What I Would Tell The 18-Year-Old Me And Young People Today

Tóm tắt ngắn gọn

Video này chia sẻ những suy nghĩ và kinh nghiệm của tác giả về cuộc sống, đặc biệt dành cho những người trẻ tuổi đang phải đối mặt với những thách thức của xã hội hiện đại. Tác giả nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc sống trọn vẹn trong hiện tại, lắng nghe tiếng nói bên trong, chấp nhận sự khác biệt, tránh xa những cạm bẫy của sự phân đôi và chăm sóc sức khỏe thể chất. Đồng thời, tác giả cũng đề cập đến tình trạng suy thoái của nền văn minh hiện tại và khuyến khích mọi người tìm thấy niềm vui trong cuộc sống dù trong hoàn cảnh nào.

  • Sống trọn vẹn trong hiện tại và trân trọng từng khoảnh khắc.
  • Lắng nghe tiếng nói bên trong và tin vào trực giác của bản thân.
  • Chấp nhận sự khác biệt và không so sánh bản thân với người khác.
  • Tránh xa những cạm bẫy của sự phân đôi và chấp nhận sự phức tạp của cuộc sống.
  • Chăm sóc sức khỏe thể chất để có một cuộc sống trọn vẹn hơn.

Quan Điểm Của Tôi Không Tốt Hơn Hay Kém Hơn Người Khác

Tác giả chia sẻ rằng một người xem đã hỏi anh về những lời khuyên dành cho những người ở độ tuổi 20 để giúp họ hiểu rõ hơn về cuộc sống. Tuy nhiên, tác giả không cho rằng mình có đủ tư cách để đưa ra lời khuyên vì anh không nghĩ rằng mình đã thực sự hiểu hết về cuộc sống. Thay vào đó, anh chia sẻ những suy nghĩ và kinh nghiệm của mình, nhưng không cho rằng chúng tốt hơn hay kém hơn so với những người khác. Anh nhấn mạnh rằng mỗi người có một trải nghiệm sống riêng và không ai có quyền phán xét trải nghiệm của người khác.

Trường Hợp Của Một Thanh Niên Theo Chủ Nghĩa Ủng Hộ Cái Chết

Tác giả đề cập đến một sự kiện gần đây, một thanh niên đã tự sát bằng cách đánh bom xe ở Palm Springs, California. Người này tự nhận mình là một người theo chủ nghĩa ủng hộ cái chết (pro-mortalist) và tin rằng nên giảm thiểu đau khổ và chấm dứt sự sống càng sớm càng tốt. Tác giả phản đối triết lý này, cho rằng việc tự sát là gây ra đau khổ lớn nhất cho bản thân và những người xung quanh. Anh cũng chỉ trích việc người này gây hại cho người khác trong khi tuyên bố muốn giảm thiểu đau khổ. Tác giả cũng đề cập đến việc người này bị ảnh hưởng nhiều bởi Reddit và cho rằng mạng xã hội có thể gây ra những tác động tiêu cực đến tâm lý.

Sống Qua Một Sự Suy Sụp Và Tan Rã Dần Dần

Tác giả cho rằng xã hội hiện tại đang trải qua một sự suy sụp dần dần do hai nguyên nhân chính: việc sử dụng cạn kiệt nguồn năng lượng hóa thạch và phương pháp canh tác độc canh gây hại cho môi trường. Trong bối cảnh đó, những người trẻ tuổi có thể cảm thấy hoang mang và lo lắng về tương lai. Tác giả đặt câu hỏi về cách sống và suy nghĩ về cuộc sống trong một thời đại như vậy.

Cuộc Sống Là Một Trải Nghiệm Độc Đáo Mỗi Khoảnh Khắc

Tác giả chia sẻ những lời khuyên mà anh muốn nói với bản thân khi còn trẻ. Đầu tiên, anh nhấn mạnh rằng cuộc sống là một trải nghiệm độc đáo và mỗi khoảnh khắc đều mới mẻ. Chúng ta không biết điều gì sẽ xảy ra sau khi chết, vì vậy nên trân trọng hiện tại và sống trọn vẹn từng khoảnh khắc.

