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Yep, kids on the way; had to sell his home and move in on the couch of another silicone valley investor to finish the first rocket launch that landed his first contracts. Said he was days away from being negative. This is an amazing read <EDIT harmless joke out> https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/006230125X
There's an excellent book about this called The Cuckoo's Egg. Highly recommend it, especially if you're getting started in the software development / cybersecurity space, or working alongside government agencies.
False. Read up on Elon. He may not be bending the metal to build the rockets, or assembling the batteries that go into Teslas (what CEO does?), but he knows a great deal about the engineering behind all their products.
If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read this.
Jobs, OTOH, had no background in computer science or engineering and never claimed to. His thing was design, which he (obviously) did really well.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, very interesting story about human cell research, the woman whose cells made it possible, and her daughter. It is a compelling true story and describing it makes me want to read it again! And I second (or third) the Mary Roach books; they are sometimes LOL funny.
> “Well they survived long enough to achieve space flight,” Forty-five Trills pointed out. “They can’t be too careless with explosions, can they?” ...
... said no-one familiar with the history of human rocketry.
On which subject, did you know that Ignition! is back in print? Now that book definitely shouldn't be taken as a challenge.
>The Immortal Life of Hennrietta
Based on the book by the same name by Rebecca Skloot
https://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1400052181
Psychedelics get you into a head-space where you can sort of feel the connectedness of everything, and also think beyond the rigid thoughts your mind normally operates on (so as to see things in a different way than you always have). That's one of the reasons so many people have such a profound experience with it. That's why Leary was considering dosing an entire towns water supply, to spur real revolutionary change. I do think there is a case to be made that psychedelics could lead to a real leftward shift in popular imagination, but, then again, theres a Nazi that took acid and came up with the idea of a White Nationalist form of Twitter or something recently, so results vary.
A real good book on the subject of rethinking psychedelics (sorry abt the Amazon link): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594204225/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> What would you do in my situation?
Fuck the loans... but also I would get as many credit cards as I could qualify for and max them out enjoying every last second I have left on this Earth.
Unrelated to finance, Michael Pollan has a new book out that I would recommend about psychedelics and their effectiveness on patients given terminal diagnoses. https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225
Take care.
I might get downvoted for this, but I'm not suggesting it without prior research and caution: a psychedelic experience.
It's not for everyone and should only be done if you've done your own research and preparation. That said, it can be a truly profound introspective experience that really allows you to see into yourself. And it can be deeply healing. I learned many lessons, but my 50% of my trip was the most terrifying experience I've ever had, so again, be careful.
Micheal Pollan - How to Change Your Mind - this might be a good book if you're interested.
William Dunham has a great book,Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics, about this.
Was glad to hear you both found success in your past themes : )
Myke - I found maintaining my weight to be equally as hard as losing it. Forcing myself to weight in everyday has been a really important feedback loop, much easier to have a bad day paired with a good day rather than have 30 bad days in a row followed by 30 good ones!
Grey - re:psychedelics, you might find this book an interesting read. Taking them is unprincipled to blanket recommend, but I highly encourage people to think about seeking them out (especially in the light of your disappointment with meditation)
The relevant passage from John Clark's "Ignition!":
>”It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
>He was in the right place at the right time
Incorrect, read the book on him written by Ashlee Vance and you will understand that it was not just so.
My overall view is that he's an increadible, but deeply flawed, person.
He's simultaneously transforming the transportation, space exploration, and energy sectors all at once. He's already accomplished multiple things in aeronautics and transportation areas that nobody else had done before. I honestly think he's possibly the most important person alive, and we're really lucky to have him.
But... he's probably a narcissist, and at least appears to be an asshole.
Like many people who are increadible workers, he demands incredible amounts from the people around him. Often enough that he hurts them. If you read his biography it's replete with stories of Elon hurting people close to him because he doesn't seem to understand how they see the world. His ex-wife, Justine, wrote a really sad article about their divorce back in 2010. This doesn't excuse anything, but his biography strongly suggests he was abused as a child by his father.
He seems to share a lot of traits, both positive and negative, with some of the most successful people in history. It's possible to be that driven that something inside of you needs to be broken, or that you demand so much of yourself that you despise mediocrity in others.
Michael Pollan has a good book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225/ref=nodl_ He also does a interview with Joe Rogan: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tz4CrWE_P0g Interesting stuff.
It's outlined in his biography (which is a good read on the details of all these events).
The job was really dangerous and required working in a boiler room and insane temperatures and squeezing between small spaces.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. A poor black tobacco farmer to whom we owe a debt of gratitude, because without her we wouldn't have half the cures to diseases we have today - including the polio vaccine.
> That's the sad thing, people say "it's the FBI leadership, not the rank and file!" this wasn't Comey and co. This was the rank and file.
A problem, though, is that the leadership generally sets the tone and emphasis of an organization. And since J. Edger Hoover, the primary focus has been political, especially on stuff that generates good publicity. That's why when I was growing up their emphasis and reputation was still based on bank robberies and kidnappings, which are both notorious and particularly easy to solve crimes, because of witnesses in the former, and the need to pick up a ransom in the latter.
