Curriculum

This is the curriculum with the insights from all the Real Talks put into a logical structure. This page only contains pointers and requires more updates / is a work in progress. You can use this structure as a guideline to educate yourself to either solve personal problems or get better at understanding what problems other people might struggle with. It might help you to strengthen your logical framework.

Base level

Learning

• How to do research and how you deal with the results
  • Do research on the food you consider healthy and check if you were correct. Also compare different sources if all say the same
    • always ask yourself what is the agenda of the one behind the information
      • money / power / informing
  • 10 Tips for googling
  • Keep this habit for all the research you do
• Cognitive biases / lying to yourself
  • Statistics example:
  • If you smoke increased chance of cancer, I’m gonna be in the 10% that doesn't get cancer

       → 97% of the people think they are gonna be in the 10%
       → small group of people actually think they probably gonna get cancer

Transform information to knowledge

• • Take notes and try to rephrase the information
  • Explain to other people

Sleep

• • Importance of sleep to process new information / and other things about sleep / too much sleep
  • Hassan overview
• Good influences friends that work out / eat healthier
• habits

Working out

• Why working out is the first chapter
  • Blood flow
  • In line with people’s awareness / society
  • the ability to do things and Confidence
  • Building momentum
  • posture
• Pick the sport that works for you, walking, running, gym, yoga …
  • 15 min a day is good, after every time put it in your notes, what you thought, if you had difficulty / easiness doing it, what were the things that held you back
  • Give different methods to keep long term motivation:
    • Do it with a friend, keep track of your progress and so on
    • Give example why working out is not only beneficial for your body, overall wellbeing but also for your state of mind/self-confidence

Eating healthy

• Adopting a healthy diet
  • Very personal (how to create your personal diet)
  • Supplements
  • Highly processed foods
  • Cholesterol “ LDL (bad) vs HDL (good) cholesterol “
  • Meat consumption, vegetarianism and veganism
  • Digestion
  • Why a calorie is not just a calorie
  • Things worth mentioning / considering
  • calorie intake, health and aging
  • Intermittent fasting
  • Meal frequency
  • Structuring meals & not having to think about what to eat anymore
  • Write down what you consider healthy and make potential meals out of that, only eat those meals from then on
    • include recipes for healthy dishes
  • Effects of Sugar on Brain and overall health, don’t have to avoid sugar totally (at this point) just reduce it to WHO recommended amount of less than 50g/day
    • Chron O Meter

Logical thinking / Critical thinking

• Studying math, physics, statistics and logic basics and exercises preselected
  • https://www.happy-neuron.com/ (only 7 days free)

Taking notes

• give general guideline how to take notes efficiently
• Note your progress in adapting new heathy habits motivation and helps to keep track of progress or notice stagnation make it more tangible
• Write what questions are still open to be able to further investigate on them later
• Very important to build a strong framework

Meditation

• You can use guided meditation to start off with, Headspace or Buddify, mingyur rinpoche monkey mind e.g.
• You can also do a short meditation before learning something new, will put you in a better state of mind
• Don’t forget to make notes of the progress you make
  • Neuroscientist after 11 hours your brain structure changes focus and self control

All this will create a base level so you are able to learn new things faster, gain the most from new insights and make connections easier.

1st lvl Understand the more advanced basics

3rd perspective

• With taking notes start looking at yourself as an observer
  • as if you were a scientist analyzing a test subject
  • detective observing his target
• Not to care what others think about you
• Power of Now, if you have a harder time grasping that concept
  • watching the thinker
  • example listening to music, a time of being in the present, no experience of self
  • worry and regret living in the past / future
• Being present
  • first step in detachment, start seeing your own and the actions of others more objectively
  • Being in the present has to be practical/functional can’t be in the presence when you’re standing on a street and a car comes towards you / getting food is also practical else you die if you are just in the present

Language

• How different people use different words
• How people have different emotions / pictures for same words
• Video Athene & Reese on Language and after the paragraph in real answers how do misunderstandings arise even though people might have the same opinion on something?