Lắng Nghe Phần Sâu Thẳm Trong Bạn

Thứ hai, tác giả khuyên nên lắng nghe tiếng nói sâu thẳm bên trong, tiếng nói của lương tâm và trực giác. Tiếng nói này có thể bị che lấp bởi những áp lực và kỳ vọng của xã hội, nhưng nó luôn có những điều giá trị để nói. Tác giả kể câu chuyện về việc anh đã hủy bỏ một chuyến đi ba lô vì cảm thấy có điều gì đó không ổn, mặc dù đã tốn tiền đặt vé. Anh tin rằng trực giác có thể giúp chúng ta cảm nhận được những điều mà lý trí không thể giải thích được. Anh cũng tin rằng mọi vật đều có ý thức và chúng ta có thể kết nối với ý thức đó.

Cuộc Sống Của Mỗi Người Khác Nhau Cần Những Giá Trị Khác Nhau

Thứ ba, tác giả nhấn mạnh rằng cuộc sống của mỗi người là khác nhau và không nên so sánh bản thân với người khác. Vì mỗi người có một hoàn cảnh và trải nghiệm riêng, nên mỗi người cần một hệ giá trị riêng để phù hợp với cuộc sống của mình. Tác giả cho rằng không nên áp đặt một hệ giá trị duy nhất lên tất cả mọi người và nên tôn trọng sự khác biệt.

Tính Hai Mặt Là Một Cái Bẫy Dẫn Đến Đau Khổ

Thứ tư, tác giả cho rằng tính hai mặt (duality) là một cái bẫy dẫn đến đau khổ. Việc phân biệt giữa tốt và xấu, hơn và kém có thể khiến chúng ta đánh mất sự cân bằng và gây ra những hành động sai trái. Tác giả khuyên nên tránh xa những suy nghĩ phân đôi và chấp nhận sự phức tạp của cuộc sống.

Trải Nghiệm Cuộc Sống Của Chúng Ta Được Định Hình Bởi Sức Khỏe Cơ Thể

Thứ năm, tác giả nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của việc chăm sóc sức khỏe thể chất. Anh cho rằng trải nghiệm cuộc sống của chúng ta được định hình bởi sức khỏe của cơ thể. Việc thiếu ánh nắng mặt trời, chế độ ăn uống không lành mạnh và thiếu ngủ có thể ảnh hưởng tiêu cực đến tâm trạng và khả năng cảm nhận cuộc sống. Tác giả khuyên nên dành thời gian ở ngoài trời, ăn uống lành mạnh và ngủ đủ giấc để có một cuộc sống trọn vẹn hơn.

Bạn Làm Gì Với Một Nền Văn Minh Đang Suy Tàn?

Tác giả đặt câu hỏi về cách đối diện với tình trạng suy thoái của nền văn minh hiện tại. Anh đưa ra ba lựa chọn: cố gắng cứu vãn nó, cố gắng phá hủy nó hoặc chấp nhận nó và tìm cách sống sót. Tác giả không cho rằng việc cố gắng cứu vãn hay phá hủy nền văn minh là khả thi. Anh cho rằng lựa chọn hợp lý nhất là chấp nhận nó và tìm cách sống sót, nhưng anh cũng không chắc chắn rằng mọi người sẽ sẵn sàng làm như vậy.

Tìm Thấy Niềm Vui Trong Hiện Tại

Cuối cùng, tác giả khuyên nên tìm thấy niềm vui trong cuộc sống, dù trong hoàn cảnh nào. Anh cho rằng việc sống trọn vẹn trong hiện tại, tìm kiếm những điều mang lại hạnh phúc và sáng tạo có thể giúp chúng ta vượt qua những khó khăn và tìm thấy ý nghĩa trong cuộc sống. Anh kết thúc video bằng lời chúc mọi người luôn hạnh phúc và trân trọng cuộc sống.

