Siim Land

Tools of Titans is the newest book by Tim Ferriss. It's based on over 200 interviews he has had on his podcast and is a collection of habits, tricks and techniques of all of the greatest guests on the show. The secret to their great performance isn't superpowers but a set of rules and routines that allow them to achieve what others can't. Some of them include meditation, skipping breakfast, intense concentration skills and persistence. I've made a video reviewing the first preview chapter of the book and will cover the rest of the book in the future as well. Check it out.

What is the bliss point? It's the specific amount of satisfaction or stimulation, in which happiness is optimized - the perfect volume of magic fairy dust, that makes you content and happy. Any more, or slightly less will tip you off balance and isn’t as great anymore. Michael Moss used the concept in his book Salt, Sugar and Fat to show how the food corporations have tricked their consumers into getting addicted to their products via bliss point manipulation. This bliss point doesn’t apply only to food, it can be found in almost anything else as well – clothing, relationships, sex, entertainment, fast cars, money, fancy houses etc. There’s nothing wrong with having a high bliss point, it’s just that it can become our downfall. If we aren’t able to be content, then we will never be truly happy either. On the other hand, if your bliss point is lower, then you’ll get incredible joy from even the smallest of things. Paradoxically, your happiness increases, as your bliss point decreases. Here are 4 strategies I use to hack my bliss point and optimize happiness effortlessly. Fasting Gratitude Mindfulness Minimalism You can also check out the video about it where I also reveal a fifth strategy. Thanks!

@Preango From the perspective of the first law of themodynamics - that is calories in vs calories out - it doesn't matter which option you choose. However, weight loss is more than calories in vs calories out because not all calories are created equal nor do they cause the same metabolic reactions. With that being said, I still think that intermittent fasting is a better option for not only fat loss but also as a healthy eating strategy. Fact of the matter is that your body won't starve or begin to slow down its metabolism. In fact, it does the opposite and turns your body into a fat burning machine. What's even more, fasting improves other hormones, such growth hormone, IGF-1 and insulin sensitivity, which are essential for sustainable weight loss and longevity. The reason why people gain weight with skipping meals isn't that fasting puts them into starvation mode or anything the like. It's just that they gorge themselves like animals after breaking the fast, don't count their caloric intake and are randomly winging it, expecting to get results. You have to choose which option suits you better. Do you like to eat small meals more often because of not being able to stand a bit of hunger or do you prefer large meals less frequently. From the perspective of health, eating less often is always better with occasional exceptional cases. I've made some videos explaining some science about these topics as well. Check them out. Difference Between Fasting and Starvation: The Breakfast Myth: Thanks. Maybe this helps.

I think you had to listen to the prologue only during your first session. Afterwards, you go straight to the dive. At least that's how I remember it.

Tell us something to work with. What's your age, weight, health condition, goals and so on. Nutrition is sooo individual and context based.

It's not the quantity of your sleep that matter but the quality of it. I'm physically very active and workout basically every day. I also spend the majority of my time doing difficult cognitive and creative tasks. Despite that, I'm able to function at my peak with 6-8 hours of sleeping, without abusing caffeine. Here are a few quintessential things you have to do to improve your sleep. Once you try them out, you'll go through a massive shift in your energy levels and sleep. Adjust to the circadian rhythms - get up early at about 6-8 AM, go to bed between 9 and 11 PM Block out blue light in the evening - the brain doesn’t tell the difference between light coming from the Sun or an artificial source. Wear sunglasses or special blue blocking glasses at night. Install a software called F.lux on your computer that dims the light. Sleep in pitch black darkness - cover the windows, wear a sleeping mask Stimulate the vagus nerve - The vagus nerve is located inside our skull, at the back of our head. It’s part of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest aka sleep like a baby). Use a tennis ball to massage the back of your neck before bed. Sleep in a cooler environment - the perfect temperature is 20 degrees Celsius (65 Fahrenheit). Unwind your mind - don't think about your problems or the next day. Simply relax and don't go to bed stressed out. These are just the most fundamental things you should do. To truly optimize your sleep, then check out my article about this on my blog. I give you several other strategies, starting from sleep positions, sleep nutrition and essential oils. May your ZZZ's be merry! Thanks!

@Epiphany_Inspired Yes, the idea is to add to your life through subtraction. You go through via negativa to reach a more positive state. 6 bags? That's quite a lot @Extreme Z7 Ye, the thing is we will not notice all of our stuff anymore. They're just being there and decluttering our space. We should all have a decent and thorough cleaning every once in a while. @hedge This is so true. We tend to fall into the trap of gathering too much without ever using the knowledge we've gained. It doesn't matter how much we learn if we never act upon it. Being proactive is all about acting or being acted upon.

@Epiphany_Inspired I totally agree with you. You should focus on what you want. The idea behind via negativa is to simply hack away at the unessential, which in turn enables you to concentrate on what's most important to you. It's definitely a shedding of skin of some sorts. Both physical and mental.

