I recently gave some advice to a friend with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I found the advice useful and share it with you today;
No one is a prophet or seesayer. Most doctors really have a very limited amount of medical knowledge, and will just tell you things like 'alcohol is bad' or 'eat fruits' and shit, because that's the folk wisdom they know.
Doctors are human beings, same as you and me. They are just doing their j-o-b to get to the end of it most of the time.
The fallacy is to imagine them (doctors) as magic men. They are probably not much smarter than you or I. Truly brilliant people are rare, and don't stick around here for very long. Its hard to be a good doctor as the profession its self is regulated into the dirt, and only those who can stomach beuracracy can survive. That also tends to weed out the brilliant and innovative.
That being said. Gluten-free and stuff like that. Mostly bull shit. Any kind of answer that seems too good to be true; probably is.
From my understanding of the field of 'pain studies', attitude is probably the biggest factor. Pain is super-subjective, and if you are focusing on it, hating it, and feeling sorry for yourself, that's only going to make it worse. I think maybe the best thing you could do is come to terms with your pain. Stop fighting it; it may not be a 'fix'able thing. Think of yourself more like 'Dr. House', with unmanageable pain which turns you into an ironic wise cracking bad-ass.
Mean time, find out whatever insurance will get you 'in' with mayo clinic, and go get with them asap. If brilliant doctors exist, they exist there.
I know what it is to deal with doctors for my own illness as well. And I can tell you; top to bottom, the
whole institution is rotten.
I feel for you brother, I really do. I hope you get the help you need, and hope you start feeling better.
You really can NOT over-estimate the value of good diet and excercise. Being the size you want to be physically is the hardest thing there is; but also the most simple.
Find an aerobic exercise that you can constantly measure the calorie output, and start tracking everything you eat to get your net-calories a day (calories in via food minus calories out via exercise).
Start just tracking it, and then slowly start lowering what that net calorie value is by 100 per day, until you become the size you want.
I cannot stress enough the importance of doing such a thing for your own health and well being. No medicine on earth can replicate its benefits in terms of health both physically AND psychologically.
Feel Better.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Money Buys Me SO Much Happiness
Unhappy? Unsatisfied? Feeling like... something is missing?
It is.
Its money. You need more of it. Well, not just that specifically I guess.
If you want to be happy, it's not difficult, I can tell you how to gain a moderate level of happiness. It's really not that complicated, although it may be very difficult to accomplish. You need two things:
1. Discipline. If you want to be happy, it is going to take hard fucking work. You need to make money. Lots and lots of money. And then you need to save as much of that money as possible. Don't go to the bar; you always get pissy there anyways. Don't eat fancy meals, it all turns into shit in the end anyways.
CREATE A POWERFUL SAVINGS.
Don't stop there though. Money, as in cold-hard-cash, really isn't very useful on its own. You need something more important that liquid currency. You need assets.
Land is a good place to start.
But really, any kind of capital investment which is guaranteed to provide you with independent revenue streams or opportunities to leverage (see also; the taking out of a loan against equity in an asset and re-investment of that loan into more capital).
If you are serious about doing this; about building a capital asset structure, and then using that to become independently weathly, then you are close to be happy. Because then. Then my friend. You are powerful. Once you are powerful, truly powerful, then the time-consuming part is over. Next all that is required is the difficult part.
2. Self-Awareness. You need to do some very deep self-discovery. Learn what it is that makes you happy.
Wait, did I just say, 'to be happy, learn what makes you happy'?!
Too obvious? Perhaps. However, you cannot discount the extent to which you may believe that which makes you happy is something people have told you makes you happy, as opposed to what actually makes you happy. True self-awareness is a devastatingly difficult and taxing task. While you are out making your money, spend some very serious time thinking through what drives you; and most of all, DO NOT FEAR THE RESULTS.
My main point here is to say that the reason you are unhappy, is because there is some external situation or possession that will make you happy, and you probably just aren't powerful enough to sustain possession of that thing/situation.
What I want you to think about, is themes, not specific items.
Humans have evolved to be unhappy. Think about it. Contentment stops progress. The savanna ape that is most malcontent achieve's the most, which is best for his genes. But there are certain triggers that can bring you pleasure. I assure you, it works in principles/themes.
Create a portfolio of possessions/situations that keep you in a constant level of extacy and joy.
Below is a list of common things that make people happy, that having more power will help you secure:
- Women
- Friends
- High Quality Luxury Items
- Social Superiority
- Sexual Experiences
- Lack of Accountability
- Health
- Collections
- Security
- Social Superiority
- Admiration
Of course these items are available on the cheap. But, word to the wise, you generally get what you pay for. The quality of the items from these categories purchased with large sums of money, is sufficiently higher to warrant the expenses.