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0:02 Hello. Today I'd like to talk about what I would say to my younger self if I could or really what I would say to young people alive today. People who are maybe in their late teens or early 20s. I'm outside today. I'm with Doobie. You can see her. She's got her tail all the way curled up and a smile on her face. Uh we've been walking probably half a mile so far and it feels good. It's like late spring, early summer

0:47 now. Well, one of the viewers on this channel asked me, "What would you say, Gooby? What would you say to people in their 20s these days? maybe to help them make sense of life. Well, that that assumes that I've made sense of life, which is something that is a question. I mean, I uh have I made sense of life? I don't know. I have lived twice as long as someone who's 20 years old, but doesn't mean I figured it out. I don't think you ever really figure out life. I think that you learn and you learn from your

1:36 experiences or you can choose not to learn from them and just keep repeating the same experiences. But you could learn from your experiences and make choices that are different. I'm tempted to say better, but honestly, I don't think that there's a better or worse. It's there's just life and there's just choices and there's consequences of those choices and I don't think that there's really a better or worse. There's just being alive. So this whole premise of me telling imparting some wisdom on some someone

2:24 younger than me I don't think I agree with but I can share my thoughts and experiences because that that I can do but I don't think it means that my thoughts and experiences are greater than or less than other people's. I think they're just part of being alive. Uh-oh. Uh, Doobie is pooping. So, I got to pause this. So, I'm back. Doobie did poo and now we're back on the trail. So I was saying that I don't

3:11 think one person's experience is more valid or wise or or foolish or invalid compared to another one another person's experience. Uh but I can share my experience and my thoughts and my perspective. Maybe somebody finds that interesting. Maybe someone finds some value or wisdom in it. So yeah, I'll I'll share it. Plus, that's what I like to do. That's this channel. And maybe a podcast. I'm thinking about this week. I'm I'm probably going to just sit down and figure out how to

3:57 upload some of these talks to Spotify. I um I've been thinking about it for a while, but the way I used to record I I I don't think I could isolate an audio file from the video easily. Uh but the way I've been recording lately makes it very easy. So, um not all the talks that are on this YouTube channel will go up there. Uh but some of them will. uh ones that I have the audio file for that's separate from the video. Okay. So, what are my thoughts? Well, number one, there's a current event that happened. Um this is May of

4:45 2025. A young man decided to blow himself up in a car bomb in Palm Springs, California, blowing up an empty invitro fertilization clinic. on a Saturday morning. He died in the blast and he wounded four other people. Luckily, no one died. Now, what's interesting about that, despite this being a terrorist attack in the United States in Palm Springs, California of all places, is the person who did it. and he made this website explaining why he did it. And I

5:31 found this very interesting. So, I'm going to spend some time talking about it because I I think that this kind of highlights some problems that the younger generation is having. Um, this man made a website saying that he's a pro-mortalist. Never heard of that before. Uh he explained that a pro-mortalist is a negative utilitarian. Okay, more words. It's like what the hell is a negative utilitarian? Well, I he explained it and I looked into it some more. Uh it's a it's a philosophy that believes that we should minimize suffering and harm and and prioritize that over

6:17 increasing positive experiences. Like it's more important to decrease suffering and harm than um yeah and to uh then to foster the positive experiences. Now, I was like, "Okay, that that just seems like it uh something that has a lot of issues." Because if you want to prioritize decreasing harm then um you probably Well, see, that's a paradox because being alive as an animal, you have to harm some in order to be alive. Um, animals require energy from other

7:06 animals or plants or fungi. So, other life forms because we cannot harness the energy of the sun. Only plants can. So, we have to harm plants uh either eating them, uprooting them, uh taking their leaves. Now, you could argue that taking fruit isn't harming the plant, but I mean, maybe it's decreasing their chance for reproduction, like fruits and nuts. It's not killing the plant, but it might be decreasing their chance for reproduction but there's some plants, I mean, they they utilize that by uh animals taking the fruit and then pooping out the seed, and the seed gets much farther away than the

7:52 wind could have taken the seed or the apple falling down a slope or something. And then an apple tree grows where the animal pooped. Same thing with mushrooms, particularly truffle mushrooms that they're they're mushrooms that uh are are underground and they emit a scent for animals to come find the mushroom, dig it up, eat it, and spread the spores through their poo. The the spores are evolved to survive the digestive tract of animals. So is an animal harming the mushroom when it eats the truffle, digs up the the dirt and tears the mushroom from its

8:38 mcelial network? That that that's the the fibers, the actual fungus. The mushroom is just the sexual reproduction part. Is an animal harming that mushroom or is it helping the mushroom? What is helping and harming? In fact, helping and harming often are intertwined or there are two sides to the same coin. So, if you believe in this philosophy that this young man believed in and caused him to blow himself up in a car, well, then you should we should not procreate. This this is what this is the logical

