“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders—what would you tell him to do?” “I . . . don’t know. What . . . could he do? What would you tell him?” “To shrug.” In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat discuss Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, a piece of philosophy disguised as a novel. Probably the 10th longest book in Latin language, Atlas Shrugged is a controversial, polarizing book that attacks Socialism, references Postmodernism and develops Objectivism, Rand’s philosophical system. So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil? We cover a wide range of topics, including: Money as the root of all evil or source of all good Why academics and politicians see successful businessmen with distrust Wealthy kids arguing for socialism The truth about law (spoiler: you are not obliged to obey it) A 3 hour long discourse Writing sex scenes And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson, a book that foresee how governments will react with new tech, as well as our episodes on Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (part 1 & part 2), a book about the power of myths and humans collaborating for a greater outcome. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Ford [11:11] Delta [11:11] American Airlines [11:11] Cup & Leaf – Nat's Tea Project [24:05] Effective Altruism [32:03] CMU [33:09] Tony Robbins on the Tim Ferriss Show [34:22] UBI – Universal Basic Income [35:52] Crypto episode [36:48] Patreon [37:30] Drizly and Minibar [42:56] AirBnB [44:09] Uber [45:32] IRS [46:25] Neil Soni on Nat Chat [55:30] Harari on UBI [56:33] Al-Qaida [1:02:40] ISIS [1:02:40] Amazon [1:05:02] NASA [1:06:16] SpaceX [1:06:16] Boeing [1:05:40] Voldemort Effect [1:15:17] Books mentioned Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Harry Potter [6:49] Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari [20:47] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode part 1 & part 2) Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins [34:22] Sovereign Individual [36:48] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Finite and Infinite Games [41:55] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [42:44] (book episode) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand [1:17:59] People mentioned Ayn Rand List of Atlas Shrugged characters Francisco d’Anconia Hank Rearden Dagny Taggart John Galt Plato [5:10] Socrates [5:20] Tony Robbins [34:22] Peter Thiel [48:30] Aristotle [50:40] Ron Paul [1:09:23] Nathaniel Brandon [1:17:02] Leonard Peikoff [1:17:45] Simone de Beauvoir [1:21:07] Show Topics 6:55 – The structure of the book is an interwoven of essays spoken by the characters. Re-reading the book may help understand better the concepts. 9:05 - The book starts with a parallel world set in the 50ties, with two kinds of people: the industrious productive ones running big infrastructure businesses of the Nation, and the socialists, government ones (described as parasites). The main plot is that the productive ones start disappearing, and the socialists intervene to try to keep the economy running and avoid collapsing. 13:19 – The idea is that the more one tries to control the economy, the worst it's going to get. The example of limiting book sales to 10k. 15:24 – Introducing the characters of Francisco d'Anconia and Hank Rearden. Money as the root of all evil. Criticism of money made by people that never understood how someone actually makes money. 19:00 – Tangent. Most of the critiques to money as the origin of all evil originates between academics or congressman, people that project their experiences "playing politics" and assume businessmen are filthy rich because of a more aggressive political game. 21:11 – Examples of activities that make money without creating value. High frequency trading, hardcore rent seeking. The money test, or how to know if you are effectively creating value. Feeling guilty when asking money, cutting through bullshit. 25:05 – Counter-argument: money as the source of all good. Money allows us to cooperate. 29:47 – We don't see that many successful people in business arguing for socialism. On the opposite side, we can see many wealthy kids arguing for socialism. Why people in the artistic communities advocate for socialism while earning millions on performances. The different approach to socialism between wealthy kids and kids with scholarships. Forced redistribution may not be sustainable in the long term. 34:22 – Tony Robbins about the ideal amount to tax, so to pay for public services, and not to discourage taxpayers to fly away. Striking a fine balance is even more important when technologies that enable us to avoid taxation are widely available. 38:28 – Hank put on trial by the government. The nature of laws is that they have to be enforced by force. Most people won't voluntarily do what government order them to do unless pointed with a gun. 42:56 – Most people think of laws and rules as things they have to follow, instead of options that have consequences. The idea that a rule is just something that typically advantageous to follow. Startups influencing how new rules for grey areas will be legislated. Why NY regulators don't go after illicit listing on AirBnB. 47:24 – John Galt speech (spoiler alert). Layout of objectivism, Ayn Rand’s main contribution to philosophy, as some sort of adaptation of Aristotelian ethics and metaphysics. In Rand's objectivism there can't be contradictions. Or, going against postmodernism, there is no complete subjectivity. 51:39 – Objectivism: Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identification. Reality is not going to change if we hide away from it. Meaning of life and meaningful work as the purpose of life. Reason, purpose, self-esteem. 55:00 – Why people is unhappy with their job. Our jobs is where we spend most of our active ours, and if that is not purposeful, it's hard to be satisfied. Corollaries from Sovereign Individual. We are in a time where in response to new technologies, government reacts in a more socialist direction, so the more productive people go somewhere else. The importance of cryptocurrency in this movement vs gold. 59:52 – Logic against postmodernism. Not saying anything, keeping the mouth shut and dying, is the only way to fulfill the argument of objectiveness non-existence. 1:01:43 – The roles of governments. The need of a third-party force as a result of the concept of property. Protection, Roads, Public Parks: how would they work if left to private initiative. Social Security, a legalized Ponzi scheme, works only if enforced. Alternatives to Social Security and who pays for it. 1:11:29 – Tangent. Criticism to Atlas Shrugged as it doesn't convince someone who is convinced of the opposite. University is very liberal biased. It's very tough to get grants to do research that doesn't confirm liberal ideology. 1:13:56 – Outlawing ideas make them more compelling. The case of silencing gender differences. 1:16:43 – Diving into objectivism in School. The contrast of female characters of Ayn Rand books. Sex scenes and description of scenes. 1:22:11 – Tangent. Rand’s sex scenes are more emotional-psychological than physical. Philosophy of love, related to the meaning of life. Love as a sense of achievement. Interpretations of love possession. 1:26:29 – Closing quote. “In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man’s proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it’s yours.” 1:27:30 – Sponsors! With Scentbird you select and queue perfumes you want to try, and receive them on a monthly basis. Their cartridge system is very convenient, very discounted  and travel-friendly. Use the coupon mentioned in the episode to get 50% off on the first month. Perfect Keto's MCT oil is one of the best fats to keep a ketogenic diet. Their MCT oil powdered version is fantastic to mix in to your coffee drinks, or mushroom coffee. It is much easier than cutting a piece of butter, and it has a creamy texture. For the mushroom coffee, go to Four Sigmatic and get 15% off. Their mushroom coffee energizes you with less caffeine. Kettle & Fire for delicious, organic, grass fed, bone broth, good for getting the micronutrients that it's difficult to get if you don't eat organ meats. You can cook it, drink directly from the carton, or try it with cumin and chili, heat and sip it. It is shelf stable for a really long time. New sponsor! At Cup & Leaf you can find the finest teas reviewed by Nat, with a 20% off! Try the organic Earl Grey cream and milk Oolong, a pretty unique tea. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com

