Podcasts about generalism

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom podcast, host Stewart Alsop welcomes guest Neal Davies, a former computer science professor and nuclear engineering PhD, currently working at the Urbit Foundation. Their conversation covers a range of intriguing topics including the Deseret Alphabet, a phonetic alphabet from the 19th century, Neal's experiences balancing generalist and specialist roles, and the influence of AI in both his work and the world at large. Neal also shares his insights on syntax, symbols, and the cultural shifts that have shaped modern consciousness. You can connect with Neal on Twitter @Sigilante or find him on Urbit as @Lagravnokvap.Check out this GPT we trained on the conversation!Timestamps00:00 Introduction to the Crazy Wisdom Podcast00:19 Exploring the Deseret Alphabet04:02 Challenges and Rewards of Being a Generalist06:47 Impact of AI on Generalism and Specialization08:24 AI in Code and Image Generation13:43 Salvador Dali's Paranoiac Critical Method17:18 Symbolism in Art and Language20:49 The Spiritual Connection with Language30:05 Greek Influence on Language and Zero32:59 Exploring Number Systems35:10 Rational Numbers and Greek Innovations38:12 The Evolution of Linguistic Systems40:29 Cultural Shifts: 1870s to 1960s45:46 The Impact of the 1960s on Modern Thought49:58 The Role of Illegible Spaces in Innovation56:11 Concluding Thoughts and Future DirectionsKey Insights1-Deseret Alphabet as a Cultural and Linguistic Experiment: Neal Davies is deeply fascinated by the 19th-century Deseret Alphabet, a phonetic alphabet created to help immigrants in Utah become literate. Its unique structure and religious origins present a profound example of how language can be intentionally shaped to serve a community, although this project ultimately didn't gain widespread adoption.2-Balancing Generalism and Specialization: Neal shares his personal journey of pursuing generalist roles while maintaining expertise in specific fields like computer science and nuclear engineering. He emphasizes the value of broad, diverse knowledge in a world that often rewards specialization. His approach allows for flexibility and creativity in problem-solving, despite the professional challenges generalists may face in a society focused on specialization.3-AI as a Tool for Productivity, Not Replacement: Neal highlights the utility of AI in his work, particularly in code generation and ideation. He discusses how tools like GitHub's Copilot act as force multipliers for developers, offering a starting point that saves time without replacing the critical thinking required for final implementation. AI is seen as a support system for creativity, especially in programming and image generation.4-Syntax and Symbols as Catalysts for Thought: Neal discusses the profound relationship between syntax, symbols, and thought. By exploring different symbol systems, such as mathematical notation or alphabets like Deseret, he argues that they can unlock new ways of thinking. Symbol systems not only shape reasoning but allow people to build layers of understanding and explore more complex ideas.5-Cultural Experimentation and Enclaves: Reflecting on the importance of high variance in human endeavor, Neal supports creating enclaves of culture and thought outside the mainstream. He argues that monoculture, driven by surveillance and conformity, limits the ability to think freely and explore novel solutions. Platforms like Urbit, which emphasize privacy and decentralized communication, provide a space for communities to experiment and innovate without being surveilled or controlled.6-The Failure and Legacy of the 1960s Counterculture: Neal suggests that the cultural revolution of the 1960s was an ambitious attempt at societal transformation that ultimately failed. Co-opted by commercialism, politics, and other forces, the movement couldn't fully realize its vision of reshaping consciousness. However, it planted seeds for future cultural shifts, much like the influence of the Romanticists in the 19th century.7-The Importance of Illegibility in Innovation: Neal explains that true freedom in innovation comes from creating spaces where ideas and communities can evolve without constant oversight. He draws a parallel to Hemingway's theory that the unseen parts of a story are as important as the visible ones. Similarly, innovation flourishes when parts of a system or community remain illegible and unobserved, allowing for creativity and growth beyond the constraints of external control.

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom podcast, host Stewart Alsop welcomes guest Neal Davies, a former computer science professor and nuclear engineering PhD, currently working at the Urbit Foundation. Their conversation covers a range of intriguing topics including the Deseret Alphabet, a phonetic alphabet from the 19th century, Neal's experiences balancing generalist and specialist roles, and the influence of AI in both his work and the world at large. Neal also shares his insights on syntax, symbols, and the cultural shifts that have shaped modern consciousness. You can connect with Neal on Twitter @Sigilante or find him on Urbit as @Lagravnokvap.Check out this GPT we trained on the conversation!Timestamps00:00 Introduction to the Crazy Wisdom Podcast00:19 Exploring the Deseret Alphabet04:02 Challenges and Rewards of Being a Generalist06:47 Impact of AI on Generalism and Specialization08:24 AI in Code and Image Generation13:43 Salvador Dali's Paranoiac Critical Method17:18 Symbolism in Art and Language20:49 The Spiritual Connection with Language30:05 Greek Influence on Language and Zero32:59 Exploring Number Systems35:10 Rational Numbers and Greek Innovations38:12 The Evolution of Linguistic Systems40:29 Cultural Shifts: 1870s to 1960s45:46 The Impact of the 1960s on Modern Thought49:58 The Role of Illegible Spaces in Innovation56:11 Concluding Thoughts and Future DirectionsKey InsightsDeseret Alphabet as a Cultural and Linguistic Experiment: Neal Davies is deeply fascinated by the 19th-century Deseret Alphabet, a phonetic alphabet created to help immigrants in Utah become literate. Its unique structure and religious origins present a profound example of how language can be intentionally shaped to serve a community, although this project ultimately didn't gain widespread adoption.Balancing Generalism and Specialization: Neal shares his personal journey of pursuing generalist roles while maintaining expertise in specific fields like computer science and nuclear engineering. He emphasizes the value of broad, diverse knowledge in a world that often rewards specialization. His approach allows for flexibility and creativity in problem-solving, despite the professional challenges generalists may face in a society focused on specialization.AI as a Tool for Productivity, Not Replacement: Neal highlights the utility of AI in his work, particularly in code generation and ideation. He discusses how tools like GitHub's Copilot act as force multipliers for developers, offering a starting point that saves time without replacing the critical thinking required for final implementation. AI is seen as a support system for creativity, especially in programming and image generation.Syntax and Symbols as Catalysts for Thought: Neal discusses the profound relationship between syntax, symbols, and thought. By exploring different symbol systems, such as mathematical notation or alphabets like Deseret, he argues that they can unlock new ways of thinking. Symbol systems not only shape reasoning but allow people to build layers of understanding and explore more complex ideas.Cultural Experimentation and Enclaves: Reflecting on the importance of high variance in human endeavor, Neal supports creating enclaves of culture and thought outside the mainstream. He argues that monoculture, driven by surveillance and conformity, limits the ability to think freely and explore novel solutions. Platforms like Urbit, which emphasize privacy and decentralized communication, provide a space for communities to experiment and innovate without being surveilled or controlled.The Failure and Legacy of the 1960s Counterculture: Neal suggests that the cultural revolution of the 1960s was an ambitious attempt at societal transformation that ultimately failed. Co-opted by commercialism, politics, and other forces, the movement couldn't fully realize its vision of reshaping consciousness. However, it planted seeds for future cultural shifts, much like the influence of the Romanticists in the 19th century.The Importance of Illegibility in Innovation: Neal explains that true freedom in innovation comes from creating spaces where ideas and communities can evolve without constant oversight. He draws a parallel to Hemingway's theory that the unseen parts of a story are as important as the visible ones. Similarly, innovation flourishes when parts of a system or community remain illegible and unobserved, allowing for creativity and growth beyond the constraints of external control.

Episode 164: Developing Power At Any AgeIn this episode, Robyn and Ben discuss "power" and how to develop power at any age. We all want to feel powerful. The gym is one of the best ways to feel powerful in your body and we want to help you find a way to be more powerful today. Check out how in all the highlights  below: It is all Ben's Fault What is "true" kindness Judging vs assessing Effort and execution Defining Power and misconceptions The force-velocity curve  Mike Tyson punches The concept of Generalism  10 Physical Skills of CrossFit The challenges of aging  Maintain vs growth in power Where are you putting your effort The Importance of Recovery in Power Development What is the "real goal" How to feel more powerful Hopefully, this episode helps you understand power and how to feel more powerful in and out of the gym. If you have more questions or want help developing your power, then reach out to your favorite coaches. We've got you covered.Have a listen, and as always give us some feedback and ask us questions!

In this episode, John Waynick, shares his journey from game development to film and virtual production. He discusses the importance of understanding cinematography and the challenges of creating realistic environments. Jon talks about the value of game optimization techniques in virtual production and the impact of Unreal Engine 5's technology on asset creation. He also touches on the convergence of film and gaming, the role of AI in creative industries, and his approach to teaching game design at CG Pro. Time Stamps: 00:02:21 John's early interest in comic books and drawing, and how it led to his career in computer graphics. 00:04:42 John's career progression from comic book art to 3D art, self-teaching, and early experiences in teaching. 00:11:01 The shift from specialized roles to generalist roles in the industry and the impact of technology on job roles. 00:13:40 The rise of generalist roles, the impact of virtual production, and John's view on the beauty of generalism. 00:15:18 The influence of budget considerations and oversaturation in the industry on the rise of generalist roles. 00:19:42 Advice on standing out in games through performance optimization and in film through an understanding of cinematography. 00:23:08 Explanation of how understanding camera works contributes to creating realistic scenes and the importance of depth of field. 00:24:17 Challenges and learning experiences when transitioning from working in games to working in film, particularly focusing on cameras and cinematography. 00:25:20 The initial challenges and the subsequent role in educating the team on optimizing game engines for virtual production. 00:28:46 Explanation of the Nanite feature in Unreal Engine 5, its benefits, and the considerations related to size on disk and geometry optimization. 00:31:31 Discussion on the importance of optimization, especially regarding size on disk and the impact on game installs, and the balance between visual detail and geometry. 00:35:20 Comparison of asset creation for film, games, virtual production, and Fortnite, highlighting the similarities and the importance of optimization techniques. 00:39:32 Advice for individuals transitioning from a game dev background to virtual production, focusing on learning cinematography and improving modeling and texturing skills. 00:44:21 Discussion on the relaxation in poly count considerations with Nanite, emphasizing the need for optimization but not to the same extent as before. 00:46:28 Explanation of the benefits and optimization of tessellation for landscapes and objects in Unreal Engine. 00:47:30 Discussion about John's interest in both the gaming industry and virtual production and the potential future career paths. 00:52:04 Exploration of the potential convergence of film and games, and the possibility of experiencing movies in a more interactive, ride-like manner. 00:58:35 Comparison of skills and experiences in the gaming, simulation, and virtual production industries, highlighting the transferability of skills. 01:00:57 Discussion about the current and potential impact of AI, machine learning, and neural networks on creative industries, addressing concerns and opportunities. 01:06:04 John gives his perspective on using AI as a tool to speed up workflow, while emphasizing the importance of understanding the underlying processes. 01:09:13 Encouragement to embrace and leverage AI while acknowledging ethical considerations and the importance of artists maintaining control of their work. 01:10:24 Discussing the limitations of describing visual details through words and the significance of visual representation in art and game design. 01:10:52 Exploring the challenges of conveying detailed descriptions in art and game design, and the necessity of visual aids. 01:13:38 Explaining a unique approach to game design education focused on concepts and critical thinking rather than step-by-step tutorials. Connecting with the Guest: Website: https://learndigitalalchemy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-waynick-aa74a520/ Connecting with CG Pro: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/ Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

Join us on NBSCast for a  conversation with Emir Plicanic about generalism. In this episode, Emir shares his journey across diverse fields. Discover the advantages of being a versatile generalist in a specialized world, and gain valuable insights on balancing varied interests. In todays segment we say goodbye to our cohost Tommy as we have a conversation with him on his last recording!

This week Zohar joins Rohit Krishnan, investor, blogger at Strange Loop Canon, and author of Building God, to talk about Edge, AI, Sabbaticals, Mastery and Generalism, Investing, Creativity, P-Zombies, Techno-Optimism, Conviction, and Forgetting. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show to help us grow. You might also enjoy The Lightning Podcast.

This week Zohar joins Rohit Krishnan, investor, blogger at Strange Loop Canon, and author of Building God, to talk about Edge, AI, Sabbaticals, Mastery and Generalism, Investing, Creativity, P-Zombies, Techno-Optimism, Conviction, and Forgetting. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show to help us grow. You might also enjoy The Lightning Podcast.

