Made You Think

“The greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be a far greater threat on a global scale than warming, or the increase of chemical elements in the environment.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're diving into The Body Electric by Robert O. Becker, a fascinating read on how electricity flows through the body and the ways it might influence healing, health, and even consciousness. Becker, a pioneer in bioelectricity, lays out connections between injury recovery, electromagnetic fields, and the body's natural currents. We cover a wide range of topics including: The link between magnetic storms and spikes in psychiatric admissions How the body's healing process relies on electric signals Diet, metabolism, and avoiding the “swamp” Modern concerns about EMF exposure from wifi, Bluetooth, and power lines The crossover between bioelectricity and mitochondrial theory And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Anabology (19:53) Experimental Fat Loss (23:41) Randle Cycle (26:26) Faraday Labz (35:56) Husk (52:34) Gauntlet AI (55:12) Books Mentioned: The Body Electric Elegant Complexity (1:55) Infinite Jest (1:37) (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) The Count of Monte Cristo (2:30) One Hundred Years of Solitude (3:31) East of Eden (3:48) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Healing Back Pain (12:54) Musashi (52:09) The Metamorphisis of Prime Intellect (57:32) People Mentioned: Ray Peat (15:26) Noah Ryan (22:30) Show Topics: (0:00) We're back! Nat, Neil, and Adil catch up and share some recent long reads that delivered a good payoff. (4:11) Today's discussion is on The Body Electric by Robert O. Becker, a deep dive into the body's electrical systems and what they mean for healing, health, and human potential. (8:59) Psychiatric admissions spike after magnetic storms... why is that? And how injuries can disrupt your body's electrical current, slowing down the healing process. (15:05) We explore the overlap between Becker's ideas and theories on mitochondrial efficiency, including connections to Ray Peat's metabolic philosophies. (20:57) Energy flow, metabolism, and how different diets affect the body's ability to generate and use energy. (25:25) Why you should avoid the “swamp”. With all the conflicting diet advice out there, how do we know what to eat? (28:50) Mitochondria and the electrical nature of cells. While Becker doesn't directly mention mitochondria, modern science connects the dots. (33:05) Neil shares his findings from using an EMF meter around the house. We talk about everyday EMF exposure and what to avoid. (37:49) What does Deep Research have to say about some of the claims in the book? (43:37) Living near high-voltage power lines, earbuds, and lifestyle changes we've made (or not made) since reading the book.  (48:55) Bluetooth vs. wifi: Is one worse than the other in terms of EMF exposure? (52:07) Nat, Neil, and Adil wrap up the episode with chats about what book is next on the podcast. Thanks for listening to this episode! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“In that instant they felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. Though they had failed dismally even to come close to the expedition's original objective, they knew now that somehow they had done much, much more than ever they set out to do.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! If you love exploration books as much as we do, you'll definitely enjoy this episode. Today, we're talking about Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. Join us as we explore Shackleton's legendary expedition, where a crew of 28 men faced nearly two years of extreme conditions after their ship became trapped in ice. We cover a wide range of topics including: How Shackleton's leadership prevented descent into madness Physical vs. mental challenges in extreme survival situations Were previous generations tougher than we are today? Antarctic exploration's parallels to modern space missions The life-or-death decisions in the final rescue attempt And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Equip (1:35) TrueMed (1:39) Gusto (3:15) CrowdHealth (4:16) Ross Sea Party (9:31) SpaceX 'Chopsticks' (14:20) Kerbal Space Program (15:57) Oppenheimer (22:55) Apollo 13 (40:06) The Martian (40:35) Endurance Documentary (43:50) Free Solo (44:34) JD Vance on Joe Rogan (1:14:04) Justin Mares - The Next (1:20:19) Anthony Gustin - The Feed (1:20:43) News article on Epic (1:21:43) Books Mentioned: Colony One Mars (19:21) The Fourth Turning (28:08) (Book Episode)  Dune (33:57) Musashi (34:11) East of Eden (34:12) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Lord of the Rings (35:29) The River of Doubt (48:10) (Book Episode) Hatchet (1:02:36) The Lost Men (1:04:17) Where Is My Flying Car? (1:08:07) (Book Episode) Energy and Civilization (1:10:00) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) How the World Really Works (1:10:03) (Book Episode) The Prize (1:10:44) Oil 101 (1:11:31) The Brothers K (1:12:00) Power to Save the World (1:12:19) How to Drive a Nuclear Reactor (1:12:29) Crypto Confidential (1:29:43) People Mentioned: Ernest Shackleton Alfred Lansing (10:47) Amundsen and Scott (12:19) Alfred Cheetham (19:58) Jimmy Chin (44:20)  Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (44:24) Show Topics: (0:00) After an unintended hiatus, we're back! We begin the episode with a tangent on our favorite blender, health insurance plans, and protein powder. (5:44) We begin our discussion of Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Nat shares a unique perspective, having read the book during his own trip to Antarctica. (09:15) The timeline of Shackleton's expedition spanned from August 1914 to September 1916, marking nearly two years of survival against impossible odds. Later on, Shackleton would help rescue another stranded crew in January 1917. (11:16) Endurance draws from the crew's journal entries, a common practice during the age of exploration when survival wasn't guaranteed. We discuss how these historical records parallel potential Mars missions in the future. (13:46) We explore current Mars exploration initiatives across the globe. China aims for a sample return mission by 2030, SpaceX targets 2028 for their missions, and India continues to advance their rover program. (18:01) The core of Shackleton's story unfolds: an attempted Antarctic crossing, leading to a two-year fight for survival. Despite the world presuming them dead, every crew member survived, with many later serving in World War I, highlighting their extraordinary resilience. (22:11) "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success." Shackleton's legendary recruitment advertisement exemplified his unique approach to crew selection. Nat, Neil, and Adil also discuss whether the people of previous generations were tougher than we are today.  (30:30) Shifting the conversation to growing up in the pre-Internet era. We reminisce about outdoor adventures, early video games, and how different forms of entertainment shaped our imaginations compared to today. (35:54) The physical hardships endured by the crew were severe, with frostbite being a constant threat. Shackleton's leadership proved crucial, maintaining strict schedules and discipline to prevent the crew from succumbing to despair during their long wait trapped in ice. (39:26) We draw parallels between Shackleton's earlier failures and the Apollo 13 mission.  (42:41) The type of ship they chose for the journey actually had a huge impact on the outcome. Its specific shape made it vulnerable to being trapped within the large blocks of ice. (46:31) National parks and the preservation of nature. There are very few places left in the country where there is no light pollution at all. (49:43) After a year on the ship and another camping on ice, they modified their lifeboats for a perilous journey to Elephant Island. Shackleton's team then faced the task of scaling mountains without proper gear and navigating treacherous waters. (55:12) Nat, Neil, and Adil debate whether the physical or mental challenges were the most difficult to overcome in this expedition. Would you rather have been on the boat with Shackleton, or waiting for the boat to return for rescue?  (1:01:32) The book itself has an interesting publishing history. Though it achieved only modest sales during Lansing's lifetime, it found massive success about a decade after his death. (1:07:49) We reflect on a few other books we've read on energy. If you have any recommendations, send them our way!  (1:13:07) A discussion about current political leadership's understanding of technology and its implications for policy decisions. (1:20:55) The 'Make American Healthy Again' efforts, healthcare system incentives, and potential future programs in the U.S. What is to come under the new administration? (1:24:59) It wouldn't be an episode of MYT without a little crypto and meme coin talk! (1:34:58) That concludes this episode! If you're interested in reading Endurance, you can grab a copy of the book here. Next up on the podcast, we will be reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. Make sure to stay tuned to our website to see what's next and leave us a book rec! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The amount of human attention in the world is finite. We have 24 hours in the day, some of which we need to spend paying attention to eating, sleeping and meeting our other needs. The attention during the remaining hours of most people in the world is taken up by having to earn an income and by consuming goods and services, leaving relatively little time for attention to be freely allocated. A hard limit on available attention also exists for humanity as a whole—as I argued earlier, we are headed for peak population, at which point we will no longer be increasing the total amount of potentially available attention by adding more people.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering The World After Capital by Albert Wenger. We'll explore the transition from the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Age, the new scarcity of attention, and the potential for widespread societal change. Join us in this futuristic discussion as we ponder how digital technologies are reshaping our world and the future of human civilization. We cover a wide range of topics including: The shift from capital to attention as a scarce resource How we're heading into a future that's non-linear Why "everyone needs to" is not a practical solution The role AI may play in replacing jobs and technological adaptation Do we agree with the author's proposed solutions? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Duolingo (4:47) The New York Times (5:25) Codementor (29:47) Cursor (29:55) Starlink (44:43) WWDC24 (45:06) Outside the System (53:15) Tucker Carlson and Bukele (53:25) Zeekr 001 (1:01:12) Outside the System: Crypto Confidential episode (1:05:56) DeepMind (1:08:25) Inflection AI (1:09:13) Books Mentioned: The World After Capital (Adil's Book Notes) Homo Deus (0:14) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) (Adil's Book Notes) Novacene (0:21) (Book Episode) The Beginning of Infinity (0:29) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The War on Normal People (0:35) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Into the Amazon (7:52) (Book Episode) The Coming Wave (1:08:04) People Mentioned: Albert Wenger Yuval Noah Harari (0:13) Andrew Yang (0:35) (Book Episode) George R. R. Martin (18:00) John Gray (44:25) Francisco Franco (58:21) Mustafa Suleyman(1:08:25) Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we're diving into The World After Capital by Albert Wenger. We kick off the episode by reflecting on previous episodes and reads we've had with books that debates what is coming after the current industrial era. What's next for human civilization?  (3:57) One of the book's strengths is its historical framing. While Wenger presents the situation well, his solutions and theories about the future were hard to fully agree with.  (8:34) Nat, Neil, and Adil explain how Wenger sets up the big picture. He argues that we're on the cusp of a major historical shift where we can no longer predict the next step due to fundamental changes. In each era, a scarcity drives human behavior. Today, Wenger contends that the finite resource is attention.  (10:55) Have we shifted the problem from capital to attention by untethering currency from a hard asset? Leading companies like Microsoft and Google are powerful not because of their capital but because they control our attention.  (14:57) Attention vs. time. Wenger refers to the "job loop" where time is exchanged for money. With the internet, you can create things with no marginal cost, selling without a major time investment. (16:42) Aside from attention, what other contenders do we have as the next scarce resource? (19:21) The book's purpose is not just to observe shifting scarcity but to highlight how each shift has led to widespread violence. Wenger aims to minimize or avoid this violence. Has the violence already started, and how might it differ this time around?  (24:52) How new inventions often replace old methods, and people adapt. AI could be the first technology in our lifetime to put many people out of work. Should we be worried? While we're used to working with people in complex organizations, AI's impact may take time to fully manifest, much like the gradual replacement of horses by cars. (32:01) Why learning how to work with AI tools can give you a future advantage.  (33:49) The world population faces fertility problems and declining birth rates. If population decline is gradual, it's manageable. But how will it play out?  (38:01) Nat, Neil, and Adil point out one major disagreement they have with the author's idea of how to find meaning in your life. (40:30) The first of Wenger's proposed solutions is mindfulness and meditation. (42:19) Wenger emphasizes information freedom with internet access for all, which is a good start. Decentralizing access ensures it can't be stopped or taken away. We also touch on the topic of universal basic income (UBI), (45:42) Do we just need to "get over" our right to privacy and scarcity thinking? We explain our disagreements with Wenger and how privacy may be incompatible with technological progress. (55:03) Transforming a place from dangerous to moderately safe is no easy feat. We examine El Salvador's turnaround under Bukele.  (1:00:17) Discussing the significant changes over the span of 20 years. We also talk about cars made in China, noting how the perception of "Made in China" has evolved from being seen as cheap to being recognized for quality. (1:03:15) If a solution requires "everyone needs to," it's likely not a practical solution. Effective solutions must work with current incentives and human behavior. We discuss the importance of having a fluid career identity and finding deeper meaning in life beyond a job. (1:07:32) That concludes this episode! Have you read The World After Capital? Let us know your thoughts! Next up, we will be reading Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Grab a copy of the book here, check out our website, and give us a follow on Instagram to stay in the loop on what's happening on the Made You Think podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“I could hardly form the words. My mouth wasn't working. My heart hammered in my ears and pins and needles burned my hands and feet. I squeezed my fists as hard as I could to get them to stop hurting as I stumbled into my office and fumbled through my laptop password, pulling up the message that had thrown me out of bed:  “Nat, someone found a way to hack us. It sounds bad. All of our funds might be at risk.” This was the absolute worst-case scenario. The one I'd pushed to the back of my mind. The one I pretended was impossible so I could sleep at night. I'd always accepted the risk that I could lose all of my money. But if I lost a hundred million dollars of other people's money…” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today's episode is extra special as we talk all things Crypto Confidential, a brand-new book by our very own co-host, Nathaniel Eliason. Join us as Nat shares the behind-the-scenes journey of writing and launching his book. Whether you're a seasoned crypto enthusiast or just curious, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of crypto through Nat's insightful storytelling.  We cover a wide range of topics including: Nat's journey of writing Crypto Confidential Differences in promoting fiction vs. nonfiction How Nat learned from other successful book marketers Challenges of book promotion and strategy The creative process behind book cover design And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Crypto Confidential early release in Toronto (1:56)  Brandon Sanderson signing 5,000 copies in 3 hours (8:37) Brandon Sanderson advice and lectures (8:56) 10 Things I Learned Losing 10 Million Dollars (18:30) Olympus (50:55) Outside the System: Crypto Confidential with Nat Eliason (58:55) Books Mentioned: Crypto Confidential The Founders (22:24) Zero to One (23:23) (Nat's Book Notes) Red Rising (25:08) Atomic Habits (26:49) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (28:33) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The 4-Hour Body (36:11) The 4-Hour Workweek (36:26) (Nat's Book Notes) Trust Me, I'm Lying (38:48) The Obstacle Is the Way (40:40) Ego is the Enemy (41:00) (Nat's Book Notes) Deep Work (41:40) (Nat's Book Notes) Elantris (42:32) Endurance (43:58) Empire of the Summer Moon (44:09) Kitchen Confidential (59:00) People Mentioned: Brandon Sanderson (8:37) Jimmy Soni (22:21) Peter Thiel (23:43)  James Clear (26:50) Eric Jorgensen (32:04) Paul Millerd (32:17) Tim Ferriss (36:03) Ryan Holiday (38:32) Cal Newport (41:39) Cormac McCarthy (43:47) Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we delve into Nat's upcoming book, Crypto Confidential, set to release on July 9th. Get your copy here! Nat discusses the book, the preparations for its launch, and the surprise of finding an early-released copy in a Toronto bookstore. (4:01) We explore the process of how bookstores order books, what it takes to keep them on the shelves, and the criteria for returning unsold copies. (7:40) Signed copies of books, and how authors get creative in distributing their signature across a wide number of publishings.  (12:52) Nat shares how he balanced promoting Crypto Confidential to his existing audience while also attracting new readers. He reveals his strategy of getting pre-ordered copies into readers' hands early to generate online testimonials by the release date, despite disagreement from his publishers. (19:38) We talk about how the promotion strategy may change after the book release. At what point do you take your foot off the gas? (24:16) The effectiveness of word-of-mouth marketing and why it's such a powerful strategy. We compare the promotion of fiction and nonfiction books, noting that fiction is often less promoted by authors and more by publishers. How does promotional work differ between these genres? (27:33) Nat talks a bit about his upcoming science-fiction book, HUSK, and how he would change his promotion strategy the next time around. (31:10) How can authors maintain momentum and sustain genuine interest in the book? The difference between organic enthusiasm surrounding the book vs. prompted posts. (36:00) Insights from successful book marketers and the strategies that contributed to their success. Spoiler: It's NOT about bombarding your email list. (38:29) The importance of incorporating valuable content into your books. Regardless of the niche, avoid creating “popcorn” books that lack substance. (43:44) Being committed for the long haul as an author, and how it can often take years and multiple books to see your success. (45:50) We dive deeper into the book and explore Nat's motivation behind writing it. Plus, Nat emphasizes the importance of portraying both the lows and highs to engage readers emotionally throughout the narrative. (50:31) What was something that Nat had to cut from the final version of the book? He shares more about his experience with Olympus and how easy it is for people to get carried away while trading.  (55:06) The story of Crypto Confidential began in early 2021 as Nat started to get more into crypto. He eventually found his writing sweet spot by focusing more on narration and less on detailed explanations, with the intermediary chapters providing essential, but non-critical, background information. (1:01:08) The cover of Crypto Confidential. What guidance was given in order to come up with the final cover of the book? (1:04:42) Nathaniel Eliason vs. Nat Eliason  (1:07:17) That wraps up this episode! If you'd like to order a copy of Crypto Confidential, you can do so here! Make sure to leave a review and let us know your thoughts on the new book. This is a great read for anyone regardless of if you're into the crypto world or not. Stay tuned for our next episode covering Endurance by Alfred Lansing. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“If the war was to be over by Christmas, as many believed, or at the latest by Easter 1915, tens of thousands of soldiers might be killed or wounded before the guns fell silent. Every army believed that it could crush its opponents within a few months.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Join us as we dive into The First World War by Martin Gilbert. We'll explore the intricate details of WW1, from the seemingly pointless triggers to the significant aftermath that reshaped the world. We'll also touch on intriguing historical anecdotes, like Germany's return in WW2, and the far-reaching consequences of redrawing borders. History lovers, buckle up for this one! We cover a wide range of topics including: Technological advancements from cavalry to tanks and planes How WW1 redrew the map and ended empires The concept of 'war guilt' and its impact America's pivotal role and the intercepted telegram The seemingly unnecessary triggers of the first World War And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: The Great War on Youtube (2:32) Schlieffen Plan (10:57) French Foreign legion (16:48) Empires before WW1 (34:42) Zimmerman Telegram (41:21) Marshall Plan (1:13:34) They Shall Not Grow Old (1:26:26) Books Mentioned: The First World War The Second World War (3:13) Shadow Divers (43:46) The Power of Geography (1:24:57) Blueprint for Armageddon (1:38:21) The Brothers K (1:39:40) Musashi (1:39:47) People Mentioned: Martin Gilbert Ho Chi Minh (3:59) David Lloyd George (24:47) John J. Pershing (41:03) Dan Carlin (1:37:32) Ernest Shackleton (1:38:47) Show Topics: (0:00) Today, we're covering The First World War by Martin Gilbert. While the book offers a detailed play-by-play of WW1, it wasn't the most enjoyable read. However, we gained significant insights into the war. (4:53) The war's triggers and conflicts felt somewhat pointless. Despite this, WW1 felt more significant than WW2 as it redrew maps and ended four empires. Unlike WW2's clear-cut good vs. evil narrative, WW1 began with cavalry and ended with advanced technology like planes, tanks, gas, and submarines. (8:02) Numerous underlying tensions grew and eventually exploded in unpredictable ways. One of the triggers was Germany's insecurity about its geographical position. We delve into the circumstances that led to the start of the war. (11:10) A major theme was the widespread belief that the war would end quickly, without long-term consequences. We discuss what wars were like before WW1, typically regional with smaller armies and less impact on civilian populations. (13:57) What was the aftermath of the war like? You might belong to a different town or region, but it may not have affected your daily life much. (18:00) Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about the multiple empires that collapsed during this time.  (20:10) War guilt was a new concept, unlike previous wars where the winning side simply negotiated their gains. The sheer number of deaths and the devastation of this war was shocking.  (25:35) How did the Ottoman Empire get involved and what was their involvement in the war? (27:05) The Germans came back much stronger in WWII, despite being devastated in WWI. They put up a bigger fight just 20 years later. It leads us to wonder, from where did they find the resources? (31:38) How the war marked a complete era shift. Would communism have had as much impact in the 20th century without WWI? Would the Soviet Union have emerged? (34:42) We take a look at a map of empires before WW1 and how the territories looked before then, which leads into our first tangent of this episode! (37:52) Though Mexico wasn't involved in the war, Germany sent them a telegram promising several U.S. states in exchange for support. The British intercepted this message and informed the U.S. (40:34) America's entry into the war truly tipped the scales and accelerated the conflict. They joined gradually, but their involvement turned the tide. We discuss the telegram that prompted America's entry into WWI. (43:58) We were surprised by the advanced use of submarines in WWI. It's fascinating to consider how much the world has changed, especially thinking about the Ottoman Empire, which lasted over 600 years. (47:49) WWI was the first time oil played a significant role, and the Ottoman Empire had some of the largest oil reserves. Had they survived, they could have controlled one of the 20th century's most crucial resources. From the four dissolved empires, 40 new countries emerged. (50:12) While book wasn't the most entertaining and it felt repetitive, its importance lies in how it made people rethink the norms and rules of engagement. If a major war broke out next year, for example, there would likely be a similar period of figuring out new ground rules. (57:15) The Russian Revolution. Two generations of European leaders were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. With two major world wars only 20 years apart, the loss of life was staggering. (1:02:11) In the last 6 months of the war, everyone believed they were losing. The Germans were preparing to surrender, and the British doubted they would make it. After the war, the US never ratified the Treaty of Versailles and chose not to get involved in the aftermath. (1:06:31) The redrawing of borders after the war marked the end of colonialism, profoundly impacting various parts of the world. Much of the end of colonialism stemmed from the end of WW1 and the dissolution of empires. The poorly executed division of territories led to cascading conflicts in the aftermath. (1:11:25) The Hapsburg empire isn't extensively covered in the book, yet it was a very old empire, with its dynasty dating back to the 11th century. The exact beginnings are unclear since it follows a family rather than a defined state, making the timeline a bit blurry. (1:13:34) We talk about the Marshall Plan. Would the Marshall Plan be effective in a kingdom-era setup? Plus, we talk about the idea of 'collective insanity' and how it can be seen as a form of self-governance, where a group loses its rationality as opposed to just an individual. (1:20:25) There were many overarching themes of the book and the war as a whole: From the end of the old European system to the transition from kingdoms to states. (1:24:01) Geographical positioning and how that plays a huge impact where you sit on the map. Much of the war is a downstream of geography. Some European countries were at a disadvantage based off of where they are on the map.  (1:30:25) How lives changed drastically because of the war. One day you're working your normal job and the next you're on the front lines of the war. (1:35:59) Neil and Adil give their final thoughts on the book, Gilbert's writing style, and what they took away from reading the book.  (1:38:47) That wraps up this episode! Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll be reading Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book and head on over to our website to see what's next. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or of joy. The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present. Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we explore the concept of time through the lens of one of the most imaginative books of our time, Einstein's Dreams. The novel portrays Albert Einstein as a young scientist grappling with his dreams as he works on his theory of relativity. This episode promises to spark deep reflection, ignite your curiosity, and challenge your perception of time. We cover a wide range of topics including: The hidden costs of immortality Contemplating a world where every day is a fresh start Why it's easy to forget to appreciate the things you have How death ultimately gives our life meaning Our most obnoxious literary opinions And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Click (4:32) Books Mentioned: Einstein's Dreams Tao Te Ching (1:33) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Sovereign Individual (12:59) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fourth Turning (13:01) (Book Episode) Logicomix (22:41) (Book Episode) East of Eden (30:30) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Unbearable Lightness of Being (32:11) The First World War (34:50) The Brothers K (34:51) Musashi (34:53) Infinite Jest (37:34) (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) Atlas Shrugged (37:58) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (43:45) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Alan Lightman John Steinbeck (18:31) Werner Heisenberg (23:29) Milan Kundera (32:23) David Perell (44:29) Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we're covering Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. Adil shares his experience going through the book for the 3rd time, noting its unique approach devoid of traditional characters yet filled with intense emotional resonance across the theme of 'time'. (2:43) The stories challenge the way we think about time, with each chapter introducing a unique time variable that initially appears distinct on the surface. However, beneath the surface, these chapters resonate with aspects of our own reality. We list off a few chapters that were top of mind for us. (6:10) Death is what gives life meaning. We explore this concept by diving into one of the short stories where nobody dies. If you know that time is infinite, how would you spend that time?  (8:45) Which chapter(s) of Einstein's Dreams did we connect with the most?  (11:16) We discuss the concept of sleep training, contemplating the ideal scenario where babies would sleep according to their natural rhythms. However, balancing the baby's freedom to sleep spontaneously with the demands of a structured work and life schedule can be a struggle. (12:32) Nat, Neil, and Adil ponder the scenario if everyone were to just live one day. You wouldn't know seasons, and all you'll ever know is what the current day brings. (16:08) Connections between Einstein's Dreams and a previous read on the podcast, The Fourth Turning.  (17:51) Despite not having main characters (aside from Einstein and Besso), this book still manages to drive a lot of emotions. We admire Lightman's ability to write in a soft, empathetic way, while painting the picture for readers very effectively.  (19:59) Were these short stories from the book thoughts that Einstein may have had in real life as he worked towards his theories on time and relativity? (23:45) We touch on a story from the book where every day is truly a fresh start, and there is no knowledge of the past or future.  (26:45) Doing everything as if it's for the first time will give you excitement, but it's also meaningful to act as if you're doing something for the very last time.  (28:25) Einstein's theory of general relativity, and how at the time of this theory, it was still unknown in the world of physics that the world is constantly expanding rather than fixed. (30:27) Though it may not be the longest book, it still hits hard. Nat, Neil, and Adil share their appreciation for Einstein's Dreams being impactful despite the length. It's one of those books that can make you feel a different way each time you read it. (36:47) Shoutout to Jack for the book recommendation on Musashi! If you have any book recommendations that you'd like us to pick up for the show, you can submit them to us here.  (38:55) You can get away with a lot in books, but what about a 35,000 word speech? We talk about John Galt's mighty speech in Atlas Shrugged. So long as you give the readers a reason to finish the book and recommend it to others, you can really do what you want within the pages.  (44:17) That concludes this thought-provoking episode! Next up, we're tackling Martin Gilbert's The First World War. Make sure to give our new Instagram page a follow and shoot us a book recommendation. If you have any recs, please send them our way! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"But if science tells you that something's impossible, and it happens anyway, it means one of two things. Either the science is wrong, or it's a scam.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today, we're exploring the 3 Body Problem TV series on Netflix, inspired by Cixin Liu's acclaimed novel. Listen in as we discuss Season 1's adaptation from book to screen, analyzing character shifts, narrative changes, and the portrayal of scientific concepts. If you enjoyed The Three-Body Problem book series or consider yourself a sci-fi fanatic, this one is for you! We cover a wide range of topics including: What narrative changes and expansions were made for the TV adaptation The show's production costs compared to Game of Thrones How the creators translated the scientific aspects from the book series Our main praises and critiques of the show Book or series - is there a clear winner? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: 3 Body Problem on Netflix (0:39) Costs of 3 Body Problem (1:08) Dune (14:28) Game of Thrones (15:50) Breaking Bad (40:35) Primer (41:15) Books Mentioned: The Three-Body Problem (0:39) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Dune (14:28) The Road (28:40) Blood Meridian (28:46) No Country for Old Men (30:06) People Mentioned: Cixin Liu John Bradley (26:09) Cormac McCarthy (28:35) Martin Gilbert (30:40) Shane Carruth (42:01) Show Topics: (0:31) Welcome to our first TV show episode! Today, we're covering the TV series based on one of our previous reads, The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Go check out the episode on the book if you haven't already! We dive into our overall thoughts on Season 1 and how it measured up to the book. (4:09) *Spoiler alert!* If you haven't watched the show or read the book series, we suggest you do that first before continuing this episode. We talk a bit about the depth, or lack of depth, of the characters in the book and TV series. (6:55) Neil talks about the pivotal scene in Episode 5 that changed his mind about the show, and how the shows portrayal of something can be completely different than what you had pictured in your head. (9:38) From character shifts to the order of events, how did the show differ from the book series?  (13:48) How the creators of the show had a unique challenge of keeping the intriguing scientific elements from the book series in the show while maintaining a pace that keeps the viewers interested. (15:43) The cost per episode in 3BP was higher than the final season of Game of Thrones. Which aspects of the show and scenes may have taken up the largest pieces of the budget? (21:24) We talk about the relationships between the heroes of the books and how they're all close friends. It sets you up to think there might be a happy ending... but is there? (25:36) Nat, Neil, and Adil share their thoughts on a character addition that wasn't in the books.  (28:45) From Blood Meridian to The First World War, many books have some grotesque elements to it. It's interesting to see how authors capture the emotions and events from something that actually happened and put them into a book.  (32:55) Our thoughts on the scene where the universe blinks, and how it was shown in the movie vs. in the book.  (34:50) We list off one major criticism of the show, as well as many things that we felt the producers did a great job on. (39:03) How effective was the show in portraying scientific aspects from the book? We share our final thoughts 3BP Season 1. (42:10) That concludes this episode! Make sure to check out our episode on The Three-Body Problem and check out the Netflix series if you haven't already. We highly recommend it! Next up is Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. Pick up a copy of the book and read along with us! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"We've never had a generation more focused on its feelings and, frankly, not one more tyrannized by their feelings.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today, we're delving into Abigail Shrier's Bad Therapy, a thought-provoking book which highlights the impact of therapy on individuals, especially younger generations. Join us as we explore the nuances of therapy, its incentives, and its effects. We cover a wide range of topics including: Challenges of parenting in a therapy-centric culture Unintended consequences of therapeutic incentives The fine line between taking thoughts too seriously vs. dismissing them Why boundary-setting is crucial as a parent Implications of having an external locus of control And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Arnold (15:37) Spiritual bypassing (23:21) Washington Post on birth control (46:55) How We Feel (54:01) Coach Carter (57:47) How to Understand the Well-Being Gap between Liberals and Conservatives (1:25:31)  Books Mentioned: Bad Therapy The Body Keeps the Score (07:09) (Book Episode)  Irreversible Damage (40:44) The Fourth Turning (1:08:32) (Book Episode)  People Mentioned: Abigail Shrier Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we're covering Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier, who discusses the impact of therapy on individuals, particularly younger generations, and questions the efficacy and motives behind widespread therapeutic practices.  (1:57) We provide an overview of the book, examining the sense of loneliness and sadness prevalent in today's youth. It poses the question of whether therapy-related interventions are actually a part of the problem rather than the solution.  (5:32) How incentives in therapy can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. Shrier highlights that therapists often prefer patients with milder mental health issues, as these sessions can be more relaxed. This raises questions about the subjective nature of screening and diagnostic tools in mental health care. (10:15) The distinction between chronic and acute treatment, noting how the medical industry often favors chronic cases for their profitability. We touch on various types of therapy, noting that the results of physical therapy, for example, are much more tangible than talk therapy. (12:42) Nat, Neil, and Adil talk a bit about their personal experiences with therapy. (15:55) Why going to the gym and being physically active can improve well-being, and how it offers a sense of control and measurable progress in various aspects of life. (21:12) Shrier emphasizes the lack of agency children have in deciding to continue or end therapy. We also discuss how dwelling on problems, or forced rumination, can exacerbate issues, especially in the context of depression and anxiety. (25:19) We discuss how therapy can often lead us to give undue weight to passing thoughts, turning them into more significant concerns than they should have been. (29:33) It can be a challenge for parents to know when to seek therapy for children or teens. The author suggests exploring all alternatives before turning to therapy. We also dive into the theme of internal vs. external locus of control, where the fear of making mistakes can lead to seeking external validation. (34:25) Are doctors too quick to prescribe medications in non-serious cases? (39:51) Where is the balance between taking every thought and emotion seriously vs. dismissing them? We discuss generational differences, stoic parenting, the importance of discussing feelings with a trusted friend or partner, and the impact on children who feel unheard. (45:30) Similar to therapy and mental health, public sentiments on various topics can evolve over time. Nat, Neil, and Adil draw parallels with the changing views on vaccines, from widespread acceptance to increased skepticism post-Covid. We also touch on the topic of birth control, highlighting the lack of female perspectives in these discussions often dominated by male doctors. (53:26) Happiness, when constantly pursued, can often evade us. Instead, we explore the concept of finding contentment and balance in life, recognizing that happiness is not always the ultimate objective. (56:50) When we attribute our life circumstances solely to external factors, it can lead us to feel powerless. (1:02:37) We explore the notion of discipline and touch upon various parenting styles, including gentle parenting.  (1:06:05) Differences in the cultural dynamics of Zen X and Millennial parents. Each generation has its parenting narrative. It's about finding the balance between micromanaging and giving your child space, allowing kids to explore within set boundaries. (1:09:14) We discuss the dynamics of the nuclear family and how it affects the level of involvement from extended family members. (1:14:11) Differences in parenting style based on immigration status, and how punishment was carried out between different generations of parents.  (1:18:37) There's an internal pressure to be a flawless parent, often fueled by therapy that revisits childhood experiences. This cycle of rumination can lead to hyper-vigilance in parenting. (1:24:08) Social media's impact on how we view and express ourselves on different issues. (1:28:56) The level of risk in your humor often reflects the closeness of your relationships. However, we must be careful as words can always be misconstrued. (1:31: 37) Can empathy actually have negative consequences? Nat, Neil, and Adil share their final thoughts and takeaways from the book. (1:36:48) That wraps up this episode! If you were intrigued by today's discussion, check out Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier. Next up on the show, we'll be covering Einstein's Dreams. Also, be sure to check out our new Instagram page! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat, Neil and Adil dive into John Steinbeck's masterpiece, East of Eden. Following the lives of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, this novel ultimately reflects on the timeless struggle between darkness and light within the human soul. We cover a wide range of topics including: The timeless battle between good and evil Why having a fixed worldview can lead to hurt Parallels between East of Eden and the story of Cain and Abel A glimpse into what life was like at the start of the Great War How parents' actions impact their children's lives And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: East of Eden movie (1:02:47) East of Eden Netflix series (1:03:21) Three-Body Problem series (1:03:46) Shantaram (TV series) (1:07:21) Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (1:10:41) Books Mentioned: East of Eden (Nat's Book Notes) Flowers for Algernon (0:02) (Book Episode) Grapes of Wrath (0:59) Infinite Jest (4:23) (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (6:32) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Atlas Shrugged (7:52) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Shantaram (1:06:46) Einstein's Dreams (1:32:12) The Moon is Down (1:33:20) Lying (1:47:43) The Fountainhead (1:57:59) Bad Therapy (2:00:04) People Mentioned: John Steinbeck John Gray (1:29:34) Ayn Rand (1:58:30) Show Topics: (0:00) Today, we're diving into John Steinbeck's East of Eden, a novel that stood as a pinnacle in Steinbeck's illustrious career. We kick off the episode by exploring Steinbeck's candidness as shown in his accompanying journal. (2:57) Nat, Neil, and Adil share their experience reading the book for the second time, each finding deeper connections to its major themes and characters this time around. (6:27) We draw parallels between East of Eden and The Three-Body Problem contrasting their narrative styles. While East of Eden is emotionally impactful with rich characters, The Three-Body Problem unfolds in a flatter, more plot-driven world. Check out our episode on The Three-Body Problem if you haven't already! (9:31) Discussing Steinbeck's immersive writing style, we explore how he vividly paints the environments and characters of the book, making us feel as though they are living within its pages. (13:43) We delve into the characters of the novel, particularly Cathy, and how she shaped the narrative. Cathy doesn't always see the good, and often fails to take reponsibility for the things that happen to her.  (16:04) The book follows two main families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. There is a major parallel of "two sons" as Adam has two sons, Steinbeck has two sons, and Cain and Abel are two sons.  (21:06) It wasn't the plot that drew us into the book, but rather the characters, and how they demonstrate the lessons taught in the novel. One of those lessons is the power of choice, and how you must take responsibility for your choices.  (26:31) Listen in as we read an excerpt from Chapter 34 on the topic of good vs. evil, and how humans are caught in their lives, thoughts, ambitions. “Have I done well or ill?”  (34:07) Adam has two sons, Aron and Caleb. Though theoretically, could Caleb be Charles' son? We talk about the similarities between Charles and Caleb, and Adam and Aron.  (37:38) Examining the allegory of Cain and Abel within the novel, we discuss how Steinbeck portrays the struggle between good and evil. Steinbeck presents a compelling argument for the power of choice, demonstrating that no matter how many times you choose evil, you always have the power to choose good. It's your reponsibility to make that choice. (41:08) Nat, Neil, and Adil reflect on pivotal moments in the story, such as Cathy's final act of redemption and Caleb's sacrificial gesture for his father. (49:51) Lee's character, and how relatable he is. It's often the ones that are selflessly giving of themselves that are living the richest lives.  (53:31) There are many little instances of heartbreak throughout the book. East of Eden shows the clear impact that parents have on their kids, demonstrating that their actions have consequnces. (55:47) We talk about Adam and Charles' father, Cyrus, his interesting character, and more about the parallels in the book between the families and generations.  (1:02:46) The movie based off of East of Eden that came out in the 1950s and our thoughts on the Three-Body Problem TV series. (1:06:38) Books that turn into shows or movies can be very hit or miss. Neil gives an example of a show based on a book that didn't live up to his expectation.  (1:10:14) How much input does an author have over a movie or TV series based on their book? We talk about the Harry Potter movie series, and how the wardrobe, casting, and scenery evolved throughout the series.  (1:14:12) East of Eden serves not only as a compelling narrative, but also as a historical reflection of its time. From the impact of World War II to discussions on ice factories, Steinbeck weaves societal issues into the fabric of the story. (1:19:07) Because we polluted the land and water so much, milk pasteurization became very common. (1:22:18) Squatters rights, bankruptcy laws, and seeking asylum at the border. How does social media affect the visibility and knowledge on these topics? (1:25:37) When you have a very fixed view on what the world should look like, it opens the door for that to be shattered down the line. Steinbeck made the point that you really should be more realistic about how you see the world. (1:33:11) Steinbeck had a novel that flew under the radar around the time of WW2 where people had to distribute unauthorized copies throughout Europe. Plus, was Steinbeck an asset to the CIA during his time in Europe?  (1:36:32) It's possible that Cathy's character was based on Steinbeck's ex-wife, which adds more power and meaning behind the family dynamic in the story.  (1:39:54) Within the novel are moments of clarity, both sad and joyful. It reminds us that we all have those moments where it feels like we're waking up from something.  (1:43:05) We read an excerpt about Steinbeck's ex-wife who was the mother to his two boys. Was Cathy's character based on her, and could that be why we see so many parallels between the book and Steinbeck's life?  (1:50:53) Nat, Neil, and Adil read off some of their favorite lines from the book! Do you have any favorite Steinbeck lines? Send them to us! (1:59:58) That wraps up this episode! Next on the Made You Think Podcast, we'll be reading Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier. Also, make sure to check out our new instagram page- @madeyouthinkpodcast! Give us a follow to stay up-to-date with what's to come on the show. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"All the facts of science aren't enough to understand the world's meaning. For this, you must step outside the world." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're adventuring into the world of Logicomix, a graphic novel that takes us on a journey through the intricate life of mathematician Bertrand Russell. From the quest for precision that borders on madness to the historical events Russell was embroiled in, we'll explore the complexities of logic, philosophy, and mathematics. We cover a wide range of topics including: Why seeking precision in understanding the world can drive one mad Bertrand Russell's historical involvements and achievements The rapid progress of aviation and technology How mathematics, logic, and philosophy remain connected Discovering the lives and contributions of various mathematicians And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Prolific (1:06) Agrippan Trilemma (12:33) Münchhausen Trilemma (13:04) Kate Middleton photo (30:48) House of Lords (32:06) The Flaw in Gödel's proof (57:59) Arnold (1:03:50) Political ETFs (1:13:49) Books Mentioned: Logicomix East of Eden (0:03) (Nat's Book Notes) Of Mice and Men (0:21) The Grapes of Wrath (0:22) Watchmen (6:10) V for Vendetta (6:11) In Praise of Idleness (7:12) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (12:01) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The First World War (36:16) The Second World War (36:16) Banana King (1:00:45) Chip War (1:01:01) The Prize (1:01:23) Bad Therapy (1:02:46) Kon-Tiki (1:08:17) Endurance (1:09:40) People Mentioned: Apostolos Doxiadis Christos Papadimitriou John Steinbeck (0:01) Bertrand Russell (6:51) Kurt Gödel (14:46) Ludwig Wittgenstein (20:49) Jordan Peterson (53:03) Show Topics: (0:00) We kick off the episode by sharing John Steinbeck's journal writing process for East of Eden, his collaborative relationship with his publisher, and how he landed on the title.  (5:25) Though we are not talking about East of Eden today (but...stay tuned for that episode up next!), we're covering Logicomix, a graphic novel by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou. (8:16) We give an overview of the book and how it shares different intricacies and stories from Bertrand Russell's life. From his parents being in a throuple to schizophrenia running in his family, we try to decipher which parts were real vs. fabricated. (10:36) Why you shouldn't necessarily look for precision and formal rules about how the world works. We tie this idea into Taoism which we've seen commonly in a few of our other recent reads. In short, no system can fully explain itself. You need to step outside of it. (13:42) Is it possible to build a perfect map of everything that mathematics entails? We talk about the connection between logic, philosophy, and mathematics.  (20:25) There were several mathematicians in the book. How many of them are you familiar with? (23:36) Russell's involvement in a variety of historical events from the Cuban Missile Crisis to JFK's assassination, as he was not convinced that Oswald was guilty of the crime.  (28:34) If you've been up-to-date with the news lately, you may be just as interested in the Kate Middleton conspiracies as we are. Tangent time! (31:38) Russell was sat in the House of Lords, a chamber of UK Parliament which is generally not up for election. Plus, we brainstorm some ideas of who would be considered Bertrand Russell's equivalent in the US. (36:48) We dive in to some different historical events and wars. The Ottoman Empire, World War 1 and 2, the Persian Gulf War, and how warfare and aircraft carriers changed during these ages.  (41:26) Aviation and its rapid improvements in technology in such a short span of time. (45:07) "Shouldn't we get back to the book?" Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss some of the main concepts from the book, including the pursuit of truth in the world of mathematics. You're never going to fully understand reality, but for some, that's a hard truth that they don't want to accept. (49:44) What does it mean to know, and how can you be justified in knowing something? Remember, a belief can be true while at the same time not satisfying the conditions of logic.  (56:05) Unlike the other mathematicians discussed in the book, Gödel constructed a proof to his theorem that hasn't yet been disproven. Regardless of whether their desires for absolute truth was achieved or not, a lot of the findings are fundamentally useful in many other ways. (1:00:34) We talk about some of the books that we have coming up on the podcast, and throw around some ideas. Which book would you like to see us do an episode on? Let us know here! (1:05:04) Is it true that the more you think about how you're feeling, the worse you feel?  (1:10:07) Nat, Neil, and Adil share some more of their upcoming reads they're excited about, and different war books, including Martin Gilbert's books on WW1 and WW2. (1:13:24) Political ETFs that you can buy into. $NANC and $KRUZ, anyone? (1:17:22) That concludes this episode! Next up on Made You Think, we have the long awaited episode covering East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Make sure to grab a copy of the book and read along with us before the next episode. Check out our new website to stay updated on what's to come. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"Oozification is the process of recursively replacing systems based on numerous larger building blocks, governed by many rules, with ones based on fewer, smaller building blocks, governed by fewer rules, thereby increasing the number of evolutionary possibilities and lowering the number of evolutionary certainties." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing Fear of Oozification, an article by Venkatesh Rao. Get ready to explore the concept of ooziness in technology, learn the signs of oozification, and uncover why the ooze should (or should not) be feared. We cover a wide range of topics including: How oozification applies in technology, nature, and more The contrast between progressification and oozification Challenges in preserving our knowledge over time Humans' natural fear of unpredictability and uncertainty Why authority and trust may be victims of oozification And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Fear of Oozification Chrony Beliefs (0:32) (Book Episode) Oozy Intelligence in Slow Time (7:32) Sopranos Autopsy blog (30:44) StumbleUpon (31:27) The Honey Diet (35:57) Vesuvius Challenge (45:24) Phorevr (49:05) The Gervais Principle (51:48) The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial (51:51) Books Mentioned: The Three-Body Problem (1:42) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Permutation City (1:44) (Book Episode) Flowers for Algernon (1:48) (Book Episode) East of Eden (1:52) Logicomix (2:01) Seeing Like A State (23:30) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Anthology of Balaji (38:22) Flatland (58:14) Watchmen (58:30) V for Vendetta (58:55) People Mentioned: Venkatesh Rao @anabology (32:06) Show Topics: (0:00) Welcome back to Made You Think! We kick off this episode by sharing our reading progress for the upcoming books on the podcast as well as anything else we're reading (or re-reading) outside of it. (5:32) Nat notes his experience with re-reading The Three-Body Problem series, the different pacing of each of the books, and other minor details that stuck out while going through it a second time. (6:43) Today, we're covering Fear of Oozification, an article by Venkatesh Rao. Nat, Neil, and Adil dive into the author's definition of oozification, and more specifically, how it applies within certain technologies such as the computer and phone. (10:52) What makes something more or less oozy? We think of the ooziness of nature where we frequently envision stable environments such as a forest or meadow. However, when a major change or catastrophe takes place, the landscape has to evolve and its trajectory changes. (14:36) Progressification vs oozification: In contrast to oozing, you can make steady and predictable progress within technology, for example. (16:50) We share our main takeaways from the article, debate what the author's view on oozification is, and how the author got his argument across.  (23:18) How oozification will happen regardless of the natural linear progression that we're on in the world of technology. As we progress and create new technologies, each new piece of tech will ooze in its own way. (26:27) Naturally, we fear the unpredictability of the future. What is it about oozification that we are more fearful of than just the unpredictability of the future? Plus, the new era of the internet vs. how things used to be in the world of blogging and social media. (31:43) Decentering and simplifying. We talk a bit about an individual health blog written in just plain text. Check it out here if you're curious! (37:39) Trust and authority, and how that links in with oozification. Nowadays, it's nearly easier to verify truth and accuracy in individuals rather than in large accredited institutions. (41:06) When something is oozed so far away from the fundamental state that we won't know how to recreate the original anymore. Plus, what really is the best way to transmit human knowledge? (46:07) How memories have traditionally been stored through photographs, both digital and physical, and what the future of storing our memories and artifacts may eventually look like. (51:37) We chat a bit about some of Rao's other articles, discuss the contrast in the way that technology and government oozifies, and provide our final thoughts of the article. (55:46) In true Made You Think fashion, we ask ChatGPT for its take on the article! (57:45) That wraps up this episode! Next up, we'll be reading Logicomix followed by East of Eden. Make sure to grab a copy of those books and read along with us. Head on over to our new website to see what's next, listen to previous episodes, and send any book suggestions our way! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today, we're delving into Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Join us as we take you through the journey of an intellectually disabled man who undergoes a procedure with the hopes of increasing his mental abilities. We'll unpack several themes that resonate deeply with the human experience, and seek to get our questions answered on what it truly means to be intelligent. We cover a wide range of topics including: The relationship between intelligence and loneliness Whether the experiment actually made Charlie worse off Influence of social norms and media on individual beliefs and behaviors The existence (or lack of) internal dialogues How handicapped people are often viewed and treated And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Apple Vision Pro (0:01) Rabbit (0:56) Playdate (2:41) Slack (3:54) Lambda Technologies (4:16) Discord (5:17) Flowers for Algernon Wiki (14:41) Internal dialogues (42:01) Reddit thread on Internal Dialogues (43:45)  Texas Tower shooting of 1966 (53:49) The Crowded Room (1:14:04)  Books Mentioned: Flowers for Algernon Infinite Jest (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) Enders Game (30:45) The Three-Body Problem (30:46) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Permutation City (31:36) (Book Episode) Straw Dogs (48:02) (Book Episode) The Minds of Billy Milligan (1:13:42) East of Eden (1:18:12) (Nat's Book Notes) Logicomix (1:21:02) People Mentioned: Daniel Keyes Sam Altman (5:53) Sam Harris (53:24) David Foster Wallace (58:49) Michael Chang (1:15:02) John Steinbeck (1:17:15) Show Topics: (0:00) We open the show by talking about new hardware innovations on the horizon from Apple's Vision Pro to the pocket-sized Rabbit.  (3:23) As it's become increasingly easier to make software, what will this mean for SaaS companies and the future of software? (6:18) Today we're talking about Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The book takes us on the journey of a severely handicapped man who enters into an experiment in order to increase his intelligence. There will be spoilers so if you're planning on reading the book, we suggest you do that before listening to this episode! (12:28) Through Charlie's progression and regression, we get a glimpse into his levels of intelligence, awareness, and loneliness. He finds himself lonelier the more intelligent he becomes because as he gains more awareness, he learns that some people aren't truly his friends. (13:21) There seems to be a human desire to improve no matter what. Nat, Neil, and Adil debate whether Charlie was better or worse off in the end than he was at the start of his journey. (18:35) We discuss some of the other characters in the story and what their relationship with Charlie is like. Notably, Alice is one of the only people who saw him as a person throughout his whole life, even before he gained his intelligence.  (22:00) Charlie's family life and how the author wrote each of their closures with Charlie, or lack thereof.  (25:12) Despite Alice being a very positive figure in Charlie's life, you could make the argument that he didn't treat her very well. Regardless, Alice kept her hope and optimism in every situation. (28:18) Though the book is classified as science fiction, it also poses instances of moral philosophy. Showcased by the author were examples of how people with mental or physical disabilities are treated by others, both obviously and subtly.  (32:52) One of the symbols in the story was a window that Charlie would watch the world through. It was a way for him to interpret his disconnection from society. Throughout the story, Charlie makes progress once he acknowledges himself and his past rather than running and hiding from it.  (36:54) The progression of Charlie's intelligence vs. his emotional intelligence and how they changed at different rates. Plus, we talk about the role of the researchers and how he treated them. (40:02) Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about their interpretation of one of the earlier scenes in the book. In the background was some type of educational tape played for Charlie, but it could have also been symbolized to be his internal monologue. (41:40) Does everyone have an internal dialogue? We dig into a tangent of internal dialogue and why it may be that not everyone has one. (50:13) We break down the different versions of Charlie throughout his life and how his character changed throughout the story. (53:20) Recalling the Texas shooter from the 1960's who was found to have a brain tumor. This brings up many moral dilemmas as to whether someone like him should be allowed to walk after having the brain tumor removed. (56:02) Similarly, what is the tipping point for something small to snowball into a very dangerous idea? We continue with a discussion on the role of social norms and social media. You can live very close proximally to someone but be engaged in completely different social worlds. It's all about who you choose to follow and what types of content you engage with. (1:03:03) Where should the line be drawn in giving punishments to someone who has some type of illness in their brain, such as a brain tumor or lead poisoning? Let us know what you think! (1:09:13) Adil shares his experience with re-reading the book as well as ChatGPT's take on Charlie's sessions with his psychiatrist. (1:13:36) We talk about the author's writing career, including one of the other pieces that he has written. In fact, Apple TV came out with a mini-series based on one of his books!  (1:18:46) That wraps up this episode! We've got an exciting lineup for our next few episodes, beginning with Venkatesh Rao's essay, Fear of Oozification. Down the line, we'll also be covering Logicomix and re-reading East of Eden. Stay tuned and read along with us. You will not want to miss these! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“If you believe that humans are animals, there can be no such thing as the history of humanity, only the lives of particular humans. If we speak of the history of the species at all, it is only to signify the unknowable sum of these lives. As with other animals, some lives are happy, others wretched. None has a meaning that lies beyond itself.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! This week, we're diving into discussion on Straw Dogs by John Gray. From questioning moral structures to pondering the collective soul, we'll journey through the philosophical landscape of Straw Dogs, examining technology, lifespans, and the very essence of humanism. We cover a wide range of topics including: Connections between Straw Dogs and Taoism Whether becoming more moral as a society is possible Individualistic vs collectivistic ways of thinking Gray's critique on the idea that humans are special over animals Technology, striving, and human progress And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Gaia hypothesis (2:45) The Vulnerable World Hypothesis (25:50) The Expanse (52:28) 3 Body Problem (52:31) Silo (52:36) Dark Matter (52:41) Books Mentioned: Straw Dogs  Novacene (2:41) (Book Episode) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (7:47) (Book Episode) Lila (27:18) Tao Te Ching (29:14) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fourth Turning (36:22) (Book Episode) Four Thousand Weeks (36:36) Feline Philosophy (39:03) The Way of Zen (43:11) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Happy Accidents (45:24) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Dark Matter (55:33) The Redemption of Time (59:00) The New Leviathans (1:02:08) People Mentioned: John Gray James Lovelock (2:40) Nick Bostrom (25:46) Max Planck (32:50) Andrew Yang (Book Episode) Alan Watts (43:12) Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we're covering Straw Dogs by John Gray. We kick off the episode by sharing our overall impressions of the book and connect it to one of our previous reads, Novacene. (3:23) How would we summarize this book? Nat, Neil, and Adil share their interpretation of the book in their own words, comparing and contrasting their summaries. (8:19) We discuss the disparity between our aspirations for progress and the reality of human nature, exploring how societal foundations have shifted. (12:35) Examining John Gray's argument, we delve into the book's six sections, analyzing its reflections on human nature, morality, and the essence of progress.  (14:55) Are we evolutionarily any different from other animal species? We share the example of a hive of white ants, and their contributions to the collective vs. the individual. (18:19) Measuring happiness and progress are both tricky. Plus, is it more harmful than beneficial to have faith in humanity and progress? (23:11) We pull out some of our key quotes from the book about technology, evolution, and the collective. Technology is not a human-only thing, and over time, new technologies will continue to emerge. (29:55) Differences between Robert Persig's and John Gray's ideas. We look at whether our views on life can change and how science fits into all of this. (36:12) Gray appears anti-striving, with ideals that we shouldn't try to control life or we'll end up disappointed in the end. (41:30) To strive or not to strive? We talk about the evolution of technology, it's accessibility in today's age, and the hard work that has happened in order for tech to progress.  (46:48) Black holes and string theory and dark matter. Oh my! We chat about some cool scientific theories and how they affect our understanding of the world. (50:59) Lots of sci-fi books are being made into tv shows and hitting the major streaming services. Nat, Neil, and Adil list a few that they're excited about. (59:42) Don't judge a book by the Goodreads reviews! If you're intrigued to pick up a copy of Straw Dogs, you can check that out here. We give our final thoughts on the book and discuss some other books that John Gray has written. (1:05:22) That wraps up this episode! Next up, we'll be reading Flowers for Algernon. Make sure to check it out and read along with us before the next episode. Plus, Made You Think's got a new website! Head on over here to see the new format, view by topics and series, and leave us a book suggestion! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Quality...you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is. But that's self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There's nothing to talk about. But if you can't say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn't exist at all. But for all practical purposes it really does exist.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Join us as we ride through the intersections of philosophy, a father and son motorcycle trip across America, and the pursuit of Quality.  We cover a wide range of topics including: Different learning styles and the value of hands-on experience Exploring the elusive concept of Quality Reflections on the narrative and philosophy of the book Overcoming gumption traps and staying enthusiastic  How the journey is just as important as the destination And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Apple Podcasts (0:46) Spotify (1:07) Steve Jobs Presents to the Cupertino City Council (6:30) Chris Langan: The Bouncer (30:24) 24 (58:01)  Books Mentioned: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (15:40) The Animate and the Inanimate (30:49) Outliers (31:39) Tao Te Ching (40:50) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (47:37) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Infinite Jest (47:58) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (57:29) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Robert M. Pirsig Michel Thomas (13:07) William James Sidis (30:32) Christopher Langan (31:22) Jack Bauer (58:00) Liu Cixin (58:37) Show Topics: (0:00) We open the episode with our take on podcast analytics. Though people can choose where they want to listen, it's hard to get a sense of overall listening numbers across platforms as a whole. (2:49) Today's episode is centered around Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Neil connects his college experience to the book, describing the contrast between theoretical vs. applied learning. (5:35) Different learning styles, emphasizing hands-on experience, and the importance of practical understanding over theory.  (10:34) Why is it that not every great athlete can go on to become a great coach? It all comes down to being able to apply and share your knowledge in a given setting. (13:50) Sharing our thoughts on how the story was written, the narrative of the motorcycle trip, and how the sequel compares to this story. (19:34)The author opens the door to a variety of ideas such as learning to be in the present moment and how to focus on one thing at a time. Though Pirsig is intuitive across several domains, we find that he struggles to put these concepts into words.  (24:03) While on a trip with his son and another couple, the author reflects on flashbacks in his life, including the treatment of his past insanity. Through fixing the bike and traveling across the country, he learns many valuable lessons and philosophies along the way. (29:14) We briefly discuss the sequel where Pirsig highlights William James Sidis, known for his incredibly high IQ and profound ideas on the origin of life.  (33:34) Comparing bike riding to a full-body meditation. Each limb has a specific task to operate the bike, and you have to be focused on the road in front of you, truly bringing yourself to the present moment. (35:01) Nat, Neil, and Adil ponder the concept of Quality, its connection to science, spirituality, and the importance of peace of mind. Quality is all about applying yourself and your senses in the present moment, and being one with what you are doing. (41:45) Nat shares his perspective on the book's cognitive challenges and the reconciliation of theory and practice within the book. (46:09) One unique factor about this book is that it doesn't necessarily mean to give you a conclusive solution at the end. It's all about enjoying the journey, and being okay with the fact that you may not have arrived anywhere by the end of the book.  (49:44) Appreciating the book's humor, comical dialogues, and character depth, with a desire for more insight into the minds of the minor characters. (52:56) It can be very difficult to get started on any project, especially when you think of the whole scope of what you're about to do. If you can start with just one part, it becomes more manageable. We relate this idea to the book writing process. (1:05:28) What are gumption traps, and how can you avoid falling into them? Plus, we give some examples of common gumption traps that you may fall into that diminish your enthusiasm.  (1:12:37) That concludes this episode! If this episode intrigued you, make sure to pick up a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Next up, we'll be reading Straw Dogs by John Gray. Plus, we have an exciting announcement coming soon. Stay tuned for future episodes to stay in the know! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Quality...you know what it is, yet you don't know what it is. But that's self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There's nothing to talk about. But if you can't say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn't exist at all. But for all practical purposes it really does exist.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Join us as we ride through the intersections of philosophy, a father and son motorcycle trip across America, and the pursuit of Quality.  We cover a wide range of topics including: Different learning styles and the value of hands-on experience Exploring the elusive concept of Quality Reflections on the narrative and philosophy of the book Overcoming gumption traps and staying enthusiastic  How the journey is just as important as the destination And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Apple Podcasts (0:46) Spotify (1:07) Steve Jobs Presents to the Cupertino City Council (6:30) Chris Langan: The Bouncer (30:24) 24 (58:01)  Books Mentioned: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (15:40) The Animate and the Inanimate (30:49) Outliers (31:39) Tao Te Ching (40:50) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (47:37) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Infinite Jest (47:58) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (57:29) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Robert M. Pirsig Michel Thomas (13:07) William James Sidis (30:32) Christopher Langan (31:22) Jack Bauer (58:00) Liu Cixin (58:37) Show Topics: (0:00) We open the episode with our take on podcast analytics. Though people can choose where they want to listen, it's hard to get a sense of overall listening numbers across platforms as a whole. (2:49) Today's episode is centered around Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Neil connects his college experience to the book, describing the contrast between theoretical vs. applied learning. (5:35) Different learning styles, emphasizing hands-on experience, and the importance of practical understanding over theory.  (9:43) Why is it that not every great athlete can go on to become a great coach? It all comes down to being able to apply and share your knowledge in a given setting. (12:59) Sharing our thoughts on how the story was written, the narrative of the motorcycle trip, and how the sequel compares to this story. (18:43)The author opens the door to a variety of ideas such as learning to be in the present moment and how to focus on one thing at a time. Though Pirsig is intuitive across several domains, we find that he struggles to put these concepts into words.  (23:12) While on a trip with his son and another couple, the author reflects on flashbacks in his life, including the treatment of his past insanity. Through fixing the bike and traveling across the country, he learns many valuable lessons and philosophies along the way. (28:23) We briefly discuss the sequel where Pirsig highlights William James Sidis, known for his incredibly high IQ and profound ideas on the origin of life.  (32:43) Comparing bike riding to a full-body meditation. Each limb has a specific task to operate the bike, and you have to be focused on the road in front of you, truly bringing yourself to the present moment. (34:10) Nat, Neil, and Adil ponder the concept of Quality, its connection to science, spirituality, and the importance of peace of mind. Quality is all about applying yourself and your senses in the present moment, and being one with what you are doing. (40:54) Nat shares his perspective on the book's cognitive challenges and the reconciliation of theory and practice within the book. (45:18) One unique factor about this book is that it doesn't necessarily mean to give you a conclusive solution at the end. It's all about enjoying the journey, and being okay with the fact that you may not have arrived anywhere by the end of the book.  (48:53) Appreciating the book's humor, comical dialogues, and character depth, with a desire for more insight into the minds of the minor characters. (52:05) It can be very difficult to get started on any project, especially when you think of the whole scope of what you're about to do. If you can start with just one part, it becomes more manageable. We relate this idea to the book writing process. (1:04:37) What are gumption traps, and how can you avoid falling into them? Plus, we give some examples of common gumption traps that you may fall into that diminish your enthusiasm.  (1:11:47) That concludes this episode! If this episode intrigued you, make sure to pick up a copy of  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Next up, we'll be reading Straw Dogs by John Gray. Plus, we have an exciting announcement coming soon. Stay tuned for future episodes to stay in the know! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Modern economies will always be tied to massive material flows, whether those of ammonia-based fertilizers to feed the still-growing global population; plastics, steel, and cement needed for new tools, machines, structures, and infrastructures; or new inputs required to produce solar cells, wind turbines, electric cars, and storage batteries. And until all energies used to extract and process these materials come from renewable conversions, modern civilization will remain fundamentally dependent on the fossil fuels used in the production of these indispensable materials. No AI, no apps, and no electronic messages will change that.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're delving into the intricate layers of How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. From dissecting the dynamics of energy to unraveling the building blocks of our material world, this episode takes us on a journey through the realms of numbers, magnitudes, and the underpinnings that shape our daily existence. Get ready to expand your mind and question the fabric of the world around us! We cover a wide range of topics including: The four foundational products of civilization Why our food and nutrition isn't the same anymore Intricate steps and nuances in global energy creation What may be on the horizon for crypto this year How much diesel is embedded into the production of a tomato? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Preorder Crypto Confidential (0:03) Solana Mobile (1:28) Outside the System (16:12) The Joe Rogan Experience - White Oak Pastures (18:52) Oatly (27:48) SpaceX (29:47) Terraform Industries (31:29) Helion Energy (38:01) Inflation Reduction Act (38:53) Monsanto (52:04) Kraken (57:00) The White Pill (1:00:19) Age of Miracles (1:02:17) Hardcore History 59 The Destroyer of Worlds - Dan Carlin (1:12:40) Cuban Missile Crisis Books Mentioned: How the World Really Works Energy and Civilization (7:18) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Where Is My Flying Car (7:32) (Book Episode) What Your Food Ate (20:44) (Book Episode) How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (54:02) Project Hail Mary (1:05:20) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1:06:01) Straw Dogs (1:06:02) Superintelligence (1:06:24) People Mentioned: Vaclav Smil Joe Rogan (18:51) Bill Gates (48:40) Greta Thunberg (54:37) Nick Bostrom (1:06:10) Dan Carlin (1:08:35) Show Topics: (0:00) The news is out - Nat's new book Crypto Confidential is available for preorder! We open the episode by talking about crypto, AI coins, and how BTC and ETH have established themselves in the world of crypto. (6:53) In today's episode, we're discussing How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. We draw some similarities from some previous reads in the podcast such as Where Is My Flying Car? and another great from Smil, Energy and Civilization. (10:20) Adil highlights some of the key points from the book, including the four fundamental products—ammonia, cement, plastic, and steel—that shape our modern world, shedding light on challenges in essential industries. (14:19) Because we're so disembodied with how things are built and how people are fed, we're able to indulge in things as a society that are not necessarily realistic in terms of decarbonization. (19:34) Discussing nutrition deficiencies, we explore the disconnect between the food we eat and its nutritional value, raising questions about our reliance on technology over essential fields like soil science and food production. (22:31) The impact of fertilization, nutrition deficiencies, and current farming practices. Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss alternatives for a healthier, more sustainable future. (28:13) While more and more attention goes into technology rather than food science and soil science, we have seen an increased interest in nuclear energy. For many decades, we've been so highly focused on software rather than hardware. Are we due for a shift? (31:21) We delve into a discussion on carbon capture, Bitcoin mining's energy-efficient possibilities, and cost-effective energy production. (37:58) The life cycle of oil, Department of Energy's investments into different forms of energy, and the efficiency of gasoline vs. electric. (42:01) In the book, Smil dives into the crude oil consumption per pound of different things you eat throughout its entire life cycle. From chicken to tomatoes, and seafood, too.  (48:22 Is meat actually destroying the environment? It all depends on what you're replacing it with. (53:57) Discussing Bill Gates' environmental ideals, we explore his support for climate-friendly technology and its potential to compete with fossil fuels (57:14) Is there room for more crypto exchange platforms, and what else is on the horizon for this year in crypto? (1:02:48) Similarly, what is the future when it comes to the world of energy and our country's investment into it? Technology is often the cause of all problems in science fiction settings, whereas more positive sci-fi could help paint a better picture around technology and its future. (1:05:59) Down the line for Made You Think, we'll have episodes on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Straw Dogs. Make sure to grab a copy of those books before these episodes come out and read along with us! (1:13:17) The Goldsboro B-52 crash led to the accidental release of two nuclear bombs. The incident raised concerns about the safety of nuclear weapons and the potential catastrophic consequences of accidents involving such powerful devices. (1:17:14) That wraps up this episode, thanks for listening! Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes, leave a comment or review, and preorder your copy of Crypto Confidential. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity — but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our name, our "biography," our partners, family, home, job, friends, credit cards… It is on their fragile and transient support that we rely for our security. So when they are all taken away, will we have any idea of who we really are?" Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're diving into The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. We'll navigate the realms of meditation, telepathy, and the essence of a peaceful death. Come join us in this mind-opening episode that transcends the ordinary and challenges our perceptions of life, death, and everything in between! We cover a wide range of topics including: How to find more meaning from your meditation Telepathy, shared hallucinations, and the uncharted territories of the brain and body The role our egos play in spiritual practices Reincarnation and the continuous nature of consciousness The sacredness of birth and dying And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Headspace (4:22) Waking Up (4:23) Zazen (5:00) The Marathon Monks (19:10) Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (23:06) Spiritual awakening meme (41:37)  Life is Short (1:00:12) C-section rates by country (1:17:04) Books Mentioned: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying The Comfort Crisis (1:26) (Book Episode)  The Way of Zen (4:54) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Denial of Death (16:44) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Happy Accidents (27:28) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) A Monk's Guide to A Clean House & Mind (38:34) The Myth of Sisyphus (39:09) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Beginning of Infinity (53:17) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Arthur Flowerdew (20:54) Wim Hof (33:17) Show Topics: (1:02) In today's episode, we're talking about The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying in which Rinpoche explores the concepts of life, death, and rebirth. We open up the show talking about meditation, microdosing, and how to incorporate meditation into your day. (6:07) Finding meaning from meditation, the role it plays in rehearsing death, and finding profound meaning in the experience. (7:59) Is death just a middle step in our journey as opposed to the end? We talk about the author's beliefs regarding reincarnation and the idea that while our energy never dies, it has the capability of taking another form.  (11:41) Attachments, the terror of losing your identity when you die, and why believing in reincarnation offers a valuable perspective. (16:51) The author's definition of “attachments” would most likely be broader than you'd expect. It not only encompasses your material possessions, but anything that contributes to what you see as your identity.  (20:09) We talk about different phenomenons that happen in your body once you pass, plus some interesting stories in the book, such as remembering information from a past life. (24:57) Telepathy: Is it realistic? Everything can seem magical or nonsensical until you can gather some sort of argument or case or explanation for it. Hundreds of years ago we may have thought the idea of electricity was a hoax, but today, it exists. (28:15) There are so many things about our brain and body that we have yet to understand. Plus, we discuss the potential effects of electromagnetic pollution on our bodies. (33:02) The first step in working your way up to telepathy or cross-mind communication is knowing your own mind and body first.  (34:23) How mindfulness can help you pull yourself back into the present moment. We often worry about the future or something not going to plan. When you remember that all things are impermanent, it makes it easier to accept things as they are right now.  (40:09) Ego and its role in spiritual practices. (42:55) Shared hallucinations in sleep paralysis and altered states of consciousness induced by psychedelics. (47:53) Nat shares a story of when he took psilocybin, and how that posed questions of whether we are connected to consciousness, especially for those who we are directly related to. (52:21) Where are we in the journey of knowing everything? There's no good way to measure this, as it can often feel that the more we learn, the less we actually know. (56:09) In today's age, we have the capability to broadcast our thoughts and opinions on social media to a large audience. Once you say it, it can't be taken back. How will we see social media shaping the relationship between parents and their children? (1:00:36) “Peaceful death is really an essential human right, more essential perhaps even than the right to vote or the right to justice; it is a right on which, all religious traditions tell us, a great deal depends for the well-being and spiritual future of the dying person.” What someone needs for a peaceful death, and how they may be more aware than you think.  (1:04:05) Neil shares his experience of how he felt reading the book in relation to his dad's passing. We have a discussion on the key differences between a home-environment and the hospital, and when you might opt for one over the other. (1:10:51) When you're in the process of dying, it's not uncommon to change the way you view the world. Knowing your time is limited, you may find yourself to be more vulnerable with your loved ones and more deeply appreciating the moments you spend. (1:14:21) Comparing birth and death as unique, sacred experiences, and the potential impact of hospital settings on these significant life events. (1:20:56) We examine the theme of the mind outlasting the body, contrasting it with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. (1:25:39) When it comes to death and rebirth, many traditions talk about a similar experience of viewing your entire life in detail. Where did these ideas originate from? (1:29:10) That concludes this episode! Make sure to pick up a copy of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying to learn more about Tibetan Buddhist wisdom. Stay tuned for our next episode in which we will be reading Israel: A History! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're diving into Novacene by James Lovelock, a book which challenges the very essence of human intelligence. Get ready for a thought-provoking conversation that delves into the realms of evolution, deep oceans, and the enigmatic dance between humanity and artificial intelligence. We cover a wide range of topics including: Gaia hypothesis and its connections to the book Intelligence beyond the human-centric view How the evolution of organisms has affected global temperatures The uncovered mysteries of the deep ocean Will AI be a friend or foe to humans? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Gaia hypothesis (1:53) Tesla Bot (23:52) Stealth (25:05) Cruise (27:26) Waymo (27:26) Arrival (35:54) Bees playing soccer (39:32) Brilliant Earth (49:01) They Did The Math (49:42) Dark Forest theory (55:16) Rooted Local (1:02:16) Books Mentioned: The Three-Body Problem (0:03) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Homo Deus (0:46) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Breath (13:35) (Nat's Book Notes) Deep (13:37) The Hidden Life of Trees (19:14) Permutation City (21:12) (Book Episode) Where Is My Flying Car? (22:35) (Book Episode)  Antifragile (36:24) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fighter's Mind (37:41) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: James Lovelock (1:54) James Nestor (13:36) Nassim Taleb (36:24) Show Topics: (1:46) Buckle up for this episode as we discuss Novacene, authored by the originator of the Gaia Theory, James Lovelock. The book probes into humanity's role in the world and speculates on a future where machines might supersede us. (4:34) Lovelock wrote this book with the help of his assistant when he was 99 years old. We talk about what exactly the Gaia Theory is and the end of the age of Anthropocene. (9:50) We go deeper into sharing our thoughts on the Gaia Theory and how the evolution of organisms have affected the regulation of the global temperature.  (13:10) How much do we actually know about the deepest parts of the ocean? Plus, learn about the author's involvement with designing instruments for NASA. (16:40) Nat, Neil, and Adil make connections from Novacene to The Three-Body Problem. Historically, we've looked for life on other planets the way we would measure life on earth, but are extraterrestrial species carbon-based like we are? (19:04) Our idea of time here on Earth is based on our life and our own orbit around the sun, but another civilization could view time in a completely different way. (24:21) Addressing AI predictions, military applications, and the challenges of AI intervention, including experiences with self-driving cars. (32:08) Is our technology watching us?  (35:28) The limitations of language as an information interface and the intuitive nature of processing multiple inputs. Speaking, for example, is completely linear. However, when you have multiple inputs, you're able to be more intuitive. (39:18) We talk about exploring intelligence beyond the human-centric view, considering the collective intelligence of species like bees. (42:05) It's powerful the progress that has been made with ChatGPT, but there still remains the question of whether or not it will be a linear process to AGI (artificial general intelligence).  (46:02) The intersection of crypto mining, Bitcoin, and futuristic energy societies, along with the possibility of harnessing CO2 for creation. (52:24) Earth is a rare, one-of-a-kind planet. How the universe had to align for habitability on earth, and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. (58:29) Would AI have the potential for parallel processing capabilities? (1:00:35) Nat and Neil share their final thoughts on Novacene and Lovelock's charming writing style. If you were intrigued by our discussions in this episode, make sure you pick up a copy! (1:01:59) That concludes this episode! Stay tuned for our next episode on the The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.  If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“But at a purely personal level, Rondon embodied the best of both modern and old-fashioned virtues. He was intensely and genuinely patriotic, adhered to traditional codes of honor, bravery, and chivalry, and repeatedly demonstrated a moral rectitude that, enhanced a character both ascetic and abstemious, impressed those who regularly came into contact with him." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're picking up the conversation on our favorite Brazilian explorer, Cândido Rondon, with Into the Amazon. Rohter's book dives into the untold stories of Rondon and Roosevelt, shining a spotlight on the uncharted territories, unique challenges, and extraordinary legacies left behind in the heart of the Amazon. We cover a wide range of topics including: Rondon's unique approach to exploration Animal and plant life within the Amazon How Rondon navigated each obstacle from sickness to river crossings Technology's impact on different generations The relationship between tech and human intelligence And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Rondônia (2:10) Joe Rogan Experience #2013 – Paul Rosolie (4:55) Positivism (10:58) AI podcast episode - Joe Rogan and Steve Jobs (18:14) Meta's AI characters (22:46) Pavlok(24:19)  Idiocracy (1:07:42) Apple Vision Pro (1:25:35) Books Mentioned: Homo Deus (0:13) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Infinite Jest (0:15) (Book Episode I) (Book Episode II) (Nat's Book Notes) The River of Doubt (Book Episode) Mother of God (5:00) Seeing Like a State (45:02) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) What Your Food Ate (45:40) (Book Episode) Einstein's Dreams (1:29:02) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1:31:53) Surfaces and Essences (1:32:30) Metaphors We Live By (1:32:47) Novacene (1:33:45) Atlas Shrugged (1:35:10) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Israel: A History (1:37:10)  People Mentioned: Cândido Rondon (1:55) Paul Rosolie (4:55) Show Topics: (0:00) Today, we're venturing into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, as we discuss Into the Amazon by Larry Rohter. Though not a direct sequel, it spins off of a previous episode on The River of Doubt, and gives us more insight into the life of Cândido Rondon. (1:57) In the era of great explorers, Rondon's discoveries were often overshadowed by the Europeans. Though he is very well-respected in Brazil, his accomplishments aren't as widely known in the US. (6:18) We talk a bit about Paul Rosolie and his preservation efforts in the Amazon rainforest, as well as why the forest felt empty in terms of wildlife throughout their exploration.  (8:41) Rondon's peaceful demeanor and rationalist approach. He had a high tolerance and respect for the native tribes that he came across, and in return, they embraced him and his crew. (12:12) In addition to being an explorer, Rondon was a soldier. We also talk about Brazil's infrastructure advancements and how Rondon viewed the natives as Brazilian, whereas the Brazilian government hardly saw them as part of their people. (15:48) The friendship between Cândido Rondon and Theodore Roosevelt, and Roosevelt's profound respect for Rondon. We witness how Roosevelt's initial perception of Rondon transformed during their shared journeys, shedding light on Roosevelt's character and open-mindedness. (20:43) The rich history of Rondon's story is preserved through detailed diaries and journals kept by the explorers. The survival of these records is nothing short of miraculous when you consider the conditions they were in on their journey. (22:21) Meta's new AI features where you can talk to different personalities, based on the topics that you're interested in. (25:35) Rondon had opoprtunities to go down many paths in his life. He had developed several unique skills very early on in his childhood, yet exploring the Amazon is ultimately what he chose to pursue.  (30:48) There were several elements to Rondon that uncovered as we read Into the Amazon that we may not have realized while reading The River of Doubt. Very military-like, Rondon created order for their day and took leadership on their expedition. (35:17) We share some badass Rondon stories that stuck out to us, including how he navigated a seemingly improbable river crossing with all of the cargo of his crew.  (39:30) When times got tough and supplies ran low, Rondon always stuck to the mission.  (42:31) Deforestation and its long-term consequences. Plant life is so dense in the Amazon; if it ever gets cleared out, it'd be near impossible to bring it back to what it once was. (47:13) The effects of global shipping traffic and it's pollution into the atmosphere.  (50:32) The later years of Rondon was more of a focus in this book vs. The River of Doubt. We discuss his family life, which included a wife and 7 children. They communicated via telegrams throughout his many missions and projects where he was forced to be away from home.  (57:40) Einstein had heard so much about Rondon during his time in Brazil that he submitted a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for him without even meeting him.  (1:00:34) Your body always tells you what you need. If Rondon is sick? Just give him some pineapple!  (1:01:31) Though Rondon is framed as a tough explorer, he was also an intellectual. He documented a lot of the indigenous languages and transcribed it based on his interactions with the tribes.  (1:04:45) Tangent time: Which celebrities could potentially run for office, and who is big enough to have their names still referrenced after their passing? (1:07:39) Our thoughts on the movie Idiocracy and theories on the relationship between technology and intelligence levels. Will our generation always be the most technological competent generation?  (1:15:09) How technology has shaped generations differently, especially Gen Z and Millenials. (1:20:33) We throw it back to when we were younger, talking about different devices that were around then and how they compare to the more modern, current models.  (1:23:08) The development of Apple, and how they were able to shift so elegantly from the iPod to bigger and better devices. (1:29:01) We throw out some ideas of books to cover in future episodes. Which ones stuck out to you? Let us know! (1:40:48) That wraps up this episode! Make sure to pick up a copy of Into the Amazon if you liked this episode. Stay tuned as we will be reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and Novacene in the next few episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The idea was to prove at every foot of the way up that you were one of the elected and anointed ones who had the right stuff and could move higher and higher and even—ultimately, God willing, one day—that you might be able to join that special few at the very top, that elite who had the capacity to bring tears to men's eyes, the very Brotherhood of the Right Stuff itself." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Through vivid storytelling, Wolfe shares the world of the fearless pilots and astronauts who possessed the elusive "right stuff". The book provides an intimate look at their lives, the challenges they faced, and the profound impact they had on the history of space exploration. We cover a wide range of topics including: The evolution of the aerospace industry and its rapid growth How fighter pilots became pioneers in space exploration Compelling stories of astronauts and their intense training regimens The battle between NASA and the Air Force in the quest for space What it truly means to have 'The Right Stuff' And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Top Gun (3:53) Project Mercury (4:31) Anduril - Fury (12:01)  Palmer Luckey on Fury (14:50)  Intrepid Museum (15:31)  Overture plane (22:01) The Antarctic Treaty (34:39) Books Mentioned: The Bonfire of the Vanities (1:55) The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (2:17) Where Is My Flying Car? (2:30) (Book Episode)  The River of Doubt (32:43) (Book Episode) Breath (40:39) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Tom Wolfe (0:48) Chuck Yeager (10:49) Alan Shepard (24:37) John Young (45:242) Show Topics: (0:00) In today's episode, we're discussing The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. The book not only boasts a charismatic writing style, but also draws intriguing connections to a previous book we covered, Where Is My Flying Car?  (3:40) We delve into the book's narrative flow, which initially spotlights fighter pilots and their rigorous training before transitioning into the captivating realm of the U.S. space program. From the early stages to the groundbreaking Project Mercury, the book highlights the personalities behind those who ventured into the unknown. (6:07) How astronaut requirements shifted from an open-door policy to a more selective process. Plus, we talk about the advancement in computing technology that made these audacious projects possible. (10:44) What once seemed impossible in the world of space exploration became possible in a short amount of time. There was also a shift from manual to automatic controls as the technology became more advanced.  (12:57) What does it mean if you possess "The Right Stuff"? As we explore its application in the world of aviation, we draw parallels to other fields, such as sports. (15:24) Buckle up for some mindblowing facts and statistics on several high-speed aircrafts, including the SR71, Concorde, and X15.  (19:12) Ever wondered what it feels like to approach the speed of sound in the transonic zone? There are many complexities when it comes to operating a high-speed aircraft like the Concorde. (22:40) How political dynamics influenced the approaches taken by NASA and the Air Force, from rocket models to plane models for space exploration. (29:13) The quest for space exploration has been marked by trial and error.  (31:20) While there are very few remaining opportunities for land exploration on Earth, there is exciting potential for migration to other planets.  (35:52) It can take between 7-14 months to reach Mars, not to mention the many dangers you may be facing along the way.  (40:30) We talk about the connection between how you breathe and weight loss, as well as the importance of consistent airflow in your work and sleep environments. (43:40) Did you know The Right Stuff is also a movie? Make sure to check it out, especially if you are intrigued with this episode! (45:13) The training regimens for many of these missions were so intense that when the astonauts were actually on the flight, they were seemingly desensitized to the whole experience. (48:55) There was often tension between fighter pilots and test pilots, as well as discussions on whether becoming an astronaut would be harmful to a pilot's military career.  (55:55) That wraps up this episode! Our next episode features Cândido Rondon, who you may remember from our episode on The River of Doubt. Stay tuned for that one! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“He who sees all beings in his Self and his Self in all beings, he never suffers; because when he sees all creatures within his true Self, then jealousy, grief and hatred vanish.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering The Upanishads, a collection of ancient Indian texts which explore the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Hinduism. These texts delve into the nature of reality and the self while emphasizing the importance of meditation, self-realization, and the pursuit of knowledge to achieve enlightenment. We cover a wide range of topics including: Consciousness and the interconnectedness of all beings Parallels between The Upanishads and the philosophies of Plato  How cities differ in their homelessness approach Rationalism vs. intuition Our thoughts on the Twitter/X rebrand And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Project Hail Mary (9:00) The Three-Body Problem film (9:08) Silo (9:19)  The Great Library of Alexandria (15:39) Soma (16:18) The 99 Names For God In Arabic (18:46) Upanishads Wikipedia (20:13) Georgism (34:00) Does Georgism Work? Astral Codex Ten (35:11) In Praise of the Gods (44:38) Thunder's Catch (1:09:47) Books Mentioned: Essays and Aphorisms (0:25) The World as Will and Representation (1:14) Bhagavad Gita (4:00) The Upanishads translated by Juan Mascaro (4:46) The Egg (8:01) Wool, Shift, Dust (trilogy) (9:26) The Expanse (9:46)  The Right Stuff (38:04) Tao Te Ching (38:59) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Analects of Confucius (39:03) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Straw Dogs (45:21) God's Debris (50:34) What Your Food Ate (1:10:57) (Book Episode) People Mentioned: Nassim Taleb (1:03) Simon Sarris (44:32) Scott Adams (50:26) Show Topics: [1:24] In today's episode, we're discussing The Upanishads, widely considered as some of the most important and influential works in the history of Indian philosophy and spirituality.  [5:30] We dive into discussion about consciousness, souls, and whether everyone is a part of the same entity. The book suggests that there is a right path to follow, but doesn't necessarily give concrete details about what is good vs. bad. [8:58] There are several upcoming sci-fi movies coming out based on books that we're fans of. Which ones are you most excited to see? [11:12] Old texts are like a game of telephone: While the message may only change slightly each time its told, it can add up to a large percent over a period of time. We also talk about Plato's early texts and how they poke at the ideas of Christianity, even before Christ. [16:04] Soma is a ritual drink referenced in many ancient Hindu texts as well as in The Upanishads, thought to possibly contain mushrooms or other psychedelic properties. [18:15] Calling an infinite being by a finite name. In Islam, there are 99 names for God so to capture all properties of God. [20:09] We talk about some of the main parallels between the book and the philosophies of Plato as well as the longevity of large ancient empires (ex: Persian Empire). How did news spread among such a wide area without the communication tools we have today? [26:02] The contrast of ancient artifacts you can find in European cities vs. US cities. Plus, a little tangent on the birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt! [27:47] How cities differ in their homelessness approach. [34:26] What is Georgism and how would it look if it were applied in the US?  [36:32] ChatGPT's gives it's interpretation of Made You Think. We also reflect on books similar to The Upanishads that we have done in previous episodes. [40:48] Rationalism vs. intuition. We pose the question of whether the ideas from this book were independently developed or whether they sprout from other teachings. It may simply depend on what lens you're looking at it from. [45:18] Society's move to secularism and what may have repulsed people away from religion.  [49:02] The world is full of mystery. Even someone with a rationalist approach would have to take a step back and recognize there are some things we just don't know. [51:32] Our opinions on the Twitter/X rebrand and how the algorithm can change based on who you're following. The impact of replies in amplifying your tweet.  [57:27] What are the first tweets we see when we open the Twitter app? [1:01:31] The progression of spacecrafts and the advancement of automation systems. India's recent achievement of landing on the moon. [1:06:23] We conclude the episode with a talk on cod, Alaskan salmon, and the chicken farming industry.  [1:11:55] That's it for this episode! Join us next time as we dive into The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Make sure to pick up a copy if you want to read along! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“A river of material flows through us. When we share our works and our ideas, they are replenished. If we block the flow by holding them all inside, the river cannot run and new ideas are slow to appear. In the abundant mindset, the river never runs dry. Ideas are always coming through. And an artist is free to release them with the faith that more will arrive. If we live in a mindset of scarcity, we hoard great ideas.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In true Made You Think fashion, our 100th episode is full of tangents. This week, we read The Creative Act by Rick Rubin which emphasizes the importance of being genuine and vulnerable in the creative process, showing that your own struggles and authenticity can result in meaningful and powerful creative work.  We cover a wide range of topics including: Giving life to the ideas in your imagination Publishing cadences of different successful book series Rick Rubin's backstory in the music industry How media's incentives have shifted from accuracy to clicks Tactics to unblock your creativity And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Great Books Series (0:43) Nat's Notes podcast (1:03) How to draw an owl (13:32) Hose (19:52) Elden Ring (26:58) Dark Winds (28:35) Eric Weinstein on Kayfabe (38:22) Nightcrawler (44:36) Books Mentioned: The Creative Act Count Down (11:35) (Nat's Book Notes) East of Eden (12:08) (Nat's Book Notes) A Game of Thrones (26:07) Red Rising Series (32:54)  50th Law (40:33) (Nat's Book Notes) Trust Me, I'm Lying (41:44) The River of Doubt (1:01:51) (Book Episode) People Mentioned: Rick Rubin (4:51) Phil Jackson (5:10) Steve Jobs (5:19) Neil Strauss (6:36) Johnny Cash (18:08) Joaquin Phoenix (23:17) George R. R. Martin (26:01) Isaac Asimov (31:11) Show Topics: (0:00) Welcome to Episode 100- We want to say a big thank you to all of our listeners! Whether you were around for our first episode in 2017 or joined us sometime afterwards, we appreciate you listening to our show. (1:01) Nat talks about how he manages his current content schedule from articles and newsletters to podcasts and short form videos.  (4:48) Today, we're discussing The Creative Act. Think of it as a 'mindset' book rather than a tactical book, and how you can go into reading this book to get the most value out of it. (9:15) This is a great book to read early in your career as it addresses common mental roadblocks you may face within the creative process. Oftentimes, what you output may not be the same as what you initially planned in your mind, but that doesn't make it any less valuable. (14:10) Getting out of your own way is a large part of creativity. The importance of mixing it up and giving attention to even the most simplistic ideas you may have. (19:35) We share a little bit about Rick Rubin's backstory and how he came to work with so many famous musicians. As the founder of Def Jam, he has worked with several talented musical acts including Johnny Cash, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, and more. (23:43) Why you should keep the scope of your work smaller, and how that helps you to recognize your work as a moment in time rather than something that has to define you forever.  (29:06) How book and TV series often rely on the momentum from their viewers and readers for the continued success of their future releases, though that momentum can be difficult to drum up.  (32:51) Some authors take long breaks between each of their books while others churn them out right after another. It goes to show that the creative process looks different for everybody. (36:17) A lot of the news outlets serve the purpose of entertaining rather than informing. When compared to WWE, it's something that we know is a sham or is fabricated, but it's still amusing to watch. (42:52) Dangerous positive feedback loops between the media, people seeking their names in the news, and those consuming it. Media's incentives aren't necessarily to get things right but to get more clicks and views.  (49:29) Despite some leadership issues within the past decade in America, we've stayed afloat. How long can we stay this way? (56:02) The power of the US dollar and inflation rates in the US vs. other countries.  (59:54) That wraps up this episode. Thanks again to our listeners for hitting the 100th episode milestone with us! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The ordinary traveler, who never goes off the beaten route and who on this beaten route is carried by others, without himself doing anything or risking anything, does not need to show much more initiative and intelligence than an express package." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing The River of Doubt by Candace Millard, a story that follows the expedition of Theodore Roosevelt as he explores the Amazon river in Brazil. Though faced with many hardships along the way, Roosevelt finds purpose in this monumental journey after losing the 1912 election. We cover a wide range of topics including: The explorer spirit and the drive to explore the unknown Theories of how long humans have been in the Americas How the crew was able to form relationships with uncontacted tribes The progression of travel methods in comparison to the early 1900s What were in the cards for Roosevelt and Rondon after they returned And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: The Amazon Rainforest may have been shaped by humans (22:35) Reliving Shackleton's Epic Endurance Expedition (27:41) Kayaking from California to Hawaii (29:00)  Joe Rogan with Dan Flores (31:19) Affirmative Action ruling (36:42) 14 Peaks (52:32) The Alpinist (55:34) Meru (56:40) Candiru fish (1:02:27) Concorde's New York to London flight (1:17:44) United goes Supersonic (1:19:05) Adventure Capitalist (1:21:04) Books Mentioned: The River of Doubt The Comfort Crisis (6:26) Coyote America (31:22) What Your Food Ate (32:57) The Creative Act (1:19:47) People Mentioned: Cândido Rondon (13:54) Graham Hancock (25:48) Dan Flores (31:20) Jimmy Chin (58:03) Henry Hudson (1:12:34) Show Topics: (1:09) In this episode, we're talking about The River of Doubt. After losing the 1912 election, Roosevelt traveled to Brazil to explore the Amazon river, which was largely unknown at that time.  (4:17) The explorer spirit and the urge to explore something that people haven't seen before. While there's not much else for us to discover for the first time on earth, there are still many unique things to go see that only few have. (8:52) Roosevelt and the crew seemed to underestimate what they were getting into, and though underprepared, it ended up being an overall success.  (14:21) We talk a bit more about Rondon and his backstory, as well as what life looked like for him after the expedition. He had contact with tribes that were otherwise cut off from the rest of the world.  (18:26) The relationships with the tribes they came across and how the tribe leaders had to mutually agree before a course of action was taken on Roosevelt's crew. At the time, it was not known that the tribe they had contacted were cannabalists.  (22:37) There's a theory that the Amazon is man-made or at least man-influenced. While there's evidence of humans in the Amazon from at least 13,000 years ago, how long have humans really been in the Americas?  (27:50) Seafaring canoes and the possibility of natives reaching new land via canoe tens of thousands of years ago. It's also a mystery how many journeys have failed throughout time, as there is likely no record of their expedition at all. (31:29) The drive to explore is in our DNA. Do we feel that need for evolutionary purposes?  (37:40) We talk about the description of the surgery on Roosevelt's leg during the journey and the backstory behind it. (42:07) Sickness and the prevalence of malaria during the trip. We give some stats on the fatalities of malaria, and the lethality is less than we expected.  (44:19) Roosevelt brought his son, Kermit. Though Kermit didn't want to go, he went so he can watch out for his dad. Back in this time, going on a trip for months or even years meant you wouldn't have any contact with people back home for that whole span. (48:55) Stories of Roosevelt when he was visited by ambassadors in the White House, and other humorous presidential stories.  (52:32) There have been several amazing stories and documentaries describing the journies of different adventurists and mountain climbers. It goes to show just how important pacing yourself is and knowing how to pack the appropriate supplies.  (1:00:51) Why the crew hardly saw any wild life during their time in the Amazon. Though you're surrounded by them, they're extremely hidden. (1:05:58) Rondon's leadership along the way and how he managed to keep order, despite one of the crew members causing trouble.  (1:14:19) When we think about Roosevelt's journey and compare it to today, we see how far we've come. We can now reach the other side of the world at much quicker speeds and have the potential of seeing more growth in this area during our lifetime, too.  (1:19:53) Stay tuned for our next episode... Episode 100 of Made You Think! What has been your favorite episode so far? Let us know! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Across the board, dietary advice typically focuses on what and how much to eat, with remarkably little attention paid to how farming practices influence the nutritional quality of food and whether the “right foods” pack the nutrients they once had.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing What Your Food Ate by David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé. Exploring the concept of "food chain reactions," the book unveils the hidden connections between our food choices and their environmental, social, and health impacts. Do you really know what you're eating? We cover a wide range of topics including: The revival of physical bookstores fueled by social media How the health of our soil essentially corresponds to our health Why nutritional diversity is so important The relationship between our diets and overall well-being What are our food cravings telling us? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Great Book Series (1:04)  Barnes and Noble open 30 new stores (2:55) Reality Has a Surprising Amount of Detail (19:17) Mother Tongue Cooking Club (33:04) Force of Nature (57:55) Pluck (58:19) TrueMed (59:57) Rooted (1:09:26) Dutch Meadows Farm Books Mentioned: What Your Food Ate The Three-Body Problem (5:00) (Nat's Book Notes) Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (14:59) People Mentioned: Anthony Gustin (15:40) Wendell Berry (15:48) Ben Greenfield (26:57) Justin Mares (28:21) Miles Snyder (33:01) Calley Means (1:01:34) Gabe Brown (1:04:24) Show Topics: (1:35) The revival of Barnes and Noble along with the influence that 'Booktok' has had on physical book stores. (5:11) How different content performs on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. Each platform serves a different purpose whether it's for entertainment or educational.  (12:16) Today, we're discussing What Your Food Ate by David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé! Our food is a lot less nutritionally dense than we realize because of way that the food we eat is grown. (14:55) The co-authors' first book talks about the importance of caring for the soil, as that's the base for everything we grow. The same food can have such different nutritional values depending on how it was grown or raised. (20:08) Why nutritional diversity is important and how eating as nutrient dense foods as possible is really important too. When it comes to food, it's best to aim for quality over quantity.  (26:13) When we take a look at the foods we're eating, it makes sense that we may need supplements to give us our essential nutrients that may be otherwise lacking in our diet.  (28:01) What does Europe do differently than the US in terms of growing their food? We also talk about glyphosate levels in the things that we eat. (33:35) We give a brief overview of how the government has subsidized farmers in the US, which plays a role in our food supply and what we eat.  (38:44) Do our food cravings hint to us what we are deficient in? There have been studies done in infants where they chose foods that were beneficial to them when they were sick.  (40:33) It's shown that diet makes a difference in your overall health. Examples: The British WW2 diet and how a study in Japan showed that diet made a difference in mortality rate for those with lung cancer.  (44:45) How we source our food plays a role in our overall health. The nutritional density of the same food can vary just based on how it was raised. (50:39) We share some of our current eating habits from kimchi to sauerkraut, and what we will be having less of. (53:20) So, what solutions do we have and are we trending in the right direction when it comes to the food industry? (59:29) Regenerative farming - can this be seen on a larger scale? Neil talks about the mission of TrueMed. (1:06:28) Nutrients in animals have changed over time due to their diet and breeding, and it has an effect on the nutrients we receive from them, too. (1:10:53) That concludes this episode! Catch us next time where we will be discussing The River of Doubt. As episode 100 approaches us, we're excited to hear your suggestions on what we should do for that episode! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The Chinese people had invented the compass, paper, the printing press, gunpowder, the seismograph, the crossbow, and the umbrella; they had sailed to Africa in the fifteenth century; they had constructed the Great Wall; over the past decade they had built their economy at a rate never before seen in the developing world. They could return a rental car with exactly three-eighths of a tank of gas, but filling it was apparently beyond the realm of cultural possibility.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering Country Driving, a captivating memoir by Peter Hessler that explores the transformation of China through the lens of its rapidly changing roadways and the people who navigate them.  We cover a wide range of topics including: The modernization of Chinese infrastructure Negotiation culture in China Exceptionalism and believing your culture is superior The most popular automobiles in America How conditions for laborers have gotten so bad And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Slate Star Codex reddit thread (0:32) Dan Carlin's Hardcore History (2:48) Monthly car payments in America (42:35) 2022's best selling cars (46:05) Books Mentioned: The Fish That Ate the Whale (0:11) (Nat's Book Notes) Energy and Civilization (5:42) (Nat's Book Notes) On China (21:52) Cobalt Red (28:57) The Dictator's Handbook (36:15) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Sam Bankman-Fried (0:39) Dan Carlin (2:48) Henry Kissinger (21:51) Show Topics: (0:00) There are some books that can arguably be just a blog post, but we feel this is not the case for Country Driving. (3:35) Country Driving gives insight to what 'Made in China' means, as we often don't consider the human labor side of the items we own. (6:59) While there are large amounts of ambition and hustle in Chinese culture, is it sustainable and truly for the good of the individual, or is it simply for their own survival?  (9:16) “In China, much of life involves skirting regulations, and one of the basic truths is that forgiveness comes easier than permission.” The central government in China and how enforcement happens moreso on the group level. We also discuss whether people throughout the world are innately the same and how our culture plays a role in how we act under certain circumstances.  (15:33) Negotation culture in China and the patience it takes to draw decisions out until the last possible second. Nearly everything is a negotiation in China, whereas in America, there isn't a whole lot of negotiation. (20:56) Invasion of the Mongols headed by Genghis Khan. As different groups arrived to China, they eventually got absorbed into the current culture. (24:26) One of China's strengths is the ability to absorb outside cultures. As new figures came into power, they adopted the previous regimes. We also talk about what exceptionalism means in America. (28:00) During China's modernization projects, many workers would be working for just a few instant noodle packets per day. As states become more technologically adept, they continue to mistreat people and extract money from them while also being able to discard the evidence. (33:41) Is it right or wrong to invade a country that's aggressively using slave labor to harness its natural resources? Though it's nation building, it also is an invasion on human rights. (39:31) The driving laws and norms in China are different than in the US- From their communication through honking to the lanes they use for turning. (43:11) Why cities in China have their hands tied when it comes to financing.  (48:13) That concludes this episode, thanks for listening! If this episode intrigued you, make sure to pick up a copy of Country Driving and stay tuned for our next episode. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"First, it's important to remember that merit beliefs aren't necessarily true, nor are crony beliefs necessarily false. What distinguishes the two concepts is how we're rewarded for them: via effective actions or via social impressions. The best we can say is that merit beliefs are more likely to be true." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! This week, we're talking about Kevin Simler's popular Essay: Crony Beliefs. Our beliefs are essentially divided into merit beliefs and crony beliefs. We talk about the many reasons we hold our beliefs, whether it's for accuracy, showing off, or blending in. We cover a wide range of topics including: Key distinctions between Meritocracy and Cronyism The different agendas that we accomplish through our belief system  Autonomy and individual decision making in the US vs. other countries How crony beliefs show up in the medical field, diet culture, and more What does it take to overturn a belief? And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Listen Notes (0:15) Hardcore History (Dan Carlin) (2:10) Castro podcast app (2:26) Huberman Lab podcast (3:39) Outside the System (6:53) The Danny Miranda podcast (7:53) Books Mentioned: The Elephant in the Brain (9:39) (Nat's Book Notes) Country Driving (40:13) Where Is My Flying Car? (54:03) Atomic Habits (1:03:27) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Dan Carlin (2:10) Joe Rogan (5:26) Danny Miranda (7:53) Matt Mullenweg (11:06) Charlie Munger (1:06:28) Show Topics: (0:00) According to Listen Notes, we're in the top 1% of podcasts! We open the show by talking about podcast stats and the main challenge podcasts face that makes it hard for the show to grow.  (4:42) Differences between podcasts put out by independent creators vs. content distribution companies. (8:33) Today, we're discussing Crony Beliefs by Kevin Simler. He talks about using beliefs as tools or ‘employees'. You have beliefs that you believe in for true reasons, but there are also crony beliefs which you may hold for social or political benefit.  (13:52) We have agendas that we accomplish through our beliefs as they fulfill different reward systems. With Cronyism, we're less concerned about the accuracy of our belief so long as we make the right impression on others.  (20:37) Crony beliefs thrive in areas of ambiguity. However, it's important to note that merit beliefs aren't always true in the same way that crony beliefs aren't always false. The distinction comes from how we're rewarded for our belief and why you believe in it. (24:12) Conspicuousness and standing out so you can be visible to others. It can be hard to tell when someone is sharing something out of the human desire to share and add value, or whether it's for self-justification purposes. (28:24) There are collections of ideas or rules where as a whole, we feel that we all need to agree on it. We go into the example of traffic laws. Conflicts arise when some groups think an idea has to be mandated whereas some people feel that it's okay ‘as long as it's not hurting anyone'. (32:06) How something as simple as a traffic light can mean something different in different places in the world. Is it to be obeyed 100% or just for guidance in preventing accidents? (40:08) The US prides itself on democracy, but the individual decision making and autonomy is lower than it is in many other cultures. (47:03) Crony beliefs in the medical field. Many times, it feels riskier to change a belief than to keep going with the current one you have. (49:21) From the outside, it's difficult to discern what a crony belief is. When it comes time to challenge or change a crony belief, if often would take a large event. Small, gradual changes wouldn't push the dial enough. (54:26) The best way to see if you believe something: Are you willing to test it?  (58:01) The word 'crony' has a negative connotation, but they're not always bad beliefs to have. We talk about why life wouldn't be better if we only had meritocratic beliefs. (1:05:24) Could there be a level between crony and merit beliefs? There are many beliefs that are aspirational and positive, but not necessarily true. (1:09:01) We discuss the level of overlap between Kevin Simler's essay on crony beliefs and his book, The Elephant in the Brain. The book is all about the hidden motives that we have, and how we have thoughts that we don't want to acknowledge, yet they drive our behavior. (1:16:45) Harry Potter, Fast and Furious, and Lord of the Rings. Why it's easier to gain traction from remakes and sequels than a whole new story altogether.  (1:20:43) That wraps up this episode! Next up, we'll be reading Country Driving by Peter Hessler. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book if you want to read along with us before the next episode. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Your unhappiness cannot be blamed on your past or your environment. And it isn't that you lack competence. You just lack courage. One might say you are lacking in the courage to be happy.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! This week, we're diving into The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. This book is full of wisdom, challenging you to free yourself from the expectations placed on you by others so you can achieve happiness. We cover a wide range of topics including: Pledging loyalty to yourself How "Insta-therapy" can be simultaneously hurtful and helpful When not to give unsolicited advice Are all problems interpersonal problems? Having the courage to follow through on your ideas And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: The End of Medicine (29:40) The Game Changers (29:48) What is a Spoonie? (38:40) Hurts So Good (40:36) Books Mentioned: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (3:17) (Nat's Book Notes) How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (10:19) Finite and Infinite Games (21:55) (Nat's Book Notes) King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (22:03) Antifragile (46:47) (Nat's Book Notes) Turning Pro (55:57) (Nat's Book Notes) Shadow Divers (56:54) People Mentioned: Alfred Adler (5:38) Will Durant (10:03) Harry Browne (10:18) Nassim Taleb (46:26) Steven Pressfield (55:55) Show Topics: 2:10) On today's episode, we're discussing The Courage to Be Disliked. Written by two Japanese authors, the book is a conversation between a German philosopher and a young man teaching that the past doesn't control you, as you have ownership over your life and your actions. (7:16) Insta-therapy; social media posts all about therapy and unpacking trauma. While it can be helpful and informational, there can be some downside to it, too. When it comes to therapy, there's a difference between unpacking your life and taking action on it. (12:29) The book talks about lifestyles and how it's something that we can choose at any point in our life. (15:17) Everything you experience is in context of other people. Separation of tasks: Don't try to do somebody's tasks for them. "A parent suffering over the relationship with his or her child will tend to think, 'My child is my life.' In other words, the parent is taking on the child's task as his or her own, and is no longer able to think about anything but the child. When at last the parent notices it, the ‘I' is already gone from his or her life. However, no matter how much of the burden of the child's task one carries, the child is still an independent individual." (23:23) Unsolicited feedback. You can usually tell if someone's feedback is sincere or if it's for their own benefit. (29:54) Vegan diet vs. standard American diet, and how elimination diets are a way to see how your body reacts and what you're sensitive to.  (34:15) Once we took lead out of gasoline, violent crime rates and other factors went down tremendously. The "Spoonie" community.  (40:46) When you identify with a group, you may tend to believe in all related ideas or beliefs in order to stay a part of that group, even if the ideas are questionable. (42:54) The way the book frames ambition and how you shouldn't be seeking recognition. By being ambitious, you can contribute to more people.  (45:27) Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss the title of the book and their interpretations of it. It's impossible to get everyone like you. If you aren't disliked, you're restricting your behavior to receive a more favorable outcome, but are you really free?  (51:34) Pledging loyalty to yourself and recognizing that you can't please everybody. (54:14) When you think you can't do something, it's often because you lack the courage to follow through on it. You can't fail if you don't start, and that can prevent you from taking action. (56:34) That wraps up this episode! Next up, we'll be covering Country Driving by Peter Hessler so make sure to pick up a copy and read along with us before our next episode. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“It was impossible to expect a moral awakening from humankind itself, just like it was impossible to expect humans to lift off the earth by pulling up on their own hair. To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this long-awaited episode, we're covering The Three-Body Problem, a science fiction trilogy by Liu Cixin. Find out what happens when a military group successfully sends signals into space in hopes of making contact with aliens. We cover a wide range of topics including: The difference bewteen exponential and linear cultures Why anything in the "dark forest" should be considered a threat Using hibernation as a form of time traveling Escapism and the need to flee earth to survive The fragility of being a human and remaining healthy And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: The Last of Us (0:59) Casa Grande Ruins (15:29) TransMedics (25:59) Fermi paradox (1:01:22) Books Mentioned: Project Hail Mary (6:17) Where Is My Flying Car? (38:42)  What Your Food Ate (39:19) The Paper Menagerie (51:07) Einstein: His Life and Universe (56:20) The Sovereign Individual (1:10:54) (Nat's Book Notes) The Courage to Be Disliked (1:15:36) People Mentioned: Liu Cixin Ken Liu (49:53) Walter Isaacson (56:20) Show Topics: (0:00) This week, we're diving into The Three-Body Problem! Spoiler alert: If you haven't read the book and don't want anything given away, we recommend you come back to this episode later to avoid learning plot twists and key information. (6:13) One of the quirks of the alien species is that they are not able to deceive each other. We also talk about the difference between exponential vs. linear culture. (10:16) The books jump through many genres from a mystery thriller to classic adventure. We provide some of the context of the book and ponder on how other civilizations would view humans in their perspective. (13:37) Nat, Neil, and Adil share their reactions on the end of the story and the inevitable death that everybody faces.  (15:12) Preserving information and monuments over time. There are still stone engravings that hold up today, but even things like paper and hard drives aren't able to withstand the test of time.  (19:15) This year, The Three-Body Problem is hitting Netflix as a TV series! We talk about what the show may look like and how they will portray the different dimensions. (22:52) A lot can change in just a short time. How would humanity react if we found out today that in a few hundred years, humanity would be destroyed by a group of powerful aliens? (24:12) How the book presented the idea of hibernation and using someone's skills later as opposed to the current moment. In a way, it's like time traveling. (28:58) Escapism, the space cities, and how easy it is to be poisoned by your own environment. (32:53) Wallfacers and other interesting ideas that the author incorporated into the storyline. The series was very interesting for its many different paradoxes and sociological concepts. (38:30) There's the paradox that we have so much we can potentially solve with our technological advancements, but at the same time, do we really have all of the of smaller components and variables of it figured out? (41:15) The fragility of being human and the importance of micronutrients to our functioning that we may or may not realize.  (47:21) The series is based on the author's back story in the cultural revolution in China. While written in 2007, the books weren't translated into English until 2014 where some parts of the story got slightly changed or adapted. (52:14) Will there be substantial changes in how we understand and view the universe in the next century, and how will these shift our perception of these novels? (1:00:01) There's a sense in today's world that we've simply figured everything out, while we arguably have a lot more yet to discover. (1:01:12) The Dark Forest theory. The idea that there are potentially many alien civilizations that exist, and other intelligent lives we come across would presumably be seen as a threat. (1:11:30) Nat, Neil, and Adil share their thoughts on which of the books in the trilogy was their favorite. (1:15:35) That's a wrap! Next up, we're reading The Courage to Be Disliked. Make sure to pick up a copy if you'd like to read along before the next episode! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're diving into History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. Full of speeches, history, parallels, and battles, this book provides an account of the Peloponnesian War as told by an Athenian general. We cover a wide range of topics including: The style of combat in 5th century BC vs. modern tactics Effects of the plague of Athens Unhinged Google reviews of the US House of Representatives How war is depicted differently depending on your perspective The difference in lifestyle between the Spartans and Athenians And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Chesterton's Fence (22:20) Battle of Stalingrad (37:16) Letters From Iwo Jima (49:37) Flags of Our Fathers (49:40) Books Mentioned: History of the Peloponessian War The Three-Body Problem (0:07) (Nat's Book Notes) The Iliad (8:12) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fourth Turning (44:29) The Lessons of History (46:36) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Chris Kyle (48:02) Clint Eastwood (49:29) Xenophon (51:11) Show Topics: (1:06) History of the Peloponnesian War- The first and oldest history book that we have. While there are older books about historical events and periods, this book strives to depict things with historical accuracy rather than for storytelling and entertainment purposes.  (6:08) The history was divided into eight books, and each book changes slightly in the style of which it was written. (9:10) What was the Peloponnesian War? We talk about the history of the war. While the Athenians and Spartans were the main players in the fight, there were a bunch of smaller allies mentioned as well. (14:41) "If an opponent made a reasonable speech, the party in power, so far from giving it a generous reception, took every precaution to see that it had no practical effect." Nat, Neil, and Adil read some passages from the book and discuss some of the parallels. (19:44)  "A city is better off with bad laws, so long as they remain fixed, than with good laws that are constantly being altered, that lack of learning combined with sound common sense is more helpful than the kind of cleverness that gets out of hand, and that as a general rule states are better governed by the man in the street than by intellectuals.” Many politicians in the earlier days had a career before they were a politician, and many roles in politics were just on a part time basis whereas today, most elected officials are in that role full time.  (26:19) What do people really think of the US House of Representatives? (28:09) Strength of the Athenian navy. Much of the naval battles included hand-to-hand combat as guns and cannons were not yet in use. This looked much different than naval battles would in today's time.  (35:01) While the sizes of the battles seem very small in comparison to today, it still affected a sizeable percentage of the population. (40:54) The writing style changed as the book went on. In the beginning, there were more detailed descriptions of the actual war, but as it went on, the narrative became more of an accounting of the battles and casualties.  (41:37) The book describes a plague that broke out that ended up killing a lot of people. Why “watch words” were common in this war as a tool to recognize who was or was not on your side.  (47:45) Depictions of war today include the costs that come with war such as the potential of losing your home or family. There can be different perspectives of the same battle just based on what side you're on and where you live. (53:14) That wraps up this episode! As previously hinted, we will be covering The Three-Body Problem next. Make sure to grab a copy to follow along with us! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people: circumstances geographical, economic, and political create a culture, and the culture creates a human type.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're talking about The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant. This concise yet jam-packed book presents pivotal moments and ideas throughout history covering thirteen different areas including religion, progress, government, and character.  We cover a wide range of topics including: The progression of humans as a species Religious entities being replaced by secular entities Why freedom and equality are "enemies" War as a constant of history How tension is necessary for a society to function And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: No Agenda Show (55:01) Moore's Law (1:15:00) Three Generations Theory (1:18:49) Books Mentioned: The Lessons of History (Nat's Book Notes) The Psychology of Money (3:05) (Nat's Book Notes) Atomic Habits (3:51) (Nat's Book Notes) Antifragile (4:50) (Nat's Book Notes) Fooled by Randomness (4:52) (Nat's Book Notes) The Black Swan (5:05) (Nat's Book Notes) Skin in the Game (5:15) (Nat's Book Notes) The Story of Civilization (7:41) The Story of Philosophy (7:47) (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (10:37) (Nat's Book Notes) Getting Things Done (11:58) Hooked (13:24) (Nat's Book Notes) The Art of Seduction (14:26) (Nat's Book Notes) The Art of War (14:29)  The 48 Laws of Power (15:12) (Nat's Book Notes) The 50th Law (15:21) (Nat's Book Notes) Mastery (15:34) (Nat's Book Notes) The Firm (18:57) A Time to Kill (19:01) Where Is My Flying Car? (28:22) On China (35:13)  The Alchemy of Finance (38:47) The Fourth Turning (1:04:09) Permutation City (1:17:03) The Three-Body Problem (1:23:50) (Nat's Book Notes) Snow Crash (1:25:45) (Nat's Book Notes) Seveneves (1:26:00) People Mentioned: Nassim Taleb (2:18) Morgan Housel (3:06) James Clear (3:50) David Allen (11:57) Robert Greene (14:15) John Grisham (18:56) Tim Ferriss (56:25) Show Topics: (0:00) In this episode, we're discussing The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant. On brand with Made You Think, we start the episode with a good 'ol tangent! (4:19) The difference between fiction and non-fiction authors in the development of their writing and storytelling over time. For nonfiction writers who tend to write about the same few ideas, it can be hard to keep it novel when delivering those ideas. (10:33) What makes a book the best of that author's career- the quality of their writing or the ideas in the book itself? Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about different authors and books that were the peak of the author's writing career. (16:59) Authors always seem to be competing with their earlier work or their most popular book. There are also cases where a successful book later on in your career can kickstart the popularity of an earlier book that didn't get any previous traction. (23:23) Why people tend to avoid books that are commonly recommended by everyone. (27:14) The last chapter talks about progress, where progress refers to our species rather than scientific progress. In many ways (ex: communication, technology) we have progressed, but if you look at it from another viewpoint, more problems stem over time from some of the solutions that we have found. (30:45) No matter how great our lives are, we always find something to be unhappy about. "Our capacity for fretting is endless, and no matter how many difficulties we surmount, how many ideals we realize, we shall always find an excuse for being magnificently miserable; there is a stealthy pleasure in rejecting mankind or the universe as unworthy of our approval." (35:53) The existence of healthy tension- You need a healthy amount of debate and disagreement in order to find the line of best fit. (40:22) “The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality." We are somewhere in the middle of capitalism and socialism. Freedom vs. equality in opportunity. (47:55) "There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion. France, the United States, and some other nations have divorced their governments from all churches, but they have had the help of religion in keeping social order." Everybody believes in something whether it's formal religion or not. There are many alternatives to religion where people gather over a common interest or practice. (52:28) Different groups come with different depths of relationships. We give the example of depth of religious relationships vs. relationships with those you meet in a CrossFit gym. (57:40) It tells you a lot about someone when they have more obscure interests rather than mainstream interests.  (1:00:54) Are influencers taking on the role of 'idols'?  (1:07:26) When it comes to making predictions, it's hard to be completely accurate when there's always a variable that changes. One thing that has been standard and constant over the years: War.  (1:12:12) Though it's statistically unlikely to encounter a violent revolution in each given year, it's beneficial to have a baseline level of preparedness to survive. (1:14:05) As the population grows, we find more ways to make food. With more food, we grow more as a population. When we think we may hit max population or another ceiling, new discoveries are made. (1:16:10) Without death, can the species still progress? While many may desire the choice of their own immortality, it may not be good for human civilization. (1:21:30) That concludes this episode! Stay tuned as we gear up for our next episodes on Peloponnesian War and The Three-Body Problem. Plus, we talk about other fascinating science fiction books that may pique your interest as this episode winds down. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Opponents replied that when you modeled a hurricane, nobody got wet. When you modeled a fusion power plant, no energy was produced. When you modeled digestion and metabolism, no nutrients were consumed – no real digestion took place. So, when you modeled the human brain, why should you expect real thought to occur?” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're talking all things consciousness and simulated reality with Permutation City by Greg Egan. Classified as a hard science fiction novel, the book tells the story of a man who seeks to create immortality by creating "software" copies of the mind. We cover a wide range of topics including: The complex nature of consciousness Egan's "Dust Theory" What it's like to live in a simulation Ethics surrounding death and dying The possibilities that come with computer intelligence And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: The Dust Theory (3:51) Biocentrism (7:37) Black Mirror - San Junipero (30:48) Turing test (35:52) Her (39:08) Building a Second Brain (1:07:05) The Expanse (1:08:08) ChatGPT Epilogue to Permutation City Books Mentioned: Godel Escher Bach (0:42) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (0:58) (Nat's Book Notes) The Beginning of Infinity (16:42) (Nat's Book Notes) The Egg (19:27) The Fable of the Dragon Tyrant (24:26) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (26:58) Where Is my Flying Car? (27:13)  The Comfort Crisis (30:20)  Homo Deus (44:41) (Nat's Book Notes) Altered Carbon (53:41) The Lessons of History (1:02:26) People Mentioned: Greg Egan (3:54) Arthur Clarke (16:39) Issac Asimov (16:40) Andy Weir (19:28) Liu Cixin (1:04:31) Show Topics: (0:00) If you're a science fiction lover, this week's episode is for you! We're discussing Permutation City, a 'hard science fiction' book from 1994. This book explores many concepts including The Dust Theory and achieving immortality through copying your consciousness. (4:24) Intro to Dust Theory. There are infinitely many universes existing at all space and time. As soon as a universe is perceived by a conscious intelligence, that universe comes to exist, and that universe will always continue to exist as long as there is consciousness to observe it. (8:11) Are we in a simulation? We learn in response to stimuli which is also how LLMs (large language models) learn too. (13:12) Nat, Neil, and Adil define consciousness, discuss the idea of transporting consciousness, and how we differ from LLMs. We have a private and inner mind that generates its own thoughts and feelings. We can't be certain whether computers have this or not. (22:01) There's an 'engine' in our heads that is focused on our survival and continuation. (23:21) Ethics surrounding death. One can argue that life is short, but when you've lived for thousands of years through copying your consciousness, it becomes a question of when it's enough. (28:39) If we could somehow prevent bodily decay and the death of our loved ones, would we ever be ready to die, and is aging something that we can slow down or affect?  (33:43) In the book, from the perspective of the humans, the copies are just programs who look intelligent, but they aren't real. From the perspective of the copies, it's all very real. (41:31) Time dilation and running consciousness slower for the copies. The slowdown doesn't necessarily affect the copy. The time perception is still the same to them, but it may affect how they interact with the real world. (46:08) There's a baseline risk for being alive. You can try to get all of your life risks to zero, but it is best to accept that there will always be some general risk. (51:49) Collaboration in publishing. While most books have a single author, it may add some dimension to get expertise from guest authors with knowledge in different fields. (54:50) What did Greg Egan regret most about Permutation City?  (1:02:11) That concludes this episode! Stay tuned for our next episode on History of the Peloponnesian War. Also on the horizon is The Three-Body Problem. Make sure to pick up a copy if you'd like to read up before the episode. As mentioned, check out this awesome epilogue created by ChatGPT! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“In today's world, even a non-Stagnated version, the flying car is not a replacement for the car; it is a replacement for the airplane. A reasonably well-designed convertible could fit right in to today's airspace system; it would fit right into our road system as well. Without the Stagnation there might well be a 50,000 airplane per year market, and enough licensed pilots to buy them. Remember, average family income would be well into six figures. In 1950, about one quarter of one percent of Americans were licensed pilots; that percentage today amounts to over three quarters of a million, which is market aplenty, for a start.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we discuss Where Is My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall who calls out the stagnation of productivity since the 1970s and gives us a glimpse of what our future could be if we strive for it. We cover a wide range of topics including: Why growth has slowed since the 1970s What's possible with nuclear energy and nanotech? The zero sum way of thinking How our tolerance for risk has changed over time The progression of aviation from the early 1900s to now And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show:  Kardashev scale (35:02) Israel's Iron Dome (44:40) AVE Mizar - Flying car prototype (47:46) Joby Aviation (54:04) Osprey military helicopter (55:07) Tesla plunges off a cliff (1:01:17) Interstellar (1:19:59) Space elevator (1:25:37) Popular Mechanics (1:26:51) Books Mentioned: The Three-Body Problem (9:55) (Nat's Book Notes) Dune (10:33) Foundation (10:34) Zero to One (13:57) (Nat's Book Notes) The Comfort Crisis (14:18) (Book Episode) Energy and Civilization (33:59) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (37:22) Project Hail Mary (56:52) The Martian (56:55) (Nat's Book Notes) The Time Machine (1:07:14) The Fourth Turning (1:14:19) (Book Episode) The Art of Doing Science and Engineering (1:32:19) The Making of the Prince of Persia (1:32:40) The Dream Machine (1:33:51) Scientific Freedom (1:34:02) People Mentioned: Dan Carlin (0:56) Vaclav Smil (33:57) Ron Chernow (37:23) Andy Weir (56:53) David Foster Wallace (1:06:25) Paul Graham (1:29:58) Show Topics: (0:36) Podcast analytics: What are the listening behaviors and demographics of our listeners? (4:35) The explanation behind the spy balloons and other UFOs.  (9:52) Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about some book recommendations they've received and books they'd recommend to others. (11:56) One takeaway from the book is that we don't tend to work on things that feel impossible. Much of what we've accomplished is what feels safe and what we know we'll see success in. (17:42) The book we're discussing today is Where Is My Flying Car? The book talks about the stagnation of the physical world because we didn't invest as much as we could have in nuclear energy, nanotech, and aviation.  (22:14) Some of the different technologies that have been idealized feel fictional and out of reach. However, we're much further than we know in understanding the technical part of it and these ideas may not be all that unattainable.  (26:44) Early on, the book emphasizes the flying car, then goes to explain that you can't get the flying car without better energy policies and nanotech.  (30:05) The cost efficiency of nuclear fuel.  (32:03) The Henry Adams curve. How do we make the shift from creating more energy to using the energy more efficiently? The amount of energy your civilization harnesses is indicative of your wealth and quality of living. (35:39) The ‘zero sum' way of thinking and how it impacts moral behavior. If you don't have economic growth, you can't sustain democracy in the long run. (38:09) What would good regulation look like? How the atomic bomb changed the progress and power of countries. (44:45) Climate change and the argument of CO2 as an enemy. If CO2 did increase, it would be beneficial to plants but harmful to humans.  (46:55) Aviation from the 30's and 40's and the stagnation over the past few decades in air travel. While we made progress after the first aircraft was made and through WW1 and WW2, the progress since is seemingly slow.  (52:23) The distinction between leading edge vs. depth and the importance of computing progress in space travel.  (58:29) Before the era of computing, many things were controlled by pumps and levers. Our risk tolerance is much different than it once was.  (1:04:40) We have different ideas of what risk is now. We still have the instinct to make progress in society, but it has been redirected towards other things. (1:11:16) The 5 levels of transportation and how your wealth determines your level. There are millions of people who can't afford shoes, yet people in higher socioeconomic classes can afford cars. Both are vehicles for transportation. (1:16:42) What will good tech look like in 50 years? We've progressed in telecommunication with audio, video, tv, podcasts, instant messaging, etc. A lot of science fiction is pessimistic about humanity.  (1:22:48) Nanotech and the capabilities you can achieve with it.  (1:30:58) Have you ever read a book and wished it was longer or shorter? (1:42:02) That concludes this episode! Next up, we're reading Peloponnesian War and will get to The Three-Body Problem trilogy down the road. Make sure to pick up a copy if you want to follow along with us! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're covering The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Though it's nearly 2,500 years old, the military tactics and war strategies presented in the book are still being taught in militaries and business schools around the world making this a timeless strategy guide. We cover a wide range of topics including: How perfecting the basics can earn you the win Strategies for being the superior or inferior force The five essentials for victory Using deception on your enemy When you should use an indirect approach or avoid conflict And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Donald Trump's NFT commercial (3:38) Then and now: Uneven bars (27:45) Jocko Podcast 23: The Art of War (29:07) ChatGPT (1:02:33) Did the Greeks see blue? (1:03:03)  Books Mentioned: Tao Te Ching (7:49) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Atomic Habits (9:30) (Nat's Book Notes) The Prince (20:37) Unrestricted Warfare (1:09:27) Where Is My Flying Car? (1:10:35) People Mentioned: Sun Tzu  Colleen Hoover (9:33) Sun Bin (10:24) Lorenzo de' Medici (21:07) Show Topics: (4:02) Today, we are diving back in to our Great Book Series with The Art of War, a book on military strategy and warfare, but the lessons can be applied to fields outside of war, too. (7:36) The book is approximately 2,500 years old. Though Sun Tzu is credited as the author, it's unclear how much of it was his direct writing vs. a compilation of his strategies that are attributed to him. (13:43) One main takeaway from the book is that it really all comes down to the basics and the intuition you get from your experience.  (17:48) The commentary in the book suggests that the book wasn't written for a military audience, but rather for the King at the time. It may not dive into the actual act of fighting, training, and equipping a military, but it does cover leadership, deception, and strategization. (22:12) "To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself." The enemy can present you the opportunity to win by making a mistake. This can apply in areas outside of war, such as sports. (28:09) Much of the book talks about avoiding war and taking an indirect approach. You can't change someone's mind with a direct approach, but you can apply other tactics and more indirect measures to convince someone or change their minds.  (32:47) Nat, Neil, and Adil go over the 5 essentials for victory as well as the importance of the commander's intent. (35:02) Superior vs. inferior forces and knowing how to handle them. You can turn a superior force into an inferior force by splitting them up and spreading them thin. (38:51) When attacking a weaker force, never corner them. Leaving the enemy an escape lets the less motivated soldiers to leave through the escape route rather than fighting it out. (40:41) The 9 grounds - The book lays out strategies for each of the types of ground. They are helpful for the generals to have a list of possible next steps depending on the situation at hand. (44:57) The basics may appear so simple and common sense, but it's all about which side can do the basics correctly. By remembering the basics, we aren't forced to try to do too much which is when we end up making an error allowing the other side to capitalize on it. (51:54) Once you have expertise in something, you often notice things that others with just basic knowledge wouldn't. We talk about why it can also be harder to teach a beginner when you're an expert. (57:28) Rapid fire: Nat, Neil, and Adil cover a few of their remaining notes from the book including the 5 dangerous faults that may affect a general.  (1:09:23) The basics of war can be combined and recombined. It's similar to playing cards where two people may play the same hand completely differently and apply different strategies. (1:10:28) That concludes this episode! Up next, we will be reading Where Is My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall. Make sure to pick up a copy if you want to read along with us! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we discuss The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and the effects that traumatic stress can have on our mind and body.  We cover a wide range of topics including: Why the mind and body should not be viewed as unrelated entities The role of both parents in raising a well-adjusted child Breathwork, meditation, and starting early How movement and exercise can rewire your brain The rise of therapy and importance of social support And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Agamemnon (1:11) Shiva (27:55) 40th Day after death (28:09) Bonobos (43:30) EMDR (1:00:14) Wim Hof Breathing (1:03:08) Books Mentioned The Body Keeps the Score Merchants of Doubt (3:09) (Nat's Book Notes) (Book Episode) Gödel, Escher, Bach (6:17) (Nat's Book Notes) (Book Episode) Burn Rate (43:22) Breath (1:01:58) (Nat's Book Notes) Deep (1:02:07) The Art of War (1:08:32) People Mentioned Andy Dunn (43:20) Eric Jorgensen (54:23) (Book Episode) James Nestor (1:02:01) Show Topics: (0:00) The Body Keeps The Score seeks to change the discourse around trauma and its symptoms, and it pokes some holes in the way that people have historically thought about mental health. (3:28) The way we think about our bodily health was traditionally very individualistic, when in reality, it's very complex. The brain and body connection: They're not two totally different things, rather they're deeply connected.  (8:09) In addition to the mental and emotional affects of anxiety, there are physical effects too: stomach aches, shortness of breath, muscle tension, and more. We also talk about the importance of gut health. (12:10) Fermentation of beer and sourdough, and the differences when it's fermented commercially vs. at-home. (17:07) A lot of what we consume may have been fermented at least partially in the past, but that's not the case with most foods anymore. Our bodies have evolved to it, and it likely has an impact on our gut health. (19:58) PTSD with veterans and why they could be in one world mentally but another world physically.  (25:49) Handling difficult experiences with social support vs. isolation. If you grew up without a positive parental figure, you may try to find that support somewhere else, even if that support is negative such as joining a gang. (27:11) The rise of therapy. Traditionally, people would use their social or religious communities as the support to confide in and get them through difficult times. Today, there's more individualized support from someone that you previously did not know. (31:30) You don't process trauma the same way you process language, so talking about these traumatic events can become difficult. There's a difference between going to therapy and actually doing the work at therapy. (36:00) The book highlights many stories of people where events experienced early on in life are still unresolved for many years into their adulthood. It can take decades to identify where some of our behaviors and thoughts stem from.  (39:54) Imprinting your child. Not everyone is aware of bad habits they show in their parenting style that came from their own parents. It's all about reflecting on how you want to do things differently than your parents as a parent yourself. (45:49) The author argues that it's hard to have an emotionally well adjusted child without both a male and female role model that embodies some of the stereotypical traits for the child. (56:13) Movement and exercise can rewire your brain and change how you feel about something. It also takes us back to the mind-body connection where you're more likely to feel emotionally better if you physically feel well, too. (58:32) Nat and Neil share their advice on reading the book and how the stories within the book can be helpful, but at the same time, difficult to read. (1:01:51) The benefits of breathwork and meditation, and how you can teach those skills very early on in life. (1:07:59) That wraps up this episode! Join us next time as we cover The Art of War by Sun Tzu. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Analects of Confucius and virtuous living. We cover a wide range of topics including: Confucian virtues The differences between Confucianism and Taoism The value of friendships between the young and their elders How to govern through example in a Confucian way Transmitting the values of ancients to contemporary times Ancient Chinese religions And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Mentioned in the show: Desnudo Coffee in Austin Johnathan Bi and David Perell's Girard Lecture series link Hardcore History: Wrath of the Khans Hardcore History: The Death Throes of the Republic Ancient Chinese religions Dolphin birthing center TikTok Books mentioned: The Clouds by Aristophanes Falling Upward by Richard Rohr People mentioned: Rumi (24:35) Richard Rohr (48:26) Johnathan Bi and David Perell (54:00) Graham Hancock (1:14:51) Show Topics: (0:00) Feedback about the Made You Think title – time for a possible rebrand? (1:44) Tangent Fuel Coffee and Desnudo Coffee in Austin (8:18) TikTok SEO's early days and Nat's experience on BookTok (12:40) About Confucius (15:45) Socrates, Confucius, and Buddha lived in the same 100 years (18:12) Confucianism vs. Taoism (20:28) The meaning of Books 10 and 18 in Analects (23:20) Confucianism vs. Stoicism (24:35) Confucius or Rumi? Adil reads quotes from each and Nat and Neil guess the author (31:34) The Golden Rule appearing in Analects - twice! (33:54): How to retain an author's original meaning while translating their work, especially when translating poetry or religious texts (36:35) How The Clouds by Aristophanes contirbuted to Socrates' death (38:00) The meaning of filial piety and how Confucius prescribes mourning for one's parents (42:03) How our society is stratified by age and the difficulties in making friends with people much older (48:26) Falling Upward by Richard Rohr (52:20) The narcissism of small differences and Girard (54:55) Governing through virtue and example (59:15) Genghis Khan breaking up groups with homogenous sets of beliefs – TK LINK Genghis Khan series (1:00:03) Parallels between the decline of the Roman Republic and the US – TK LINK Rome series (1:05:10) Unexpected appearance of the word “God” in the text, ancient Chinese folk religions, matrilineal cultures (1:10:48) Confucius's views on friendship and how to choose your friends (1:11:47) Confucius transmitting values from earlier periods which were abandoned by his contemporaries (1:14:51) Graham Hancock interviews and conspiracies (1:20:15) “The pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves” (1:24:00) Final notes and wrap-up If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, and how our modern lifestyle and pursuit of ease might be making us miserable, stressed, and anxious.  We cover a wide range of topics including: The connection between boredom and creativity Misogis and how to discover what you're truly capable of Why you don't necessarily want "less phone" How rucking could be a massive exercise hack The proper "dose" of outdoor, tech-free time And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: GORUCK (0:40)  Raising Your Ceiling (8:28) Peter Attia's Podcast episode with Michael Easter (9:01) Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (11:22) Eight Mattress (48:36) Tim Ferriss Podcast episode with Josh Waitzkin (54:14) Books Mentioned: The Comfort Crisis Emergency (12:52) (Book Episode) Antifragile (13:47) (Book Episode) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1:11:49) Moonwalking with Einstein (1:15:01) (Book Episode) Analects of Confucius (1:33:32) People Mentioned: Michael Easter Nassim Taleb (14:13) Josh Waitzkin (54:08) Sogyal Rinpoche (1:11:48) Show Topics: (0:00) Rucking as a way to make you fit overall and where on your body you should be carrying the weight when you walk. (4:32) How your eyes and body adjust to virtual reality. In general, your eyes dilate differently when you're using a screen vs. not using a screen.  (8:25) In today's episode, we're diving into The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. The book is centered around the author's caribou hunt in Alaska to challenge the idea of what comfort means to him. (12:51) Good writing is more about helping explain a concept you're beginning to think about in a way that you haven't been able to conceptualize on your own yet rather than teaching you something brand new. (15:19) Boredom is another theme talked about in the book. We tend to favor a highly comfortable life full of entertainment, and we get uncomfortable when we're bored. However, making your life more comfortable isn't necessarily going to improve it in the long term. (17:59) We live in a world where there is always something you can do so you never have to sit in boredom when you're waiting. Because of this constant need to entertain ourselves, we're losing time that we could be spending processing and crafting new ideas. The more that we can train ourselves to be comfortable in boredom, the more we regain our ability to not be so hyper-anxious and reactive all the time.  (20:56) The connection between boredom and creativity is similar to the idea of rest recovery for working out. You wouldn't work out the same muscle every day without a rest day. We're essentially contracting the attention muscle all day long when we're on our phones all the time and not giving it the recovery time it desperately needs. (23:00) So what's the solution? Let yourself get bored. Rather than thinking “less phone” think “more boredom”. Making space for your thoughts and resetting the baseline. (30:58) What's a sustainable way to get your brain rested regularly and how much outdoors time is recommended each month? (33:13) Misogis are challenges that allow you to reframe your perception of what you're capable of achieving. Each year, it's encouraged that you take on a challenge, one that's really hard and one that is unique where you can't compare yourself to others.  (39:42) From Spartan Races, to pushup challenges, to training in the heat of a Texas summer, Nat, Neil, and Adil reflect on some of the harder things that they've experienced. As a species, we're very capable of doing hard things that we often don't push ourselves hard enough for. (49:00) The author's struggle with alcoholism. Everyone self-medicates differently, whether it's alcohol, conflict, or something more positive. It's a matter of what you choose to fill the space with. (54:01) The language we use to approach things is critical. You can always find a way to enjoy a situation that most people would label as “bad”. (1:02:08) How do you reset from a bad mood or from feeling anxiety? Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about the ways they stay active.  (1:04:54) How much exercise should you do and what's the right amount? The more you can do, the better (of course, without injury and overtraining yourself). (1:09:24) Training yourself for long runs and building up your endurance. (1:11:34) “Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy.”  Filling up our time with things that may or may not be meaningful, but we often don't realize that we're doing it. (1:14:36) When you look back over a long period of time, the days where you're outside of your normal routine is what tends to stick out to you.   (1:19:47) Finding the right amount of novelty to live a happy life. Is it possible to go too far into routine or too far into novelty? (1:23:36) Nat, Neil, and Adil share some of their key takeaways and lessons learned from the book. This includes finding more ways to be uncomfortable, embracing that discomfort, and prioritizing physical activity. (1:31:24) That concludes this episode! We hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for our first episode of 2023 as we cover the Analects of Confucious. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

In today's episode, Nat Neil and Adil discuss the Tao Te Ching by Laozi. We each picked a few of our favorite chapters from the book to read and discuss, resulting in a wide-ranging discussion of work, happiness, ambition, finance, philosophy, and all our usual favorite subjects.  Some of the topics we covered were: The importance of not over-extending yourself, being moderate and patient What does it mean to prioritize “inaction”?  The balance between short and long-term productivity Which parts of the Tao do we each struggle with the most What it means to seek a “middle path.”  Plus lots of tangents around fitness, entrepreneurship, work, other books, and more. Be sure to stick around for the end, where Nat and Neil discuss our new plans for the show and where it's going in 2023.  Remember to subscribe if you haven't, and leave us a review on iTunes or Spotify if you liked the episode! Timestamps (1:10) - How different drugs created different financial crashes & philosophies (3:22) - Background on the Tao Te Ching (11:15) - Variations in the translations of the Tao Te Ching (17:00) - What is the “real” version of old texts? (21:20) - The theme of finding the middle ground, and inaction. Chapter 64. “If you rush into action, you will fail. If you hold on too tight, you will loose your grip. Therefore the Master lets things take their course and thus never fails.” (27:00) - The importance of doing nothing. Chapter 48. “He who conquers the world often does so by doing nothing. When one is compelled to do something, The world is already beyond his conquering.” (33:50) - The difference between short-term and long-term productivity. Sometimes doing nothing in the short term is the best strategy for the long term.  (42:00) - Chapters 68, 24. The importance of being balanced, avoiding going to extremes. Avoiding the consequences of intense competition. “He who stands on tiptoe does not stand firm.” (51:00) - What's something you're doing that's incongruous with the advice in the Tao? Neils: Shiny object syndrome. (54:00) - Nat's: Impatience with professional success. (1:05:00) - Adil's: Shiny object syndrome. (1:07:00) - The problem with the practical vs. the ideal, giving and receiving advice.  (1:15:00) - Unintuitive advice in fitness. (1:21:00) - Aiming at a specific goal vs. aiming in abstract. (1:24:00) - The power of having a good adversary for bringing out your best. (1:28:00) - Wrapup: Upcoming books, plans for the podcast Mentioned in the Show Byrne Hobart (on Lunar Society) (1:10) Analects of Confucius (two episodes from now) (4:51) Tao in You Website (11:15) ChatGPT (14:00) Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle (25:00)  The Alchemy of Finance by George Soros (29:05) Tyler Cowen (31:50) Cal Newport on Sam Harris (33:40) John McPhee (34:00) Children of Time, Adrian Tzchaicovsky (Nat got the age wrong, he was 46) (56:00) Godel Escher Bach, Douglas Hofstadter. Episode link (1:04:00) Antifragile, Nassim Taleb. Episode link (1:12:00) The Gibraltar skull (1:14:00) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Episode link. (1:15:00) Finite and Infinite Games. Episode link. (1:22:00) The Inner Game of Tennis. Episode link. (1:23:00) Robert Nozick (1:24:00) John Rawls (1:24:00) Huberman Lab Podcast (1:25:00) The Comfort Crisis (next episode!) (1:29:00)

Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil give you a full 70 minutes doing what they do best: Going on tangents. Originally set to continue with the next book on their Great Books Project, the energy and caffeine took over as they dive into a variety of interesting discussions, stories, and ideas. This is an episode you don't want to miss! We cover a wide range of topics including: Our favorite virtual reality video games and table games How new leadership at Twitter has impacted the app recently The strengths and limits of GPT-3 Preventing burnout in longer-term or creative projects Being under-employed (on purpose) And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: FTX (0:26) SuperHot (2:07) Satisfactory (4:54) Terraforming Mars (9:18) Catan (9:34) Klask (10:27) 7 Wonders (11:38) Monopoly Deal (12:11) Epic Gardening (17:12) FAMA (30:05) Tweet Deleter (33:21) Twitter employees quit in droves (37:33) Github (50:39) LEX AI (59:38) GPT-3 (1:00:33) All-In Podcast (1:09:15) Books Mentioned: Tao Te Ching (0:03) (Nat's Book Notes) Enders Game (7:12) The Pathless Path (21:51) People Mentioned: Elon Musk (9:22) Kevin Espiritu (17:18)  Paul Millerd (21:50) Marc Andreessen (31:53) Show Topics: (1:44) “Should we talk about the book?” This question answers itself as Nat, Neil, and Adil dive into conversations about their favorite virtual reality video games and board games, as well.  (7:05) A lot of games out there actually help you develop business and life skills. Although video games encourage high amounts of screen time, there is a lot of skills you can learn from them. There are also physical board games representative of the real world but with some fictional elements to it, making it very appealing and educational.  (14:22) It was at this point that the co-hosts decided they're too full of tangents to do a book episode. Nat, Neil, and Adil go back to talking about board games and the fun of strategic games. (18:00) Preventing burnout in longer-term projects. You can't be on all the time. Creative work is also hard to do for extended periods of time because it can be limited by your energy and mental output. We may even have certain parts of the month or year where we're extra productive and wonder why we can't always be that way, but it's important to remember that resting is just as important as being productive. (21:48) The idea of being under-employed purposely. If you've worked for a larger company or consultancy, you often have the feeling that you always have to be "on". When you work for yourself, it's easy to fall back into the thought pattern that you have to be working all the time. (28:26) Social media and podcast presence while also having a job. There are now ways for employers to check the online behaviors of their employment candidates and screen them using AI-powered tools. (34:01) Some educational or funny content we save or bookmark for later tend to get lost in our library of likes. Platforms should create a better system for organizing and saving likes and bookmarks so they can be useful when you need to visit them again. (37:31) The mass quitting and letting go of employees at Twitter. Workplaces that are solely digital and how it compares to companies with a real-world product. The margins are very tight in retail and operating expenses have to be considered. Can these big tech companies run with only a small percentage of their workforce? (43:03) The operating expenses of Twitter and how the new leadership has impacted the app over the past couple weeks.  (47:52) Twitter never became the main social media app, which gives it a certain appeal. Human communication is very context based. Tweets can often taken out of context because you're limited in how much you can explain yourself in a series of tweets, whereas in an article or podcast episode, you can fully describe what you mean by something without it getting twisted. (51:22) How communication and can often be unclear over the Internet. Tone can't always be portrayed over a tweet reply, for example, making the receiver wonder whether it's playful or aggressive. (55:20) Twitter's algorithm and how it puts content on your feed. A lot of it may depend on the content that you interact with, what you ignore, and who you choose to follow. Is it possible for AI to sift through and optimize your social media feeds? (1:00:35) GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) and it's capabilities. How can different tools and platforms incorporate GPT3 AI and what are some of its limits? (1:06:11) That wraps up this episode! Stay tuned for our next episode where we will actually discuss Tao Te Ching. If you'd like to listen to our other episodes in our Great Book series, check out our two most recent ones: The Odyssey and The Iliad. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God's cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil continue with the next book on their Great Books Project: The Odyssey by Homer. This book begins at the end of the Trojan War as Odysseus embarks on his journey home. Listen along as we talk about Odysseus' adventures, flashbacks, and of course, plenty of tangents. We cover a wide range of topics including: The argument of Odysseus as a hero vs. anti-hero Crypto, market cap, and the downfall of $BIRD AI and the future of how we write The reunification of Argos and Odysseus How guests are valued in different cultures And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Socratic dialogue (3:33) 300 (6:29) Chesterson's Fence (17:46) Bicameral mind (22:07) Domestication of dogs (33:51)  Bird Founder's Stake Now Worth Less Than His Miami Mansion (47:05) Episode 7: A Crash Course in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cryptocurrency(1:07:58) Carthage (1:13:41) Lex (1:18:20)  The Infinite Article (1:22:04) Blinkist (1:23:40) Books Mentioned: The Odyssey The Iliad (1:08) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Dante's Inferno (8:39) The Fourth Turning (17:29) (Book Episode)  The Lessons of History (36:10) (Nat's Book Notes) The Hobbit (40:45) Ulysses (47:58) Gödel, Escher, Bach (49:10) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Infinite Jest (49:10) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Atlas Shrugged (49:11) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (55:48) Tao Te Ching (1:04:05) (Nat's Book Notes) Seeing Like a State (1:05:52) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Art of War (1:06:04) The Peloponnesian War (1:06:16) The Pioneers (1:07:30) The Epic of Gilgamesh (1:14:09) (Book Episode)  People Mentioned: Ian McKellan (0:50) Plato (3:43) Eminem (4:18) Will Durant (34:53) Ryan Reynolds (43:38) James Joyce (47:59) Daniel Tosh (51:14) Stephen King (55:48) Brett Favre (58:01) Show Topics: (0:36) In this episode, we're continuing from where we left off on our Great Books List diving into The Odyssey by Homer. In case you missed our previous episode on another great by Homer, The Iliad, make sure to go check that one out! The Iliad and Odyssey differ in the way the narrative unfolds, despite being written by the same author. (5:17) The Odyssey is an oral story meaning that it's been passed down by word of mouth. Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about some of the main differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey where the Odyssey was more story-driven and the Iliad presented more lessons and takeaways. (7:21) Odysseus: Was he a hero or an anti-hero? In some contexts, he's portrayed as ‘god-like' and admired for his strength and achievements. In other cases such as in Dante's inferno, Odysseus is deep in hell for his crimes. (10:49) Where the story begins, it come years after the end of the Trojan War. There's multiple layers to consider when recognizing the reliability of the narrator: Which of Odysseus' stories were dramatized by the author and how would it be different if told in Odysseus' exact words?  (14:56) In short, the story is about Odysseus' journey home from the Trojan War and all the adventures that happened along the way. One theme along his journey home was the idea of 'don't assume you know better', and to respect the wisdom of the gods or your elders. (18:49) Although the Greek gods are supposed to be listened to and respected for their knowledge, there is always conflict and fighting among the gods.  (21:25) We bring up the bicameral mind discussion from the last episode. Thinking of the gods not necessarily as deities but rather the intuition in our own minds. When it's framed like that, it tells the lesson to not distrust your instinct too much. (25:13) What was the reasoning of Odysseus returning home in disguise? Though he was gone for 20 years, none of his loved ones recognized him under his disguise as a beggar. (30:33) The reunification of Argos and Odysseus. His dog recognized him immediately, though Odyssesus couldn't respond appropriately as he was still in disuise. Not many families in The Odyssey had dogs. History of the domestication of dogs. (36:49) How characters in the story trusted and treated their guests. Odysseus' loved ones didn't know it was Odysseus they were welcoming, yet they treated him very warmly. It's easier in a smaller community to be more welcoming of a guest because you may have a shared history and culture, and more similarities.  (40:34) If The Odyssey were a movie in today's time what would it be like?  (45:54) Another episode, another tangent! We talk about cryptocurrency, the meaning of market cap, and projects that went significantly down in value shortly after launch. (47:55) Ulysses is a modern retelling of The Odyssey, but it's considered by many to be hard to read. There's a difference when you have to read something vs. when you want to read something. It also matters at what point in your life you're reading a certain book. (51:37) Trolling on Twitter - when people don't recognize what's trolling and what's not. (53:48) Nat and his progress on the book he's writing. It can be hard to keep writing every day knowing it won't be published for a long time. Nat, Neil, and Adil also talk about drug and alcohol use in famous figures such as Stephen King and Brett Favre. (1:03:24) The next book we're reading is Tao Te Ching, another Eastern text thought to be written around 600 BC. Check out our Great Books List for links to each book we will be reading! (1:07:18) The Pioneers - building a town was so much different in the 1700s than it is now. How the west was settled by Americans who violently took over the territory. The stories we hear today on settlement are only the ones that survived. There are countless other stories in history that we'll never hear. (1:15:04) The use of AI and how it can replace many jobs we do today, including writing. Can you have quality writing without a person and their experiences behind it? (1:22:02) Every article comes to an end, but what if there was technology that can continue to write itself as you are reading the text based on what you are interested in reading next? Lex (a tool by Every) gives us a summary of the Odyssey. (1:26:36) That concludes this episode! Stay tuned for our next episode: Tao Te Ching. If you'd like to listen to our other episodes in our Great Book series, here are the first 3: Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis, and Exodus. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Like the generations of leaves, the lives of mortal men. Now the wind scatters the old leaves across the earth, now the living timber bursts with the new buds and spring comes round again. And so with men: as one generation comes to life, another dies away.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil continue with the next book on their Great Books Project: The Iliad by Homer. This book explores the themes of fate, gods, and the glory of war. Listen along as we dive in to the stories of the Trojan War centering around the greatest warrior, Achilles. We cover a wide range of topics including: The consequences of Achilles' rage and wrath Bicameral mind and the development of consciousness How war and battles were depicted at this point in time  What differentiates us from animals? Why gaining new experiences can expand your viewpoints And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Episode 81: The Book of Exodus (0:28) Episode 80: The Book of Genesis (0:39) Riverside (1:18) Clubhouse (1:40) Twitter Held Discussions for $4 Billion Takeover of Clubhouse (2:05) Nat Chat episode featuring Neil (13:21) Bicameral Mentality (26:20) Achilles and Patroclus (55:49)  Nat's Ethics notes (59:36) Godfather movie (1:09:28) Books Mentioned: The Pioneers (5:16) The Peloponnesian War (12:13) Prometheus Bound (14:26) The Odyssey (26:16) The Mahabharata (38:21) The Qur'an (56:20) (Book Episode) The Epic of Gilgamesh (57:56) (Book Episode) Infinite Jest (1:06:30) (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) East of Eden (1:09:07) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (1:10:16) (Nat's Book Notes) Atlas Shrugged (1:12:27) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: David McCullough (5:16)  James Patterson (8:34) Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (45:04) Jason Momoa (45:18) Russell Crowe (45:33) Brad Pitt (45:50) Tom Hiddleston (46:00) Vladimir Putin (49:57) Joe Biden (50:02) Nassim Taleb (1:06:16) Show Topics: (6:08) In today's episode, we're discussing The Iliad by Homer, written around 8th century BC. We've moved forward ~500-1000 years from where we started on our book list. Make sure to check out our Great Books List and follow along with us as we put out new episodes every 3 weeks! (11:00) Homer included a lot of data on the ships back then, and The Iliad stores that historical information. There's some element of using stories to record historical information. (13:16) Reading about history makes you reflect on the accuracy of the narrative as it could have been written to serve the story they would most like to portray. As we read more of these books written in the same era, we may see some of the same historical events happening and spoken about in different ways, similar to how news outlets report the same events or world issues in much different ways. (16:29) Very rarely does everyone objectively agree that something or someone is good or bad. Most conflicts will have people on both sides of the coin who have different backgrounds, values, and opinions. (19:47) These gods are depicted as very human-like, and they do not closely resemble gods in the way that we typically think about gods. They are imperfect, and they also get urges and emotions just like we do. (21:18) The stories of Achilles and the consequences of rage. Not only does he lose his bride, but also his best friend. On top of that, he loses his honor and dignity. As the story ends, it's all about how he regains that honor and dignity and is able to move on from his mistakes. (26:20) Bicameral mind: Humans back then were lacking what we call consciousness today. They heard and obeyed demands they heard in their minds from what they identified as gods. They didn't hear their own mind as their own thoughts and urges, but rather as gods telling them to do it. When did consciousness develop? (28:42) It's implied in this text that we are not like the animals, and being able to suppress our urges of rage and wrath is what differentiates us. We have morals and know right from wrong.  (34:23) Praying- Did it mean back then what it means now? Or is it more similar to manifestation and paying more attention to the things you wish for, such as money? It's conceptually similar because it's a ritual that takes up a big part of your headspace. (38:13) Neil makes a connection to the concepts in The Mahabharata where the good guys do a lot of bad things to win the war, and the bad guys act more honorably than even the good guys in some ways. (42:21) The Ajax and Hector fight scene. Nat explains the difference in ancient military conflicts where many may have been resolved by the two armies marching up and meeting. If one army is much larger, the opposing army would admit defeat. If the army size is more balanced, they would choose a fighter on each side to battle against each other. (44:55) It's not a complete episode of Made You Think without a tangent! Who would play the characters of the Iliad if it were shot as a movie in today's time? (46:58) Achilles' battle with Hector. There are a lot of these duels, and while most remained honorable and respectful, this one does not. War was portrayed very different back then, and while it was still brutal, there were rules to war where everyone was on the same page rather than it being a free-for-all. (51:21) The book has an interesting way of depicting the dynamics of male relationships. Achilles was extremely distraught over the loss of Patroclus. What was the extent of their friendship and how much of it has to do with the translation over time? (56:17) Adil shares his experience reading the Qur'an where the author offers different translations side by side to help the reader get the full Arabic meaning of the text. When you translate a text into English, a lot of the meanings and artistry in the original language may get lost.  (1:00:15) We all have ideas and concepts that we have focused on for long periods in our lives. Once you exhaust the value from an idea, you move on to new ideas and viewpoints that build from the previous. For example, you may read something early on in your life but not extract much value from it until later in your life when you have a new foundation on a given topic. (1:03:01) Gaining experience to attach your newfound knowledge to. We each experience things at different points in our lives. Examples: losing a loved one or having kids. These experiences often change how you may think about things in your life. (1:07:53) A monastic person spends a lot of time alone with the voices in their head, and they in some way become a trusted person when it comes to certain matters: Interpreting dreams, helping others to identify the significance of their thoughts, understanding consciousness, etc. (1:08:58) In most good books, it's clear who the good vs. bad characters are, but this is not true in all cases. There are many books and movies with very complex characters that go deeper than just whether they're good or bad. (1:10:59) That wraps up this episode! The next book on our list is The Odyssey by Homer then it's back to the Bible for the book of Deuteronomy. You can catch our previous 3 episodes of the Great Book Series here - Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis, and Exodus. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil and Nat discuss the next book on their Great Books Project: the book of Exodus. We pick up from where we left off in Genesis and dive into the many key themes of Exodus as Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt. We cover a wide range of topics including: Exodus as the origin story of Judaism Exclusionary vs. inclusionary nations  Operating systems for building a successful community Connections between the Code of Hammurabi and Exodus Early human civilizations in the 2nd millenium BC And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Cleopatra lived closer to the computer age (3:44) CrowdHealth (14:48) Babylonia (44:34) Göbekli Tepe (46:18) 2nd Millenium map (46:27) Notre Chico - Caral-Supe civilization (47:50) Easter Island heads (48:55) Angkor Wat (49:46) How Exodus revises the laws of Hammurabi (1:01:49) Books Mentioned: Epic of Gilgamesh (0:22) (Book Episode)  Genesis (0:43) (Book Episode) The Iliad (1:03) (Nat's Book Notes) The Qur'an (1:42) (Book Episode)  The Network State (8:55) The Odyssey (24:37) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Hammurabi (31:45) Marco Polo (50:43) Show Topics: (0:12) In today's episode, we're continuing the Great Book Series with Exodus. If you haven't checked out our previous episodes from our book list, make sure to go check out Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis! (4:23) When reading stories that have stood the test of time, there has to be some reason for their significance. Even without the religious aspect to it, they wouldn't have been passed along or written down if they weren't important in some way.  (8:52) What is a nation? Some nations are very closed and exclusionary where you can't become a member or citizen. The U.S. is a more missionary-type nation that allows people to become citizens even if they were not born here. (12:36) A more exclusionary type of nation can often lead to a higher quality of life. Conversely, if you let more people in, there would be less resources for all. An open society that is also highly supportive with enough resources, is it possible to have both?  (17:13) Genesis ends with all the sons of Israel going to Egypt and settling there, however they're living there enslaved. God communicates to Moses to get his people out of Egypt. When we think about why the story of Exodus has persisted through the years, one of the main themes that gets discussed is the fear of God aspect that was shown to the Israelites and Egyptians through the plagues. (20:04) The 10 plagues. There were locusts, hail, and disease which were likely interconnected as one thing leads to the next. However, at this particular time there may not have been a realization that these are connected, and instead, the people saw them all as individual plagues.  (25:58) Much of the story has a narrative style until we reach the chapters stating God's law. When we go back to thinking about how this was passed down orally for potentially hundreds of years, these stories and laws may have been told differently at one point and these were the parts that settled and got written down. (31:22) The Old Testament provides a layer of ethics for others to follow, and it was a huge advancement to not take one wrongdoing and kill someone over it but rather to punish them for what it is they've done. If you have a society that escalates violence, it will always become more and more violent. (34:57) There's an element of the story where God is a protector to the Israelites, and although they were enslaved in Egypt, they were ultimately able to be led out of there through Him. (37:24) Monotheism and polytheism. In the text, other gods are being referenced, and those other gods are depicted as merely false idols made up by the enemy or misinterpretations. Genesis starts with Adam and Eve, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the start of the whole world, rather just where this story and Jewish history begins. (43:05) Many developments happened in the areas of Israel, Egypt, and Babylonia around this time. It could have also been that they had the means of documenting their stories where other areas didn't. Nat and Neil discuss these very early on civilizations and cities. (49:39) The dates and timeline of some historical events can be really surprising. It's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that the world was way less interconnected than it is today. We live in a time where everything has already been explored and accounted for. (53:51) Western culture tends to be more isolated whereas other cultures tend to be more communal. It's common for people who come to the US to feel lonely compared to their home country. Operating systems for building a successful community with longevity. (59:10) Kosher laws and its importance. Not all of these laws have held up today, for example not eating shell fish and pork. This was also an era before refrigeration. The language 'eye for an eye' and 'tooth for a tooth' is vastly similar to the Code of Hammurabi. Did Hammurabi come up with the idea and the surrounding areas adopted it or was it already a fairly widespread idea at the time? (1:02:16) It can be challenging to judge the intent of someone's actions, so often times it's judged by the outcomes of their actions. Neil gives an example. Charging and collecting interest on debts. The burden of the responsibility falls on the lender where they have to be sure they make a good decision about who they lend money to. (1:08:54) Laws are a big theme in Exodus, this includes laws on the regulation of slavery. As Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt, they provide some basic human rights for people coming out of slavery. There's also the idea of a covenant, which is an agreement between the people and God. If you follow it, you get rewarded. If you don't follow it, you get consequences. (1:13:18) The idea of canceling debt every 7 years in the Bible. Would that work in practice? Nat and Neil share their final thoughts on Exodus and how it compared in their minds to Genesis. (1:17:38) Thanks for listening! Next on our book list is Iliad by Homer. Make sure to stay tuned and check out our list of what's next. You can catch our previous 2 episodes of the Great Book Series here - Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil and Adil discuss the next book on their Great Books Project: the book of Genesis. The book begins with the story of creation and wraps up with the lives of Jacob and Joseph, with numerous stories, lessons, and genealogies in between the 50 chapters.   We cover a wide range of topics including: Science and religion: Do they conflict or complement each other? The beginning of time and formation of Earth How depictions of God, or a higher power, differ across religions The stories of Adam, Eve, Jacob, Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, and more Whether the Bible should be interpreted literally vs. allegorically And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Jordan Peterson's Bible series (1:17) Aaron Rodgers on the Aubrey Marcus podcast (10:58) Ayahuasca (11:05) Unicellular organisms (26:32) Fermi paradox (29:59) Idiocracy (37:26) Idiocracy opening scene (37:42) Islamic attitudes towards science (39:55) Unmoved Mover (1:07:40) Watchmen (1:13:35) Books Mentioned: Epic of Gilgamesh (0:58) (Book Episode) The History of God (7:45) The Bible (Karen Armstrong) (7:49) Bhagavad Gita (19:10) (Nat's Book Notes) Rare Earth (28:04) Vehicles (31:25) East of Eden (58:30) (Nat's Book Notes) Of Mice and Men (1:00:44) The Grapes of Wrath (1:00:52) Biocentrism (1:11:16) People Mentioned: Jordan Peterson (1:14) Karen Armstrong (7:24) Nassim Taleb (41:15) Jennifer Lawrence (58:55) Steven Spielberg (59:28) John Steinbeck (1:00:30) Show Topics: 0:28 We continue the Great Book Series with the book of Genesis from the Old Testament. 3:30 Adil and Neil talk about their familiarity with Genesis before they read it for the show. The book was passed down through the oral tradition, and wasn't written down until hundreds of years after it was spoken. It has also been translated into over 700 languages. It poses the question, who wrote down the story, and how much of it has changed being passed down orally?  7:11 Adil talks about books he has read previous to Genesis by Karen Armstrong. One thing he notes is that the Bible was not meant to be read literally. Of course, there are parts that can be taken literally, but many of the stories are allegorical and symbolic in meaning. 12:45 Jacob's story: Jacob wrestles with someone who is unnamed, though interpreted as God. At one point, they touch hips and he walks away injured, but he has that injury for the rest of his life. This story, if not taken literally, can allude to the internal scars that you have battling and wrestling with your inner demons. 14:01 The structure of Genesis. First comes the story of creation, followed by the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. The term Toledot meaning “generations” or "descendants. The last section of Genesis is dedicated to Jacob, which sets up for the following book in the Bible, Exodus. 15:27 The story of Joseph and Jacob. This story resonates on a moral level with people because it serves as a reminder that the journey is just as important as the destination. Your journey may not always go as planned. Even if you have everything you want, you may still have regrets about how you got there. 19:00 Neil makes a connection to the Bhagavad Gita. One of the morals of this story is very similar. In the end, the good guys got what they wanted and won the war, but lost everything in the process. Was it worth it? It's a similar message that Jacob's life represents in Genesis.  20:05 The redeeming arc for Jacob came through his brother Esau and how he forgave Jacob for his wrongdoings. When they met, it may appear that Esau was upset and Jacob was ready to meet his fate, yet he ended up being forgiven. Through that forgiveness, Jacob was transformed. 23:21 We're all on our own path to learning, both spiritually and religiously. Growing up, you tend to adopt the beliefs of your family and other surroundings. We often believe that when something isn't completely certain, that it must be wrong. 27:16 Evolution, the beginning of time, and extraterrestrial life. When you think about how everything has been formed in a way that led to life here on earth, it's astonishing. If the universe is indeed infinite, then it's very possible that it lines up for other life forms to exist elsewhere, and they could exist under completely different conditions than on Earth. 31:23 Adil makes a connection to the book Vehicles. The knowledge we have isn't always solid and requires faith to believe in.  34:10 Organized religion has tended to go with a more literal meaning, for example modern Christianity in America. One common belief is that if you're scientific, you can't also be religious and it's made into a dichotomy. It's possible that they can be completely aligned with each other. Both can be viewed as tools for understanding the world better, and they don't have to necessarily be viewed as opponents. 36:03 Why do subjective experience exists? If the goal of life is just to produce offspring and continue the circle of life, why do we have this personal experience of life, and how is it beneficial? There isn't much of a scientific explanation for it. 38:55 A lot of the early scientific research in Europe was done by religious people to prove God was real, and that aspects of religion that can be backed by science. The two stories diverged and this led to religious texts being interpreted more literally. However in other religions, Islam for example, it's typically believed that science and religion work together. 41:34 Adam and Eve story, and the significance of the serpent if you take the Bible symbolically. The snake has a unique hold in human psychology. Neil and Adil talk about different animals and how they're perceived in different communities and religions. 46:15 Eve's name means "living" in Hebrew, but it comes from a root that can also mean "snake". There are a lot of unanswered questions that came up, and as we continue to Exodus, we may learn some of these answers to these questions. 51:20 The curses in the book of Genesis are all tied to the knowledge of self awareness and the future. Childbirth was the curse passed on to women, and even early on, women have a knowledge of the pain of it. Men have the curse of labor and work. While the benefits of knowledge and self awareness are received, this also comes with these curses. 53:00 Two main ways that God both gifted and punished His people were through fertility and land. Neil and Adil discuss the story of Abraham, Issac, and Ishmael.  1:01:33 "In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return." In Abrahamic religions (including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism), they bury their dead. In other religions, there is no burial. 1:06:33 Depictions of God in different religions. In some religions they feel a depiction of their god it's a good way to connect, but in others it can feel alienating. 1:07:13 With each theory about how the universe was created, you can keep asking the question, "What came before that?" The infinite universe as constantly expanding and contracting. The idea of biocentrism, and how it's the observer that makes something a reality. 1:14:36 Thanks for listening! Stay tuned for our next episode on the book of Exodus, and be sure to keep following along as we work through our Great Books List.  If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Humans are born, they live, then they die, this is the order that the gods have decreed. But until the end comes, enjoy your life, spend it in happiness, not despair. Savor your food, make each of your days a delight, bathe and anoint yourself, wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean, let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. That is the best way for a man to live.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat, Neil, and Adil begin their Great Books Project starting with the oldest book on their list, Epic of Gilgamesh. This piece has been regarded as one of the oldest written stories to exist. It follows the story of Gilgamesh, who is two-thirds god and one-third man, as he searches for the secret of immortality following the death of a loved one. We cover a wide range of topics including: How written stories have been passed down through centuries Parallels between Gilgamesh and other religious texts An assortment of theories such as the flood myth and the Black Sea hypothesis Should you interpret ancient texts literally? Why not all science is necessarily good science And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: The Ancients (7:02) The Library of Alexandria (7:59) Sumerian Kings list (10:17) Images of the tablets (23:11) Flood myth (35:35) Black Sea Hypothesis (34:51) Letting children choose their diets (41:32) Masa Chips (42:11) Definition of Europe in early- to mid-antiquity (52:43) Nat's essay - Church of Science (55:04) Remote Viewing (57:22) Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (59:16) Princeton ESP lab must have foreseen its end (59:24) Sleep paralysis (1:00:40) Books Mentioned: Theogeny (1:13) Works and Days (1:17) (Nat's Book Notes) The Iliad (1:19) (Nat's Book Notes) Tao Te Ching (1:29) The Egyptian Book of the Dead (6:41) The Three-Body Problem (8:09) (Nat's Book Notes) The Hero with a Thousand Faces (12:22) (Nat's Book Notes) The Power of Myth (12:23) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Denial of Death (14:24) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Socrates (21:52) (Nat's Book Notes) Magna Carta (26:02) The Prince (26:08) First Bite (39:32) People Mentioned: Confucius (1:33) Plato (21:50) Aquinas (26:15) Dante (26:16)   Show Topics: 0:05 We start the Great Book Series off with with The Epic of Gilgamesh. From order of oldest to most recent, we will be reading this list of books and creating new episodes every 3 weeks until the list is complete. Follow along, and read the books with us as we go! 5:34 This book is estimated to date back to as far as 2100 BC. With how old the writing is, it's fascinating to think about how much of the story has changed along the way from the original text. The way a culture recorded its information determines how we think about it today. In the time and location of Gilgamesh, everything was rich in clay so they used clay tablets to record everything.  