Solitude is what you have the least of here, especially as plebes. You don’t even have privacy, the opportunity simply to be physically alone, never mind solitude, the ability to be alone with your thoughts. And yet I submit to you that solitude is one of the most important necessities of true leadership. In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat cover the first speech on this show! Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz is a speech held by the professor at West Point Military Academy. In it, Deresiewicz goes against the common thinking that Yale’s professors or MBAs are leaders, just because they are the best at following what they are told to do, and looks at solitude and moments of deep work the roots for true leadership. Multitasking is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. [...] Developing your own ideas. In short, thinking for yourself. You simply cannot do that in bursts of 20 seconds at a time, constantly interrupted by Facebook messages or Twitter tweets, or fiddling with your iPod, or watching something on YouTube. We cover a wide range of topics, including: Turning chaos into order vs maintaining the order The “clever” app that interrupts you to check if you are in the flow Guns and drug wars in Chicago Nat and Neil's rituals for solitude Why starting your podcast with your friends will bring you to the best of deep thinking A new sponsor that will make you smell better And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to read Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on The Way of Zen by Alan Watts, a book that lingers in the benefits of meditation, as well as our episode on Work Clean by Dan Charnas, a live episode with the author of the book brings the shows how to work and manage like a chef. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show William Deresiewicz on Nat Chat [2:12] On Political Correctness by William Deresiewicz [2:46] William Deresiewicz Speech at West Point 7:26 Yale University [7:32] CMU - Carnegie Mellon University [7:56] McKinsey [12:35] Kanye West tweets [16:49] AirPods [20:14] Slack [23:36] Asana [23:36] IKEA [30:39] Salesforce [32:03] HelpSpot 32:28 Ephemerality vs Value by Nat Eliason [37:29] Snapchat [37:40] Blinkist [38:43] Mentorbox [38:43] Joe Rogan and Colion Noir on Chicago's gang violence [47:22] Russell Brand - Legalisation of Drugs [48:47] Ron Paul’s view on abortion [50:36] Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show [51:52] Wait But Why articles on AI part 1 and part 2 [51:59] Melting Asphalt [52:25] Sam Harris’ reply to Robert Spencer about immigration [52:32] Books mentioned Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [1:25] (book episode) Excellence Sheep by William Deresiewicz [7:38] (Nat’s notes) Extreme Ownership by Jocko [11:34] 12 Rules for Life by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson [18:09] (Nat’s notes) (Neil’s notes) (book episode) Antifragile by Nassim Taleb [18:09] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault [25:29] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) In Praise of Idleness [26:44] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Ulysses by James Joyce [27:08] Way of Zen by Alan Watts [30:08] (Nat’s notes) (Neil’s notes) (book episode) Work Clean [31:08] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler [34:23] Amusing Ourselves to Death [36:02] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari [45:19] (Nat’s notes) (book episode part 1 & part 2) The Riddle of the Gun by Sam Harris [47:10] (article episode) The Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson [52:25] People mentioned Sam Harris [47:10] (Guns episode) Kanye West [16:49] Jordan B. Peterson [17:09] (on Twitter) (12 Rules episode) Dave Rubin [17:21] Donald Trump [44:14] Show Topics 3:13 – New sponsor! Scentsbird are the Netflix for perfumes. They will send you premium perfumes and colognes like Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel and Armani on a monthly basis. Their their cartridge system is very clever and light, super convenient and easy to carry even on airplanes (try getting big bottles on airplanes). Listen the episode to get 50% OFF the first month subscription. 7:13 – Leadership. "Excellence sheep" concept, or what people do to get a position at Yale. Being the best at following orders doesn't make you a leader. People's confusion between leadership and being good at what one is supposed to do. Turning chaos into order vs maintaining the order. 12:05 – West Point vs Yale Leadership concept. One line Commander's intent employees. 13:18 – Solitude. Bringing Chaos back to Order requires solitude and focus. Creative thinking is not possible nowadays unless we take the concentrated effort to avoid all kind of interruptions. Kayne West and Jordan Peterson on tour. Multitasking and interruptions vs learning. 16:29 – Generally, our first though may not be the result of our creativity, but a subconscious recall of someone else's idea. Places where many ideas come because we are concentrated (and not multitasking), even on other activities. 21:07 – Meditation and background processing. Tips for reducing notifications distractions. Training your friends to not expect immediate response. Following a team at bird's eye view without babysitting them. 25:00 – The effects of talking about ideas on this podcast. 27:02 – Good work starts slow and needs time to get up to the core ideas. Experiences writing good articles or books. Japanese Zen practices and working clean are part of the many activities that foster conditions for creative spark. Organizing the CRM. 33:43 – Different types of flow. Getting "lost" in a mindless activity or reading a fiction book that helps "defrag" your hard drive. The absurd notification app to check if you are in flow or not. Differences between a book and a tweet or the newspaper. Nat & Neil's secret to read 60 books a year like top performers CEOs. Discover the fiction book we are reading listening to back episodes and participate of the give away! 40:43 – What is solitude: introspection, concentration of focused work, sustained reading. And... deep friendship. The traits of good long conversations with friends. Taking the part of the Devil's advocate, and the problem to link our identity with ideas. Not reasonable ideas are just as logical as reasonable ones, but with different inputs. Trump's voters example. 45:18 – Immigration. Extreme views like open borders and racism. Naturally moving toward the middle. Tailor-made narco-economy and guns in Chicago. The reason to legalize drugs. Libertarians against Abortion. 51:59 – The bad habit of everyone should have an opinion on everything. Replying emotionally on Twitter without being informed. Trump bringing peace in Korea. 57:07 – Solitude being the essence of leadership. Nat and Neil's rituals for solitude. Physical stresses that help freeing the mind. 1:01:40 – Sponsors! Scentbird is a monthly premium perfumes subscription service. It’s very convenient, for guys and girls. Use the code mentioned in the episode to get 50% off on the first month. Go to Four Sigmatic for your mushroom coffee needs. Perfect Keto is the one-stop shop for all your ketogenic diet needs. Learn on their blog why MCT oils and powder are amazing fats for your diet. Kettle & Fire for your collagen ancestral needs. Try the meat one with quinoa. The chicken one is good for sipping. Amazon has crushed their earning thanks to the MYT affiliate link! Let your friends know about the show. Share angrily on Twitter as our show is antifragile. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life. All that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” Albert Einstein No books today, but a selected list of questions asked by Listeners! Neil and Nat answer one by one detailed questions about topics you had but they never talked about. We cover a wide range of topics, including: What Neil and Nat do to survive Routines to get into flow Favorite podcast show and why they stopped listening to Tim Ferriss The future (and present of work) Balancing power and happiness And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to ask more questions replying the mailing list! (What? You still haven’t signed up for the mailing list?!) If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Daily Rituals by Mason Currey, a book that discuss the crazy schedule creative people have to get into the flow, as well as our episode on Homo Deus by Yuval Harari where we talk about how AI may make humans useless.   Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Unlimited Brewing [4:22] Made You Drink Beer. Coming Soon? [5:14] US regulation doesn't allow to sell beer online [5:14] Brewmaster’ Reserve, Neil’s beer blog [5:49] Neil Soni on Nat Chat [6:40] LegalZoom [8:45] Maryland Government incorporation website [8:47] Incorporate.com [9:51] W-2 Form [10:52] Nat Chat [11:22] Growth Machine [11:47] Nat's personal site [12:15] Wendy’s Twitter campaign [16:52] Deep House Relax playlist [27:56] Asana [33:03] Evernote [33:12] Sam Sheridan [36:42] Fat Tony [40:05] PwC [52:33] Tiago Forte’s Progressive Summarization [55:05] Flatgeologist [57:32] Slack [1:04:02] Vitalik Buteron, founder of Ethereum [1:10:53] Nat’s articles on sex [1:14:21] Stamena app - Nat’s app [1:14:21] Black Mirror [1:38:46] Trump-Miller story [1:41:55] Books mentioned Daily Rituals by Mason Currey [28:59] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Taleb [32:21] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand [37:58] Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennet [38:07] (book episode) The Goal [44:29] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter [37:58] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [43:20] (book episode) Work Clean [44:29] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Principles [44:33] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene [46:30] (Nat’s Notes) Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [48:12] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins [57:13] Finite and Infinite Games [57:42] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) 12 Rules for Life by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson [58:06] (Nat’s notes) (Neil’s notes) (book episode) East of Eden by John Steinbeck [58:48] (Nat’s notes) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk [59:22] (Nat’s notes) Deep Work by Cal Newport [1:03:01] (Nat’s notes) So Good They Can’t Ignore You [1:03:01] (Nat’s notes) Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault [1:10:10] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) The Sovereign Individual [1:19:29] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Mastery by Robert Greene [1:28:04] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) People mentioned Albert Einstein [0:00] Donald Trump [18:28] Elon Musk [18:28] (on this podcast) Dan Bilzerian [18:33] Adil Majid [19:17] (on this podcast 1, 2, 3) Pepper the Poochon [32:54] Taylor Pearson [44:20] Nassim Nicholas Taleb [48:02] (Antifragile episode) (Skin in the Game episode) Flatgeologists – Flat Earth Society [57:32] Jeff Bezos [1:11:31] Bill Gates [1:11:31] Mark Zuckerberg [1:11:31] Warren Buffet [1:11:31] Randall Eliason [1:42:42] Show Topics 0:00 – Perfect drinks to enjoy the warm weather. 