9:25 conclusion of this guy's theor philosophy. You should not procreate and you should try to end life as quickly as possible. That's the promotalist idea to decrease harm. Yet the big paradox of that is if you wanted to end life as quickly as possible you would kill yourself. But that is causing I think the greatest harm because all we have is being alive. If you kill yourself, you've just destroyed the only thing that you really have, which is being

10:11 alive. Now, what happens after that is up to anyone's interpretation. There there's there's lots of interpretations, lots of religions, lots of different ideas about what happens to a person's soul, if there is one after they die. But we don't really know. We only have people that have near-death experiences, but they didn't truly die die because they came back. I mean, they're called near-death experiences because like people's heart stops and and stuff like that happens. And I I know somebody who's had a near-death experience, and what they said was very fascinating. Um, they're floating above their body

10:59 watching doctors try to revive them. What does that mean? What is this consciousness that we have? Does our consciousness just join the universal consciousness? Some people call it God. You can call it the universe. I don't know. I I I think that probably is what happens, but I don't know. And I can't prove it. Nobody can. So, all I know is that this is what I have, just being alive. So, killing myself would be the greatest harm that I could ever do.

11:45 So this guy this this guy says that he wanted to decrease harm, but he killed himself. But let's just say let's just say that that's not the greatest harm you can do. This guy said he wanted to decrease harm. Yet he blew up a bomb that wounded four other people. Four other people that would not have suffered from injuries and been harmed had he not blown up the car. It's like an onion article. Guy wants to decrease harm in the world, decrease harm and suffering. So he decided to make a car bomb and blow himself up and wound four other people and cause psychological

12:32 uh distress amongst thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. That's an onion article. That's ridiculous. He is not living up to his own values. Well, I I looked up. So, I was reading his website and he was saying how he was heavily influenced by Reddit. Now, Reddit I I've been heavily influenced by Reddit, too, in the past, and I I left it because I realized it was causing psychological harm. Reddit is a bunch of subreddits, aka echo chambers,

13:20 silos. You end up hearing all these opinions and and it h it's it's emotional an emotion hijacker also uh emotion contagion. Um it it gets people who think a certain way together and shuns people who think a different way you be and it it you become very polarized. I mean that's with social media in general, but I think Reddit Reddit has its own peculiar way of doing this. Well, he he was very heavily influenced by Reddit.

14:07 I think that's part of the problem. Um, I've been heavily influenced by Reddit, too. And it it caused some psychological distress and changed the way I think about the world. Now, is that a good or bad thing? Well, I think it actually gave me a lot of important information. But now that I have that information, I'm not going to subject myself to that intense intense emo emotions that people have online that can spread to me. Well, looking at this guy, I can see how it must be really tough for someone

14:52 who's in their late teens, early 20s. Social media has warped our society. Not only that, our society is in a tough place. Um, it is undergoing a gradual collapse, a crumbling and and the reason for that is that wow, it's I would say there's two reasons for that. Um, and I've talked about this many times. One, we have Oh, hold on one second. Baby girl, it's big dog coming. Let's come over here.

15:41 Hello. It's okay, girl. It's okay. Hi. Okay. Um the reason for that is one we had a natural inheritance a one-time inheritance of millions of years of energy stored in millions of years of sunlight energy stored in fossil fuels and we are using them up and the easily accessible sources are already tapped and so now the sources that are left are harder to get requiring more fossil fuels to extract the fossil fuels. So you get less return of energy on

16:28 investment that's leading to a deterioration in the quality of life. Okay, so that's one. And then the second is a more longer term the way of life that we've chosen to do uh which is this totalitarian agriculture that involves cutting down forests to grow a bunch of food uh monocultures. um it destroys the land the the it destroys the habitat for wild animals, wild plants and the soil eventually degrades that you can't grow the food that you want after a certain amount of time. Um now we have used fossil fuels to replenish some of the nutrients in the soil but like I said earlier our fossil fuel use is decreasing