What's up everyone, today we're joined by Natalie Miles, Head of Marketing Technology at Chime.Summary: Don't underestimate the role of generalists in martech; they're your go-to for system-level thinking and breaking down data silos. Building vs buying your tech stack? It's not black and white; successful setups usually mix both, and including engineers in the decision process is non-negotiable. Considering a CDP? Opt for a composable one to get quick value and robust data management. And if you're venturing into personalization, it's your team's culture and process that'll make or break it, not just the tools. Tune into this episode for straight-up, actionable insights that cut through the noise in the martech world.About Natalie Natalie started her career as a Financial Counselor at the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of San Francisco  She then took on the role of Quality Assurance Specialist at Lending Club, a fintech marketplace bank where she was eventually promoted to Operations Analyst Natalie then moved over to Credit Karma, best known for pioneering free credit scores where she started as a Marketing Operations Analyst and was later promoted to Marketing Operations Manager And for the last 3 years, she's been Head of Marketing Technology at Chime, a fintech company that offers no-fee savings accounts, where she's built and managed a holistic Martech stack supporting all channels and functions within the Marketing org The Intersection of Financial Empathy and Marketing OperationsWhen asked about her transition from financial counseling to marketing operations, particularly within FinTech, Natalie illuminates how her upbringing and career have been tightly woven with mission-driven personal finance companies. Shaped by her experiences in a working-class household and graduating amid a historic economic crisis, Natalie's focus has been on transforming legacy institutions that often operate on zero-sum models—those that profit when the customer suffers. Her goal? To align business value directly with user value. Natalie also emphasizes the importance of having a generalist background when working in marketing technology. She points out that her diverse experiences, including her time as a financial counselor, have enriched her understanding of system-level thinking—a key asset for any marketing technologist. It wasn't just about marketing; it was about leveraging technology to make different teams more efficient, whether they were marketing or support teams.In her journey through the marketing landscape, Natalie discusses the evolution from specializing in lifecycle marketing to adopting a more generalist approach once again. She believes that understanding the pain points in one marketing channel provides insights that are transferable across other channels. This is vital because while each channel has its own nuances, they also share common threads that are integral to driving growth or achieving specific business outcomes. Natalie underscores the concept of the "T-shaped marketer," a term often used in marketing discussions to describe professionals who start by specializing in a specific channel but gradually broaden their scope. This broad understanding is crucial in the realm of marketing technology, where preventing data silos and powering omni-channel journeys are key.Key Takeaway: Having a generalist background isn't just about being a jack-of-all-trades; it's about mastering system-level thinking. This kind of broad perspective is invaluable in marketing technology, where understanding how various components interact can significantly improve efficiency and effectiveness. By being well-versed in multiple areas, you're better equipped to tackle complex challenges and integrate solutions that drive measurable results.The Power of Generalism in a Specialized Marketing WorldWhen asked about the value of a generalist background in martech, Natalie explained that many marketing organizations structure themselves around specific channels, but doing so can have its drawbacks. Specialists may be excellent at understanding the intricacies of a particular channel like Google Search but may lack a broader understanding of how to harmonize different channels for an integrated, omni-channel experience.Natalie pointed out an often-overlooked aspect of specialized teams: they often onboard tools designed to solve specific channel needs. While this specialization can drive short-term success, it often fails to consider the bigger picture. As marketing complexity grows and companies aim for more personalized, omni-channel experiences, the need for someone who can tie all these disparate elements together becomes increasingly important.In the startup world, this is especially significant. Startups usually kick off with generalists who can wear multiple hats and pivot as needed. As the company matures, specialists are added to the mix. Natalie highlighted the risks of over-indexing on channel-specific experts. These experts can work in silos, and this compartmentalized approach can be a roadblock when aiming for more intricate marketing strategies that require seamless coordination between channels.One of the most compelling points Natalie made was around marketing organizations that prioritize outcomes over channels. An outcome-oriented approach can enable the same individual to manage paid retargeting ads while also running lifecycle campaigns, for instance. This blend of responsibilities demands a broader skill set and makes the case for generalists who can adapt to multiple marketing scenarios and strategies.Key Takeaway: Don't underestimate the power of generalists in martech. They bring the critical ability to weave together various marketing channels and tools, enabling a more integrated and effective marketing strategy. If your team is too specialized, you risk creating data and strategy silos that can hamper your broader marketing objectives.Martech's Dilemma: Engineering Constraints and the Build vs Buy DebateWhen asked about Casey Winters' article on the notion that martech is essentially for engineers, Natalie offered a nuanced perspective that extends beyond the conventional build-versus-buy debate. Casey argues that martech has evolved as a response to engineering constraints, and lifting these constraints would render third-party martech solutions redundant. Natalie, while a fan of Casey and his work, respectfully disagrees with this one-dimensional view. She highlights a reality most businesses face: the absence of unlimited engineering resources. In her experience, this constraint justifies the need for third-party solutions, especially when internal solutions often lack marketer-friendly user interfaces.Natalie touched on the complexity of allocating engineering resources effectively, particularly in sectors like FinTech. Should a FinTech company spend its limited engineering capital on building martech products, or should it focus on actual financial products that drive consumer growth? She suggests that the more pressing question businesses should be asking isn't whether to build or buy, but where to best align their engineering resources in line with their core competencies. This consideration often leads to a blend of in-house and third-party solutions in a company's martech stack.Narrowing the definition of martech to just third-party solutions is, in Natalie's view, a limiting approach. She emphasizes that most martech stacks will inevitably be a mix of both built and bought solutions. This mix arises because even when buying a solution, substantial engineering resources are often needed to integrate it into existing data architectures. And contrary to Casey's idealistic scenario, Natalie stresses that most companies do not operate in a utopia of endless engineering resources.Natalie's final point converges on the person who sits at the intersection of engineering, marketing, and data privacy. Whether that person's title is a product manager or something in martech is irrelevant; what matters is that someone is thinking about the problem space for marketers. This individual creates the roadmap, defines the requirements, and collaborates with cross-functional teams to ensure that the chosen solutions—built or bought—are effectively implemented.Key Takeaway: The martech ecosystem isn't a binary choice between building and buying solutions. It's more about resource alignment and meeting the real needs of your marketing team. Beware of simplistic viewpoints that suggest you can entirely build or buy your way to success; the reality is usually a hybrid approach tailored to your business constraints and goals.Bridging the Gap Between Engineers and Marketers in Martech DecisionsContinuing the thread about the role engineers play in the martech sphere, Natalie weighed in on the dynamic relationship between marketers and engineers. She acknowledged that while most martech tools might cater primarily to marketers, overlooking the engineering team could lead to integration nightmares. These tools need to fit within the existing tech architecture, after all.Natalie also brought up the common pitfall in the decision-making process for tools like Customer Data Platforms (CDP). In many organizations, marketers might go off and purchase a tool without consulting the engineering team, setting the stage for future headaches and compatibility issues. To truly get value out of martech, a unified decision-making process is critical.However, Natalie pointed out that the effectiveness of this collaborative approach often hinges on the organizational structure. In larger, more siloed companies, the engineering team might not fully understand the challenges that the marketing team faces. In such scenarios, the need for a translator—a product manager or a specialized martech role—becomes crucial. This individual serves as a bridge, understanding both the marketing challenges and the technical framework necessary to address them.For Natalie, the debate isn't as binary as it seems. It's not about whether martech is for marketers or engineers. It's about recognizing that both have a role to play and ensuring that role is respected in the decision-making process.Key Takeaway: Martech isn't a one-size-fits-all solution catered to marketers alone. Engineers have a crucial role in ensuring the tech stack is cohesive and functional. To avoid friction and maximize the utility of any tool, include both marketers and engineers in the selection and implementation process.Building a Composable CDP Stack: Lessons from Chime's JourneyWhen asked about her experience building a composable Customer Data Platform (CDP) stack at Chime, Natalie offered invaluable insights. The central issue was the need for personalization at scale, fueled by data activation. Chime, despite being in operation for over a decade, had not yet onboarded a traditional CDP. This lack became increasingly glaring as they sought to differentiate in a commoditized space and optimize customer acquisition costs. Personalization, Natalie pointed out, requires contextual information about user behaviors, needs, and interactions with the product.Natalie's aha moment came from listening to a data-edge podcast discussing "reverse ETL and data activation." It shifted her perspective on how CDPs could function without necessarily replicating data already stored in their warehouses. This led to the realization that composable CDPs, like Census and Hightouch, offered advantages such as speed to value and reduced data storage costs. These platforms could get up and running far quicker than their traditional counterparts, which could often take up to six months just to configure data ingestion.The data security and audience portability aspects were not to be overlooked. Operating in a heavily regulated space, Chime prioritized keeping their first-party data in-house as much as possible. Traditional CDPs would necessitate sending this sensitive data out for storage, which was a significant concern.What really sealed the deal was the alignment with engineering priorities. Going the composable CDP route meant that the engineering team didn't have to spend valuable resources on setting up a traditional CDP. It was a win-win, resolving the needs of both the marketing and data engineering teams at Chime.Key Takeaway: If you're in the market for a CDP, consider your organization's specific needs and limitations. Composable CDPs can offer speed to value, data security, and align better with modern data architectures, which could be precisely what your marketing and engineering teams have been looking for.The Complexity of Data Pipelines and the Ease of CDP IntegrationWhen asked about the situation before implementing a composable Customer Data Platform (CDP), Natalie shed light on an often under-discussed aspect of data management. She recalled a complex network of point-to-point integrations built using Python scripts and airflow. The result? A six-week time frame to set up a new pipeline to a new ad destination, making the cost of exploring new channels unnecessarily high and the process far from nimble.The obstacle wasn't just time but also resource allocation. In Natalie's own words, the cost of testing into new channels escalated because of the intense work needed to get the initial data import running. The situation was further complicated by the stringent need for data privacy compliance. Without a centralized framework to govern data consent, maintaining these point-to-point integrations was a daunting task, especially in a world bound by GDPR and CCPA.However, the switch to a composable CDP was almost a night-and-day difference. These platforms are built for plug-and-play functionality. Instead of the tedious task of molding and transforming data for each marketing destination, it became a scenario of "create the model once, publish everywhere."But the most significant shift was perhaps in the governance of data and consent. With a centralized hub, compliance was more manageable. Whether you're in a heavily regulated space or not, the ability to centrally store opt-in and opt-out data while ensuring a standardized definition of "customer" across tables becomes a game-changer.Key Takeaway: A composable CDP isn't just an upgrade; it's a strategic move that cuts down both the time and resources required for data management while offering robust compliance and governance features. It's time to think beyond point-to-point integrations.The Real-Time Dilemma in Warehouse-Native MartechWhen asked about the feasibility of incorporating warehouse-native customer engagement platforms that live atop a Snowflake instance, Natalie zeroed in on the critical issue of latency. In real-time personalization scenarios, traditional data warehouses often hit a speed bump. While they might be well-equipped for less time-sensitive tasks like powering BI tools, they often fall short when microseconds count.Natalie acknowledged that warehouse latency creates a bottleneck, especially for customer engagement platforms aimed at real-time personalization. While there are workarounds to improve latency within the warehouse, or even to bypass it entirely through server-to-server integrations, the challenge persists. The question isn't just about technological capability but also about actual need. Does every marketing scenario require real-time personalization, or are we, as an industry, overestimating its importance?Importantly, Natalie challenged the universal desire for real-time personalization. There's a cost-benefit analysis to be done here: the technical constraints might not justify the value real-time personalization adds to certain channels. Most notably, in lifecycle channels where a push notification within a minute after a user's action might be desired, traditional data warehouses currently fall short.Interestingly, Natalie foresaw the martech space evolving to solve this latency issue. Whether it's a new configuration of existing technology or a groundbreaking approach to data warehousing, the lag in real-time processing could well be a thing of the past sooner rather than later.Key Takeaway: If you're grappling with whether to go warehouse-native for your customer engagement platforms, consider both the existing latency limitations and the actual necessity of real-time data in your specific use case. It's not just a technology decision; it's a strategy call.Experimentation and Personalization - More than Just ToolingWhen asked about how experimentation and personalization strategies evolve during a company's CDP journey, Natalie didn't immediately dive into the mechanics of the technology stack. Instead, she argued for a broader look at the issue, emphasizing that the key to effective experimentation often starts with process and culture.Natalie strongly suggested that before even touching tooling, teams need to create a strong foundational culture around experimentation. This includes standardizing approaches with experimentation briefs, developing frameworks for prioritizing experiments, and empowering marketers to understand concepts like minimum detectable effects and statistical significance. Surprisingly, Natalie pointed out that something as elementary as forming a testable hypothesis could be a stumbling block for some teams.Discussing the limitations of existing martech solutions, Natalie highlighted that most tools offer their own built-in experimentation features but lack a unified, company-wide view. When experimentation is happening in silos across various teams and tools, the results get muddled. As a result, you might end up with misleading outcomes because you can't pinpoint which experience caused the observed lift or change in behavior.Natalie identified an unmet need in the martech space: the absence of a third-party tool that centralizes all experimentation. As companies increasingly build their experimentation platforms in-house, it exposes a gap that existing martech vendors haven't filled. They tend to operate within the confines of their specific functions rather than solving for a company-wide, unified experimentation layer.Key Takeaway: If you're diving into the world of personalization and experimentation, don't fixate solely on the tools. Culture and process are the real linchpins. And while the martech industry catches up, consider an in-house solution for centralized experimentation.Harmonizing Teams in the Intersection of Tech and People SkillsWhen asked about managing the complex dynamic of being tech-savvy while also handling the human aspects of team management, especially in roles that sit at the intersection of various teams, Natalie offered some pragmatic insights. She stressed the importance of adopting a curiosity mindset. In her experience, many conflicts or misalignments between teams stem from a simple disconnect in communication. Different teams often focus on different objectives, whether it's growth outcomes for marketing or data quality for analytics teams. This difference in focus can create a "language barrier" that leads to misunderstandings.According to Natalie, there are typically two types of misalignment. The first is when teams agree on the desired outcome but not on the method to achieve it. This is a solvable issue and usually just requires translating each team's goals into a common language. The second, more complicated form of misalignment occurs when there is disagreement about the outcome itself. This deeper issue calls for intervention from leadership to clarify priorities.Natalie pointed out that the martech space, in particular, is guilty of using jargon that doesn't resonate across different teams. This contributes to the language barrier and misalignment. To address this, she advised abstracting away the jargon and focusing on what different teams actually care about. For example, marketing might talk about "data activation," a term that might not mean much to a data engineer.Natalie emphasized that as marketers, or anyone sitting at this complex crossroad, it's crucial to understand the "value props" that will resonate with the diverse teams one interacts with.Key Takeaway: The secret sauce to team alignment isn't some complex framework but rather effective communication. Be the translation layer between different teams by understanding their goals and using language that resonates with them. Speak less like a marketer and more like a human who understands what other humans care about.The Elusive Art of Finding Balance in a Multifaceted LifeWhen asked about the holy grail of work-life balance amidst her roles as a martech leader, a mom, a wife, and a film enthusiast, Natalie quickly dispelled the myth that anyone has it figured out. Instead, she likened her daily experience to walking a tightrope while juggling. For Natalie, it's about acknowledging that she's not going to be able to "do it all" and being intentional about which ball she's willing to drop at any given time. The peace and empowerment come from this level of intentionality.Natalie stressed that there are times when one aspect of her life will receive less attention. Maybe it's a day with excessive screen time for her child or a day where work only gets 50% of her energy. These trade-offs are inevitable, and the real skill lies in prioritizing. Parenthood, according to her, is a crash course in this form of rapid-fire decision-making. Parents become masters at determining what needs immediate attention and what can wait.Another aspect Natalie brought into focus was the concept of a personal "North Star." For her, this North Star is her child. Everything she does, including her career, is a means to provide opportunities or set examples for him. Having a clear focus allows her to make choices that align with her core values, offering peace of mind in the chaos that is daily life.Key Takeaway: You can't be everything to everyone, and that's not just okay, it's real life. Make peace with the fact that you'll have to drop the ball sometimes and focus on what truly matters to you. That's your North Star, and it'll guide you when you have to make those tough calls on where to invest your time and energy.Episode RecapGeneralists are your secret weapon in martech. Forget the myth of the jack-of-all-trades being a master of none. The real magic happens when someone can connect the dots between multiple areas. They're the folks who can break down the silos that choke your data and muddle your strategy. They understand that every piece of your tech stack interacts in complex ways. Bottom line: you want these generalists on your team. They help you get more from your martech investments by integrating solutions that actually drive measurable outcomes.Now, let's talk building vs buying in the martech space. It's not an either-or situation; it's a 'best-fit' scenario. Forget the misleading viewpoints that suggest you should fully build or buy your stack. Reality check: the most effective setups are usually a blend, customized to your specific needs and constraints. And don't just bring marketers into this discussion. Engineers are key. They ensure your tools not only work together but work well. That's how you get a tech stack that's cohesive and functional.When diving into Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), be strategic, not reactive. Composable CDPs can be a game-changer—they're fast, secure, and they mesh well with modern data architectures. Think of it not just as an upgrade, but as a high-impact strategy move. You save time, cut resource costs, and get top-notch data management features, all in one. But don't rush into it. Consider your unique needs. Need real-time data for customer engagement? Weigh the existing latency limitations. Think about the genuine necessity of real-time information for your specific case.Last but not least, if you're wading into personalization and experimentation, remember: your tech stack is only as good as the culture and processes behind it. Tools are just that—tools. Your team's mindset and workflow are what will make or break your personalization efforts. While the martech industry is still evolving, if you need specialized solutions for experimentation, don't hesitate to build them in-house.So why should you tune into this episode? Because you'll walk away with no-nonsense, actionable insights that help you not just navigate but thrive in the martech space. From leveraging the power of generalists to making savvy choices in CDPs, we dig deep into what really matters. So don't miss out—listen to the episode and arm yourself with the insights to stay ahead

