Free Cities Podcast 085 - Tuur Demeester: Identifying Our Shackles
Bitcoin, Ibogaine, Psychedelics, Addiction, Fiat, Awareness, Nihilism, Collectivism, Beauty, Trauma, Democracy, Architecture, Freedom.
Timothy Allen talks with Tuur Demeester.
Tuur is an analyst and investor, probably best known for his work within the Bitcoin ecosystem. I have been a fan of his for quite some time, greatly appreciating his ability to straddle the worlds of traditional finance on the one hand & the somewhat esoteric world of Bitcoin on the other.
One thing that may need explaining here and something that I would definitely advise you to check out prior to listening to this episode is Tuur's interview on the 'What Bitcoin Did' podcast episode #691 entitled ‘From Psychedelics to the Bitcoin Boom’.
During that show Tuur recounts his harrowing experience taking the psychedelic Ibogaine in an attempt to gain access to the source of some personal anxiety he had been experiencing for many years.
At the start of my episode we jump straight into those experiences, so it may help to listen to WBD first to better understand the context.
My questions in this discussion may seem a little chaotic so you’ll have to forgive me for that. I had so much that I wanted to discuss with Tuur but only 1.5 hours in which to talk. In hindsight I think I was trying to conjure up the understanding that what Tuur experienced on his ibogaine trip and what we are all experiencing in our daily lives are very similar in nature, and that is summed up well in the title of this episode. Tuur says it in the conversation:
“Let's identify how we are shackled’.
I think that many of us are stumbling through life without ever noticing the shackles that are shaping our actions. This is a also true for our money of course as we discuss in the conversation, but the thing I was trying to convey is that change begins with the acknowledgment and experience of awareness. When we become aware of our shackles, be they suppressed childhood experiences or fiat monetary systems, from the position of awareness we can begin to let them move and become 'unstuck' as Tuur likes to call it.
This is an episode about finding hope in dark places. It's a pretty weird one I agree but I hope you can distill some truth in here & find some things that might help you on your personal journey to freedom in these chaotic times.
Enjoy the conversation.
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TIMESTAMPS
(0:30) Introduction.
(8:34) Why did you choose ibogaine?
(12:25) Experiencing eternal despair and death.
(16:49) Importance of initiations.
(22:42) Disciplinarian forces & punishing deviations from the rules.
(25:08) Is the emergence of Bitcoin a naturally occurring rebalancing force?
(30:07) What is addiction?
(36:54) Beauty disproves nihilism.
(41:51) The experience of awareness & its relationship to the body.
(44:54) Generational trauma, coping mechanisms & inherited trauma.
(49:17) Past lives, regression & trauma healing in Indonesia.
(53:…