Difference between awareness and knowledge

• Example with being blind
  • Say you are a blind person that gains sight for the first time
  • You have a concept of a bottle in your mind (knowledge)
  • but if someone just shows you a bottle for the first time you don't connect what you see to your intellectual concept
  • only by touching the bottle you connect your knowledge to the image of the bottle (awareness)
• repetition and examples need for that
  • example CPU and hard drive, just on your hard drive you don't process it / use it

Seek first to understand / basics of truly listening

• Try to focus fully on trying to understand the point that is brought across
• Open mindedness
• When experiencing difficulty make a note and observe your reaction to for example conflicting ideas
• Read the paragraph in 7 habits of highly effective people on that part

Absolute truth

• Watch video ABSOLUTE TRUTH
• quantum mechanics
• reality is subjective to the reference frame
  • example
    • sound is just distorted air, we only see a limited spectrum of light
    • two things separated in space always different experience time the light needs to travel
• Watch part on ultimate podcast
• After read part in real answers
• there is no absolute certainty in anything, so seeing everything in probabilities is much more in line with reality, helps to be more open minded, detach from long held beliefs, it might hold you back in your personal development

Neuroscience Watch the theory of everything

• Try to understand the different concept make notes
• Re-watch it at least once while going over your notes
• Read the chapters about neuroscience in real answers and see if you have no trouble going through it

part about human evolution from brain to history

• Evolution: collective abilities, social structured discarding “survival of the fittest”

Neuroplasticity

• often used (stimulated) thinking patterns cause a stronger/thicker neural pathway vice versa, therefore the brain constantly changes (first introduction of ever changing “you”)
  • example Ruediger Gramm human calculator
• neurogenesis
• people can change
  • example working out your brain like working out in the gym to lift heavier

Amygdala highjack

• Brain chemical reaction causing narrow mindedness while the information would be otherwise helpful and we could agree on it rationally
• Validation we feel empowered, reward hormone serotonin easier to become self-aware
• Controversial concepts interpreted as a threatening thing which you need to protect yourself from nor-epinephrine amygdala hijack in extreme cases, but overall defensive stance less able to look at it objectively
  • Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die

Beliefs

• Left brain hemisphere: creating coherent belief system; Right: constantly challenging the status quo if questioning strong enough overwrite
• When attaching yourself to a belief system narrow-minded
  • why emotional attachment if not benefitting?
• Our beliefs influence our body chemistry e.g. placebo effect
  • example when people challenge other ppls beliefs they think it will change them, but it only makes their beliefs stronger

Addiction

• nucleus accumbens plays a huge role in our reward circuit creating a feeling of craving something (physiological addiction)
• psychological addiction: whether you take a drug or not is very much depended on your environment/circumstances (Rat drugged water example; Vietnam war example)
  • Can’t stop smoking
  • → now hurricane in your village
  • → you have to stay inside, it’s unsafe outside
  • → you don’t have cigarettes
  • → during that time you won’t smoke
  • → you won’t even miss it that much
  • → reason why: you won't experience choice
  • The problem is that you can’t deal with the choice
  • → find a way to take away the choice

Mirror neurons

• our source of empathy and granting the ability to self-reflect
• Constant duality of how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others identity
• they can’t differentiate between you and others (they fire both when we do an action and when we see an action been taken)

Ever changing self

• example Clone
  • you are the clone, all your story is not you, you are your neural activity

Subconscious

• Emotions arise before we are even aware of them can’t correct them by training rationality and emotional- resilience
• Backwards rationalization constant fuel to our confusion
  • control example white blood cells / focus on better sleep / wake up earlier

Dissonance

• lack of understanding
• least dissonance when brain activity resonates coherently
• the uncomfortable feeling/frustration when you hold two contradicting beliefs at the same time
• How/when do neurons fire Cognitive dissonance (hold two contradicting beliefs at same time – often one based on emotion and one on rationality)
  • example of orchestra with one guy out of tune
• embracing dissonance as a opportunity to learn
  • example game not taking thing threatening, more with a mindset of imporving your gameplay

Morals

• Misconception we need some sort of narrative few on our life to establish moral, our scientific insights lead to a much more accurate moral construct

Nothing is external

• your neural activity (self) is strongly influenced by your environment

1. The matrix → Neo is the entire file → can’t cut out neo and delete all the rest → then neo wouldn’t exist

• You only label yourself because of practical reasons survival
• Space is also a practical concept to survive so is there even a real border/distance between you and the rest

Strong example (you listening to a podcast could also be seen as you are dreaming and that person is speaking to you in a dream so even when the person is created by you (within you) you draw a border between you and other persons within your dream  it’s just a concept)