Details Leadership can be a little complicated so in this episode we wish to reduce that complexity to a model of leadership that is more easily understood. You see, Leadership behaviors are knit together, much like the complex network of the human brain. There is a great deal of interdependence between them. Research shows that … Continued The post Episode 123: The Leadership Tent— Balancing Specialization and Generalism first appeared on ZENGER FOLKMAN. The post Episode 123: The Leadership Tent— Balancing Specialization and Generalism appeared first on ZENGER FOLKMAN.

We kick off our 4th year of podcasting with special guest Pat Flynn - Husband, Father, Content Creator, Writer, Musician, Minimalist, Generalist, Podcaster, Coach & all round fascinating guy. Pat's been on our ‘guest wish list' for a long time & his visit with us doesn't disappoint. We discuss training, personal productivity, physical & mental compartmentalisation & the interplay between efficiency & effectiveness AND how to cover up mistakes when playing guitar on stage.

Pat and Aleks make the case for general physical preparedness over hyper-specialization for both lifting and life, then tell you all about the upcoming Strong ON! Certification. You can sign up for the September Strong ON! Cert, and score the early bird discount, here: https://chroniclesofstrength.com/strongoncert 

Featured Guests: James Currier, general partner & co-founder, NFX Capital | Will Robbins, general partner, Contrary | Richard Dulude, co-founder & general partner, Underscore VC Lawyers say you could be held liable for copyright infringement if you use what chat bots spit out, the case for VC generalism in an increasingly vertical-specific industry, and OpenAI makes its first acquisition.

In the 188th episode of The Strength Connection Podcast, Mike and our special guest, owner of Chronicles of Strength, Pat Flynn will talk about reductive naturalism or materialism, philosophers challenge everything you could possibly believe, simplicity is a general guide to truth, questioning is the natural path to mastery, objections are argument testers, and more!Join us in this insightful and captivating talk! In this chapter, you will discover:(1:00) Mike introduces our special guest Owner of Chronicles of Strength, Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(1:30) Shout out to Aleks Salkin @aleks_salkin(2:10) The first trilogy member in the Strength Connection(3:30) Remembering the last interview with Pat Flynn, “Be Extreme To Be Better” https://www.buzzsprout.com/1860981/11246260 (4:10) Shout out to legendary coach Dan John @coachdanjohn(5:30) Go to Nabosotechnology.com Use the code CONNECTION for 10% of your purchase https://bit.ly/3PUZC6G (7:30) Philosophy and religion(8:20) Reductive naturalism or materialism(9.30) Lao-Tzu and Confucius(10:10) Your worldview is something you can't have(11:10) Philosophical questions(12:15) Shout out to Founder of EVOLVE MOVE PLAY, Rafe Kelley @rafekelley(12:30) Complicated vs Complex(14:00) Philosophers challenge everything you could possibly believe(15:00) “To ask one question is to ask every question.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(16:00) The power of simplicity(19:00) Simplicity is a general guide to truth.(20:00) Questioning is the natural path to mastery(20:30) “Objections is a love language of philosophers.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(21:00) Objections are argument testers(22:00) The process of writing a philosophical book(25:20) “Know the rules before you break the rules.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(27:00) Generalism and Minimalism(29:00) The Least vs Little(36:00) The Highway of Strength analogy(37:40) The difference between structure and intuition(41:00) Staying consistent through different stages of life(42:20) Shout out to Abel James @fatburningman(48:00) Low volume and high volume. Shout out to Fabio Zonin @x_fab_69(49:00) Brett Jones @brettjonessfg and Iron Cardio https://strongandfit.com/products/iron-cardio-by-brett-jones?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5f2lBhCkARIsAHeTvliN-tGsSNmOlzJoqVV6pY7wagoMk_jzUl8ED1kkkL-yBttRwVoBwpEaAqlFEALw_wcB (56:30) Where to find more about Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength https://www.instagram.com/chroniclesofstrength/ 

“The world is going to be more generalist. It's tough to pick one thing. I find that I can let myself off the hook by not picking one thing and doing lots of things and learning. Fortunately, in tech careers, that can work. A lot of papers call it deep generalism. People that you think are specialists have a background in being more of a generalist until they found something they loved and excelled at.” - Michael Smith Jr.  “​I don't think the Southeast Asia ecosystem is bad. We're seeing the first true downturn. This is the most layoffs we have ever seen in big tech in our own backyard. I'm fortunate that I'm okay, but I know people that are not and I totally get that, but I don't think you can put a stamp on the whole thing and say it is messed up.” - Michael Smith Jr.  “This idea of unfettered access to a supercomputer for an 11-year-old is not a good thing. I'm glad I didn't experience that, but I do think computers are a part of our life and AI is real. I'm in the camp that says this is going to be like a superpower that will allow us to do more things, but there will always be people that are bad actors. I do think it will help more often than not. It's an interesting time because it's moving faster at a speed that we're not used to and there's still a lot of figuring out to do.” - Michael Smith Jr.  During the discussion between Jeremy Au and Michael Smith Jr., APAC GM of Microsoft for Startups, several key insights were shared. Firstly, Michael emphasized the value of being a generalist in the startup ecosystem, having experience as an investor, builder, and potentially exploring new avenues in the future. He highlighted the importance of adaptability and learning from diverse experiences. Secondly, Michael discussed his parenting philosophy, sharing how he raised his children differently by limiting their exposure to smartphones and social media. He emphasized the importance of fostering independence and creativity in children, allowing them to have a childhood free from excessive technology use. Lastly, the conversation delved into the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on startups. Michael expressed his belief that AI can be a powerful tool for startups to enhance productivity and reach broader markets. However, he also cautioned against blindly investing in pure AI ventures, noting the need for further development and infrastructure before such investments become more viable. Overall, the discussion showcased Michael's experiences as a generalist, his thoughtful approach to parenting, and his insights on the role of AI in the startup ecosystem. Watch, listen or read the full insight at www.bravesea.com/blog/michael-smith-jr Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/CeL3ywi7yOWFd8HTo6yzde Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TnqkaWpTT181lMA8xNu0T YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JeremyAu Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/brave-southeast-asia-tech-singapore-indonesia-vietnam/id1506890464 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZC5jby9icmF2ZWR5bmFtaWNz TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyau Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyauz Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyau LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea Learn more about NodeFlair here: https://www.nodeflair.com/

