Baba Brinkman - You Can't See Me lyrics

The blind stares
Of a million pairs of third eyes
Lookin’ hard but they don’t realize
That they will never see reality

Who am I? I ain’t nothin’ but a tour guide
Usin’ science like an x ray
To see into your mind
I’m a voracious reader and
A ruthless questioner
So if you hate the way I see things
Don’t shoot the messenger!
But, I’m not gonna lie
I get a personal thrill
Whenever I see science get popularized
So no, I’m not objective good thing science
Has a something called a "method" that
We can use to cross-reference
And acquire knowledge that’s really authentic
That’s how we know the
Solar system is heliocentric


And that’s how we know Charles
Darwin’s theory was right
And every living creature is connected
Through the tree of life
Yeah, welcome to the future baby
A time when science
Is even illuminating the roots
Of human behaviour
So why do fish swim well and birds fly well?
For the same reason human
Beings lie to themselves

You can’t see me – which
Means you can’t clock me
You can’t tell which parts of
My signal are costly
You can’t see me – which
Means you can’t test me
Your cheater detection instincts
Can’t detect me
You can’t see me – I’m the invisible gorilla
The blind spot in your vision that
Your mind has to fill up
You can’t see me – but if you can’t see me
Just imagine what else you can’t see

So just close your eyes when
You listen to rap
And you’ll find a microcosm of
The human mental map
Everything from costly signals
To kin selection ‘Cause face it
You can’t see your motives with introspection
That’s simply how the human
Mind has been designed
That’s why my mom thinks that
I’m the greatest rapper alive
That’s evolution – it’s genetic nepotism
And yes
Rap is a sexually-selected exhibition
That’s why rappers are so
Obsessed with fornicating
Maybe high-status males just
Prefer short-term mating
And if you don’t think status is real
Just think back to the last
Time you had a rejection, how did it feel?
Whether a job application or a chat
With the person next to you
Having status is having people
Say ‘yes’ to you so how do I get you to say
‘yes’ to me as a rap guide?
Should I get a PhD or swing
More to the gangster side?

Yeah, you can’t see me
So just close your eyes
And let my identity be a total surprise
So you can’t see me
Yeah I’m jamming the signal
Who cares what I look like?
Don’t be so judgmental
You can’t see me – and what if I claimed
That I was from the streets
Just tryin’ to get outta the game?
You can’t see me – and what if I said
That I just freestyle all these lyrics
Off the top of my head?

You can’t see me
So you can’t quite say that I’m lyin’
But, your mind is calculating to
Decide if it’s worth replyin'
And if you call me a liar
That’s ‘strong reciprocity’
Altruistic punishment
Sacrificing to stop a cheat
And if you claim to believe
That’s an early adoption
And you get to earn respect if
I turn out to be awesome
See, every time we actively choose
Status accrues
And every choice is a trust that
Others have a chance to abuse
And that’s why we inhabit the
World of cheater detection
And that’s why costly signaling
Is naturally selected
‘Cause every organism only perceives
What it needs for survival and reproduction
Like ultraviolet for bees
And sonar for bats
There’s so much we can’t see
But the one thing we have
Evolved to catch is cheats
‘Cause people act like cheats
To advance their genes
When means the one place I can’t turn
My gaze is: back at me

You can’t see me – or maybe you can, hell
I might as well be talkin’ to my damn self
When I say you can’t see me
So to the whole human race
You can pray and meditate until
You’re blue in the face
But, you still can’t see me
– call me "human nature"
Without using evolution as an illuminator
You can’t see me – it’s an act of defiance
An alliance between rap and rationalism
‘Cause only science can see me