17:15 because well we've used a lot and we've extracted a lot already. So under that backdrop we have people who are young today teenagers, 20-year-olds. They they may not realize that that's the backdrop, but they can feel it. I can feel it. I think everyone can feel it. So what do you do? What do you do with your life? How do you think about your life in a time like this? Well, if I was 18 years old, if I was

18:04 like a freshman or sophomore or something in college or senior in high school, what would I tell myself uh from this age um about living? Well, I I would say one thing is be very wary of social media. Well, no, no, no, no. That's not what I would start with. Okay. I would start with number one. Life is life is a unique experience. Every moment, every moment is new. Every moment something different has happened. Each moment is not the same as the moment that came

18:52 before. Even if you may think it's the same stuff a different day, it's not. It's a different stuff every day, every moment. And that's precious. And we don't know what happens after life. People may say they think they they may say they know, but they don't. They may say, "Oh, well, my religion says this." Well, your religion says that, but it doesn't mean that that's what actually happens. What we do know is that we have now the present and we are alive. We're [Applause] conscious. That's what I would start out with saying. Number two, I would say is what I would want to tell myself when I was younger is listen to the part of you

19:37 that is way way way deep deep deep down under all the facade that we we create and we maintain to be in society. The facade that we show other people. The facade that we even show ourselves. Listen to that. because it does talk and it has very valuable valuable things to say and it may be painful to hear. But life has both pain and happiness sadness joy, laughter, anger has all those things. So does your voice that's way

20:25 way way way deep down. Listen to it. Trust it. I was supposed to be backpacking today. Um I'm going to tell you the rest of that story in just a second because this GoPro video uh battery is running out. All right. All right, I got the battery changed in my GoPro and Doobie is now in the sling with a muddy face. Uh, I think she had enough walking around. It's about It's about how far she can usually make it. About a mile. And then then I have to carry her. I She could go longer, but uh she gets really

21:12 worn out. So now she's 8 years old now and I I don't want to wear her out. 8 years old in human years is like 56 years I believe. So she's like a 56 year old woman. Um I appreciate living with her and I I don't want to stress her out. I just want her to have a happy life. Me too. Well, today I was supposed to be backpacking. I wasn't supposed to be here making a video. uh supposed to be in the mountains making video uh not with Dubbie but by myself backpacking in a remote area and I had booked uh ferry tickets to go down this really long lake called Lake Chalan in order to get there and it was $45

21:58 uh each oneway ticket. So I I had spent $90 on it and I was planning on going this morning. I had to wake up at 4:40 in the morning in order to start driving, in order to make the 8:30 ferry. Well, I just had a bad feeling about this trip. I started a couple days ago and I kind of pushed it off, but last night it was just so intense. I had a series of bad dreams. and I just felt like it was related to this trip.

22:45 Now, can I predict what exactly was going to happen? No. Um, it could have been anything. Um, I know that there's rattlesnakes on the trail. There's ticks. There's there was a a fire that went through it last year. So, um, the soil is unstable. There's risk of landslides and flash floods. Uh people have actually died from flash floods on that trail. And it has been raining. Um maybe I it was raining this morning. Maybe I could have gotten in an accident just driving up there. Uh or maybe I just would have not felt so good. Who

23:31 knows? I have no idea. but couldn't shake this feeling that something bad was going to happen if I chose to go on this backpacking trip. And I rarely get that because I love backpacking. I look forward to all my backpacking trips. Uh so, and I had spent $90 already. Um I don't make neurosurgeon money anymore. So, $90 is like I don't want to waste that. Um, well, it was like 4 4:20. I was like, well, I'm awake. I don't feel good about

24:17 this trip. And if I have to go, I got to go in 20 minutes. And I I I knew that deep down I did not feel good about this. But part of me was like, well, I might. It was a FOMO, fear of missing out. I might miss out on something. Well, then I thought, well, I might miss out on something that would be very unpleasant. And then I was like, you know what? I'm just going to trust myself. I can't I can't really predict exactly what's going to happen in the future because I it just time doesn't work that way. But I feel like I can feel the future a lot of times. Now, I think everyone can. I think our consciousness