3:38 – Question #1. Why do you actually do for a living and how you've got there? Neil has a company that helps you build your brand beer, either for events (weddings, parties, conference, etc), venues (chef that wants to pair beers), and already established brands. How Neil bootstrapped his company while trying to have reduce his home brewing costs, and even before having customers. If you ask enough, you can see the Made You Drink beer soon. “You don't know where things are going to go until you actually start working on them”. 8:20 – Nat helps ecommerce and tech startups appear on the front page of Google and increase traffic from Google through SEO and content. Stats of his company. 1428 – Funny fact, Nat and Neil went to the same university in Pittsburg, and went through the same Startup Accelerator, but never met before. Why Twitter is the catalyst for the best friendships, and why it's so hard to monetize it. Paying twice to build and reach your audience on Facebook. Who controls Twitter and Facebook celebrities' accounts. 19:58 – Question #2. Favorite podcasts. Mentioned Jocko Podcast Joe Rogan Experience Sam Harris’ Waking Up Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Invest Like the Best podcast History on Fire Unchained A16z Kevin Rose Shane Parrish’s The Knowledge Project Rhonda Patrick’s Found my Fitness Bill Simmons Podcast Skip and Shannon: Undisputed Podcast Good Beer Hunting Brewers' Journal Podcast Episodes: Jordan Peterson on Joe Rogan’s, Daniele Bolelli from the Drunken Taoist on Joe Rogan’s, Jordan Peterson's Biblical Series, Al Pacino and Kevin Durant on Bill Simmons’. Recommended Tim Ferriss Episodes: Jamie Foxx, Jocko Willink, The Erotic Playbook of a Top-Earning Sex Worker (NSFW), Naval Ravikant, Peter Thiel, Dom D’Agostino, Kevin Rose, Kelly Starrett, Derek Sivers, Kevin Kelly, Ed Cooke 27:56 – Question #3. Routines to get into flow, specially If you need to write a 2-3000 words blog post. How much coffee Neil needs to get into flow. Neil's realization to keep going until getting a decent piece of work. The playlist to get into the mood. Nat tips: making super easy to start, getting all notifications off, being super clear on what are the next steps, changing context. The template Nat use for writing a massive article, and why he doesn’t starts with the intro. The endure-for-20min-and-then-you-can-quit psychological trick. Being in-interruptible. 28:18 – Question #4. Is doing business an intellectual challenging activity? What if it is not? The overlap of intellectually curious people and entrepreneurs. Early days of a business are very intellectual and exploration, while growth stage is a lot tweaking and optimization. Why intellectual people have the need to compulsively start new companies. Books that coincided with the business stage. How to find motivation to start exploring. 48:23 – Question #5. Advice for college student graduating in 2018? What problems to work on? First thing: think before graduating. Find an internship that has the potential to get you full time, in an area you are interested in. The problem with Ivy League students going to Google, Facebook or big consulting firms. Realize how low risk your life is. Focusing on skills rather than problems. The awareness that you may not know what problems are out there. 55:05 – Question #6. How do you apply the insights from books? Start a podcast and speak with your friends every week :). How Nat takes detailed notes "reading" the book 4 times. Writing as an exercise to build the synopsis with other books' concepts. No need to change the structure of your business. New concepts are useful to see problems from different angles, not overhauling processes. 59:39 – Question #7. How to network online? Tips to connect through the most powerful platforms, Twitter and cold email. 1:02:59 – Question #8. Future of Work: Deep Work vs Shallow Work, solopreneurship, and attention deficit, etc. Trade off between Improved communication and increased interruptibility. The problem with open office workspaces. Trends: remote working, polarization of work between employees and contractors, performance based work environment. Before, power was a function of the organizational structure or buildings, now it's a function of ability or what you do, because it's much easier to show usefulness. 1:13:20 – Single person companies that make over $1 million a year. Personal branding. Having proof of concept on our own site. 1:14:21 – Nat’s proof of concept that you can have 1 person business based on SEO. How Nat arrived to get 8k daily visitors by chance writing sex articles. 1:19:00 – More trends about work: It will be possible for fewer people to do more. The Internet as the effect of compounding of technology. AI is starting to replace White collar jobs. How AI would be able to replace the 90% of the writing work right now. 1:28:04 – Question #9. Is there a trade off between happiness and achievement? Does a gain in power detract from happiness? The Internet gives us the ability to compare us to the whole world, in detriment of the in-group. Opportunity costs of least profitable ventures. The problem with Digital Nomadism. Considering second and third order effects in the happiness-power equation. The intersection between personal achievement and service to the community. What's happiness anyway? Doing sacrifices for achieving joy, as athletes do. 1:43:00 – Sponsors! Get new questions through the email list. Sign up. Find upcoming books, events, and know about new sponsors! A new cool sponsor coming. Hop on Four Sigmatic for their mushroom coffee and other mush wonderful goodness. Suggestion: enjoy an iced mushroom coffee Mocha flavor. Check Kettle & Fire for their delicious grass fed bone broth, one of the only companies that do this. Suggested: the beef for cooking, the chicken for drinking. Perfect Keto for all your ketogenic related needs. A ketogenic diet is high in fat, and your body burns ketones instead of glucose for energy. Some benefits include improved mental functioning, much lower hunger swings, and ancestral body functioning. The supplementary ketones are very useful to pop in and out the diet and speed the process. Definitely try the coffee or the sea salt chocolate. Leave reviews on iTunes. Everything you buy on Amazon through our link supports the show. Bookmark it with an emoji :). If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com

“In the early twenty-first century the train of progress is again pulling out of the station – and this will probably be the last train ever to leave the station called Homo sapiens. Those who miss this train will never get a second chance. The main products of the twenty-first century will be bodies, brains and minds, and the gap between those who know how to engineer bodies and brains and those who do not will be far bigger than the gap between Sapiens and Neanderthals. In the twenty-first century, those who ride the train of progress will acquire divine abilities of creation and destruction, while those left behind will face extinction.” In this episode of Made You Think, Adil, Neil and Nat discuss Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. This book can be considered a sequel of Sapiens. In Homo Deus, Harari summarizes what has been the source and reference of our specie decisions and make predictions on how data and algorithms will shift humans as the source of power in our history. “Yet in truth the lives of most people have meaning only within the network of stories they tell one another. Meaning is created when many people weave together a common network of stories. Why does a particular action – such as getting married in church, fasting on Ramadan or voting on election day – seem meaningful to me? Because my parents also think it is meaningful, as do my brothers, my neighbors, people in nearby cities and even the residents of far-off countries. And why do all these people think it is meaningful? Because their friends and neighbors also share the same view. People constantly reinforce each other’s beliefs in a self-perpetuating loop. Each round of mutual confirmation tightens the web of meaning further, until you have little choice but to believe what everyone else believes.” We cover a wide range of topics, including: Religion as a body of beliefs and shared Anticipating Trump’s election with the help of Facebook Humanism religion where humans replace Gods Brain vs Mind, Intelligence vs Consciousness Losing control over technology Challenges in medicine to make us immortal And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episodes on Sapiens Part I and Part II, a summary of Human history that will shape how you think, as another lenses through which you can look at reality. