Podcast appearances and mentions of James Carse

In this episode, William Green chats with Christopher Begg, an exceptional hedge fund manager who is the CEO & CIO of East Coast Asset Management. Chris has also taught for many years at Columbia Business School, where he teaches the prestigious Security Analysis course that Warren Buffett took with Ben Graham in 1951. Here, Chris discusses how to stay calm amid market turmoil; how he identifies great businesses; why Tesla could deliver extraordinary long-term returns; & how he builds a balanced life in 7 key areas. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: 03:54 - How Christopher Begg handles extreme market turmoil. 04:07 - Why he loves volatility & how he exploits it.  06:27 - What 3 qualities he seeks when identifying an exceptional business.  18:19 - Why temperament is the key to investment success.  28:06 - How Perimeter Solutions embodies what he looks for in a stock. 31:49 - How value investing has evolved to what he calls “Value 3.0.” 42:15 - Why Tesla could deliver “extraordinary” returns over many years.  42:15 - What he thinks of Elon Musk.  01:11:13 - Why the secret of success is “persistent incremental progress.” 01:13:48 - How a 66-day challenge helped Chris to nurture good habits. 01:26:06 - How Buffett & Munger won the investing game with “class & virtue.” 01:34:18 - How to design a balanced, joyful, & spacious life.  Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join Clay and a select group of passionate value investors for a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Learn more here. Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Chris Begg's investment firm, East Coast Asset Management. Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Tanya Luhrmann's How God Becomes Real. Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception. Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull. James Carse's Finite & Infinite Games. David Whyte's Consolations & Consolations II. Madeleine Green's song discussed by William & Chris. William Green's book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book. Follow William Green on X. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our Premium Feed. NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, The Intrinsic Value Newsletter. Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs. Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool. Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: SimpleMining Hardblock Found AnchorWatch DeleteMe Fundrise CFI Education Indeed Vanta Shopify The Bitcoin Way Onramp HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Spotify! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

This is the third in a series of episodes with world-leading product management  experts about how we might build product management best practices into team leadership. Alex Komoroske spent years as either a Product Manager or Director of Product Management for platforms that most of us use every day: Chrome, Google Maps, Google Earth, and others. He then went on to lead corporate strategy at Stripe, another platform most of us use every day.  While at Google, Alex wrote an internal how-to called “Practical PM Stuff” that many Google PMs referred to as the Product Managers Bible.  It covered everything from basics like how to answer an email to esoterica like the difference between complexity and ambiguity or how Schelling points form in organizations. In this episode, Dart and Alex discuss:- Work as an ecosystem, not a machine- Indirect influence over direct control- How frameworks can kill creativity- The role of product management in work design- How companies stifle innovation- The power of riding momentum- Managers as curators, not controllers- Balancing autonomy and structure- Why great ideas bypass leadership- And other topics...Alex Komoroske is a product leader and systems thinker who specializes in platforms and ecosystems. Alex is known for his "Gardening Platforms" approach, which encourages guiding ecosystems toward greatness instead of controlling them. Now Co-CEO of Common Tools, he continues to explore how technology and organizations evolve.Resources Mentioned:Finite and Infinite Games, by James Carse: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713The Stacy Barton conversation about Disney storytelling and work. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immersive-experience-design-how-to-use-story-to-design/id1612743401?i=1000599527522 The Marty Cagan conversation about product management and work   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-design-products-people-love-principles-and/id1612743401?i=1000668997003 The David Obstfeld conversation about brokering social networks and work https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/social-networks-the-1-predictor-of-economic/id1612743401?i=1000677462011 Connect with Alex:Website: https://www.komoroske.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-komoroske-6597336/Twitter: https://x.com/komoramaWork with Dart:Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what's most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Hôm nay chúng ta sẽ cùng nhau tìm hiểu qua cuốn sách “Finite and Infinite Games” (tạm dịch là Trò chơi giới hạn và trò chơi vô hạn), của triết gia, nhà nghiên cứu tôn giáo người Mỹ, James Carse. ------------------------- Nếu bạn muốn mua sách giấy để đọc, có thể ủng hộ Better Version bằng cách mua qua đường link này nhé, cám ơn các bạn! ❤️ Link tổng hợp các cuốn sách trong tất cả video: https://beacons.ai/betterversion.vn/b... ❤️ ỦNG HỘ KÊNH TẠI: https://beacons.ai/betterversion.donate

Once upon a time, CHEK Professional Jason Christoff was a self-described “typical, soulless North American meatbag” whose life was affected severely like many others by mind viruses largely broadcasted daily by the mainstream media and governments to exert a powerful form of mind control.Jason explains what mind control really is in today's world and describes the CHEK-based steps you can take to achieve real freedom this week on Spirit Gym.Learn more about Jason's work on his website where you can review the many courses on reprogramming and re-education classes on his website. Check out Jason's Psychology of Freedom podcast here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.For Spirit Gym listeners: Jason is offering Spirit Gym listeners FREE access to his 10 Hidden Secrets of Media and Government Mind Control program. Email Jason at info@jchristoff.com and mention that you heard him on Spirit Gym to receive access. (Special offers from Spirit Gym guests are time-sensitive and at their discretion to redeem after 30 days.)Timestamps11:29 Memetic mind viruses and mind control.24:01 “They can make us do absolutely anything, and they know how to take away our self-confidence.”33:59 The history of mind control.45:14 The five major categories of the self-saboteur.59:01 “The answer to the pain is inside the pain.”1:05:46 The danger of isms.ResourcesJason's presentation during a recent U.S. Senate roundtable on YouTubeGeorge Land's TED Talk on The Failure of Success on YouTubeSarah Westall's conversation with Dave Hodges on the Fringe Radio NetworkPaul's Living 4D conversations with JP Sears, Jane Buxton, James Carse and Fred ProvenzaThe Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide and Brainwashing by Joost A.M. MeerlooThe Social Network on NetflixFind more resources for this episode on our website.Thanks to our awesome sponsors:PaleovalleyBiOptimizers US and BiOptimizers UK PAUL10Organifi CHEK20Wild PasturesCHEK Academy Open House We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

Buddha was a revolutionary and he left us with a map of how to effectively live our lives with skillful means. He gave us wise words for effective living through the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, and the Thirteen Precepts. Here Coyote expands on the concept of "life is suffering" to mean life's afflictions cannot be avoided. Stuff happens. Peter Coyote is a master of many crafts, including being an award-winning actor, improv teacher, author, director, screenwriter, and narrator who has worked with some of the world's most distinguished filmmakers, including Ken Burns. He's won several Emmys for his narration and was ordained as a Zen priest in 2011. In 2015, he received transmission from his teacher making him an independent Zen teacher. His books includeThe Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education (Counterpoint 1998/2015), Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle (Counterpoint 2015), Tongue of a Crow: A Book of Poetry (Four Way Books 2021), The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation & Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States (Inner Traditions 2021), Zen in the Vernacular: Things As It Is (Inner Traditions 2024)Interview Date: 5/3/2024 Tags: Peter Coyote, Gary Snyder, San Francisco Zen Center, David Brazier, David Harris, eight-fold path, 8-fold path, Zen Mates Fuketsu, James Carse, injustice, slavery , Buddhism, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Are you eager to take a trip into the greater universe?Join Paul and his very special guest, Tod Desmond, author of Psyche and Singularity: Jungian Psychology and Holographic String Theory, as they explore black holes, singularities, the horizon of the cosmos, God and the rest of multiverse in this interstellar Living 4D conversation.Take Tod's online class — Immortality and the Unreality of Death: A Hero's Journey Through Philosophy, Psychology and Physics — on his website and his YouTube channel playlist. Find him via social media on Facebook.TimestampsA keen interest in Catholicism. (9:25)Tod's theory about Nietzsche. (15:18)Defining terms. (22:47)Did Carl Jung surpass Sigmund Freud? (34:55)A gravitational singularity. (44:48)The horizon of the cosmos. (51:54)“Information doesn't need a body.” (1:00:35)A spinning singularity. (1:11:30)Jung's near-death experience. (1:18:50)“Imprisoned in our own little box of illusion...” (1:23:11)Black holes = geometrically perfect mandalas. (1:30:05)“Each of us is a singularity.” (1:37:04)Imperfect temporary projections from an archetype. (1:46:00)The theodicy argument. (1:52:46)“A literal interpretation of scripture will get you in trouble.” (2:07:36)God: The singularity who sees through every other singularity simultaneously. (2:11:31)ResourcesTod's recent appearance on Jeffrey Mishlove's New Thinking Allowed on YouTubeThe Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism by Fritjof CapraThrough the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman Season 1, Episode 2 (free)Paul's Living 4D conversations with Jeffrey Mishlove, James Carse and JP SearsJung's psychoid archetypeFind more resources for this episode on our website.Thanks to our awesome sponsors:PaleovalleyBiOptimizers US and BiOptimizers UK PAUL10Organifi CHEK20How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy 20th anniversary editionWild PasturesWe may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

The late historian of religion James Carse (1932-2020) made a radical proposal in his 2012 book, The Religious Case Against Belief. He argued that beliefs, far from being central to or definitive of religion, are actually antithetical to religious community.  A religion's historical longevity, he argued, depends on its ability to absorb and neutralize beliefs—epistemological dead ends built on willful ignorance.  “The challenge to religion,” Carse says, “is not its opponents from without, but its believers from within, and the real enemy of religion is belief itself.” What does this mean for a project like Conspirituality and other projects of disillusionment carried out in the shadow of New Atheism and other modern skeptical movements? Blair Hodges of the Fireside and Family Proclamations podcasts joins Matthew to discuss a potential casualty of the battle against religious extremism: a nuanced understanding of religion itself. Show Notes The Religious Case Against Belief by James P. Carse Fireside with Blair Hodges Family Proclamations w/ Blair Hodges   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Collin Wallace is the Former Head of Techstars Silicon Valley (one of the top startup accelerators), co-teaches the Startup Garage accelerator class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and is a partner at Lobby Capital (formerly August Capital), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Previously, as a repeat founder, he also was a participant in Techstars and Y Combinator (YC is, of course, also a top startup accelerator). One of the startups that he founded (FanGo) was acquired by Grubhub pre-IPO, where he became Head of Innovation. In this interview, we talk about startup accelerators, how they've changed, and whether they are worth it for founders. We also talk about how much equity startup accelerators take, the amount of funding they provide, and some details regarding SAFEs and other startup accelerator financing terms, as well as differences between startup accelerators. We also talk about the types of problems startup accelerators are especially good at helping founders solve. In addition, we discuss the differences between accelerators: Y Combinator vs Techstars vs Pear VC, etc. Collin has invested in over 80 early-stage companies, including PayJoy, Landed, Mosaic Voice, Postscript, and Vellum. He has a BS from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, he speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Muito boa semana Galera. Essa semana vou trazer o tema dos beneficios dos jogos infinitos na nossas vida, baseado no Livro Jogos Finitos e Infinitos de James Carse. Ele nos traz uma reflexão sobre como agimos para obter o sucesso e como essa filosofia pode nos ajudar a termos uma vida menos competitiva. Não deixe de curtir, compartilhar e comentar suas experiências! Sigam-me nas redes sociais para mais conteúdos inspiradores! Seguem os links das minhas outras redes sociais: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brunobribeiro/⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brunoribeiro.oficial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook - www.facebook.com/brunobr.oficial   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube - www.youtube.com/brunobribeiro  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunobribeiro/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blog - www.brunobr.com.br⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this week's Win-Win episode, I chat to legendary thinker and speaker Simon Sinek about the nature of competition in business, and in particular, the key ingredient of all enduring companies and leaders: The Infinite Mindset. We also explore the pros and cons of short-term goals, the power of enemies, Moloch Traps, how to be a better speaker, the need for optimism, and so much more.    Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:21 - What is the Infinite Game? 00:06:45 - Misaligned incentives 00:10:23 - Infinite Mindset in business 00:17:23 - Simon's worthy rival 00:21:30 - Good and evil 00:24:24 - Why we need an enemy 00:27:08 - The Moloch trap 00:31:56 - Existential threats 00:38:01 - The priorities of business 00:44:10 - Ethical fading / People before profit 00:50:14 - Finding the businesses to support 00:51:50 - "Find your Why" test 00:56:18 - Public speaking 01:00:54 - Being an optimist 01:02:45 - Winning the infinite game Simon's Biography: Simon is a visionary thinker, who is probably best known for his TED Talk on the concept of WHY, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace which has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times. He continues to share inspiration through his bestselling books, including global bestseller Start with WHY and New York Times bestsellers Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, as well as his podcast, A Bit of Optimism. In addition, Simon is the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development company, and he publishes other inspiring thinkers and doers through his publishing partnership with Penguin Random House called Optimism Press. Links ♾️ The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/the-infinite-game/ ♾️ Finite and Infinite Games by Dr. James Carse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_and_Infinite_Games ♾️ Find Your Why by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/find-your-why/ ♾️ Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/ ♾️ Milton Freidman NYT OpEd https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html ♾️ Ethical Fading https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ztNE1CvnV4 ♾️ Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall) https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/glass-steagall-act ♾️ Start with Why by Simon Sinek ♾️ Simon's TED Talk: https://simonsinek.com/books/start-with-why/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 ♾️ The Art of Presenting Course https://simonsinek.com/product/the-art-of-presenting-with-simon/ ♾️ Simon Sinek podcast w/ Dr James Carse https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/the-infinite-game-with-dr-james-carse/ The Win-Win Podcast Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, athletes and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose games into Win-Wins.    Credits ♾️  Hosted by: Liv Boeree ♾️  Produced & Edited by: Raymond Wei ♾️  Audio Mix by: Keir Schmidt

As we continue to examine the case study that is Mars Hill Church, we're asking a couple of questions in this conversation:  First, how do we create faith communities that know what abuses of power look like and call those behaviors out?  And second, how do we build environments that seek to be psychologically healthy for everyone? Our guest this week is Doug Shirley, EdD, core faculty with The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology with expertise in counseling, Divinity, and pastoral community counseling. Doug's passion lies in understanding and improving the emotional, relational, and spiritual lives of individuals in helping and healing professions. The sheer number of individuals seeking help for mental health issues following the Mars Hill debacle underscores the unhealthy nature of the church environment. Our conversation explores strategies for creating psychologically healthy spaces within faith communities, emphasizing the importance of two-way dialogue, accountability, openness, and honesty.  Listener resources: This conversation references: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse; The Priest in Community by Urban T. Holmes, III; The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero; Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Trauma and Recovery and Truth and Repair by Judith Herman, MD; the words and thoughts of Dr. Steve Call from The Reconnect Institute, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Resmaa Menakem, Brian McLaren, Dr. Tali Hariston, and Parker Palmer. If you are a Christian leader or pastor seeking a space for support, growth, and transformation for yourself or for your team, we invite you to participate in one of our cohort programs, called a Circle. To learn more and to get on the waitlist to be notified when our next Circle is offered, click here.  

In this episode, William Green chats with hedge fund manager Christopher Begg, who is the CEO, Chief Investment Officer, & co-founder of East Coast Asset Management. Chris is also a revered professor at Columbia Business School, where he teaches the Security Analysis class that was originally taught by Warren Buffett's mentor, Ben Graham. Here, Chris shares powerful lessons on how to identify high-quality businesses & build a life that's defined by a commitment to quality.IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN:00:00 - Intro03:54- How Chris Begg came to teach an investing class originally taught by Ben Graham.10:29 - What Chris learned from his ten fireside chats with Berkshire Hathaway's Todd Combs.13:17 - What Buffett & Munger taught Chris about focusing on a few great businesses.17:58 - How he finds undervalued stocks by asking, “Where are the clouds today?”26:55 - Why he's bullish on Meta & Google, despite an array of perceived threats.36:09 - How he identifies great businesses by seeking 8 layers of competitive advantage.47:13 - How to succeed through “persistent incremental progress eternally repeated.”1:00:01 - Why investors can't afford to ignore a company's impact on the environment.1:06:40 - Why consistent kindness is a potent ingredient of success, helping to build trust.1:15:22 - How Chris gains an edge by continuously compounding his interdisciplinary knowledge.1:32:17 - What he's learned about the pursuit of excellence from surfing with Josh Waitzkin.1:40:48 - Why Chris structures his workday to include meditation & contemplation.1:50:46 - What studying Andrew Carnegie—once the world's richest person—has taught him.1:53:40 - Why Chris believes that the world is headed in a better direction.Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.BOOKS AND RESOURCESChris Begg's investment firm, East Coast Asset Management.One from Many by Dee Hock.Nick Sleep's list of long-term vs short-term characteristics.Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance, Lila, & On Quality.Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse.William Green's book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book.William Green's Twitter.NEW TO THE SHOW?Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs.Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here.Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool.Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services.Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets.Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. P.S The Investor's Podcast Network is excited to launch a subreddit devoted to our fans in discussing financial markets, stock picks, questions for our hosts, and much more! Join our subreddit r/TheInvestorsPodcast today!SPONSORSIf you're aware you need to improve your bitcoin security but have been putting it off, Unchained Capital‘s Concierge Onboarding is a simple way to get started—sooner rather than later. Book your onboarding today and at checkout, get $50 off with the promo code FUNDAMENTALS.Have peace of mind knowing River holds Bitcoin in multi-sig cold storage with 100% full reserves.What does happen when money and big feelings mix? Tune in to find out on the new podcast, Open Money, presented by Servus Credit Union.Make connections, gain knowledge, and uplift your governance CV by becoming a member of the AICD today.Enjoy flexibility and support with free cancellation, payment options, and 24/7 service when booking travel experiences with Viator. Download the Viator app NOW and use code VIATOR10 for 10% off your first booking.Join over 5k investors in the data security revolution with Atakama.Apply for the Employee Retention Credit easily, no matter how busy you are, with Innovation Refunds.Invest your retirement savings in what YOU know and are passionate about with a Self-Directed IRA with New Direction Trust Company.Send, spend, and receive money around the world easily with Wise.Beat FOMO and move faster than the market with AlphaSense.Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors.HELP US OUT!Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is my conversation with Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation.00:00 intro01:20 sponsor: Optimism (optimism.io)02:38 reflecting on early days of Ethereum9:01 Ethereum as an Infinite Garden19:14 books and ideas that influenced Aya24:54 the insignificance of titles32:02 what does “Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation” mean?40:33 the “teacher” mindset and how it applies to management47:24 the importance of diversity51:41 sponsor: Privy (privy.io)53:03 the idea of subtraction and how it plays out in practice1:05:42 funding in a non-profit context1:08:48 why it's difficult to describe the potential of Ethereum 1:16:46 embracing imperfection1:20:43 learning from (un)natural disasters1:33:20 what the 'next billion' means for Ethereum1:42:59 Ethereum in emerging economies1:49:09 outroRelevant Links:Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_and_Infinite_GamesAya on Executing with Subtraction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noXPewi5qOkEthereum Foundation - https://ethereum.org/en/foundation/Thank you to our sponsors for making this podcast possible:Optimism - https://optimism.ioPrivy - https://privy.ioInto the Bytecode:Other episodes and transcripts - https://intothebytecode.xyz/Newsletter for updates - https://bytecode.substack.comTwitter - https://twitter.com/sinahab

Season 4 Episode 48 | Recorded July 28, 2022 Join Scott and Clayton Oates in this episode as they discuss how Clayton got his start in accounting, the challenges of starting his own business, and how to transition from the finite game to the infinite game. You'll hear about the benefits of partnerships and the importance of choosing partners who share your values. Along the way, Clayton shares insights from his extensive reading list and offers practical advice for bettering yourself and others. This is a must-listen for anyone who wants to become a better leader and make a positive impact in their community. So what are you waiting for? Hit that play button and let's get started! Clayton's start in accounting Leaving a big firm Starting a business and being an “intra-preneur” Trapped in the day to day What does freedom mean? The finite and infinite game Life is easier when everyone is a friend The second mountain, life happens for you, not to you Partnerships From the finite to the infinite List of books Ancient wisdom and new generations Infinite players dealing with finite players The big vendors and differences with them Conference addiction and finding purpose How to vet partners for finite or infinite Being stuck in contracts The “Best” Tech and Tax, Vendor or Partner? Who works for who or with who? App raps, giving back, and accidents Meeting Tim Ferris Eminem's new album… just for Scott Time meets Jeff Bezos Go with the flow and control your reactions Accepting and giving back Project positivity Energizing events Playing off other's energy Don't set your goals with things you can't control Better yourself to better others We mindset versus me mindset Conferences to find Clayton at Stage fright and imposter syndrome Amanda Aguilar Speaking Truth Leading the infinite game Wrapping up and rapping up All the Shoutouts: Simon Sinek, Ron Baker, Brian Irwin, Tim O'Reilly, David Brooks, Liz Mason, Tony Robbins, Michael Gerber, James Carse, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, Netscape, Adam Grant, James Clear, Tim Ferris, Ryan Holiday, Marcus Seneca, Wayne Schmidt, Blake Oliver, CPA, Jeff Bezos, Douglas Sleeter, Amanda Aguillard CPA CISD --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/accountinghigh/message

Liv Boeree is a World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour champion, and the only female player in history to win both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT event. Liv's story is super interesting, because she actually has a degree in astrophysics and combined her science background and passion for games to get into the world of poker and win all these championships.These days Liv spends her time as a science communicator and games specialist, and focuses on educating others about how to apply scientific rational thinking techniques and things like game theory to the decisions we make in our everyday lives. Navigating through decisions in life can be a pretty difficult sometimes, but the single thing this conversation taught me is that, there's a lot of principles we can steal from poker (like thinking processes and resilience strategies) to help us along the journey. In the conversation we talk about a whole bunch of things and by the end of the episode you'll learn: Game Theory: How lessons from poker can help you build resilience, and make better decisions for your life. Effective Altruism: How humans can become better philanthropists by using logic and reason to figure out the most high expected value thing we can do to solve the worlds most pressing problems. Safe AI Development - Why AI is the most high-stakes creation by humans to date and what their implications are for our future. Enjoy!Liv Boeree: Poker Rules For Life, Game Theory, AI & Effective AltruismSponsored by Huel - go to https://www.huel.com/deepdive and with your first order you'll get a free t-shirt and shaker.Sponsored by Trading212 - download Trading212 app and use the promo code “ALI” after signing up and depositing to receive a random free share worth up to £100.Sponsored by WeWork - visit https://www.we.co/ali and use the code ‘ALI' at checkout to redeem 50% off your first booking. CONNECT WITH LIV YouTube Channel - Website - https://livboeree.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/liv_boeree/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/Liv_Boeree LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/livboereeFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/livboeree/ CONNECT WITH ALI YouTube Channel - @aliabdaal Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal Website - https://aliabdaal.com Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-abdaal/RESOURCES MENTIONEDChris Sparks Deep Dive Episode - https://youtu.be/_Aode5viwOALiv's TedTalk - https://youtu.be/nisSeC81u2MDeepMind - https://www.deepmind.com/80,000 hours podcast - https://80000hours.org/podcast/Meditations on Moloch by Scott Alexander - https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/Moloch: The Beauty Wars - https://youtu.be/fifVuhgvQQ8Moloch: The Media Wars - https://youtu.be/PRz54V7rU4UFinite And Infinite Games: A Vision of Life As Play and Possibility by James Carse - https://geni.us/G5x3UmNovacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock - https://geni.us/AegSInadequate Equilibria: Where and How Civilizations Get Stuck by Eliezer Yudkowsky - https://geni.us/AbLlbDThe Story Of Us by Tim Urban - https://bit.ly/3mhDx5bSHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPTVisit the website for the transcript and highlights from the conversation - https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/ ABOUT THE PODCASTDeep Dive is the podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. LISTEN FOR FREEApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7gZkflC...RSS - https://feeds.transistor.fm/deep-dive LEAVE A REVIEWIf you enjoyed listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover the show :) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... GET IN TOUCHYou can also Tweet @AliAbdaal with any feedback, ideas or thoughts about the lessons you've learnt from the episodes and we can thank you personally for tuning in. PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from  Download my FREE 100 Books To Live Your Best Life Reading List

Paul explores what love really means, the unique self-medicine that can heal us and why we need more intimacy in our lives (and how to get them) with Dr. Marc Gafni in this Living 4D conversation.Learn more about Marc's work on his website, where you can register for his free weekly One Mountain, Many Paths program Sundays at 10 a.m. Western Time/1 p.m. Eastern Time. Take Marc's Unique Self mini-course that's also free.Check out Marc on many social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin and YouTube.TimestampsLiving in a participatory universe. (11:03)Fighting with the Dalai Lama. (15:33)Deconstructing the field of value. (20:52)A techno-utopia? (32:12)AI. (44:57)Unique self-medicine: The only thing that can heal us. (56:03)“Reality is an outrageous love story.” (1:02:31)A global intimacy disorder. (1:14:14)Become conscious of the third. (1:33:42)Where did value go wrong and how can we reclaim it? (1:47:33)The intimacy revolution. (1:58:42)An Eros equation. (2:09:03)“The God you don't believe in doesn't exist.” (2:24:00)All of us are holy and broken hallelujahs. (2:36:55)Who are you? (2:44:05)ResourcesYour Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment, A Return to Eros: The Radical Experience of Being Fully Alive and Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment by Dr. Marc GafniThe Erotic and The Holy: The Kabbalistic Tantra of Hebrew Mysticism by Dr. Marc Gafni (audiobook only)Walden Two by B.F. SkinnerThe Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture by Brian DearLimits to Medicine: Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health by Ivan IllichPaul's Living 4D conversations with Amy Fournier, Aubrey Marcus, James Carse and Dr. Keith WittFind more resources for this episode on our website.Thanks to our awesome sponsors: CHEK Institute/PT3.0 Paleovalley chek15 BiOptimizers PAUL10 Cymbiotika L4D15 Organifi CHEK20We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using affiliate links.