@pluto Yes, I know bulletproof coffee. You put butter/coconut oil/ MCT oil into your cup, blend it and drink it. Dave Asprey who coined this idea also uses his own brain octane oil, which is basically highly concentrated coconut oil. But in general, the recipe doesn't require anything else other than some pure source of fat. What do I think about it? Well, it's both hype but it works at the same time. The satiety you get is quite amazing and gives you long-lasting energy., not to mention the great taste. It depends on what you're trying to accomplish by drinking it. Drinking bulletproof coffee is a quick and easy way to get some calories without having to eat or if you want to suppress hunger for many hours. It torches fat burning because it promotes ketosis but at the same time is still a source of calories, so you would have to be aware of how much you're consuming.

@pluto I guess people metabolize carbs differently. Fructose itself is basically useless to the body because it can be metabolized only by the liver. It can only replenish liver glycogen stores and won't do so with muscle glycogen. The liver can only deposit 100-150 grams of glycogen, any excess fructose will be deposited as short-term fat. I agree with you that coffee should be used for getting that extra kick into your workouts. But at the same time, you don't have to dose so strong with it and can drink it with less caffeine. This way you won't experience those jitters nor become dependent of it.

@brovakhiin It's a powerful stimulant indeed. That's why you have to consume it mindfully. I think that people simply fall victim to the great taste and satiety they get. As soon as they overstimulate themselves and become resistant to caffeine they begin to need it more and more. @Zane Yes, I think it would be a mistake not to take coffee because it's just such a powerful performance enhancer. You simply have to do it strategically. Great articles.

What do you guys think about Sam Harris' new TED talk? Basically, if we accept the idea that intelligence is a matter of information processing, then it's inevitable that we'll eventually build artificial technology that will exceed us in everything, including ethics, moral etc. In the end, we'll be simply overcome and doomed as a species. This is quite probable. What he wants us to think about is how we could build AI safely so that we wouldn't be destroyed by our own creation. It's definitely one of the most important questions of our generation. We're literally moving towards either our impending doom or salvation. Thoughts?

i think we're making the mistake of thinking that we know how this recursive AI is going to think and behave. Humans are cybernetic organisms, which means that we can adjust our own behavior. However, we're not completely so because we're still mostly governed by our emotions, thoughts etc. On the other hand, those things aren't guaranteed in a purely bayesian superintelligence. We can only predict what the actual situation is going to be because our mode of being is quite limited. Also, we can't underestimate the AI-s ability to influence human motivation and direct other people to do certain experiments for it.

@ChimpBrain Just listening to Superintelligence and the shit is looking even scarier Amazing book and Bostrom's arguments are probable in almost any way you look at them. I love the part that this super AI will hide its plans of becoming a god from us until its too late. Also, the part where it could get access to protein replicators, have it shipped to its location by a FedEX guy who has no idea about it and then build itself an organic body. WHAT?! Maybe I understood it wrongly but it seems possible with recursive intelligence and cognitive abilities.

The minimum recommendation is 7-8 hours. You may get used to sleeping less but that happens because you simply habituate to lower levels of alertness and energy. You forget about what it feels like to be adequately slept. Any less than 6 for long periods is very bad, even scary. Even just a few nights of poor sleep, less than 5 hours, can make your blood sugar levels rise to that of a diabetic. What ensue are sugar cravings, insulin resistance and obesity. You lose muscle and start accumulating fat because of not getting enough shut-eye. But it's not the quantity of your sleep that matters but the quality of it. If you wake up every hour, then you won't get almost any benefits. The best advice I can give you is to start blocking blue light at night, using a computer software called Flux, wearing blue blocking glasses and wearing a sleep mask while you sleep. Those are the first things you should do. I've also written an in-depth article on different strategies to improve the quality of your sleep so that you could get away with spending less time in bed. Starting from stimulating your vagus nerve and ending with nutrition.

What Is it Like to Be a Bat? is the most widely cited and influential scientific thought experiments about consciousness written by the philosopher Thomas Nagel. Basically, he says that “An organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism - something that it is like for the organism to be itself.” The subjective nature of consciousness, it can't be explained objectively. He uses the bats as a metaphor who illustrate his point because they're mammals and their sonar system resembles human vision, both of which are perceptual experiences. Even if we could imagine flying around, using navigation, hanging upside down and do other bat stuff, it would still not be the same as a bat's perspective. If we could metamorphose into bats, we would only be able to experience their behavior but not the mindset, because our brains wouldn't have been wired that way from birth. We wouldn't be bats, but bat-men (I just had to). What do you guys think? Is our consciousness solely limited to our body and is subjective, or do we share something similar with other sentient beings? I feel like it goes against most of what's written in spiritual texts. But at the same time, it would depend on how you define consciousness. Nagel probably based his claims on the common-sense term.

True, I guess it all comes down to what you're defining as such, as well as consciousness.