Dr Marty Ryan has certainly found his ‘happy place.” A UNSW graduate who spent the last two years of his degree on a placement at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, he's now very happily working as a General Practice trainee in nearby Temora, which is known by some as the friendliest town in Australia. An avid sportsman who is as at home on a bicycle as he is on a rugby field, Dr Ryan says he's so enamoured with supportive small-town life and his generalist medical career that he now can't imagine wanting to work anywhere else. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being a Generalist when it comes to your everyday life can be your greatest asset. Generalism focuses on improving yourself to a good level of knowledge or competency in multiple different areas as opposed to just one. Being a Generalist is something I have been working on for years now, and has allowed me to become a much better conversationalist as well as to make meaningful connections with various different types of people which has come in handy at so many points in my life. In this episode I discussed what it means to be a generalist as well as how you can go about becoming a generalist. Some of the inspiration for this video is the show on Netflix called Physical:100. Where elite athletes are put to the test against eah other to see who will overcome many different physical challenges. After watching that show i realized something that it is better to be at a high level in many different areas, than just to specialize in one. 1stman on youtube was also an inspiration for this video, with his idea of the straight 7 system, which talks about reaching a 7/10 in many different areas of your life - which leads to you being an overall 10/10. For some more reading on Generalism - read this article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbu... If you enjoyed this video please consider leaving a like and subscribing to our channel for more content like this. Sincerely, BTY

Dr Shannon Nott is emphatic in his advice for anyone considering rural GP training: he says it's an incredibly rewarding career path where you get to choose your own adventure. And adventure is something Dr Nott is familiar with. A Churchill Fellowship scholar who has travelled to some of Earth's most remote places to study the intersection of technology and remote medicine, he's now working as a rural generalist, often travelling to remote outback airstrips with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Training in the city, he met and was influenced by “incredible” mentors due to his involvement in the Rural Health Club at the University of NSW, and then the National Rural Health Student Network. But he also gets to quench his desire to work on policy and big projects through his role as a Director of Medical Services. He says the bush has always called to him, and he is happier in a rural environment. He now lives with his family on a property just outside of his base in Dubbo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you are enjoying this consider supporting the show by becoming a Patron http://patreon.com/user?u=82757269 Episode Overview: On this Part II of Sam's interview you will discover Sam's Origin story, Importance of alone time, safety and independence , Doing things for the right reasons, Seeking approval , Mastering attention and communication. 7 human intelligences, The journey of learning from Iceman, Pickpocket, Magician, Tea Master. Career advantages you may have by having unorthodox thinking about rules. Generalism, The art of asking questions. Trauma, Boundaries, Understanding and defining ones purpose , Service vs Feeling valuable , How happiness is linked to safety - Sam's recipe for happiness. About the Guest: Dr. Sam Qurashi is a Writer, Entrepreneur, Instagrammer, and Youtuber. He worked as a Psychiatric Resident in an Addiction Hospital. Throughout that time, he had the opportunity to help over 10,000 patients. After seven years, he walked away from his medical career believing that there must be a more effective way to help people. He started interviewing experts that live beyond the frame of traditional Psychology, but are masters of the mind in a unique way. That list includes The Iceman, The Horse Whisperer, a Samurai, a Cold Reader, a Ninja, a Tea Master, and a Pickpocket, and the list goes on. He then started an Instagram page, that now has over 700 thousand followers. On his page, he shares thoughts and concepts that can interrupt the psychological patterns that are keeping people trapped in mental loops of their own design. Find Sam on https://www.patreon.com/samqurashi Instagram https://rb.gy/lnvbzf Find Dana on: Instagram https://rb.gy/pm0wwp Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IsThisItPodcast If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5star rating on here, this will help me get this across to more people :) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dana-grinberga/message

About the episode Milly Tamati is a former "Director of Miscellaneous" who travelled the world before settling in a tiny island off the coast of Scotland with 170 residents, a castle and a distillery. She's always been a generalist at heart and is now looking to support a global community of like-minded professionals with Generalist World. A message from this episode's sponsor - One Knight Consulting This episode is sponsored by One Knight Consulting. Yes, yes, that's me. But listen up. I started One Knight Consulting because I have seen variations of the same problems plaguing growing startups, scale-ups and larger, digitally transforming companies again and again. These problems can cause friction between teams, slow product development, lacklustre sales, and ultimately lead to constrained growth. If you're scaling your product organisation, struggling with cross-team alignment or having trouble executing your product strategy to support your business goals, book a call with me and we can discuss your needs and how I can help. Episode highlights: 1. Not everyone needs to be a specialist, you could be a generalist! Do you not fit neatly in a box? Do you consider yourself a jack of all trades/someone who wears many hats? You might be a generalist & there are lots of generalists out there. Embrace it and find your people! 2. The generalist sweet spot is in smaller companies & startups All companies could benefit from good people, but startups especially need people to be the connectors, tie things together and solve whatever problems arise whatever the domain. Generalism is a superpower here. 3. If you've got a product that makes people's eyes light up then you're onto something Milly started Generalist World by speaking to a few people, but every single person's eyes lit up & they were all super-passionate. This is a perfect signal that you're doing something right! 4. Applying a "Jobs to be Done" mentality to recruitment could be a step change in hiring practices We can make hiring less transactional & more human by not just talking about job roles, but problems that you need to solve and the skills you need to solve them. 5. Milly believes in communities but believes 9 out of 10 will fail It's just so easy to create a community these days. Companies & brands are jumping on board, doing the bare basics & leaving a ghost town behind. Companies need to be strategic & intentional to be successful. Contact Milly You can connect with Milly on Twitter, LinkedIn or check out Generalist World.

How do you spend £16 billion to improve the world's health? That is the job of Sir Jeremy Farrar, the Director of the Wellcome Trust. In 1936, British pharmaceutical magnate Sir Henry Wellcome left his fortune to improve the world's health. Now Sir Jeremy must work out what to do with £16 billion over the next decade — and where to most effectively spend it. 0:00 Intro 0:47 The Third Role of Philanthropy 2:53 Appetite for Risk 5:38 What's Broken in Science Funding 8:16 Generalism vs Specialism 10:12 Why Are You Slow? 14:49 Sexy vs Incremental 17:04 How Much of Your Job Is Not Messing Things Up? 19:35 Metrics for Philanthropy 22:10 Playing the Long Game 23:20 How Do You Know You're Doing a Good Job? 28:05 First Become a King, Then a Philosopher (?) 30:00 Habits That Have Helped In Your Career 31:52 What's It Like Being Famous? 33:28 Book Recommendations By background he is a medical doctor and researcher, he has been named 12th in Fortune's list of the world's 50 greatest leaders, served in the UK's SAGE group and was knighted in 2019 for his services to Global Health. I ask him about how he spends that money, how to measure philanthropic impact, problems and opportunities within research funding and just how much of his job is just not messing things up. You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io

A remote area nurse with a love of all things skin, Sheena commenced her journey remote health journey with a rocky start. "I rolled my car avoiding hitting an eagle... [Then] rocked up to the hospital in white brace overalls covered in pindan and straw, and knocked on the door and proudly announced that I was their new nurse!" Inspired by a case of squamous cell carcinoma that fell through the cracks, Sheena completed her Graduate Certificate of Medicine while working full time. She now provides skin checks and has "wrestled people down in trains" to check out questionable spots. She also discusses how she's achieving a high level of male engagement, cultural learnings, and the art of "bodging" in resource-light settings.

#589 On today's episode I interview the other Pat Flynn, owner of Chronicles of Strength. I like to call him Kettlebell Pat Flynn. Why did I bring Pat on? Because we wanted to connect and understand what it was like in this world to share the same name as business owners and entrepreneurs, and help those of you who might be struggling with something similar. In this episode Pat and I have some deep philosophical conversations about our approach to business, our approach to generalism and focus, growing too much, and all that kind of stuff. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session589.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the following months, I started noticing a subtle change in the way my patients and the community saw me. I went from being called the doctor to our doctor. Sharon Reece, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest in Fayetteville, Arkansas, reflects on what she learned during her immersion in rural generalism in northern Alberta, Canada. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the April 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

We go back to the basics for a detailed rundown on how aspiring agency owners or agency owners, in general, could learn or improve. Ranging from topics like how to garner the best results whether in sales and internal processes– even up to the hosts' stances on current events! Joey Gilkey and JJ Rusell share with us these tips and sentiments over a glass of well-earned fine booze– on the rocks!This Cast Covers:Where to cop an all-around playbook for just $1500 (03:06)Why building your product/service first before finding your buyers is the fastest way to fail (5:06)Generalism is never the path forward: Here's why niching down is a must (10:09)The process of how The Sales Driven Agency helps establish businesses (10:45)A rundown on the agency essentials (13:29)The reality of a lead generation agency owner (17:02)The one thing most agency owners don't do that keep them from seeing massive growth in their business (19:58)JJ and Joey tackle the hiring process: Find out the one question Joey asks his hiree to test them (22:15)There's nothing wrong with reaching out for help when starting from scratch. JJ shares what you should do if what you have in front of you is a tabula rasa (31:58)If growth architect agencies like Sales Driven Agency weren't around, what was a budding agency owner with little to zero knowledge to do? (33:51)The one industry Joey avoids if he wasn't in the agency field (36:48)Aiming to achieve true growth? Joey shares three pillars that you should keep in mind (42:17)Joey shares his sentiment on the ongoing war in his homeland (49:09)Additional Resources:The Sales Driven AgencyThe Best Damn Agency Mastermind

In the 46th episode of The Strength Connection Podcast, Mike and Host of The Pat and Flynn Show, Co-host of Philosophy For The People, Owner of Chronicles of Strength, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Writer, Pat Flynn will talk about the evolution of Pat's coaching style, Pat's personal training routine, time management, and more.Join us in this insightful and captivating talk! In this chapter you will discover: (1:10) Introducing our special guest Host of The Pat and Flynn Show, Co-host of Philosophy For The People, Owner of Chronicles of Strength, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Writer, Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(2:10) The Breakthrough Secrets Podcast: #136 - Pat Flynn: Self Directed Learning(2:20) Generalism(3:05) Theme of generalism(3:15) How to Be Better at Almost Everything by Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(3:25) An email that influenced Pat Flynn(4:10) Reason for Pat's accomplishments(4:50) “It was the combination of skills rather than the hyper-specialization that allowed me to stand out in the industry.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(6:25) Do quick fixes exist?(6:40) Minimalism definition(7:00) Minimalism in exercise(7:30) Pat's thoughts about minimalism(8:20) Shout out to Brett Jones @brettjonessfg(9:15) An amazing analogy for minimalism(9:30) Taekwondo(11:25) Art vs the competitive side of Taekwondo(12:50) Minimalism vs Genrelism(13:10) “Generalism is the outcome, minimalism is the part of the process” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(13:55) Pat's current routine(14:30) Shout out to Derek Toshner @tnt_adventure_fit(16:20) Intuitive approach or structured plan(16:50) “The more you play the rules and play in a structured way for years, the better you are going to be at improvising.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(17:10) “You better know the rules, before you start to bend the rules, and especially before you start to break the rules.” - Pat Flynn's Music Teacher(19:00) More about Pat's routine(19:25) Shout out to Dan John @coachdanjohn(19:45) Pat's handstand session(21:55) Mastery by Robert Greene(22:45) Isolate, integrate, and improvise(24:40) I'm a man of Chicago: a song(25:00) Improvisation in fitness(26:45) Pat's approach to life(26:55) Upcoming two books(27:00) Pat's first priority(28:05) Swallow the frog first(29:00) Pat's writing style(29:05) “Good writing is an invitation.” - Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(31:25) Read a lot, write a lot(33:10) Shout out to Stephen King Twitter: @StephenKing(33:35) “Don't ask a writer where his ideas come from.” - Stephen King Twitter: @StephenKing(34:05) Pat's reading process(34:40) Shout out to Dr. James Madden Twitter: @JDMadden3(34:55) About philosophy(36:40) Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman @danmillmanpw(37:35) Reread philosophy(38:35) About modern philosophy(39:30) Philosophy of religion(41:50) Start with a good system(46:20) Basics matter(47:25) Pat's coaching process(50:00) Pat's screening process(51:40) Changes in Pat's coaching style(53:25) Learning the hard way(56:00) You are not your client(57:20) Where to find Pat Flynn? @chroniclesofstrengthThe Pat Flynn Showhttps://patflynnshow.libsyn.com/ Philosophy for The Peoplehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa3wHUIIJ2CeLcInYvuyEJw/featured https://www.chroniclesofstrength.com/ 

