Philosophy Expert Backs Up Nathan Fielder’s ‘The Rehearsal’ Theory

While Nathan Fielder has yet to see his concerns about inter-cockpit communication satisfactorily addressed by the U.S. government, some of the theories floated by the comedian in The Rehearsal have been vindicated by at least one former National Transportation Safety Board member and, more importantly, the lead singer of early 2000s Hot Topic-friendly rockers Evanescence. 

And now, a psychology journal is showing their support for Fielder — specifically for The Rehearsal, and not, say, the episode of Nathan for You where he convinced haunted-house patrons that they had contracted a terminal illness.

Writing in Psychology Today, William Irwin, a professor of philosophy at King’s College in Pennsylvania, defended Fielder’s strategy of painstakingly rehearsing real-life events via elaborate simulations. Irwin, who has penned books like Seinfeld and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy, suggested that the approach is “not as crazy as it sounds.” 

And keep in mind, the thing that isn’t as “crazy as it sounds” sometimes involves shaving all your body hair, strapping on a diaper and nearly choking to death on a gargantuan puppet’s firehose-like spray of breast milk.

Irwin even cited ancient historical geniuses to support Fielder, pointing out that the Stoic philosophers had “advocated mentally preparing for what is likely to occur” — and they even came to that conclusion without any financial assistance from HBO. 

For example, Ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus said of attending public baths, “If you intend to engage in any activity, remind yourself what the nature of the activity is,” adding that “if you are going to bathe, imagine yourself what happens in baths: the splashing of water, the crowding, the scolding, the stealing.” 

Putting aside how wild bathing once was, in essence, he was promoting the idea of mentally rehearsing daily events through advanced visualization techniques. And he even recommended taking this approach to death itself. “Let death and exile, and all other things that seem terrible, appear daily before your eyes, but especially death,” Epictetus wrote. 

And really, is it so far-fetched to think that the next season of The Rehearsal might involve forcing people to rehearse their own tragic demise on camera?

Irwin pointed out that Epictetus, unlike Fielder, “did not advocate play acting,” adding that “rehearsing is just one step beyond visualizing, and it’s probably more effective.” 

More effective? Does that mean that Fielder actually managed to top the philosopher Epictetus? And he probably never even bothered to try and build a partial replica of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.