25:04 can kind of sense things that are going to happen. Now, I mean, there's people that are really good at that. I mean, you can call them psychics or divers or whatever. And some people may say, "Oh, that's a bunch of baloney." Um, but I think that there's something to it. And I think everyone has that capacity. Just some people have honed it very into very very uh a sharp uh sharp edge and they they can they can really tell things that are beyond beyond the explanations of science today. Um I really believe that that is actually the case. Um but I think it's not just psychics and divers

25:50 and people like that. I think everyone has that. I think it's the consciousness that's that's in us and that's in everything. I think everything has consciousness. I think even the dirt path that I'm standing on, you can see the dirt path that I'm walking up has consciousness. These trees and these leaves and these bushes, they have consciousness. the butterflies, the flies, uh, dubbie. Um, I think even this GoPro and the plastics in this GoPro and the wires in the GoPro all have consciousness in it. I think there's consciousness in us, too. Um, and I think that that consciousness transcends time, but we experience time as as a

26:38 one-way arrow. As a human being, our cons our experience our experience of life of the consciousness that is us that is in everything I think experiences this life in as a human being through this framework that is it I think it tricks us into thinking that it's very limited but I think that consciousness is actually still connected to the consciousness of everything. You might call it God, you might call it the universe, might just call it consciousness and everything, but I I think that there's actually an unbounded quality that we

27:26 trick ourselves into thinking is not there. Well, what I would say to the younger self, young people today is trust and listen to the deep, deep, deep part of you that's consciousness, the soul. Because I think it has access to things that are way beyond what we can understand. I think time in a way is an illusion. I still think that there's choice and the only way I make sense of that is if there's multiple universes and our choice takes us into different multiverses. But that that's something I can't prove that that's just how I feel like life works.

28:14 Hello. Beautiful dog. Thank you. [Applause] So, I I I did not end up going on that backpacking trip. I've got several more backpacking trips planned. And that's okay. It's okay. I missed out on this one. Or maybe I maybe even saying it that way is not the right way. I chose not to go and I'm living this multiverse, this universe where I did not go and I'm making this video and I like making this video and I like being with my dog. I think she's glad that I didn't

29:00 go. So, okay, those are those are two things so far. One was every moment in life is different. Being present. The present is all we have. All we truly know. We don't know what comes afterwards. And number two is listen to the part that's really deep deep deep inside you. The consciousness. The consciousness that's connected to everything because it tells us stuff. Oh, and that that's that phrase you can't remember. No, no. You can't remember the future, but you can feel it. Like, you can remember the past and you can feel the past, but you can't remember the

29:48 future because it hasn't happened yet, but you can feel it. And also, I would say the future is not set. You can choose. Now, there's people that write on here, well, did you read Robert Seapolski's uh book on how free will is an illusion? I think that's a major copout. And I I I read I listened to him talk and I I I don't think his explanation cuts it cuz it's still stuck in reductionism. Um, it's still saying that consciousness is the product of these neurons, but I don't think that that's I don't think

30:34 that's actually the case. Consciousness is the He's saying consciousness is like the product of neurons firing in a particular pattern. I don't think that's the case. Plants don't have neurons. I think they have consciousness. I mean there's people have done experiments on plants trying to understand if they have feelings. I think there's consciousness in everything. I but you know I can I prove that? No, I can't. But I don't think Robert Seapolski's argument is

31:20 convincing. It's just an argument. It's like that kid who blew himself up. He convinced himself that that uh he should end all life or all life should end because it should decrease suffering. That doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't sit right with with how I feel and experience the universe. It's not to say that the way I feel and experience the universe is better or worse, smarter or dumber uh wise or foolish compared to another person's. It's just it's just the way

32:06 that I experience it. Um, so I guess that's the third thing. Everyone's experience is different. There's no point in comparing yourself to another person. Uh, I talked about that in a a recent video called um, is one life better than another? It's a waste of time. Everyone's life is different. And that brings me to what I said in that video is that because everyone's situation is different. Everyone needs a different set of values. Now there there will be shared commonalities, core

32:51 values such as value of bodily autonomy, freedom, val uh uh protection for loved ones, things like that that almost everyone will share except for maybe psychopaths that want to blow themselves in a car, blow themselves up in a car, hurt other people. But um most people will have there'll be shared commonalities. But because everyone's lives are different, there will be differences. And so one thing I will say to my younger self is it's okay to be different because everyone is different. It's okay to believe in something that's different because everyone's life is different and everyone needs different values to to