In this episode B and Jack talks about whether you should choose to be a generalist or a specialist when you are choosing a skill. They go over why you should choose being a generalist over a specialist. They also talk about what kind of skill you can employ to make your life better. Finally, they name 9 principles for being a generalist.Time stamps:1. The definition of being a generalist2. Benefits of being a generalist3. Skills and hierarchy of a generalist4. Principles of generalismFollow us on social media: nomadtactics.com/socialFor an overview of our Digital Nomad Life System: nomadtactics.com/002Disclaimer: Please be aware that any information you may find in Nomad Tactics may be inaccurate, misleading, dangerous, addictive, unethical, or illegal. All the information available in Nomad Tactics is for information purposes only. If you decide to apply any of the information provided on this website, directly or indirectly, be aware that you are using it at your own risk.As an As an Amazon Associate Nomad Tactics earn from qualifying purchases.Nomad Tactics are not medical professionals. Any information provided in this episode is meant for educational purpose.Link with star sign is an affiliate link 

Breaking down the principles of generalism from Pat Flynn's "How to be Better at Almost Everything"

In the 138th Episode of The Breakthrough Secrets Podcast, Mike, Chris and our special guest, Dr. of Chiropractic with WarriorRestoration, instructor with FMS and StrongFirst team leader, Jimmy Yuan will talk about adjusting your coaching to different types of personalities, creativity and why you should really listen.Join us in this insightful and captivating talk!In this chapter you will discover:.(2:00) Introducing our special guest, Dr. of Chiropractic with WarriorRestoration, instructor with FMS and StrongFirst team leader, Jimmy Yuan @warriorrestore(2:10) Shout out to Brett Jones @brettjonessfg(3:20) Chiropractic and strength and conditioning, Jimmy's origin story(5:10) It was not love at first sight, but curiosity helped(6:20) The power of doing something that you love(7:40) Generalism vs minimalism, shout out to Pat Flynn @chroniclesofstrength(8:40) “What can I do to make somebody's day, for something that simple” - Jimmy Yuan(10:20) Adjusting your coaching to different types of personalities(13:00) Focus on making real time reps(15:20) Being a short term specialist, mastering 1 thing at the time(17:10) “The minute I start presuming what I need to do, is the minute I stop listening” - Jimmy Yuan(17:40) Listen, listen, listen(18:30) “Just because I have known you for 2 years, that doesn't mean I shouldn't listen to what it's happening with you right now”(18:40) Mastering the basics, active listening(20:30) Everyday is completely different(21:00) “We all get paid for our body” - Jimmy Yuan(21:40) Shout out to Michael Hartle @drmichaelhartle(25:50) Mike's story about correcting someone(26:40) “Those repetitive patterns that we do throughout the day, they are going to be bigger than the actual exercises or strength work” - Michael Kurkowski(27:30) Golf and Martial Arts, Jimmy's hobbies(29:10) Hang out with your friends and recharge your soul(30:00) “All creativity comes from not being productive” - The Breakthrough Secrets Podcast(31:00) The power of thinking time, what do i really need to do?(31:20) Shout out to Iron Tamer Dave @irontamer(32:00) Busy vs productive(34:40) “It's ok to be human” - Jimmy Yuan(35:30) The power of queueing(37:10 A man of few words, shout out to Brett Jones @brettjonessfg(39:00) Coaching tip: make yourself obsolete as soon as possible, shout out to Tim Almond @eat.sleep.snatch.repeat(40:00) The power of TPI(45:40) “I absolutely hate training, but i love winning” - Jimmy Yuan(49:30) What is Jimmy focused on currently?(56:10) “Knowledge is potential power” - The breakthrough Secrets Podcast(58:00) Where to reach out to Jimmy Yuan @warriorrestore https://warriorrestoration.com .#TheBreakthroughSecretsPodcast #strengthtraining #kettlebells #strength #knowledge #education #podcast #strengthshow #fitness #health #strengthhasagreaterpurpose #wellness #coaching #mindset.Looking for freebies? CLICK IN BIObit.ly/FreeMindsetPlaybookFind Free Resources at www.kettlebell.works Liked the show? Please lease us a review!

Life is busy. Sometimes it's hard to find time to think about personal or career enrichment. I brought Pat Flynn today (who you'll remember from Episode 152: Making Truth Your Target) to discuss these topics, and of course some great fitness and diet info too! Pat is a philosopher, author, and generalist among other things who through hard work, experimentation, and mentorship has carved out a path as a successful coach and entrepreneur. Check out his website and Instagram! Timestamps: 2:02 Pat's backstory and how he got into fitness after winning a "man boob contest." 9:28 Information vs. knowledge (we live in an age of information overload!) 14:58 First principles when it comes to diet. 21:08 Generalism vs. specialization and Warren Buffett's 5/25 rule. 34:25 Is college worth it? And- “you can't escape doing philosophy, you can only escape doing it well.” 45:16 The importance of reading and strategies for better reading comprehension. 51:25 Is “do what you're passionate about” good advice? Do you create passion or is it innate?

Many people say it's irrational to believe in conspiracy theories. But is that really true? We are joined by Dr M R. X. Dentith—Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University—for the first instalment of a two-part interview on the subject of Conspiracy Theory Theory. Focusing upon the essential (and approachable) book edited by Dr Dentith entitled "Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), in this first instalment we lay the groundwork for the conversation and then go on to discuss the first section of the volume entitled, "The Particularist Turn in the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories". M R. X. Dentith, PhD (Auckland), is the author of The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories (Palgrave, 2014), the first single-author book-length treatment of the philosophical issues surrounding conspiracy theory, and editor of Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), an edited collection of the most recent work on conspiracy theory theory. They have been a Fellow in the Institute for Research in the Humanities (ICUB) at the University of Bucharest and the New Europe College in Bucharest, and they are currently Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University. Their current research project focuses on conspiracy theory, conspiracy theory theory, and secrecy. For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com

Many people say it's irrational to believe in conspiracy theories. But is that really true? We are joined by Dr M R. X. Dentith—Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University—for the first instalment of a two-part interview on the subject of Conspiracy Theory Theory. Focusing upon the essential (and approachable) book edited by Dr Dentith entitled "Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), in this first instalment we lay the groundwork for the conversation and then go on to discuss the first section of the volume entitled, "The Particularist Turn in the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories". M R. X. Dentith, PhD (Auckland), is the author of The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories (Palgrave, 2014), the first single-author book-length treatment of the philosophical issues surrounding conspiracy theory, and editor of Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), an edited collection of the most recent work on conspiracy theory theory. They have been a Fellow in the Institute for Research in the Humanities (ICUB) at the University of Bucharest and the New Europe College in Bucharest, and they are currently Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University. Their current research project focuses on conspiracy theory, conspiracy theory theory, and secrecy. For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com

Many people say it's irrational to believe in conspiracy theories. But is that really true? We are joined by Dr M R. X. Dentith—Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University—for the first instalment of a two-part interview on the subject of Conspiracy Theory Theory. Focusing upon the essential (and approachable) book edited by Dr Dentith entitled "Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), in this first instalment we lay the groundwork for the conversation and then go on to discuss the first section of the volume entitled, "The Particularist Turn in the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories". M R. X. Dentith, PhD (Auckland), is the author of The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories (Palgrave, 2014), the first single-author book-length treatment of the philosophical issues surrounding conspiracy theory, and editor of Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), an edited collection of the most recent work on conspiracy theory theory. They have been a Fellow in the Institute for Research in the Humanities (ICUB) at the University of Bucharest and the New Europe College in Bucharest, and they are currently Associate Professor in the International Center for Philosophy at Beijing Normal University. Their current research project focuses on conspiracy theory, conspiracy theory theory, and secrecy. For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com

In this episode, Jonathan is speaking with Ethan Siegel about how it all started with a bang. They discuss: •Ethan's passion for communicating some of the deepest questions about our universe. •How these deep questions he had about the universe encouraged him to return to graduate school later in life to earn his PhD in theoretical astrophysics. •The importance of having a good work-life balance and society's stigma towards generalists versus the specialist. •How many graduate students struggle with mental health and the importance of getting help when you need it regardless of your environment. •The origin story for his blog Starts With a Bang and why he decided to walk away from his tenure tracked position to pursue science communication full time. •The importance of being flexible when achieving your goals. •Ethan's criterion for scientific literacy. •And other topics. A theoretical astrophysicist by training, Dr. Ethan Siegel left a promising research career in cosmology and a job as a physics and astronomy professor to focus on science communication full-time. He revels in telling scientifically accurate, beautifully illustrated stories about the Universe with the widest audience possible. He believes this Universe is the one thing we all have in common, and knowing our shared cosmic story should be for absolutely everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, nationality, sexuality, educational and economic background, or any other trait. Through stories told in a variety of formats — articles, books, podcasts, videos, interactive discussions, as well as in-person talks — he’s committed to ensuring that the best scientific knowledge we have about the Universe is available to all. You can find Ethan's blog Starts With a Bang here: https://www.startswithabang.com/ You can connect with Ethan on social media here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/startswithabang Twitter: https://twitter.com/startswithabang YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ethansiegel You can find this episode on our YouTube channel as well: https://bit.ly/3b8LNwy Also, don't forget about our book “Thinking Critically. From Fake News to Conspiracy Theories. Using Logic to Safely Navigate the Information Landscape” if you're interested in exploring how logic can be used to better help you to discern fact from fiction. The information landscape is perilous, but with the help of this book as your guide, you will always be able to find your way towards truth. It's available on Amazon today! Book: https://amzn.to/3nWdawV This show is supported and produced by Final Stretch Media. Final Stretch believes in creating something that disrupts attention spans and challenges the marketing status quo. They do this by creating high quality visual content that captivates your audience. You can find them on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fsmedia2020 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finalstretch_media/ This show is also supported by QuikLee; the creators of Brain Racers. The world's first ever live racing competition for the brain. Download their app and play live on the weekends on an iOS device against the world. We have raced and it's a blast! App Download: https://apple.co/33n8aJs

Brain Hacker, Θέλεις να γίνεις κι εσύ ένας σύγχρονος Da Vinci; “Δύσκολο. Αυτός ήταν παγκόσμια ιδιοφυΐα.” σε ακούμε να μονολογείς... Μήπως, όμως, μπορείς; Μήπως το μόνο που χρειάζεσαι είναι να μάθεις με ποιον τρόπο κατάφερε ο Leonardo να γίνει ο Da Vinci που όλοι ξέρουμε; Τι ήταν εκείνο που τον κατέστησε μοναδικό; Τι είναι εκείνο που καθιστά μοναδικούς τον Elon Musk, τον Warren Buffett, τον Bill Gates, και τόσους άλλους ανθρώπους, που αλλάζουν τον κόσμο με τη δράση τους; Τι είναι εκείνο που μπορεί να κάνει κι εσένα να ξεχωρίσεις σε όσα κάνεις, και να πετύχεις όσα θέλεις; Είναι το να γίνεις κι εσύ generalist (πολυμαθής ή πολυπράγμων), όπως είναι όλοι αυτοί οι άνθρωποι που θαυμάζουμε... Generalism είναι μια προσέγγιση που σε οδηγεί στο να γίνεις καλός/ή σε περισσότερα του ενός αντικειμένου, και να ξεχωρίσεις εκεί που βρίσκεται το σημείο τομής των γνώσεων, δεξιοτήτων και ικανοτήτων σου. Οι generalists αυτού του κόσμου είναι εκείνοι που αναλαμβάνουν καλύτερες θέσεις, παίρνουν προαγωγές, ηγούνται επιχειρήσεων και οργανισμών. Θέλεις να μάθεις περισσότερα, σε βλέπουμε... Σου ευχόμαστε καλή ακρόαση! - Δημήτρης και Φύλλις Υ.Γ.: Για περισσότερα hacks, συμβουλές, live videos και έμπνευση, μπορείς να μας ακολουθήσεις τώρα στο Instagram από εδώ.

