The Wes Cecil Podcast New Series! Values: Introduction
Mar 30, 2026
An introduction to why values shape how we perceive and interpret the world. A tour of value categories like ethical, aesthetic, epistemic, instrumental, and intrinsic. Arguments against single-minded fanaticism and for mixing values like a buffet. Uses philosophy, fiction, biography, and cross-cultural examples to show how changing values transforms experience.
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Discovering Hidden Confucian Values
- Wes Cecil recounts Asian Americans who'd never encountered Confucius yet recognized Confucian-style values when exposed to them.
- The story shows values can be deeply embedded culturally without conscious knowledge and become visible when named.
Values Are Your Interpretive Eye
- Values act like the brain's interpretation layer for sensory data, converting a blurry influx into meaningful experience.
- Cecil likens values to the eye-brain process: inputs are raw but values sort importance and prescribe interpretation and response.
Reflecting On Values Changes Your World
- Axiology is the philosophical study of values, but everyday reflection on values is rare outside academia.
- Cecil argues that examining values (e.g., money as a dominant value) can materially alter how you experience the world.