The Metagame

This is probably the most inspiring conversation I’ve had all year.Fen de Villiers turns blocks of stone into powerful art. Just look at this. He willed it out of stone. With. His. Hands.Fen studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. He’s on a mission to reinvigorate sculpture to its most vital and energetic form. Maybe you’ll be reinvigorated too.Topics include:* How do you even become a fine art sculptor?* What makes art energizing? Why is most contemporary art the opposite?* Cultural vitality and it’s relationship to physical vitality* Modernism, art deco, futurism and vorticism* How western culture forgot how to celebrate life (and became a death cult)* Why now is the best time to create a new artistic movement* The revolutionary act of simply making things* How Fen has been shunned by the current art scene* Why Duchamp’s Urinal was legitimate art at the time (but wouldn’t be today)* How Fen stays motivated to wake up every day and make thingsResources:* Fen’s Manifesto for Aesthetic Invigoration This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Daniel Görtz, a prominent political philosopher and sociologist of the Nordic school of metamodernism, dives into his intriguing new book, exploring 12 transformative rules for life. He discusses the art of sublime mediocrity and the importance of playfulness in personal growth. Görtz critiques popular ideas around success while advocating for the practice of Rogerian listening to navigate conflicts. He also emphasizes learning from secular interpretations of Jesus' teachings and highlights why enhancing our emotional states can lead to greater fulfillment.

