TheraminTrees is creating YouTube videos
People who don't want you to think are never your friend
202
$897.50
Milestone Goals
3 Milestone Goals
reached
maximum output
I estimate this level of support would allow me to produce around 160-240 minutes of content per year, plus whatever additional work I could fit into my free time. This would be the maximum production level.
About
I'm a UK YouTuber, with an eclectic background in publishing, illustration and psychology. Indoctrinated into christianity, I tunnelled my way out of it accidentally in my early teens, while trying to find good defences for it. Emerging as an atheist, I experienced a range of evasive and hostile behaviours from my former fellow christians, who approached me repeatedly to proselytise. As it became clear my atheism wasn't a frivolous pose but a thought-out position, hostilities died down and religion became a mostly forgotten subject. Various religious stories prompted private discussions. The Salman Rushdie fatwa. The catholic child sexual abuse scandal. But when I became aware of a US poll describing atheists as the most hated group, I decided it was time to speak more publicly.
Location
London, UK
Top PatronsSee all 202
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We each possess one of the most powerful tools in the known universe: the human brain. Through its use, we’ve been able to penetrate the workings of that universe at progressively stunning scales. But our most powerful tool is simultaneously our most powerful obstacle. Each one comes bundled with a vast range of psychological biases and defences, all of which can conspire to distort the information we gather. And, because these processes operate largely outside our awareness, we can be left with the illusion that that distorted information is good.
So, we see the double-edged nature of our brains — capable of great insight but also of great ignorance; of detection and projection; of productiveness and destructiveness; of rationality and rationalisation; of liberation and oppression. If, as a species, we’re going to make significant shifts towards the positive ends of these spectrums, I believe we need to cultivate much more awareness of the psychological traps invisibly set within our own brains that keep us anchored in the negative.
This is the core sentiment that drives my YouTube work. Sometimes, I explore broader psychological phenomena, but my special interest lies in the systems of illusion we’ve actively constructed for ourselves — including pseudoscience, but predominantly the superstitious dogma found in religion. For several years now, I’ve been deconstructing the unsubstantiated claims and fallacious defences put to me; the vulnerabilities exploited; the manipulative tactics employed; and the immoral messages asserted. And I know from countless responses I receive each year that the message is getting through. Work life means I have to limit my YouTube time to an evening here, a weekend there, but with your support, I could dedicate days to video-making and ensure more regular uploads, to an estimated maximum of around twelve 10-20min videos.
So, we see the double-edged nature of our brains — capable of great insight but also of great ignorance; of detection and projection; of productiveness and destructiveness; of rationality and rationalisation; of liberation and oppression. If, as a species, we’re going to make significant shifts towards the positive ends of these spectrums, I believe we need to cultivate much more awareness of the psychological traps invisibly set within our own brains that keep us anchored in the negative.
This is the core sentiment that drives my YouTube work. Sometimes, I explore broader psychological phenomena, but my special interest lies in the systems of illusion we’ve actively constructed for ourselves — including pseudoscience, but predominantly the superstitious dogma found in religion. For several years now, I’ve been deconstructing the unsubstantiated claims and fallacious defences put to me; the vulnerabilities exploited; the manipulative tactics employed; and the immoral messages asserted. And I know from countless responses I receive each year that the message is getting through. Work life means I have to limit my YouTube time to an evening here, a weekend there, but with your support, I could dedicate days to video-making and ensure more regular uploads, to an estimated maximum of around twelve 10-20min videos.