If you're into computers, and, heh, this is another "Russia" thing, read The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage. The one organization that wouldn't give Cliff Stoll the time of day in tracking down the West German hackers who were being run by the KFB was the FBI, because the crime didn't satisfy their $100,000 or more threshold.
Hoover did seriously care about counter-espionage, but it was always a red headed stepchild in the organization, and he of course was long gone by then. That the FBI started exerting itself so much about claimed Russian espionage and the like last year just by itself makes it very suspicious, they wouldn't do it without a political angle, which we now can be pretty sure was the "insurance policy" they had in case Trump got elected.
Cliff Stoll doesn't recommend metal openers for his Klein Bottles.
Fun fact: Cliff wrote one of the first investigative books on overseas espionage/hacking in the 1980s "The Cuckoo's Egg" and has a lot of other neat topological glassware on the site.
The Apollo rockets used kerosene and liquid oxygen for their first (and largest) stage. The later stages used hydrogen and oxygen, instead.
Collecting and compressing large amounts of hydrogen is unbelievably dangerous, and liquid oxygen isn't far behind - but neither is exactly rare. Kerosene is an article of commerce, and while you'd want to control purity fairly carefully for rocket fuel, which costs, it's more that you need a staggering amount of it than that the fuel itself is unusually expensive.
Interestingly, one of the best books ever written on this subject, Ignition!, is back in print. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in rocketry whatsoever: it covers fuel development, spanning most of the period from the late 19th century all the way up to the Cold War. Clark's style is also eminently quotable:
> [Chlorine trifluoride] is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.
I’m a vet, non-combat...but I’m also a nurse. I have been studying the science behind entheogenic medicines for the past few years now. Cannabis is a great start to entheogen medicine. I tell all my patients that it is not a one size fits all scenario.
Why are you mixing the cannabis with the tobacco? I’ve heard of people doing it, but as a nurse I caution this process due to the known carcinogens in Tobacco.
It’s also important to understand that Cannabis inhibits other agents, meaning it will make whatever you’re consuming work better. It tends to increases the effectiveness of things like caffeine, opiates, blood thinners etc, making a little go a long way usually. Which could be problematic depending on what meds you are on etc. I encourage you to look deeper into the science supporting Cannabis as medicine and learn more about your Endocannabinoid system as well in the process.
I would never sanction street weed, as you don’t know it’s growing environment and you could potentially be taking in molds etc. that could further deteriorate your health. I would always suggest getting it from either someone you trust wholeheartedly or a medical dispensary. I don’t know where you live but it may be who’ve you to research other opportunities to more freely medicate yourself.
Personally, I ingest edibles (gummies and capsules) and dose that way. (I meditate to control my epilepsy and chronic pain). I do consume smoked and vaped flower as well when I need relief faster.
I have always been a firm believer that when it is time, the plant will find you. (Psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, etc). Do your due diligence and dig into the research. It will open your mind to many different opportunities.
If you haven’t read this book by Michael Pollan I highly recommend that you do so.
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. Great book where he does go into a lot of studies and the science behind psychs but also blends his unique, very personal and narrative-like writing style into it. Here's a great "intro" to the book in a New York Times article - what got me to buy the book.
Reminder to take care of your mental state. Michael Pollan has a great book on Psychedelic Therapy, if you are afraid of alternative treatments. Psychedelic Therapy is much more effective for many people than traditional talk therapy.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
by Michael Pollan
https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/0735224153/
I see it too. I've taken benzos before, there's nothing good in them. They're like the click remote fast forward. You miss everything. The side effects list for benzos vs shrooms is ridiculously 1-sided, yet which drug is "legal"?
Even taking shrooms in a dank basement is therapeutic, I can only imagine what breakthroughs would happen in talk therapy.
If you're new to psychedelics and their therapy potential, I 1000% recommend you start by listening to Michael Pollan on Tim Ferris's podcast. He explains things so clearly. He also has a book if that's more your style: How to change your mind
Okay, thank you.
If you're interested in the topic, Michael Pollan just wrote a book about it. Here's a link to it on Amazon.
My husband and I have recently realized that LSD is now our favorite drug. We're amazed that something so tiny have such a crazy profound effect on your mind.
We've started reading "How to change your mind" by Michael Pollan and it's fascinating. He talks about the history of LSD in clinical studies in the 50-70s and that the drug influenced a lot of organizations, including the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous.
If you're interested in learning more about the drug, it's definitely an interesting read, it would be even better on audio book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594204225/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zn-KBbYB9Z16H
Lots of study and research happening on how psychedelics can help improve some diseases and mental health conditions (that's why I initially got interested in them many years ago).
How to Change Your Mind is a decent read on the current science, the author also takes a few different forms to assess the affects for themself.
There is a book called "How to change your mind" by Michael Pollan. It's about psychedelics, not hypnosis, but I think it might be right up your alley. It was truly an eye opening book for me.