In this week's Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I am thrilled to be joined by Jason Sosa, an entrepreneur, investor, innovation strategy consultant, and speaker. Jason is an expert on the future of work, AI innovation, blockchain, and other disruptive technologies.    With his background as a serial entrepreneur and four times TEDx speaker, Jason has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, CNN, Wired, Fast Company, and Esquire Singapore, He has participated in Techstars 500 Startups and Plug and Play.    Jason takes us through his vision of what he sees as the future of work. He talks about how we're all playing a game where we don't necessarily know the rules and we're just trying to navigate it. The challenge is to disrupt the old system, make a new, better system, and make the federal system obsolete.   Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad. In this episode, you'll hear about: How he got from having a 0.98 GPA to a world-famous speaker Jason's immigration story How to build ethics in the future of work Most common mistakes entrepreneurs or startups make The difference between a first-time founder and a second-time founder Jason's vision of the future of work   Don't miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback! Resources: www.jasonsosa.com    Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse   Twitter: @jason_sosa   Alcorn Immigration Law: Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter   Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast: Episode 56: Global Innovation with Tim Draper Episode 63: Immigration, Global Mobility, Working from Home, and the Future of Work Episode 103: A Futurist's Lens on Immigration – Future of Work, Climate Change, and More with Jamais Cascio   Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

Would you like to receive a daily, random quote by email from my Little Box of Quotes? https://constantine.name/lboq A long long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms. I kept them on the first version of my web site, where they were displayed randomly. But as time went on, I realized I wanted them where I would see them. Eventually I copied the fledgeling collection onto 3×5 cards and put them in a small box. As I find new ones, I add cards. Today, there are more than 1,000 quotes and the collection continues to grow. Hello, I'm Craig Constantine

Would you like to receive a daily, random quote by email from my Little Box of Quotes?https://constantine.name/lboqA long long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms. I kept them on the first version of my web site, where they were displayed randomly. But as time went on, I realized I wanted them where I would see them. Eventually I copied the fledgeling collection onto 3×5 cards and put them in a small box. As I find new ones, I add cards. Today, there are nearly 1,000 quotes and the collection continues to grow.My mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. This podcast is a small part of what I do. Drop by https://constantine.name for my weekly email, podcasts, writing and more.

Have you ever taken a step back and thought "why" am I pursuing a certain goal? Today's mini episode will coach you through a new way of looking at goals + ask the question: are you pursuing finite or infinite games? Both have value but one changes who you become. I can't wait to hear your ah-ha moments! Please subscribe, rate + review if you feel inspired to do so! It really means so much. To learn more + dive in deeper I recommend "Finite and Infinite Games" written by James Carse.

So often our lives are ruled by 'clock time' - we're counting off how long there is to get something done, or we're aiming for a time-bound goal, or we're measuring time wasted or time used productively. But although this is the dominant way of understanding time for many of us, it is only one way of relating to the flow of things. What if, instead of filling time with work or play, we turned things around and allowed time to flow into our activity? And what if instead of trying to secure ourselves against an unpredictable future, we took up a playfulness with the unfolding of time itself? This week's Turning Towards Life is a conversation about living into our lives as an infinite unfolding, rather than a finite game. It's hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace. Here's a link to the details of the new Thirdspace Leading from Essential Self programme which we talked about in the previous episode and which is is coming up soon, and to our year-long Professional Coaching Course which begins in June 2022 Turning Towards Life is hosted by Thirdspace. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify. Here's our source for this week: What Is Time? There are two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play… For an infinite player there is no such thing as an hour of time. There can be an hour of love, or a day of grieving, or a season of learning, or a period of labour. An infinite player does not begin working for the purpose of filling up a period of time with work, but for the purpose of filling work with time. Work is not a way of passing time but engendering possibility. Work is not a way of arriving at a desired present and securing it against an unpredictable future but of moving towards a future that itself has a future. [So] infinite players cannot say how much they have completed in their work or love or quarrelling, but only that much remains incomplete in it. They are not concerned to determine when it is over, but only what comes from it… A finite player puts play into time. An infinite player puts time into play. James Carse, from ‘Finite and Infinite Games' Photo by Joe Pregadio on Unsplash

Meltem Demirors is the Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, a digital asset investment firm that manages $4B. Meltem is also known as the vibes sorceress, curator of vibes, and the queen of crypto. She's been in the space for more than eight years and has seen the ebbs and flows of not only the markets, but the people that make up the space. As a whole, the people that make up the space are part of the entire crypto cult. Whether you're team Bitcoin or Ethereum, or whichever other coins, protocols, DAOs, people, etc. you support—you're part of the cult. We don't mean the negative connotation of the word cult, anon. Relax. Cults are everywhere. Over the years, the online magic of crypto has bled into the IRL side of the space. How will this trend impact the future of the space? Why are cults everywhere? What advice does Meltem have for new crypto participants? Answers to these questions and so much more in the episode. ------

As parents and people, we tend to seek out certainty. We keep our kids in the same schools so they can have consistent friends. We cook the same group of recipes, so we're sure to have something ready for dinner without too much stress. And we encourage our kids to study hard so they'll be sure to get good grades, get into a good college, and get a good job. We feel that if things are certain, we can live comfortably without worrying about our teens too much…even if it can get a little boring!But what about mystery? Could adding a little bit of unpredictability into our lives make us happier? Might it prepare our teens better for the complicated world ahead? The truth is that uncertainty can be good for us…even if we try our best to make our lives predictable! Our guest this week champions uncertainty…in fact, he believes we should all encourage ourselves and our teens to incorporate a little mystery into our lives.This week, we're sitting down with Jonah Lehrer, author of Mystery: A Seduction, A Strategy, A Solution. Jonah is a neuroscientist who's written multiple bestselling books, as well as contributed to The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and more! After discovering his son's fascination with mystery, Jonah dove into research about the effects of unpredictability on the adolescent mind. Now, he's here to talk about just how powerful uncertainty can be!In our interview, Jonah explains why curiosity is an essential component of effective teen learning, and we discuss the importance of experiencing awe for both adolescents and adults. Plus, Jonah emphasizes the significance of living with uncertainty instead of searching for finite answers.

I found a book I rated highly and also had some quotes that spoke to me, which is why this recap is so long!In February we covered 4 books on this channel. It was a mix of philosophy, dystopian sci-fi and emotional love stories. The standout for me was Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse. This is the type of philosophy that I can actually enjoy. It was written in the last couple of decades and whilst has some parts that are difficult to understand, as a whole I found it quite enlightening. Lots of fun books coming up for March so get keen.I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Ooooooh(0:27) - Finite & Infinite Games: James P. Carse(2:34) - Snow Crash: Neal Stephenson(6:03) - The Myth Of Sisyphus: Albert Camus(8:34) - Love Stories: Trent Dalton(9:43) - Quotes(27:41) - Boostagram Lounge Part 1(32:26) - Boostagram Lounge Part 2(37:52) - What's Coming Up For Mar 2022?Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

I found a book I rated highly and also had some quotes that spoke to me, which is why this recap is so long!In February we covered 4 books on this channel. It was a mix of philosophy, dystopian sci-fi and emotional love stories. The standout for me was Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse. This is the type of philosophy that I can actually enjoy. It was written in the last couple of decades and whilst has some parts that are difficult to understand, as a whole I found it quite enlightening. Lots of fun books coming up for March so get keen.I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Ooooooh(0:27) - Finite & Infinite Games: James P. Carse(2:34) - Snow Crash: Neal Stephenson(6:03) - The Myth Of Sisyphus: Albert Camus(8:34) - Love Stories: Trent Dalton(9:43) - Quotes(27:41) - Boostagram Lounge Part 1(32:26) - Boostagram Lounge Part 2(37:52) - What's Coming Up For Mar 2022?Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/

Microcosm Coaching Team Call 02/18/2022: Exploring the topic of Finite and Infinite Games in the context of an athletic life. Based off our our blog post: https://www.microcosm-coaching.com/microblog/r1eb1uunlfe4klfpdfubc8krf0dt75 And the work of Dr. James Carse and Simon Sinek.

We are culturally programmed to focus on the outcome – not the journey. Afterall, we are rewarded for outcomes. But this model applies poorly to health and fitness. When we focus primarily on “losing weight” or “getting fit,” we miss a huge component of creating sustainable life-long change. And that's the journey – as in the HOW and WHY we create change. My guest today states that working is winning – implying that the magic is in the work, that the small steps you take towards a big goal matter in creating any meaningful change.Before we worry about what diet is best: should we do keto or intermittent fasting, or what exercise program we should follow - we need to understand the work ahead, and to create and nurture the perseverance, patience, and intention that will allow us to move steadily on our journey. Along our journey we'll need to construct systems and frameworks that will support our future selves and set us up for success. My guest today is Kathleen Trotter. Kathleen is a fitness expert, media personality, personal trainer, writer and author, and as you'll soon hear, she is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about helping people live their best lives. She believes that we should all live our lives by design, not by default to become our best – and fittest – selves. But that's easier said than done. But not to fear – Kathleen is here to guide us on this journey. Join us as Kathleen Shares her thoughts on why working is winning, the importance of perseverance, patience, and intentions, why we need to build systems now that will support our future selves, and the criticality of mindset and self-love.Connect with Kathleen:Website - www.kathleentrotter.comFacebook - @FITbyKathleenTInstagram - @fitbykathleentYouTube - Kathleen Trotter Personal Trainer - YouTubeTwitter - @fitbykathleentWe discussed the following resources in this episode:Book - Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit by Kathleen Trotter - https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Your-Fit-Compassionate-Trainers/dp/1459735196/Book - Your Fittest Future Self: Making Choices Today for a Happier, Healthier, Fitter Future You by Kathleen Trotter - https://www.amazon.com/Your-Fittest-Future-Self-Healthier/dp/1459741285/Andrew Huberman on Impact Theory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGa_jt3IncYReview of the book Molecule of More https://www.kathleentrotter.com/2021/09/27/dopamine-vs-dopamine-vs-the-here-and-now-chemicals-which-do-you-need-to-feed/Article on importance of little wins https://www.kathleentrotter.com/2021/10/27/merely-participating-subjective-insertion-and-the-power-of-celebrating-the-little-wins/Book – Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse – https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713/Book – Mindset – The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol Dweck - First Highlighted Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck - Kathleen TrotterPodcast – What's Essential - https://gregmckeown.com/podcast/Dr. K

Alexander Clark, Founder & CEO of Technolutions (the folks behind Slate), shares the origin story of the CRM that changed the higher ed landscape, as well as the things he has learned along a journey that started with his first entrepreneurial venture ... in fifth grade. Bonus fun: learn about the freedom and flexibility of halcyon days.This episode is brought to you by RHB, which has been providing enrollment, marketing, CRM and organizational solutions for more than 300 institutions around the world for 30 years.Rapid DescentWalkout song:  Voyager by Daft PunkBest recent read: The Microsoft research study on the effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers. Eager to read next: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse and Future Shock by Alvin TofflerFavorite thing to make in the kitchen: Grilling simple burgers outside on the weekend with herbs, tomatoes, and lettuces from the backyard garden.What he uses to take and keep notes: "I haven't taken notes in two decades and store everything in my head. If something falls out, which of course a great deal does, I figure it's either unimportant or, if it indeed was important, someone else will store it for me and remind me of it later. It's a great priority filter." Memorable bit of advice: From a middle school science teacher, that if you ever want to start a business, go to a cocktail party and listen to people complain about their jobs. If you can find solutions to their challenges, you have your first customers.Bucket list: Flying to Paris, following a “36 hours in Paris” itinerary in the New York Times hour for hour, and flying home. Mostly to have the bragging rights for when folks ask what I did last weekend I can respond, “I had a craving for French food, so I flew to Paris."Theme music arranged by Ryan Anselment.

JF and Phil have been talking about doing a show on The Glass Bead Game since Weird Studies' earliest beginnings. It is a science-fiction novel that alights on some of the key ideas that run through the podcast: the dichotomy of work and play, the limits and affordances of institutional life, the obscure boundary where certainty gives way to mystery... Throughout his literary career, Hesse wrote about people trying to square their inner and outer selves, their life in the spirit and their life in the world. The Glass Bead Game brings this central concern to a properly ambiguous and heartbreaking conclusion. But the novel is more than a brilliant work of philosophical or psychological literature. It is also an act of prophecy -- one that seems intended for us now. Header image by Liz West, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_marbles_2.jpg). REFERENCES Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780312278496) Paul Hindemith (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hindemith), German composer Morris Berman, The Twilight of American Culture (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780393321692) Alfred Korzybski, concept of Time Binding Christopher Nolan, Memento (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/) William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780312160623) Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780679772873) David Tracy, [The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/790661.AnalogicalImagination)_ Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness (https://bookshop.org/books/seeing-through-the-world-jean-gebser-and-integral-consciousness/9781947544154) Teilhard de Chardin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin), French theologian Mathesis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathesis_universalis) Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze (https://bookshop.org/books/the-hermetic-deleuze-philosophy-and-spiritual-ordeal/9780822352297) Weird Studies, Episode 22 with Joshua Ramey (https://www.weirdstudies.com/22) Joseph Needham (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Needham), British historian of Chinese culture James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games (https://bookshop.org/books/finite-and-infinite-games/9781476731711)

In 1986, the Professor Emeritus of history and literature of religion at New York University wrote that, “There are at least two types of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.”The author was James Carse and he has something rather useful to teach us about roleplaying games.Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Roleplay Rescue Theme Song by TJ Drennon and incidental music by Jon Cohen.Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/messageEmail: hello@rpgrescue.comPatreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue Blog: roleplayrescue.com MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")Buy Che Webster a Coffee: ko-fi.com/cwebster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1986, the Professor Emeritus of history and literature of religion at New York University wrote that, “There are at least two types of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.” The author was James Carse and he has something rather useful to teach us about roleplaying games. Game on! Roleplay Rescue Details: Roleplay Rescue Theme Song by TJ Drennon and incidental music by Jon Cohen. Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message Email: hello@rpgrescue.com Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue Blog: roleplayrescue.com MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue") Buy Che Webster a Coffee: ko-fi.com/cwebster

It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage. Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies): Find us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp) Get your Weird Studies merchandise (https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u) (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies) REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould's ‘Prospects of Recording' (https://www.weirdstudies.com/31) Nelson Goodman, [Languages of Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LanguagesofArt) Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp's Fountain (https://www.weirdstudies.com/33) Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428856/) Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/) Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/) Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2 (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780816616770) James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781476731711) Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy? (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780231079891) Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700361h.html) David Lynch, Lost Highway (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116922/) Zhuangzi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi) (Butterfly dream) Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781556527333)

In this never-before-released episode recorded in 2019, Phil and JF travel to rural Oregon through the Netflix docu-series, Wild Wild Country. The series, which details the establishment of a spiritual community founded by Bhagwan Rajneesh (later called Osho) and its religious and political conflicts with its Christian neighbors, provides a starting point for a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of spirituality and religion. What emerges are surprising ties between the “spiritual, not religious” attitude and class, cultural commodification, and the culture of control that pervades modern society. But they also uncover the true “wild” card at the heart of existence that spiritual movements like that of Rajneesh can never fully control, no matter how hard they try. REFERENCES Chapman and Maclain Way (dirs), Wild Wild Country (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7768848/) Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780618918249) Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780674212770) Carl Wilson, Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780826427885) Peter Sloterdijk, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sloterdijk) German cultural theorist Weird Studies, Episode 47, Machines of Loving Grace (https://www.weirdstudies.com/47) Slavoj Žižek, On Western appropriation of Eastern religions (https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/2/zizek.php) William Burroughs, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs) American writer Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control” (https://www.jstor.org/stable/778828?seq=1) Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho, Speech on friendship (https://www.oshotimes.com/insights/lifestyle/spirituality/can-you-accept-the-master-as-your-friend/) Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781911597100) Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780060937133) James Carse, The Finite and Infinite Games (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781476731711)

Many experts claim to know ancient history but few really understand it like Freddie Silva, a best-selling author and a leading researcher in the study of ancient civilizations and metaphysics.Freddie shares his hands-on research the origins of human life, the beginning of the Catholic Church and what constitutes extraterrestrial life in this ethereal Living 4D conversation Learn more about Freddie and his work at his invisible temple website.Show NotesTraining in advertising taught Freddie how to share complex subjects with skeptical audiences. (13:32)Freddie sticks with the ancients for explaining the metaphysical world because they were closer to nature. (18:30)“The gods were real people, human-like, but not quite human.” (25:29)Rethink your concept of extraterrestrial beings. (30:24)The real relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. (39:37)Origins of the Catholic Church. (43:43)How were ancient temples built? (54:21)What is the creator? (1:04:00)When will the change of ages happen, if it does at all? (1:10:07)The power of story, myths, allegories and parables. (1:18:39)ResourcesThe Divine Blueprint, The Lost Art of Resurrection, Orion: Origin of the Gods and Otherworld: Places of Initiation and Living Resurrection by Freddie SilvaAncient Civilizations on GaiaHoly Blood, Holy Grail: The Secret History of Christ & The Shocking Legacy of the Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry LincolnChristianity Before Christ by John JacksonPaul’s Living 4D conversations with James Carse, Ibrahim Karim and Doreya KarimMore resources for this episode are available on our website.Thanks to our awesome sponsors: Cold Plunge (save $150 by using the code chek150 at checkout), Cymbiotika (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK15 at checkout), Paleovalley (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code chek15 at checkout), Joovv (save $50 on your first purchase by using the code CHEK50 at checkout), Organifi (save 20 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout), BiOptimizers (save 10 percent on your purchase by using the code Paul10 at checkout), One Farm CBD Oils (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK at checkout) and Essential Oil Wizardry (save 10 percent on your purchase by using the code living4d at checkout).As an Amazon Associate, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

I’ve known Gary Ware for over 10 years now. He’s a true expert when it comes to play – it’s not just associated with kids. In this conversation, I pick his brains to find out how play can help boost productivity. Day-to-day, Gary helps professionals level-up their confidence, creativity, and happiness using play. He is the Founder of Breakthrough Play, a corporate facilitator and keynote speaker with a decade of experience as a performer in improv theatre. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers you access to your own licensed professional therapist – all from the comfort of wherever you are. You can arrange weekly video chats or phone calls, text with your carefully curated counsellor, and do so at an affordable price. And anything you share is confidential. I’ve been using BetterHelp for a while and I am highly impressed. It’s been a huge help for me and I know it can be the same for you. Start living a happier life today with BetterHelp. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting https://betterhelp.com/timecrafting (betterhelp.com/timecrafting). Give BetterHelp a try today. This episode is sponsored by TextExpander. With TextExpander, you can unlock your productivity with its many features. With TextExpander you can make everything you write repetitively available everywhere you type: text documents, spreadsheets, web forms, and more. Unlock your productivity with TextExpander. Visit https://textexpander.com/lp/podcast?utm_source=productivityist-podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=textexpander-Apr-2021 (TextExpander.com/podcast) for 20% off your first year. In this interview, we explore how so many of us have been conditioned to play after we work, purposeful play activities, cliffhangers, and the hustle culture. Talking Points The productive power of play (1:54) The different forms of play (5:46) Some distracting play ‘traps’ (13:04) The infinite versus the finite mindset (24:11) Practical applications of play you can do today (29:52) Quote "Play is an advantage." Helpful Links https://productivityist.com/podcast-adhd-kirsten-milliken/ (Episode 90: Productivity & Play with Dr. Kirsten Milliken) https://www.amazon.com/Playdhd-Permission-Prescription-Adults-ADHD/dp/0997004509/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1456003135&sr=8-1&keywords=PlayDHD (‘Playdhd’ by Dr. Kirsten Milliken) ‘https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713/ (Finite and Infinite Games’ by James Carse) https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Game-Simon-Sinek/dp/0241385636/r (‘The Infinite Game’ by Simon Sinek) https://www.amazon.com/Unmistakable-Only-Better-Than-Best-ebook/dp/B016JPTK9G/ (‘Unmistakable’ by Sriniva Rao) https://www.amazon.com/SuperBetter-Living-Gamefully-Jane-McGonigal/dp/0143109774/ (‘SuperBetter’ by Jane McGonigal) https://productivityist.com/thebigready/ (The BIG Ready) https://worlddominationsummit.com/ (World Domination Summit) https://www.breakthroughplay.com/ (BreakthroughPlay.com) Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? https://www.scribd.com/g/9a8d8 (Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.) Podcast Theme Song: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/eFDGyraN87 (Nothing at All by Fictions (courtesy of Epidemic Sound)) If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using – or you can do so on a variety of podcast platforms by clicking https://productivityist.captivate.fm/listen (here).

VCs have a crazy job description. They need to understand society, figure out what people will want tomorrow and bet on the future. Sajith Pai joins Amit Varma in episode 213 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his frames of looking at the world -- and what he has learnt about media, entrepreneurship and this country of ours. Also check out: 1. The Indus Valley Playbook -- Sajith Pai. 2. Understand Startups, Metrics and Valuations -- Twitter thread by Sajith Pai. 3. India2, English Tax and Building for the Next Billion Users -- Sajith Pai. 4. India1, Avocado Startups & Product-Market Fit -- Sajith Pai. 5. Indo-Anglians: The newest and fastest-growing caste in India -- Sajith Pai. 6. MERIT colleges, national track India, & privilege blindness -- Sajith Pai. 7. Deconstructing Indian Startups & VCs -- YouTube talk by Sajith Pai. 8. India’s Start-Up Ecosystem -- Episode 171 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand). 9. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years — Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 10. An Adman Reflects on Society & the Self -- Episode 199 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ambi Parameswaran).  11. Essays -- Paul Graham. 12. Ali Abdaal on reaching one million subscribers and staying patient for the long haul. 13. The First Assault on Our Constitution -- Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh).  14. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. 15. Finite and Infinite Games -- James Carse. 16. It Happened in India -- Kishore Biyani. 17. TikTok and the Sorting Hat -- Eugene Wei. 18. The Art of Narrative Nonfiction (+ JBS Haldane) -- Episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Samanth Subramanian). 19. Lessons in Investing (and Life) -- Episode 208 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Deepak Shenoy). 20. The tweets by Benedict Evans and Pomp. 21. VCs should play bridge -- Alex Danco. 22. The only thing that matters -- Marc Andreessen. 23. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Introduction to Machine Learning. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag.  And do check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

How do you find God in a world with so many religions, and all of them claim to know everything?Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith describes a holistic path and discusses his book, Religious But Not Religious, in this very Jungian Living 4D conversation.Learn more about Jason’s work at his website and connect with him via social media on Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Jason’s podcast, Digital Jung, on Buzzsprout.Show NotesThe gift of a Joseph Campbell book ignited Jason’s exploration into all things Carl Jung. (6:29)“A human life is too short for learning how to live a human life.” (14:15)Viewing religion and the universe through wonder and awe and enjoying the mystery rather than making the world conform rationally. (27:20)Differentiation and separation from the collective. (42:50)Holding on too tightly to your belief in God may mean a lack of trust of faith in that Higher Power. (58:13)Does the absence of emptiness mean we’re not alone? (1:07:46)How organized movements in religion and science push people further away from what’s larger than ourselves. (1:17:16)What being a Jungian means to Jason. (1:28:21)The pursuit of pleasure in the material world just isn’t enough for most of us. (1:38:57)“From another perspective — utilitarian or economic — there's nothing more useless than wisdom.” (1:51:10)“The individual is never the same as the statistic.” (2:08:59)Religion as a fixed thing, not an experience. (2:20:00)The relevance and origins of myth. (2:26:15)The mystical vs. the numinous vs. the transpersonal. (2:39:13)“God is not an answer to any question. God is the ultimate question…” (2:46:42)ResourcesThe Portable Jung edited by Joseph CampbellFrom Science to God by Peter RussellAlone With The Alone by Henry CorbinThe Reenchantment of the World by Morris BermanPaul’s Living 4D conversations with James Carse and Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove More resources for this episode are available on our website.Thanks to our awesome sponsors: Organifi (save 20 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout), Paleovalley (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code chek15 at checkout), BiOptimizers (save 10 percent on your purchase by using the code paul10 at checkout), Cymbiotika (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK15 at checkout), One Farm CBD Oils (save 15 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK at checkout) and Essential Oil Wizardry (save 10 percent on your purchase by using the code living4d at checkout).As an Amazon Associate, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