Trust me my friend. If you want to be happy. What you really need to do is gain more power, and get a better understanding of what you want to do with that power.
So quit surfing the internet. Quit trying to 'get rich quick'. Quit dicking around and playing video games. Go get a second job. Get a third job.
Cut down on your expenses, save up, and capitally invest. Purchase some real-estate, invest in a hotel or some super-stable company with decent dividends.
The only person to blame for your economic situtation is you. Buck up, get a job(s), and quit being a whiney little bitch.
TLDR;
Monday, February 11, 2013
Quick Explanation on the Meaning of Life
So, real quick here.
A loong loong loong ass time ago, there was this chemical reaction, right? And it was really special, because it kind of had a sort of avalanche effect wherein it would just keep repeating itself. A sort of resonance if you will.
Then. Then something amazing happened. That resonance gained the ability to sort of like, infect, the area around it. Think like how a crystal grows, how it starts small, and then just spreads and spreads.
Or like a fire. And like a fire, this chemical reaction consume's the energy around it.
Eventually, a most important thing happened; the resources to consume became limited. The fire began to die out. What was once a thriving mass of the first organisms ever ate up all the energy sources it had, and then promptly came to the edge of extinction.
Until, and no one perhaps will ever know for sure exactly how, one of those self-replicating avalanche fires, through some kind of accident perhaps in its replication, discovered that it now had an ability new to its species. Totally randomly, and without reason, the thing, this creature, this life now could move. It was mobile.
And this was a big deal, because now this fire could jump across distances that did not contain the energy resources it needed to grow, and could move to a new area where, in fact, it could grow and spread and replicate.
This kind of competition for resources, over millions and billions of years, has lead to a most fascinating arms race that is the amazing display of life you see before your eyes today. The hardware and the drivers and software used to run it has changed, has become dramatically complex; but the game itself has not changed. and here is my conclusion, right at the end, after the tldr; :
tldr;
Life is merely the self-sustaining consumption of available resources. It has no meaning beyond that; and every action taken outside of consumption and replication, are to the interests of successfully achieving consumption or replication in a most effective way.
Even simpler, if it wasn't obvious; everything thing you do is to achieve your own interests, and those interests are limited to securing as much safety, sex, and food as possible for your DNA.
Even even simpler; safety (lack of unhibition of the replication), sex (replication), and food (energy for replication) as possible for your DNA, is really just... you know... replication of your DNA.
The simple point is that you work to further your DNA's interests in every action as you perceive it. That's all; no more complex than that.
The simple simple simple point is replication.
The point is to replicate.
That's it. That's why you are here. Game over. No more searching.
Done.
A loong loong loong ass time ago, there was this chemical reaction, right? And it was really special, because it kind of had a sort of avalanche effect wherein it would just keep repeating itself. A sort of resonance if you will.
Then. Then something amazing happened. That resonance gained the ability to sort of like, infect, the area around it. Think like how a crystal grows, how it starts small, and then just spreads and spreads.
Or like a fire. And like a fire, this chemical reaction consume's the energy around it.
Eventually, a most important thing happened; the resources to consume became limited. The fire began to die out. What was once a thriving mass of the first organisms ever ate up all the energy sources it had, and then promptly came to the edge of extinction.
Until, and no one perhaps will ever know for sure exactly how, one of those self-replicating avalanche fires, through some kind of accident perhaps in its replication, discovered that it now had an ability new to its species. Totally randomly, and without reason, the thing, this creature, this life now could move. It was mobile.
And this was a big deal, because now this fire could jump across distances that did not contain the energy resources it needed to grow, and could move to a new area where, in fact, it could grow and spread and replicate.
This kind of competition for resources, over millions and billions of years, has lead to a most fascinating arms race that is the amazing display of life you see before your eyes today. The hardware and the drivers and software used to run it has changed, has become dramatically complex; but the game itself has not changed. and here is my conclusion, right at the end, after the tldr; :
tldr;
Life is merely the self-sustaining consumption of available resources. It has no meaning beyond that; and every action taken outside of consumption and replication, are to the interests of successfully achieving consumption or replication in a most effective way.
Even simpler, if it wasn't obvious; everything thing you do is to achieve your own interests, and those interests are limited to securing as much safety, sex, and food as possible for your DNA.
