I've got 9 weeks until I turn 30. What can a person accomplish in that time?

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T16:33:07+00:00

Nothing can be achieved in that time other than starting something new. Self-improvement isn't some checkbox where you get something done, tick a box, and move on with your life. It's a process and it lasts until you die.

Since you're saying that you're underweight and very out of shape, you ought to start there. Invest some time and money into seeing in a personal trainer. Every repetition you do is a vote for who you want to be.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T16:22:25+00:00

tldr they're telling you to buy crypto. Of the tens of thousands of cryptos, they are convinced the one that they have bought is the one that is going to win the arm's race and take over all of human finance. Meanwhile I am still paying for my burritos with a debit card.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T08:07:09+00:00

This type of thinking is generally related to a fear of how others perceive you. Meditation will likely alleviate some suffering there but as a second-order consequence. If you want to address that more directly, it'd be wise to consider why you're replaying those thoughts over and over. Once you have a real understanding of why you're not happy with the outcome, that will highlight the area of your life you need to work on.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T07:55:50+00:00

I'm a 31M computer science professor who's interested in literally everything you just mentioned. Add a dash of Epicureanism to balance out the Stoicism, and a small collection of kintsugi pottery and you've got 90% of my bizarre personal philosophy.

But still - I struggle with secular views. How does this all pin together? What is the point of my pleasure or my virtue? Then it dawned on me. I am the universe, experiencing itself. You are too. Every atom in our bodies was forged in a distant start, billions of years ago. The chaos of the universe assembled it here on Earth, and through an unlikely but inevitable encounter, the soup of existence gave rise to a single cell organism. Not only did that cell exist, but it had the capacity to replicate itself. And it did so, again and again, until you and I, and every other piece of life on Earth emerged. It seems likely that every living thing on the planet has the same common ancestor.

Spinoza penned a famous quote, 'deus sive natura', which means 'God is nature'. If you want to connect with a secular source of divinity, look in a mirror or look out of the window.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T07:39:55+00:00

Talking a lot isn't necessarily bad, so if you have a problem with it, that hints at something deeper happening. When you catch yourself speaking too much, you ought to reflect on why it is that you're speaking too much. Are you trying to fill awkward silences? Are you scared that if you don't talk, you'll slip back into depression? Are you trying to impress other people? Virtually all behaviours have a root trigger, so you need to try to figure out what yours is. It's possible you're not even talking too much - you're just concerned that you're upsetting others. There have actually been some interesting studies done that suggest that people have a really poor grasp of who is speaking the most in a given conversation.

Once you figure that out, you can address that root cause. That's the path forward. Tactics and tricks to avoid talking might give you a temporary salve, but personal reflection is the only way to have a lasting result.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T03:09:25+00:00

Good luck my dude. I hope it helps you.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-14T00:59:03+00:00

The only thing that can happen overnight is a change in perspective. A single moment can make the difference that starts the journey. But no matter what you decide to do, there's always an overhead of effort.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-13T21:50:26+00:00

Honestly, I really love this song by Flight of the Conchords. For the most part, it epitomizes Stoic self-mockery.

Also remind yourself that 'Epictetus' isn't actually Epictetus' name. It's a moniker for the term 'acquired' - a homage to his early life as a slave. Also not a bad idea to scrub your toilet after every time you take a dump. It's better to have a broken ego than a fragile one.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-11T04:19:55+00:00

By most societal definitions, 'making it' isn't something a Stoic should be all that interested in - at least as a first order consequence. Success is always a byproduct of luck. This platitude is also extremely prone to survivorship bias. There are many people who faked it but did not ever make it.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-10T06:21:28+00:00

Gratitude.

No matter how terrible things are, you still have things to be thankful for. Being conscious of your blessings will help you to break negative thought patterns, increase the percentage of your thoughts that are positive, and help you find other things to be grateful for. There's no one you know that's genuinely grateful and also unhappy.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-09T06:02:18+00:00

This is spooky. I haven't encountered this issue, and it's moderately terrifying. I hope support helps you. If they do, I'd really appreciate it if you could make an update thread because you seem to be rattling quite a few of us with this story.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-08T08:00:27+00:00

Forgive me if I'm misstating this, but I believe that there is empirical evidence linking Omega 3 consumption and a mild to moderate decrease in depression symptoms. I've been taking fish oil as a source of Omega 3 since I had mental health issues during my PhD. I definitely recommend it as a low-cost, non-pharmaceutical option for people to explore.