We are taught from a very young age that doing things perfectly will get us where we want to go in life. But what if doing things in connection is far more effective? What if being in connection with your customers gets better results than trying to make a perfect product? Or being in connection with your spouse makes a better marriage than trying to make it perfect?"If you close your ideas and you think of the things that you feel are most perfect in the world, those are also things that are deeply connected. We think of a flower. We think of a scene. We think of God. We think of an amazing product. What the human population sees as perfection, they are all deep expressions of connection."What is perfectionism? If having clear goals can be so helpful in life, how could it be that the simple act of measuring ourselves up to them so often holds us back? Today we are going to explore why our quest for perfection never seems to satisfy us and often only slows or impedes productivity, while seeking connection tends to result in better output, better products and a better life. Brett: Joe, what makes this such an important topic? Joe: Oh man. That's a great question. There's so many reasons why it's important to me. The one that comes to mind right away is an experiment they did. It's the dried spaghetti experiment. It's basically you give a group of people 25 or so hard pieces of spaghetti and a marshmallow and some masking tape and you say, "Build the highest structure you can build."It turns out that kindergartners, a group of five kindergartners, will beat a group of five CEOs on a regular basis. The reason that the people who are doing the experiment say that that's the case is, because the young kids are iterating. They're just trying stuff out, trying stuff out, trying stuff out. Then when the time's up, they've tried like three or four models and they've got something. Whereas the CEO's are trying to make it absolutely perfect. Then they'll put that marshmallow on at the last minute, the whole thing will collapse. They didn't iterate. They didn't try. They tried to make it perfect and so it didn't work.One of the things about this experiment, which is so cool, is that if you get those same five CEOs and you add an administrative assistant, they will outperform the kindergarteners. Just somebody who can connect them together will immediately change it. On that level, that's a great example of how just connection, connecting with the tools that you have experimenting, iterating, that's a form of connection. Connecting with each other, like with the admin, all of that produces better results. That's one of the main reasons why it's so much more important. The other more important thing is that our neurochemicals do not propel us to be perfect. They propel us to connect. It's in our nature. Connection is in our nature. When you're working with humanity, prioritizing connection makes it better for you and everybody you're working with. That's part of the reason you get better results is that people don't want you to be perfect. The idea of you being perfect is going to be different from person to person. What they want is to feel connected with you. What you want is to feel connected to them.That's what we are genetically programmed to do, is to have this sense of connection. You get a deeper level of results and you get deeper satisfaction in your life. This is everywhere, even in the places where you don't expect it. For example, sales. There's one way of selling, which is the way most people sell. They try to write the perfect pitch and then present the perfect pitch in a perfect way. That just doesn't work as well as asking a whole bunch of questions, whether that's question-based selling or whether that's challenger-based selling. It's just asking a whole bunch of questions and talking to the person and finding out what's important to them. There's a great book on this called Ready, Fire, Aim. Is it Fire, Ready, Aim? Aim, Ready, Fire. It's basically saying that the job isn't to get a perfect product and put it out there. The job is to sell the thing before you build it so that you know what people will buy, which means that you're more connected with your customer.Brett: Then you're building what people will buy rather than what you planned or what you thought they would buy.Joe: That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that you're prioritizing connection. You are saying, "I am going to connect with my customer and see what they really want, to see what it is that I can really serve them by providing," instead of, "I have this cool idea. What will make you buy it?"Brett: Let's define our terms here to discriminate between what is perfection and connection. Let's start by defining what is perfection.Joe: The critical parent's voice in your head is what it is for most people. We have this exercise in one of the workshops that I do, which is a triggering exercise, where people are to trigger one another and people hesitate to do it. We don't do it because we want to see people triggered. We do it, because we want people to figure out how to handle it when they are triggered. There's a group of people I can just walk up to and I can trigger people really easily because I can read what will trigger them pretty quickly. One of the things I can do is--Brett: Yes, you are great at that.Joe: [chuckles] One of the ways that I'll do it, I can just like, see who the perfectionist in the room is and I'll say, "You're a perfectionist." It'll trigger them because they're immediately in this headlock with themselves, because part of being perfect is to not be a perfectionist. It just messes with them all ways.The way I pick those people out is because I can see which ones of them had supercritical parents and you can see it in everything that they do. At some level, perfectionism is just trying to make the critical parent pleased. Since the critical parent could never really be pleased, it wasn't about you. It could be the critical teacher or the critical grandparent or whatever.Brett: How does that perfectionism show up? What do you see in people in their lives or the way they carry themselves, or even just briefly in a workshop when you've just met them?Joe: How do you see that? It's the amount of rigidity in the musculature, the amount of precision that they operate with, how much they're second-guessing themselves, how stunted their tones are, the way that they speak. Basically, all it really results to, is rigidity and hesitation inside the person when they're trying to be perfect.Brett: That hesitation part is really interesting. Because for me, I've always had identified or been diagnosed as ADD or ADHD. If I really pay attention to it, the moments where I get Teflon brain and it skips off of my task. If I really look at what happens often, it arises from a perfectionist pessimism.I sit down to write an email and I'm like, "Oh, I'm just never going to get this right. I'm not going to get it right. At least not right now, so why even bother?" Maybe some other time the conditions will be perfect and I'll know what to do. Let's go see what's in the fridge right now.Joe: They call it attention deficit disorder. The idea in the label is that your capacity to pay attention. If you reverse it a little bit, it's like how much attention was paid to you. It's the attention deficit disorder. Does that mean that you can't pay attention or does that mean that there was a limited amount of connection that you got? That's what actually creates it.I've noticed that. That's on the other side is that connection feeling, that the idea that you can do it perfectly is also just simply inane in the fact that what I think is perfect is different, than what you think is perfect. There's always someone thinking that you're not doing it perfectly, including you, always.The other thing you said, what is perfection? It's something that doesn't exist. It's just the point of view. If you are being absolutely perfect, somebody is seeing you as being rigid or imperfect or hesitant or whatever it is. That's how I describe it. If there's no such thing as that, the only way to describe it is trying to satisfy some critical voice in your head that is never and can never be satisfied.Brett: Having goals and vision and striving for perfection is good, right? It allows us to structure ourselves and structure our minds so that we can achieve something. How does that interact with this idea of perfectionism? Joe: Having goals and intentions, those are fantastic. Obviously, it allows us to focus. It allows us to decide which way we're going to walk. We have thousands of decisions to make a day. If we make them based on a goal, then we are far more coherent and unified, especially if that goal is coherent and unified.I don't know if that has anything to do with perfection. I don't see that as being perfect. None of our goals are perfect even. As long as you don't believe that there is some perfection you can get to, then the goals are really useful. As soon as you think there is a perfection that you can live up to, then the goals become less useful.To be specific about that, that doesn't mean that you're not 100% confident you're going to get to the goal. It's just the belief that there's some level of perfection at the end of the rainbow. That just doesn't happen. The other thing is that the best way to get to what we think is perfection-- I'd even say, if you close your eyes and you think of the things that you feel are most perfect in the world, those are also things that are deeply connected. We think of a flower. We think of a scene. We think of God. We think of an amazing product. We think of a person who inspires us. Then an ecosystem.Brett: An ecosystem, a metabolism. Joe: It's all also far more an expression of connection than it is a perfection. Even what the human population sees as perfection, they are all deep expressions of connection.Brett: It seems related to the idea of utopia being a dangerous idea. The idea of iterating towards better than what we have now is just the natural state.Joe: Which is the coolest thing too, because iteration is far more connected than perfection. If I'm just iterating and I'm learning and growing, that is a connected experience. That's what life does. It evolves. It doesn't evolve to a perfect end. If you see yourself as trying to evolve to a perfect end, then you're no longer in the flow of life. You're not using all the natural energy, all the natural ways of being that we were designed with to be productive.Brett: This is all reminding me of the book Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. Have you--?Joe: I haven't. What is it?Brett: It's a fascinating and quite short read actually. It's quite poetic. It just describes this one very broad concept across a bunch of different domains and short prose about how there are games that are finite, where you achieve something and you get the title. You get the diploma. You get the trophy. You get the money. Then there are games that they're not meant to be won. The goal is not to win and end the game, but the goal is just to keep playing.Joe: Yes, which is right. I think that's a beautiful way to describe why connection and perfection work the way they work in our systems is that life is the game that you just keep on playing. Therefore, connection is what works. When you have a game that has a finite end or you've created an imagined finite end to it, then perfection is there.That's the other thing about it, is that fear creates a finite end in people. The idea of perfection is really a fear-based idea. The idea that you have to be perfect, that you have a right answer, that there's the right way to do it, that's all fear-based. Fear does not make great decisions.Brett: That's interesting. A lot of ideals of perfection are this belief that we can get rid of everything bad and that we can reduce all error. There's a fear of like, "Oh my God, what if this happened? What if this still exists in the world? What if there's still imperfection? What if I still have to feel whatever this is that I don't want to feel? What if I could just cut all that out? That would be perfect."Joe: The CEO of Netflix has a great example of this where he talks about his first company. He basically made it idiot-proof so it couldn't be broken and then he only had idiots working for him as he describes it. Then they couldn't really adjust their company to the new times. In his company now--Brett: Rigidity.Joe: Exactly. He has a system that's in place to create a certain amount of chaos so that he can create an environment where smart people love to be and where it's far more flexible.Brett: Where flexible people like to be.Joe: Exactly. That's where connection happens. In one, he prioritized getting it right and perfecting. The other one he prioritized being connected with these people.Brett: Then let's get into the definition of connection then. How specifically would you define that as relative to this idea of perfection?Joe: It's a measure of capacity for you or for anybody, anything to meet and accept things as they are in the moment. If I'm connecting with you, I'm not asking you to be any different right now. The more I ask you to be different, the less connected we're going to feel. If I'm looking at a landscape and trying to adjust it, telling myself this is the good part and this is the bad part and comparing it to other landscapes, I am in less connection than if I am in just full acceptance of what the landscape is at this moment.Connection basically is like the surface area of our awareness. We take away surface area, when we start looking for things that can be better or things that are different or any way in which we're calculating creates distances to that connection. If you are a CEO and you want your customer to be different, you are not in connection. If you are a product manager trying to get a different answer from your customer, then you're not in connection. If you are a husband wanting your wife to not nag as much, or a wife wanting your husband to not nag as much, then you are not in connection. Connection is the acceptance of people and things as they are. That's what it is.Neurochemically, it is oxytocin and serotonin. Mostly it's oxytocin, which is the drug that is felt when we're in deep connection, mothers feel when they're breastfeeding and we feel it when we're hugging and we feel it during sex. That's oxytocin. Serotonin is more of a pride, proud of each other drug and something that you would feel like if you were watching a friend have a great moment. You had a lot of pride in what they just accomplished. Those are our connection neurochemicals. That's the other way to say what connection is.Brett: One thing just pried, it seems serotonin is also involved in meaning and satiety.Joe: Yes. That's right. Exactly. The way to think about our ability to have connection, it's really our ability to love ourselves and accept ourselves as we are. The more I can love every aspect of myself, the more I can love every person I come across as they are. You can hear there's somebody's mind out there listening to this right now and they're like, "If I accept myself as I am, I will be horrible. I will drink beer on the couch, or I'll just say the same as I am right now."What's interesting is, that doesn't actually happen. If you look at any system that is deeply connected and change is inherent, it's natural. Evolution is part of it. It's when people get rigid, when people try to do it perfectly, that change stops happening. It's just that you don't get to control the change. It's just that you have to trust the deeper intelligence in yourself, your deeper intelligence, your nonintellectual intelligence to drive the change.Brett: It seems like this comes up pretty frequently in so many other aspects of the work that you do, or that we've been doing. For example, the victim story that people have around client relationships. It's like, "Oh, man, all these clients, there's so much wrong with them. If only they would see things the way we see it, we'd be able to do great work."Joe: Yes, or fathers or mothers or girlfriends. Exactly. That's right. The way to think about it too, is just like think about the people who really make it so that you feel seen, that really make it so that you feel understood. Feel that. That is connection. Those people are seeing you for what you are. They're not trying to fix you or manage you. If you think about what's so important about connection, what makes it important is, think of what you would do for those people. Think of the people who make you feel most seen and most understood in this world. What would you do for them? What would you do for yourself, if you really saw and understood yourself deeply? If you really felt understood by yourself.There's people listening to this who haven't quit eating sugar or haven't quit smoking. What would you do? There's a way in which you're disconnected with yourself. If you felt deeply connected with yourself and you weren't trying to change yourself, the things that you would do for yourself are far more outstanding than things you're actually doing for yourself right now. You tell yourself you should do them, but you're not doing them.Brett: Yes. That brings me back to that ADD example I described earlier. It's like the difference between sitting down to write an email and being like, "Oh God, I'm just so procrastinating today. I'm just never going to get this done. Oh, I suck." That's telling myself how I should be. Then the connection version would be like, "Oh, wow. I really want to get this right because this is important to me. Oh, man. Whatever I do it's never going to be. There's always going to be something I could have done better. Wow. Okay."Joe: Yes. How about just be authentic, do it the way that I want to do it and then look at it and see if that works? Exactly. That connection is staying. I talk about what it means and I say that it's like accepting how things are in the moment. The moment changes. So you just keep on accepting, because it keeps on moving. It keeps on changing.Brett: Yes, because the moment you accept something, you can also then turn that acceptance into a new model of perfection. Joe: [laughs] Yes. I'm going to connect to you perfectly. It's so amazing. It's like, "Hey, I want to connect with you." You can just feel that in your system. "Hey, I want to connect with you. Hey, I want to connect with you perfectly." It just immediately takes the connection out.Brett: I've experienced that in relationships so many times, where suddenly I'll have a new idea of like, "Oh, wow, this is connection. I wasn't doing connection before. Now I know what connection is." Then suddenly that can become a new perfectionism, where I'm like, "Oh, man, I could call my brother and reach out and talk right now, but I haven't talked in so long and that's been-- Oh." Then just find ways to make it not okay somehow and then procrastinate it.Joe: Exactly. That's the amazing thing too, is that we have all these impulses inside of us that are just popping up like, "Oh, I want to work out or I want to exercise or I want to move my body." Then that impulse, which is the deep connection, immediately gets turned into a perfection of, "I should work out." Then it's completely unmotivating.Brett: Then here's my workout plan that I'm going to hold myself to and shame myself and judge myself when I miss a day.Joe: Exactly. You watch the little kids and they just follow that impulse and there's no idea of perfection. As they get older, the bigger the perfection, the more they're stilted, the more they're stunted. If you look at the people who have the deepest level of depression that feel most stagnant in life, their brain is telling them that they're not perfect and they need to be perfect all the time.Brett: Yes. They're just experiencing that delta between them and their model of what they want to be.Joe: Yes. I'll give you a little trick that I do with people. The most recent is with my guy who cuts my hair, a great guy. He's an artist and I love his art. It's good work. He was just having a hard time getting people to buy and represent him and everything that. I'm "Hey man, I've got a job for you. If you do it, if you do this job successfully, I'll give you whatever 1,000 bucks," or whatever it was. He's like, "Okay, well, what's the job?"And I said, "I need you to get 30 rejections. I need you to go out there and get 30 people to turn you down. If you can prove to me you've got 30 people to turn you down in a year, I'll give you 1,000 bucks." I came back two months later, I don't get my haircut that often, or I had one and we didn't talk about it. Then I was like, "How's it going? He's like, "I've got three representations and I've sold 12 pieces." It was the difference between trying to get sold and trying to get rejected because his mindset moved from perfection to connection.Brett: Speaking of moving that mindset, how can we consciously shift from a mindset of measuring ourselves up to some perfect ideal and rather focus on cultivating connection? What is the practice here?Joe: That question in itself implies perfectionism. It's like how do I perfect myself in this way? Even that question becomes a little bit less effective than another question. The other thing to say is that there's also no such thing as perfect connection. It's asymptotic, meaning that you get closer and closer, but you can never actually arrive.There's no place to get to, that you're going to ever get to. There's just proximity and feeling more and more and more and more and more, more connected. I think it's important to say that if you choose that, if you say, "Hey, what I'm after in life--" Every company has a bottom line. For most of them, it's the financial bottom line, but there's other kinds of bottom lines that people have.What I've noticed is when people change their life to having a bottom line of connection, they have incredibly happy and productive lives. If they can measure their level of connection on a daily basis and their job is just to feel more and more connected every day, that visceral sense of connection, it has a very, very deep effect on people. I just think it's really important to say that, but the trick is not to try to get there because trying to get there is a form of disconnection.Brett: There's no there to get. It's an iteration.Joe: Right. It's really more of an allowing. Connection is more of an allowing. If I'm not trying to change anything, if the definition of connection is not trying to change anything, not wanting-- It's not quite that. It's not wanting things to be different. You might want to change stuff. That's fine. It's important to change stuff, obviously. It's more about accepting it for what it is even if you are trying to change it.Brett: Which is in a sense allowing imperfection? Allowing the error signal, allowing the pain of things not being as good as you could imagine them being, which breaks through denial. Because what is denial other than just having this vision of how things are and no, it has to be perfect, so this information that is inconvenient?Joe: Yes. Also, it's your imagination. It's imaginary. Perfection is again. Yes, exactly. That's beautifully said. How do you have deeper levels of connection in your life and how do you, I would say, allow deeper levels of connection in your life? It's interesting. One of the things that's a really important principle behind it is, to go into difficulty is one of the ways that you get into-- when I say difficulty, I mean discomfort or vulnerability.That really creates a sense of connection in folks. If you've ever seen people who fought together in a war, it doesn't matter if they haven't seen each other in 20 years, their bond is ridiculous. It's such a strong level of connection and they've just gone through the shit together. I build my courses so that there's difficult moments so that people can start feeling bonded to one another.There's something about going through difficult things together that creates a bond. Same with yourself. If I have my little kids and I have them do tasks that are hard for them and challenging for them, they feel more connected with themselves and more connected with me. They talk about how to build self-esteem. One of the ways you build self-esteem is by giving hard things to do. Then that's how they build self-esteem. It's not to take that away from them or to try to make it so they're successful. It's the same thing internally and externally. Then the other main way that I talk about this is VIEW. I talk about something that I termed as VIEW, which is how we relate to ourselves and how we relate to other people. That's very operational, so that if you practice this state of mind, it just leads to deeper and deeper levels of connection internally and externally.Brett: Can you explain VIEW?Joe: Yes. The most important thing is, it is a state of mind. It's almost even beyond a state of mind. I think it is a state that's beneath all states of mind is another way to think about it.Brett: Metastate.Joe: Yes. It's a metastate. A stateless state, I've heard people call it. It's good for internal and external practices. It's basically V stands for vulnerability, I stands for impartiality, E stands for empathy and W stands for wonder. It's walking around the world willing and feeling vulnerable, impartial, empathetic and full of wonder.This is not just like how I interact with you. As you know, we have these conversations that are in VIEW and we do a lot of work in here. It's also meditative, like if you're sitting and being with yourself quietly, how can you be more vulnerable with yourself in that moment? How can you be more impartial with yourself? How can you have more empathy? How can you have more wonder?We're constantly telling ourselves, "I should lose weight," but we're never really going, "What is making it so that I've been saying that to myself for 20 years and nothing's happened?" We're constantly telling ourselves how we should feel or how we should not feel or how to avoid them, but we're not really actually just being empathetic with ourselves and being with the feeling.We're constantly telling ourselves how to do shit, what to do. We're editing ourselves all the time, but we're very rarely just ever being impartial with ourselves like, "What's actually happening? Let's just look at this thing with a watcher's eye, an observer's eye instead of a manager's eye."Impartiality is amazing because people often say, "If I don't manage it, it's not going to turn out right," which is clearly not true when you just think about most of the major decisions that have changed your life are not things that you decided. Like did you really decide to meet your wife on a Tuesday at a bar or did you really decide to even take that job or apply for that job or did you just apply for 20 jobs?The decisions that actually make our lives are often ones that we don't have any control over anyway. More importantly, it's like the best change agent for things is awareness. It's not management. Just being aware of stuff can change things dramatically. We put a whole bunch of management on it, thinking that that's necessary, but it usually slows down the progress.Brett: Relationships are a really great example, because you certainly can't connect the dots in advance how you're going to meet a person or a client, or you can try to arrange your life so that that thing happens with higher frequency. Really, there's a state of mind of being open to it, of allowing it, of allowing those synchronicities.Joe: The more that you recognize them and allow them, the more that they happen. I'm not in any way speaking out against, "Hey." Sometimes it's important to say, "We're going to get to this goal." I think goals are fantastic. I love them. The question is, can you hold that with an impartiality as well as a determination? It's incredibly easy to do when you look at nature, like an oak tree that grows to be 5 feet wide and 40 feet tall. That's determination and it's also very impartial. It's just in the flow of things.Impartiality is the hardest one for business people, particularly to really grok and understand. One of the metaphors I use for impartiality is you're on a boat going down a river. It's important to row the boat, but it is more important to read the river. If you are partial and reading the river, you're not reading the river. That's the impartiality part. Then vulnerability, obviously, is doing the things that are just a little bit scary, to let the little parts of yourself that you judge out into the world to find out that nobody else is judging them. They're just you.Brett: Or to find that they might be judged and that's okay.Joe: Yes and to find that they might be judged and that's okay, right. The thing is we don't really care what people are judging us. All the things that you're proud of about yourself, all those things that you think are just fricking awesome about yourself, I guarantee you there's people judging you for them. I guarantee you and you don't care. The things you care about are the things that you're judging yourself for. Exactly.Brett: We've got vulnerability, impartiality, empathy and wonder. We've talked about impartiality quite a bit. We've talked about vulnerability. Let's talk a little bit more about wonder. Joe: Wonder is curiosity without looking for a solution. Wonder is curiosity with awe. It has a certain level of awe to it. It has a certain amount of amazement to it and it is in the question. We think that being in the answer is more productive than being in the question. Being in the question is incredibly important. Just as an example, you can have three different questions arise. One question is, how do I have the perfect relationship? The second question could be, how do I have the most connected relationship? The third question could be, how do I have a relationship that lasts 40 years?Brett: Then ends exactly at 41.[both chuckle]Joe: Probably. Those are going to lead to three different relationships. What the question is, is far more important than what the answer is. Living in the question is an amazing experience, to be in the question without needing that resolution, to just be in the wonder of life. It just provides answer after answer after answer, but to be in the knowing, you only get one answer. I'd much rather have many answers than one.Brett: It's like seeing an animal be like, "Whoa, that's a giraffe. Cool, giraffe," or being like, "Whoa, look at the spots on that thing. How tall it is? The little eyelashes, Oh."Joe: What? It has the same amount of neck vertebrae as I do? What? What? How on earth? Exactly. It's that feeling of just question after question. Answer after answer. One thing about vulnerability that I'm not sure if I hit is, that everybody's vulnerability is different. It's like, I see people often say like, "Oh, that guy's not vulnerable." You have no idea if that person is being vulnerable or not because vulnerable for you and vulnerable for me is different. I could tell you all about my childhood and all the mishaps and drama and you'd be like, "Wow, man that was super vulnerable. Your dad did what? Your mom did huh?" I would be like, "Yes, that's not vulnerable."To me, I've said it 1000 times. I've been in rooms and Al-Anon meetings and groups for years of hashing through that stuff. There's nothing vulnerable about it for me. That's the path of vulnerability, is that you're constantly showing up with that thing, that's a little scary and all of a sudden, it's not scary anymore. Then you show up with the next thing and you show up with the next thing. Then it ends up leading you into authenticity, because all those vulnerabilities are really just ways that you're judging yourself and preventing yourself from being what you actually are.Brett: Vulnerability could even depend on role as well, like an overbearing manager screaming is like that's somebody not being vulnerable. An employee showing their anger to a manager that they've been hiding for so long and just resenting, there's something really vulnerable in that.Joe: I would say something vulnerable in both actually. Basically, the manager who's yelling and is basically saying, "I feel out of control. I feel alone. I feel out of control. I'm going to go and beat myself up for yelling in a couple minutes. I feel ashamed and I don't know what to do to actually fix this situation. I'm yelling, because I hope that it'll make me feel like I'm in control for 20 minutes."Brett: To a third party observer, as you were saying, like our idea of what is vulnerable is different. A third party observer might observe the manager as being invulnerable and their anger in the employees as being vulnerable. I see this in movies, for example. There's so many examples where finally that person stood up for themselves. That was such a vulnerable thing to do.Joe: The important part is, are you being consciously vulnerable? Yes, if you're getting angry all the time and yelling at people, obviously that level of vulnerability, though it's vulnerable for you, you probably don't recognize it. Other people don't recognize it. It's not really going to have the same effect as being vulnerable in a way of like, "Oh, I'm going to go stretch myself here." What is very useful is when somebody is yelling like that to see it as a vulnerability.Brett: Or, "I'm sorry. I keep yelling at you and I don't want to be yelling at you. I apologize."Joe: Yes. That's the vulnerability that the person yelling it's going to really benefit them. To see them as vulnerable when they're yelling just to be able to look at them and say, "Hey, you're not alone in this. This whole team wants to be successful with you." It will immediately change the yell. It just will, because if you can see it as vulnerability, that's great. For that person to have the benefit and this modality of VIEW, the important thing is that you're choosing vulnerability. You're choosing the thing that's vulnerable to you.I think that the one piece that we haven't quite talked about is empathy and I think it's an important thing. Empathy is just allowing yourself to feel the other person. It doesn't mean losing yourself in the other person. It doesn't mean going into the other person. It doesn't mean confusing your emotional state with their emotional state. It just means allowing yourself to be with the person while they are feeling stuff, to be there with them in it. That's just an important piece on the empathy. Brett: Again, vulnerability, impartiality, empathy, wonder, VIEW. How does one practice VIEW or cultivate this state of mind or meta state?Joe: You can do it internally and you can do it externally. If you're a meditator, if you just  contemplate quietly, just do some experiments. See what it's like to be vulnerable with yourself and then see what it's like to be non vulnerable with yourself. See what it's like to be partial with yourself. Have a really strong agenda for yourself and see what it's like to be impartial with yourself.Brett: What about an agenda creeping into meditation? Like I'm going to meditate into this particular state of mind that I want to be in and that would be perfect.Joe: Exactly. That would be very partial and so would be saying I want to be impartial right now. This is the thing about true meditation is having no agenda, having no management. It's more like sitting on the beach and enjoying the wind across your face. Oftentimes, when I'm talking to people about how to meditate, I talk about, it's just non-management.The level of management is also asymptotic. It gets finer and finer and finer and finer. Maybe you start with just a simple agenda, which is to be agendaless. Maybe you start with a really simple agenda of being aware of your body. The idea is that eventually, the agenda goes away and you become the passenger. You are being taken for a ride. You're not driving.Brett: How do you bring that into your life when you're in a meeting or an argument or working on a podcast?Joe: That's actually a little bit easier for VIEW. Wonder means you're asking open-ended questions. If you're really curious, you're asking questions that are going to give you lots of data. How, what, where, when questions. Not can do, is questions and why questions are usually judgmental. Wonder is just asking questions. Empathy is not trying to fix people's emotional states, not trying to change their emotional state and to let them know that you're with them.Brett: That sounds like impartiality.Joe: It is and it's on the emotional level. They all are the same thing. When you start really getting into them, they're all the same thing. Impartiality, I use that more on the logical level and the empathy is more on the emotional level. It's to call it out because I think that most people don't recognize or it takes them a long time to recognize, that they are constantly wanting their emotional state to be different, that they're constantly trying to get to some state or trying to get away from another state.Brett: We've all been taught in some way or another that happy is good. Some parents are like, "Oh, I will love you if you're successful." Other parents are like, "I will love you if you're happy," and that's almost as just as bad in some cases.Joe: Yes. It's not loving them for what they are. It's not loving your kid for what they are. The crazy thing is, is this idea is like, "Hey, if I love you for throwing temper tantrums," and you're going to just keep on throwing temper tantrums, that's just not true. It's like once you love that part of yourself, it changes.Just like if you put awareness into something that changes. There's this principle in business, it says how do you fix a problem? The thing you do is you put attention towards it. Just the simple act of putting attention towards a change is the situation and creates a solution. It's the same thing that awareness just changes things and so does love. Love just changes. If you can love every emotional state that you have, they change. The friction of most emotional states is your resistance to them, not the state themselves. If you're resistant to bliss, which oddly most people are. Bliss is very overwhelming. There's this great quote that says fear is excitement without the breath.It's just saying that excitement, if you forget to breathe because you're resisting it, is fear. That's what empathy is all about. We're using different parts of the brain and empathy and impartiality too. One is mirror neurons and one is opening our heart. The feeling of opening a heart and the other one, impartiality is dropping the strategies, dropping the agenda.Brett: Another thing about fear and excitement, in base jumping through the phrase similar to this was just excitement is the other side of fear. Getting into it more subtly, fear is when you feel something is off and inauthentic and excitement is when you feel like you're ready for it. Whatever cliff you're about to jump off of, if you feel like your equipment is in line and your mindset is in the right place and the conditions are right, then it comes through as excitement.If there's a part of you that knows something's wrong, you know that you feel peer-pressured into this to be cool, or you know that the conditions are off but you're just avoiding hiking down because that would be annoying, then there's a constriction there that turns into fear. Listening to what kind of fear you're feeling can be a really good indicator.Joe: Yes. Absolutely, that's a beautiful thing. I think what it all requires, fear, excitement, breath, no breath, is to feel it. It's to actually feel which is what empathy is saying. It's to actually allow the emotional state to move through you and to flow without resistance, because you're never going to get the intelligence of the emotion while trying to control it. You're not going to get the intelligence of your people in a business if you're trying to control it.Brett: It seems like a form of being receptive to information rather than just drawing a conclusion.Joe: That's exactly right. That's the whole thing. That's the VIEW. If you're practicing it out in the world, it's like wonder is asking questions. Empathy is being with people's emotions. Impartiality is not trying to drive them to a place.We had this great experience, where we did these workshops, where it was these two day practicing VIEW. That's all we did. Just practice VIEW for two days. This is like deep stuff. People will call me two or three years later. I remember one guy and it's more than one guy. There's multiple people where this happened, where they basically at some point in the two days looked at me and said, "Wow, I've never asked an impartial question in my whole life." All my questions, everything I'm saying is trying to get somebody to do something.The people who are going to have that recognition the most are the people who are most disconnected, are the people who feel most lonely, who feel most disconnected is because they have this incredibly strong agenda for themselves or for others.Brett: Perfectionism.Joe: Yes, exactly. Vulnerability is just saying things that are vulnerable or asking vulnerable questions or asking the question that might get you fired or asking the question that might make your boss angry at you, but it's your truth. That's the thing about vulnerability.Vulnerability is you don't do the scary thing because it's scary, you do the scary thing because it's your truth. You ask the question because it's your truth or you say the thing. Even the work that I do, when people see me do one-on-one work, they're like, "Holy shit, how did you ask those questions?" It happens to me too. I'll feel it. I'll be like, "Oh my god, I'm going to ask that question. Oh shit." You've seen it happen. Those are usually the most powerful, most impactful questions are the ones that are really scary.Brett: That's when my sphincter is clenching hearing you start to ask the question.Joe: Exactly. Mine, too. It's like, "Whoo." That's when life just becomes really alive and opens up. That's where the most important stuff comes. Maybe some people are going to join you. Maybe some people aren't. That vulnerability really makes it so that you get the life that you want to live, because you're showing up as yourself in your truth, no matter the consequences, no matter what someone thinks.That just drives the people who want you for you into your life and drives the people who don't want you for you out of your life. It's a lot easier. Then we have this whole technique of asking questions and having how to have you VIEW question and answers and all that stuff will be explicit in other materials.There's all sorts of ways of using this to do sales and you're doing this to do management of people, or doing VIEW to do product development or doing VIEW to talk to your father who you haven't spoken to in 20 years. When you hear people have these conversations, it's amazing to see. We'd give these homework assignments and VIEW. They would in the VIEW course and they would go out and talk to their dad and then parents, siblings haven't spoken, getting back together. Husbands and wives realizing, that they have the same thing. All beautiful things happen. Bosses and employees changing the way that they work together. Co-workers changing the way they work together from 15-minute conversations, because you do this with executives.I do this with executives and typically the executive is like, "Wait. I need to be partial. That's how I've made my living and I can't be vulnerable." I'm like, "It's just an experiment. Let's do this for 15 minutes." Then at the end of the 15 minutes, I always say the same thing. I'm always like, "Hey, so have you ever had a more productive 15-minute conversation?" The answer is almost always no, because when you're that way, it's an incredible form of productivity, because you get to see and learn and grow so much. CEOs start to learn like, "Oh, I could--"There's this great in the book that I love Reinventing Organizations. There's this example of a CEO going to his people and say, "Hey, we just lost the biggest contract. We do not have enough money. Tell me what we should do." The whole organization said, "You know what, we're all going to take a pay cut and we're going to try to get another customer." The people who are trying to get the other customer, obviously, we're completely motivated because they saw everybody do this pay cut. They themselves had a pay cut and the CEO didn't dictate a pay cut, but people decided this is what we're going to do.That's an expression of vulnerability in a business and there's thousands of those expressions. There's a Harvard Business Review case of a woman who basically had no money. She had a company and she had no money to keep on going and her employees stayed with her. It was all about her vulnerability with the employees.It's so incredibly apparent when you get out of the mindset that people do things for money. Some people do things for money, for sure. We all do some things for money for sure, but most of what we do in life is not for money.Brett: Getting beyond carrots and sticks.Joe: Yes. Getting beyond carrots and sticks and having some faith that most people and the people that you should have hired and the people hopefully that you're married to, are people who want what's best for them. They want to contribute. They want to be a part of things. They're motivated. If there's no money, people wouldn't just all sit around and go, "Okay. I'm done. No more money. I'm finished." If everybody had food and shelter, then everyone's like, "I'm finished. I'm done."Brett: This example of the CEO reminds me of something that you've said before where the position of the CEO often feels like the most lonely position in the company.Joe: Yes, for sure.Brett: What would you have to say just to wrap this episode up neatly into a perfect conclusion, cherry on top? What would you have to say to that CEO that feels that distance and wants that connection but feels like, "No, no, everything would fall apart"?Joe: I would say, I know you had to be resourceful and you had to be self-reliant. You were alone as a kid but you're not alone now. If you're looking for evidence, look around at all the people who are trying to make you successful. They might not be able to live up to every one of your expectations, but it's probably impossible to find anybody who's not trying to live up to your expectations, who's not trying to make it work for you and for them. Take a look at that and then apologize to them for not recognizing it. That would be the vulnerable act. Then see how much more inspired they are to be there with you and to show up with you because they see your humaneness instead of being scared of you.Brett: Beautiful. Joe, thank you for a perfectly imperfect episode.Joe: That it was. Thanks for listening to The Art of Accomplishment podcast.  If you enjoyed what you heard today, please subscribe. We would love your feedback, so feel free to send us questions and comments. To reach us, join our newsletter, learn more about VIEW, or to take a course, visit: artofaccomplishment.comResources:Frederic Laloux, Reinventing Organizations, https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Finite-and-Infinite-Games/James-Carse/9781476731711Michael Masterson, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat, https://www.waterstones.com/book/ready-fire-aim/michael-masterson/9781119086857