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Google Maps Timeline [6:19] Pinked-Taleb argument about people dying from wars [9:34] Jiro Dreams of Sushi [18:40] Estée Lauder [18:58] Altered Carbon on Netflix [23:21] Aterol [25:16] Ether [34:43] Split Brain Experiment [48:14] Sunk Cost Fallacy [1:00:40] Universal Basic Income [1:09:11] Return of the city-state [1:13:44] Crypto episode [1:20:12] Gun Control episode [1:21:37] Cortana [1:23:54] Plato’s Republic [1:24:20] Turing Test [1:28:00] Deepmind playing DOTA [1:29:48] Spire [1:30:33] Hang the DJ - Black Mirror episode where AI decides who you date and marry [1:34:27] Books mentioned Homo Deus by Yuval Harari Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari [0:55] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode part 1 & part 2) The Denial of Death [20:23] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter [33:00] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Free Will by Sam Harris [40:52] Finite and Infinite Games [1:00:17] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) The Sovereign Individual [1:09:11] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) What Every Body is saying by Joe Navarro [1:44:57] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Motivation Hacker by Nick Winter [1:44:57] People mentioned Yuval Noah Harari (official website) Karl Marx [4:30] Donald Trump [5:37] Sam Harris [40:52] (Guns episode) Plato [1:24:20] Show Topics 0:00 – Harari tries to write about the future but he knows there's no way to predict it. People in the ‘50s predicting flying cars and moon bases but nobody predicting the Internet. Communism example: it didn't take place effectively even if Marx predicted it. Narratives and stories affect how we view technology. 5:15 – It is much more acceptable to be critical about Social Networks today than it was 2 years ago. At the beginning everyone was considering only convenience. Privacy wasn't that much of an issue. 7:23 – Up until now the human agenda was: don't die, procreate, protect your tribe. The new agenda considers: how to become Gods. More power, more money, how we live forever. 8:12 – Humans collectively are concerned solving three things: Famine, Plague, War. All three seem to be controlled (until Black Swans happen) but they seem fragile. 12:58 – Modern Medicine has saved us from premature death, but haven’t extended our lives by that much. We would be able to lengthen our live spans if we can re-engineer the length of splitting cells. 16:03 – For people over 40, there's a high probability they’ll die because of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer, and suffer cognitive decline. The challenge with cancer, a disease of aging, is that its origin is not unique, there are many reasons one can get cancer. What happens when we become immortal or live much longer than we do today. Incentives to improve, competition against technology, and appreciation of life under eternal conditions. 25:00 – Historically we manipulated environment to fit us. In the future it seems we will try to manipulate us to transcend the environment. States regulating bad drugs that threaten stability and allowing and even encouraging those that strengthen social order and productivity. Overusing medical advancements not to cope with a disability, but to surpass the norm (Viagra example), creates a race to the bottom: if you are not cheating you are in disadvantage. Legalizing steroids. 30:04 – First part: How Homo Sapiens conquered the World. You can skip this part if you have read Sapiens or listened to our episodes on it (part 1, part 2). The modern manifestation of Religion, which is Humanism, is what this book focuses on. Progression: agriculture revolution gave rise to Teism religions. The scientific revolution gave birth to Humanism religion where humans replace Gods. We look humans as the source of power. Examples of Humanism: Liberalism, Communism, Nazism. “Everything that happens in the cosmos is judged to be good or bad according to its impact on Homo sapiens” 31:46 – Critiques to Humanism. Reliance that there's something special with humans. Mind or consciousness for modern religion is the equivalent of the soul for ancient ones. Brain vs Mind. The concept of mind doesn't square with anything scientific. 35:06 – Knowing exactly how the mind works, would affect our day to day living? Do we perform conscious choices under free will or are we subject to environment and past experience? How to interpret "negative" actions like murdering or hard ones like starting a company even when we don't need to. Free will as an evolutionary result to improve survivability. 40:48 – Examples against free will. First mover concept. Regardless we have or not free will, we still are responsible for our lives. Punishment should be still used to protect society from bad not-free-will behavior. 46:34 – Deciding to do something is based on our own desires. But probably we never decided what our desires are. Concept of Intersubjective Entities. Money has value only because most of us believe we can trade with it. Life meaning exists only within the network of stories we tell one another. 51:55 – Second Part: How we measure ourselves. Physical things can be measured and interpreted unequivocally, but other concepts as school performance, change based on the yard stick we use. Intersubjective believe that living longer is better, instead of shortly and intensely. Science and religion viewed not as opposites but as complements of each other. 56:28 – Religion-Science dichotomy. Aiming to maintain social structure vs looking to acquire power to solve world problems like famine, diseases and fights. 1:01:04 – Development of Humanism. Liberalism (orthodox humanism): focus on the individual liberty. Two sprouting: Socialist Humanism (communism) which says human experience is shared among societies, and Evolutionary Humanism (Nazism) which focuses on the Sapiens supremacy. If Germany had won in WW2, we would see Nazism (Evolutionary Humanism) as a positive thing. What makes our morals true or objective. 1:07:26 – The trend towards Liberalism is a natural consequence of technological evolution. What happens when we begin this phase of transcendence? Many social developments seem to be sons of the current economic forces. Slavery ended and women gained the right to vote because it was better for the overall Economy, not because of a genuine interest of their lives. Governments give only people rights because they need them to pay taxes. Problems with UBI, incentives to become an artist or entrepreneur, and stability. Wars don't happen if there is no economical benefit. 1:13:20 – City States. City majors seem more important than State governors. Belong feelings to cities and not the country. When a Government is losing power it creates a conflict. City States would not exist as they existed in the past or as an equivalent to today's Countries. The rise of Digital Governments. 1:18:38 – Slow government is good because you don't want incompetence spreading fast. Big Companies are gaining Nations-like power. Google is much faster at predicting an epidemy than UK's Health System. The thread is Corporate regulations moving faster than Governments. Democracy looks like the worst kind of government, except all the other ones. 1:23:10 - Third Part: When humans lose control. Beyond Humanism. Individual vs Dividual: the Experiencing Self and the Narrating Self. Plato’s Rationality, Energy Spirit, Desires chariot analogy. Tech intelligence is/will be better than Human intelligence, but consciousness will be optional. Consciousness as an emergent property of processing speed. Current improvements in AI are geared to improve sales, rather than improving the solutions to our needs. Foretelling Trump’s use of Facebook in the 2016 political campaign. 1:30:33 – More and more our decisions are made by machines and data. Apps that decide for us: Uber and Diet apps examples. Letting machines monitor health parameters and suggesting habits. If we rely too much on others to make decisions for us, we lose that "muscle". The "attention helmet" makes people less patient to confusion, doubts or contradictions. 1:33:55 – Apps that shift from an Oracle service to an Agent service. Consult vs Entrust. Situations in which our trusted app would interact on our behalf: scheduling a meeting, job application, dating. 1:35:41 – Tinder on autopilot. Dieting app hooked up with a micro-needle patch that trace your blood glucose needle and prevents you from breaking a diet. 1:39:55 – Dataism, the New Religion. Data and algorithms will be the supreme force and we will trust them as the new Bible. Liberalism is completely challenged by Life Sciences. 3 points, I'm an individual, I've a single essence, myself is completely free. Science says we are just a set of bits dominated by algorithms. The tech sector seems to be unattached to the emotional consequences of the things they are arguing for. What do we care more, the objective truth data reality or the subjective experiences of individuals. 1:43:21 – Are emotions the result of data processing in the background? Moving more and more to data-based decision algorithms. Would you ask your Google Home / Alexa to move to NY? 1:50:03 – Dataism extreme form. Algorithms would own everything like corporations do today. Software eating the world. From the Data viewpoint, we can see our whole specie like a single processing system. The end goal of Data is to create the Internet of all things, a completely interconnected system of consciousness. 1:53:01 – “These three processes raise three key questions, which I hope will stick in your mind long after you have finished this book:  Are organisms really just algorithms, and is life really just data processing?  What’s more valuable – intelligence or consciousness?  What will happen to society, politics and daily life when non-conscious but highly intelligent algorithms know us better than we know ourselves?” 1:53:59 – Sponsors! Kettle & Fire delicious bone broth is excellent if you are feeling sick. You can toss it directly into the microwave. Try it with cumin and ginger, a nice spicy treat for the end of the day. Get advantage of the free shipping. Four Sigmatic mushroom elixirs and coffee. Nat's on the subscription plan, which is a great deal because you can pick different flavours and get them every 30 days. Try the new Mocha flavor, with cocoa and chaga. Subscription gives you 20% off. Perfect Keto for all your keto needs. Look out for our next keto episode. Grab their Exogenous Ketones,  their Keto Pre-Workout, their Collagen blend, and their Protein Powder. You can't get knocked out. Buy everything through Amazon as Adil using our affiliate link. Bookmark this link. Subscribe to mailing list to participate to the show as people in the next episode has done. Your feedback is instrumental to this show. Let us know of books or article ideas. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com  