Listen ultimate podcast nothing is external and see if everything fits

Social conditioning Validation + approval -> how it comes about

• How you grow up and learn as a kid with approval
  • basic emotional needs of a child (security, warmth)
  • Uncertainty relationship with parents ripples
  • uncertainty mirroring in other relationships vicious circle
  • position in the family influence on behavior / expectations
• This approval can lead to validation seeking e.g when only reward for doing something specific that is expected
• Living for the eyes of your parents / of others
  • getting de-motivated by others not being able to rely on yourself

Example of caring what other people think of you:

Imagine driving in a car and realizing you drive slower than normal because you left the hand-brakes on. If you value what other people think of you, you would be embarrassed by showing that you left the hand-brakes on, so instead give extra gas to still go the same speed. If you realize this in real life and being able to release the brakes can help a lot.

• • Spotlight Effect

Trust -> Distrust

• Connect to approval and validation
• Distrust closely related to lying
• if we have gotten enough approval as children we develop a healthy self-trust, and this also affects how we trust others (if you don’t trust yourself it is much harder to put trust in a other person)
• while a validation seeking person is more likely to have trust-issues (they try to keep up a certain image of themselves, because, they constantly try to show their value to the environment, they don’t trust that people will see their value on their own)
• you can't expect trust if you treat others with distrust – they will more likely back-stab you self-fulfilling prophecy
• Read the chapter in the book
• The way you trust yourself and the image you have of other people affects your trust in them
• If you take away the trust in others (or the bigger picture) you disconnect yourself from the larger purpose and others
• That’s why some people have the feeling they lack purpose in life (they don’t care for anyone sometimes not even themselves)
• Keep a healthy skepticism don’t become naive (keep a healthy balance)
• Give the idea: by already forgiving someone for breaking your trust, even though that might never happen, it can be much easier and become less frightened to fully trust someone (RealTalk - Girls)
• Ask yourself if you would trust your clone
• Ultimate podcast If you look at someone else/talk to someone else, you always experience a certain lack of information (blind spots) because you can’t know a person fully and you fill this blind spots with yourself/your own experiences (your world view etc.) that’s why often it tells more if you have to interpret the behavior of a person with a very limited amount of information than about the person themselves

Serial killer example

If you are a serial killer and you invite someone into your house, you are likely to ponder the belief that he might also be a serial killer. If you are not a serial killer that thought would likely not even cross your mind. 

• Give people the benefit of the doubt

Self-esteem + self

• how it comes about
• The seed for self-esteem/self-love is planted when you are a child
• If you have never developed a healthy self-trust lack in self-esteem (you didn’t experience that you have a value to your environment through to a lack of approval/validation) so you start to believe you a worthless/worth less than others
• The other way around if people around you give you the constant feeling you have a high value for your environment/there is a high value in your actions you build a very strong self-esteem (if you don’t manage to keep realistic view on yourself this can relate in egocentric/cocky behavior)
• how is it flawed
• So what is the self?

clone example:

Imagine you would be cloned right now, there would be no difference between you and the clone. Even further, you might as well be the clone, since there is no difference betweem the "original" and the "clone".

• Who/what am I? constantly changing neural activity
• Breakdown of your own reward system / also link to the self
• You identifying with your past/memories that’s where the dissonance comes from
• what comes out of it
• Low self-esteem rather relate to fear then to curiosity
• My memories, experience then your siblings were more you than your baby you that couldn’t process these memories
• Victim mindset validation seeking, but if you have enough validation you can totally drop it (don’t feel the need to prove yourself to others anymore) emotional foundation to build strong rational framework
• Jonas symptoms of low self esteem
• more sensitive to criticism
• pessimistic outlook
• Lack of self-esteem building up strong identity
• how to overcome it
• strengthen neural connections
• So in company of other influences you don't take over their view
• The best version you can be while working on things self validating mechanic
• Your existence is enough to make you valuable
• building value by helping others