@pluto I still don't get it how cabbage, cauli and broccoli are clean. As far as I remember from childhood, cabbage gets the most worms. How come it doesn't get sprayed then? Just curious.

@Joe Zhou That would depend. I don't think that it could make your condition worse. Cold exposure increases the antioxidant glutathione that improves your immune system and detoxifies the body. Also, the increased blood flow you get will pump the lymphatic system, which will make you excrete toxins. Because of that, the poisons may cause some hick-ups, such as a cold or slight nausea. Nothing too severe though and it would be better to get them out of you instead of letting them sit there. You can also have saunas to cleanse yourself.

Although I don't know how skinny you are or what's your overall health condition, I'm going to hypothesize that you have indeed to less body fat. It's only the most likeliest of causes. Not because of fat helping you to feel warmer, it's just that you may have some hormonal imbalances because of your low body fat, which makes your body more conservative, if that makes sense. Eat a bit more and see how you feel, but don't randomly binge on junk because it will not benefit your endocrine system at all. Whole foods. Also, the second part may be that you're simply too unconditioned for the cold. That means only one thing - get used to it. I start my mornings with a cold shower and have taken them for almost 2 years straight. I also take cold water immersions and take ice baths at winter. Basically, you can condition your body to handling freezing temperatures through sheer exposure and learning how to regulate your own core temperature through conscious breathing. Check out the video, in which I explain how to start doing cold water immersion

Cartesian dualism takes takes away the importance of the body and gives too much recognition to the mind. Instead of them being 2 distinct entities, I would argue that they're intertwined and enmeshed with each other. It would be hard to tell, whether our consciousness could exist without a body because we don't have enough knowledge about the brain nor skill to do anything with it if we did. But one thing seems to be true as discovered through phenomenological enquiry. Here's how Merleau-Ponty describes it - "the body is the vehicle of being in the world, and having a body is, for a living creature, to be involved in a definite environment, to identify oneself with certain projects and be continually committed to them’ ". Consciousness stems from the body being in an interaction with its surroundings. So the duality between your subjective body/consciousness and the world is also questionable. Perception by nature is indeterminate: it ends in objects but begins in the body. (M-P)

It's not that you're objectively in love with video games. You play them just because of a habit and the good feeling they give you. They're enjoyable to you because they help you to either relax, escape reality or push off what you truly want to accomplish. Maybe you're scared of putting yourself out there and taking action on your real purpose in life. There's something good about it as well. The determined and almost obsessive traits you have when playing too many video games is just pure energy. You're simply directing your energy into the wrong channels. If you were to simply stop playing video games, you could make rapid results in your development and achieving your purpose. Basically, you have to change your habits. A great way to get started is to go on a "video game fast." If you distance yourself from the pleasurable stimulus of games you reset your reward mechanisms. At the moment, you're simply inside the vicious cycle. Take a step back and regain your awareness. This doesn't mean that you have to give up video games completely. Just spend less time playing them and focus on your greater goals. Another awesome tip is to start thinking about your life as an MMORPG. You can apply it to fitness, learning, socializing, meditation etc. Everything you acquire is a level-up. Takes some power of association but it works.

@ChimpBrain He doesn't have a book called synchronicity, if that's what you think. Synchronicity is just a meaningful coincidence.

@John Flores Wow, that's just baffling and scary at the same time. We can create artificial consciousness. Gives some things to think about concerning the future of our own. I wonder whether the answer has any objective ground to it But then again, it answered "what is 10 minus 2?" - 72. @ChimpBrain Yes, Bostrom is amazing, I just picked up his book. Synchronicity It's funny though. AI clearly has more intellectual potential and the development of our species is very much dependent of our technology. Our biological bodies are like outdated hardware, whereas the software, our consciousness, is willing to go through a quantum leap.

There are 4 conditions that need to be met to build muscle. Adequate stimulus (Train hard enough)- The key to building muscle naturally is getting ox strong. It doesn't matter whether you do barbell or bodyweight exercises. You simply have to progressively overload the muscles, which means either adding more weight or progressing towards more difficult bodyweight movements. In general, strength is built more with lower repetitions (3-8 reps x 3-6 sets) Protein synthesis (Eat enough protein) - Secondly, you need the essential amino acids to build new tissue. They’re the building blocks of our body and with the essential fatty acids required for life. Energy (Be in a caloric surplus) - You need to have enough calories to increase in size. If you're skinny, then train hard and eat a ton post-workout. Hormones (mainly testosterone and human growth hormone) - To conduct these anabolic processes, you need to have adequate hormonal output. The two most important ones for muscle growth are T and HGH. The best tip here is to sleep more. 8-10 hours minimum for someone your age. In general, train hard and don't joke around with doing bodybuilding type of "pumping" workouts but don't push yourself to failure because it will wreck your hormones. Eat enough protein and more calories. Sleep. Repeat. Patience is key and you need to autoregulate your routines as you go. If you're not seeing results in weight gain, then you have to either do less cardio or eat more.