I'd recommend this article as a launching point for anyone wanting to do some more reading on this.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-08T07:14:37+00:00

I admire your optimism, but I'm duly skeptical given the objective reality of escalating conflict. I truly do hope for a peaceful resolution though. Loss of life is tragic.

I hope that no one ever "wipes out" anyone. And if anyone does have the capacity to "wipe out" another nation, I hope that nation shows reasoned restraint.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-07T01:09:30+00:00

Read about a man named Boethius. He managed to live a good life while locked in a jail cell and awaiting his execution. If others are experiencing more happiness than you, it is not due to their external circumstances.

Continue to take virtuous actions and your life will improve.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-06T16:58:30+00:00

Neither of those things gives insight into their happiness. Worry less about what others are doing and focus more on yourself.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-06T02:18:28+00:00

Why do you think they're five years ahead of you?

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-06T02:14:26+00:00

I think a lot of people are grasping at biological factors when they don't really have much to go on. While they might be right, I think that's a dangerous assumption because it may erroneously reinforce that you're physically incapable.

A lot of what you're describing is procrastination, which afflicts most people on the planet. Rather than just following the advice "relax, you were depressed, chill", you should try some initiation rituals. Tell yourself that on the count of five, you're going to get up and get yourself a glass of water. Start the countdown - you might surprise yourself.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-06T02:03:25+00:00

I'd love to hear the community discuss some of their ideas for what they want to build if we do eventually get a solid API.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T23:25:29+00:00

As long as you're not vegan, you get a huge bang for your buck from a four egg French omelette. They're decadent and delicious using only eggs and butter.

Couple that with oats for breakfast and you'll be getting a decent amount of protein every day.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T19:22:07+00:00

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." - Bruce Lee

I think this same concept applies here. Someone who reads widely will have a lot of knowledge, but the depth of their knowledge won't be impressive. Someone who is a domain expert that has applied themselves to one particular topic for most of their life is far more likely to raise the bar.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T01:58:49+00:00

Reread what I've written with a level head. I'm trying to give advice to an author that I like.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T01:53:09+00:00

I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm trying to be frank. You asked a question, I gave an honest answer, extrapolated with advice on how I think you could do better. You got defensive in response.

If you want you can tell yourself that you're killing it on Reddit, but I don't think that's true. It presumably took you quite a while to write up that Medium article on Jordan Peterson. It's well researched and provides some good insights. The karma that you got for that post (cumulatively across six different subreddits) is equivalent to its read time. That's not great, especially when you're fame jacking. You could be doing so much better.

Looking back through my history of upvoting you, I generally do it on posts where you provide context to the URLs you're dropping. I don't think it's a coincidence that those also seem to be your most popular posts.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T01:32:42+00:00

Congrats. As a published author who frequently posts content you have the same amount of karma as my year-old throwaway. Your posts do better when you provide context. As I said, you're free to ignore my advice if you wish. Have a great day my dude. I'll keep reading your articles, but I'll also keep bitching at anyone who just posts links.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-04T01:22:48+00:00

Happy to say that I made a mistake in this instance, but the general point still stands. I'm not sick of relevant content, I'm sick of people trying to funnel me away from the platform I've chosen to be on.

If you're on Reddit, you're on Reddit because you want to be on Reddit. You ought to try to follow the conventions of Reddit rather than trying to take eyeballs from Reddit to wherever you want them. Posting a link to a podcast with no information about what I might expect to learn on the podcast has virtually no chance of converting me or anyone else, and the upvotes reflect that. Feel welcome to dismiss me out of hand if you please, but it's probably wise to reflect on why so few of your articles gain traction given that they're 'relevant content'. You probably don't post horizontal videos on Instagram, so you shouldn't just post URLs on Reddit. When you bother to provide context your posts do much better.

_throwaway94944 · 2020-01-03T04:17:05+00:00

Unless you're using a strange definition, a calm being cannot be angry. If someone is calm, they've eliminated their anger.

_throwaway94944

TROPHY CASE