Ego + identity

• how it comes about
• If you have a low self-esteem you try to gain value by building a strong identity (making your own story more fancy) and also a strong ego to protect yourself from the opinion of others (the reaction towards you have been mostly negative therefore you shield yourself from almost every other opinion about yourself – even if they would have value for you and also from the ones more in line with reality)
• If you have experience mostly positive interactions with your social circle it’s easier to be open minded for other opinions – your ego doesn’t get active so much, you don’t develop the feeling you need to make your story fancier since your environment has shown you that you have a certain value
• how is it flawed
• Your story is not what you are at the moment it’s just a collection of memory - information
• you aren’t what you think you are, you are your current action – people often excuse bad actions with “but that is not really what I am”
• Clone
• where does the you begin? Is a clone with all the same memory etc. you? Also the idea of being more grateful for the things you have/don’t take them for granted
• what comes out of it
• Feeling superior towards others even identity out of working on yourself
• Beliefs + imposing beliefs:
• to feel superior, feed your identity, justify your inaction, to not face insecurities / low elf esteem
• Being consistent with beliefs, not a hypocrite
• How everything you do is defined by your beliefs
  • example fake gun

fake gun example 
→ If I come with a gun and you start running away and be scared for your life
→ then say it’s a toy gun, suddenly all the fear etc is gone
→ belief system

• • example Zoo

Zoo example 
If you go to watch a lion at the zoo you’re not scared because you have a belief there is a glass wall that protects you
→ put someone from remote village that doesn’t even know glass → will start running

• • example Job

Nolan examples
Job example 
Go to job → put something on the bank (digital information) → that’s what you work for 8h/day
→ why you do that → because of belief system 
If you’d go and after work they give you paper and you go like “I want money”
If they give money to you then you go like “ok, thank you”
→ it’s a belief system 
→ paper is useless → it’s the value you give it
→ the value you give to money or anything is a belief system
→ belief system defines almost everything you do in life

• Judgmental behavior / labeling

Example conditioned from reality TV shows makes you feel better superior

• being a hypocrite (judging people for things you do yourself) it’s because 1. You can’t see yourself in a 3rd person perspective 2. You don’t understand that people are a result of their environment, most of them aren’t able to consciously influence their actions (everyone is in a different state of development, if you are on a higher state be happy you got the right stimuli at the right time doesn’t make sense to judge someone for something he can’t really influence himself)
• putting people in a box not accurate with everchaning
• labeling and taking what is helpful
• you can learn from a person that has certain different views
• Being understanding / neuroscience reference
• Identity crisis
• when you recognize that what you are doing is not giving you purpose sense of meaninglessness
• how to overcome it
• realizing it is not what you are
• detaching yourself from your story

Watch Get Lucky A&R

• Taking things for granted: you had so much RNG to be even born where you were born with access to internet, unlimited food etc.
• Putting things in perspective paradigm shift
• What you already have right now is much more valuable than what you could ever get
• Trying to relate to others born with different RNG

example

If people from the west adopt a kid from a developing country the kid will very fast adopt & adjust to the new lifestyle and start taking things for granted.

→ same applies to you when you for example get used to drinking soda

→ becomes current state → get emotionally attached to it

→ It’s the bar that you set for yourself

→ it’s a psychological bar

→ that bar is important because it sets the bar for what you take for granted & what you appreciate in life

→ if you lower the bar and start seeing the world for what it is everything suddenly gets a lot more value

example

→ .Let’s say you’re at work and get a call family died because of fire in the house you go there → mistake your family is well you start hugging → stop taking it for granted → because you lowered that psychological bar → you (re)evaluate what you have

→ you can evaluate what you have all the time & allows you to be more happy

Watch about Detachment A&R

• Most of the things you want – you actually don’t really want programmed by society/adds …
• Detachment is a tool to look at your actions – and seeing things more objectively / unbiased (it is NOT stop caring about stuff)
• Strengthening neural pathways
• So in company of other influences you don't take over their view

Questions

• Watch Athene and Reese on questions
• The right question often already gives the answer
• Most questions arise out of a flawed/questionable concept (is there an afterlife is there even time)
• What happens after death
• what is time
• clone example death
• Read real answers part
• Question often plants the seed for our beliefs and by asking the right one we can see underlying motivation to even ask them
• The answer to your question is less important than to find out why you are asking the question

Responsibility A&R

• how it works
• With growing up you gain more and more responsibility
• If you lack awareness (ignorance) your responsibility is restricted just as much the more intelligent/aware you are the more you are responsible for your environment
• Freedom you are very limited in your freedom anyway
• It is a taboo to be confrontational about responsibility questioning people's comfort bubble
• Book
• Freedom doesn’t work without the concept of responsibility

mother child example

A mother is not free to do whatever she wants, she has the responsability to take care of the child.

