately. And that again goes back to what we were saying. So a lot of people are just not making decisions. They're not thinking about why they're doing things, what they're listening to, what they're eating, what they're even saying. Regurgitate the thing they saw on X, whatever it is, right? That's not acting with the deliberateness of purpose. That's how you end up in the realm of NPC. How you end up in the realm of mid, how you end up in that slop world of which people are currently talking about a lot. That's, you can be slop. A lot of people I see moaning about AI slop are AI slop. They're only saying that shit because they saw it somewhere else and they're just like, that's what I'm supposed to think. Anyway, so like, yeah, that's, that's the other aspect of an artist is, um, that it's what is outside the realm of pure survival. Mm-hmm. So, and there's a lot of that now because we live in this crazy future where we have so much more time than we used to have outside the realm of survival. And a lot of that time is sort of wasted. We have all these things created to occupy us and occupy that space and, you know, sit around watching nonsense or, uh, whatever it is. Uh, but that is space within which every human can be an artist, particularly people who don't think they're an artist, because that's time for you to act with the deliberateness of purpose and do something with your life that your grandparents never had the opportunity to.

So, Akira, we're asking a question at the end of the show. I just wanted to put it out there for YouTube especially. The question today that we want you to take to the comments to answer, and we will read them, is is if you could become world-class at what skill, at, at one skill, what would it be? So if there was one skill you guys could hone in on, become world-class at it, what would it be? In the comments, on everywhere, in Locals, X, um, on YouTube and Rumble, and we are going to check out your answers. And, you know, I think, uh, Akira, you're world-class with your skill with Meaning Wave, and it's so meaningful to so many people and teaching us. So I love that. Do you want to— we're at time, but do you want to play us another tune that we can jam out to before we go? Yeah. Let's get one more going, you guys. And so we'll go a couple of minutes late.

And on that, I was watching— me and my boy have been watching movies while my wife is away. We watched Groundhog Day. And one of the lessons of Groundhog Day is you actually do have more time than you think. It's kind of like the Alan Watts thing, like, what would you do if you were God, if you had the power to do whatever you wanted to? You'd initially do all these things, satisfy these urges, all that sort of stuff. Then eventually you would kind of start making life more difficult, and then you would find meaning. We have the amount of time that it takes for his character in Groundhog Day to learn the piano and things of that nature. He does like an hour— what does he do, an hour a day with this lady? But then he just does it over like a year or something, and he learns to play the piano because this girl he likes would like— her ideal man is a musician. So he does that. We often think that we don't have time to do these things we want to do or be the person we want to be or what have you, but it's a little bit of time every day, or over a period of time, suddenly you could be a master. So I think this is a good question, and it's good for people to think like, what would I really love to be really good at, because you can do it. You could do it. That's right. Yeah, like that.

You look at Scott Adams took up drumming in his 60s, you know, and he, he played literally like, you know, 5 minutes a day maybe. But I mean, he got good enough where he was like banging out a little rhythm, and he— we definitely watched him improve, right? And he did that at 60. He bought the guitar. Um, you know, it's never too late. So definitely think about it, you guys, and then let's work toward it.

Exactly. How many of you live in regret of past decisions? I've never had that feeling. Regret is the dumbest thing you could ever feel. If there was something that you're not happy about in your past, just imagine you just spawned into this environment today like a video game, right? Just imagine you just woke up and And this is the stuff you have to play with. Usually you're fine. You might have a terrible problem you have to deal with, but usually you wake up and you're like, you know, I'm healthy, I have ways I can get ahead, I know what to do if I wanted to get ahead. Yeah. Oh shit, maybe go with— I'll start here. This would be a good starting place. Start here. So think of today as your starting place and then just see how it is. And if you don't like your starting place. The next question is, how hard would it get from where you are to this better place? Well, you apply for a better job, you learn some more skills, you talk to your cousin who's got a job opening, you do some stuff, but probably you're fine. So when you ask me, do I regret a past decision, the answer is never. I've never— I don't have any regret about anything. And if you're thinking in those terms, you're really hurting yourself. You do some stuff, but probably you're fine. So when you ask me, do I regret a past decision, the answer is never. I've never— I don't have any regret about anything. And if you're thinking in those terms, you're really hurting yourself. It's just what happened. It's just what happen— it's just what happ— it's just what happens!

Just What Happened from the Almost Anything Could Happen Today album. The Best of Scott Adams MiniWave, 33 tracks, I do believe is out now. Came out on Scott's birthday this week. Happy birthday, Scott! Thank you for everything. We love you forever.

Akira, tell us your website so everybody can go there. 33 tracks, let's go!

MiniWave.com.

I'll put it in the chat.

MiniWave.com. Uh, Odi, Almost Anything Could Happen Today CDs, uh, are great. They're shipping. You can order those now. You'll get it in a couple days. Best of Scott Adams with 2 new tracks is out now, and you can look forward to more Scott music soon. I could be making Scott songs forever. He dropped so many gems, it's comical. It is comical. Like, there was like one episode he did like 3 weeks before he departed for the next adventure. And I swear there's like 15 songs in that one episode.

Amazing.

Crazy.

Amazing. We hope you do keep making them forever and ever. We'll be here. And we hope— I mean, everybody's so thrilled, Akira. I'm reading all the comments from all the platforms. Everybody needed this today. They love it. They feel like Scott's with us. They could listen to you all the time, your music. They hope you'll come back again and again and again. Um, someone bought the bundle today. Everybody's so happy and they appreciate the show, everything. And we agree. Meaningwave.com, you guys. One word: Meaning Wave. I'll write it again.

Make mine Meaning Wave. Meaningwave.com. Because happiness is a side effect of meaning. You gotta get drops, Erica. You gotta get drops. You gotta get guys with epic trailer voices saying stuff about how cool you are. You gotta have it.

Yes, let's go, guys. Drop how epic I am, please, everybody. Cha-ching, mofo. Okay, so Akira, thank you so freaking much. We so love that you're here with us. We hope you'll come back time and time and time again. I think we all did need this, you guys. We did. We all needed this very meaning wave moment. So Akira, we thank you. Owen, any last words here for Akira?

Just thanks for coming. It's been a lot of fun. Hope you come on again soon.

Appreciate you, brother. Thank you for all you do.

God bless. 100%. All right, you guys, start saying your goodbyes. We want to always say thank you to Scott Adams and Shelley Adams for allowing the show to continue. You know, without that kind of coordination, cooperation, love, and respect for everything Scott built, we wouldn't be here right now. So Whoo, okay, I'm fighting back the emotion. I've been doing good, right guys? And as always, you know, go out there and be useful. Answer today's question: if you could hone in and be like a master in one skill set, what would it be? Because you can do it. But just let's— if you write it down and you put it out there into the universe, that's the first step. And don't be embarrassed. It could be anything. It can be anything, okay? So let's have a final closing sip to our beloved Scott. Akira, thank you again so much. We love you. And, uh, we will see all of you back here tomorrow. It will be me, Owen, and BJ tomorrow. Marcela, we miss you. We'll see you Monday. Okay, everybody, a closing sip to Scott.

To Scott.

It's not me. Bye, guys. Thanks, guys.