Today, we are used to thinking about the whole planet as a single unit, but for most of history, earth was in fact an entire galaxy of isolated human worlds. In this episode of Made You Think, Adil, Neil and I continue to discuss Sapiens by Yuval Harari. In this second part we cover the most recent part of Human and Society evolution and how we moved from scattered collection of isolated human beings to a cohesive global civilization. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the daily life of most humans ran its course within three ancient frames: the nuclear family, the extended family and the local intimate community. Most people worked in the family business or their neighbours’ family businesses. The family was also the welfare system, the health system, the education system, the construction industry, the trade union, the pension fund, the insurance company, the radio, the television, the newspapers, the bank and even the police. Yet throughout history, such imagined communities played second fiddle to intimate communities of several dozen people who knew each other well. The intimate communities fulfilled the emotional needs of their members and were essential for everyone’s survival and welfare. In the last two centuries, the intimate communities have withered, leaving imagined communities to fill in the emotional vacuum. The two most important examples for the rise of such imagined communities are the nation and the consumer tribe. We cover a wide range of topics, including: Cognitive Dissonance as a survival feature of human beings The absurd of national identity when talking about ethnic cuisine Industrial Revolution, Internet, and the re-framing of communities Who was the first guy to circumnavigate the world How merchants shaped today’s world Meaning of Happiness And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Sapiens by Yuval Harari! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault, a book that covers Postmodernism, a kind of Religion according to Harari, as well as our notes on The Way of Zen, to know more about Buddhism and the search of Peace. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee [0:45] Polytheism [13:46] Christianity [13:46] Judaism [13:46] Muslim [13:46] Mahomet [13:46] Janaism [19:01] Buddhism [19:40] Postmodernism (Discipline and Punish episode) [24:59] Pepe the Frog Meme [27:29] Was Magellan the first person to circumnavigate the globe? - Ask History [33:30] Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea [35:50] Crypto episode [40:00] Ethereum [40:30] Mechanical Turk [45:41] Fancy Hands [45:41] Netflix [48:30] ESPN [48:30] Twitch [49:31] /r/The_Donald sub-reddit [52:42] Woman subreddit forgetting her passport in Japan [55:25] The Yacht Week [1:00:00] Books mentioned Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (Nat’s Notes) (book episode part 1) Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault [24:59] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins [24:59] Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [13:58] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Way of Zen by Alan Watts [21:43] (Nat’s Notes) (Neil’s Notes) (book episode) Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam [51:58] People mentioned Yuval Noah Harari (official website) Adil Majid [0:36] (Crypto episode) Nassim Nicholas Taleb [27:29] (Antifragile, Skin in the Game) Barack Obama [15:56] Constantine the Great [15:56] Richard Dawkins [24:59] Carl Jung [24:59] Jordan B. Peterson [24:59] (on Twitter) (12 Rules episode) (Order and Chaos) Pepe the Frog Meme [27:29] Ferdinand Magellan [33:30] Show Topics 1:37 – The Arrow of History. How we moved from scattered collection of isolated human beings to a cohesive global civilization. 2:11 – From considering cognitive dissonance a bug of our mind to a feature that helps us manage contradictory beliefs. Examples: Democrats and Republican, Religion, and positions on immigration examples. The truth is that we don’t think in binary. 6:35 – "Traditional" ethnic recipes are made with non traditional ingredients. The idea of national identity fall into the absurd. Countries that claim an identity did not exist 200 or 300 years ago. 11:06 – The result of today's globalization comes from 3 groups: Money, States, and Religion. Commerce would be the first thing that started tying people together. Money as the foundation of States and Religion. 15:56 – The moment religions scaled. How Christianity may have spread to support Constantine the Great’s plans for the Mediterranean. The traits of "successful" Religions. 19:56 – Tangent. Buddhist Monks that accept and inflict violence. Zen Buddhism. 21:16 – Politics in the new Religion. Constitution as the new God. Ways Catholicism's circumvented monotheism to absorb local religions. 24:38 – The challenge of growing and functioning all together. Science, the secret of success. Memetics vs Postmodernism. 25:33 – Globalization leading us to two concurrent and opposing directions: integrating us on a global scale (access to the same stores/products/music/culture) while dividing us in islands (internet groups). Subcultures. Turning point where we assumed we know what was in the world, to assume we didn't. Maps with empty spaces example. 28:25 – Space exploration and old World exploration is driven by greed and money. Science and dominance comes as an effect rather than a cause. 35:30 – Tangent. How tea got into India. Origin of Tea. 37:09 – Merchants and Capitalism. The importance of credit to enable entrepreneurship and permit the development of the current world. Crypto may spread with the availability of cryptocredit. 41:12 – War of merchants. The history under Wall Street. Why the British took Hong Kong. The main problem with pure market capitalism is that it's going to create growth, but we are not sure if it is in a good direction. People blinded by Capitalism. 47:00 – Industrial Revolution. Mentality shift to optimize for our own pleasure rather than building something bigger than ourselves. Gunpowder and steam engines example. E-Sports may lead the trend to monetize attention. 50:48 – Internet and micro-communities replacing local intimate physical ones and old “imagined” ones like States. Peculiarities, power, and limits of such communities.  Some people argue that the Donalds subreddit was one of the big factors to turn Trump president. 57:11 – The costs and levels of different levels of communication: personal meeting, phone call, texting. The pattern that occurs with new technologies. Being aware and controlling unwanted effects of tech, to not fall tangled in it. 59:55 – Happiness. The lottery ticket and car accident examples. Happiness as a function of baseline, and framed under objective conditions vs subjective expectations. Effects of the Internet and Social Media on nowadays expectations. Buddhism goals and nuances of the translation of old Sanskrit to current languages. 1:08:08 – Sponsors! Here ends Sapiens. Check the 1st part or buy Homo Deus (kind of a 3rd episode on Sapiens) and prepare for the next episode. We were enjoying Cordyceps Elixir Mushroom Coffee from Four Sigmatic. We also suggest the Adaptogen one. Get 10 to 15% discount with our link. Also, try Jocko White Tea (buy it using our Amazon link). Always, Perfect Keto for all your ketosis needs. Really good products to get into and sustain ketosis. They have keto friendly protein powder, MCT oils, and nice pre-workout boost. Kettle & Fire is our provider of fine bone broth. They’ve got beef, chicken, chicken with mushroom. It helps you get over the flu and is a perfect treat for a cold night. Get up to 33% OFF with our link or get it at Whole Foods. Give us a review on iTunes, tell your friends, register to the email list and you’ll know about books that are coming. Hit us up on twitter, @nateliason, @therealneils, and @adilmajit. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com  

Exploring the power of shared myths in shaping human history, the impact of different revolutions on society, the consequences of the Agricultural Revolution, and proposed solutions to reduce wealth gaps. The podcast dives into topics like human communication, the domestication of humans and wheat, historical dynamics of inequality, and humorous discussions on Eastern medicine and sponsor promotions.

Exploring the history of discipline and punishment, power dynamics, and freedom of speech vs offense. Discussing the evolution of punishment and societal hierarchy, gruesome public executions, and the impact of titles in hierarchical systems. Delving into the complexities of gender fluidity, logic, and post-modernist thought.

