Unsanitary conditions and chemical poisoning is still a thing. However so called pathogenic viruses/bacteria is unscientific scam which has never been properly proven.

That’s a fair reading, and I hear you on the Free Press. Nevertheless, I’d love to have heard a resounding rebuke of Brazil’s overreach, and what it portends for speech on the internet, from some of X’s competitors vs. a celebration of the opportunity to acquire more market share (until the govt turns on them too, of course).

Remember also that Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has praised Brazil for its treatment of X and Elon, which is to say its hard lean into censorship. nostr:note1s2y8egtcreus72scktzmm68y4apgsgpx2h6w6nrsnyeqt7pkee8qnwuj5v

Blessed to live in a place of incredible natural beauty. And plenty empty waves.

Buffalo Bay, Garden Route, South Africa

I've noticed there's a certain class of person, whose beliefs are optimized for social and professional convenience, who looks with pity and judgment on me and my family for holding in their view suboptimal ones.

They have meticulously configured their world views to fit in rather than to look for what’s true. They see as true what’s socially and professionally convenient and have no regard for whether it checks out in reality or for first principles. Or put differently, “reality” to them IS the social and professional reality. Beliefs are simply tools to navigate that optimally, and my tools are (and they are actually right about this) woefully, *tragically* suboptimal for that purpose.

They wonder — “what happened to him?” And they laugh about all the “conspiracy theories” and “right-wing tropes” for which I have fallen.

Because like them, I too am an educated laptop-class person, I know a lot of these people. And because they are in my social circles (mostly via my wife), I have largely tolerated them.

But I’m getting sick of it. I have no ill-will toward them, but I am tired of buying into the frame that what they are doing is somehow “normal”.

It’s not normal to deny reality, to believe lies, to believe the people who lied to your repeatedly, to cut yourself off from good information in order to maintain a narrative, to think emotionally rather than rationally, to use your reasoning to defend the indefensible beliefs you hold, to download talking points uncritically. It’s not just bizarre but I’m starting to think it’s actually pathological.

. . .

I watched some videos by Matthias Desmet on Mass Formation Psychosis during the “pandemic” and he points out that MFP isn’t what you might think, like people running naked through the streets during a manic episode. It’s more that they narrow the parameters of their worldviews so tightly as a mechanism for coping with the extreme anxiety, and they do not deviate from those narrow lanes.

And that’s what it really is — psychosis. All these “normal” people feeling sorry for you because you are not optimizing for fiat social and professional advancement are actually in a state of psychosis. You can humor them, assume they’re just pretending for a bit out of convenience, but after a while, you realize they’re in much deeper than that, and you’re not sure if they’re coming back.

. . .

I used to think I could persuade people via reasoning of my point of view and if they had a good counterargument I might learn something, evolve my thinking. But now I realize that really does not apply to a large swath of the population who are downloading their views from some outsourced sense-making machine to which they’ve pledged their fealty. There is no conversation to be had, no real exchange of ideas possible. And as such there is sadly no value in maintaining the relationship, either.

good morning 🏖️

wait, is Harris the pro-fracking, strong borders, tough on crime, and pro-family candidate now? 😅

The studio is ready, Danny's flights are booked, and next week we’ll begin recording episodes for our new podcast.

I wanted to share the reasons behind this shift as many have been asking. Three primary factors influenced this decision:

1. I hate making remote shows—I never want to do them again. These interviews need the intimacy of being in person.

2. Traveling constantly has been detrimental to my health and my family.

3. My commitments here with the football club and local community are growing.

So, the solution was clear: build a studio in the UK and produce the show locally.

We’ve secured a fantastic space in Soho, London, and we’re ready to go but given the limited number of Bitcoin guests available in the UK or those willing to fly in, it’s time to retire What Bitcoin Did.

Our new podcast will be similar in feel but will cover a broader range of topics. While some episodes will focus on Bitcoin (though less frequently), most will explore other interesting topics or people.

Having made nearly 900 episodes covering a wide range of #bitcoin topics and guests, we’re now aiming higher. By diversifying our content and guests, we hope to introduce more people to the concept of sound money through podcast osmosis. If we get this right, it will be a bigger show, if we get it wrong, well we tried.

For a long time I have felt there is a need to get out of the #bitcoin corner of the party. Real Bedford FC was a way of integrating sound money into a traditional business model. CheatCode purposely did not include Bitcoin in the title, so changing the show feels like a natural next step.

Sometimes when stuck in the #bitcoin landscape you can lose site of how other people in the world think, lose empathy for the complexities of the world. I have felt this. I'd come home from spending two weeks with Bitcoiners and be with friends and family locally and notice a distinct difference in how we see the world. As everything feels like it is going to shit, I feel like there is a bigger job to do now.

The Bitcoin podcast landscape is well served, from Marty and Odell to Natalie and Preston, from The Blue Collar guys to Stefan Livera and anyone I haven't mentioned. There’s no shortage of high-quality Bitcoin podcasts.

However, there seems to be some fatigue in the space, with similar guests and topics being revisited. With our new show we want to bring fresh perspectives and ideas, aligning with sound money where relevant—think of the shows we’ve had with the likes of Eric Weinstein and Michael Malice.

On a personal note, I’m need the challenge, test myself wider, get fit and find a good woman. I can't do this travelling all the time.

When I started the podcast my life was a shit show - divorced, coming off drugs, heading towards bankruptcy. I've had an incredible 7 years, travelled the world, made amazing friends and got to live my dream by buying my local football club.

To everyone who has helped us get this far - the guests, the listeners, the sponsors, we could not have done this without you. I am forever in your debt.

I hope you’ll check out the new show and enjoy it, though it may not be for some of you. Regardless, Danny and I will work hard to deliver the best show possible, like we always have.

Roll on The McCormack Show!

Yes, I understand what you are saying, and certainly on a first pass, this is true. It would be hard for me to know in advance what it is like to be X, whether that is a vampire, parent or a paraplegic.

In the Wikipedia article they make a stronger statement though, that there are experiences that someone else has that "cannot be assessed in advanced."

My argument against that is on a fundamental physics / computer science level.

Alan Turing showed us that once a computer becomes what we now call "Turing Complete", it can run ANY program that can be run by ANY Turing complete computer in our universe. The computers may differ in their speed or memory, but they can all run the same programs.

Your brain, my brain, vampires brains (presumably Turing complete), space aliens brains and the AGIs when then come can all run the same programs, and thus can all have the same experiences. Therefore they can describe the experience they had to us, and we can understand/experience it.

Doesn't mean we can do all this know with our tech, but from what we know it can in principle be done.

Sorry to go so deep and theoretical ... I know probably not what you were expecting.

Good Morning!