33:39 make it make it in their life. And so it's okay to think something different than what the establishment says you should think or the religion that your community believes in says you should think or the dogma of the scientific culture or whatever culture economic system that you live in says you should think. It's okay to think differently and it's okay to express that it and it's okay to not express it and just think it. So that would be I guess the third thing. You are different. Everyone's everyone's situation is

34:25 different and it's okay to think different things. Um, and I would say with that, I don't think that one person or one idea is better than another. They're just ideas. We're just people. We're just life fors on a planet that is 4 and a half billion years old. Um, what was this guy's idea of promotalism better or worse? That was just an idea. He blew himself up. Was that better or worse? Well, I wouldn't do that, but he chose

35:14 to. And that's it. Like I I don't think it's worth thinking about. Well, I'm better than that guy or he's better than me or I'm worse than that or whatever. That's just what happened. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? It's neither. It's just what happened. Uh okay. Fourth thing I would say is duality is a trap. Thinking about better or worse, good and bad is a trap. It leads to immense suffering. But the trap is the trap is thinking that you're good

36:00 and better. That's the trap. It's not thinking that you're worse or or u a bad person because if someone thinks that um well that that hurts and you probably would start to do things that counteract that. But if you think that you're a good person or better than another person or another life form, that is addictive. Makes you feel good. And then you have to keep doing that. You have to keep telling yourself that. And you could do horrible things, but if you keep telling yourself you're a good person, that you're a righteous person, that you you only do good, well, you can do some horrible,

36:48 horrible, horrible things to other people and yourself and your community and the other life forms on the planet. So, I would say number four is duality is a trap. Don't fall for it. If you if you if you start thinking in this duality term terms, I think you got to zoom out and be like, I am capable of being good and bad. I'm not good or bad all the time. I'm I'm all of it. Because soon as you start falling for that trap, you start walling off part of yourself and then you divide

37:36 yourself and that leads to a lot of suffering. So yeah, that that's number four. Let's see. Is there anything else I would say? Um, oh yeah, I I would say take care of your body because um our experience of this life is really shaped by the health of our body. I have a creeping suspicion that a lot of the Malays malaise or bad feeling that I I've felt over the last um

38:24 uh two and a half decades is that I didn't get enough sunlight. I didn't have enough vitamin D in my bloodstream. Vitamin D is a hormone. Uh it's well it's a vitamin but it's also a hormone and it it affects all different parts of the body. Um when I was a kid I was outside all the time. I felt great but soon as I went to college I've been indoors almost all the time studying. Then I went to medical school. Then I was in the hospital. Then I was in the operating room. There are no windows in in the operating room. Um, and I I didn't get much sun. But vitamin D affects so many things. Not just your bones and your muscles. Like I

39:11 well, first of all, it can affect make your bones weaker, more prone to fractures. It can affect your muscles uh uh and the um your muscles have trouble uh maintaining strength. Uh um but beyond that, it can affect the quality of your sleep, your sense of well-being. Um sleep is so important. Oh, there are some salmon berries out. Excellent. Hold on. We're We're going to take a break. We're going to take a quick intermission and try a salmon berry. Um, I'm trying to find one that is is

39:59 ripe. Oh, look at this one. We're going to try this one. Still a little bitter. I think it's a little early for a little early. And they usually look a little orer when they're fully ripe, but I'm happy that it's almost time. They're they're one of the first berries to come out. Um, yeah. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of them. All right. What was I talking

40:45 about? I don't remember. It's talking about duality. Duality is a trap. Oh, yeah. Vitamin D. Yeah, that's right. All right. Back on track. All right. So, uh, yeah, I have a creeping suspicion that a lot of the bad feelings that I had and just not feeling well were just

41:31 a lack of sunlight, something so basic. And, uh, you can supplement vitamin D by pills. There's vitamin D2 and D3. Um, either one would work. And I've been doing doing that supplementation now for like 2 weeks and my mental state I think feels improved. Um, just have a better sense of well-being. Sleep is is better. But last night I I had bad dreams I think related to this trip that I was going to take and I chose not to. But overall, I've been sleeping better and feeling better. And I was like, huh,