Fantasists and zealots can be found on both sides of the debate over guns in America. On the one hand, many gun-rights advocates reject even the most sensible restrictions on the sale of weapons to the public. On the other, proponents of stricter gun laws often seem unable to understand why a good person would ever want ready access to a loaded firearm. Between these two extremes we must find grounds for a rational discussion about the problem of gun violence. In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and I discuss The Riddle of the Gun by Sam Harris. In this blogpost, Harris weighs arguments and anti arguments for and against gun ownership control. We still have more guns and more gun violence than any other developed country, but the correlation between guns and violence in the United States is far from straightforward. Thirty percent of urban households have at least one firearm. This figure increases to 42 percent in the suburbs and 60 percent in the countryside. As one moves away from cities, therefore, the rate of gun ownership doubles. And yet gun violence is primarily a problem in cities. It is the people of Detroit, Oakland, Memphis, Little Rock, and Stockton who are at the greatest risk of being killed by guns. We cover a wide range of topics, including: Motivations behind shootings in America Why the US situation cannot be compared to other countries and the need of a unique solution The difficulties our brains have processing statistics, and the skewed importance we give to events School guards and gun use training and licensing Why it’s very unlikely that we will talk with aliens one day And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to read The Riddle of the Gun by Sam Harris! A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Amusing Ourselves to Death, a book that discuss our brain limitations, as well as our episode on Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb, on the topic of the importance of having personal experience and true knowledge when talking about hot topics. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show National Rifle Association – NRA [14:18] AR 15 [15:13] Parkland High School’s shooting [14:15] Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting [22:15] Aurora Cinema in Colorado shooting [22:58] Orlando Nightclub shooting [22:58] Virginia Tech shooting [28:48] UT Austin shooting [28:59] Revolver Speed Reload video [37:23] Warrior Gene [45:47] I gave you power - Nas [56:40] Vegas shooting questions of investigation [1:03:48] Unabomber [1:04:55] DC sniper attack [1:05:41] Columbine killers [1:17:36] Books mentioned The Riddle of the Gun by Sam Harris Godel Escher Bach [29:41] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [2:19] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician by Michihiko Hachiya [08:40] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Amusing Ourselves to Death [15:37] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris [01:33:20] People mentioned Sam Harris Kid Rock [12:18] Jocko [20:50] Elon Musk [45:18] (on this podcast) Pepper the Poochon [48:49] Nassim Nicholas Taleb [46:21] (Antifragile episode) Chris Rock [57:48] Barack Obama [1:01:02] Show Topics 0:00 – Escalation of gun violence and controversy about the definition of mass shooting. The lack and the need of rational arguments in favor or against gun control. 4:48 – Two ways of talking about guns and regulation. The perfect world scenario, where guns do not exist. The current world, where they do. Reasons to why America may not be able to copy and paste regulations from other countries which have a completely different contexts. DNA of countries: starting with the individual freedom vs starting with the collective and scaling down to individual. 9:57 – Hedge against tyranny. It's not about the individual right to have arms, but the State's right to have militia. An armed country makes it more threatening to be invaded. 13:06 – Safe and unsafe gun use. Most of people have a very skewed opinion about guns but lacks deep knowledge about them. Campaigns for and against resort in fear rather than education. Sides attack the weakest argument of the other, instead of dismantling the strongest one. Story behind the AR15 name. 17:56 – Arguments in favor of gun ownership. Police will never arrive on time in a home invasion situation. In a world without guns, the bully wins over the others. Guns even the physical playfield. A weak person could defend itself from a physically strong one. Limitations of Martial Arts in real life. Escaping a dangerous situation as a better strategy than engaging in it. 22:15 – Comparing gun deaths to car accidents and medical errors. According to statistics, gun problems are a problem of population density and not a problem of guns ownership: there are more weapons in rural America, but mass shootings occur in cities. Murder rate going down after assault weapon federal ban expiration coincidence and possible causes. 29:4 – Why Media and people would care more about the life o a kid in New Talents Life than the life of gangsters in Detroit. Different reactions for 9/11 and what happens everyday in Middle East. Difficulties to process statistics and emotional attachment in 1-to-1 relationships. Mass shooting deaths represent just 0.1% 37:42 – Original meaning vs evolved meaning of the American Constitution. Different ban treatment for assault weapons and handguns. Drawing the line in which weapons to ban and which not. 41:33 – California and New York banning 17 rounds magazines. Arming Mars' colonizers. 47:48 – Logistics of breaking ins would be easier with a ban law. Dogs as deterrents to break ins. Civilians shouldn't intervene in dangerous situations. When speaking about gun ownership, we should always include training. The Japanese case, where to own a weapon you have to be trained and your license renewed as for driving cars. For cars and certain businesses training is mandatory. How to circumvent the Second Amendment requiring infinite training. 53:27 – Mental health issues and buying guns. Suicide and domestic violence may be reduced without weapons. Abortion sucitates such much discussion and viewpoints as guns. Cause vs magnitude of events. Knife problems in Chinese schools. Guns do enable to kill people faster. 58:58 – Putting guards for schools instead of arming teachers. Politicians against school guards lacking skin in the game, because they have personal guards. Coincidence of mass shootings happening in gun-free places. 1:03:56 – Motivations behind mass shootings. Armed teachers may introduce more "variability". Deterrent effect is difficult to measure. 1:09:51 Idea: giving guns to kids! Training kids how to behavior in dangerous situations. Many schools do have cops around, but probably not because of terrorist events. 1:13:47 – Imperfect Justice system may be corrected by private justice. Some countries may not have guns problems because of a "barbaric" Justice system. Physical punishment as a deterrent. Mass attention as a motivator for shooting. 1:17:47 – Symbolic steps towards more gun control. Veterans could be re-included as school guards and would be better experienced in fire situations. Guns training and licenses would be a billion dollars/year business. 1:23:29 – Considerations for a Constitutional Amendment modification? 1:24:25 – Shift in attitudes and shared responsibility is the way to solve a unique US problem. Tweet to us and share your inputs! 1:27:34 – Sponsors time! Four Sigmatic has a new Adaptogen Mushroom Coffee, which has Tulsi and Astragalus. A special one to make you go on tangents! Use the Chaga one, perfect for brainstorming, and Adaptogen for execution. You get 15% off with our link. Check out Perfecto Keto for all your keto related needs. Check the Peaches & Cream, and Chocolate & Vanilla Exogenous Ketones. They also have a Keto Pre-Workout for a boost before exercising. Use the coupon code revealed in the episode to get a discount. Kettle & Fire are the purveyors of artisanal bone broth, with all the collageny ancestral goodness. You can keep it in your cabinet, perfect for a warm treat during a snowstorm. 1:31:24 Leave a review on iTunes, but not a bad one! :) Support the show by using our Amazon sponsored link. Subscribe to the Mailing List and tell your friends! Tell Evernote to listen to our bonus material.

“Skin in the Game is about four topics in one: a) uncertainty and the reliability of knowledge (both practical and scientific, assuming there is a difference), or in less polite words bullshit detection, b) symmetry in human affairs, that is, fairness, justice, responsibility, and reciprocity, c) information sharing in transactions, and d) rationality in complex systems and in the real world. That these four cannot be disentangled is something that is obvious when one has…skin in the game.” In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and I discuss Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life by Nassim Taleb. In this book, Taleb touches in many of the topics he’s covered in his previous work, such as virtue signaling and probability, and most of all, true risk taking. "[...] what people resent—or should resent—is the person at the top who has no skin in the game [...]" We cover a wide range of topics, including: Academia and its capability —or lack of it— of predicting real life. Having skin in the game and how it affects your behavior. How minorities impose their preferences to majorities. Judging a complex system by its elements. Sam Harris’ scalding opinion of Nassim Taleb. Virtue signaling. And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb. "Not everything that happens happens for a reason, but everything that survives survives for a reason." If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Antifragile by Nassim Taleb to dive deeper into Taleb’s work, and our episode on 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson, so you too can imagine the awesome podcast Jordan and Taleb could create together. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Nassim Taleb on Medium [01:45] Nat Chat [01:04] (Antifragile episode) Twitter [03:48] Uber [13:04] Venture Capital [15:30] Y Combinator [15:37] Startup Company [15:37] Hedge Fund [17:09] Cryptocurrency [18:16] Gilgamesh coin [19:00] Lindy Effect  [21:40] Virtue Signaling [24:32] Middlebury College [24:43] Statin [28:25] American Heart Association [31:30] Coca-Cola [35:20] Confirmation Bias [38:47] The Placebo Effect [38:50] The Most Intolerant Wins: The Dictatorship of the Small Minority by Nassim Taleb [40:29] Kosher Food [40:29] New Atheism [45:16] Reddit [45:26] Facebook [45:27] Starbucks [45:30] Dick’s Sporting Goods [46:00] Box Company [46:52] Google [56:42] Mutual Assured Destruction [01:02:04] JPMorgan Chase [01:09:00] Apple Inc. [01:09:30] Amazon [01:09:30] Uber [01:09:33] Instacart [01:09:33] Fat Tony [01:09:52] The National Football League (NFL) [01:18:36] Tesla [01:12:54] In-n-Out Burger [1:23:33] Chipotle [1:23:33] D'Souza rips apart smug leftist student over "white privilege" [1:27:30] Humanitarians of Tinder [01:33:17] Toms Shoes [01:33:45] Malaria nets [1:34:33] Sam Harris on Nassim Taleb “insufferable” quotation [1:43:10] The best podcast ever by Sam Harris [1:49:10] Russell Brand Podcast’s Under the Skin [1:49:10] Books mentioned 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson [00:39] (Nat’s notes) (Neil’s notes) (book episode) Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Taleb [01:04] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Taleb [02:00] The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Taleb [02:00] The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Taleb [02:00] Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs by Morton A. Meyers [14:05] Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin [26:30] Merchants of Doubt: by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway [34:54] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter [39:34] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System by Donella Meadows [52:13] (book episode) Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician by Michihiko Hachiya [01:01:28] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford [01:37:03] A History of Private Life by Paul Veyne [01:40:39] Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris [01:47:35] Lying by Sam Harris [01:47:35] People mentioned: Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Antifragile episode) Hillary Clinton [06:58] Steven Pinker [06:58] [1:35:59] Ayn Rand [07:54] Anne Hearst [24:52] Charles Murray [24:57] Aaron Levie [46:51] Donald Trump [01:06:40] Marco Rubio [01:07:22] Chris Christie [01:07:31] Jeff Bezos [01:11:58] Bill Gates [01:12:05] Mark Zuckerberg [01:12:14] J.K. Rowling [01:33:00] Alexander The Great [01:36:39] Jordan B. Peterson [01:41:32] (on this podcast) Sam Harris [01:41:32] Scott Adams [01:49:26] Russell Brand [01:49:47] Jocko [01:53:40] Show Topics 01:30 – Taleb's bibliography, his previous releases. Contrasts and relations between his previous works and Skin in the Game. A greater focus in philosophy and morals, rather than the mathematical focus of his other books. Skin in the game concept for business and non-business people. 06:38 – Taleb's use of criticism of other people, perhaps partially for publicity reasons. Criticizing people at your own weight vs needless harassment. The Ayn Rand effect. 08:50 – The books’ introduction. Academia vs real life. You can’t predict the behavior of a system by studying the behavior of individual elements within the system. Emerging qualities of complex systems. Academia back-explaining knowledge that’s created practically. Skin in the game for Roman architects and medicine scientists. 14:57 – True progress is only possible when you actually stand to lose something should you fail. Defining “rent-seeking” as opposite for “skin in the game”. Different types sorts of investments and whether they constitute rent-seeking. 19:25 – The contents of the book can become a lens through which you see the world. 20:03 – Sponsors. Get a shot of Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee mixed with MCT oil powder from Perfecto Keto. Follow our advice, we have skin in the coff… in the game. 20:59 – You can’t judge whether something is robust, if it can survive stressors, if you’re not at risk in case it can’t. The test of time. 23:30 – Business plans and their usefulness, or usefulness for procrastination. 24:54 – Book 2: A First Look at Agency. Advice, and knowing when to listen to it. Advice that’s helpful to the person offering it, rather than who’s being advised. Incentives and metrics under judgement. 26:50 – Judging actions by their intentions, rather than their effects. Nazism vs Communism. Diets, cholesterol, weight, and its effects on health as single elements of a complex system. 35:36 – Avoiding doctors when you have low-risks health issues. Prayer and religion developing related to health, and the high risk of medical procedures. The Placebo Effect. 39:20 – Book 3: That Great Asymmetry. Ant and ant colony metaphor. Predicting a complex system’s behavior through the behavior of singular elements. A small vocal minority affecting the behavior of large groups. The minority effect on holiday greetings and restaurant choices. 45:56 – Gun regulation, and changes in policy meant for advertising. Virtue signaling and what you do out of your beliefs, versus what’s done for public recognition. Standing up for your opinions even if, or specially if, it has social consequences. 50:57 – The free market, bottom-up or top-down models. Changing the parameters of individuals will not change the parameters of the emerging system. 52:57 – Book 4: Wolves Among Dogs. The trade off between security and freedom. Working as a dog, comfortably but restrained, versus working as a wolf, with much more freedom, but less safety. Tactics big companies use domesticating their employees. English manners as a way to domesticate lower classes. 00:59:39 – Suicide bombers and Mutual Assured Destruction. Reasoning and incentives in terrorists perspective, and how to discourage them to commit suicide. Sacrificing oneself and sacrificing the whole nation. 01:02:26 – Freedom and social media. Voluntarily adopting habits of the lower class as a signal of freedom. Nassim Taleb and Twitter. 01:05:53 – Book 5: Being Alive Means Taking Certain Risks. Politicians and relatability. Feeling like a politician is a real person, or simply a scripted facade. The case for Trump and his relatability. 01:08:36 – Resentment against people at the top who don’t have skin in the game, who are not really risking anything. Economic equality and what it truly means. Unfair barriers put up to keep people in the 1% when they might not really be earning their spot anymore. Florence example, where a handful of  families has kept the power for more than 5 centuries. 01:14:38 – Peer approval, the minority effect, and real freedom. 01:17:06 – Book 6: Being Alive Means Taking Certain Risks. Between two people who are equally qualified, the person who looks less “the part” is a wiser choice, as they have had to overcome more challenges to get to where they are. Quarterbacks vs common sense. Elitism and food: steaks, fast-food, and wine. Big mansions and living away from everything. 01:27:38 – Virtue signaling. Protesting or complaining without putting action behind your beliefs. Charity that’s mostly for show and its negative consequences. 01:35:12 – History and violent events: decreasing in frequency, but increasing rapidly in intensity. War, urban violence, and the magnitude of violence. Life that isn’t covered in history outside of big, dramatic events. 01:41:26 – Book 7: Deeper Into Agency. Religion, Beliefs, and Skin in the Game. Sam Harris, Nassim Taleb, and Jordan Peterson. Religion, science, and scientism. 01:49:22 – Sam Harris’ podcast and its infamous guests. 01:50:38 – Book 8: Risk and Rationality. The last section of the book, and concepts in it that are being explored in-depth by Taleb for the first time. “Skin in the Game” as an entry point for Taleb’s work. 01:52:26 – You don’t necessarily need to know what is the reason for something, even if you know that there is a reason. 01:54:31 – Ergodicity and non-ergodicity, or assembled probability vs individual probability. Paranoia and risk reversion. Risk taking and relative risk rather than objective risk. Bathtubs’ and bullets’ potential to scale to kill people. Terrorism, gun violence and non-multiplicative risks. 02:01:35 – Ties back to Taleb’s previous work. Static and dynamics probabilities and life expectancy. 02:05:37 – Wrapping up and sponsor time! Make sure to grab your own copy of “Skin in the Game” through our Amazon sponsored link. To help the podcast maintain the freedom of the market, check out as well our sponsors: Kettle & Fire for all your delicious bone broth needs, with up to 30% OFF! We recommend Perfecto Keto’s coffee-flavored exogenous ketones. Four Sigmatic: for your mushroom coffee and all your other mushroom needs. And as always, don’t forget to check out our Support page. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com    

A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods. In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and I discuss​ Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. In this book, Currey edits together first-hand accounts from different artists and creative thinkers of how they went about their everyday lives. “I write when the spirit moves me,”  said, “and the spirit moves me every day.” – Faulkner. We cover a wide range of topics, including: The problem with lifestyle gurus. Whether drugs enhance genius. Coffee’s role in causing the Renaissance. How people in far-off countries let each other know they were alive before the internet. Beethoven’s perfect cup of Joe. Why you should pin notes to your clothes' Night Owls vs. Early Birds - who gets more worms. Hacks to become an morning person. And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson for more tips on how to order your day, as well as our episode on Elon Musk to discover what rituals a modern-day success keeps. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show: Sleep debt [8:00] Dymaxion sleep [8:46] Polyphasic sleep [9:05] Alt-right [11:55] Benzedrine [12:58] Ritalin [18:34] The Renaissance [22:26] Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – OCD [29:10] Franklin’s 13 Virtues [32:21] How to Plan your Ideal Day by Taylor Pearson [39:48] Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule by Paul Graham [40:05] Growth Machine [40:10] On-demand economy [44:58] 1099 economy [44:58] Peterson’s guide to essay writing [51:44] Mnemonics [57:10] Keto-adaptation [59:50] Hormetic stress [1:07:55] Night Owl Mutation [1:12:36] Gilgamesh Platform [1:20:50] Books mentioned: Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb [12:28] (Nat’s Notes) (book episode) Come Again? by Nat Eliason [19:26] Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson [32:21] The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss [34:36] Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb [34:47] Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller [48:42] The War of Art - Steven Pressfield [50:44] The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath [1:02:18] Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway [1:07:55] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand [1:10:50] Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand [1:11:10] People mentioned: Francis Bacon [2:30] Nassim Nicholas Taleb [3:54] (Antifragile episode) Tim Ferriss [5:00] Jocko [5:08] Buckminster Fuller [8:46] Steve Pavlina [10:00] V. S. Pritchett [11:30] W. H. Auden [12:58] Immanuel Kant [13:58] Michel Foucault [13:58] Ryan Holiday [14:44] Beethoven [29:16] Nikola Tesla [29:34] Tom Cruise [30:37] Benjamin Franklin [32:32] Charles Darwin [36:30] (on this podcast) Henry Miller [48:42] William Faulkner [50:27] Ann Beattie [50:58] Haruki Murakami [52:37] Scott Britain [53:11] Ramit Sethi [53:11] Jonathan Edwards [57:10] Sylvia Plath [1:02:12] Woody Allen [1:02:37] Jean Paul Sartre [1:03:00] David Lynch [1:06:20] Paul Erdős [1:10:25] Ayn Rand [1:10:50] Show Topics 00:50 – Book covers daily rituals of a bunch of people, not just artists. Broad interpretation of artists, anyone who does creative or critical thinking work. 01:24 – There’s a surprising amount of drug-use in this book, lots of alcohol, and not sleeping. On the one hand this seemed undisciplined, but on the other these people did have very regular schedules. There was discipline to keep these activities in a well-worn groove. 01:53 – A hangover can make it easier to write – your brain can be more focused. In some ways it’s like the opposite of being caffeinated. 03:10 – The book has an interesting layout, there’s no attempt at narrative, each chapter is about a new person’s routine. 03:54 – Taleb keeps no routine, he doesn’t even use a calendar. 04:00 – Small gripe with books like this as these are idealized and narrativized versions of these rituals. None of them get drunk and yell at people on Twitter. Wouldn’t be surprised if they’re only true 20-50% of the time. 04:55 – Problem with a lot of the lifestyle guru type people. They don’t do all of that stuff everyday. Except Jocko, he’s never overslept in the last 15 years. His morning routine seems to be the same wherever he is. 06:02 – Maintaining a normal schedule when you travel across time zones helps you adapt way faster. The minute you go back to your hotel you’ll crash, it’s game over! Jet lag is a strange tiredness, especially if you drink coffee, like you’re wired and drunk at the same time. 08:00 – Questioning whether you can save up a store of sleep for a rainy day. Apparently you can’t front load it, but when you get into debt you need to pay it back! 08:46 – Types of polyphasic sleep. Buckminster Fuller developed dymaxion sleep, he did it for two years and he’s the only one who’s ever been able to do it. 5-10% of the population legitimately need less sleep. Everyone else thinks they’re in that group but they’re not. 09:05 – When they tried one study on polyphasic sleep the subject just crashed and they could not wake him up. 11:43 – Is it quote or quotation? Don’t want to anger the grammar people! 11:55 – Download all of our episodes to find out whether one of our team is part of the alt-right. 12:58 – Auden was popping Benzedrine all the time. He regarded it as a “labor saving device,” a daily multivitamin. In the mental kitchen alongside alcohol, coffee and tobacco. 13:40 – Were these people great producers because of these habits or despite them? Question of whether the live-fast, die-young lifestyle enhances genius. 16:22 – Personal experiences and use of some drugs. Coffee for work and productivity, micro-dosing LSD for the same. Marijuana for an after wine session. Fear of getting hooked with tobacco vs alcohol. 18:34 – Ritalin/Aterol for effortless full-speed ahead concentration. 20:12 – Doctors overprescribe Aterol – 90% of people taking it don’t need it. It’s very hard to quit, people get frustrated at never hitting the same level of quality. In some ways similar to steroids. 22:26 – The Renaissance happened when people stopped drinking beer all day and switched to coffee. 22:36 – Drinking habits around the world. Beer used to be brewed as water wasn’t safe to drink. They would steep the same grains up to four times. In Asia they would drink tea all day, which is probably why they were historically more productive than Europe. 24:55 – In sushi bars in Tokyo they have a tap of green tea. In Germany they give you beer, Americans drink water and now they’re more productive because they’re hydrated. 25:53 – Tangent – Most people who are in America now, their ancestors were the risk-takers. The people who took the initiative to leave behind everything they knew. So culturally this is ingrained. 26:59 – People used booked calls to let family on the other side of the world know they were alive before Skype. 27:40 – The history of pokes on Facebook – they would let a non-friend see your profile for a few days without actually becoming your friend. 29:10 – A significant number of people featured in the book seemed to have OCD, they were trying to control chaos. Beethoven’s coffee had to have 60 beans a cup. Kant had an extremely orderly schedule. The clock tower in town stayed on time less passionately than Kant. 32:00 – Everyone has odd habits, especially artists who spend a lot of time in their heads. 32:21 – The general impression of Benjamin Franklin is “early to bed, early to rise” but he seemed to set his 13 virtues up as goals rather than things he’d achieved. Comparing Ben Franklin to Tim Ferriss. People disapprove of others not following their own advice to the letter. 35:53 – Controversy when one updates his opinions. 36:16 – It’s surprising how few hours people worked – the bulk of the creative work was 5-6 hours a day, max. Darwin was famous for having two 3 hour work blocks. It’s hard to do creative work for longer. But good for mental energy. 38:00 – Tangent. It’s hard to be spontaneous in New York. Phone calls are scheduled a week in advance.  Time management tips: set regular stand-ups, only book meetings at certain times. Color-code your calendar. 40:30 – Work environments are moving towards being more results orientated, moving away from people just sitting at their desks doing nothing. A relic of the production line. Schedule Tetris in large corporations. 43:26 – Hack. Schedule hour meetings for 40 minutes, or half hour meetings for 20 minutes. It forces people to condense. 44:58 – Data should make it easier for people to get paid based on productivity rather than time. For consulting jobs, it doesn’t make sense to charge based on time. Historically, time was the best way of measuring output and so this made sense. 47:43 – Education is also stuck in this time loop since it was originally influenced by factory organization. Most interesting ideas that end up leading somewhere come from play, from free time. 49:21 – After unsuccessfully trying for ten years in New York, Henry Miller had given up writing, when he finally wrote a novel in Paris it was published without editing, there’s sentences that just stop mid-way. Seeing from outside, it seems these creatives are able to follow a routine without anyone forcing them. 51:44 – Jordan Peterson says there’s no such thing as writer’s block. If you’re stuck it’s because you have run out of things to say, you need to unblock yourself. 53:10 – Sleep and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends, may make you feel much more energized. Sleeping in on the weekend it’s almost like changing time zones every five days. 56:41 – Giveaways are coming, sign up for the email list. 57:03 – To remember to do important things pin a piece of paper on a different piece of your clothing, a form of mnemonics. 58:15 – When you first wake up, that’s a different person. You have to find ways of tricking him into not hitting snooze. Routines and replacement can help you get past undesirable behavior. 59:04 – Sponsor time. Mushroom elixir from Four Sigmatic and bone broth from Kettle & Fire along with Perfecto Keto collagen. Use them to replace alcohol in the evening! 1:01:38 – Despite living in climate controlled environments, we still feel like it’s cold outside when it’s winter, even though it’s the same temperature where we are. 1:03:30 – Some people’s capacity for alcohol is so far beyond the average. If you’re regimented and disciplined you could physically drink a bottle of spirits a day. 1:07:15 – Sugar is like a mild form of cocaine. It’s a stimulant followed by a crash. Hormetic stressors are only “natural”. 1:09:20 – Psycho-active drugs don’t make your brain do things it can’t do, they mimic neural pathways. Maybe adaptation is down-regulating the amount of neurochemicals being released in response to the trigger. If you know, write in! 1:11:36 – Morning Working vs Night-time working theme. More of the creators were geared towards mornings but it wasn’t across the board. Evolutionarily, it doesn’t make sense for humans to want to work at night. 1:14:20 – Waking up hack. Trick yourself into getting up by telling yourself you can go back to bed in 30 minutes if you’re still tired. 1:14:45 – Wrap-up and sponsor time. Perfecto Keto is perfect for all your ketogenic diet needs. Exogenous coffee-flavored ketones. Their matcha MCT oil powder is highly recommended for focusing. You can use the MCT oil with a Four Sigmatic mushroom coffee or your hot chocolate, all 15% OFF through our sponsored link or use the coupon code mentioned. Kettle & Fire will give you 20% OFF on their delicious bone broths –beef recommended for cooking, and chicken for a good, hot wintery drink– and free shipping! Listen to know how to get a mushroom-flavored bone broth. And you can always support us by going through our Amazon sponsored link and checking out our Support page. 1:20:50 – The new Gilgamesh cryptocurrency is building a social network built on knowledge sharing. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com