• Freedom often used as a shield against others peoples’ arguments
• Again responsibility related to your level of awareness (revision here not needed I guess)
• Ignorance often the cause of inaction no use to point fingers
• what you can do
• We are often way more skeptic about the behavior of others than our own use this skepticism against yourself to become a better version of yourself
• Your behavior ripples to others, being consistent
• Feel responsible and reflect on it, you yourself can have the impact, you are the only variable you have full influence on
• The only reason you take the spot of victim is so you can blame the world, stay in your comfort bubble and don’t actually start to do something about it

Don’t want to do this example

I don’t wanna go to school I wanna play games → how you make a living?

→ have a plan of action if you don’t then better off sticking at doing the thing

→ have to figure it out

Read what do I genuinely want real answers

• For understanding what we really want we have to understand what we are
• This will also bring a clear moral compass without the need of ethnic/religion
• asking yourself if you spend your time on things you genuinely value
• to avoid dissonance -> distractions

Purpose

• Evolution
• Read or listen to sapiens, makes you question a lot of the current accepted things and you get insights about evolution,
• Meaning of life, direction
• Watch A&R meaning of life
• There is a universal purpose that is evolving (moving forward, enhance technology, science to understand ourselves/the universe)
• legacy
• Compare it to your mom taking care of you
• She doesn’t care about her legacy
• She does what she has to do
• Takes care of you
• … comparison to what happens after death
• don't remember the person just ideas
• Listen to the ultimate podcast part
• No absolute truth so best answer you can get is a statistical one So the moment you let go of absolute truth the answer to what’s purpose becomes almost irrelevant think more practical
• If you take yourself out of the equation – there wouldn’t even be the question is there purpose

Selflessness

• listen to the ultimate podcast
• Truly listening is fully emerging in the other persons world, seeing the world from the other persons eyes
• Growth of others is your own growth if you are selfless

example final fantasy playing as a group of characters

Are our actions insignificant?

• Book
• Important here even inaction is an action in some way
• Every action ripples through society
• Overpopulation myth
• Everyone can have a relatively big impact
• changing the world begins with you

example you can save lives by donating sharing ideas etc.

example create the belief that you are able to change something

example my life can be worth more lives by saving other people and it is very easy / low cost donating

Choiceless awareness

• Watch video Athene & Reese on choiceless awareness
• Seeing yourself as part of a super organism (getting closer to making sense) you experience nearly no choice you do what makes sense, bring this organism further
• You don’t do what you prefer, you do what you have to do (makes sense)
• A lot of our modern days’ frustration comes out of the feeling we have this wide range of choices (freedom/choice glorification)
• If you do stuff not because you want to but because you feel like it’s the most rational thing/you have to much more success (Athene world records) if you experience choice, it reduces your productivity very much
• Read practical application in real answers
• Action (if you have similar choices) is better than inaction
• All of us experience choice less awareness to some extend but we take those moments for granted
• (mother have to care for her child, eating …)
• Watch Hey Smart-Ass You ain’t so smart
• Intellectual masturbation instead of really contributing to the world (intelligent people have an easy time to talk themselves out of their responsibility)
• Many of the smart people stay in their comfort bubble their whole life because they don’t get challenged (at least not successfully) by their environment that is why placing you in an environment where you get intellectually challenged is so important (if you are in a place where you are the smartest guy that’s in most of the cases a bad thing)
• Introduction of “become part of the solution otherwise you are part of the problem”
• emaple of gun to head, don't want to do dishes / work out

2nd lvl Application of it

Rhetoric

• Watch Athene and Reese on Rhetoric
• High risk of being intellectual dominated by someone with really good rhetoric (if it isn’t the insight or argument rather the rhetoric itself that convinces you adopting flawed beliefs, so got to be aware of that)
• Don’t use rhetoric as a shield to block other (helpful) ideas inhibit your own development
• Memory + working memory
• Often used to gain the moral high ground (upper hand)
• Read the chapter of the book
• Store thoughts as logical checkpoints, don’t store the information itself just the logic behind it
• its not about what you say but how you say it

example: being more confident leads to people more easily believing what you say making it sound cool

Seeing reality for what it is

• A&R on is your reality real
• Seeing things for what they are – always try to apply your theories/views into your reality/daily life

example selfish person trouble becoming selfless because they would look for the catch

example selfish person help for nothing in return will seem odd and can’t understand