Many people have theories, but what philosopher, Dr. James Carse, figured out is more profound. He articulated a basic truth about how the world actually works. His work has had a profound impact on me and my work. So much so, I wrote a book to pick up where he left off. Sadly, Dr. Carse died in September 2020. Fortunately I had a chance to sit down with him a few months before, to chat with him about belief, fulfillment and the Infinite Game. This is… A Bit of Optimism.YouTube: http://youtube.com/simonsinekFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/simonsinekLinkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/simonsinek/Instagram: https://instagram.com/simonsinek/Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonsinekPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/officialsimonsinek/

Many people have theories, but what philosopher, Dr. James Carse, figured out is more profound. He articulated a basic truth about how the world actually works. His work has had a profound impact on me and my work. So much so, I wrote a book to pick up where he left off. Sadly, Dr. Carse died in September 2020. Fortunately I had a chance to sit down with him a few months before, to chat with him about belief, fulfillment and the Infinite Game. This is… A Bit of Optimism.YouTube: http://youtube.com/simonsinekFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/simonsinekLinkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/simonsinek/Instagram: https://instagram.com/simonsinek/Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonsinekPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/officialsimonsinek/

One of the brightest minds in our industry Meltem Demirors - CSO at CoinShares, first joined the cryptocurrency industry in 2015. Prior to that has been actively managing and leading investment firms; supporting and advising founders building early stage companies; and leveraging her experience and network to accelerate the growth of the crypto asset class and the firms developing it. Invested in more than 250 projects. Coinshares is providing institutional-grade investments products and services for digital asset investors. The CoinShares Group is a pioneer in digital asset investing and manages hundreds of millions in assets on behalf of a global investor base, with offices in Jersey, Stockholm, London, and New York.

第 1 期：参加 GopherCon 2020 杨文, 欧长坤 本期摘要：这是 Go 夜聊的第一期节目，我们选择了一个跟全球 Golang 语言开发者都有关系的话题，就是刚刚结束的 GopherCon。在疫情的影响下，原本计划在 6 月份举办的大会如今推迟到了 11 月，由原本的线下也更改为了线上。那么参加这种大会有什么特别之处？参加这个大会会有哪些潜在的收益？从大会里又有那些有关 Golang 语言的相关“小道”消息？ 时间线 00:45 GopherCon 的介绍和起源 04:08 参会的费用、形式及日程安排 08:40 在全球范围内进行线上大会的交流工具 10:54 大会的赞助商和他们的潜在动机 17:42 参加 GopherCon 大会的原因 19:33 除了 GopherCon 之外的其他参会经历 23:31 各式各样的 GopherCon 和 Meetup 29:00 Go 语言编译器和运行时的领头人 Austin Clements 36:05 运行时异步抢占的设计由来 39:21 有关添加泛型支持的各类小道消息 42:10 值回票价的 QA 环节和 Go 运行时未来的发展方向 54:05 其他的一些参会环节 58:54 推荐环节

Kelly Starrett is one of the world's top movement and mobility coaches for players in the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA, as well as Olympic gold medalists, elite military personnel, and other world-class athletes. He is also recognized as one of the top Crossfit coaches in the world. Beyond coaching, Kelly is a physical therapist, author, speaker, and co-founder of San Francisco Crossfit and The Ready State. His books Becoming a Supple Leopard, Ready to Run, and Deskbound have each become New York Times and/or Wall Street Journal bestsellers.   In this episode, we cover the importance of having trusted male friends, why you need to prioritize your body's health, how different areas of your life will take priority at different times, and so much more.    Kelly is an incredible human being and a blast to talk to. So I hope you guys enjoy this one!   Resources mentioned in this episode: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse thereadystate.com/worldclassdads @TheReadyState on Instagram   Music Credit: Rob Riccardo (robriccardo.com) 

James Carse is the author of Finite and Infinite Games and was a Professor and Director at NYU for 30 years. James recently passed away so we wanted to repost his episode which was originally episode #182. In his book Finite and Infinite Games, James discusses the two types of games- “One could be called finite; the other infinite.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end, but infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. His book is one you go back to and reread again and again throughout the years. This is a fascinating conversation exploring interesting topics such as teaching, thinking, discovering what drives you and so much more! “The first challenge a teacher has is getting their students to realize what they know—to come to terms with their knowledge, and therefore, know the limits of their knowledge. That’s where you begin to think. You don’t think about what you know; you think about the edge of what you know.”- James Carse Show Notes Checkout my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere “Uncover your talents. Discover your dream job. Thrive in YOUR culture.” Sign up for Culture Finders today at www.CultureFinders.com MCTco Collagen Protein Bars www.mctco.com 20% off with code “WGYT” https://drinksupercoffee.com/

  Do you ever wonder, ‘Am I living a life well-lived? Am I doing enough? Am I living up to my potential? Or am I wasting my time, letting life slip me by…' If you have, then this podcast episode for you! I share the 9 principles for being an AMPLIFIER - someone who looks beyond results to true transformation, and life well-lived. How being bored jolted me into a life-changing question: ‘what is a life well-lived?' Jason Fried of Basecamp does not have goals or targets - he has 6 week improvement projects instead Why RESULTS are for transformation, not for goals. #boundlessleadership

In today’s episode, I want to talk about an idea I call fifth-generation management. 1/ Fifth-generation management is an emerging style of management we don’t know much about because it doesn’t actually exist yet. But it is guaranteed to emerge post-Covid because historically, big sharp disruptions have reliably triggered discontinuous changes in management culture, and it is already clear that this one is doing that.2/ The idea of generations in management, in the form I’m going to lay it out, is causally related to the idea of generations of warfare, and in particular the idea that contemporary styles of warfare strongly shape future styles of management. So if there are generations in warfare, they are going to cause generations in management. Military ideas are not the only cause of course, but I’m going to argue that historically they’ve been the strongest one. Strong enough to almost be determinative. During WW2 for instance, business and military culture became almost the same thing for a few years.3/ This is not a universally popular idea because a significant number people find even the business-as-war metaphor distasteful, let alone the suggestion that military culture directly shapes business culture, or worst of all, that it is in fact the dominant source of business thinking. But personally, I’ll admit I’m enough of both a military nerd and a management nerd that I actually find the connection stimulating rather than depressing to think about. And I have a little bit of history here, my research during my PhD and postdoc fifteen-twenty years ago was on military command and control models, and a lot of my consulting work draws from that experience.4/ For better or worse, the connection between military and business evolution happens to be historically solid, and seems set to remain true. In the past this was much stronger, due to a large number of men serving in wars and then entering business, and business being male-dominated. Today, the coupling mainly has to do with relative rates of technology adoption in military vs business evolution, and to a lesser extent, shared exogenous events affecting both military and business affairs.5/ Before we get into it, a couple of caveats. First, as with any clean, linear, sequential or cyclic model applied to a messy branching, evolutionary reality, you have to apply it very tastefully. You have to think like a historical artisan, matching up the conceptual boundaries of a constructivist notion you’re working with to real history. And where they don’t line up, actual historical events should shape your thinking rather than the abstract idea of one sequence of generations driving another. Second caveat, don’t make the mistake of thinking that each generation fully displaces the previous one in either military or business. Instead, it adds a new layer, and the older layer simply gets confined to a small zone of the action. Generations accumulate like geological layers, they don’t displace each other.6/ To understand the management version, we have to understand the military version first. The idea of generations of warfare was popularized by William S. Lind, who coined the term fourth-generation warfare around 1980. It became the dominant style in actual warfare after the Iraq War, which was probably the last major third-generation war.7/ I have illustrated the generations in the lower half of the diagram. The story basically starts with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, after the Thirty Years War. The first generation lasted almost 150 years. The second generation lasted about 100 years from 1815 to 1915, the third about 65 years from 1938 to 2003. The fourth, I will argue, only lasted about 15 years, from 2003 to 2020, and Covid will trigger a shift to a fifth generation.8/ The first generation was based on final abandonment of medieval warfare, and relied on early smooth-bore muskets. It utilized uniformed, paid armies fighting for nations rather than feudal lords, or mercenary companies. It involved what is known as line-and-column warfare. Think of armies marching in long columns towards strategic targets. Maybe a little large-scale maneuvering and flanking, but lacking the communications and intelligence capabilities to do more.9/ The second generation stretches roughly a century from the end of the Napoleonic wars, around 1815 to World War I. It was based on the development of rifled breech-loading guns, interchangeable parts, and early electronic communications with the telegraph. Technology improved steadily so that WW1 was quite different from say the war of Mexican independence. But the broad style is what’s known as attrition warfare between roughly evenly matched forces in numerical and materiel terms. Armies bogged down in trenches or extended sieges. In second generation warfare, usually the side with the greater economic resources eventually prevails, as in the US Civil War.10/ Third-generation warfare was developed primarily by the German military in the interwar period, and is what is usually called Blitzkrieg in the historical case, or maneuver warfare in more modern terminology. It makes use of fast-moving mechanized infantry, tanks, and sophisticated local communications to move very fast behind enemy lines, maneuver and reorient rapidly in response to changing situations, and collapse the enemy from the inside. 11/ This is the style that was developed and refined by John Boyd, and is roughly what lasted all the way through the Iraq War. In third-generation warfare, often an asymmetrically smaller and technologically primitive force can beat a larger, technologically superior force. This is the style that is based on the OODA loop, which we talk about a lot.12/ This asymmetric outcome potential often creates a conundrum around how to establish the peace after the victory, because economic superiority may not line up with military superiority. In the case of WW2, eventually the Allies got better at maneuver warfare, the Germans got worse and backslid into 2nd generation to some extent, and economic superiority prevailed. And after the war, the Allies won the peace with the Marshall Plan, which was second-generation peace thinking. So in a way WW2 was actually a Generation 2.5 war.13/ Third-generation warfare is also what is sometimes called total war, where you fight with unsentimental professional skill to win. It’s not about honor or fair-play, and deceit, cunning, and cheating are considered legitimate. This means it can get really ugly by design. In older styles of warfare, you would have a collapse of honor norms like “giving quarter,” but for third-generation warfare, which is an extremely rational kind of warfare, you had to have things like the United Nations laws and the idea of war crimes and trials. Because everything from gas chambers to concentration camps is otherwise on the table.14/ Now fourth-generation warfare is best defined not by how war is fought, but by who fights the war. In some ways the Vietnam War for the US, and the Afghanistan War for the Soviet Union, were both early fourth-generation wars. But proper fourth-generation warfare requires non-state actors who can operate with near capability parity on many fronts, which requires the internet and cellphones. It also often has non-state actors with more legitimacy than mere third-generation terrorist groups, and state actors that have much less legitimacy than they used to in the past. In a way, the Peace of Westphalia made states the legitimate combatants, and the Great Weirding is reversing that legitimacy after almost 400 years.15/ Of course, as we’ve all learned by now, fourth-generation warfare, since about 2003, also means dank memes, influence operations, fake news, and disruption of political processes, especially democratic ones like elections, using social media. A good example is modern conflict like Syria involves both state forces, in this case Syria and Russia, as well as ISIS and a people’s resistance. Or Ukraine. It is what is sometimes called hybrid or nonlinear war, and Russia has been the leading practitioner of it. Arguably, the West has been subject to a fourth-generation war attack for four years from Russia.16/ And of course this mix has always been present in warfare in some form, but what distinguishes 4th-generation warfare is that guerrilla goals shape the conflict via leveraged high-tech digital means, instead of just being subject to first, second, or third generation logic, or limited to violent terror tactics. This also means guerrilla goals become top-level political goals, instead of being subsidiary to the goals of a sponsor state. Guerrilla goals are what Henry Kissinger described with his famous line: “The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.” 17/ In other words, fourth-generation warfare brings guerrilla goals to the political table directly. It is not total war, but what I call infinite war: it brings infinite-game war goals, into the picture, the goal being to continue the game rather than win it (infinite game in the sense of James Carse). It’s a true fourth-generation war if at least one top-level combatant is fighting with the guerrilla goal of simply staying in the game, rather than trying to win formally in the sense of a declared war, getting the opponent to surrender, and doing so without a state sponsor. Sometimes of course, the guerrilla actually wins in a conventional sense, in which case they often struggle to transition from a stateless actor to a state actor, as with the Taliban.18/ Okay, now that we have our four generations lined up, let’s talk about how that connects to generations of business management. To do that, I want to talk about an episode you may have heard of, called the Millennium War Games, but you probably haven’t heard anything like my spin on it.19/ Briefly, the Millennium War Games were games held in 2002 in which the Blue Team, operating by a doctrine called Network Centric Warfare or NCW, was defeated by Red Team, led by Marine Corps Lt. Gen Paul Van Riper, operating by standard third-generation Boydian doctrines. NCW was basically a very high-tech model, using satellites and surveillance and tight synchronization. Basically “how would we fight a war with the internet on our side.”20/ Van Riper avoided electronic communications and instead used motorcycle messengers to communicate, and attacks with fishing boats to destroy the Blue Team. Basically, using relatively low-tech and irregular forces to operate in the blind-spot of the high-tech larger adversary that was overconfident in its technological ability. Classic OODA loop style conflict.21/ The normal interpretation of the outcome is that low-tech with superior strategic thinking beats high-tech with weaker strategic thinking, but this is simplistic. It also doesn’t explain why, 50 years after Blitzkrieg was recognized around the world, the Blue Team would operate against the logic of third-generation warfare. The key point to note here is that the war games were primarily naval, and NCW was a doctrine that emerged out of the US Navy and its relationship to technology, specifically from an essay by Admiral William Owens in 1996. 22/ This is not an irrelevant fact. Navies have historically been the highest-tech branch of the military, but not in the sense of adopting the newest, shiniest tech. They are the highest tech in the sense of using the most technology, in the most complete and systematic way, to vertically integrate operations all the way from satellites to bullets. They are platforms. Today for example, the US Navy operates carrier groups, the most advanced version of this thinking.23/ Aircraft carriers are obviously the most sophisticated technology in military use. They run actual little air forces and missile defense and offense that are superior to the entire militaries of small nations. They use satellites. They have destroyers, submarines, anti-submarine capabilities, all operating in coordination. And this has been true going back centuries. Large capital ships were hugely expensive technological marvels even in the age of sailing ships, and money and technological superiority can overwhelm a historic maritime tradition sometimes, as happened in the 18th century when France under Jean-Baptiste Colbert’s administrative leadership briefly pulled ahead of more naval nations like the UK and the Dutch in capability.24/ On the other hand, prototypical third-generation warfare is best exemplified by the US Marine Corps. It’s not exactly a low-tech force, but you could say it selectively uses a few really high-tech bits in an otherwise low-tech style of fighting. The same is true of special forces, but to a greater degree of tech early-adoption. Third-generation warfare you could say is an early-adopter of technology that uses it in a small-scale but highly leveraged and strategic way. It’s the military equivalent of a startup, while navies are the military equivalents of large enterprises.25/ These military startups don’t just use new technology, they rapidly evolve tactics through trial-and-error in actual conflict, and build out strategies and doctrines bottom-up, in real-time, adapted to the current conflict. And this is not because they’re smarter than navies, but because they play a different role: usually offensive, high-speed, messy and ground level.26/ Navies on the other hand, usually play a very different role. Their firepower is primarily deployed from a distance and with overwhelming scale, in what’s called stand-off mode. A modern carrier group will park itself outside a battlespace and send hundreds of sorties into the warzone, launch hundreds of missiles, conduct economic blockades or humanitarian activities, and in general create a sort of boundary condition for the rest of the war. Their job is to create and maintain boundaries, not maneuver within them.27/ In fact, historically, navies have been most powerful when they simply stood off to the side and did nothing. This is one takeaway from Alfred Thayer Mahan’s classic The Influence of Sea Power Upon History. It also applies to nuclear power, which has a similar effect (so nuclear deterrence enforcing the peace). Notably, Boydian thinking emerged out of fighter warfare and doesn’t have much to say about that side of warfare. The point is that complex, systemic technological capability is just a very different sort of weapon, and you have to apply generational thinking separately to it. 28/ Sometimes navies play a more active, maneuvering type third-generation role, as in the Atlantic war against U-Boats, but in general, you could say that navies play a late-adopter, complex systems platform technology role in warfare, while marines and special forces play an early adopter, startup role. If you want to apply the four-generations model to navies, you have to do it separately. I won’t get into how to apply the four-generation model to these boundary-condition parts of the military, but it’s possible.29/ The quick version is that both have a role to play in modern warfare, just as both startups and large companies have a role to play in the tech economy. If your takeaway from the Van Riper Millennium war games episode is that you should give up high-tech complex military capabilities and network-centric operations, and run a cheap military using motorcycle messengers, and fishing boats, you learned exactly the wrong lesson. 30/ In fact all the conflict since 2002 shows the opposite. Network-centric warfare is what’s actually dominating war zones, though not in the doctrinal sense Admiral Owens imagined. Russia, ISIS, China, and other actors who are good at this all operate in a network-centric way. It’s just not in the form that the US NCW doctrine envisioned, but much messier and bottom-up. Missing this point is like thinking all companies should be small startups and that the Googles and Amazons can’t possible work.31/ A better way to think about it is that you should pursue hot military objectives with marines style startup action, but consolidate victories and preserve the peace with navy style network-centric type systemic capabilities. Both have a role to play in every generation of warfare. You could say marines win wars while navies preserve the peace. Though of course in modern conditions, there is never really clear hot war or cold peace, or cold war and hot peace, but a continuous partial warm chaotic conflict.32/ Okay, that was a very long preamble, which was unfortunately necessary because most people make military-to-business connections without knowing much of the relevant military history. But we’re now ready to make the connection to business management generations. I’m going to state it in the form of two laws, and then describe the four generations in relation to the top half of the diagram. 33/ The first law is: On average, business management generations lag military generations by one.34/ This is an average in two ways. The first is across branches of the military. Military startups, marines and special forces, might be 1.5 generations ahead of management cultur, innovating tactics based on the most promising new technologies. Air forces and armies might be 1 generation ahead, using more proven technology, and navies might be 0.5 generations ahead, deploying the most proven technology at the most complex scale. 35/ The second is across time. You may have heard the line that generals are always prepared to fight the last war. This means, every significant new war causes a paradigm shift. It’s like a staircase evolution, and on average, military management culture is ahead. And in a world like ours, where we’re nearly continuously at war somewhere, the saying actually is pretty meaningless.36/ The second law is: The evolution of business management is driven by more frequent, but smaller magnitude, exogenous events. So it has a much smoother evolutionary profile. Every war is an exogenous disruption to business, but not every exogenous business disruption drives evolution in warfare. Business is also driven by political events, economic crises, financial crashes, and many more technologies than warfare. Every military crisis is a business crisis, but not every business crisis is a military crisis.37/ For those of you who follow the computer industry, an analogy to laptops and phones versus gaming consoles is useful here. Gaming consoles are like military technology, they have sudden jumps in capabilities every few years, as specialized chips are designed and launched. But phones and laptops evolve more smoothly with smaller jumps. They eventually catch up and even briefly overtake the console market. But then the consoles jump ahead again.38/ So if you apply these two laws, you get a description of four generations of management that loosely correspond to the four generations of warfare, but with roughly a lag of 1 generation, and a smoother evolutionary profile. So let’s take them in order, as shown in the diagram.39/ First-generation management, which is roughly the mercantile era, overlaps with the first generation of warfare in time, but resembles medieval warfare in structure. It is a little longer by about 25 years, about 1648 to 1854, the London Crystal Palace World Fair. It relies on ways of running businesses that would be familiar to people in the 15th and 16th centuries. Medieval management.40/ Second-generation management, which is roughly the Robber Baron era, roughly 1870 to 1930, loosely resembled first-generation warfare. It features paycheck employees, a traditional column and line type approach to business operations, and leadership that looked a bit like 17th century military leadership. It established large business empires that resembled colonial empires, and used relatively primitive communications based on mail and telegraph to maneuver a little but, but not a lot.41/ Third-generation management, which is roughly the familiar modern managerial era in the old economy, resembles second-generation warfare. It stretched from roughly the Great Depression to 1997, and has two clear phases. In the first phase, about 1935 to 1980, we had a heavily state-regulated corporatist environment, and in the second phase, from 1980 to about 1997, we had a deregulated environment. But despite the differences, the key feature is that professional managers ran the show, and the competition had some of the trench warfare attrition characteristics of WW1. Competitors were roughly evenly matched and were trying to wear each other out in the market.42/ Finally, getting into modern times, fourth-generation management, which is roughly the entrepreneurial era, resembles third generation warfare. It stretches from the dotcom boom and the rise of Clayton Christensen’s disruption model, which is really maneuver warfare for business settings, all the way to 2020. It features charismatic founder-entrepreneurs, rather than professional managers, setting the agenda. Just like third-generation warfare, it puts marines/special forces type startups in the center, and navy-like systemic capabilities on the margins. In the fourth-generation, HBR, Michael Porter and McKinsey took a backseat, while Silicon Valley and the VC blogosphere was in the spotlight.43/ There’s a lot more to be said, but that’s the basic model. Take the military generations, subtract one, adjust boundaries, smoothen the evolutionary curve, and you get management culture. 44/ Which brings us to fifth-generation management. Obviously, Covid and what I call the Great Weirding have been a huge disruption for both military and business. Obviously, climate action is already starting to shape the agenda in a very significant way, and business-to-business or military-vs-military competition is almost taking a backseat while society-to-nature competition is front and center. We are fighting a two front war, with the virus on one front and climate on the other. Neither will be the same coming out the other end. So what can we expect?45/ First, military affairs are in uncharted territory. The US military for instance, is dealing with dangerously unstable domestic politics where they might become a factor for the first time since the Civil War. Syria and Ukraine were fourth-generation wars, but already fifth-generation situations are cropping up all over the place, like the urban conflicts in Western cities, detention camps for refugees, and so on. I won’t go deep into military futures here.46/ But business affairs are in somewhat of a clearer situation. By applying the first law, we can already predict that fifth-generation business will look at least partly like fourth-generation warfare, 2003-20. In other words, like Syria or Ukraine. Just as non-state actors shape fourth-generation warfare, non-business entities will shape fifth-generation business. This includes culture war groups fighting for social justice, climate action nonprofits, governments administering post-Covid recovery funds, and so on.47/ There is also stuff that’s already been recognized, ranging from open-source communities and the gig economy, to the blockchain economy, and various moves towards home-based economic activity and work-from-home that is outside the financial economy. 48/ But the big thing is that there are a large number of reckonings that have to be dealt with. Besides climate, we have the trade war, we have China turning into a new kind of evil empire and surveillance state, we have the techlash, we have financialization on Wall Street, we have a world awash in fiscal responses to Covid. And in the middle of all this, we have supply chains breaking down, wildfires, and other climate-related disruptions.49/ A lot of what I write about on this newsletter is looking at various aspects of all this. The three main projects I have going here all are about researching the background context against which fifth-generation management is emerging, though that’s not the main motivation. In the Great Weirding series, I’m looking at how the equilibrium has been destabilized over the last five years. In the Clockless Clock project, I’m looking at how new temporalities are displacing the clock-based temporality that has coincided with all four generations of war and business, since the invention of the pendulum clock in 1657. In the After Westphalia project, I’m looking at the future of the nation-state.50/ Trying to figure out how to manage military or economic affairs against this complex backdrop is the task of fifth-generation management in both domains, and it will be probably take us all the rest of our lives to figure it out. But at least we now have a starting point and a sense of the nature of the challenge. A lot of this thinking came out of my last few years of consulting work, with clients who are already practicing fifth-generation management, and I’m currently trying to put together an online course based on this material. So if that interests you, stay tuned. There will be an update on that front soon.This has been one of the occasional free podcast issues of the Breaking Smart newsletter, where I send out an essay a week. Usually an installment of one of my longer series projects, which I just mentioned, and occasionally one-off stand-alone essays. So if you liked the ideas in this issue, do subscribe. Get full access to Breaking Smart at breakingsmart.substack.com/subscribe