42:21 is something as simple as not enough sunlight or vitamin D. Maybe did that shape my life? Well, it goes way beyond just vitamin D. I mean, it goes to uh, you know, sleep, to diet. Diet is so important. Having the right amount of salt, not too much, not too little, avoiding processed foods if you can. And I mean, you should whole eat whole foods, mostly plant-based, but it's okay to eat some animal foods, but there I mean, okay, so that's part of it. We're going to come back to that the the food system. um spend time outside and then really

43:09 listen to yourself. All these things that I talked about in the help your body heal series because that affects how you perceive life and the universe. If your body is hurting, well, that's how you're going to perceive the universe. If your body is breaking down, well, that's how you're going to perceive the universe. If your body's healthy and feeling good and strong, well rested, well, that's how you're going to perceive the universe. So, I think taking care of the body, getting enough sunlight or vitamin D, if you cannot get enough sunlight, um it's really

43:55 important. Um what else here? Well, in relation to in relation to food systems, our social system, our culture that's based off of the civilization that's based off of totalitarian agriculture, like I mentioned earlier in this video, is unsustainable. Um, so what do you do when you live in that system? So th this is probably getting to the one of the last parts uh of of this talk is okay. Yeah, you can listen to

44:40 yourself. You can uh live in the present. You can um uh watch out for the duality trap. You can take good care of your body. Um, we can do all those things, but you know, we live in a certain time in a certain civilization. What do you do about that? The civilization that is crumbling for the various reasons I talked about already. Well, you could spend your life trying to save it. I think that's a waste of time and energy

45:26 because it's not savable the civilization. It is unsustainable. You could work on you could spend your time trying to destroy it. Well, it's going to destroy itself. So, why hasten it? Now, that's what some people believe. accelerationist. They believe that it it's going to implode, so it might as well implode earlier. That's kind of like in the same vein as the promotalist. Um, I don't think that's the answer, too. Um there's some people that think we

46:11 should hospice civilization like knowing that fossil fuels are becoming harder to extract. um making choices to degrow, to decrease growth, to actually go the opposite, to shrink, shrink the population, shrink uh the the quality of life that we have, the technology that we we use. I think that sounds like a pretty reasonable idea, but I don't think people will actually go along with that because that means decreasing the quality of life. That means making your life less convenient than it was before. And I honestly don't see people doing

46:57 that. So, you want to commit your life to doing something that people are going to vehemently oppose. It's up to you. I mean, of of those three options, I think that that that actually probably makes the most sense because that's what we're going to have to do. I mean, no, that's what we could do. I think the most likely option is that we're all going to drive off the cliff with the tour bus van uh with a pedal all the way down and it's careening like 120 miles on off of these cliff roads and bust through the barrier and goes off the cliff. And it'll be a very

47:43 turbulent very turbulent ride down. And if anyone survives, it's probably only going to be small fraction of who's alive today. I think that's the most likely scenario. Um, so in light of that, what would I tell a young person? Well, I would say find joy in being alive. Um, find joy in just being present. Like here I I'm I'm in this beautiful forest with my beautiful doggy. We are both experiencing the wind

48:30 go through these tall trees and surrounded by green by life. Both Dubbie and I are living through this crumbling of this civilization, but I'm happy right now. I think finding finding your way through it finding joy creating joy, being creative brings me joy. It might bring you joy, too. Uh but yeah, living in the present making choices that bring me happiness like this one, like choosing to come out here

49:18 today. Just because things are crumbling and the civilization is crumbling doesn't mean I have to be unhappy or depressed. Now I have to participate in it to get food because I I don't know how to permaculture or like I don't have land where I can grow food and even if I did that's well permaculture is different but most people don't permaculture they just grow food on their land that's still participating in the civilization of cutting down forest to grow food. Yeah. So I guess that would be the last thing I would say is find joy. Find joy in being

50:04 alive. Um yeah, those are the things I would tell my younger self and somebody who's young today. Well, if if I was alive at a younger age now, I would say that and I would still say that to my younger self, my 18-year-old self in college. I would say the same thing. And I think that would have made me choose a different path. [Applause] Well, thanks for listening to this video or podcast, whichever form you're

50:51 listening to it on. I'm happy to be alive and I'm happy you're alive. Bye. [Applause]

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