• being in constant denial about reality

example when told facts you don’t immediately change

• emotional
• Just accepting reality will make you so much more productive, happier, easy to adapt to circumstances
• the world is not black and white but shades of grey

example when building a house, when do the bricks become the house

• Seeing things for what they are simple, don’t overcomplicate
• Seeing all options
• Book Seeing things for what they are
• making compromises when faced with two imperfect options
• working hard vs working effective

example working effective making 10 EUR / hour or 50

Being intelligent vs being smart

• smart is the hardware
• intelligent is how close you are to the best version of yourself
• taking initiative

Result oriented vs outcome dependent

• Don’t beat yourself up about the outcome (if you have taken everything into consideration you knew at this point) learn out of mistakes optimize results in the future
• Watch video how to make a difference
• Very important: even though you have to make compromises – doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try (I can’t keep a clean sheet anyway so why care at all?) be pragmatic
• Don’t think in borders, don’t discriminate because of relative distance – we are all one species
• Read part in real answers
• Being result oriented is important to measure your efficiency
• Result orientation contributes massively to mental stability
• Evaluating your belief system all the time is important and necessary to direct yourself more in line with reality

Always think in solutions not in problems

• think outside the box
• Nothing is impossible
• See the whole playing field and narrow down
• deconstruct your problems and solve them step by step
• The solution is just an idea
• Circle of influence and concern
• be part of the solution not the problem (ultimate podcast end)
  • Always blame yourself unless you can’t do anything about it than accept
• Become the focal point of the problem
• Most times you could have acted / talked differently and even influence other people, don’t blame others what could you have done?
• You could have thought about this as well so it wouldn’t have happened
• See people’s problems and make them your own

Financial independence

• A&R on materialism Watch consumerism video from Athene
• taking things for granetd / clone example
• Chapter in the book
• One important requirement is a clear mind – that will help you to overcome your impulsive nature (for example impulsive consumerism)
• Don’t be emotional attached to outcome will help you a lot work on your mindset
• Minimalism is the most effect way to save up money – even with a low paying job you can save up quite some money with this “attitude” (requires a certain amount of detachment from social conditioned consumerism)
• Use networking – take the easy way. Already think about it while living with your parents- easiest time to save up money
• How do you spend your money
• How many hours work for purchases calculation

Surround yourself with good influences / ppl

• People
• avoid ppl that have a negative influence on you
• family relationships
• Relationship
• Friendship
• common goals, common ground

example when you go to school, what binds you is the school, after school most of these friendships dissolve

• Environment
• don’t go to the sweet section in the supermarket
• Avoid doing things that drag you down as much as you can

Learn about social skills, watch the blueprint and take notes

• Conditioning
• Misconception to have a lower status than most “hot” girls
• Misconception girls only like assholes – confidence ensured survival in the past
• Misconception you have to trick girls into sex cause you yourself get much more out of it than she does
• You have to pretend to be to cool guy even though you are a nerd everything can be cool/interesting if you are confident about it
• Only go for the easy “catches” because you think getting rejected is a big deal/shameful
• the rejection itself isn’t the bad thing it’s the rationalization out of it that for example we aren’t worthy of that person while it could have many other reasons why we got rejected
• being in state
• Be in the moment and outside your head
• Being vs doing
• putting yourself in a state of abundance
• spamming girls on dating apps
• when you are in state / confident you can do almost anything
• micro behaviour
• Anticipate that people will like you just for who you are
• ** Other main concepts out of blueprint?

How to have the biggest impact

• Read chapter in the book
• First put yourself in best position to do so (healthy habits revision)
• Having the biggest impact has different kind of facets depending on your worldview (rising children and giving them more opportunities than you had, curing diseases, develop new technology as mentioned in A&R meaning of life - Purpose)
• The more logical you go about achieving this purpose the higher your chances of success use all the information you have at that point to make the most likely choice
• See mistakes/failure as an opportunity to gain new information learn out of them
• Lead by example
• Find likeminded people – the collective can always have a bigger impact than one person

Topics you can skip through if interested:

• Politics
• Start with watching the video on God & religion A&R
• Athene and Reese on Racism
• A&R on War
• Read the chapter in the book
• Vegetarism Video A&R
• Can also read about aliens / singularity
• Gaming / going pro
• being on tilt, trying to explain in detail why
• or taking distance
• Conspiracy theories
• Privacy
• Don’t get too sidetracked by these topics they are interesting, don’t lose yourself in them

