So, this is another brain dump…. of people, things or concepts that have helped me – both through this time and and also more generally. Some are things I’ve never really spoken about to anyone – just that they never come up. So I thought I’d just change that by getting a little list down with something about who/what/why I’ve found them useful. Some are probably trivial, some are hopefully somewhat deeper than that. No-one personal is in here, as that’s not what this post is about, so no exclusions are present on that front! And it’s certainly incomplete.
Sam Harris – for me, one of the most influential people I’ve experienced (indirectly of course). I have no idea how I found out about him, but I found his podcast a very very long time ago (when a lot of it was conversation over religion in general and Islam in particular which actually turns out to be by far the least interesting element of what he’s about). He’s known as a ‘New Atheist’, so it was probably from there. But anyway, religion per se isn’t what’s interesting about him. On nearly every subject I’ve heard him talk about (and with guests on his podcast), he has shown insights and thoughts which have stuck with me. Sometimes he’s changed my mind on things I have held solid for years. Sometimes I disagree with his viewpoint. But they’re always genuinely held, well thought out and for the most part stand up to scrutiny.
But I think the thing that is most useful is that he is the path that I got into regular mediation (and understanding consciousness to a tiny degree) via.
This has been transformational. My regular routine when I was building the extension (which went on for years as anyone close to us will know) involved lunch, and then going upstairs for 10 minutes on the app, meditating. Initially a ‘starter’ course, and then moving on to broader areas. Mediation is probably not what you think it is – well, certainly this particular brand of it, which has worked so much to help me build mental strength and resilience, and have tools to call upon in difficult situations. I’ve had glimpses of a different mental reality (in a good way!), but being able to just pull back, and notice what’s actually happening, rather than a load of noise which isn’t is an incredibly useful tool. When I had my PICC line fitted, I was starting to get in a panic. And I just went through a routine of observing what’s happening. And all the tension disappeared. All of it. The procedure was then actually pleasant which sounds incredible. Even meant I said thank you to everyone at the end. Without this skill (and others that it’s given me), I would have been a mess.
There have been plenty of other times when I’ve just been able to call upon this at moments in the day. And it really works. For me. Might not be for everyone. And the thing that really works is that none of this is woo – there’s no religious or other attachments, it’s just observing what’s going on with a curious (and prompted, when doing it along with the app) mind. And realising how easy it is to get lost in thought and distracted. He often pops up in a session (which consist of a lot of quiet time) and you realise you have started thinking without realising it. Still now, it happens. But you begin again, and it’s OK.
I did Headspace like everyone else did when it was big, but it didn’t quite chime with me. But Sam Harris app Waking Up just works for me. And his podcasts – while they can be very very long and in-depth are good. He is the polar opposite of Joe Rogan.
Originally his efforts were supported in a variety of ad-hoc ways (which I did) and then Patreon… and then he moved off Patreon for ethical/business reasons. But he has a very generous policy of giving a lifetime membership to anyone who supported him back in the day! But there’s more to it than that. If you can’t afford a subscription to his meditation app, you just have to ask and you’ll get a year. Incredible – someone actually putting their money where their mouth is, which is increasingly rare.
Climate Town – One thing which I’ve mentioned before is that we need to electrify everyhing as much as possible. But there’s a lot more to it than this. Just replacing all our cars with EVs magically overnight but behaving in the same way wouldn’t save the world at the moment. There are a lot of challenges to be overcome… And most of them are massive, vested business interests who are not going to change without a lot of grass roots change with people becoming aware of issues. I think these videos are eminently watchable (the guy is a comedian as well as knowledgeable), but information-packed and thought-provoking. They’re well researched, not just ‘pick a topic out of the air and publish a video which is so commong now). As I mentioned before, the reason we now have an induction stove is because of one of these videos. And I’m aware that the £5 T-shirt is really not sustainable. Or a lot of things which we kid ourselves to be OK when they simply aren’t.
Philip K Dick – One of the most influential writers for me, whose work has inspired some great films – Blade Runner and Total Recall spring to mind, with premises that are from another world. But going back to the original source material is interesting; a lot of his writing is ‘stuck’ in time, being from the 50s/60s with atomic wars and so on being much more key. The concepts are incredible – from short stories to full books – but I actually found that reading the originals was enlightening because they were quite different to what I expected. And I’ll be honest, I was disappointed with the end of ‘The Man in the High Castle’ – not what I expected at all. Maybe I just didn’t get it. But well worth a read if you want to take in some science fiction which is not run-of-the-mill space opera stuff.
Vernor Vinge – Writer of incredible books which again play with the reader’s assumptions and slowly reveal the truth as the book unfolds – often in a very clever, subtle way. They are long and dense but worth a read if you really get into them, with an 800-page small type book not being uncommon!
Gary’s Economics – as a sharp left turn…. an ex-trader who knows what’s actually happening in the economy, and most importantly cares about normal people and their futures. The way things are going around the world, it’s easy to think that what is happening is inevitable. But reading his site, and watching his YouTube channel is worth doing. Change can happen, but like everything, change in the right direction needs the right information and knowledge. And that’s definitely lacking in the world today in this area. There are not many people fighting for the right things for the majority. It’s working for Elon and Jeff. It’s not working for most people. It can be changed, but only if we make it happen.
Debunking – the world is full of mis- and dis-information. And a lot of is is because it is promoted by engagement algorithms which feed people to extreme content. Let’s face it, the real world for the most part is pretty mundane, and it’s complex. Everyone wants to be an expert at something. And one way to do this is just to make something up and pretend. Bingo! World expert. But this is coming with a cost – increasingly it’s the case that this can be people getting sick or injured because of being told they can take a short-cut which is dangerous in one way or another. The denial of reality started (from my viewpoint) from moon landing deniers. There’s a site – Clavius Moon Base – which shows every error these people make. But there are still people making a living from lying about something which happened.
And then it was flat earth. Which is easily disproven – if you can see the sun lighting under the clouds in the evening, it’s game over for all the crackpot theories about ‘the ice wall’ and ‘you can’t go to antartica’ and so on and that the sun is ‘near’ and all the other complete lunacy. And people making a living from lying about something.
And now it’s spread to nearly everything. And it’s not because of AI hallucinations, or being able to fake footage or any of that. It’s about getting attention and making money. And the algorithms that drive social media (of all kinds) are built on promoting stuff which keeps your attention regardless of the truth of it or not. How to Cook That does interesting stuff with food videos and debunks all sorts of nonsense, as well as showing why things don’t work and sometimes how to make them work – in an entertaining and informative way. Some of which you could maybe judge as being harmless. But a lot of is isn’t, and people have been injured or suffered long-term consequences to their health because of believing something which millions of people have viewed, so it must be true, right?
So, there are a few thoughts on things that have inspired me, and in the case of Sam Harris, completely transformed my life. Not things I want to bang on about, but I thought I’d write them down and like everything, it’s there for the taking or leaving!
Thanks for reading.