8:58 With stories that are orally passed down, it's similar to a game of telephone where details get changed along the way. This leads to different areas of the world telling the same story in very different ways. 11:49 There are several themes to the story, and many of these themes and stories are told throughout history. They're not new by any means. One of the main themes talked about in this part of the episode is immortality. 14:50 At the opening of the story, Gilgamesh is portrayed as almost villain-like. As the story goes on, he ends up redeeming himself on the journey to find immortality. In this book, even the superhuman are very humanized, and they still fall into impulses and desires that all of humanity faces. 17:48 For the stories that stand the test of time, why did they last among the potentially thousands of stories that didn't make it? Gilgamesh starts out as someone so vain with no fear of death. After experiencing a great loss, he seeks to obtain immortality, and tries to reconcile his fear of death. It's only what you build that will outlast you. This lesson is ironic considering that this is one of the oldest books to exist and was physically written onto tablets. 21:36 How much of this story got lost? While much of the story was able to be pieced together from the Babylonian tablets, not all of the tablets have survived, and some are damaged beyond repair. 23:54 Flood story: There have been numerous flood stories from around the world. There are some parallels of Gilgamesh to the story of Noah's Ark. While some details are general, some details are extremely similar.  As Gilgamesh goes to seek immortality, he encounters a character who resembles the Biblical Noah. 30:35 With many ancient cities being located on large bodies of water, a large flood would affect them much more than we realize. Part of Rome's advantage was being hilly so that they were able to endure catastrophic events much better in comparison to other cities near water. When stories were written thousands of years ago, we often forget to account for how their geograpical location plays out. 33:32 Flood myth, Black Sea hypothesis, and the aquatic ape hypothesis. The story of Gilgamesh and other stories in history, and understanding how the context of local geography adds to it. 37:45 If you are in tune with how your body is feeling and what it needs, would you naturally know what food and other nutrients your body needs to grow and heal? Often times the noise and busyness make it more difficult to be in tune with our mind and body.  45:24 When they found the story of Gilgamesh on the 12 tablets, it was the first time they found stories very similar in nature to the Hebrew Bible. Other parallels between Gilgamesh and religious text: a 7-year drought, and the story of Adam and Eve.  50:44 The literal interpretation of the stories in the Bible is a relatively new phenomenon. How much of it was cross-cultural influence for other religions that read their Bible completely literal? 55:02 Science can be both good and bad. Not everyone is scientifically literate, and not every study is reliable. Anything you want to prove, you can most likely find a study to prove your point, whether that scientific experiment is fully credible or not.  59:43 Sleep paralysis, dream state, and shared dreams. There are common, unusual experiences that humans have shared while sleeping, with one of those being able to see or sense a shadow being. 1:01:11 Thanks for listening! Next up on our Great Books List, we will be reading the book of Genesis, followed by Exodus. You can keep track of our list here and reach out to us if you have any suggestions.  If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“No matter what I believe to be true, there always seems to be another side to the question. If you were to put me to the torture, I'd probably confess that this is my analytic ideal: to consider the question from as many relevant perspectives as the mind can hold.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about their key takeaways from The Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri. With technology giving us access to more information than ever, the overall trust level between the public and the governing elite is at an all time low.  We cover a wide range of topics including: The relationship between sources of information and their level of authority Nihilism resulting from a lack of trust in authority and the current system How cancel culture may keep people from taking action on their passions Power relations between the elites and the public The move from criticizing people to criticizing the systems themselves And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: NASA Begins America's Mars Exploration Approach (30:08) Palmer Luckey - All In Summit (30:41) Anduril (30:55) Manhattan Project (33:38) IRB (34:53) Ben Shapiro's on cancel culture (40:56) National Enquirer (42:02) Nat's thread on taking action (43:25) Roe v Wade (48:31) Occupy movement (55:33) V for Vendetta (1:00:24) Pocket Casts (1:24:34) Stitcher (1:24:34) Books Mentioned: Revolt of the Public Seeing Like a State (0:53) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fourth Turning (9:03) (Book Episode)  The Dictator's Handbook (1:11:33) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Iliad (1:17:39) Chaos Monkeys (1:25:50) People Mentioned: Alex Jones (15:01) Dan Carlin (15:06) Joe Biden (19:14) Donald Trump (19:30) Joe Rogan (21:21) Elon Musk (23:44) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (25:53) Nassim Taleb (29:56) Jason Calacanis (30:50) Neil Ferguson (38:44) Ben Shapiro (40:37) Jeff Bezos (42:00) Greg Abbott (45:30) Beto O'Rourke (52:00) Andrew Yang (52:13) (Episode #47, #48) Antonio García Martínez (1:25:50) Show Topics: 0:43 In today's episode, Nat, Neil, and Adil are discussing Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri. This will wrap up our crypto series, and if you're interested in more like this, be sure to check out some of our previous episodes! 4:02 Adil goes over some of the core ideas of the book, with one of them being the relationship between sources of information and their authority. When there's fewer sources of information, each source has greater authority. So if there's only one source, they are the sole authority. There's been an increase on news sources, and with so many sources, it opens up more opportunity for contradiction between them. 7:10 Negation; Many elections have been won by negation rather than inspiration. As we gain access to more and more information, it can become harder to trust authority. There's a need for a new system of trust and authority to emerge that can exist within this hyper-access to information we have. 12:09 In the Choices section of the book, there were two parts: 1. What individuals can do 2. What government can do. Gurri frames our current paradigms around authority as being emergent from the Industrial Age. When the public needs answers, they turn to institutions rather than individuals. "That passive mass audience on which so many political and economic institutions depended had itself unbundled, disaggregated, fragmented into what I call vital communities: groups of wildly disparate size gathered organically around a shared interest or theme." 16:33 How can you influence people in a subtle way? Adil makes a pyramid analogy, where the elites are at the top and the public is at the bottom. The elites are interested in increasing the distance between the top and the bottom, however the author argues that in order to succeed in the age of the Revolt of the Public, you actually need to reduce that space. "The quality that sets the true elites apart – that bestows authority on their actions and expressions – isn't power, or wealth, or education, or even peruasiveness. It's integrity in life and work. A healthy society is one in which such exemplary types draw the public toward them purely by the force of their example. Without compulsion, ordinary persons aspire to resemble the extraordinary, not superficially but fundamentally, because they wish to partake of superior models of being or doing." In the Industrial Age, it was common to believe that politicians and CEOs were super-people, but as we got more access to information, we became more aware that people aren't super-people, and that everyone is human. 20:46 It's not a matter of whether elites are good or bad, there's tradeoffs to having a society that leans more towards the elite side vs. public side.  26:37 The last chapter of the book is an updated edition, speaking on Trump and how he is in a way, the ultimate nihilistic politician. Reducing your distance from the public as a political figure helps you sell your story more. It's also about the way that you tell your story. Failing governments vs. failing companies- What's the difference? 32:34 Lack of big national projects in our lifetime. One big project was the Covid vaccine, but it wasn't the government that implemented this project. 33:59 The threshold for what's acceptable in research has changed since the 1970s, so there's a lot of work that we wouldn't be able to do now that may have been allowed decades ago. A lot of what politicians and other public figures do is almost immediately knowable due to technology and the speed at which news travels. A possible consequence of this could be fear of taking action. When we get to a point of wanting to take action, we may worry about things that we've done in the past that would be resurfaced. 40:03 Cancel culture. If you want to become a positive leader, negative things coming out can hurt you. By acknowledging your faults or even getting ahead of it, you can deflate some of the claims made. 43:04 Many people don't take action on something that they're passionate about. By posting about it, it takes away the felt need to act on it. It feels as if you've already acted on it, and the job is done. A protest may not convince people to change their mind that much, but a lot of the power comes from reminding politicians that they work for us, and also serves as a release of anger. Democracies have led to this tendency for politicians to promise more than they can deliver, and the public will vote for the politicians that promise to deliver the most, regardless of the amount of faith they have that they can execute those promises. 48:05 There's room for either political party to step up and bridge the gap on big issues, especially with with the recent Roe v Wade decision.  53:04 Covid's role in the Revolt of the Public. It changed our relationship with government authority. During this period of time, for many people it was the first time they really felt the presence of government in their life. 55:27 The book has a section about mass protest movements in the US and Europe. The citizens taking place in the protests are generally in the middle or upper-middle class, college-educated, and not actually the ones struggling in society.  59:10 Nihilism as a threat to democratic institutions. As institutions leak credibility and legitimacy, the blame shifts from individuals in the system (such as bad politicians and leaders) to the system. This results in lack of trust of authority, and in turn, people want to destroy everything to feel like there is progress being made in some type of way.  1:04:10 If you could implement one policy what would it be? Adil shares an idea of subsidizing exit costs from one state to another, where if someone wanted to move out of their state, they'd be provided with services and support. This would allow states to see the numbers of people staying and leaving, and there's consequences for passing unfavorable legislature.  Nat's idea would be to have government agencies to cut their budgets by 90% for one year. A lot of the problems that exist in our country stem from financial irresponsibility. Neil shared that he would make Congress 10x larger while making it a part time, work from home job. The number of influential people in Congress is so small that it's easy to bribe them with their district. Initially, being a Congressman wasn't initially a full time job, as most had other roles and they just happened to serve in Congress too. They were more in touch with how people lived. 1:15:38 Nat shares a new technique he's using to track books he reads. He jots the date that he started reading the book with some notes about what's going on in life at the time. When finished, he will write in the book what book he's reading next. Over the years, the books will be networked together in physical form. 1:17:12 This concludes the crypto/libertarian series on Made You Think! The next book we're reading is The Iliad. We're using Tommy Collison's Great Books List to guide future episodes, and we're expanding it to encompass a wider range of books. Got any suggestions of books to add? Let us know! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"Everyone should have an intense interest in what money is and how it's manipulated by the few at the expense of the many. Money is crucial for survival. It is necessary for maintaining a free society. A healthy economy depends on it. Limiting political power is impossible without it. Sound money is essential for preventing unnecessary wars. Prosperity and peace in the long run are impossible without it."   Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil are joined by their official new co-host, Adil Majid! In today's episode, they discuss their key takeaways from End the Fed by Ron Paul, a book which explains the fundamental problems with fiat money and provides a history on banking in the US. If you've never challenged the role of the Federal Reserve, this is an episode you won't want to miss. We cover a wide range of topics including: • Currency vs. money; How are they different? • The shift in power from countries to companies • Money printing, inflation, and the fate of the US dollar • The Cantillon Effect, and who benefits the most from this • Why utility is important in the longevity of currency And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Great Books Program (2:11) Growth Machine (8:22) Audit the Fed, Sanders and Paul (10:04) Taylor Pearson - Cryptocurency and the Turkey Problem (12:28) Luna (19:45) Tether (20:08) Nat's Tokenomics 101 (22:35)  Nat's Tokenomics 102 (22:35)  Starlink (26:46) The Tim Dillon Show (29:16) Reagan tells Soviet jokes (35:04) Flexport (36:50) Bank of North America (39:18) First Bank of the United States (39:23) Second Bank of the United States (39:24) Independent Treasury System (39:27) Jekyll Island (48:14) Cantillon Effect (49:45) Fiat money (54:28) 40% of US dollars in existence were printed in the last 12 months (59:15) Iron (1:00:12) DAI Stablecoin (1:01:11) Russia's "Gold Standard" (1:05:06) Ruble as Year's Best-Performing Currency (1:05:10) Books Mentioned: End the Fed The Revolt of the Public (1:40) The Iliad (2:20) The Odyssey (2:21) Gödel, Escher, Bach (7:23) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order (23:08) People Mentioned: Tommy Collison (2:12) Aristotle (3:29) Seneca (3:30) (Book Episode) Douglas Hofstadter (7:21)  Bernie Sanders (10:00) Ben Bernanke (10:24) Tim Dillon (29:16) Warren Buffet (32:33) Show Topics: 0:32 We're stoked to announce that Adil Majid (who has joined us for episodes #7, #33, #34, #35, #71, #74, #75) is officially a co-host of Made You Think! Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about what's next for the podcast, and share the Great Books list that will be used to guide their book choices on future episodes. 4:01 Why some books have lasted so long, and why there are very few good philosophy books that have come out in the modern world. These old books were written over a long period of time, covering a wider span of history as compared to books written today. 8:32 The book we're discussing today is End the Fed by Ron Paul. One idea brought up in the book is auditing the Fed to see what exactly it is that the Fed is doing and where the money is going. We use the terms money and currency interchangeably but conceptually they're different things. The U.S. dollar is not money, it is currency. 15:34 Paul makes a case that there should be a free market of currencies, and people should create currencies that compete with the dollar. This ties in well with cryptocurrency where there are numerous coins, all with different rules and tokenomics for each currency. Historically, it hasn't always worked this way. 19:00 Creating stablecoins in crypto, they fail when they don't have a clear and necessary utility. Many projects will create new stable coins pegged to the dollar, but unless there's a specific market where that coin has utility, it falls out of circulation. 23:49 One interesting change that we're living through is the shift of power from countries to companies. Because many of the big and powerful companies are in the US and tied to the US dollar, the dollar retains it value and utility. 27:19 The era that we grow up seems to play a role in how we view and trust the government, as well as our support level of major wars. When things feel the best is when the down trend begins. Likewise, the uptick begins when things are at their worst. 32:54 With a pessimistic attitude, we have to remember how resilient countries are. We also don't have to solely rely on the government to fix the slump that we're in, there are companies that can fix some of these issues we're facing. 38:22 What is the Fed, and what systems were there before it? There were 4 systems before: Bank of North America , First Bank of the United States, Second Bank of the United States, and the US Independent Treasury System. Adil gives a brief history of these systems and how it has led to where we are today. 45:13 When you think about different sectors of crypto, sound money is underrated in the US. Gold for example, Neil shares the significance of investing in gold in Indian culture. Rising inflation rates in the US. 48:14 Jekyll Island and the Cantillon effect. Whoever is closest to the money printer benefits the most. Some people are effected more than others by inflation. How banks benefit from inflation. 54:28 Funding war with Fiat vs. hard money. Once we had the ability to print unlimited amounts of money to fund war, we didn't have to stop due to the economic cost of continuing as we may have had to before. 57:50 We keep having to print more and more money to get out of each economic downturn, and Paul predicts that at one point there will not be any amount of money to get us out, potentially leading to the collapse of the US dollar. What happens if or when we get to this point? 1:04:30 Hypothetically speaking, is there a way for the Fed to transition to having backing for the dollar? Does it have to collapse, and where are we in the current collapse? 1:08:54 Consumer debt crisis- if that all starts to collapse and unwind, the effects of that could be pretty devastating. Parallel economies. 1:11:43 Thanks for listening! Next episode, we will be covering The Revolt of the Public, so be sure to pick up a copy before our next episode! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“A story told by the conscious mind has a beginning, a development, and an end, but the same is not true of a dream. Its dimensions in time and space are quite different; to understand it you must examine it from every aspect-just as you may take an unknown object in your hands and turn it over and over until you are familiar with every detail of its shape.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! After years of mentioning Carl Jung and his work in previous episodes, we're excited to jump into a Jung book. Man and His Symbols  explores the subconscious mind and the symbols that are revealed to us in our dreams. Is it time for us to start paying deeper attention to the messages we receive in our dreams? We cover a wide range of topics including: How the subconscious mind communicates through symbols in dreams Your shadow side, and how to acknowledge your shadow rather than silence it The effects of different drugs on the brain Nuclear vs. communal family structures and how this has changed over time Why true control is about letting go rather than trying to maintain your control  And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat and Neil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Plato's Chariot Allegory (32:27) Crows remember faces (35:04) Elephant intelligence (35:50) LSD and the Elephant (36:11) Milgram Experiment (38:50) MAPS (39:54) NASA spider experiment (40:58) Visakan Veerasamy's thread on quitting smoking (43:02) More Americans are seeking mental health treatment (53:38) Books mentioned: The Power of Myth (0:47) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) God is Dead (11:35) Switch (31:25) The Elephant in the Brain (34:05) (Nat's Book Notes) The Revolt of the Public (1:07:19) The Alchemy of Finance (1:18:45) People Mentioned: Carl Jung (0:36) Jordan Peterson (0:42) (Book Episode) Sigmund Freud (5:18) Plato (14:52) Sam Harris (19:56) Chip and Dan Heath (31:20) Mircea Eliade (33:48) (Mythic Consciousness)  Kevin Simler (34:07) Robin Hanson (34:07)  Andrew Yang (1:09:41) (Episode 47, Episode 48) George Soros (1:18:50) Show notes: 1:17 In this episode, Nat and Neil are talking about Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung. The idea of the unconscious brain is of the main themes, and while we don't have direct access to it, dreams serve as symbols to better help us understand our unconscious.   5:11 Jung argues that the symbols we see in dreams are not universal. If the same object appears in several people's dreams, it could be interpreted differently for each person. A lot of what makes Jung's work compelling is that he's not trying to argue things as scientific fact. Through sufficient practice and learning what dreams can represent, you can get closer to understanding how the subconscious and unsubconscious mind interact.   9:02 Believing things empirically vs. scientifically. Jung ties religion to this idea: There are many religious symbols that we may not understand directly, but there's an empirical reason why people believe it, even if it's not scientifically backed.    11:51 We want to feel in control and not feel like there are things beyond our control. We have thoughts, likes, and ideas that are all unique to us- where do they come from? "Many people mistakenly overestimate the role of will power and think that nothing can happen to their minds that they do not decide and intend." 15:45 There's a rational argument brought up by Jung in the book. If dreams exist, it must have some sort of evolutionary purpose and that's how it came to be. What is that purpose of these nighttime hallucinations? There has to be a reason why certain symbols show up for people. 19:00  We've lost a lot of contact with our subconscious, which could be why psychedelics are so effective. If we re-established this connection with our subconscious, there wouldn't be such a need for pharmaceutical facilitation for this connection. 21:54 Part of why we lost touch with our subconscious could be because we have so many distractions, whether in our conscious mind or surrounding environment.  25:12 When you're always busy, you feel like you're in control because you feel like you're moving forward and making progress. There's a sense of comfort feeling like you're in control.  29:06 The multi-part mind vs. the solo persona: How does one begin to think of their mind through a different lens? Nat makes a comparison to Switch- There's an elephant and a rider. The elephant is the subconscious and the rider is the mind who is rational and who tries to control and direct it, but there's only so much control you have over it. 32:47 The way we think about consciousness is a newer phenomenon than we previously thought. There also wasn't always language to describe these ideas, so it was purely symbolic.  38:25 Science and experimentation have both changed over the decades too, with more regulations put into place now. Nat and Neil talk about the affects of different drugs on the body, as also shown in some animal experiments too. 43:40 Caffeine, tobacco, nicotine, THC, alcohol, and effects of different drugs on the brain. In some cases, the delivery of the drug (smoking or vaping, for example) ends up being more harmful to your body than the substance. 49:22 Jung talks about how we have this shadow self that makes us uncomfortable. One way to deal with our shadow side is to numb it. The solution is to “turn directly towards the approaching darkness” to find what it wants from you. It's about how you incorporate your shadow rather than silence it or hide from it, which is not a long term solution. 53:35 Therapy has become more popular now over the years. Is there a reason for this? If you're using therapy to work through challenges in your life, it can be very helpful. It becomes unproductive when you use it as a crutch to avoid doing the harder things you know you need to do.  57:02 Parenting and fostering independence in your child.  Remembering that raising them in the home is not forever, and after they move on from your care they will need to be able to help and support themselves in society. Nat and Neil discuss nuclear vs. communal families and how those dynamics are different. 1:03:24 The faith in governmental institutions is very low at this point in time, it brings to question how the future may change in terms of education and homeschooling. 1:08:41 The people that we respect the most are the ones who act like real humans, and this stands for politicians too. If a politician is willing to be personable and fully believes in their ideas, they tend to be more well-liked among the people. 1:12:28 Your shadow can be very powerful. Whatever you find you dislike in someone else may be what you actually dislike in yourself. Seeing it reflected in another person is painful because it reminds you of that trait in yourself. It's important to acknowledge the shadow rather than avoid it. 1:17:29 Thanks for listening! Make sure to pick up a copy of Man and His Symbols if you were intrigued by this episode. In future episodes, we plan to read End the Fed and The Revolt of the Public. Make sure to grab a copy and read up before the episode!   If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

"The despot is not a man. It is the Plan. The correct, realistic, exact plan, the one that will provide your solution once the problem has been posited clearly, in its entirety, in its indispensable harmony. This plan has been drawn up well away from the frenzy in the mayor's office or the town hall, from the cries of the electorate or the laments of society's victims. It has been drawn up by serene and lucid minds. It has taken account of nothing but human truths. It has ignored all current regulations, all existing usages, and channels. It has not considered whether or not it could be carried out with the constitution now in force. It is a biological creation destined for human beings and capable of realization by modern techniques."   Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil are joined by Adil Majid to discuss their key takeaways from Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott. This book discusses how states seek to make the territory more legible in order to guide its functioning. However, this planned social order often disregards vital features of any real, functioning social order. How do certain schemes to improve the human condition end up failing?   We cover a wide range of topics including: Government's desire for legibility vs. local control and power Infinite coastline paradox The importance of feedback loops and adaptability in a system How high modernism has been implemented and why those implementations have failed Connections between the book and cryptocurrency   And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode:   Mentioned in the show: High modernism (5:58) Window tax (20:25) The Blind Cafe - San Francisco (35:32) The Infinite Coastline (43:22) Rise Roar Revolt (1:07:14) India's Economy Hinges on the Return of Workers Who Fled to Their Villages (1:14:58) Stepn (1:31:38) Will STEPN Bring Crypto to the Masses? (1:36:23) Slate Star Codex Book Review (1:40:57)  A Big Little Idea Called Legibility (1:42:25) The Intellectual Yet Idiot (1:42:36) Books Mentioned: Seeing Like a State Extreme Ownership (22:31) (Nat's Book Notes) Scale (23:19) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Four Thousand Weeks (37:47) Merchants of Doubt (49:49) (Nat's Book Notes) The Fourth Turning (1:08:55) (Book Episode)  The Dictator's Handbook (1:20:43) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Conscience of a Conservative (1:39:43) People Mentioned: Nassim Taleb (9:06) Jocko Willink (22:32) Geoffrey West (23:19) Arthur Hayes (1:26:28) Barry Goldwater (1:39:44)   Show Topics: 1:04 Today we're joined by Adil Majid (previously in episodes #7, #33, #34, #35, #71, #74) to cover Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott. There's often an assumption that it's the fault of the people when planned systems fail, when really it's the fault of the governing body implementing these rigid systems.   5:58 There are a few major concepts in the book. One of these main concepts is legibility. A state needs to understand what's happening on the ground and also needs a way to measure it. Scientific forestry as a way to produce timber more efficiently.   11:56 “Thus, plants that are valued become "crops," the species that compete with them are stigmatized as "weeds," and the insects that ingest them are stigmatized as "pests."”    Scott argues that there's more variables than any of the high modernists can understand. A high modernist cannot acknowledge that there are more variables than they know, and that they are not in full control of those variables. You can't adjust one variable and be able to fully predict all the effects.   15:01 One of the mistakes of the high modernist desire for legibility is confusing the visual external order with internal underlying order and structure. Things can have a deep sensible underlying order that doesn't make sense from the outside. Trees as an example; The distribution of roots, stems, and leaves is efficient in capturing light and water but if a human designed a tree, it may look real different. This same idea can be applied to cities.   17:10 The systemization of last names.    19:48 There are consequences of implementing these rigid systems. Many times, the systems put in place end up changing the exact thing that they're supposed to regulate.    21:31 The government uses legibility to make things easier to understand, and it's how they gain control. The amount of control you have can depend on how many levels are within your system. This ties into Extreme Ownership where the military has different levels of hierarchy, but on the ground, you get a lot of individual freedom to execute the mission. If you try to maintain strict order all the way down, things can go poorly. If you allow things to spread out and have variation at the ends, the system tends to be more resilient.   25:11 Authoritarianism is high modernism without feedback loops and democracy is high modernism with feedback loops. Adil describes metis (local knowledge) and techne (mathematical absolute truths). Things naturally float to the top, and you have to fight to keep the local knowledge at the local level.   29:10 High modernism is suitable for techne. You need to have these slightly chaotic systems where you can experiment and fail in order to better develop. The beauty of the local knowledge is that it's experimental. Feedback loops and being able to adapt.   34:11 How did our five senses evolve to be the way they are? Our visual life is very stimulating. We lock on to things that are bright, surprising, fast-paced. Screens give us so much of that novelty that other things can appear boring to look at.   39:18 The book talks about grouping people, and they lose their individual characteristics by being dropped in the buckets based on non-representative characteristics. The map vs. the terrain.   43:08 The infinite coastline. The more you zoom into it, the more you have to add variations which makes it longer and longer. Theoretically as you zoom into something so deeply, you have an infinitely long coastline. Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss: What are the implications of higher fidelity?   46:30 High modernism works if you can convince people it's the best way forward. The element of authoritarianism; the more you try to force people to go along with an idea the more negative pushback you'll get. The recycling and no smoking movements.   51:37 Complex systems can get wrecked by very small changes. Some systems need every moving part in order to run efficiently, and just the absence of one part can throw the system for a loop.    55:22 Adding chips to farm equipment. What was the efficiency improvement? These highly industrialized systems can be good at increasing output, but one little ding in the system and it can fall apart.   1:03:45 India and their legibility efforts. Neil talks about the national ID card for banking and other purposes. A lot of underground stuff goes on in order for people to avoid getting their ID card. The government has gone as far as banning the largest paper currency note overnight and issuing a new one in hopes to get people to go to a bank to switch it or deposit it.    1:08:58 Would India be a country if the British had never come there? India was originally made up of hundreds of individual states, so there are many regional identities still today.   1:11:17 National languages and global languages: How do they come to be, and is it even possible to change them now that they're established?   1:14:48 During Covid, people in India who moved to cities for jobs ended up moving back to their villages as the cost of living wasn't worth it. Within the village is their support system. This move from a legible system back to an illegible system is a good thing for the individual, but not necessarily for a government that wants more legibility.   1:17:27 Nat summarizes the core ideas of the book. Highly authoritarian states such as China and North Korea and censorship on the internet. How North Korea has been so authoritarian for so long and has been able to keep it that way.   1:21:35 Work-to-rule: This is where employees do just the minimum that is required from them and follow all regulation and safety guidelines. This in turn can lead to a decrease in productivity as workers are no longer working during weekends, breaks, etc.    1:23:31 How does this book tie back into crypto? A lot of the early crypto crowd is inherently anti-legibility.    1:32:42 Stepn is a lifestyle app that encourages its users to “move-to-earn”. Nat shares 3 ways you can tell that it's time to exit the project so you don't lose your investment.    1:39:20 Thanks for listening! Got any book suggestions for a future episode? Hit us up on Twitter!   If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“A Fourth Turning lends people of all ages what is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to heal (or destroy) the very heart of the republic.