3rd lvl Making sense

What is making sense

• watch the most important video ever made
• here again you need the hardware first (healthy habits, a certain age at least 16), detachment, take distance from it (3rd person view on things) before you are even able to grasp on this insight
• good revision of structure of brain and also introduction into emotions and how they appear (emotion reaction thinking backwards rationalization)
• it’s not you that is a failure or who is worthless it’s just an emotional cocktail that makes you feel this way but the part of you who is aware of this emotions (the actual YOU/self) give you the ability to understand this and course correct your behavior
• don’t beat yourself up for your emotions/don’t suppress them doesn’t make sense (if you do so you don’t understand the mechanics)
• everything every thought arises out of an emotion
• your body is a mirrors the emotions, so understanding emotions is also how you experience them physically
• revision of language here: some words carry emotional getting triggered detach emotion from concept overwrite certain concepts with a new emotion
• making sense conclusion out of our evolutionary process
• core value that is always applicable (everything makes sense, even though it might be contra productive now it made sense back in the days, so it has a logical origin by understanding this you can more easily course correct dysfunctional views/concepts/ideas)
• by understanding the origin of stuff we can often get rid of the fear/its threatening image: toy gun example) you are able to get rid of most/all of the confusion with that core value with making sense all our fear can be translated into the drive to understand things
• it optimizes your impact you can no longer procrastinate because it doesn’t make sense
• you need to emotionally attach to making sense (rational understanding isn’t enough; knowledge awareness)
• fighting emotions comes from lack of understanding
• understanding emotions and being more rational is not like a robot with no emotions
• better understanding enhancing resonance and reducing and solving dissonance
• gradual process, not black and white (neuroplasticity), also dependent on situation you are in
• watch the ultimate podcast making sense
• You have to connect concepts emotionally – just because you rationally want something it doesn’t bring you to applying it
• All believes/preferences emerge sub consciously (emotions; example with girlfriend turning you upside down in a few weeks because you have a strong emotional connection) reason doesn’t define your actions
• Observe your emotions through 3rd person necessary to grasp these things (otherwise you are trapped in your emotions)
• It gives selflessness a strong direction
• Selflessness more advanced

Self-image

• motivation (resonance and emotional)+ discipline (dissonance and rational)
• lead to choiceless awareness
• when there is no conflict there is no experience of choice
• strength and weaknesses
• self image and inner conflict / true self wants to make sense / self image not in line
• when not in inner conflict you are in the present
• constant resonance no inner conflict reward center constant stimulated
• critical thinking to strengthen your self-image and aligning more with true self
• you don’t need experience to learn
• debating yourself, being your own biggest sceptic
• making sense is aligning your self image with your true self

Core values

• Most important video
• it is what makes you feel most save, what allows you to tackle fear
• many core values we adopted throughout our lives are not in line with our more rational part main source for our dissonance
• watch ultimate podcast on core value
• your deepest motivation – why you go for things you do
• try to find out for yourself what your core value is
• meditate on it
• see yourself from 3rd person view

Comfort:

• connection to low confidence
• Procrastination
• Watch video A&R Procrastination
• Start with small things, things that take little time
• failing once doesn’t mean failure

example scientist have to make many experiments to learn something

• Procrastination comes out of a lack of purpose
• Trusting your future self too much
• Have a long term plan where do you want to get? Then work towards achieving that as soon as possible
• School you have to do it so might as well just take the most out of it
• Read chapter in the book
• Develop those healthy habits (you aren’t lazy you just feel like it – gun to the head example)
• Unity of mind and body healthy lifestyle leads to more action and willpower (first steps are the hardest after that it only gets easier)
• The way you label yourself isn’t the way you truly are better don’t even label yourself
• Having problems try to find people in same situation to push each other (also in basics long term motivation no need to repeat here)
• Procrastination/inaction leads to boredom

Fitting in:

• Fitting in was crucial in primeval times ensured your survival (but it isn’t need anymore)
• tribal fear of death - getting rejected by the group

• Depression
• Read the chapter in the book
• Most people underestimate how conditioning and environment can mold you
• There are different kinds of depression (some arise out of a chemical imbalance in the body) psychological and physiological origin therefore visiting a doctor and have a checkup can help in some cases
• It’s a temporary not a permanent problem (for specific type)
• Detaching yourself from your story makes it easier to understand people with depression (see things through their lens) the other way around if the person with depression sees out through a 3rd person view it’s also easier for them to take their problems into perspective
• Don’t take things for granted (family member car accident – misunderstanding example), compare your problems to the problems of others (existential crises vs. not even having enough food to survive)
• One of the best therapy is to put person a situation where it has to help others
• doing something now, you can do a small thing the first step right now and gain a feeling of achievement
• doing research
• going for a short walk
• celebrate small victories

