It’s about that time - I hope you’ve had a good year. Here’s mine in brief: I lived in San Francisco for about four months, which was quite an experience. There I (self) published a book and attended Psychedelic Science 2017. I applied to a master's program in New York, got in, then was convinced by friends at the last minute not to go. I went to Montreal instead and started … [Read more...] about Final Thoughts for 2017
Miscellaneous
Why The Public Can No Longer Trust Academia
Most of us still believe academic credentials and publications have some intrinsic value. You see a citation - a bracketed name and date (Smith, 1983) or an authoritative looking little number ([1. This makes it look like my work is backed by legitimate research and scholarship. But that's not necessarily true.]) - and trust it to mean something. But what if it doesn't? We … [Read more...] about Why The Public Can No Longer Trust Academia
How Love Might Feel
It’s funny, I was writing a post by the same name, wondering how you might know if it’s love. How can you be sure, I thought, when you don’t know your subjectivity is the same as someone else’s? How do we know we’re all talking about the same thing? And so on and so forth, philosophizing. Then I fell in love for the first time. On the first day it was just an inkling - the … [Read more...] about How Love Might Feel
Why is Twitter Censoring Free Speech?
There has been a disturbing trend of increasing censorship against free speech on Twitter. This comes not from radicals or extremists on the platform but from Twitter itself. Needless to say the increased Twitter censorship is unsettling. Twitter's new safety policies On Tuesday Twitter Safety made an announcement about new policies rolling out in the coming weeks. "We … [Read more...] about Why is Twitter Censoring Free Speech?
6 Short Poems
I couldn't focus on work the other day and ended up writing some poems instead. Here they are, I hope you like them. One espresso shot Feeling down Negative thoughts Joint pain. Bleary eyes With bags under them Trapped in my head One espresso shot Energy streams Through the body Feel full of life, while Writing flows I’m filled with love For the … [Read more...] about 6 Short Poems
I Hear Voices in My Head (Do you..?)
I hear voices in my head. Mostly my own voice, but sometimes other people’s voices too. These are the voices of real people, not imaginary ones. Sometimes friends, family, other I people I’ve known, or people I’ve heard speak on podcasts or recordings. I've asked people about this and received mixed answers. It seems some people's brains work this way, while others don't. … [Read more...] about I Hear Voices in My Head (Do you..?)
Airport Brain Dump, Bound for SF
What’s in store for me in San Francisco? Not sure. But here’s what’s on my mind: Startups. Obviously what you think when you think of SF. Startups are cool. They do things that have never been done before. They offer the rare opportunity to build something worth obscene amounts of money. They have the potential to shape the future in extraordinary and unimaginable … [Read more...] about Airport Brain Dump, Bound for SF
Stream of Consciousness
Write when you’re drunk, he says. Write from the heart, he says. Write when you don’t feel like it Will I be a millionaire? Will I be a billionaire? Am I crazy for writing this and posting about it on the internet? Tell the truth of your experience, he says. I want to fuck beautiful girls. I want to feel good music. I want to spread love. Bukowski wrote … [Read more...] about Stream of Consciousness
How to Avoid Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder this Winter
In previous years I have struggled somewhat with winter depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). To put it mildly, it’s fucking awful. The worst case of “Winter Blues” I ever had was a few years back when I was home on the West coast of Canada for the holidays. The winter weather there, especially where I grew up, is cold, wet, and overcast for most of … [Read more...] about How to Avoid Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder this Winter
Life is Like a Colouring Book
You pick a spot and start. Doesn’t matter where, as long as you do. Guidelines are there already, but you get to choose the colour. You have a lot of freedom, but it's still best to keep inside those lines, if you want it to work out in the end. Now you're into it. The minutiae of colouring. Carefully colour evenly, stay inside the lines. Pay attention to detail. The small … [Read more...] about Life is Like a Colouring Book
A Few Things I’ve Been Doing Lately
Here are a couple things I’ve been doing which you may also want to do. Barefoot shoes Movement culture. Friends introduced me. It makes sense - I’m still a newbie. First I got some Xeros - barefoot sandals, “gladiators”. They took some getting used to but they’re great. I got some Vivos also. Also great. They look good, they’re comfortable, they're good for your body. Improve … [Read more...] about A Few Things I’ve Been Doing Lately
A Month in the Life of an Average Person (or, Why won’t Fuckhead do his Dishes?)
I’d only planned to be in Montreal for one month, so when the stay stretched longer I had to find a place to stay. It’s hard to find somewhere with good location/price/furnished for month-to-month rental, so I end up living with another guy for one transitory month. Let’s call him Louie. Louie is probably in his late 20s, he’s black and comes from France. He’s friendly and … [Read more...] about A Month in the Life of an Average Person (or, Why won’t Fuckhead do his Dishes?)
Psychedelics on Mars
Bear with me here - Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is building rockets to go to Mars - having recently announced we will get there as soon as 2018. But Musk doesn’t want to just land on Mars and do some experiments there, or maybe take a few pictures. He wants to start a full blown human colony on the planet’s surface - a completely new Martian society. And while this … [Read more...] about Psychedelics on Mars
4 Free Thinking Influencers Actually Worth Paying Attention To
In today's world we are inundated with 'noise' and experience information overload at every turn. There is simply too much to look at, too much to read, too much to watch - You could spend every waking minute of your life consuming online content (a nightmarish scenario) and you still wouldn’t get through even a tiny fraction of it. So what’s a person to do? Don’t watch TV … [Read more...] about 4 Free Thinking Influencers Actually Worth Paying Attention To
5 Tips to Be a Better Writer (& One Technique that Almost Always Works to Grab Readers’ Attention)
Regardless of how good a writer I am compared to other people - I am certainly a better writer than when I first started. Here are five writing tips I learned along the way: 1. Use less commas, rather than more As a general rule, cut commas out of sentences and just let them flow. Usually a reader can infer the rhythm of a sentence on their own, without the need for a bunch of … [Read more...] about 5 Tips to Be a Better Writer (& One Technique that Almost Always Works to Grab Readers’ Attention)