Originally published on Pat Flynn's podcast - the Pat Flynn show, with fellow podcaster the Hebrew Hammer, in October 2018. Link: https://www.chroniclesofstrength.com/ep-199-heavy-metal-loving-theoretical-physicist-speaks-10-languages-talks-generalist/ We talk about Generalism: how to master different topics to a high level, and the importance of stacking skills. About GattoPanceri 666: http://linktr.ee/gattopanceri666

Rachel Rasmussen joins The Pat Flynn Show to discuss the benefits of approaching life as a generalist, especially as it relates to problem solving, discovering truth, and creating a life of greater freedom and independence.  Rachel's Website: http://rachelrasmussen.com/  The Pat Flynn Show If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to me if you could subscribe to, and leave a review for, The Pat Flynn show on iTunes HERE or Stitcher HERE. Reading your reviews and hearing your feedback is what keeps me fired up to make The Pat Flynn Show happen. Thank you!

General Practice can take can take you anywhere. Whether you're looking at becoming a GP, Rural Generalist or Advanced Skills GP, there's something for everyone within this field. In regional Victoria you'll find opportunities to practice everywhere from remote towns of 1,000 people or less to the largest regional cities. Find out more about studying at Monash Rural Health here: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/srh The North West Victoria and Gippsland Regional Training Hubs have commissioned this podcast to help medical students and junior doctors learn more about training and practicing medicine in regional Australia. Find your nearest Regional Training Hub here: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/regional-training-hubs

This time, Dr Stoupas and Dr Singleton get to the heart of the rural general practice story and discuss the issues surrounding regional health in Australia. They are joined by Dr Michael Clements, RACGP Rural Chair, Northern Australia Primary Health Ltd (NAPHL) Chair, and owner and Director of Fairfield and Townsville Central Medical Practices. They are also joined by Natasha Greenwood, General Manager of Regional and Agribusiness for CommBank. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Salkeld is an accountant by trade, having worked in corporate finance on transactions across Europe and globally. Specialising in business intelligence, Andy also works with startups and is currently an Investor and Finance Director at dscvr, a Leeds-based tech business. In this interview episode, Andy speaks about his book that is due to be published in May, ‘Life is a Four-Letter Word,’ including the inspiration behind the book, and his experiences that act as the subject-matter. He also touches upon the topic of being ‘just another guy’, generalism versus specialism and being a big-picture thinker in a detail-oriented world. This interview also covers: (1:30) Alice’s intro to the interview (4:47) Introduction to Andy, his background in accountancy and corporate finance and what he means by ‘just another guy’. (8:00) Seeing people for themselves rather than their qualifications, education or job title (12:06) Andy’s book, ‘Life is a four-letter word,’ a mental health guide for professionals coming out in May. The background behind the book, including a charity Twitch stream and a LinkedIn article titled ‘Breaking the stigma’. (15:00) How the article led to public speaking on World Mental Health Day, and doing a panel interview for Bec Evans (author of ‘How to have a happy hustle’) and how this led to the book (18:08) How a book proposal challenge followed by a 6-week course on writing manuscripts (even though Andy wrote the entire book, which was then published) (21:32) About ‘Life is a four-letter word’ starting from being a graduate going into a firm and the journey from there until the suicide attempt (26:32) Discussion around inner critics and suicide, ‘seven failures’. The selfish versus selfless argument with suicide. Finding purpose and self-acceptance (36:32) The role of reflection, big-picture thinking, critical thinking and how these can be beneficial to have, including the ability to acknowledge the parts we might not be as positive about (43:19) Combative language and how detrimental it can be (47:15) The importance of learning coping strategies and acknowledging that difficulties can help us to overcome them the next time a little more successfully and how perfectionism can result in less resilience due to an inability to accept things happening suddenly (52:03) Changing yourself to suit your environment can result in you having a baseline that is detrimental to you, workplace culture and how it can contribute to your mental health (1:04:54) Letting go, accepting change and how this can help others to find similarities and not feel alone. How there are multiple routes we can take in life, even if we think we’re on a purely intellectual route we can still be creative (1:10:48) Generalism vs specialism – how knowing a little about a lot can be beneficial for skill development and in knowing when to ask others for help (1:17:54) Myers-Briggs, the intricacies with introversion versus extroversion, how personality tests can help you understand yourself a bit better as a starting point and help you find people you collaborate well with (1:24:32) Employee engagement and how it’s similar to what we expect from an actual engagement in terms of commitment, how values play into this and how essential it is to be in line with those values, culture evolution/revolution (1:32:24) How change can take time when it comes to mental health, the evolution of the discussion and views around mental health, ‘shouting into the void’. Connection based on authenticity is far deeper (1:43:29) Closing remarks: accept yourself, find our who you are and learn about your inner critic and find your happiness   Andy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andysalkeld/ Andy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/andy_salkeld?lang=en Andy's Website: https://andysalkeld.com/   Welcome to Dark Coffee, the podcast that starts engaging and approachable conversations around mental health.     Join wellbeing advocate Alice Lyons as she attempts to normalise the conversation around mental health, from suicide to satisfaction and everything in between. Dark Coffee aims to create a safe space to explore dark topics with curiosity, compassion and courage to empower people to build their mental strength, resilience and sense of connection. Join the conversation by sharing this episode, subscribing to the podcast or following Alice on Linked In.   Your reviews will help Dark Coffee reach more people. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a review to help spread the conversation further.   Suicide and Emotional Support Organisations - UK   Samaritans: Confidential suicide discussion and emotional support. Free helpline available round the clock. Text - 116123.  Call - 08457 909090  Email -  jo@samaritans.org. Website - www.samaritans.org Mind: Support and information for anyone suffering from a mental health issue. 0300 123 3393 Website - Mind.org.uk Saneline: Practical information, crisis care and emotional support to people affected by mental health concerns. Helpline: 0845 767 8000, open daily from 6pm – 11pm.    

In this special pandemic quarantine ep, I talk to graphic designer, art director, overall fascinating creative thinker and friend Mike Tully. We get into a few of his works and how type design can act as a form of film critique and how distribution effects the reading of an artwork. We also briefly relate this to the recent, botched, Jordan Wolfson takedown by Dana Goodyear in the New Yorker and how an artworks funding and circulation can or cannot be read as integral to the understanding of the piece. This all somehow relates to the response (or lack thereof) to COVID-19 with the backdrop of the many deadly atrocities looming or impending in our culture as reference for scale. But don't worry, we had fun too! Lol, no seriously this was a relaxed and balanced chat taking on some of the BIG questions swirling around our generation of designers and the need for a new, possibly better form of criticism for the work we're making all in the wake of the very eery day we were both having. So kick back, relax and in the absence of true human interaction, listen to me and Mike having one. And if you last through the whole thing—and this is a big one folks—Mike has a surprise deep cut world premier that we drop at the end, which in and of itself is worth the wait ;)Mike Tully: http://mike-tully.com/Dog Star Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb5Ko_sTwlcMike's Dog Star Man: http://mike-tully.com/content/projects/10-dog-star-man/dogstarman_booklet_1.jpghttp://mike-tully.com/content/projects/10-dog-star-man/dogstarman_booklet_5.jpgGo Fuck Yourself: https://wanelo.co/p/2931609/vintage-hebrew-letters-go-fuck-yourself-judaica-jewish-humor-baseball-3-4-sleevesJordan Wolfson: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/16/jordan-wolfsons-edgelord-artDarcy Wilder: https://thecreativeindependent.com/guides/how-to-put-yourself-online/The Museum Interface: https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/the-museum-interface-63033/Chloe Scheffe in Defense of Generalism: https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/in-defense-of-generalism/Talk Magazine: http://talk-is.cheap/

Recently Pat Flynn (hey, that's me!) was invited on the Engearment podcast to talk everything including including why Aleks loves Robitussin, what it's like podcasting with Dan John, generalism and fitness, why it's cool to name animals after humans (like Kevin), writing, religion, creativity, and a bunch of other stuff. It was a fun conversation and you can listen here.  ... The Pat Flynn Show If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to me if you could subscribe to, and leave a review for, The Pat Flynn show on iTunes HERE or Stitcher HERE. Reading your reviews and hearing your feedback is what keeps me fired up to make The Pat Flynn Show happen. Thank you!

In this episode, I cover "The Pay It Forward Approach to Relationships". Sub-sections include: Be Sincere Be Helpful Feedback: Be Honest But Kind Compete with Yourself, not Your Colleagues Deliver Value and Don’t Keep Score // In this podcast, Alex Berger, the Author of Practical Curiosity, shares a read-through of the book. Each podcast episode corresponds to an individual section in Practical Curiosity.  Enjoying the podcast? Consider supporting the author by purchasing a copy of Practical Curiosity via your book outlet of choice in either print or ebook format.  http://practicalcuriosity.com/ebook or reach out via twitter with feedback or questions: @AlexBerger About the book: Like Dim Sum for the curious mind Practical Curiosity delivers a collection of easily consumable insights into what it means to be a well rounded, curious and passionate individual. From carefully crafted professional advice to altering how you engage with your peers, Practical Curiosity is passionate, and unlike any other inspirational book you’ve read. Alex Berger combines a series of grounded thought exercises with comical and insightful life advice drawn from first-hand experiences and tailored directly to explaining many of the key challenges that arise in the lives of driven individuals. This is the perfect read for polymaths with a thirst for knowledge or if you’ve been attracted by the ideal of being a renaissance man or woman and often struggle with the complexities that result from being a highly driven generalist. In Practical Curiosity, you will gain new ways of exploring and relating to key parts of a life well lived. At the same time, you will gain tools and strategies for explaining topics you’ve long struggled to communicate with friends, loved ones, and colleagues.

Pat and Dan talk about Gym Jones, the movie 300, and the how the principles of generalism, specialization, and minimalism can be effectively integrated into one's life. Also, listener questions on rotational exercises and losing belly fat.  ... Show Notes and Resources 40 Years with a Whistle ...   New eBook: Introduction to Kettlebells – Just $1 on Amazon! Recently, I wrote a short (read: 30 pages) eBook called Introduction to Kettlebells, which is now available on Amazon for a whopping — brace yourself! — $1. You can snag it here ==> https://amzn.to/2HgwJgO Short story: Introduction to Kettlebells is a quick and dirty reference guide to the core single kettlebell techniques — exercises like the swing, snatch, clean, get up, squat, etc — and a simple, 7-day training cycle for getting strong and tough. Inside the eBook are instructional pointers, pictures of each technique, and links to video tutorials. Finally, a simple and straightforward collection of workouts for improving general physical preparedness with just one kettlebell. While this eBook is aimed at beginners, I think even veterans will get something out of it, since it's always good to brush up on technique and return to basics. Grab Introduction to Kettlebells and get a FREE collection of kettlebell complexes Step 1) Click here ==> https://amzn.to/2ZfacXU to snag the book on Amazon for just $1. Step 2) Read the book (shouldn't take long, it's only 30 pages), then — so long as you feel it's worthy — please leave a 5-star review on Amazon to help spread the word. (Positive reviews really help introduce new people to the book, which is the whole reason I wrote this.) Step 3) Email  a screenshot of that review to PatFlynn(at)ChroniclesOfStrength(dot)com with the subject line “review”, and we'll send you a bonus collection kettlebell complexes to supplement the eBook, absolutely free. Note: this bonus collection of workouts features some of my all time personal favorite complexes for burning maximum calories in minimum time. You'll love to hate them. Promise. … The Pat Flynn Show If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to me if you could subscribe to, and leave a review for, The Pat Flynn show on iTunes HERE or Stitcher HERE. Reading your reviews and hearing your feedback is what keeps me fired up to make The Pat Flynn Show happen. Thank you!  

My guest today, Joel Comm, is a bestselling author, professional keynote speaker, social media marketing strategist, live video expert, technologist, brand influencer, futurist, and eternal twelve-year-old. He has more than two decades of experience harnessing the power of the web, publishing, social media, and mobile applications to expand reach and engage in active relationship marketing.... The post Episode 9 – Joel Comm on The Fun Formula, Crypto, Generalism, and Fighting Woke Culture appeared first on Close Minded Podcast.

