The Purple Monkey Sangha
and the Global Crisis in Truth
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature
Socrates and Crito arrived early at the parking lot, a cracked and crumbling wasteland that looked like it had been designed by someone with a grudge against geometry. Socrates sat in the driver’s seat, leafing through a dog-eared copy of the Tao Te Ching. Occasionally, he paused to underline passages with a pencil whose eraser was long gone, leaving only a chewed nub.
“You really think Musk would absorb any of that?” Crito asked, leaning against the car. His breath turned to steam in the chilly morning air. “Laozi talks about flowing with nature. Musk would slap that on a vacuum-sealed tunnel under the Atlantic and call it innovation.”
Socrates flipped to a random page and read aloud. “‘Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.’”
Tao Te Ching: (道德經 Pronounced "Dow Day Ching.") An ancient Chinese text foundational to Taoism, offering wisdom on humility, balance, and living in harmony with nature. Laozi may not have been the sole author or even a real person.Crito snorted. “Nature doesn’t hurry, but Musk sure does. You know, that tunnel idea of his? A 54-minute joyride under the Atlantic. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Hubris,” Socrates said, closing the book with a soft thud. “He’s the anti-Laozi. Where Laozi sees balance, Musk sees something to conquer. He’s all force, no flow.”
They started toward the studio entrance, weaving around potholes that were practically habitats. Overhead, a single bird circled lazily, as if patrolling for scraps or existential answers.
Crito stopped mid-step. “Wait, is that a seagull? How far inland are we?”
“Even gulls must wander,” Socrates replied. “Perhaps it, too, is searching for wisdom.”
“Or French fries,” Crito said, smirking.
Inside the studio, Kilgore stood in the recording booth, surrounded by a tangle of wires and blinking lights. His jumpsuit, an inexplicable shade of mustard yellow, made him look like a time traveler who’d been forced to shop at a thrift store.
“Morning, philosophers,” Kilgore said without looking up. “Coffee machine’s working again—for now.”
Crito leaned against the booth window. “Kilgore, let’s mic the coffee machine. I feel like its dying groans might have more wisdom than half the billionaires we’re about to roast.”
“I’ll patch it in next week,” Kilgore replied. “Hell, it might improve the show.”
Socrates set his bag down and adjusted his chair. “Before we start, let’s address the elephant—or rather, the Buddha—in the room. Have you ever noticed how Trump is like the anti-Buddha?”
Crito burst out laughing as he slid into his chair. “The Buddha taught impermanence and non-attachment. Trump trademarked permanence. Everything he touches becomes Trump Tower, Trump Steaks, or Trump Nirvana.”
Socrates nodded, his tone solemn. “Anicca—impermanence. Anatta—non-self. Dukkha—suffering. Trump doesn’t just reject these ideas—he monetizes their opposites. Could you imagine him meditating on the illusion of the self?”
Anicca: The Buddhist concept of impermanence, emphasizing that all things are transient.Anatta: The Buddhist teaching of non-self, the idea that there is no permanent, unchanging identity or soul.Dukkha: A central Buddhist concept, often translated as "suffering," referring to the inherent unsatisfactoriness of life.“Are you kidding?” Crito said. “He’d rebrand it as The Art of Non-Self: Enlightenment You Can Believe In. And the twelve purple monkeys flying out of his butt would chant sutras in perfect harmony.”
Kilgore looked up from the wires, a grin spreading across his face. “I hope the monkeys have a jazz band.”
Socrates chuckled. “A bebop collective, practicing anicca between sets. Truly, the most enlightened monkeys of our time.”
When the recording began, Socrates leaned into his mic, his voice low and deliberate. “Welcome back to *Thinking Out Loud*. Today’s topic is the knowledge crisis—our modern inability to agree on what’s true and how to navigate a world drowning in information.”
“Verily,” Crito said, tapping his pen against the desk. “And might I add, how the fuck did we get here?”
Verily: An archaic interjection meaning "truly" or "certainly," used here just for fun.Socrates winced theatrically. “Crito, we agreed to keep our clean rating.”
“Cut it in post,” Crito said, waving him off. “I’m sorry, but how else do you describe a world where algorithms serve us bullshit faster than we can question it?”
“Oh, I’m leaving that in,” Kilgore’s voice crackled through the intercom. “Your sponsors will love it.”
“Fuck you, Kilgore,” Crito said without missing a beat.