Professor Niki Harre is Professor at University of Auckland in the School of Psychology. Her teaching and research is in the area of community psychology and the psychology of sustainability. I teach at both the undergraduate and graduate level.The infinite game project was started by Niki Harré from the University of Auckland. The project was inspired by James Carse's book Finite and Infinite Games, a wonderful work of scholarship and poetry that offers a new metaphor to help understand our time. More info - http://www.infinite-game.net/ Namrata Bagaria is a physician and researcher at University of Ottawa. She is the founder of Health 4.0 Leadership Institute. More info - https://www.linkedin.com/in/namrata-bagaria/ Health 4.0 Network is building the knowledge platform for a post covid health ecosystem driven by technology. More info https://health4.tech

In her book The Infinite Game: how to live well together, psychology professor and activist Dr Niki Harré asks us to imagine our world anew. What if we are all part of a different type of game entirely – a game in which playing matters more than winning, where anyone can join at any time, and where rules evolve as new players turn up?  At Going West 2018, Niki was joined on stage by her sister, political activist and former MP Laila Harré. In a provocative and interactive session, the Harrés open a conversation on what we value most deeply, how we keep those values in play and how we engage with the world and with each other. The session included an audience participation section, where everyone present got to join a paper dart game that helped illustrate and inform the conversation. The infinite game project was started byhttp://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-staff/academic-staff/niki-harre.html ( Niki Harré at the University of Auckland.) The project was inspired by James Carse's bookhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/189989.Finite_and_Infinite_Games ( Finite and Infinite Games,) a wonderful work of scholarship and poetry that offers a new metaphor to help understand our time.  The Infinite Game was the winner of the 2019https://www.awct.org.nz/bookawards/2019-winners.asp ( Ashton Wylie Mind, Body & Spirit Literary Award).

In this episode I talk with Allyson Robinson about ways that role playing games can help us learn how to be more vulnerable, empathetic, and compassionate. Can DnD really save us? How can we create spaces for these games that help us grow and have fun? Guest Plugs * Allyson on Twitter - https://twitter.com/allysonrobinson * Salty Sweet Games - https://www.twitch.tv/saltysweetgames * Salty Sweet Games on Twitter - https://twitter.com/saltysweetgames * The art from this week's episode was created by the amazing Matte Bat (https://twitter.com/mattebat) for Allyson Robinson of her character Ganymede Graves. Please follow them and better yet commission them for something! Show Notes * History of Role Playing Games - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historyofrole-playinggames * The First Nations of Catan: Practices in Critical Modification - http://analoggamestudies.org/2015/11/the-first-nations-of-catan-practices-in-critical-modification/ * The Fifth World - https://www.thefifthworld.com/ * Ehdrigohr: Indigenous RPG - https://council-of-fools.com/blog/ehdrigohr-rpg/ * The Adventure Zone - https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/adventure-zone/ * DnD Beginner’s Guide - https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/26/17153274/dnd-how-to-play-dungeons-dragons-5e-guide-spells-dice-character-sheets-dm * Call of Cthulu - https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-getting-started/ * Star Wars RPG - https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/starwarsrpg/ * Story Cubes - https://www.storycubes.com/en/ * TTRPG Play Culture: Safety and Consent - https://www.indiegamereadingclub.com/indie-game-reading-club/ttrpg-play-culture-safety-and-consent/ * TTRPG Safety Toolkit Quick Reference Guide - https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1583202183294.pdf * TTRPG Safety Toolkit - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/114jRmhzBpdqkAlhmveis0nmW73qkAZCj * Roll 20 - https://roll20.net/ * Finite and infinite Games by James Carse - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/189989.FiniteandInfiniteGames Support the Podcast - https://www.patreon.com/wdtatpodcast Leave us a voicemail! https://www.speakpipe.com/wdtatpodcast Email your feedback to wdtatpodcast@gmail.com Follow us: Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/wdtatpodcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wdtatpodcast/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/wdtatpodcast Special Guest: Allyson Robinson.

August 18, 2020 James Carse wrote about playing infinite games, and John Vervaeke spoke about awakening from the meaning crisis. These two phenomenal minds will meet at The Stoa to discuss playing the infinite game during the meaning crisis. 60 min conversation followed by 30 min Q&A. Check up upcoming events @ https://www.thestoa.ca Get events updates @ https://thestoa.substack.com Support The Stoa @ https://www.patreon.com/the_stoa

Today we are joined by Jon Foreman. Jon is the singer of the band Switchfoot, he makes amazing music on his own, and with other friends. He is simultaneously one of the most charismatic frontmen out there and also one of the nicest humans you'll ever meet. In our conversation, I talked to Jon a bit about what performing has looked like for him historically and the way that it connects with his inner life, we discuss the reasons that Jon sings about death so often, and Jon references the work of an earlier guest of the podcast, James Carse, to explain how he thinks about competition in the arts. Like what you hear? Get exclusive episodes and limited perks by supporting the show on Patreon. FEATURED LINKS Jon Foreman Official Jon Foreman on Twitter Switchfoot Official SHOW LINKS Carry the Fire Podcast Website Instagram Twitter Produced by Andy Lara at www.andylikeswords.com

Is it possible to find joy and peace amid great uncertainty, even a crisis as precarious and worldwide as the COVID-19 pandemic?In his latest solo Living 4D podcast, Paul shares the same proven tools he uses every day to handle the challenges of life that can be very handy when navigating uncertainty in your life too.Show NotesGet a better handle on a crisis by looking at the bigger picture. (3:27)The law of impermanence versus the rigidity of perfection. (10:11)“It is the illusion that we don't know that leads to questions that are essentially what makes mind happen.” (25:53)Being unconscious means being unaware of the world around you. (34:33)With this extra time on your hands, how are you using it? (43:07)Spiritual teachers have done their shadow work… are you doing yours? (52:55)The symbolic meanings of 2020. (57:20)Doing an honest, meditative exercise. (1:02:50)Three dimensions of freedom as expressions of love. (1:12:11)Exerting your own agency. (1:22:29)Balancing the tension of the opposites. (1:30:32)Tools you can use to help you navigate a crisis. (1:33:43)Transforming pain into freedom through art. (1:52:18)ResourcesA History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong How the Crusades Changed History from The Great Courses The Three Dimensions of Freedom by Billy BraggPaul’s vlog on Your COVID-19/Coronavirus Protection PlanGreenMedinfoThe six degrees of separation theoryHolding the Tension of Opposites by Marion WoodmanPrayer is Good Medicine, Be Careful What Your Pray For, You Might Just Get It and The Power of Prayer by Larry DosseyThe Red Book: A Reader’s Edition by Carl JungThe Future of Life by Edward O. WilsonPaul’s Living 4D conversations with Greg Schmaus, Ervin Laszlo, James Carse and Amit GoswamiThe Creation of Consciousness: Jung’s Myth For Modern Man by Edward EdingerThe Religious Case Against Belief by James CarseStreams of Wisdom by Dustin DiPerna and Ken WilburThanks to our awesome sponsors: Organifi (save 20 percent on your purchase by using the code CHEK20 at checkout), One Farm (use the code CHEK to save 15 percent on your purchase at checkout) and Cymbiotika (save 15 percent on your purchase when you use the code CHEK15 at checkout.

Chris Ryan is the bestselling author of Sex at Dawn & Civilized to Death. He also hosts a podcast called Tangentially Speaking. We talk about everything from President Clinton's infamous blowjob to male vulnerability to the importance of embracing uncertainty and heartbreak in one's life to the myth of "progress" and the (eventual? hopeful? inevitable?) downfall of civilization as we know it.  Find out more about Chris at ThatChrisRyan.com and on Instagram and Twitter.  Chris' Book Recommendations: A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright, Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse and The Unbearable Lightness Of Being by Milan Kundera Songs featured: "Talyat" by Tinariwen and "Pacing the Cage" by Bruce Cockburn How to support the show: Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons! Visit my website - AnyaKaats.com & Find me on Instagram Get full access to A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World at anyakaats.substack.com/subscribe

Bill and I killed a bat, quite on purpose, in our living room, together, as one, when we lived in the same apartment in Akron during college. Bill is a wise percussionist living in Wisconsin. We have an illuminating conversation about politics and humans, but also talk about drums for exactly 1 minute. I WILL talk with Bill on our next episode about arranging music for other instruments. (ie. Bach for marimba, Chopin for double second steel drums, etc.) Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse

What I can personally offer to support you, my dear listener, during this period of global turbulence and necessary self-isolation? Only what has been helpful to me. When you work from home, as I do, it’s important to segment your day and create ritual space for nourishing practices. Otherwise the week can feel like one long unproductive day of scrolling and task switching. Since we’re all going to be spending a lot of time at home in the coming weeks, I want to share a sacred morning ritual that I have been cultivating like a garden over the last five years. A morning ritual tailored to your personal needs is a wonderful way to pack in all the incremental changes you’d like to see over time, whether that’s in physical health, mental wellness, creativity or new hobbies. Today on the show I talk about my morning ritual and how I slowly developed it over time. This bonus episode of Life is a Festival is my first solo-cast and I hope it helps to bring balance and ease during a difficult time. Links Life is a Festival Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lifeisafestival Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier - Harvard Health: https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier Jeremy Falk’s 7 Minute Energizer: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9m8hh5nFNq/ University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address - Admiral William H. McRaven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70 Tara Brach’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tara-brach/id265264862 Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713 The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary/dp/0143129252 Timetamps 6:40 - Wake up and inhabit the body 12:10 - Morning Movement 12:48 - Shower and make the bed 15:18 - Meditation 21:49 - Prayer 23:24 - Playing guitar 27:30 - Reading 31:45 - Journaling 35:41 - Let the world rush in

In this week's episode, Rob rants about Antagonistic versus Collaborative Communication. Pulling ideas from the key concept of James P. Carse’s book “Finite and Infinite Games”, as well as the work of Simon Sinek, Rob explores the games that we play and people’s relationship to scarcity in relationships and business. 3:09 - James Carse’s book […]

In this week’s episode, Rob rants about Antagonistic versus Collaborative Communication. Pulling ideas from the key concept of James P. Carse’s book “Finite and Infinite Games”, as well as the work of Simon Sinek, Rob explores the games that we play and people’s relationship to scarcity in relationships and business. 3:09 – James Carse’s book “Finite and Infinite Games” 7:26 – Reflecting on the idea of finite and infinite games 11:54 – Being right versus being connected 13:34 – Your scarcity incites the scarcity of others 17:37 – Tone in communication 19:26 – Societal training regarding scarcity 20:21 – Servant leadership 24:03 – The effects of profit-first business 26:23 – A model of Antagonistic versus Collaborative Communication 30:54 – Incentives for antagonism 32:12 – Self-antagonism Find James Carse at: www.JamesCarse.com And find Simon Sinek at: www.SimonSinek.com Find resources for Rob’s model of Antagonistic versus Collaborative Communication at: www.RobertKandell.com/collaborative Don’t forget to grab your copy of the Amazon bestseller unHidden: A Book For Men and Those Confused by Them. It’s your easy-to-understand at-home guide to Robert’s living unHidden Framework. Get your copy today by visiting www.robertkandell.com/order OR, grab your free audio section of the book if you want to take it for a spin before you buy. And we promise this is NOT like movie trailers where they grab all the best pieces. Unhidden is pure relationship gold https://robertkandell.com/freeaudio Get More of Robert at: www.RobertKandell.com As well as: www.youtube.com/channel/UCA4BLzufNXxgKGUsLVDTnlQ Follows us at: www.facebook.com/robert.kandell www.instagram.com/robert.kandell/ Join the living unhidden Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/unhidden/

James Carse is the author of Finite and Infinite Games and was a Professor and Director at NYU for 30 years. In his book he discusses the two types of games- “One could be called finite; the other infinite.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end, but infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play.  His book is one you go back to and reread again and again throughout the years. This is a fascinating conversation exploring interesting topics such as teaching, thinking, discovering what drives you and so much more! "The first challenge a teacher has is getting their students to realize what they know—to come to terms with their knowledge, and therefore, know the limits of their knowledge. That's where you begin to think. You don't think about what you know; you think about the edge of what you know."- James Carse  Checkout my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Exclusive opportunities: http://whatgotyouthere.com/sponsors/ MCTco Collagen Protein Bars www.mctco.com 20% off with code “WGYT” Podcast Notes  https://jamescarse.com/wp/  

Much of our world appears to be stuck in antiquated thinking based on scientific materialism and fundamentalist approaches to religionLooking through the lens of quantum physics, however, allows us to look at the world in more healthy, healing and holistic ways… but how do we get there?Paul has discussed quantum physics a great deal on his Living 4D podcast, most recently in his series on the Pain Teacher.This week, Paul talks to world-renowned theoretic quantum physicist, Dr. Amit Goswami, a former professor of physics at the University of Oregon, and Dr. Valentina Onisor about quantum physics and how it can restore morality and healing back to science, in this very special Living 4D episode.Learn more about Amit’s work as a theoretical quantum physicist at amitgoswami.org as well as his Quantum Activism Vishwalayam program in India with Valentina. You can also follow their work via social media on Facebook and Twitter.Show NotesReconciling the divide among scientists about quantum physics. (5:39)Potential oneness. (11:08)Before his involvement with quantum physics, Amit was a staunch materialist. (17:58)How Valentina found her way to medicine, better ways of healing and, eventually, working with Amit. (21:16)How do we get morality back into science? (26:00)Allowing consciousness to thrive within science — as quantum physics compels us to do — opens up new avenues for healing people. (31:42)Consciousness is much more than just our brain. (38:18)The consciousness of plants. (45:49)How scientific materialism is hurting our planet. (49:48)A definition of intuition. (53:08)Archetypes: Fundamental elements of consciousness. (56:26)The importance of myth for our growth, development and survival. (1:01:45)“Any archetype is a journey toward finding its real nature.” (1:06:56)The mental health paradigm is a negative one that needs to change. (1:12:28)ResourcesQuantum Spirituality: The Pursuit of Wholeness by Amit Goswami and Dr. Valentina OnisorPhysics of the Soul by Amit GoswamThe Interpretation of Nature and The Psyche by Wolfgang Pauli and Carl JungThe influence of Carl Jung on the life and work of Wolfgang PauliThe work of Max Planck and Jagadish Chandra Bose and Philip CallahanThe Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanicsStalking The Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanics of Consciousness by Itzhak BentovFinite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James Carse

Have you ever felt frustrated by investing 8-10 hours in reading a book, only to feel its lessons slipping away as each day goes by? Unless you’re Rain Man, I’m pretty sure you can relate. Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books that you “need to read?” I personally have a queue of over 30 books that I’ve already purchased and awaiting my attention. I am not joking. Today’s episode is all about simplifying your unique process for selecting books which books you invest your time in reading…and a few practical techniques to ensure you retain more of the information you absorb. Here to help us do that is Juvoni Beckford. Juvoni is a software engineer at Google, and a disciple of the systems and habit based approach to living an optimal lifestyle. I spent 3 hours in a van with Juvoni on our way to a men’s retreat a few months back… …and when he started talking about his elaborate, and ingenious, process for selecting, reading and retaining 60 books a year…I knew I needed to bring him to you guys. In this Episode: Why you need an intentional process for determining which books you say yes to (a 6-10 hour investment of your time) Why you need what Juvoni calls a “book purgatory” – where potential books go to “meet their judgment day.” Why 1 and 5 star reviews are just noise…and the well-written 3-star reviews hold the biggest clues as to whether you should read the book Why you should know who the author’s “masters and students” are before reading the book How you should look at book authors as access to mentors Why these two factors are critical to your ability to retain information: 1) Medium: Hard copy, Kindle or Audiobook 2) Context: On the train, in bed, listening at the gym etc RESOURCES Juvoni’s 6 Books on Life Children of Time by Adrian Tchiaskovsky (listen on Audible) The One Thing by Gary Keller (read in print) Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (read in print) Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian (read on Kindle or eBook) Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows (read in print) Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse (read on Kindle or eBook) Juvoni’s book reviews: https://Juvoni.com/books Juvoni on Goodreads: Juvoni’s Book List on Goodreads Juvoni’s Blog: https://juvoni.com Juvoni on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juvoni    

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Some of the best teachers you’ll ever have are the ones who won’t answer your questions right away or at all. The great ones will put the onus back on you to fill in the blanks for yourself.This week’s Living 4D conversation is a special meeting of wise teachers, as Paul discusses games, GOD and myth with James Carse, Professor Emeritus of history and religion and former Director of Religious Studies at New York University.Learn more about James, his career and the books he’s written, including the amazing Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility, on his website.Show NotesFor most people, belief is where their thinking stops, unless they possess a deep spiritual curiosity. (8:35)James’ primary challenges as a teacher: Showing his students how ignorant they were about the world while enlarging their sense of mystery. (11:17)The counterintuitive nature of playing games. (23:48)Words have no meaning until/unless you respond to them. (29:42)Deep, difficult intellectual work and everyday physical labor are different forms of play. (36:27)The differences between finite and infinite play. (42:41)“The horizon is a metaphor for the edge of our consciousness that we can’t reach.” (52:46)The overlapping of religions. (59:31)At the center of religion may be an infinite game. (1:03:06)Are finite games essential tools for the development of consciousness, awareness and knowledge? (1:11:58)The differences between political and politics. (1:23:22)“To be the genius of all that we do means to be ultimately responsible for everything we do, by choice.” (1:27:34)James’ definition of the soul. (1:36:06)Why are boundaries so important in a game? (1:40:45)Freud was a bad scientist, but a better mythologist who told stories that made us look at our lives very differently. (1:53:22)“A true myth is, not only, a story that will lead to an infinite number of other stories. It’s a story that creates storytellers as well as explanations.” (1:56:46)“It’s one thing to tell a story that will silence you. It’s another thing to present a silence that will cause you to tell a story.” (2:05:44)ResourcesThe Religious Case Against Belief and Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience by James CarseThe work of Luke Timothy Johnson and Ludwig WittgensteinTractatus Logico-Philosophicus and The Blue and Brown Books by Ludwig WittgensteinThe Field: The Quest For The Secret Force in the Universe by Lynne McTaggartMetaphysical Bible Dictionary by Charles FillmoreSwamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places by Dr. James Hollis