On this episode of The Pat Flynn Show, Pat and Dan discuss the concept of 2-a-day training (and for more skills than just fitness), and take listener questions on everything from classical education, the history of Christianity, grip training, breathing techniques, and more! Mentioned Books/Resources Spring Chicken The Longevity Diet The Case for Jesus How the Irish Saved Civilization The Resurrection of the Son of God Jurassic Park ... Also: CLICK HERE to learn more about Dan's event next week at Crossfit Koncepts in Washington DC. ... How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything Be sure to snag a copy (or two!) of Pat's book How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything while it's still on sale over at Amazon here: ==> https://amzn.to/2MHdHSh Want some cool bonuses to go with, including an intense 5-day fitness plan, and a collection of 1-page skill building cheatsheets? Then simply email us at PatFlynn(at)Chronicles(of)Strength(dot)com with your receipt, and we'll send them right along. … The Pat Flynn Show If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to me if you could subscribe to, and leave a review for, The Pat Flynn show on iTunes HERE or Stitcher HERE. Reading your reviews and hearing your feedback is what keeps me fired up to make The Pat Flynn Show happen. Thank you!

After striving to become perfect, Pat Flynn realized that it is okay to be average. More than that, he realized the potential of becoming good to great, or at least fairly competent, at many different things could have a positive effect on your life. With his new book, How to be Better at Almost Everything, Pat is taking his principles of Generalism to the masses and is here today to help you apply it to everything in your life to become a more robust human being. Becoming Better Through Generalism If you struggle with the idea of not being the best at something, it could be causing major harm to your health and mindset. Pat believes that being a specialist can be a big mistake for most people, and urges us ‘normal’ humans to accept generalism and all the power that comes with it.  Pat is an open book and a wealth of knowledge who shares his struggle with anxiety, bullying, and more on this episode. Find out how a background in writing gave him a leg up in the fitness world, why you should be focusing on becoming a short term specialist, and how to become better at multiple areas of your life without feeling too much pressure.  A generalist mentality can help you improve your everyday life, find more fulfillment in the things you enjoy, and stop the negative self-talk. Your value as a human being is based off who you are, not what you can accomplish, and Pat is here to help you realize that. Are you ready to stop obsessing over things that really don't matter and embrace generalism into your life? Share what you learned from Pat in the comments on the episode page.   On Today's Episode What three basic life skills you should start working on building today How to stack your skills and find value in who you are not what you do The realities of entrepreneurship and facing your fears in the name of freedom Why you should ditch perfectionism to find more progress and liberation How to form a new relationship with anxiety and philosophically rebrand your life   Quotes “In life for most people most of the time, you are probably going to have more competitive and creative advantages getting good to great, or at least fairly competent, at a wide variety of skills rather than trying to be the best in the world at any one.” (14:30) “When I finally started to actually find success in areas, it wasn't because I was trying to be the best at any one thing. But good to great, or fairly competent, at a lot of different things.” (34:18) “Some people are just better than me. That took me a long time to be able to admit.” (39:09) “Humility is an amazing and wonderful thing. Being able to admit you know what, I am not the best at something. And that is okay, and I am still infinitely value and infinitely worth having in existence regardless of any of that.” (40:27) “The day of reckoning is going to come. Be it age or injury or whatever, there is going to be a day when you lose that capacity. So you can either decide to take a deep existential look at that now, and work through that now, which I think can be extremely liberating and freeing.” (49:51)   Resources Mentioned In This Show How to Be Better at Almost Everything by Pat Flynn Chronicles of Strength Website The Pat Flynn Show 101 Kettlebell Workouts Free PDF HTK 082: Pat Flynn Nutritional Therapy Association Website Order The Core 4 Here   Check out the full show notes here! Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!

Amirah Zaveri, the producer of Viewpoints Radio, asks New York Times bestselling author David Epstein about his unique career path and what he learned along the way.

I'm joined on this episode by the one and only Pat Flynn of Chroniclesofstrength.com.  On this episode we dive headfirst into topics such as: Fasting: is it really all it's cracked up to be? Can eating make you virtuous? Why you should (probably) avoid fitness culture at all costs Pat's (and my) background in electronic stringed instruments My hilariously traumatic piano lessons story The #1 thing you have to be willing to do to be a good coach or trainer So much more. Also, if you didn't know, Pat has a book out, How To Be Better at (Almost) Everything.  It's very green! Listen, absorb, and enjoy