A personal hero. David Allen needs no introduction.He’s the undisputed father of modern productivity. He literally created the category with his world-renowned book Getting Things Done: The art of Stress-Free Productivity. This method has already influenced your world by shaping Silicon Valley’s design ethos and products. GTD is also used by Jeff Beszos, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Stern, Robert Downey Jr and others.Topics include:* What David Allen learned from coaching the world’s top performers.* Why you’re probably addicted to ambient anxiety.* A smooth introduction to the 5 steps of GTD.* How Daniel re-discovered GTD when taking 6.4g of psychedelic mushrooms.* Why it’s so important to incorporate input from your subconscious mind.* Why GTD is not actually about getting things done…* How to apply GTD to teams (and David’s upcoming book on the topic).* How David get’s back to GTD when he’s “fallen off.”* The relationship between GTD and mindfulness meditation.* How productivity relates to embodied intuition.* David Allen’s life purpose.Resources:* Want to master GTD? Book a call with Daniel here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Rebecca Fox is a ritualist and artist. She re-enchants modern people through embodied psycho-spiritual practices that level up their lives. She also used to be a literal witch. Then she studied Critical Thinking™️ and dabbled in Atheism. Now she’s something else entirely... Perhaps a shaman for the modern age.Topics include:* What happens when an Atheist takes Ayahuasca?* Rebecca’s journey from Wiccan to Skeptic to Radical Agnostic.* Why radical agnosticism is the best foundation for personal transformation.* What even is a “liminal space?”* What is a ritual? Why are they needed?* Unlocking your creativity be encountering the divine (without beliefs).* More practices for building your will.* Dreams! What to do with them.* Daniel does a somewhat embarrassing live ritual (YouTube version only).Resources:* Book a ritual consultation with Rebecca* A Ritual to Banish Demons (the one we did live) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Sebastian Marshall brings the mentality of an athlete to knowledge work.He’s a cutting edge productivity expert and the CEO of Ultraworking — a company obsessed with making the nature of work better.Topics include:* Why you probably need “weird” practices to live the life you want.* The power of tracking everything you do with your time (and how to do it).* More evidence that everyone needs a gang.* Why religion might be the biggest productivity hack.* Death and its clarifying effects on your to do list.* Sebastian’s near death experiences and how they changed his life.* Why consciously designing your environment is mandatory in modernity.* How to improve the yield of philosophy.Resources:* ultraworking.com* On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History - Thomas Carlyle* Daniel’s favourite Ultraworking tool for tracking practices This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Zak Stein. Is a writer, educator and futurist. He’s working to bring a greater sense of sanity and justice to education.He has a background in philosophy, educational neuroscience, human development, and the philosophy of education. While a student at Harvard, he co-founded what would become Lectica, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the research-based, justice-oriented reform of large-scale standardized testing in K-12, higher-education, and business.Topics include:* Why the current moment demands a new kind of civilization.* Why love is an ontological truth and not just random chemicals firing in your brain.* What even is metaphysics? How is it directly related to your daily, personal life?* Why Nick Land, Sam Harris and Yuval Noah Harari are deeply confused.* “Would you teach this to your child?” as a litmus test for true beliefs.* Eros and vitality.* The missing piece of the prisoner’s dilemma.* The major advantage angels always have over demons.Resources:* Love In A Time Between Worlds: On the Metamodern “Return” to a Metaphysics of ErosListen on Spotify or Apple. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Listen on Spotify or Apple.A blistering white-pill of a conversation.Uberboyo is an Irish storyteller and YouTuber who’s “finishing what Nietzsche started.” He’s also a highly practical Jungian who’s operationalized the most actionable insights from Carl’s works on individuation. Topics include:* “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” - Thucydides* Practical steps for Jungian individuation.* Building your life around your fears to get unlimited motivation.* A Nietzschean understanding of Andrew Tate and why he’s the most infamous man of 2022.* The burgeoning warrior class of biohacking artists that will reclaim Western culture.* Exhilarating white-pills on the future of humanity.Resources:* Uberboyo’s YouTube Channel This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Listen on Spotify or Apple.Cadell Last is a mensch. An extra-academic PhD philosopher with the mentality of an athlete. He takes embodied integrity seriously and teaches in a disarmingly practical, personal manner. He’ll rarely share a philosophical idea without describing how it personally changed his life.He also has a formal background in anthropology, history and psychoanalysis. He’s on a deep spiritual and analytical inquiry, which includes psychoanalysis, men’s work, circling, and the realization of how sexual energy informs knowing. Topics include:* Why “the personal is universal” and also the best way to learn philosophy.* Why you should never trust a thought you have indoors.* How sexual energy informs knowing.* What Nietzsche meant by The Last Man, why he’s arrived and why you now must take cold showers.* What it means to be an Overman/Übermensch.* Psychoanalytic descriptions of masculinity and femininity. * The Phallus. Wat means? Why is modernity a challenge to phallic energy?* Why the most important thing anyone can do is come to terms with their own death. Right now.* The deep, psychoanalytic similarities between Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson.Resources:* Philosophy Portal. ← Cadell’s online school.* Cadell’s YouTube channel. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Pure magic. This conversation completely re-enchanted my life.Bonnitta Roy is an organizational futurist, meta-modern philosopher and horse whisperer. She teaches insight practices for individuals who are developing meta-cognitive skills. She also served as the President of the National Qigong Association and has lived with horses for the last 30 years.Her teachings highlight the embodied, affective and perceptual aspects of the core self, and the non-egoic potentials from which subtle sensing, intuition and insight emerge.Topics include:* Why the meaning crisis is actually the disembodiment crisis.* The major blindspot common to western philosophy, Buddhism and new-age spirituality.* The spatial metaphors that hold us back from seeing reality for what it is.* Why Nietzsche was right about the body and the “dead-end” of western philosophy.* Why you don’t need to worry about free will.* How thought is actually the animation of the body.* A simple, hopeful solution to the metacrisis.* B’s experience with Qigong and communicating with horses.* How horses can “read your mind.”* The REAL reason why Nietzsche had psychotic break and hugged a horse.Resources* Bonnitta’s Substack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themetagame.substack.com

Daniel Thorson, a dedicated monastic practitioner at The Monastic Academy in Vermont and host of The Emerge Podcast, discusses the art of going all-in with life. He highlights the importance of confronting death to deepen personal commitment. Thorson introduces the MAPLE practice model, emphasizing wisdom and love, and warns against equanimity-induced apathy. He offers practical tips for transforming friendships and stresses the need for vibrant wisdom institutions. The conversation touches on masculinity, hierarchy, and the necessity of candid feedback in personal growth.