Socrates adjusted his mic and brought the discussion back to order. “Speaking of Musk’s tunnel, let’s consider the parallels to the Titanic. A project hailed as unsinkable—or in this case, unstoppable. It’s the same story: overconfidence in technology, underestimation of nature.”
“You know what happens when you challenge nature like that?” Crito said. “Nature wins. Every. Damn. Time.”
Socrates nodded. “It’s not nice to fool mother nature. And yet, the dream of domination persists. Musk thinks he can bend the Atlantic to his will, just like the Titanic’s designers thought they could bend icebergs.”
“And let’s not forget,” Crito added, “his backup plan is Mars. Terraforming. Nuking the poles. As if he could remake a hostile planet in humanity’s image.”
Terraforming: The hypothetical process of modifying a planet’s environment to make it habitable for human life.Kilgore’s voice cut in again. “Terraforming Mars is easier than fixing this coffee machine.”
“That’s the line we should open with,” Crito said, laughing.
When the recording ended, Socrates sat back in his chair, the Tao Te Ching open on his lap. “The trouble with Musk—and others like him—isn’t ambition. It’s the lack of humility. Laozi understood that humanity thrives when it flows with nature, not against it.”
“And Trump?” Crito said. “Same issue, different flavor. Ego where there should be introspection. Noise where there should be silence.”
“Wisdom isn’t about building tunnels or towers,” Socrates said. “It’s about understanding what matters. Phronesis—practical wisdom. It starts with recognizing limits.”
Phronesis: A Greek term for practical wisdom—knowing how to make sound decisions for the greater good. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0331-9Crito tapped his pen against the desk again. “Yeah, good luck with that. You think anyone listening is going to Google *phronesis*?”
“Perhaps not,” Socrates said, closing the book. “But if even one person looks it up, it’s worth saying.”
Kilgore’s voice came through one last time. “What’s worth saying is that your coffee machine joke was the best part of the show.”
“Cut that,” Crito said.
“Not a chance,” Kilgore replied.
Thanks for reading this short story. If you want to dig deeper and learn more about our global neglect of practical wisdom, check out the audio chat below. NotebookML’s Deep Dive explores related themes (and more), offering insight and fresh takes. My short story gets a mention here and there, but the real highlight is the wide-ranging discussion — and the sources revealed at the end provide you with many reliable jumping off points.
Listen:
Below is a bit about me as this is my first post.
The following may be the most self-revealing bio I've ever shared on social media.
At first glance, I might seem a bit like Detective Columbo — unassuming and slightly scattered — but much like him, I’m often focused and adept at piecing things together in unexpected ways. I grew up in Boston, raised by three older sisters who introduced me to a world of music before I even knew what each record was about. My earliest memory is playing an imported Beatles EP on my Bozo’s Big Top record player just a few weeks before the Fabs first landed in the U.S., a moment that shaped me in ways that of course I couldn't foresee at age three years, three months. But it meant that my childhood would unfold in the 1960s along with record releases by all the usual suspects.
I’ve been living and working between Osaka and Kobe for the past three decades. Check me out on LinkedIn if you need to know more.
Today, while I’m a sort of Beatles "journalist-scholar," my musical tastes go far beyond them. I’m more likely to queue up the Rolling Stones or dive into Mississippi blues, Chicago blues, London dub, avant-garde composers or experimental grooves.
Beyond music, my life has been full of finished and unfinished projects, from being a vocalist in a post-punk band during the vibrant ’80s scene to hosting a podcast nowadays. The podcast, Beatles60 isn't just about them, but about the world they inhabited and shaped 60 years ago. It explores the cultural and historical forces of the time using a “context in sequence” approach to history. It's not a fan group but I'm lucky to be connected with so many Beatles uber-fans, maniacs, experts, and authors. Without them, I'd have only childhood (and pre-teen) memories to go on.
When I’m not creating, I try to stay grounded through cycling, yoga, and Buddhist practice — activities that (if I fit them into each day) keep me healthy and balanced as I navigate life at 64. I value thoughtful conversations and embrace the ideals of an open society. Above all, I believe in confident understanding and bridging divides. I welcome intellectual friendships with people from most perspectives. You don't need to be a coastal elite to approach me. (I can hang with regular folk!) For me, what keeps me going are the insights that arise, connections made, the finding of meaning in the details. I'm surprised to find how much others tend to overlook.