Today we discuss why we need to have a beginner's mind. Books mentioned: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse: https://amzn.to/2KFZfv9 http://michellespiva.com/Amz-JamesCarse-FiniteInfiniteGames The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene: https://amzn.to/36WhYLm http://michellespiva.com/Amz-RobertGreene-33Strategies Don't forget to use our Amazon link to support the podcast by using our Amazon Shopping link! http://MichelleSpiva.com/Amz To send a message to the show: https://anchor.fm/michelle-spiva/message For Interviews, sponsorship, or coaching/consulting, please send inquires to: MichelleSpiva at gmail dot com (no solicitation-spam; *You do not have permission to add this email to any email list or autoresponder without knowledge or consent) _____________________________ Further support this podcast, please do so by using any of these methods: All your Amazon shopping: http://michellespiva.com/Amz Venmo: @MichelleSpiva1 CashApp: $MichelleSpiva PayPal: http://bit.ly/Donate2Michelle Patreon: https://Patreon.com/MichelleSpiva Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, rate, and review. Follow Michelle here: Facebook: facebook.com/FollowMichelleSpiva Twitter: @mspiva IG: @MichelleSpiva Find out more about Michelle's alter-ego fiction writer side: Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2lIP6Om Facebook: facebook.com/MychalDanielsAuthor Twitter: @mychaldaniels IG: @MychalDaniels Website: MychalDaniels.com/connect --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/michelle-spiva/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/michelle-spiva/support

On this week’s episode of Carry the Fire, Author and Professor, Dr. James P. Carse joins us. Dr. Carse does not consider himself a religious person per se. But, he is the author of numerous books on religious topics and he taught religious history and literature for 30 years at NYU. His widely read book, Finite and Infinite Games, came out in 1987 and is having a recent resurgence in influence. In our conversation, we talk about mysticism in various traditions, Dr. Carse's framing of what he calls systems of inquiry vs systems of belief, and he shares the way his observations of cooperative play have influenced his general philosophy of life. This episode may be on the heady end of the scale, but there is a lot in this episode that everyone can grab onto. FEATURED LINKS Dr. James Carse Website Buy Finite and Infinite Games SHOW LINKS Carry the Fire Podcast Website Instagram Twitter Support on Patreon Produced by Andy Lara at www.andylikeswords.com

This week Shakka & Ben talk about how the myth that there's not enough can sabotage you & how to defeat it! There's a lot of fear & scarcity thinking in the content creation world, this can lead to believing the myth that the world of a content creator is run by a "Zero Sum Game", where for you to win, someone else must loose, this is just not true. Let's discuss! Show Notes: Book - Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713 Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators: https://teenage.engineering/products/po

This week’s podcast (12 minutes) is on a crucial difference, between planning to start, and planning to finish.We talk a lot about the difference between more and less planning, on the spectrum between full waterfall and full agile, and like most of you, I share a bias towards less planning. It is a difference that goes beyond software. In novel writing, for example, people talk of a difference between plotters and pantsers, people who work out detailed plots versus those who make up a story by the seat of their pants.Plotting increases the probability that you’ll stick the landing in a satisfying way, but pantsing increases the chances of the activity having a liveness to it, a narrative vitality. That’s the real tradeoff gestured at by waterfall/agile conversations.Over the years I’ve realized that a different distinction, within planning, is probably much more important: between planning to start, and planning to finish.Planning to finish is the familiar kind, where you plan all the way to the end and the terminal condition is the completed state of the activity. The finish line, the deadline, the checkered flag.Planning to start though, is the more important kind for any creative work. The French phrase mise en place, a favorite of Hercule Poirot, gets at this. It roughly means “setting the stage”, especially with reference to cooking preparations.When you plan to start, you get to the starting line rather than the finishing line, by setting the stage for a more creative, improvised phase. You can call it getting to the starting line, or as I prefer, by analogy to deadline, the lifeline. A condition where a zombie set of parts is assembled together in a way that makes it come alive.The difference relates to what Scott Adams called the difference between systems and goals. When you plan to start, you undertake planned activities to end in a functioning system where habits can flow. Another connection familiar to many of you is to James Carse’s notion of finite versus infinite games. Planning to finish is playing a finite game to win it and exit it. Planning to start is working to enter an infinite game and continue playing it.Whatever you choose to call it, you should probably spend more time thinking about this difference than about how much planning to do, which is often a much simpler question. Get full access to Breaking Smart at breakingsmart.substack.com/subscribe

My guest on this episode is Andy Ellis, a managing partner of Localize Capital in Pittsburgh which, as the name suggests, focuses on investing in companies and entrepreneurs around the Pittsburgh area. Little known fact about me, I used to live in Pittsburgh as a young kid and was extra excited for this conversation because of that. Andy grew up in Pittsburgh, worked in Southern California, and eventually moved back to Pittsburgh to help form Localize. Andy and I talk extensively about the structure of Localize and how they choose to invest in companies over a very long term, with a core idea being to look for owners who think not just in years, but generations. You may have heard of the concept of finite and infinite games, a concept written about by author James Carse. A finite game has known players, a beginning and end, and set rules, whereas infinite games have known and unknown players, no end, evolving rules, and the goal is to perpetuate the game. If this concept sounds interesting, this conversation is for you as we discuss this concept in the context of private equity and entrepreneurship. Please enjoy the episode.   Links Mentioned Localize Capital Bryan Materials Group Finite and Infinite Games

This series was first broadcast in the spring of 2012, my last year at Ideas. Since then these shows have been available through the Ideas website. I learned this week that they no longer are, so I am now making them available here. In my original plan these programs were to form one big series with the seven episodes of The Myth of The Secular which I have already posted. They were broken apart only for convenience in scheduling, and because these five seemed sufficiently similar in theme to be able to stand together on their own.What was on my mind, broadly speaking, at the time they went to air, was the so-called “return of religion” - a figure which I thought described a resurgence of religion in philosophy, as much as in politics. In politics this movement is sometimes traced back to the years around 1980. Fundamentalist Christians played a crucial role in the rise of Ronald Reagan in the United States, producing what political theorist William Connolly called “the evangelical-capitalist resonance machine.” In Iran a theocratic revolution replaced the secular government of the Shah with a regime in which the Ayatollah Khomeini became the Supreme Leader. The prediction of an earlier generation of sociologists that religion would soon drown in a rising tide of secularization had failed - and quite spectacularly. In philosophy, the “linguistic turn” had led to widespread acceptance of the idea that our knowledge has no absolutely secure and unassailable foundation. Faith was suddenly something that philosophy and theology have in common, rather than what sets them apart. Parisian philosophers began writing in praise of the apostle Paul as a paragon of committed knowledge.Religion’s restored prominence produced a backlash from the defenders of science and enlightenment. The so-called “new atheists” appeared. “God is not great,” sputtered Christopher Hitchens. Religion is childish, incoherent nonsense, said biologist Richard Dawkins. I found this response obtuse, but not because I wanted to speak for some unreconstructed revenant called religion. I thought rather that there was new ground to be mapped - a new and perhaps unprecedented religious situation to be investigated. Philosopher Richard Kearney, who leads off this series, had then just published a book called Anatheism: Returning to God after God. His new word, anatheism, gave a name to the condition I was interested in exploring - one that was neither theistic nor atheistic in the older sense of these terms. (The God Who May Be, an earlier series in which I first introduced Kearney on Ideas is also available on this site.) The other thinkers in the series echo Kearney - John Caputo speaks of “religion after religion” in much the same sense as Kearney speaks of “God after God.” James Carse makes the case that “belief” is not definitive of religion. Roger Lundin, adapting a phrase of W.H. Auden’s, speaks of “believing again” as something fundamentally different than naive first belief. William Cavanaugh, who had then just published a collection called Migrations of the Holy, argues that the main site of “religion” in our world is not the church but the state. These five comprise the line-up of the series in the following order:Program One - Richard KearneyProgram Two - John CaputoProgram Three - William CavanaughProgram Four - James CarseProgram Five - Roger Lundin

In his essay "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," Nietzsche attacks the notion that humans are totally determined by the historical forces that shape their physical and mental environment. Where other philosophers like Plato saw virtue in remembering eternal truths that earthly existence had wiped from our memories, Nietzsche extolled the virtues of forgetting, of becoming "untimely" and creating a zone where something new could arise. For Nietzsche, history was useful only if it served Life. Because we live in an age which constantly reifies history (through movies, news, social media, etc.) while also tricking us into thinking we somehow exist outside of history, the essay remains as relevant today as it was when Nietzsche wrote it a century and a half ago. REFERENCES Nietzsche, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" in [Untimely Meditations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UntimelyMeditations)_ Epic Rap Battles of History: Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N_RO-jL-90) Ernest Newman, Life of Wagner (https://www.amazon.com/Life-Wagner-Volumes-Ernest-Newman/dp/0521291496) Alexander Nehamas, [Nietzsche: Life as Literature](https://www.amazon.com/Nietzsche-Life-Literature-Alexander-Nehamas/dp/0674624262/ref=sr11?keywords=Nietzsche%3A+Life+as+Literature&qid=1560911442&s=books&sr=1-1) Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25457/25457-pdf.pdf) Michael Foucault, "What is Englightenment?" (https://leap.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2017/01/Foucault-What-is-enlightenment.pdf) Antinatalism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinatalism) Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1998/1998-h/1998-h.htm) James Carse, [Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FiniteandInfiniteGames)_ P. J. O’Rourke (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._O%27Rourke), American writer Richard Pryor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pryor), American comedian

In today's podcast, Michelle explores what's going on in the minds of those you interact with. Listen in as she outlines a plan to discover what others are thinking and what they'll do as a result. Books Mentioned: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse: http://michellespiva.com/Amz-JamesCarse-FiniteInfiniteGames A Spy's Guide to Thinking by John Braddock: http://michellespiva.com/Amz-JohnBraddock-SpyThinking A Spy's Guide to Strategy by John Braddock: http://michellespiva.com/Amz-JohnBraddock-SpyStrategy Don't forget to use our Amazon link to support the podcast! http://MichelleSpiva.com/Amz _____________________________ Further support this podcast, please do so by using any of these methods: All your Amazon shopping: http://michellespiva.com/Amz Venmo: @MichelleSpiva1 CashApp: $MichelleSpiva PayPal: http://bit.ly/Donate2Michelle Patreon: https://Patreon.com/MichelleSpiva Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, rate, and review. Follow Michelle here: Facebook: facebook.com/FollowMichelleSpiva Twitter: @mspiva IG: @MichelleSpiva --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/michelle-spiva/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/michelle-spiva/support

Peter explores with author James Carse. http://jamescarse.com/

  Design means change and change means loss of the old. Even if a new design is better in every way, there is no design so perfect that you can “flip a switch” and step into the new instantaneously. Change takes time. And in that space between the old and the new there is a sense of loss. I've been doing my own work around trauma and healing it, and I couldn't agree with more with Bree Groff's sentiment that “Sometimes you have to step into the darkness with people” in order to heal things. Don't fear the pain and loss, anticipate it, embrace it, design for it. Today's episode features Bree Groff, who at the time of the recording was transitioning from CEO of Nobl, an organizational change consultancy to Principal at SY Partners, a transformation agency based in NYC and SF. Our conversation focused on a few key ideas around organizational design. Design, in the end always seems to require deep empathy and co-creation for it to be a success. Bree points out that the conversation about Org design should include as many people as possible, in order to make the change process as co-creative as possible. If you haven't checked out the IAP2 spectrum, I'll link to that in the notes. Bree has identified six key types of loss to consider when designing organizational change:  Loss of Control Loss of Pride Loss of Narrative Loss of Time Loss of Competence Loss of Familiarity I really love this framework to help focus our attention on the key needs of people we're designing change for. I highly recommend you also check out Krista Tippet's interview with Pauline Boss on ambiguous loss to learn more about loss and how to process it. I'll link to it in the show notes. I'm also really excited to be working with Bree on a special project: She'll be joining the Innovation Leadership Accelerator as a guest mentor. The ILA is a 12 week intensive workshop and coaching experience to help you grow as an organizational leader. I'll link to the application in the notes as well.   Enjoy the show! Bree's Website br.ee finite and infinite games by James Carse https://jamescarse.com/wp/?page_id=61 “anyone who must play cannot play” The IAP2 Spectrum of Power in Collaboration https://www.iap2.org/ On feedback:  Adam Connor & Adam Irizarry Designing a Culture of Critique http://theconversationfactory.com/podcast/2018/9/2/culture-of-critique Being Soft on the People and Hard on the Problem (in negotiations and in life) Robert Bordone on turning negotiations into conversations http://theconversationfactory.com/podcast/2017/9/27/robert-bordone-can-transform-negotiations-into-conversations Krista Tippet on Ambiguous Loss https://onbeing.org/programs/pauline-boss-the-myth-of-closure-dec2018/ The Innovation Leadership Accelerator http://theconversationfactory.com/innovation-leadership-accelerator