Even even simpler; safety (lack of unhibition of the replication), sex (replication), and food (energy for replication) as possible for your DNA, is really just... you know... replication of your DNA.
The simple point is that you work to further your DNA's interests in every action as you perceive it. That's all; no more complex than that.
The simple simple simple point is replication.
The point is to replicate.
That's it. That's why you are here. Game over. No more searching.
Done.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
What you pay for
In the Japanese anime Full Metal Alchemist, a concept of "equivelant exchange" is a recurring theme. The idea that you cannot get something for nothing. Even if you put effort in, you cannot get something which contains more than what it is made up of.
A simple concept, sure, but I find it useful. In relation to the State of course, I would argue that no amount of Alchemy will help you create a useful institution by committing evil to do good.
But that's not what this post is about.
This post is about how you really do get what you pay for. Knowing this is something that has helped me get through a lot of frustrating situations.
When ever you are dealing with someone, who just doesn't seem to be very good at their job, ask what incentives there is for them to actually be good at that job. If they excelled in that position, do you think they would hold it for very long? It turns out, the only people who tend to be in a position, are the one's barely competent to complete it without burning the business down. This is basically what is known as the Peter Principle.
Think of that crappy customer service you consistently get at whatever store you probably frequent because of the good prices. There too is a simple matter of economics.
Most people simply aren't willing to pay for a decent level of customer service.
Take on the other hand a product like Legos. The Lego company has impeccable customer service. If you purchased a set this month that was missing a piece and contacted them through their website, all you need to do is fill out a form, tell them what part number is missing and two weeks later a piece will be in your mailbox from their headquarters in Denmark (no shipping costs required! They will also be very apologetic by email and with the invoice enclosed with the piece).
Legos is over-priced plastic, and this is why they have the budget for good service. Simple fact. There are no free lunches. Everything comes at a cost. See also the success of Wal-mart over Target, Menard's over Scheels Hardware, made in China vs made in Japan. People usually want price vs quality.
So next time your peice of shit boss is being a douche bag, or your cranky next door neighbor is a prick, ask yourself. How old are they? How long have they been working to be where they are? If you can see how stupid they are acting, do you think you will remain below them for long? If your prick old neighbor is such a jerk; consider that at your stage in life your houseing situation is roughly equal to them, as you are in the same neighborhood.
Things are what they are for a reason. Not necessarily a good reason; but sometimes an unavoidable or inevitable reason.
Go easy on people man. We are all reacting to incentives, and the incentive not to be hated at is a weak one indeed. Especially when you keep it all inside. And being a prick and letting it all out isn't going to help anyone either.
A simple concept, sure, but I find it useful. In relation to the State of course, I would argue that no amount of Alchemy will help you create a useful institution by committing evil to do good.
But that's not what this post is about.
This post is about how you really do get what you pay for. Knowing this is something that has helped me get through a lot of frustrating situations.
When ever you are dealing with someone, who just doesn't seem to be very good at their job, ask what incentives there is for them to actually be good at that job. If they excelled in that position, do you think they would hold it for very long? It turns out, the only people who tend to be in a position, are the one's barely competent to complete it without burning the business down. This is basically what is known as the Peter Principle.
Think of that crappy customer service you consistently get at whatever store you probably frequent because of the good prices. There too is a simple matter of economics.
Most people simply aren't willing to pay for a decent level of customer service.
Take on the other hand a product like Legos. The Lego company has impeccable customer service. If you purchased a set this month that was missing a piece and contacted them through their website, all you need to do is fill out a form, tell them what part number is missing and two weeks later a piece will be in your mailbox from their headquarters in Denmark (no shipping costs required! They will also be very apologetic by email and with the invoice enclosed with the piece).
Legos is over-priced plastic, and this is why they have the budget for good service. Simple fact. There are no free lunches. Everything comes at a cost. See also the success of Wal-mart over Target, Menard's over Scheels Hardware, made in China vs made in Japan. People usually want price vs quality.
So next time your peice of shit boss is being a douche bag, or your cranky next door neighbor is a prick, ask yourself. How old are they? How long have they been working to be where they are? If you can see how stupid they are acting, do you think you will remain below them for long? If your prick old neighbor is such a jerk; consider that at your stage in life your houseing situation is roughly equal to them, as you are in the same neighborhood.
Things are what they are for a reason. Not necessarily a good reason; but sometimes an unavoidable or inevitable reason.
Go easy on people man. We are all reacting to incentives, and the incentive not to be hated at is a weak one indeed. Especially when you keep it all inside. And being a prick and letting it all out isn't going to help anyone either.
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