What’s NIP42?

Time starts now

After my ode to Steve McQueen and Paul Newman a couple of days ago I am now rewatching some of their movies starting with Bullitt.

One of the best scenes in the movie occurs when Jacqueline Bisset’s character asks Frank Bullitt “What will happen to us in time?” and he just responds “Time starts now”.

It’s all happening now. The past and future are an illusion. Worrying is pointless. And don’t you forget it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=aKg20DXBr-Qc8lmo&t=161&v=cWiljyh4NR4&feature=youtu.be

Force of nature

This is my first but will not be the last post dedicated to Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.

You don’t find actors like these anymore today. They were carved out of a different wood.

Having watched The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Cincinnati Kid and many of their other films countless times, I can say that no actors have inspired me in the way that these two have.

They were a force of nature. They created characters, believably, that did not take no for an answer, that were stubborn and fearless. Characters who were flawed but who, in their flawedness, were full of integrity and strength.

Oh how refreshing to be in the presence, albeit through a silver screen, of someone who takes no prisoners, who is unyielding and who does not compromise just to please.

Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)

nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a There is a retreat with Loch in Costa Rica in March of next year that I attended this year and highly recommend if you want to jump in at the deep end

Agree. Curious who this friend is?

I’m so bored by conversations about regulating Artificial Intelligence

Must read: https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/01/06/quit-your-job/

- Zazen for simplicity and subtlety

- Dzogchen for quick insight (the greatest living teacher in the US has to be Loch Kelly)

- Cheng Hsin for purpose beyond awakening

Just unstaked my last ETH. Takes 13 days... what a joke

No big deal

We make a big deal out of many things. Every once in a while it’s good to remind oneself not to make too big a deal out of whatever it is we’re currently making a big deal of.

We do not have to hold everything so tightly, we can loosen our grip just a little bit. And suddenly there is a feeling of greater spaciousness, greater possibility.

Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Sky Above Clouds IV” (1965)

followed

Completely agree. I want to raise philosopher kings and queens - children who understand that money can require hustle, but that at its best it is a by-product of being deeply dedicated to what you love doing.

Thank you. Weirdly enough I hadn’t heard of Cryptoeconomics but will read it

Unconventional wisdom

'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ' - Albert Einstein, maybe

Over the last couple of years I have had the very visceral realization that in order to change how I act in the world, I have to change who I am.

This may sound obvious. But at least to me it wasn’t. I was certain that I could just will myself to act differently in a given situation. Most people seem to be victim to this same insanity.

It does not work. In most situations we do not rise to our hopes and aspirational ideas, we fall to the level of who we are at our core.

And we can change. We can become a person that reacts differently to a certain stimulus. This is just not conventional wisdom.

Haven’t been as active here but always a delight to be back and read through the posts.

The “mind over matter” fallacy

“Mind over matter” is a motivational platitude that does well for those who like to brute-force their way to success.

However, powering through life without an organic motivation that is holistically aligned with our being usually does not work in the long run.

In fact, mind is, everywhere and always, a phenomenon of matter and vice versa. They can not be disentangled.

So when people say “mind over matter”, they usually just mean “I’m overthinking this”.

James (Künstler) Gleeson’s ““We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit” (1940)

The “mind over matter” fallacy

“Mind over matter” is a motivational platitude that does well for those who like to brute-force their way to success.

However, powering through life without an organic motivation that is holistically aligned with our being usually does not work in the long run.

In fact, mind is, everywhere and always, a phenomenon of matter and vice versa. They can not be disentangled.

So when people say “mind over matter”, they usually just mean “I’m overthinking this”.

James (Künstler) Gleeson’s ““We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit” (1940)

say more

Is there a better place to spread the gospel about Bitcoin than Japan 🇯🇵? Can some Japanese' nostriches chime in?

Missing the forest for the trees

“Missing the forest for the trees” is a pervasive problem in our culture. With real consequences.

There is a reason for this. In brief, it’s a result of the objectification of our world: “I, the subject, am here. Objects are out there”. This false perspective leads to an unintegrated view of the world in which we struggle to see how everything is interrelated. Unless you’re moving in the quasi-perfect confines of experimental physics, simple cause and effect is actually pretty hard to come by.

The consequences of such an existence befall us every day. They include but are not limited to: electing politicians with no character and integrity, being dependent on dating apps to meet people, relying on drugs for our health, going to university primarily for the degree and electing a career path just for the money.

All of these are examples where we chose a simple, usually lazy solution at the cost of our long term physical, mental and societal wellbeing.

If we’re to overcome this, we need to zoom out, behold the whole forest and integrate.

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek’s “Forest Scene” (1848)