We all need money to run the nonprofit that we lead, however many of us are timid when it comes to asking donors for funding. Clay will help to shift that paradigm in today's interview. He will teach the skills he shares with top business executives on closing sales so that we, as nonprofit leaders can approach donors with confidence. Clay Neves, is Owner of Personal Sales Dynamics, a consulting and coaching firm that empowers small business owners to attract, engage, convert and retain the variety of business relationships their businesses need to survive and thrive.  He has over 33 years of sales management, VP of Sales, and Chamber of Commerce Executive experience, working with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike, Clay  has consistently multiplied sales results using the variety of prosperity relationships.  In fact, he increased sales for one multi-million dollar post-secondary vocational training school by almost 900% in just 3.5 years, resulting in an Inc. 500 award for that company.  He conducts monthly networking clinics for several Chambers of Commerce. He also serves as Club President for CEO Space International Utah Chapter.  He is a master wordsmith in business and personal life, and is a student of language and words and an avid writer of prose and poetry.  His book, A Wealth of Friends, 7 Essential Relationships Your Business Needs to Survive and Thrive is schedule for release the end of May.  He lives in the Salt Lake City area with his wife of 32 years. More about Clay Neves at http://personalsalesdynamics.com   Here's the Transcript for the Interview Hugh Ballou: Welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. We are going to talk about a delicate subject today. It's money. I hear money come up a lot. People want to raise money for their enterprise but are bound up with the words or the fear of asking for money or the fear of rejection, or maybe we don't think we should be asking for money because we positioned it wrong in our brains. Russell, we're back together again. It's Tuesday at 2, and we are broadcasting live. How are you? Russell Dennis: It's a beautiful day out here in Denver. All is well. Yes, this is a great subject because the reality with money is that everybody has a relationship with it. Your personal relationship could impact your work, so we'll talk about that today. Hugh: I met this gentleman recently. I watched his program on one of the learning platforms, and it's a really well-done program. We had a chat just a couple weeks ago at CEO Space, and I got to know Clay. We spoke last week and learned more. I said, “Why don't you come on and talk about this topic to nonprofit leaders?” We hit the wall when it comes to having the conversation about money. Let's introduce Clay Neves. Clay is our guest today. Welcome to The Nonprofit Exchange. Clay Neves: It's good to be here. Hugh: Tell people a little bit about yourself and your background and why you're doing this. Clay: I started out in sales at the ripe old age of 12. My mom bought me a suit, thought it might be good for me to learn how to sell. She bought me How to Win Friends and Influence People. I read it. She taught me four things on how to contact people. It's probably the most important sales training I've had in my entire life. Basically, eye to eye contact, then smile, then shake, then, “Hello, my name is Clay. What's yours?” then ask them a question. Keep asking them questions about themselves. People love to talk about themselves. Go forth and sell these greeting cards. And I did. I had various sales jobs. When I was about 27, because I was finishing up my college work a little older, I got a job as a business to business telemarketer selling long-distance calling plans. Only the old people remember that. Long-distance numbers, we had to dial in the number and then connect to it, and then we could dial the number we wanted to dial, and then we had to put in another code. It was ridiculous. Anyway, I was amazing at that. About a week in, because it was a big project and they had to hire about anybody who could breathe, they promoted me to supervisor. I had ten, anywhere from about 18-23-year-old, women, most had no sales experience whatsoever. They had a handset to. Call on, and I had a monitoring phone with a handset. This started naturally, but it became systematized that as I was listening to their call, they would miss these opportunities that they would think were objections. I'd go over and whisper in their ear what to say, and it would turn the conversation around. I'd only have to do that a few times before they got the feel for it themselves. The timing of answering an objection, what to say, how to say it, to use the analogy of a tennis game, to keep the tennis ball going back over the net. All you need to do is hit the ball one more time over the net than they do, and you get the sale, right? Anyway, we were the top team every week. I ended up managing that entire program including instituting a statistical quality control program where we could statistically score the presentations. As I listened to hundreds and thousands of these calls, I built up over time an instinct in terms of what keeps the conversation going and what shuts down the conversation. With each script accordingly, put it back on the floor, listen and test and measure statistically again. This is program after program. I opened a call center for the company. I ran that for the company. It wasn't very much longer before I was managing these five outbound, mostly business to business call centers. I picked that up. I have done a lot of inside sales, but I have also done key account selling to major corporations like Citibank and AT&T. I had a great set of clients that I managed on the east coast as a business account executive for a national company, as well as experience as a chamber of commerce president. That gave me some insight into the nonprofit world. The way that they were selling memberships and donations was terrible. I think a lot of that will apply. We may talk about that and how it applies to a nonprofit. We focus on that word “nonprofit” to the exclusion of the word that follows it. Nonprofit business. Right? Sales is still a very important part of any nonprofit business, at least that's what I see. Hugh: Oh, yes.   Clay: I also was hired by a company to take their seminar marketing channel. We took that from about 300,000 to about 3.5 million in about three years. We also earned an Inc. 500 award along the way. That was an amazing experience. But these principles of sales growth I think are universal. 33 years of sales management experience, there is not a lot of sales situations I haven't seen. There is not a lot of sales problems I haven't coached salespeople through. There is not a lot of deals gone sideways. You see patterns. There is a handful of things that you can correct as you start to categorize them and understand what's at the heart of the problem. That's a little bit about my background. Been heavy into networking and building business by building these relationships and partnerships and leveraging relationships I already have to bring new sales relationships. Been doing that very well. Of course, as a chamber of commerce president, that was my stock and trade. That's why I'm here. Hugh: Love it. Let me reframe what you just said. We, meaning Russ and I and those of us at SynerVision Leadership Foundation, spend a lot of effort working with people to understand why this so-called nonprofit (by the way, that is the only organization that I know of that constantly defines itself by what it's not), we describe ourselves by what it's not, but really, we are a tax-exempt business. There are strict rules about what happens with that money flow. We have hit on a crucial point. We need to install good, sound business principles into this charity we run. I think we all melt down when we are raising equity money or a business, trying to pitch a new product. It's not our thing, we think. What's the biggest challenge with people selling- We are selling an event we are doing, we are selling a sponsorship, we are selling donors or grant-makers on why they should fund an initiative. What do you find is the biggest hang-up with anybody, but most especially those running this tax-exempt charity we were talking about? Clay: The biggest thing I see in nonprofits is we are so utterly convinced that our donors, our sponsors are the ones that are doing us the favor, that the value is only flowing one way. In a sense, it's not selling, it's more begging. It feels like that sometimes, you know? But if you go from the assumption that doggone it, this sponsorship has value, you start to look at it from the aspect that what I have to offer solves a problem, not only for the people my charity serves, but for my sponsors. What is that problem that sponsors have that make them pay money for a sponsorship? Well, the best way to do that is ask your best sponsors. What are they getting out of this? Why do they spend the money? What problem does it solve for them? When I first took over the chamber of commerce, we had a sales guy that would go out and basically shame people into joining the chamber of commerce because the chamber of commerce did so much good in advocating business interests within this city. They should be part of that. You can see why membership was lacking. I turned it around and said, “Why would a business owner pay money to become a member of the chamber of commerce? What are we doing for them?” The question was turned around. Not why aren't you a member of the chamber that does so much good for businesses in general, but the question then became: What are you trying to accomplish in the Murray City area? Tell me what you are trying to get to here. Who do you need to connect with? What do you need to put out there? What constituencies do you want to be more exposed to? What do you want to accomplish here? We talk about their business objectives. In that, we found several ways that chamber membership could help them meet their objectives, could solve problems. We had to begin the discussion in terms of what do they want their business to be, what are their goals and objectives? Once you speak to your biggest donors and sponsors, you will find the problems that you solve for them. Then as you approach potential sponsors and potential donors, the questions that you ask evolve around those potential problems. You can ask them in what I call “Have you ever” form. “Have you ever wanted to be more connected in the community? Have you ever thought that it's not just about making money, but it's about giving money away so that you can save money on taxes, too? Just talk about it from their interest rather than the interest of the nonprofit first. Now, that being said, what nonprofits offer is also a huge psychological and emotional value exchange. People want to give back. We want to talk about how they feel about that and what some of their objectives are. What criteria do they have in terms of giving and sponsoring? What availability do they have as far as time and money? These kinds of questions are coming in and exploring a little bit where they are. I spent two years on an LDS mission in Japan. Basically, what I was doing there was trying to persuade people about an anthropomorphic god to a culture that believes in a very mystical, pantheistic concept of God. I had to start from where they were. I had to start from their understanding of the word we used for God. A word that might not have had the same meaning to me that it had to them. I had to start with their meaning. We have to come at them from their interest, from their language, just like in any sales situation. But we should not be coming at it from the aspect that we have nothing to offer them, that there is nothing they get out of this sponsorship, and they are just doing it out of the kindness of their heart, and that's it. We are doing as much of a favor for them as they are for us. That is why it is a value for value exchange. Does that make sense, or am I just rambling here? I never know. My wife says, “All right, Clay, we get it.” Hugh: I am going to go to Russell. Russell comes up with this topic often. Not only in raising money, he is an expert at creating value propositions and attracting money, but also in recruiting board members. Russ, talk a little bit about the conversation is like in finding out what they are looking for. Russell: I am glad there is people out there that embrace that dreaded “v” word. When you get in nonprofit circles, it's a word that nobody utters. I went to an event put on by a chamber of commerce where they actually had nonprofits pitch what they were doing. At the first annual event we had zero out of 12 nonprofits mention the word “value.” Value is what you bring to the table. Values are what drives you, what is at the root of everything you do. It's very important to look at values as well as value. That by the way, I have four steps to building a high-performance nonprofit. Step four is clearly communicating the value you bring. You have to do that in language that resonates with the person you are talking to. It could be a board member, a volunteer, an advisor, people getting your services. Value is in the ear of the beholder. You are talking to them about how you solve their problem, and everybody has a different thing they are interested in. It's finding that. Part of that is being clear about who you are. Communicating that in terms that are meaningful to them so that they see you as somebody that can help them. You are offering a partnership. We are partnering and collaborating to solve this problem. It's not a hat and hand process. Nobody gets any training on any of this. We are all selling. We are solving problems, but somehow this notion of selling makes us feel like used car salespeople, not that they are unethical. I know a couple of folks here. There is a young lady by the name of Lisa Malick, a good friend of mine, his wife. I know a young salesman here in the Denver area, a six-figure salesman, Aaron Cabot, my godson. He and Lisa could sell shoes to a man or woman with no feet. It all seems like it's a mystical, magical skill, but it sounds like it's something, too, that could be taught. I think our relationship with money has an impact on how we approach sales. What has been your experience with that kind of dynamic? How does that impact you? Clay: I said it a little differently, but it's music to my ears when you said value is in the ear of the beholder. I teach that value only exists in one place, and that is behind the eyes and between the ears of the perspective relationship that you are trying to form. And only there is the value of what we're offering found. It has nothing to do with the price of what we're offering, other than the fact that the value had better be greater than the price or you're going nowhere. How do you establish value? Are we conversant in the language of the donor or the sponsor who are often coming at it from a “business” decision? The good news is there is no such thing as a business decision. Every decision a businessperson makes is for personal reasons. They may couch it in a business decision, but if a decision is made, it's for a personal reason. Either they think it will help their situation, help them look good, or help them look better to whomever it is they need to look better to. It may be something that's important to them intrinsically, a value they have that this will really help and they have established a certain level of contribution or donorship that they either can or want to put toward that value to be seen as a good person, or to have exposure, whatever their motive. Their motive might not always be altruistic. It may be flat “I need a tax exemption, a tax deduction, and if I can make myself look good and get exposure in the community at the same time, well, heck, why not?” We need to know what that is. It comes down to asking the right questions in the right sequence so that it's absolutely not a presentation, but a conversation. I try to teach my clients we don't have sales presentations; we have sales conversations. We ask questions conversationally. We don't get into survey mode. We don't get into interrogation mode. It's a conversation. There are conditioned responses that we have. As we get into conversations, questions are one of the strongest conditioned responses. We're asked a question; we just have a conditioned response we need to answer. If we understand the question, if we know the answer to the question, and if the question is easy enough, we will answer it without thinking. In building questioning sequences, we make it so easy for them to answer the questions that they do it without really thinking. We can get to their true thinking that way. Does that make sense? Hugh: Can you give us an example of one of those sequences? Clay: Here is a typical sales question, and we may put it into multiple- We come into the office, and we sit down with the person, and we say something to this effect, “We are here to save the whales. We think whales are really, really important to our ecology and the health of the planet. We need your help, so how much would you like to give today?” That is our sales question. Either that, or we get into it, and it's such a complex question. What do you think is the best reason to give for altruistic reasons or tax savings? What is it that you have done in the past? We ask about five or six questions before we let them answer it and they are so confused about what we want to know so they don't answer. But if we go in with a more natural conversation, or even personal style, like if we would if we met somebody at a cocktail party or a birthday party for a cousin or a family reunion or a new cousin-in-law. What do we do? We introduce ourselves, and then we ask them something very easy about themselves, “What do you do, John?” “Oh, really, how long have you been there?” We build question on question on the answer they gave us. We go down that path a little way, asking subsequent questions that clarify the answers they gave us to the original question until we understand that. Then we can change the subject with another question. We might ask the first few questions about what they do. Then we might ask, “Where are you from?” Then we ask a couple of questions about their answer to that. “Oh, I'm from Boise, Idaho.” “Oh really, Boise? Were you born there then?” “No, I was born in Salt Lake City.” “How did you get to Boise?” We might ask a couple of questions that way. As we are doing this little dance of reflective questions and getting the responses, we are so accustomed to giving when we are first introduced to somebody. We are building a foundation of common ground, of trust. We can then escalate those questions incrementally until we can get into some really serious questions that they feel okay answering for us. For example, “John, have you ever been a donor before? Have you ever sponsored some charity before? How did that work out for you? Was it a good experience? If not, why? What went wrong, do you think? Do you have any value or intention of looking at sponsoring or donating to nonprofits in the future? If so, what criteria might you use? What causes are important to you? What ones do you tend to align yourself with or align themselves to your values? Which ones are you most interested in?” We start to build a profile of how he gives. “When you give, what was the reason beyond the fact that you wanted to contribute to a worthy cause? What else did you feel you got out of that? Or that you wanted to get out of that?” If we have done our homework and spoken to our best donors and to our best sponsors, and we see a pattern as we talk to ten or twenty of them as to these deep-seated reasons they give, the ones that go beyond their true altruism, we can be ready for a really meaningful discussion. For example, we can ask questions when we get their trust about their tax situation. “What does your tax situation look like this year, John? Are you concerned? Has it been a great year for you and you have a lot more profitability? Do you want to get something out of that other than just giving it to the IRS this year? Tell me about your tax philosophy this year. What's going on with your business?” We get them to talk about these reasons that we are aware of because we have done our homework talking with our best donors, the ones we want to duplicate, and we can then craft our conversation around the value that our best donors receive so that donors and sponsors like them will be attracted by them. It will be their language. It will be familiar to them. Does that make sense? Hugh: I love it. There are a couple of things that are underneath what you're talking about. One of the most common problems that Russell and I see when we interact with these organizations, either clergy or nonprofit executive directors, is burn-out. We are talking to these people now, these executive directors or clergy, and we are telling them this is what they need to do. There is another piece of this. We burned out because we over-function. We are doing things that could be delegated. We can blame the board for making us do things or not do things. It's our fault because we are doing things for them that they should be doing. This is a two-prong question. What advice do you have for these leaders that are listening to this? What can they do to then teach their stakeholders, which would include board members, staff, others, to make presentations and be part of that? What does it say on your shirt? I know you have a good program that people can walk through and learn. We are not here to sell stuff, but it's an awesome program that I think would get people a good leg up on us. So tell people what's on your shirt and how people can find that. This is a very tricky topic that we all get stuck in. Clay: You mean my spaghetti stain right there? Just kidding. Hugh: Right there on your shirt. Clay: That's my logo: Personal Sales Dynamics. I call it Personal Sales Dynamics because my mission is to put the personal back in sales. When we form relationships on a personal level, we almost always do it better than we do when we are doing it on a business level. It's natural to us. Somehow we get it right. We are able to make friends. We don't feel unnatural about it like we are pushing ourselves on somebody. If you are selling like you are pushing yourself on people, you are not selling the most effective way. Just like when I met my wife, I didn't go up to her and say, “Hey, what are you doing next Friday night? I have a chapel set aside in Las Vegas.” I asked her to dance. Then, would you like another dance? Would you like to go to lunch? Would you like to get ice cream? Would you like to go to dinner? Then she invites me over to her place for dinner. Then we keep going out. Pretty soon, we fall in love. Then I reach a point where I want to trust her with everything I am and everything I have, and 32 years later we are still happily married. But I didn't get there overnight. The best business relationships are built incrementally, too. We can speed that up. We can make it more effective. We can systematize it so that we can get there the most sure and quick way we can. But we don't want to cross the line of putting too much out there, much more than they want, at any given stage so that we push them away. Does that make sense? Sales isn't about pushing; it's about sucking. I mean that by creating a vacuum if they are interested in what you are saying, they will be sucked into it. Hugh: That's not what I mean when I say I suck at sales. Clay: In the way I am talking about it, that's a good thing. I have seen people that suck at sales the other way, too. It's usually because they are pushing, not sucking. It's not being a milquetoast by the way. It's not asserting yourself into the conversation. It's doing it in such a way that you're inviting them to self-qualify. In other words, there is a lot of talk in sales about how you have to be good at qualifying your potential clients. No, I am terrible at it. I have never going to be as good as qualifying potential customers as they are in qualifying themselves. I just have to give them the opportunities to do that. What opportunities can you give them at a little level to see how interested they are? It's one of the reasons that a lot of my business is based on free stuff at the beginning. Would you like four chapters of my book for free? I know that if they don't take that, if they are not interested in four chapters of my book for free, I'm wasting my time talking to them about buying a whole book, or engaging in me for a 13-week 1:1 coaching regimen. If they qualify for that, ah, okay, I follow up after they have read it, “Have you read it?” “No, I haven't.” “Oh, okay, I thought that was interesting to you.” “Oh, it is. I have just been busy.” “Do you still intend to read it?” “Sure.” “Let me call you next week and see what you think. That would be helpful if you could give me some feedback. Do you think you could do that? If I called you next week.” “Sure.” I call them back in another week and they still haven't read it. What am I learning? They haven't continued to self-qualify. I found the extent of their interest. But if after the first week I call them and they go, “That was awesome. I want the whole book.” “That's great, here is a link to order it. You might also be interested in some of my online training. Let me hook you up on a couple free videos and see how those work out for you. Sound good?” “Oh great. I can't wait to get the link.” He gets the book and the link, and I follow up in another couple of weeks. He goes, “When can I get some more videos? That was awesome.” But if he says, “I'm sorry. I've been so busy. I haven't had the chance to do that.” I call two weeks later and same thing. What does that tell me? When I do a free seminar, what does it tell me when somebody hasn't given me their money but they have given me their time? That says a lot. They have self-qualified. What can we put into our recruitment process for donors, for board members, for whatever? Give them an opportunity, an invitation. If they are interested at all, they will step toward you. Then what is the next step? What is the next step of invitation? If you have asked the right questions that heighten and help them understand they are interested, this is a value to them. they will keep stepping forward. Sometimes we just ask far too much too soon. That I think is one of the biggest downfalls in selling is that lack of sensitivity of what they are ready to commit to. When I take on a partner, they want to go big and get excited about taking it to Vegas, I'm like, “Look, why don't we try one client back and forth and see how that works and see how we like working with each other? I would propose our next step be I'll refer a client to you and you work with them, you refer one of yours to me and I'll work with them. After we're done, let's reconvene and see how that worked out. I would really love to expand this. I want to make sure we understand the best ways to work together. Don't you think the best way to do that is to start with the first step?” I don't like to say something small. I like to work it out on a small scale before we expand it. Think big, start small, test, test, test, test, validate, duplicate, accelerate. Hugh: Another way of saying that is you can do one in a row. Russell, what's cooking in that brain of yours? What are you hearing? Do you have a question for our guest? Russell: This is all great stuff. Relationships are what it's all about, and everything is personal. It's a courtship. This is one thing that is pretty commonly overlooked, like in the grant space for example. There are a lot of private foundations out there, and a lot of people will go out there cold and send a proposal to a private foundation. The better path is to pick up the phone and ask for a few minutes with one of the program officers after you have looked through their material and done some homework to see, Okay, let's look at what they funded last year, what they say their priorities are because when you ask that program officer for that 10 or 15 minutes, you want to find out what's not on the requirements page. Dig a little deeper and ask them some questions. You might even have a project in mind as you are asking the questions. You mention that program, “Does this sound like it would fit with your priorities?” If they say yes, “Oh, would it be okay for me to send a proposal?” Even though they are open, you are asking. What you are doing is checking where what it is you want to do fits with their priorities. It's really all about finding their priorities, and that takes some time and patience. But it's well worth the effort because finding out what a good project looks like for these folks will save you a lot of time and aggravation, and it will save them a lot of time and aggravation. That time could be put to a better purpose. For relationships, there are some essential relationships that a business would need. What are some essential relationships that a nonprofit would need? Clay: Is that a question? Russell: Yes, sir. Clay: I think the relationships are very much the same. We just have different names for them with the nonprofit. We have customers and clients. Depending on the nonprofit, they may term those different ways. In some nonprofits, the people being served are sometimes called clients. I am on the board of a nonprofit that works with people getting out of incarceration, particularly for drug-related offenses. We get them jobs, and they actually pay a lot of their way. We call them clients. But we also have donors and sponsors, which a business would call customers or clients. They are the ones that give the money in, right? We have vendors. We have people we buy stuff from, much like a business because we are a business. We need partners. We need referral partners, affiliate partners. We need financial partners, just like a business does. Banks, credit unions, financial institutions, as well as investors, which could be something different than donor in the nonprofit world. But the relationships all revolve around four things, which are the cornerstones of all relationships, whether you are in business or personal relationships, nonprofit or for-profit. First, there has to be a common ground of mutual interest. Something has got to be important to both people, both parties. They share that value. They share that interest. Second comes mutual trust. Without that trust, there is nothing. One of the best ways of teaching people they can trust you is this instinct that you need to build in terms of how much of you they want to take at any given time. We trust those boundaries. They feel they can trust us with those boundaries. As the relationship grows, they relax those boundaries or expand those boundaries, and the relationships grows. Interest, trust. Third is mutual respect. For the relationship to continue to grow, there has got to be that respect for each other, which goes beyond just liking each other or having something in common. You admire the other person to a certain extent. Lastly, a value for value exchange. If I am not giving value in a relationship, and the other person is, two things will happen. One of two things, or maybe both sequentially. Either they will cut back the value they are giving to me, or the priority of giving me value, or they will stop giving me value altogether and the relationship will either go dormant, or if it is so egregiously uneven and so adamantly by one party I'm not going to participate in giving you value but I expect value from you, that may be damaged irreparably. We have relationships all the time where we like the person, but events have separated us a little bit. We meet them a year or two down the road, and it's like no time has gone by. That flame restarts immediately if those other three things were there: the respect, the trust, and the common interest. If we still have that common interest, it can be renovated very quickly. Those are the things that really are at the foundation. Are we building a long-term relationship? For example, I do this in my book and on my tapes, I talk about the difference between what I call a finite relationship and an infinite relationship. I got this from a book by a man named James Carse,Finite and Infinite Games: Life is Play and Possibility. In that, he talks about how we play two kinds of games. Finite games are those games which we play to bring to an end with a winner and a loser. But the whole purpose is to end the game once we start playing. Infinite games are different. They are engaged in, and the whole purpose of the game is, to continue play. As long as people continue to play, all players are winning. Instead of playing within a set of boundaries like a finite game, we continually negotiate the boundaries to keep the game going. Does that make sense? A lot of people in sales attack sales as a finite game. “I'm starting this, Oh, good, we are in the process, then I want to close this and shut it down, and I win. I got your money!” I remember a sales manager told me, “Sales is war!” I don't know, but I don't like that model. I don't like scorched earth. I want relationships that are going to pay me forever because I am providing value. What I am providing is much less of value to me than it is to them. What they are giving me is of much more value to me than it is to them. Then we are both winning. And it continues. That is the best way to do games. Hugh: Let me interject in here. Joyce White Nelson says on here, “Conversational sales builds rapport. Then we are able to come back later.” You are talking about that. Clay, I want to get back to this leadership piece. We are an influencer as a leader. We are sitting in the influence seat with our stakeholders. I know I have seen one of your digital programs, which is quite good. I don't remember how I got there or what platform it was on, but I am thinking the stuff you are talking about, the leaders that are listening to this can then be empowered to- Actually, we are selling the concept to our board members that they need to get off their parking lot and do something. There is a sales piece to convince them what they are supposed to be doing anyway. It means we have to sell them the concept, sell volunteers on the concept. There is still the same principle of value exchange here. You have some tools for those people to share, and then they can help educate those people around them. It's not only the leader that does this. In fact, we are the leader, not the doer. Clay: Exactly. If you want to define leadership, I like to define it this way. Leadership is getting all the right things done through other people. Good leaders get things done through other people. They don't talk about getting it done; they don't think about getting it done; they don't circumlocute around getting it done; they get it done. But it gets done through other people. They have that capacity to make it of such value to the person they are delegating to and the belief that it is such a meaningful thing to the person they are delegating to that they can't help but do it. That is leadership. Whenever we are trying to get somebody to get something done, we are leading. Guess what? That is also selling. Selling is leadership. I am trying to motivate another person to make a commitment and do something, whether that is write me a check, or whether that is let's schedule a common webinar, or whether that is will you be on our board? Whatever it is you are asking them to do is the sale. I don't like to have sales presentations. I like to have sales conversations. I don't like to close sales. I like to commence relationships where we get things done. Hugh: Awesome. You sound like you are on a soapbox there, but I am going to Amen all of that. Clay, as we round out this really helpful interview, what do you want to leave people with? Clay: A couple of things. Number one, the biggest reason salespeople fail—I have 33 years of sales management, I found this to be true—they simply do not contact enough people. If I can do anything for success in nonprofit or profit, you have got to totally change your paradigm for how many people it takes to meet your donation and sponsorship goals. You just simply must contact more people. I call this exposure is everything. Get out there, press the flesh, go to networking events, and meet people. Secondly, fortune is in the follow-up. Now, you don't need to follow up face-to-face. That takes too much time sometimes. But that is what you have systems for. It's a one-to-many channel follow-up that takes no more time to send ten out than a million. Or you know, relatively speaking. That one-to-many channel of keeping in touch with people highly leverages your ability to do so. Invite them in those messages, in your newsletters, in those letters that you send to keep top-of-mind awareness. Invite them to take a step in. That is follow-up. What dictates when they are ready to buy? It's not what we say. They don't even determine the timing of it. Most of the time, it is some event in their life that takes place that determines that. We have got to be top-of-mind when that happens so that they think of us and come in. The third is work with the willing. The ones that step forward to you look for that next step. Everybody you're selling to should not go, you should not part with them without having clearly defined our next step. “John, what is our next step?” This kind of language is so critical. If he says, “Let's get together,” “Okay, as long as we are here, what time next week would be good to get together?” And you commit it. Sales as in leadership is nothing more than getting commitment from the other person. Hugh: Clay Neves. You're good at what you do. It's called Personal Sales Dynamics.com. Thank you so much for sharing such a wealth of practical information today. Russell, good to have you here today. Russell: Clay, thanks a million. It's keeping that conversation going so that we always know what that is, what those folks want needs to get done. When we are in constant communication, we know what it is. Hugh: Two brilliant guys. Thanks for being here today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sponsors: Netlify Sentry use the code "devchat" for $100 credit CacheFly Panel Lucas Reis Nader Dabit Charles Max Wood Special Guest: Kay Plößer Episode Summary In this episode of React Round Up, the panel talks with Kay Plößer, describing their experiences learning React. Kay is a software developer from Stuttgart, Germany and the author of the book React from Zero. They discuss the best approach to learning React from scratch. Kay describes the process of writing and producing his book 'React from Zero'. Initially he started with tutorials and lessons and then turned those into a book. It is constructed in two sections: basic and advanced and it's purpose is to help developers learn React without being overwhelmed. He has received great feedback from the people who have bought the book. Kay then describes his experiences teaching React to developers and talks about his blog post React Hooks Demystified which became really popular. The panel then about how developers can increase and diversify income through writing books and side projects. Links Kay's Book: React from Zero Kay's Blog Post: React Hooks Demystified Kay’s LinkedIn Kay’s Twitter Kay’s GitHub Kay's Website Kay's Skillshare Kay's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/React-Round-Up https://twitter.com/reactroundup Picks Nader Dabit: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse Lucas Reis: An Introduction and Guide to the CSS Object Model AST Explorer Charles Wood: Charles' New Devchat.tv Build on Eleventy on GitHub Kay Plößer: Wardley maps

Sponsors: Netlify Sentry use the code "devchat" for $100 credit CacheFly Panel Lucas Reis Nader Dabit Charles Max Wood Special Guest: Kay Plößer Episode Summary In this episode of React Round Up, the panel talks with Kay Plößer, describing their experiences learning React. Kay is a software developer from Stuttgart, Germany and the author of the book React from Zero. They discuss the best approach to learning React from scratch. Kay describes the process of writing and producing his book 'React from Zero'. Initially he started with tutorials and lessons and then turned those into a book. It is constructed in two sections: basic and advanced and it's purpose is to help developers learn React without being overwhelmed. He has received great feedback from the people who have bought the book. Kay then describes his experiences teaching React to developers and talks about his blog post React Hooks Demystified which became really popular. The panel then about how developers can increase and diversify income through writing books and side projects. Links Kay's Book: React from Zero Kay's Blog Post: React Hooks Demystified Kay’s LinkedIn Kay’s Twitter Kay’s GitHub Kay's Website Kay's Skillshare Kay's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/React-Round-Up https://twitter.com/reactroundup Picks Nader Dabit: Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse Lucas Reis: An Introduction and Guide to the CSS Object Model AST Explorer Charles Wood: Charles' New Devchat.tv Build on Eleventy on GitHub Kay Plößer: Wardley maps