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil are joined by Adil Majid to discuss their key takeaways from The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. The authors uncover how history moves in cycles, or "turnings", and how our past could very well predict our future. This episode will challenge the way you have traditionally thought of time as linear, and open your eyes to cycles that are much bigger than ourselves. We cover a wide range of topics including: What is a turning, and how does each generation influence the next turning? Gold, Bitcoin, and inflation of the US Dollar The possibility of parallel systems Current events that may be leading us to the climax of the crisis era The four themes (High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis) and the ways they have tied in to the events of American history And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Athletic Greens (1:41) Major brands freeze Youtube ads (2:15) Blinkist (2:48) Oatly: The New Coke (3:25) Bankless (5:09) Martyrmade Podcast: Thoughts on Ukraine (47:05) China and Taiwan conflict (50:14) SNL Skit: Republican or Not (1:06:19) SNL Skit: Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks (1:06:39) The Political Compass (1:08:40) Balaji Srinivasan on Communist Capital vs. Woke Capital vs. Crypto Capital (1:09:59) Full Send Podcast with Donald Trump (1:15:34) Man enters White House with knife (1:22:56) "I support the current thing" Meme (1:25:32) Operation Warp Speed (1:32:00) Cases of Polio-like Symptoms in the Bay Area (1:35:07) Dalio's Long-Term Debt Cycle (1:38:32) Episode 7: A Crash Course in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cryptocurrency (1:40:12)   Books Mentioned: The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe Dictator's Handbook (4:23) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Sovereign Individual (6:15) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (32:14) (Book Episode) The Mandibles (43:14) Seeing Like A State (54:15) (Nat's Book Notes) Demon in the Freezer (1:30:48) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1:37:35) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Alchemy of Finance (1:39:13) Denial of Death (1:40:21) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Scale (1:40:35) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Sapiens (1:40:40) (Book Episode 1) (Sapiens Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) Homo Deus (1:40:40) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes)   People Mentioned: Neil Howe William Strauss Ray Dalio (45:36) Lyn Alden (51:04) Joe Rogan (1:14:05) Steve Bannon (1:35:35)   Show Topics 0:19 Adil Majid joins the podcast today to help Nat and Neil break down The Fourth Turning by and William Strauss Neil Howe. You may remember him from some of our previous episodes (#7, #33, #34, #35, #71), so go check those out if you haven't already! 4:39 The Fourth Turning was written around the same time as Sovereign Individual, and shares some connections as both books discuss adapting to the next phase or cycle in civilization. 9:18 The four turnings: "The High", "The Awakening", "The Unraveling" and "The Crisis". The current cycle, also known as "The Crisis", would have started around 2005, and may go on until around 2026. These turnings are such a zoomed out way of looking at periods of time, and most people that are living have not been around long enough to experience each turning. "Over the millennia, man has developed three ways of thinking about time: chaotic, cyclical, and linear. The first was the dominant view of primitive man, the second of ancient and traditional civilizations, and the third of the modern West, especially America.” 14:51 Neil talks about some of the bigger, zoomed out cycles such as the ice age cycles and climate cycles. We only see the micro-cycles because that's our perspective on time. 15:40 In some religions such as Christianity, time is thought of as linear. Rather than accepting the cycles and seasons of the year and time, we try to fight them to create this linear constancy, because that's what we are familiar with and what we can see. 17:50 Trends in substance abuse and alcohol. The way that our parents' and grandparents' generations treated alcohol is much different than how the younger generation treats it. This brings us to the four archetypes discussed in the book: Prophets, Nomads, Heroes, and Artists. Prophets give birth to Heroes, and vice versa while Nomads give birth to Artists, and vice versa. In theory, this will determine your archetypal behavior. 24:17 The turnings tie into the generations. As one comes of age, they influence the next turning. Based on the timeline from the book, we've all been in a Crisis era for most of our adult lives (if you're around 30). What does it mean now that we're within a few years of coming out of this period of crisis? 26:06 The "High" occurred post World War 2, between 1946-1964. This period of time was big on collectivism and community. It was not a High for everyone, however, as this was before the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement. After WW2, people began creating a better life and enjoying the high after surviving the war. Their children grew up in a time of abundance, but the abundance wasn't experienced by everyone, and this led to different civil movements as they entered the period of Awakening. 30:55 Between the Awakening and the Unraveling is a long period of decline. The Awakening is a period of challenging the morals of the previous generation, and the Unraveling is putting those things into practice. From there, it then leads to the period of Crisis. 34:36 We see this conflict today where older Gen Z and Millennials are growing up with student loan debt.  The previous generation grew up in a period of abundance off the High of post WW2, which paved the way for that generation to live a comfortable life. 38:28 Where did the Crisis start? Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss several events such as 9/11, the Iraq war, and the 2007 financial crisis that may be marked as the start of the Crisis. 45:26 Not every Fourth Turning has to end in war, but every previous one has ended in a war, thus why the conflict in Russia/Ukraine is so notable, as well as conflict between China and Taiwan. 50:33 Gold, Bitcoin, and inflation. Which country could tip the scale?  55:03 Preparing for the Fourth Turning. Neil makes a connection to The Mandibles, where if the Government ever decides to cease wealth or shut down the stock market, the value that we currently hold in the market will decrease significantly, although we may have thought it was safe.  “Really know where your money is.” 1:00:28 Adil describes the technological arms race that's happening. Ideas shifting in political parties even within the past decade.  1:09:55 Woke capital, communist capital, and crypto capital. Is there a possibility for parallel systems where one area of the country/world may align with one ideology and another area aligns with another approach? The Internet, as an example. 1:16:59 Another symptom of the crisis mentality is mistrust of organizations that were typically trusted by previous generations. 1:21:09 The storming of the Capital on January 6th. This had the potential to be a climax moment, but didn't end up turning into something massive. 1:25:29 This year's Oscars brought a shared moment between everyone. Most things you see in the media will produce two total opposite reactions, whereas in this particular moment, the experience and reaction was very much the same across the board. These shared moments create a sense of unity. 1:35:16 This book is controversial, partly because the concepts in this book are hard to prove as factual. It's comfortable to think we have everything figured out, without challenging anything or institutions. 1:38:41 Thanks for listening! Make sure to grab a copy of the next book we will be covering, Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung. Stay tuned, as Adil will be back for another future episode where we discuss Seeing Like A State.   If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“The man who is striving to solve a problem defined by existing knowledge and technique is not, however, just looking around. He knows what he wants to achieve, and he designs his instruments and directs his thoughts accordingly. Unanticipated novelty, the new discovery, can emerge only to the extent that his anticipations about nature and his instruments prove wrong. . . . There is no other effective way in which discoveries might be generated.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Nat and Neil discuss their key takeaways from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. While the book is geared towards an academic audience, a lot of interesting ideas were brought up in terms of scientific progress, where Kuhn argues that science is anything but linear.  We cover a wide range of topics including:  Paradigm shifts in science (and other areas, too!) What is normal science, and how does it differ from paradigm-shifting science? Connections between science, religion, and politics The direction and timing of inventions over time How sciencing everything may lead to negative outcomes  And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat and Neil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the show: Copernican system (11:20) Monday Medley (11:56) The Joe Rogan Experience (18:03) Nat's SS and Medicare tweet (20:50) Burton Oil (29:24) Neil's tweet on rationalists (35:20) Dancing Gorilla experiment (47:07) Bobbie formula (53:15) Obesity rates in Mexico (57:34)  WTF Happened in 1971? (58:22) Metamask (1:00:28) Rainbow Wallet (1:00:29) Outside the System (1:03:46) (Check out Neil's new podcast!) Fountain (1:03:50) Lightning Network (1:04:30) What Viagra was originally used for (1:10:56) Tesla's vision of wireless energy (1:15:21)  Riverside (1:23:40) Books Mentioned: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Nat's Book Notes) Gödel, Escher, Bach (0:58) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Finite and Infinite Games (3:23) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Happy Accidents (3:37) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (28:53) (Book Episode)  The Dictator's Handbook (41:03) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Merchants of Doubt (41:56) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Energy and Civilization (42:56) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Three-Body Problem (1:20:50) (Nat's Book Notes) The Martian (1:21:21) (Nat's Book Notes) Hail Mary (1:21:27)  Seeing Like a State (1:24:19) (Nat's Book Notes) Infinite Jest (1:24:44) (Book Episode I) (Book Episode II) (Nat's Book Notes) People Mentioned: Malcolm Gladwell (2:35) Albert Einstein (6:45) Isaac Newton (14:53) Nicolaus Copernicus (14:53) Werner Heisenburg (14:56) Nassim Taleb (24:44) Al Gore (28:36) George Bush (28:39) Joe Biden (28:56) Nikola Tesla (1:14:59) Andy Weir (1:21:23) Adil Majid (1:24:12) Show Topics: 0:43 Today, Nat and Neil dive into their takeaways from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. The phrase "paradigm shift" was coined by Thomas Kuhn and used throughout the book to describe fundamental changes in underlying assumptions.  4:47 Kuhn argues that science doesn't progress linearly, it goes through cycles. There are foundational truths and beliefs that current science is being built on, and when those beliefs crack, we have to establish new ones. It doesn't mean the old ideas were unscientific, but perhaps insufficient or incomplete. 8:01 Neil applies the 'map vs. territory' analogy. Territory is the real natural world, and every theory and paradigm we test out is the map.  11:54 The book talks about normal science as trying to solve a puzzle. When you buy a jigsaw puzzle, you know what the picture looks like and that all pieces will fit together somehow. In the same way, theories of experiments have already predicted what the results of your experiment should be, you're just running the experiment to confirm it. Paradigm shifts are so rare and accidental because most of science is filling in gaps of the current paradigm, as that's also where the funding is. "The scientific enterprise as a whole does from time to time prove useful, open up new territory, display order, and test long-accepted belief. Nevertheless, the individual engaged on a normal research problem is almost never doing any one of these things." 15:20 What are the things in science today that feel like they might be invented to explain the anomalies in the current paradigm? Dark matter and gravity for example. 17:59 There aren't enough debates on science, and it's important to ask the question WHY to better understand the underlying assumptions. If you disagree with one of the provided assumptions, you can challenge it.  22:09 The book explains how science is an ever-evolving process that requires challenging the current assumptions in the paradigm. Asking questions is the scientific thing to do. We can have conflicting paradigms and ideas, and use those to get an accurate view of the world, but obviously nothing is perfect.  25:50 Over time, science has become more politicized. Global warming rebranded into climate change. 30:31 Most issues are never completely binary like they're positioned to be. The abortion debate  for example. There are 2 different paradigms with completely different underlying assumptions: 1) Individual choice is more important than when life begins and 2) Life begins at conception and it's not an individual choice type of thing.  35:03 Every choice has a tradeoff. One problem in politics is when candidates aren't upfront about the tradeoffs of a certain choice or pretend that there isn't any, which makes it harder to believe them. Nat and Neil talk about the start of Covid with the stay-at-home orders and wearing a mask. 39:08 Linking to Dictator's Handbook (episode here), it is advantageous for politicians to say problems are more urgent and pressing than they are because you can use that to retain power and influence. 43:41 Differences in generations and the trust in scientists. Younger generations are starting to suffer the consequences of explorations like combining science with food. Does science need to be added to everything? 46:41 People find what they're looking for. If you go in with a set of beliefs, you won't be looking for anything that confirms against your beliefs, in fact you may discard anything that argues against what you think is right without acknowledging the other set of values. 51:20 What's a Made You Think episode without a tangent? Nat and Neil talk about the vaccine/Autism debate. With dietary changes and other factors in the first year of a child's life, why are some scientists so set on vaccines being connected to Autism? 58:22 Paradigm shifts aren't in science only. Nat and Neil talk about paradigm shifts in technology, Web3, single sign-on, and more. 1:05:29 A new paradigm of community ownership, fundraising, and access to capital arose as NFTs became bigger. There are now new standards for membership, and how we can own music, art, etc. 1:07:05 Paradigms are like little blips on the map, and occasionally one will present a lot of solutions to existing problems. The same things happens in both science and technology. 1:11:46 Normal science vs. paradigm-shifting science. What would have been figured out anyway vs. what was truly a leap forward. 1:14:44 The direction and timing of different inventions. There are some things that develop slowly for years but then have a period of rapid development because the underlying technology catches up. Are there things that we are technologically ready for now but just haven't come up with yet? 1:19:28 Inversely, there are also inventions where the timing wasn't dependent on the underlying technology. 1:23:30 Thanks for listening! If you want to read ahead before our next episode, make sure to pick up a copy of The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“It can be said that life's perhaps most fundamental dynamic is the attempt to move from a lower form of experience and consciousness to a higher (or deeper) level of consciousness.” In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil discuss their key takeaways from King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette. This book presents the 4 archetypes of manhood, and explores what undeveloped masculinity looks like in the form of the archetype Shadows. In this episode of Made You Think, we cover a wide range of topics including: The differences in Male vs. Female adulthood initiation King and Tyrant energy in politicians The rise in adult male virginity in the past decade The Shadows of each of the 4 archetypes Underdeveloped masculinity (Otherwise known as Boy psychology) And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat and Neil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.   Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Maasai Ritual (15:59) The Business of Being Born (30:53) Tonic Masculinity - Dr. Cam Sepah (42:03) Manager vs. Leader (47:15) Warrior Genes (59:18) Adult male virginity stats (1:08:40) Filtering by height on Bumble (1:09:21) FDA tweet on national cereal day(1:14:21) Colin Powell's 40-70 rule (1:40:53) OKCupid blog archive (1:47:14) SolPay (1:50:15) Books Mentioned: King, Warrior, Magician, Lover The Way of the Superior Man (1:07) (Nat's Book Notes) 12 Rules for Life (1:57) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Laws of Human Nature (2:10) (Book Episode)  Man and His Symbols (2:14) The Fourth Turning (11:09) The Power of Myth (15:10) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Escape from Freedom (22:13) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Dictator's Handbook (57:01) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Mate (1:06:06) (Nat's Book Notes) Models (1:06:08) (Nat's Book Notes) What Got You Here Won't Get You There (1:17:08) Extreme Ownership (1:23:48) (Nat's Book Notes) The Alchemy of Finance (1:39:20) Flow (1:43:43) Thinking, Fast and Slow (1:44:23) Layered Money (1:53:46)   People Mentioned: David Deida (1:09) Joseph Campbell (2:01) Robert Greene (2:07) Carl Jung (2:14) Paul Millerd (2:34) Robert Moore (5:17) Douglas Gillette (5:17) Tucker Max (31:00) Dr. Cam Sepah (42:01)  Jordan Peterson (52:44) NLE Choppa (1:05:49) Mark Manson (1:06:08)  James Altucher (1:28:05) Tony Robbins (1:29:47)   Show Topics: 0:30 In today's episode, Nat and Neil cover the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette. This is the first book episode since Episode 66 with just Nat and Neil (featuring pop-ins from Pepper and Baby Eliason!). 5:12 King, Warrior, Magician, Lover provides a blend of psychology and ancient tradition. Moore and Gillette define four male archetypes that stand out through history, as well as the shadow forms of each of the archetypes. 7:52 Masculinity doesn't mean these ideas are just for men; it's a spectrum. It's just as beneficial for women to know and understand these archetypes and their shadows, too. 10:15 Knowing all forms of these archetypes, including the shadow form, can allow you to better adapt as an adult. The book's definition of patriarchy: "In our view, patriarchy is not the expression of deep and rooted masculinity, for truly deep and rooted masculinity is not abusive. Patriarchy is the expression of the immature masculine. It is the expression of Boy psychology, and, in part, the shadow—or crazy—side of masculinity. It expresses the stunted masculine, fixated at immature levels." 14:12 Boy psychology. A lot of what may be considered toxic masculinity today is what the book would call underdeveloped masculinity, or Boy psychology. Today, there seems to be a lack of societal rituals or clear transitions that take you from your boy stage to your man stage. In essence, your Boy ego has to die for your Adult ego to be created, it's not clear where that happens. 18:57 During your teenage years, you're somewhat psychologically competent to be an adult, but with so many restrictions on schooling, parenting, etc. it doesn't allow a lot of freedom to explore independence. It also creates a household struggle because there's not much externally to struggle against. If you're not being psychologically stimulated and challenged outside of the home, you may create that challenge in the form of conflict within your home. For many, the desire for challenge and quest is met through sports or other extra curricular activities. 22:04 School doesn't solve this desire for challenge, it may arguably make it worse. The struggle teens face with school isn't a struggle that is meaningful or fulfilling. In school, your work is mainly about following a rubric or certain criteria, which limits creativity and fits students into a box. It's not until college where young adults are given more autonomy and responsibility. Even then, many students still fit themselves into the box that they think they're supposed to be in. 27:51 The difference between male adulthood initiation and female adulthood initiation. There are completely different experiences between men and women who become first-time parents, because women are the ones carrying the baby and experiencing all that comes with it. 30:30 It can be argued that in some ways, modernity is destroying the womanhood initiation ritual around giving birth. The birthing industry in hospitals isn't designed around creating the best experience for the mother or retaining the sacredness of the experience. 36:38 Being more aware of environmental factors, diet, sunlight risks, etc. once you're a parent. 40:22 "They are all boys pretending to be men. They got that way honestly, because nobody showed them what a mature man is like. Their kind of “manhood” is a pretense to manhood that goes largely undetected as such by most of us. We are continually mistaking this man's controlling, threatening, and hostile behaviors for strength. In reality, he is showing an underlying extreme vulnerability and weakness, the vulnerability of the wounded boy." This quote gives insight on the wounded boy mentality, similar to what Nat and Neil reference a high-chair tyrant. 42:44 Nat and Neil introduce the 4 archetypes: King, Warrior, Magician and Lover.  King energy in many ways is father energy. Being a good King isn't about being a ruler, it's about being a good leader and being able to provide strength and security. Kids want a noble father figure to look up to in order to see a sense of security and leadership. When they don't have that, they don't feel as secure within the family unit.  47:49 King energy is feeling present, centered, and in control. The inverse of King is similar to a Tyrant, who is never satisfied. The Tyrant is always looking for more material things, more work, and worries nonstop. 51:48 We all have King energy in us, and when you don't think you can rely on your own King energy, you form a dependency on someone else for that security instead. As a child, your father should be the source of the King energy, and manhood is when you begin develop your own King energy internally. 54:01 King energy in politics. On some level, the sense of hopelessness as civilians may come from a lack of King energy in politicians. Not many leaders are strong in their sense of King energy, but many give the Tyrant energy. King energy in political leaders fosters a sense of security and hope. 58:25 Warrior energy. Warrior instinct is a part of us in our psychology. You need to embrace your Warrior energy so the shadow side isn't manifested. Nat and Neil talk about warrior genes. How to channel your Warrior energy for good uses.  1:02:08 How do you measure if you're the best you can be? It's hard to test that. There's physical combat, physical challenges, intellectual challenges, but there's not much else to accurately measure this. If you have weak Warrior energy, everything is happening to you and you feel like nothing ever goes right. With positive Warrior energy, you're in control and choosing your fate. "The warrior is always alert. He is always awake. He is never sleeping through life. He knows how to focus his mind and his body. He is what the samurai called “mindful.” He is a “hunter” in the Native American tradition." 1:06:05 The choice of letting a situation or environment rule you can evoke the shadow version of these archetypes. Inversely, if you maintain control of your situation, you can harness the proactive and positive versions of these personalities. Sometimes you have to do what's hard to live a fuller life, and not settle for the easier choices that end up being unhealthy for you. 1:08:32 The rise in male virginity, especially since 2008. Is it due to dating apps and advance in technology? 1:15:04 Shadow Warrior energy can appear similar to an obsessive-compulsive personality. This is where  you overcommit and take on too many challenges. The compulsive personality digs in and works harder rather than taking a step back when faced with danger signs. The healthy Warrior knows what to destroy in order to create. 1:20:16 Magician archetype: There's a duality in the Magician and Warrior archetypes because the Warrior is the one who acts and implements while the Magician is the thinker and the planner. It pays to have a healthy balance of both archetypes. 1:23:45 A good leader is able to step back and observe so the best decisions can be made. If you're too high on Warrior energy without the Magician energy, you may be doing too much action with little to no thought. And vice versa.  1:27:02 Using access to special knowledge for selfish purposes or for power, similar to negative gurus with overpriced content.  1:34:25 The Manipulator is the shadow side of the Magician. They always seek to control their experience and how others perceive them. “Whenever we are detached, unrelated, and withholding what we know could help others, whenever we use our knowledge as a weapon to belittle and control others or to bolster our status or wealth at others' expense, we are identified with the Shadow Magician as Manipulator. We are doing black magic, damaging ourselves as well as those who could benefit from our wisdom.” 1:37:29 Lover archetype, perhaps the most spiritual one. The Lover is very creative, and is in touch with their premonitions or intuitions about people, situations, or their future. 1:40:53 A lot of people want to have 100% of the information before making a decision, but it can take too long to have all of the information. If you have 40-70% of the information needed to make a decision you should make the decision. Any less than that, you may not make a good choice. 1:44:48 The Addict is the inverse to the Lover. The Addict rides on the ultimate and continuous high, adventure to adventure. Addictive behavior. 1:48:21 Thanks for listening! If you want to read ahead before our next episode, make sure to pick up a copy of The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“Democracies are not lucky. They do not attract civic-minded leaders by chance. Rather, they attract survival-oriented leaders who understand that, given their dependence on many essentials, they can only come to and stay in power if they figure out the right basket of public goods to provide.” In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil are joined by Adil Majid to discuss their key takeaways from The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. The Dictator's Handbook delivers five rules for staying in power and succeeding within the political system. In this episode of Made You Think, we cover a wide range of topics including: How dictators get in power and stay in power The Selectorate theory Taxation and why leaders are so fond of taxes FIFA, Olympics, and giving bribes for more power Decentralized finance as an alternative to the current financial system   And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the Show Episode 7: A Crash Course in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cryptocurrency (0:43) Episode 33: An Animal of No Significance: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari – Part I (1:25) Episode 34: Money, Power, and God: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari – Part II (1:40) Selectorate theory (4:57) Assets of the Federal Reserve (22:00) Ba'ath Party; Saddam Hussein (29:05) Caliphate (54:11) Arab Spring (1:11:10) Democracy Index 2017 (1:12:28) ConstitutionDAO (1:16:01) Corruption in FIFA (1:15:43) Bribing in Olympics (1:15:43) Marijuana episode (1:24:27) A Tale of Two Talebs (1:33:19) Ledger (1:59:31)   Books Mentioned The 48 Laws of Power (2:09) (Nat's Book Notes) The Sovereign Individual (4:36) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Seeing Like a State (4:37) (Nat's Book Notes) Antifragile (1:31:38) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Bitcoin Standard (1:34:26)   People Mentioned Robert Mugabe (10:32) Elizabeth Warren (12:49) Bernie Sanders (12:50) Elon Musk (13:10) Ron DeSantis (15:13) Donald Trump (15:42) Machiavelli (23:45) Fidel Castro (41:41) Che Guevara (41:47) Rasputin (42:48) Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (1:11:40) Julias Caesar (1:21:25) Nassim Taleb (1:32:23) Gary Vaynerchuk (1:33:53)   Show Notes 1:10 Today we are joined by Adil Majid. You may remember him from some of our previous episodes (#7, #33, #34). Today's book is the Dictator's Handbook, a book that shares the rules of the game in politics exactly how it is. What we think is good or bad in politics may be the exact opposite. 3:27 Relying on a larger coalition of individuals results in a more equitable and just system. How this idea ties in with decentralized finance. 4:57 Adil talks about the Selectorate theory and the 3 different groups: the nominal selectorate, the real selectorate, and the winning coalition. The primary goal of a leader is to stay in power and to do this, they must keep the support from members of the winning coalition. 9:59 The way our voting system in the U.S. narrows who's vote counts. Politicians can play the game of staying in power by understanding which votes they need. "When addressing politics, we must accustom ourselves to think and speak about the actions and interests of specific, named leaders rather than thinking and talking about fuzzy ideas like the national interest, the common good, and the general welfare. Once we think about what helps leaders come to and stay in power, we will also begin to see how to fix politics. Politics, like all of life, is about individuals, each motivated to do what is good for them, not what is good for others.” To stay in power, politicians are not making decisions about general welfare and the common good. Bueno de Mesquita notes that it's all about what's good for them, not for us. 12:33 This brings up the question, why do politicians seem to believe things so extremely? An outside-in approach: A candidate needs to appeal to the extreme then come back to the middle and more neutral voters to win a general election. 18:25 Questionable social media sprees from politicians, and how it could be a tool for covering something up. Inflation and stimulus checks. 24:42 There are five basic rules leaders can use to succeed in any system.  Rule 1: Keep your winning coalition as small as possible. Having a small coalition is to your advantage in taking and keeping power. There are fewer people to keep happy, and keeping them happy is a key to staying in power. 30:50 There are so many institutions in government but not all of them are necessary in keeping and maintaining power. Corruption as an essential political tool.  "The causal ties run both ways: power leads to corruption and corruption leads to power." 33:59 Informational asymmetry between members of the winning coalition and the nominal electorate. Transparency within companies; there's certain information that is only shared with the leaders that is not available to all within the company.  37:38 Rule 2: Keep your nominal selectorate as large as possible. Nat, Neil, and Adil discuss rigged elections. These are a periodic reminder that everyone is replaceable. The way to thrive in a dictatorship is not to be the dictator himself, but to be a highly irreplaceable member of the winning coalition. It's tough to be irreplaceable, as you also don't want to become a threat. 43:30 Once you accumulate power, it's all about keeping power. It's chaotic to transition from one leader to the next. Fratricide is the act of killing one's brother. How this has been seen in history before as well as in animal behavior. 45:32 Rule 3: Control the flow of revenue. If your leader doesn't know how to make money and increase wealth for your country, it's essential that they know who to pay to stay in power. Example: Mugabe from Zimbabwe stayed in power despite starvation and epidemics throughout the country. It was less about what happens to the people, as long as the army was paid. “When debt exceeds the ability to pay, the problem for a leader is not so much that good public works must be cut back, but rather that the incumbent doesn't have the resources necessary to purchase political loyalty from key backers." 49:25 Taxation: Maximize taxation while maintaining productivity if you're an autocratic country with no natural resources. Taxes on crypto in other countries vs. the U.S. 54:02 “It seems that many non-Muslims, realizing that they could reduce the tax collectors' reach by becoming Muslim, put their religious beliefs aside and converted." Some religious empires collected taxes instead of direct rule. There was also tax farming where central authority bids on the taxes from different regions, and kept some of the collected tax for their own use. 58:17 Official exchange rates vs. street rates. The street rates would essentially be a better deal because the government was taking a cut out of the official exchange rates. This idea connects again with cryptocurrency where if a transaction isn't traceable by the government, it can be a good deal for everyone involved.  1:04:20 "Rule 4: Pay your key supporters just enough to keep them loyal." Dichotomy in the lives of people in the same country, Saudi Arabia as an example. Some people live very wealthy, whereas some areas of the country don't even have paved roads. Within the same country are extremely different ways of living. 1:08:54 A dictatorship is so much easier to control than a democracy when it comes to foreign aid. They're no longer under American control when they become a democracy. 1:12:58 Relationship between military and government in other countries. 1:14:56 "Rule 5: Don't take money out of your supporter's pockets to make the people's lives better." Bribes in FIFA and the Olympics. Buying votes to win hosting rights for your country. 1:20:19 Dictators who try to support the people at the expense of their coalition often found themselves on the losing end. “Julius Caesar's mistake was to help the people at the expense of his backers and this too cost him his life." 1:23:25 The progression of making marijuana legal in the states. States have power in some large topics such as marijuana legalization and abortion where one state may create laws in complete opposite of another state. 1:29:10 Political divide these days can often appear less about the individual policies and more about whether it should be a Federal or State issue.  1:32:01 Nassim Taleb tangent, and the story of how Nat got blocked on Twitter. 1:37:00 Getting sick as a dictator. Those who depend on you are no longer secure, so they're looking for someone else. It's important to have a succession plan lined up that your key supporters believe in. They don't want their future to come into question. 1:41:40 The monarchy in England and other European countries, and the way that they're born into power. 1:45:28 The more democratic a group is, the weaker it is. If it's weak, slow, and requires a lot of consensus, there is less power. Same goes for companies. 1:50:13 Crypto and selectorate theory. Some tokens are very autocratic while some are very community-owned and community-driven. Low exit costs in crypto, if you don't like what you see, you can take your money and go elsewhere. 1:59:40 Thanks for listening! Adil will be back in a future episode where we cover Seeing Like a State. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS and @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!