Good morning! I was driving home from Milwaukee. It was late at night. It was a week ago Wednesday. The sky was beautiful and clear-not a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful night. At about 10:15, I pulled off I94 and turned left on HWY 26 there in Johnson Creek to head home. All the sudden, theres this bright light in the sky. It was totally uncharacteristic because, like I said, there was not a cloud in the sky. Then I see this gray streak coming down fast to the earth diagonally. It was almost like the smoke of a large rocket or something. Then it turned into this orange flame, and again, it was picking up speed. Then it seemed like it started to disintegrate, and then it just disappeared before it hit the ground. Whatever it was, it looked like it landed on Culvers, which is where I was going, so I was a little concerned. I mean it looked like I could just get out of my car and find it. Im looking around like Im crazy; Im nuts. Im looking around at the people at the intersection thinking, Did you see that? In this age of instant information, you think, What was that? and you just punch in a few buttons and get your answer. I wanted to turn on the radio. I wanted to find somebody who could just tell me, What did I just see? My first thought was it was lightening or some sort of a bolt. I thought, Well, wait a second. It couldnt be that. Maybe it was an airplane or some debris from an airplane. It turns out it was a meteor. How many of you saw it that night or caught a glimpse of it? A few of us did. It was pretty cool, wasnt it? Id never seen a meteor before-at least that close, so I didnt know quite what I was seeing. Depending on your real view, it determines what you think that is. If youre an aviator, you might think its a plane. If youre an astronomer, you might think its a meteor, and there are also meteor chasers. They literally see that as money falling from the sky, so theyre trying to map out on the internet where that thing hit because one of those little rocks can be worth $1,000. Thats money, so theyre on the job. If youre one of these end times people, you study the end times, you were thinking, Man, this is it. This is Armageddon. War has come. Maybe youre a sci-fi person. You listen to The War or the Worlds or something. You thought, Oh, its an alien attack. This is it. Maybe youre a meteorologist, and you think its some sort of weather phenomena; but how we view the world colors pretty much everything we interact with. So as a small group and as a church, thats what we are doing. We are looking at World View. In our small groups during the week, were studying some material called, Wide Angle, from Chuck Colson and Rick Warren. Were going through a little booklet together, watching a short video and talking about it. What were doing on the weekends is supplemental. Its working in conjunction with it. Were not trying to replicate it or duplicate your teachings in your small group. Were trying to work in conjunction with it. What were going to do now since weve laid the framework-we talked about natural secular humanism; we talked about Christian world view-now were going to talk about in the real world how those world views affect our decisions of whats right and wrong. Were going to talk about ethics in the weeks ahead-so ethical world views. How were they formed? Do world views happen because individuals form them? Do you determine your own ethical world view? Are your ethics based upon absolutes that a Creator has given, established, and said, Here is right, and here is wrong. Heres what you should do, or heres what you shouldnt do? Some believe that ethics are determined by society collectively-that we have societal norms and codes of conduct that civilization establishes, so it varies from culture to culture. There are a lot of theories out there about who determines right and wrong and how we come about those decisions. You know what? Its not as cut and dried as you think as far as ethics are concerned. Those of us who believe that God has given absolutes where it says, Thou shall not kill; thou shall not steal; thou shall not lie, it just seems pretty clear. It seems pretty cut and dried. When we really start to look at it, sometimes life, its not that easy. How many times have I been beside the bed of somebody whose loved one has maybe been in an accident or has almost drowned? Maybe there was a heart attack, and they were on life support. Now all of the sudden, this family is making these life and death decisions-what to give, what to withhold. Do we pull the plug? If so, when? What do we do? And Ive got their lives in my hands. I didnt anticipate Id be in this situation, but here I am. What do I do? What do I do for resuscitation? What do I do to keep life going here? And all the sudden that verse, Thou shall not kill, what does that mean to me in this situation? What is right, and what is wrong? Thou shall not steal, pretty clear cut, right? Dont take what doesnt belong to you. I was listening to a video and reading an article about some children in Bogota, Colombia. These children have no parents, and theres no state-run orphanage for them to live in. To survive, they steal food. The merchants form these death squads. The death squads see these children as menaces, as disposable, and theyre executing to kill them. The children who survive have gone underground and are living in the sewers. Right now as we speak, there are children living in the sewers of Bogota. They come up at night seeking to avoid the death squads to steal food to survive, so they take the food because it wont be given to them. The death squads are still there, still looking for them. Many of the people in the death squad are in the law enforcement when theyre not on the death squad. For these children, its either steal or die of starvation, so is stealing wrong then? Is that wrong for them to take food when theyre starving? See, its not as clear as we would think. Thou shall not lie. Pretty straight forward-tell the truth. Its a moral absolute-pretty clear. When I was a little boy, my brother-in-law had an alcohol problem, and when he was drunk, he would be angry. He was an angry drunk, and sometimes he might try to harm my sister or her children; so when he was in a drunken stupor, it was not uncommon for my sister to escape and come over to our house. We got a knock in the middle of the night, and it was my sister with my two nieces, Macs drunk, and hes looking for me. My mom would say, Go hide in the closet. I would lay there in bed just nervous. Then came the knock on the door. My mom would open the door, and it was Mac. He said, Wheres J-J-Judy? Wheres my wife? I know shes in here. What would my mom do? My mom would say, Shes not here, Mac. I havent seen her. I dont know where she is. She would lie to protect her daughter, her granddaughters, herself and her son. Is that wrong? Is that unethical for her to do that? You see, its not quite as easy as we make it out to be. Sometimes there are ethical decisions that seem to be in conflict with one another. What were going to do this morning is lay the groundwork and lay the foundation for the rest of this series. Have you ever been watching a show on TV, and there is like five minutes left? You know the plot isnt going to be resolved in five minutes. You are thinking, I hope this is not one of those to be continued. Sure enough, 9 oclock comes around, and it says, To be continued. You go, Oh, rrrr! because we like things to be wrapped up-just wrap it up and put it in a ribbon for me. Normally when we do a series, everything kind of stands on its own. Even though its a series, I wrap it up. This week is not that. This week is one of those weeks that leaves you with that kind of to be continued feeling. Its kind of like, Ahhh. We just cant finish it all in one week, so what were going to do is introduce these ethical world views, talk about them briefly and just span them, look at them all briefly; and then each subsequent week, were going to put them under a microscope and Biblically look at it-from a Biblical world view. So what were going to do is find out how this ethical world view works. What I want us to do is to open our Bibles to Joshua 2. Were going to look at one of these ethical conundrums here. While youre turning there, I want to recommend a book to you. Normally when I preach, its just me. Theres nothing wrong with it. Now other pastors like to read books and so forth. I like to just have my Bible, or maybe a couple of commentaries I like. I really want the message to be my message-not taking other peoples thoughts and ideas. Theres nothing wrong with that as long as youre giving credit to the other person. Thats just how I like to approach my sermons. This week, with the subject matter, I did want to consult some outside sources. One book Id really recommend that Im using in this sermon-and Id recommend it to you-is a book called, Christian Ethics, by Dr. Norman Geisler. Its an excellent book, so if you want to do some further study on the subject, Id recommend that book. Also, I want to tell you in advance that Im going to be using some big words-some $10, $50 words along the line. I do that for the sake of those who are taking notes and who want to explore the subject matter further. Thats the beauty of this. Youre not in high school; youre not in college here. There isnt going to be a test or a pop quiz, so if you dont want to learn the titles, the terminology, let it go. Dont worry about it. Just say, Im here to grasp the gist of it, the content of it. Im not worried about specific terminology because Im not taking a test. Im not taking this for credit. Im just here monitoring this course. Thats fine, but were going to share some of those words for the sake of the people who want to dig a little bit deeper. We could focus on a lot of different ethical problems, but were going to focus on one, and that is lying. Is lying ever right? Is lying ever justified? Is lying always wrong? Thats what were going to focus on, and then were going to run each of these world views. Were going to run it through those world views and see what their conclusion is, so you can see how your ethical world view determines whats right and wrong in a given situation. Were going to take this one scenario-that will be our constant-and then were going to run it through these various ethical world views and see how it does. Thats our assignment. Its a little bit different-not your typical sermon, but I think its going to be beneficial. Heres the story: Joshua and the children of Israel are about to enter the Promised Land. Remember that Moses generation had not acted in faith. It acted in disbelief and disobedience. A hard heart, God allowed them to wonder in the wilderness for forty years. That generation died off. A new generation led by Joshua, who was a believing generation, is going to inherit the Promised Land. Remember land ultimately belongs to whom? God-not countries, nations, kingdoms, people. It belongs to God. No matter what country on the face of the earth-its temporary; God is eternal. His creation belongs to Him. So God in His sovereignty chose to give a portion of land to the nation of Israel. He promised it to them, but there was still work to be done. Just because God promises something to you doesnt mean you dont have work to do. They were still going to have to obey God and follow His directives as God would bring them into this Promised Land. So practically speaking, Joshua sends out 2 men to spy out the land. Remember Moses sent out 12? We knew their names; we knew their mission. This is not quite the same-similar, but not quite the same. We dont know their names. We dont clearly know their mission because he sends them out in secret, but it had something to do with probably finding out the lay of the land, learning the streets, learning about their defense, maybe even the moral of the community because they know that this attack could be imminent. Jericho is aware. Israel is on their radar. They have intelligence that Israel is on the move. They have intelligence that theyre going to try to take their land, so they are on high alert. There is a wall around the perimeter of the city. That wall is fortified. There are armed guards there. There are look-outs there at all times. They are on high alert for any suspicious activity or any entrance through those walls of Israelites. Along the walls are houses, and one of those houses belongs to a woman by the name of Rahab. What makes Rahab unique is though she is living there in Jericho, she is a believer. She very much believes in the God of Israel-that He is the true God. She acknowledges that she has faith in Him, and she acknowledges that she believes that His purposes will not be stopped. So she really believes that one day Israel will occupy the land that she now lives in. She and the whole country have heard the exploits of how God parted the sea and how He gave victory over the powerful Egyptians, and they are afraid of the Israelites. She is aware of this. In Verse 1 (page 208 of pew Bibles), we pick up the story. Joshua says, Go, look over the land, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. I do think we should note-do you notice the footnote there on the word prostitute in your Bibles. If you follow it down, it says on the bottom, an innkeeper. To me, thats quite a disparity between possible definitions for that word. Its one of those words that one time it meant innkeeper and came to mean prostitute. Its like the word gay used to mean something very different than it does now. Im not sure which one was first-if it was innkeeper and then prostitute or if had been prostitute and then became innkeeper; but its quite possible that she wasnt a prostitute, that she was an innkeeper in which case we owe her a big apology. She probably has quite a chip on her shoulder in Heaven, Oh, and this is Rahab. Oh, yeah, Rahab. Hey, wait a second! I was an innkeeper! So well leave that one alone, and well just say we just dont know. We do know they went to her house. The king of Jericho was told, Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. So the intelligence is really sound. Its not like they are saying, Hey, there could be some people. We dont know where theyre from. We dont know what theyre doing here. Maybe they came to your house tonight. We dont know. No, its, We saw men. Theyre Israelites. They are here to spy out the land. Theyve come to your house. Send them out. The intelligence is that secure. Now Rahab has a choice to make. She really has to choose between two kingdoms. Is she going to be faithful to the king of Jericho, the city she lives in? Is she going to be loyal to the city, or is she going to be loyal to these Israelites that follow the God she believes in? Will she be loyal to them? Either way, she has to make the right decision because either way, her life is on the line. If she turns them in and Israel does invade the city and is conquered, shes a goner. If she lies to the king and the king finds out about it, shes a goner for betrayal; so she has a very difficult, ethical decision to make. Does she lie and cover up the truth-in which case she will probably die-or does she tell the truth and risk dying a little bit later? She is thinking in terms of survival as well, so she is weighing this. What is she going to do? Is she going to tell them the truth and turn in those men, or is she going to lie, cover up the truth, and hopefully spare herself and her family in the future? Whose side will she pick? Verse 4, But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. Lie. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. Lie. I didnt know which way they went. Lie. Go after them quickly, and you may catch up with them. Lie. She had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof. So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. Their roofs were not like our roofs. They were flat roofs, and so the men were up on the roof. They were under some flax, and she tells several lies. Was that wrong? Did she sin right there? Because God says, You shall not lie. But she was trying to spare their lives. She was trying to spare her life because she ultimately believed that Israel would prevail. Was-it-wrong? Thats the question. What would you have done had you been in her situation? Now were going to look at some of these world views, and were going to talk about what they would say about lying in this situation and whether what Rahab did was ethical or not. Were going to look at some non-Biblical world views, and then were going to bring it around to some Biblical world views. Were going to see that even Christians would disagree on this subject. The first world view were going to look at is called Antinomianism. They would say this, Lying is not wrong or right-ever. There are no such things as moral laws. You make up your own moral laws if you want to have laws because there are no moral absolutes. There are no universal laws in the world. Its kind of like every man for themselves, and you simply use common sense. There are not objective laws that I must submit to. There are subjective experiences, and you use your best judgment. In this case, it is survival for her and her family, and because lying is neither right nor wrong, because there are no moral laws, it was fine. What she did was fine, and it was the right decision for her. You just do the best you can using reason and common sense, and in this case, survival; so they would say Rahab was not wrong in what she did. Lets look at a second point of view. The second world view says that lying is generally wrong, but there are no universal laws. This is a world view called Generalism. Lying is generally wrong, but there are no universal laws; so sometimes laws can be broken. What really matters is the end result. It all works out in the end. The end justifies the means. Youve heard that. You maybe have even said that. One thing that I found interesting-I was talking with one of our folks at the 8 oclock service, he said, Ive said things from every one of those world views. What he realized is that he has world views that are incongruent. They just dont mesh. Hes believing things in different world views that are at odds with one another, and he wasnt even aware of it. One of the things were trying to do is get us to have consistency in these ethical world views. The end is what counts. In the end, Rahab was rescued. Her family was rescued, so the generalist would say that was the right decision. There are general rules. There are no moral absolutes, so lying was okay because she had to survive. The end justifies the means. All is well that ends well. Thats their world view, so she was right. There is another world view that would say lying is sometimes right. Lying is sometimes right. There is one moral absolute, and its not truth. The moral absolute for the person whose view is of Situationism says that the one moral absolute in the entire world is love. They very much could sing the Beatles song, All You Need is Love. All you need is love. They just make a decision based on love. That is the only moral absolute. It sounds pretty good, doesnt it? Just do the loving thing. Whatever the ethical conundrum is, just do the loving thing, and its going to be okay. Now, well talk more about this view as we will the others in the weeks to come. In fact, well spend a whole week on it, but right now were just introducing it. The situationism says Rahab did the loving thing. She protected herself and her family. She loved Israel. She loved the God of Israel. Rahab acted in a loving way to protect that which was hers, so lying is sometimes the right thing to do because as long as that lying doesnt come in to conflict with the one moral law of the universe-which is love-[its okay to do]. Thats a very prominent world view in our society today. Many people make their ethical decisions based on this rule, Is it the loving thing to do? Now lets turn and look at some Biblical ethical world views. The first one were going to talk about is something called Unqualified Absolutism. These people believe that God has given many moral absolutes, and they never conflict with one another. There is no conflict, and theyre all to be followed, all to be obeyed at all times. God has given absolutes for all people, in all places, at all times, and these are always to be followed; and so Rahab sinned. Rahab did what was wrong even thought the outcome was good. God didnt ask her to lie. The soldiers didnt ask her to lie. What she should have done is told the truth and let the chips fall where they may-put her family and her care in the hands of God, put the spies from Israel in the hands of God, put Gods purposes ultimately in the hands of God. Rahab was wrong to tell a lie. She should have told the truth. Agustin-you might have heard of Agustin-was an unqualified absolutist. Agustin believed that the truth is one of the absolutes, and its never to be violated. If you violate it, its sin. When my drunken brother-in-law came in threatening my sister and said, Wheres my wife? She should have said, Shes in the closet. Wheres the closet? Its right up through this other room around the corner. Here let me show you. Thats what these folks would think. Now from World War II, this is very interesting. There were people who would hide the Jews from the Nazis because they didnt want to see them go to the death camps. If you held to this school of thought, you would not lie under any circumstances, Nazis would come knocking on your door and you would open up your door. Nazis would say, We have a report that there are Jews in the house. Are there Jews in your house? Yes, there are. Where are they? Theyre in the cellar. Can you show me? I can. So you better hope that whatever house youre hiding in is not one of those because man, woman and child would be hauled off to the death camps if you happened to be in the home of one of these folks. Have you heard of The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom? Anybody? What he did was pretty interesting because he had a secret compartment-like a basement hideaway-underneath the kitchen floor. Hed carved it out in such a way that when you put the floor back, you couldnt even tell it was there. You couldnt tell there was a trap door there. It was just totally concealed. The Nazis would come knocking on his door, Mr. Ten Boom? We have a report that there are Jews in your house. Mr. Ten Boom would tell the truth. He would say, Yes, I am hiding Jews. It is true. Theyd say, Well, where are they? Hed say, They are hiding in the kitchen. Theyre there in the kitchen. Where are they in the kitchen? Theyre under the table. Ah, got no time for your jokes today, Ten Boom! And theyd all be out the door. Where were they? They were in the kitchen under the table, but they were also under the floor. See, hes telling the truth, but yet he spared the lives of many-very cleverly-he spared the lives of those folks. These folks would say that you tell the truth under every circumstance. Truth is a moral absolute, and it is never right to tell a lie. You always have to tell the truth, so Rahab sinned. Now lets look at another school of thought. This school of thought is Conflicting Absolutism. It says that lying is wrong, but its forgivable. There are a lot of moral absolutes in the world, and sometimes they conflict. When they conflict, the Christian is responsible to do the lesser evil. You have a responsibility to do the lesser evil. Lets say a woman comes to you while youre walking home from shopping. Youre downtown and-do we still shop downtown? I dont know. Youre downtown-just work with me on this. Youre on your way to your car. She comes up to you, and she says, Theres a man whos chasing me, and he wants to kill me. Hes crazy! Im going to go this way. Tell him I went that way! The man comes to you a minute later, and he has a knife and hes crazy. Hes like, Where is she? Im going to kill her! Which way did she go? She went that way, so you say, She went this way. And so he takes off the wrong way. You just lied. This person would say, Yes, that was wrong, but it was the lesser evil, because if he goes this way, hes going to harm this person. Her being killed or hurt in some way was a greater evil, so you chose correctly. You still have to ask for forgiveness. You still have to say, God, Im sorry. I lied, but it was a lesser evil; so though lying is never right, these two issues were in conflict, and you did the right thing. The last school of thought were going to look at is called Graded Absolutism. Graded absolutism believes that lying is sometimes right. Its just like situationism. Lying is sometimes right. There are a lot of moral absolutes that God has given. Sometimes those moral absolutes are in conflict with one another, and when they are in conflict with one another, you and I as Christians have the responsibility to do the greater good, and its not a sin. To do the greater good is not a sin. If you lie in this situation, you dont have to confess it. The first absolutes would have believed that Rahab committed sin. The unqualified would say it was sin. The conflicting would say its forgivable, but it was sin. The graded absolutism would say not a sin. You dont have to ask for forgiveness, but they obeyed the higher law. Using the scenario of the crazy guy with the knife, he comes up to you in the street, and he says, Where is she? Im going to kill her! You deliberately send him in the wrong direction-you have not sinned. That guy has no right to the truth. He has no right to the truth because he was going to cause harm. When my drunken brother-in-law came to the house at midnight-sometimes wed have to actually leave the house and wonder the streets of Rockford out of fear of him. It was a very traumatizing thing in my family during that period. They would say he had no right to the truth because he was going to harm an innocent woman. She was totally justified in choosing the greater good, so she does not have to confess her sin. Maybe you saw yourself somewhere in one of those ethical points of view. Maybe you saw yourself in several, which is probably a problem. What we want to do from here on out, and see heres the to-be-continued part because were done, were going to start looking at these again next week and talking about it from a Biblical perspective. The goal when were done is to be able to think on our toes, process our world, and make Biblical, ethical decisions. Thats the goal of our series. So thats just kind of a panorama view of what is ahead, so next week well dig in to that first one and explore it a little bit. Lets pray together, Father, were grateful for Your Word that serves as our guide in these decisions. We want to be consistent with what Your Truth has said, so were going to examine these truths. Were going to explore these world views and these ethical world views. Were asking Your Holy Spirit to guide us along the way. At the end, we will have learned, and we will grow, and we will have a better understanding of right and wrong and the decisions that we need to make. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.