Part 8

Meditation 3 part 2, section 7

Part 6

Part 5

Part 3

Meditation 1 part 1

Section 1

“The prestige of the government had undoubtedly been lowered considerably by prohibition”, Albert Einstein observed when he visited the United States in the early 1920s. “Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than laws which cannot be enforced.” In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat discuss Smoke Signals by Martin A. Lee. In this book we take a walk through the history of marijuana, from it being a legal, useful plant and the third largest crop in the U.S to it being illegal and harshly but selectively punished. We see how racism and the variety of political backgrounds have shaped the PR of this ancient plant. “It was a move that served as a pretext for harassing Mexicans. Just as opium legalization in San Francisco 40 years earlier was directed at another despised minority, the Chinese. In each case the target of the prohibition was not the drug so much as those most associated with its use. Typically in the United States drug statutes have been aimed or selectively enforced against a feared or disparaged group within society.” We cover a wide range of topics, including: The history of marijuana, benefits and uses Arguments for and against legalization Political figures and their contribution to The War on Drugs Effects of consumption, psychedelics and edibles Tangents on wellness retreats, duels and fact checking fake news And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Smoke Signals by Martin A. Lee! You can also listen on Google Play Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, or in any other podcasting app by searching “Made You Think.” If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on Homo Deus by Yuval Harari for more on the domestication of plants and animals. Or for a totally different type of episode check out Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter as a counter to this linear, fact based book. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Marijuana [00:32] Neolithic period [01:21] Recreational drug use [02:42] Colorado [02:49] World War I [03:57] World War II [03:58] Virginia [05:27] New York [05:28] Maryland [05:31] Washington, DC [05:32] Austin, Texas [05:38] Shaman [06:18] Biochemistry [06:23] THC [06:26] Psychedelics [06:50] Spirit Journeys [06:53] Hindu texts [07:03] Soma [07:06] Moses [07:52] God [07:53] Ten Commandments [07:54] Ayahuasca [07:59] LSD [08:10] High on Mount Sinai? – Hebrew University’s professor’s theory – Reuters [08:18] The Burning Bush (Ex 3:1–6): A study of natural phenomena as manifestation of divine presence in the Old Testament and in African context [08:18] Hebrew University [08:27] Israel [08:28] Sinai Peninsula [08:31] Amazon Jungle [08:35] Higher Consciousness [09:43] Joe Rogan Experience #1133 – Dennis McKenna [10:25] Silicide [10:26] Mushrooms [10:27] Pharmacological research [10:44] Hemp [12:54] CBD [13:56] Omega 3 [15:18] Declaration of Independence [15:28] Cotton [16:22] Tobacco [16:23] Dietary fat [18:33] Duels [18:40] WeWork [19:01] Estrogen [23:26] Cooking oils [24:46] Soy Oil [24:52] Corn Oil [24:52] Canola Oil [24:57] Arizona [25:32] Miraval Retreat [25:38] Mindfulness [25:38] Healing crystals [26:34] Mysticism [26:39] Civil war [28:26] Hashish candy [28:28] Sears Roebuck Catalog [28:30] Sativa [28:53] Indica [28:54] Edibles [30:11] Salvia [31:30] Paris [32:15] Prohibition [32:54] Mexican Revolution [33:35] California [35:03] Texas [35:11] Ivy League [39:23] FDA [41:18] Patents [41:27] Marinol [41:42] Whey protein [41:57] Keto Diet [42:11] Epilepsy [42:29] Skin diseases [42:32] Autoimmune disorders [42:34] Obesity [42:37] Glaucoma [42:56] Parkinson's [43:24] Federal Marijuana Farm [43:52] California Cannabis Law [44:10] Syria [44:48] Marijuana Tax Act [44:57] Federal Bureau of Narcotics [46:17] FBI [46:27] Great Depression [46:28] Opiate Epidemic [47:06] Alcoholism [47:08] Maryland [47:14] GreenDoc [47:31] San Francisco [48:38] Eaze App [48:44] Postmates [48:47] Ubereats [48:48] Skype [49:10] GrubHub [50:17] LaGuardia committee [50:57] New York Mayor [50:59] Jews [52:23] African-Americans [52:23] Mexican Government [52:56] Congress [54:34] Homophobia [54:39] Pro-family [54:43] Amphetamines [55:13] NIDA agency [55:30] Jamaica [55:38] Postpartum Depression [57:23] Nausea [57:25] Stress [57:33] Anxiety [57:35] Cortisol [57:41] Breast milk [57:45] Meditation [58:15] Heroin [01:01:42] Oxycodone [01:01:59] Libertarians [01:01:23] Protein [01:02:54] Amino acids [01:02:56] Iron [01:02:58] Magnesium [01:02:59] Vitamins [01:03:01] Self-medication [01:05:50] Chemo [01:05:54] Leukemia [01:06:04] Endocannabinoid system [01:06:54] Cannabinoid Receptors [01:07:06] Types of cancer [01:08:20] Peripheral nervous system [01:08:52] Immune system [01:08:54] Lymph cells [01:09:01] Endocrine glands [01:09:02] Reproductive organs [01:09:03] Alzheimer’s Disease [01:09:07] MDMA [01:12:00] Books mentioned Smoke Signals by Martin Lee Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter [04:45] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse [05:11] (book episode) The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus [05:17] (book episode) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley [07:08] The Bible [07:52] Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [20:44] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Sapiens by Yuval Harari [20:46] (Nat’s Notes) (part I, part II) Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas [31:58] People mentioned Martin A.Lee Albert Einstein [00:06] Barack Obama [02:37] Joe Rogan [10:31] Terence McKenna [10:35] Dennis McKenna [10:40] Thomas Jefferson [15:24] George Washington [16:30] Donald Trump [18:51] Al Capone [36:53] Nassim Taleb [44:36] (Antifragile episode, Skin in the Game episode) Franklin D. Roosevelt [44:59] Malcolm X [45:56] Harry J. Anslinger [46:07] Richard Nixon [51:23] H. R Haldeman [52:03] Newt Gingrich [54:48] Ronald Reagan [58:49] Nancy Reagan [58:53] Bill Clinton [01:05:08] Show Topics 00:31 – This seems to be one of the longest marijuana books in existence. 390 pages but incredibly detailed. So much history of this ancient plant. Includes scientific, medical and recreational history as well as legislative and political history. The book focuses on the US history of marijuana and some within Europe too. 02:09 – The book starts as soon as the U.S was colonized around 1776 and includes insights right through to 2009. The push on recreational legalization started happening right after this book came out. We knew that cannabis had been illegal for a long time but didn’t know how it became that way. It’s strange to consider that there used to be a law that farmers had to grow hemp. Lots of things in the book are counter to what your original impression might be. We are not high for this episode, this book is too linear and fact-based for that. 05:47 – The book includes a little bit of background on the history of cannabis and the uses. We know old tribes around the world were using psychedelics and other plant medicines to induce spirit journeys or healing rituals. It seems to be a global constant that people are using mind-altering drugs for spiritual experiences. There are theories around certain bible stories being a recounting of a psychedelic experience. 07:59 – Ayahuasca as an incredible psychedelic, several plants found in the Amazon are known for their mind altering capabilities. Drugs have been used in rituals for a long time. Cannabis seems to be like revered for that reason in many of these cultures. Marijuana is a psychedelic when consumed certain ways. It would be pretty easy to think that by taking this plant you're communicating with God. You can't really get these experiences any other way. 11:03 – Looking at the benefits of marijuana and how it can change your perception of the world. Dennis McKenna explains that your brain filters everything you interact with in life and you're looking at it through a lens. With psychedelics and even marijuana some of those filters start to fall away. In some ways you start to see things more clearly. You see things from a different perspective. It puts you in an altered state of consciousness. The uses and harms of marijuana – marketing problem vs framing problem. 12:54 – The distinction between hemp and marijuana is really interesting. They are the same plant but owning hemp products is legal as it is non-psychoactive. So much of society depended up on hemp up until the 1800’s, clothes, paper, rope, oil. It is nutritionally dense too. The production of hemp was so important it was a matter of national security. It’s amazing how public opinion of a product can change. It was the third largest crop until it was criminalized. 200 years later people are getting thrown in jail for possession. Are there any things that we take for granted that will just be like completely illegal in the future? 19:01 – WeWork banning meat consumption on expenses. Vegetarianism would contribute to the reduction in numbers of animals if meat consumption goes down. We can’t sustain the numbers of animals if it is not for consumption. In Homo Deus it mentions that 50% of all non-domesticated fauna have either gone extinct or are on the road to extinction in the last 200 years. 21:18 – Argument against eating chicken. Smaller animal with less meat, not eating chicken is the easiest way to reduce the amount of suffering created through your diet. Also for dietary reasons due to excessive estrogen. 25:49 – Wellness retreats and limited health science knowledge. Some people are vegan for health reasons, some for virtue signalling reasons. They only make choices that are externally visibly as being health conscious. Behind the scenes, like cooking with lower quality oil, poorer choices are made. 28:15 – Origin of the word marijuana from Mexico. Modern strains don’t have much CBD any more because they have been bred to have increased THC. THC is the psychoactive component and CBD is the healing component. Eating it is a very different experience to smoking it. Four times as strong as it is digested and processed by the liver. Varying trends over the years in consumption. Chewing, ingesting, smoking. Hashish clubs and dinner, as part of puddings. 32:44 – The term marijuana came from Mexican slang. Prohibitionist started using it take advantage of growing racism against Mexicans. Became attributed to being a Mexican thing. California was the first to outlaw it in 1913. 35:21 – “It was a move that served as a pretext for harassing Mexicans. Just as opium legalization in San Francisco 40 years earlier was directed at another despised minority the Chinese. In each case the target of the prohibition was not the drug so much as those most associated with its use. Typically in the United States drug statutes have been aimed or selectively enforced against a feared or disparaged group within society.” Recurring theme of using drug laws as a form of racism. Looking at the arguments to keep marijuana illegal, some say this is a way to like catch people who are doing other crimes. Also that the police choose to not go after the actual drug dealers. There are more low level consumers who are easier to prosecute. Laws seem to be enforced extremely selectively. By being put in jail that increases the likelihood of becoming a more serious criminal. 40:23 – Marijuana has so many medical uses. As a society we are used to single target drugs but cannabis has over 200 different active compounds. The pharma industry is mostly interested in patentable compounds – a plant isn’t patentable. Cannabis has been found to reduce side effects of lots of conditions. Remarkable stories of it stopping the progress of glaucoma, stopping people turning blind. People in states that do not have legal marijuana access for medical purposes have to rely on friends bringing it to them illegally. 44:36 – False narratives portrayed to the public about the effects of cannabis use. Taleb said that if any time somebody uses children or women as the reason for something being bad, they're probably lying. It was said that “marijuana will make Mexicans and blacks lust after your wives”. 44:59 – Acts of cannabis taxation were brought into force and enforced harshly before people even knew the law existed. The punishment does not fit the crime at all. Harry J. Anslinger put together a campaign against marijuana for more funding and to keep his job. Doctors are now getting tired prescribing opiates and seeing people get addicted to them so are turning to dispensing cannabis where usage is legal. In San Francisco there are startups that will deliver marijuana products in under 30 minutes. 50:47 – So many research initiatives are being done and they overwhelmingly say it's not harmful however Anslinger ignores them. Side effects are debunked and the LaGuardia committee refutes every claim. 51:41 – Moving on in history to Nixon. “Nixon linked cannabis to loudmouth to racial protesters. ‘They're all on drugs’. He brusquely told an aide. Susceptible to bouts of paranoia the commander-in-chief blamed the Jews for spearheading efforts to legalize cannabis. ‘You know, it's a funny thing every one of those bastards that are out there for legalizing marijuana is Jewish, what the Christ is the matter with the Jews Bob?’ Nixon asked his closest advisor HR Haldeman. In private conversations with his inner circle tricky dick also Savaged African-Americans. Nixon emphasized that ‘you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizing this while not appear in to’ Haldeman wrote in his diary.” 52:30 – You can't like just make a law that it's illegal to be black or Jewish but you can pass a law that targets them. Crackdowns on production did nothing except increase the price of marijuana and make more Mexicans want to farm it. Distinctions between alcohol and marijuana. “Nixon, a heavy drinker, drew a rather fuzzy distinction between marijuana and alcohol. ‘A person doesn't drink to get drunk a person drinks to have fun while a person smokes pot to get high’, the president told a friend” “Addicted to sleeping pills and amphetamines and often South on liquor Nixon staggered through the White House in a daze talking to portraits of past presidents that hung on the walls" 54:08 – Everybody who's heavily against legalization is a hypocrite in one way or another they're either alcoholics or they're taking painkillers. It seems like a fairly common theme. Studies on effects of marijuana consumption in Jamaican mothers. “The ganja moms and their kids did not appear to be harmed by marijuana exposure in the womb. There were no physical abnormalities, no cognitive deficits and no neonatal complications nor were there any discernible differences between the three day old babies of mothers who used marijuana and the three-day-old non-exposed babies. They were surprised to discover that after one month the babies of mothers who had used ganja throughout their pregnancy were actually healthier more alert and less fussy than one month old infants whose mothers did not take cannabis. Test results for one month old infants whose mothers also ingested ganja while breastfeeding were even more striking heavily exposed babies were more socially responsive and more autonomically stable than babies is not exposed to cannabis through their mothers milk. Alertness was higher motor and autonomic function or autonomous systems were robust. They were less irritable less likely to demonstrate in balance of tone needed less examiner facilitation than the neonates of non using mothers. And then when they were tested at four and five their team found absolutely no difference between the children of ganja moms and children of non-users.” 56:58 – These studies showed little side effects, seems quite beneficial. Nancy Reagan was a chronic user of prescription tranquilizers. Her daughter basically said her mother's anti-drug advocacy may have been a form of denial. Dangers of overstating the harmful nature of cannabis has other effects. “Uncle Sam cried wolf too often first. Marijuana was said to create maniacal Killers then to produce inert masses of lazy indulges when teens caught on they weren't getting the Straight Dope about marijuana. They were more likely to ignore warnings about genuinely dangerous drugs.” 01:00:26 – Perception of marijuana impacts other harder drugs. Whenever an authority says something is unhealthy we now re-consider if that is true or not. Fortunately we are now in a time we can fact check anything instantly. Nutritional value of red meat and checking what is true. 01:04:04 – It's really clearly a racism thing, whites and blacks use illegal drugs at the same rate however blacks were arrested prosecuted and jailed at much higher rates. This book covers the war on drugs and how it escalated from the 50’s through to the 90’s. Benefits of marijuana, fasting and ketosis on chemo patients. There could be so much more research on these things. Feels like a crime to make something so helpful, illegal. Horribly ironic in some sense because you know Reagan died of Alzheimer's. It seems like doctors just have known of these benefits it for years. 01:10:37 – Oxycontin and number of deaths. It’s crazy how something so deadly is legal. “Purdue Pharma multi-billion dollar blockbuster was linked to thousands of Overdose deaths. Of the almost 500,000 Hospital emergency room visits in the US in 2004 more than 36,000 involved Oxycontin.” No one has ever died from marijuana ever write as far as we know. People will say it's a gateway drug. The only way it's a gateway drug is when it's illegal as it forces you to create a relationship with a dealer. 01:12:53 – Since legalization teen marijuana use is unchanged in both, Colorado and Washington State. Amazing how political the history is, in a mix of racism and fear mongering. All of the research around the benefits is fairly compelling. “The Economist, the blue-chip British magazine editorialized that the FDA's stance on marijuana lacked common sense adding, if cannabis were unknown and bio-prospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough. Scientists would praise its potential for treating everything from pain to cancer and marvel at its rich pharmacopoeia, many of whose chemicals mimic vital molecules in the human body.” 01:15:46 – There has also been significant reduction in opioid usage in the states with active dispensaries for cannabis. 01:16:08 – If you’d like to support the show go to patreon.com/madeyouthink. You get access to fun things like all of our bonus material our detailed notes for each episode and hangouts. You can get that at Patreon and we appreciate the support of the show. We like to keep it ad free and natural. We appreciate everyone who is already supporting us there and everyone who is going to go support us after this show. It means a lot. If you haven't left a review on iTunes, we'd really appreciate that as well. Let your friends know about the show and you can always message us on Twitter at @NatEliason and @TheRealNeilS. There are other options at madeyouthinkpodcast.com/support related to shopping. We'd love to hang out with you in the Patreon community and talk more there we'll see you there and we will see you next week. Thanks everyone. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com  

Rebecca Rush and TedX speaker William Beteet discuss relationships, enlightenment, and why it's more satisfying to play to play than to play to win, after reading the book Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. Also, his ex is finite.   Social Media: Quora: William Beteet, Rebecca Rush Twitter: @BillBetweet, @RebeccaRush639, @ComicsBookClub Insta: @BillBeteet, @RebeccaRush639  

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat discuss The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. In this book we learn about the Legend of Sisyphus and his never-ending toil. How to find meaning in the struggle and hope for the future. “The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks and this fate is no less absurd but it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.” We cover a wide range of topics, including: Meaning of life, Suicide, Law & Death Evolution, the Brain as an Illusion & the Decline of Religion Tangents on Tesla, Twilight Zone & Twitter The Absurd Man, Consciousness and Japanese Duels And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus You can also listen on Google Play Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, or in any other podcasting app by searching “Made You Think.” If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out our episode on The Elephant in the Brain for more on taboo subjects of the mind or our episode on The Book of Five Rings for ideas on philosophy and a retrospective look over life. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more. Links from the Episode Mentioned in the show Syphilis  [02:10] Antibiotics [02:21] Suicides [03:06] Meaning of life [03:35] Ethics [03:56] Metaphysics [03:57] Antinatalism [04:27] Evolution [05:48] Humanity [05:54] Post Modernists [07:05] Last Will and Testament [07:32] Absurd Man [08:50] Freakonomics Podcast – The Suicide Paradox [11:34] Euthanasia [12:30] Libertarianism [13:15] Stroke [13:24] Prohibition [13:48] Morphine [14:02] Life Insurance [14:16] Hospice Care [14:27] Painkiller Medication [16:57] Facilitated Suicide [17:11] Malpractice [17:24] Hospital [17:53] Liability [18:05] DNR [18:53] Washington [19:24] Legality of Cannabis[19:30] Alcohol Laws [19:44] California [19:50] Colorado [19:51] Byzantine [19:57] Mississippi [20:13] Texas [20:14] Pennsylvania [20:14] Nebraska [20:15] Lawsuit [20:44] Small Breweries [20:51] Lobbying [20:53] Alabama [20:58] Government [21:22] Nanny state [21:47] Austin [22:12] Dallas [22:19] Houston [22:20] Pickup Trucks [22:40] Red Pill [23:20] Atheist [23:50] God [23:53] Consciousness [24:36] Solipsism [27:58] World Simulation [28:15] Automaton [28:38] The Matrix [28:44] Costa Rica [34:19] Dog Refuge in Costa Rica [34:24]   Japanese Duels [36:59] Akane no Mai – Westworld episode on Musashi [37:10] Character Map [38:14] Kindle X-Ray [38:57] Game of Thrones [39:35] Emergency Awesome - YouTube [39:51] Click (film) [42:31] Post Religious [46:12] Secular [46:19] Genetics [47:32] Nihilism [47:45] Nationalism [48:01] Dichotomy [49:22] Hedonism [53:24] Ivory Tower [56:07] Intellectual Yet Idiot [56:09] Frugality [57:44] Stoicism [57:45] Minimalism [58:25] Confirmation Bias [59:10] Rome [59:54] Amazon [01:00:10] Amazon Valuation [01:00:23] Microsoft [01:01:13] Netflix [01:01:18] Apple [01:01:25] Nokia [01:01:43] Twitter [01:01:47] iPhone [01:01:49] Google [01:02:08] IMDb [01:02:32] Alexa [01:02:46] Twitch [01:02:59] Zappos [01:03:00] Pillpack [01:03:03] Audible [01:03:05] Kiva Systems [01:03:06] Goodreads [01:03:08] Stack Overflow [01:03:15] Basecamp [01:03:17] Domo [01:03:17] Business Insider [01:03:18] Washington Post [01:03:21] LivingSocial [01:03:27] AmazonBasics [01:03:40] Tesla [01:03:57] Hyperloop Transportation System [01:04:28] Legend of Sisyphus – Wikipedia [01:07:52] Nomad lifestyle [01:22:37] A Nice Place to Visit - Twilight Zone episode [01:23:02] Uncomfortable Reading – Neil Soni [1:24:14] Crony Belief [01:26:06] Lindy Rule [01:26:24] Gestalt [01:26:49] Guardians of the Galaxy [01:26:59] Disney [01:27:08] New York Times [01:27:43] Wall Street Journal [01:27:44] Harvard discrimination [01:31:01] Books mentioned The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb [05:01] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Sapiens by Yuval Harari [05:27] (Nat’s notes) (part I, part II) Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch [05:29] (book episode) Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett [05:32] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Stranger by Albert Camus [08:22] Mastery by Robert Greene [09:55] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Cowboy Conservatism by Sean Cunningham [21:14] Homo Deus by Yuval Harari [24:23] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler [25:07] (Nat’s notes) (Neil's notes) (book episode) I am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter [26:41] Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter [26:47] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi [37:13] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy [38:06] The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey [44:58] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Letters from a Stoic by Seneca [58:36] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) Happy Accidents by Morton A. Meyers [01:17:39] (book episode) Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse [01:17:56] (book episode) The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang [01:41:56] (book episode) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [01:25:40] (Nat’s notes) (book episode) People mentioned Albert Camus Anthony Bourdain [03:01] Young Jamie [06:44] Joe Rogan [06:44] Kafka [07:28] Jordan Peterson [23:57] (12 Rules For Life episode) Musashi [37:02] (The Book of Five Rings episode) Adam Sandler [42:22] Yuval Harari [46:58] (Homo Deus episode, Sapiens episodes Part I, Part II) Seneca [57:56] (Letters from a Stoic episode) Tim Ferriss [58:30] Epictetus [59:27] Jeff Bezos [59:53] Elon Musk [01:05:00] Nietzsche [01:06:37] Dostoevsky [01:12:05] Mark Manson [01:21:57] Nassim Taleb [01:25:39] (Antifragile episode, Skin in the Game episode) James Gunn [01:26:47] Sarah Jeong [01:27:57] Andrew Yang [01:41:46] (War on Normal People episode, Q&A episode) Show Topics 01:28 – This week’s episode is Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. It is a philosophical book exploring the meaning of life, questioning if suicide is ever the rational choice. Themes include, humans questioning their cosmic significance and when life is a struggle, is it still worth living? 06:19 – The book is an essay in 4 sections, Absurd Reasoning, Absurd Man, Absurd Creation & Myth of Sisyphus. Camus was insecure about his work, similarly to Kafka who didn’t wish for his uncompleted works to be published after his death. Camus’ other work, The Stranger, was good, entertaining but it’s easy to hate the main character. Having read more by Camus it’s easier to understand his other works better. 10:03 – Taboo topic of suicide, often discussed as a wholly bad thing and something we should prevent at all costs. This book is a personal exploration of whether or not it makes sense. There are plenty of statistics to suggest that talking about suicide and reporting on suicides causes an increase. We have a natural aversion to talking about it. This essay is an argument against it as none of the reasons presented for it are considered convincing. 12:40 – For those in unbearable pain, what is the compassionate thing to do? This directly competes with the human with the human instinct for not ending a life. If someone is in pain, should it be illegal to let them go? Is it cruel and selfish to extend someone’s life artificially? The practice of assisted suicide still exists even though illegal but just via more illicit means. 14:38 – Insurance has no incentive to keep people alive as they stop paying out for care but hospitals stop getting paid when people die. Waiting for people to pass naturally is often a long drawn out process. Hospitals have to be vigilant in these situations before death to avoid malpractice lawsuits. Their desire is to minimize liability when someone does die. It is often a morally difficult decision for families. Legality of negative actions (not giving an intervention) vs positive action (assisting or speeding up the process of dying). 19:31 – Laws around alcohol and cannabis. Texas is very polarized compared to other states like Pennsylvania. 22:37 – “Living naturally is never easy, you continue making the gestures commanded by existence for many reasons. the first of which is habit. Dying voluntarily implies that you've recognized even instinctively the ridiculous character of that habit. The absence of any profound reason for living, the insane character of that daily agitation and the uselessness of suffering” 24:00 – The brain as an illusion. Consciousness doesn’t have much control, just along for the ride. Can often result in a feeling of chaos or overwhelm. Hard to explain this concept to others not familiar with these subjects. Internal vs external experience of “I”, sub personalities and the internal chatter of the mind. It’s hard to consider that everyone experiences that about themselves. Considering everyone has their own unique experiences, it’s easier to think that it’s just me and the world and you’re all part of the simulation. Perhaps everyone else's consciousness is a figment of our imagination. 29:16 – Determinism vs Free Will & Evolution vs God. You can also think there is third option between non free-will and non determinism, where your brain is still deciding things, there is free will but it’s not yours. Very philosophical episode so far, contemplating the randomness in the universe. 32:07 – Man’s attachment to life. We get into the habit of living (surviving) before we acquire the habit of thinking. Animalian Drive, social bonds and the coexistence behaviors of other animals like chimps & dogs. Human’s drive to co-operate overrides our other urges. However scarcity causes confrontation. 35:52 – Violent crime can be thought of as failure of the cognitive mind. Crime levels show that we co-exist together relatively peacefully. Especially considering density of population, e.g on the island of Manhattan, most of which haven’t killed someone while living there. Getting through lengthy books, taking notes and needing character maps to follow plot. 40:27 – “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep. And Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm. This path is easily followed most of the time but one day the ‘why’ arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement begins. This is important weariness comes at the end of the acts of a mechanical life, but at the same time it inaugurates the impulse of consciousness.” Meaningless of the routine. Moment of clarity after extended periods of working hard. The movie Click and fast forwarding through the autonomous parts of life. How often are you in the driver's seat? How often is life on autopilot? Autopilot can used as a function to get out of your own way. You couldn’t function if you were aware of the absurdity of life for your whole day at your factory job. That would cause more suffering. You have to be satisfied with your life so that when the consciousness comes in you don’t feel weary of how absurd it is. 45:38 – “He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world” Changing notions of religion, no longer an unhesitant belief - without religion people are now ‘woke’. Science answers the how and what but doesn’t answer the why. Science and religion should be separate. If religion and nationalism are fading away, what are we a part of then? Jordan Peterson is an example of figureheads that people are looking up to in place of religion. Externalize the meaning of our lives onto these people - like an over obsessive mother who won’t let their child grow up, or obsession in romantic relationships. 49:13 – There is no objective meaning of life however we have an innate longing and desire for meaning - how do you reconcile those two things? “The mind's first step is to distinguish what is true from what is false. However, as soon as the thought reflects on itself what it first discovers is a contradiction. Of whom and what indeed can I say I know that? This heart within me I can feel and I judge that it exists. This world I can touch and I likewise judge that it exists. There ends all my knowledge and the rest is construction for if I tried to seize this self of which I feel sure. If I try to define a to summarize it it is nothing but water slipping through my fingers.” 50:06 – What does the mind do that the brain doesn’t do? We are always stuck within that contradiction. Lots of overlapping themes with GEB episode. “If through science I can seize phenomena and enumerate them I cannot for all that apprehend the world. Were I to trace its entire relief with my finger I should not know anymore” Simply having the data from science isn’t the same as understanding and knowing. The mind is like water dripping through fingers, we can’t hold on to the concept. “What is absurd is the confrontation of the irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart. The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. At this point of his effort, man stands face to face the irrational, he feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” We want to be happy and we want reasons for existing but the world has nothing to offer us we can never find an external explanation for being and so we either have to create one ourselves or just accept that we will never have one. It’s a hard concept to be comfortable with. 52:51 – Chapter 2. Examples of the absurd life. Revolt, Freedom, Passion. It's the actor who recognizes that everything is ephemeral. Life ends at the end of the role. Mini universes are created within plays. The actor - in those 3 hours he travels the whole course of the dead-end path that the men in the audience take a lifetime to cover. You can sit and observe an actor but you can never do that with your own life. 54:40 – The Conqueror. Fighting and taking action, demands respect. Not sitting thinking. But they are not contemplating their life. Comparison of the conqueror to business. Choosing action over contemplation. 56:47 – Who is the "I". Discussing this topic makes you very self aware. These observations are not reasons not to pursue things in life. Stoicism and Minimalism are great philosophies for people who don’t want to feel bad about giving up on their goals. However some people interpret Stoicism as saying to go for your goals. There is fun in accomplishment. Your mindset is often reflected in what you’re reading. Our differing mindset applies different meanings to the same books. Our minds don’t hold on to thoughts we disagree with. We extract what is valuable. Our struggles and wealth can play a part on our viewpoint. Epictetus in poverty vs Seneca with wealth. 01:00:00 – Tangent. Modern wealth, Jeff Bezos and the escalating new heights of wealth. Which tech companies would you be least surprised to not exist in 10 years? Amazon, IPO’s, Tesla and stock prices. 01:06:05 – Humans long for happiness and reason but absurdity is born from our need and the silence of the world. It’s a philosophical contradiction. Nietzsche said we had killed God in becoming God ourselves. That we are taking power and trying to be the arbiters of our faith. We decide what is meaningful. The goal is to not wait for heaven in the afterlife but to create that eternal meaningful life here. 01:07:42 – The Myth of Sisyphus. He defied the Gods and put Death in chains so that no human needed to die. When Death was liberated and it became time for Sisyphus to die, he tried to escape. The Gods decided to punish him for all of eternity. He would push a rock up a mountain and upon reaching the top, the rock would roll down again leaving Sisyphus to start over. Is Camus saying that we are all Sisyphus now? Trying to defy death? Stuck in the absurd meaningless tasks of life. Despite being the Absurd Man, Sisyphus has accepted his fate and continues doing it. “He is as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the Gods, his hatred of death and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. This is the price that must be paid for the passions of this Earth.” Trying to live eternal life here on Earth means we have condemned ourselves to the meaningless repetition. We are doing this senseless toil and we are occasionally conscious of it and trying to find meaning. To live a meaningful life you stay in the routine and stay “unwoke”. Once you’re conscious of the absurdity of life and try to do something about it you are trying to become like God. 01:11:59 – However there is meaning in the task itself, there’s a happy ending to this story. Camus was saying there’s not a God but there doesn’t have to be for your life to have meaning. There is hope in the returning steps of Sisyphus. “A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself. I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step, toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour, like a breathing space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the layers of the Gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock.” In those moments, walking back down after the rock, he still has some control and he is conscious of it. 01:14:24 – “I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain, one always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks, he too concludes that all is well. The universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futiile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” 01:15:03 – “All of Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him. His rock is his thing.” A struggle can make your life meaningful. Tackling a goal can be uplifting. Finite and infinite games and horizon thinking idea. Goals as directional, metrics to shoot for. Being obsessed with a goal you ignore other opportunities and miss out on serendipitous discoveries. Tangent on goal setting, and adapting and changing the goal as you progress. Reaching the goal is not what makes you happy. You have to enjoy the struggle. 01:22:29 – The appeal of a nomadic life. However living the easy, happy life isn’t possible all of the time. Only by losing, does winning mean anything. Sisyphus can choose how he feels about the struggle. 01:23:22 – It’s very easy to keep reading books you already agree with, to avoid struggling with difficult feelings. When you read things that challenge your belief, feeling and challenging that discomfort is something necessary to do. Discriminating some races feels wrong while others not. 01:32:30 – “For the rest of men he knows himself to be the master of his days. At that subtle moment when man glances backward over his life. Sisyphus returning toward his rock in that slight pivoting he contemplates that series of unrelated actions, which become his fate, created by him combined under his memories eye and soon sealed by his death. Thus convinced of the holy human origin of all that is human, a blind man eager to see, who knows that the night has no end, he is still on the go, the rock is still rolling.” The book ends on a hopeful note, answers the question of suicide. Even though life may seem absurd, you can find meaning in the absurdity and the struggle. You can find your rock. 01:34:36 – Thank you to everyone supporting us on Patreon. We have some lovely bonus material to go with this episode. The first tier is $5, if you think we’re worth more than a fancy coffee we would love it if you supported the show. At that level you get the bonus material, notes for each episode, community area to talk about the show, Q&A. At the $10 tier you get to join at monthly one-hour hangout for a casual chat. We feel Patreon is a better model for the future than advertising. Check us out there or you can go to MadeYouThinkPodcast.com/Support - we’ve got our sponsors there. We’ve got a link through to Amazon you can bookmark, you can go to Kettle & Fire for their delicious Bone Broth - use code THINK for a discount at checkout. Go to Perfect Keto for their healthy supplements. Four Sigmatic for the great mushroom coffee and Cup and Leaf . You’ll get 20% off with code THINK. Also check out our Made You Think Tea Bundle. 01:41:46 – Keep telling people about the show. If you haven’t listened to the episode with Andrew Yang we’d love to hear what you think about the format. We also love getting book recommendations, let us know on Twitter. I’m @TheRealNeilS and I am @NatEliason Until next time, have a good one everyone. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com.