• Loneliness
• Watch the video A&R Loneliness
• Do you want yourself around you? No then why would others?
• Often people feel lonely even though they have a good social circle
• You can always find a common ground to connect with people after all we are all human
• Truly listen, be interested in others makes others feel appreciated, makes it easier for you to feel truly connected/close to others
• Most of time people become friends over a very limited connection (temporary as high school, playing game XY …) try to find people over a long term connection as improving the world – never gets old
• Read the chapter in the book
• We are social organisms the need to survive as a species evolved us to want social contact
• Our society changes much faster than our biology – so even though we don’t depend on others so much anymore for survival we still experience loneliness if we lack social contact
• Categorizing people leads to isolation lack of human complexity
• Before finding good friends you have to know what it is that makes a good friend what is the connection you have
• Social anxiety
• Book
• Mainly a result of lacking confidence best advice: fake it till you make it – people will treat you differently which will result in real confidence eventually (working out can also help)
• Spotlight effect: people care as little about you as you care about them
• Envy
• from a place of feeling less worth when comparing to others
• defining yourself by how others see you

Freedom

• how it works
• There is no freedom without responsibility
• your freedom goes at the cost of other ppl freedom
• example you are not free to kill people
• example you are not free to take whatever you want
• example mother child / no choice
• example freedom of speech, you are not even free to say whatever you want responsibility to respect the “freedom” of others
• emaple: I work hard for what I have
• people in 3rd world work really hard as well laber on the field
• With growing up you gain more and more responsibility
• If you lack awareness (ignorance) your responsibility is restricted just as much the more intelligent/aware you are the more you are responsible for your environment
• Freedom you are very limited in your freedom anyway
• It is a taboo to be confrontational about responsibility questioning people's comfort bubble
• Ignorance often the cause of inaction no use to point fingers
• Book
• Freedom doesn’t work without the concept of responsibility (mother child example)
• Freedom often used as a shield against others peoples’ arguments
• Again responsibility related to your level of awareness
• Your behavior ripples to others, being consistent
• behaving irresponsible as a parent
• your children will take it over, free?
• Traveling
• more effective ways to spend money
• link with freedom

Happiness / fun

• Video A&R
• First of all, it’s a pretty vague concept can have different interpretations
• Happiness can’t/shouldn’t be a goal it’s more a side effect of purpose
• Relates here to medical condition that prevent being happy (depression)
• You can rewrite memories/emotions, get rid of unnecessary luggage
• building a strong purpose and work for it will almost resolve the whole happiness problem
• Book Happiness by Richard O Connor
• side effect based on your current situation
• stats about happiness
• Book
• Important to differ between pleasure and happiness (momentary joy vs overall long term fulfillment) find a healthy balance between pleasure and happiness, the older/mature you become the more it shifts towards happiness
• Fixation on happiness creates an extra musician who is in disharmony to the rest of the orchestra

Knowledge

• lack of direction

Right action

• helping others might lack direction
• something that comes out of making sense

Ethics:

• morals from scientific understanding
• right and wrong dependent on the situation and the information available

Relationship:

• can channel a lot through partner
• when partner leaves there is a big void
• Put your partners’ emotions into words truly listening
• Being understood resolves dissonance relief?
• Jealousy
• doesn’t make sense
• pushes partner away more because unattractive
• comes from a sense of low self worth
• not giving trust while expecting trust

Family

• good connection with your family
• connection with safety
• living for the eyes of your parents
• can’t rely on yourself

Security:

• Money
• money offers something you can always trust
• offers a sense of feeling secure
• need to explore and define what it is specifically and what you actually need on an emotional level
• comparing different uses of money, compare with lives saved
• Worry
• it doesn’t even make you better prepared for the thing you worry about and it also affects all the things negatively you do in between/while orrying (prevents you from feeling good while you could)
• example flight anxiety

How to change your core value

• watch how to change your life
• fully understanding making sense
• listen to ultimate podcast
• Putting emotions into words
• Observe yourself and others and see how well you can spot emotions
• make a list of things to work on
• keeping the momentum going