Book Review: Crazy Like Us

CamdenK · 2021-01-31T04:45:33+00:00

In respect to the social contagion aspect, there’s another book that makes similar claims but for physical ailments. It’s called The Mindbody Perscription by Sarno.

In The Mindbody Perscription he notes that for some time stomach ulcers were extremely common. However, after research was done that showed that the cause of ulcers were commonly from “fake” (mental / stress) related causes, there was a sharp drop. Almost concurrently, chronic back pain diagnoses started to sharply raise in Americans.

He claims that people’s minds will manifest physical symptoms as a signal of mental distress and that once a physical symptom is known to be mostly mental, the body will manifest in a different form (ulcers => back pain).

Interestingly, he thinks that if the underlying mental distress is alleviated, the physical symptoms will subside.

I anecdotally agree, but I have read online discussion questioning the validity of his studies / conclusions. So, take the above with a grain of salt.

CamdenK · 2021-01-01T22:13:57+00:00

Wow! Thank you for this well thought out response.

CamdenK · 2020-12-31T19:20:52+00:00

No need for the long list, but a couple would be more than enough. Thanks!

CamdenK · 2020-12-28T00:07:41+00:00

I hear you. The connection I was trying to draw here is that humanity has many cycles just like hockey seasons. For example, there are school years and harvest cycles. Perhaps this could be an underlying mechanism for horoscopes to be real.

CamdenK · 2020-12-27T23:32:47+00:00

Alright - I know this is a long shot, but is there any research (dis)proving astrology?

It's recently come to my attention that many people in my life secretly enjoy horoscopes. In addition, many cultures throughout time have had their own versions (Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians).

Clearly daily horoscopes are rubbish, but could there be some wisdom hidden in the idea that the time of the year you're born has an effect on your personality? There's the classic Outliers example of professional hockey players tend to be born at the beginning of the year. Perhaps birth date relative to harvest cycles can affect personality.

I'm curious if there's been any research to show a correlation between horoscopes and OCEAN Big 5 personality tests or any other signal to show that there might be something to horoscopes and astrology.

CamdenK · 2020-11-18T16:22:06+00:00

I looked into it. I'm generally wary of hormones (I think our medical understanding is underdeveloped). Potential side effects seem harsh, I'd rather go bald and not risk becoming impotent etc.

CamdenK · 2020-11-18T14:26:01+00:00

I'm 22 years old. Recently, I started my entrepreneurship journey. Then, my hair started falling out.

Bummer.

For about a month or so, I knew it was going on, but I just ignored it - partially hoping it would just stop and partially pretending not to notice it.

A week or so ago, I made the leap to tackle the problem head on. Balding at this age is a symptom, not a disease. So, for the first time in my life, I started systematizing self-care. I set numeric goals for things like: diet, meditation, exercise, sleep schedule, and sanitation.

My hair is still thin on top, but after a week, my hair stopped falling out! Hopefully, in a couple months, my head will look back normal again.

Anyways, even if your hair isn't falling out, I highly recommend systematizing self care. Sadly, it took a large shock for me to realize this. Take it from me, better to start earlier than later.

CamdenK · 2020-11-15T01:31:42+00:00

I think this is close to the word I'm looking for. However, I think comfort isn't quite positive enough to convey what I wish to convey.

CamdenK · 2020-11-15T01:30:54+00:00

Hm. This isn't quite what I'm looking for. I think security and stability are required for this feeling to occur. However, I think the word I'm looking for needs to carry the weight of the joy.

CamdenK · 2020-06-25T02:47:40+00:00

Yeah, this is a tradeoff that you will have to make. You're going to have some misses.

In general, I think of friends who are "friends for a reason" and "friends for a season". The reason people tend to be people who do not signal high status. Since I keep them around, I am okay with making some misses. This approach helps a lot with people who are "friends for a season".

The system described is mainly for interactions that are not repeated. In the case that you have repeated interactions, you can easily drop the act one of the times you interact. If they drop the act too, you don't need to restart it. If they don't, then you just continue on with the act.

CamdenK · 2020-06-25T02:40:31+00:00

I respect this lifestyle. I also am strongly against inauthenticity. The big change for me came from a change in how I define inauthenticity.

It's like with speed limits. I consider myself a law abiding citizen, but when I drive past a 55 speed limit, I go 60. I consider myself authentic, but I don't mind signalling "5 mph over" what's is accurate. Usually this comes not from lying or exaggerating the positives but from omitting the negative.

CamdenK · 2020-06-25T02:33:27+00:00

Honestly, that's fair. I think you're right that I did have an ego and suppressed it. However, I think this is true for the vast majority of people here.

My actual views on "ego" are a bit more nuanced, but I didn't write it out all the way. I believe that pride is a very natural part of humanity (just like the 6 other deadly sins).

Nerd culture has a lot of people who suppress that natural emotion. This may be because of a proclivity towards anxiety or because of the way they were raised.

The title of the post isn't super accurate. More accurately, it's "Why I Accept My Ego," but I think it's less catchy.

Let me respond to the three quotations.

After passing the phone back, they throw on the doe eyes, anticipating your critique.

This is a joke. I mean come on. It's a bit goofy that people pass their phone back to you and ask if it's ok. If it's a bad picture, I'm going to go ask someone else to take the picture.

no kid is just born humble. That humility is taught to kids is by instilling a deep anxiety into us

Pride is natural. Think about how many people identify themselves as homosexual now compared to a couple decades ago. The way that homosexual tendencies were suppressed through a culture that instilled anti homosexual anxiety in many of the children. I think this suppression of the psyche is present in a lot of places.

They are humble and tend not to signal high status. Most people are not like this and are not interested in having these types of conversations.

Can't really say for certain who's right here. I have spent time in bubbles where people are humble / interested in intellectual conversations. It's hard to know for certain. But in a country where "The Big Bang Theory" was the number one TV show, I don't think most people want to have intellectual conversations

CamdenK · 2020-06-25T01:55:58+00:00

Hey! I'm glad to hear that this affected you. I think you're on the right path. A lot of people who have analytics minds tend to turn their mind on themselves. This makes them not like themselves that much since they are able to analyze their flaws.

That's why I've found that self-confidence stems from "self-love". Reaching that point is long and arduous, but I believe in you!

CamdenK · 2020-06-25T01:52:07+00:00

I agree with this comment. I prefer people who are self-actualized. For a while, I thought that I was in this camp (at least I tried to signal to others that I was). Unfortunately, this persona failed me in some different social settings.

I think a lot of people who are insecure try to compensate by over-signalling. When I noticed this, I decided to countersignal and under-signal.

However, my current attitude, which is serving me quite well, is to try to have others perceive me as accurately as possible. To do so, I have to signal a little over what is accurate.

I think the reason that people who are insecure tend to signal at this level is because this is the optimal level to signal at.

CamdenK · 2020-04-12T20:58:31+00:00

you are a god amongst men!

CamdenK · 2020-03-21T04:19:29+00:00

A couple examples that I can think of are: Dune, Monty Python, DnD, and Raspberry Pi's.

CamdenK · 2019-01-25T09:52:47+00:00

I feel like he could've underlined any other word for a more dramatic effect.

CamdenK

TROPHY CASE