Noteworthy entries.

Sam Harris’ Thought Experiment to Induce Gratitude

I heard this recently on Sam Harris' Waking Up App:

I noticed this at dinner the other night with my family. Everyone seemed to be in a fairly mediocre frame of mind. We were all in some way disgruntled or stressed out. I had a million things I was thinking about and I suddenly noticed how little joy we were all taking in one another's company. And then I thought, "If I had died yesterday, and could have the opportunity to be back with my family, I thought of how much I would savor this moment right now." And it totally transformed my mood. It gave me instantaneous access to my best self, and to a feeling of pure gratitude for the people in my life. Just think of what it would be like to lose everything, and then be restored to the moment you're now in. However ordinary. You can reboot your mind in this way. And it need not take any time.

This is spot on. It reminds me of a thought I often have after a near-catastrophe (e.g., someone almost running their car into your car on the highway). I tell myself:

This is the same result as if the accident DID happen and I suffered great bodily injury with no hope of fully recovery. But then a magic genie appears and offers to revers time, making sure the accident didn't happen. Two versions of the same result. This helps me appreciate my good fortune of almost being maimed in an accident rather than being angry that a reckless driver almost caused me to be badly injured.

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The Stoics and the Serenity Prayer

Have you ever noticed that one of the key tenets of the Stoics is essentially the Serenity Prayer?

The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.

— Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

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Krystal and Saagar’s “Breaking Points” Rockets to the Podcast Stratosphere

Only a week after splitting from The Hill's podcast, "Rising," Krystal and Saagar are celebrating. Their Independent Podcast, "Breaking Points," is already the #1 political podcast on Spotify and the #3 overall podcast. If you are tired of corporate-filtered news, give them a try. If you want open-ended conversation by inquisitive minds, this is a place for you. If you are distressed by newscasts that needlessly divide us from each other and put financial elites on pedestals, look no further. I'm attaching yesterday's clip of Krystal and Saagar celebrating their stunning news and explaining their mission.

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Lee Fang: One Year Ago

Lee Fang is an excellent reporter with a stellar track record.

Here is the video he posted one year ago that resulted in Fang's co-worker at The Intercept and New York Times politics reporter Astead Herndonand (and many others) calling him a racist. Fang was left twisting in the wind. Click the image to view the two-minute statement. Those reporters on the left who were not piling on to the accusations against Fang were completely silent. If you watch this video, you will see a thoughtful and nuanced statement. Lee Fang was called a racist for reporting this man's views along with many other varied viewpoints. Here's the problem: Every statement--every single one--must fit the narrative.

While Fang is a real reporter, these reactions (and non-reactions) of other journalists is the new version of journalism.

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The Things Going on Inside Our Bodies

It repeatedly occurs to me that I have no idea what is going on inside my own body. Each of us consists of many trillions of cells all of them, more or less, doing what they need to do to keep us alive and cognizant. It's been a good run for me, for which I'm grateful to my trillions of cells. At any given moment, though, there could be numerous microscopic battles underway that are potentially matters of life and death. At any given moment, my immune system could be successfully (or not) beating back a viral incursion. Who knows how many times per day my body's cells divide successfully without allowing cancer to take root. How many close calls are there?  How many times per day do my cells identify a pathogen and wipe it out? Every week there might be countless life and death battles going on inside of me, yet I'm utterly oblivious. I don't deserve such high-level service and loyalty from my minions.

Again, these are the kinds of thoughts that sometimes occur to me, and this is also my introduction to a short excerpt from Episode 247 of the "Waking Up" podcast, where Sam Harris interviews neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett (who is among the top 1% most-cited scientists for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience). Here's the excerpt:

Lisa Feldman Barrett: First of all, you need to understand that decision-making is always about action first. It's not like you decide something and then you act. The decision that your brain is making is the decision to DO this or that based on probabilities, So I think that's the first thing. The second thing is that, we're not just unaware of what's been going on in our own brains, right? We're also unaware of what's going on inside our own bodies, for the most part, thank God, because there's a whole drama going on inside you right now.

Sam Harris: Yeah, exactly. It's a horror show.

Lisa Feldman Barrett: All I can say is, if anybody is really is currently aware of all of the drama going on, inside your own body, I have my deep, deep sympathy, because we're not really wired to be intimately aware of all the details . . . That would be what philosophers call tragic embodiment.

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