I'm Still Alive!

 Just wanted to let you know that I'm not dead!

I've recently had an opportunity that is going to take all my extra time and attention for the next several months.

Even though it's a tough decision I decided to put my podcast on hold until I get things in my life normalized again.

The good news is, after an initial push I should have more time to devote to the podcast and I can get back on schedule. 

I have really enjoyed the process and finally got into a good rhythm so I'm a little bummed that I'm going to stop but I think it will be for the best in the long run.

In the meantime keep sending me questions and I might do a little Q&A show every now and again if there is any interest. 

Podcast Episode 53: The Tragedy of Age Segregation

Kids go to school, spend all day with other kids their age

People are encouraged to retire, leaving the workforce for people in working age

Older people spend their time in retirement homes

The normal thing is for the grandparents to help teach the kids

Grandparents teach what is most important, morals, how to live a good life

Parents teach more practical things, how to make a living, how to organize your life etc

Why the change?

Perhaps because things are changing so much that many people look at their parents and grandparents as uninformed because they don’t know the latest tech.

Schools and the push for retirement are big factors

Podcast Episode 52: Designing your vision for your life

People making drastic life choices without thinking them through

Autopilot just following the path of least resistance

Buying things you don’t need or sometimes don’t even really want

Weighing the importance of each thing

There isn’t enough time or money for you to do everything so you must actively prioritize

Big potential mistakes:

Going into debt - car, house, college, consumer

Wasting time

Not having an idea of what you want your life to look like

What to do?

Think about what a perfect day would look like for you

Try to be as realistic as possible (sitting around all day gets boring fast)

What can you do to design your day to look like that as much as possible?

Do this exercise often because it will motivate you and also it will change over time.

Podcast Episode 51: LastPass Password Manager

 https://www.lastpass.com/

Syncs across computer and mobile

Password Generator

Podcast Episode 50: Making the World Stronger by Allowing Groups to Split

 When more than one leader crops up it is because the people no longer agree on something fundamental

Social insects follow this pattern

Primates follow this pattern

Dunbar’s number hypothesizes that we can have a group of 150 people max that we feel comfortable socializing with

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

If a group gets so big that each person no longer knows all the others then it’s harder to agree on a leader (or common ideologies)

The tribe then splits (or fights)

This is probably good over all

As long as the groups can get along, separating because of fundamental differences leads to more options

The more options there are, the more likely a better option will emerge

If we force everyone to stay in the same group it is probably unhealthy

-it leads to animosity and resentment

-If there is only one option it is less likely to be the ideal (fragile)

How could a system like this work?

Maybe try to design cities with this in mind

Allow communities as much autonomy as possible

Make sure there are clear agreements, traditions, expectations, etc for what happens when there needs to be a split. (peace treaty, who leaves and who stays)

Dispute resolution is key

Podcast Episode 49: Personal Preparedness

thesurvivalpodcast.com

Emotional?

Risk Assessment

Fragility Assessment

most common things are not what most people think of

Lost job (savings (money and food), personal connections, side hustles)

Sickness (savings, insurance, personal support group)

Disability (savings, insurance)

Unexpected expenses (savings, insurance)

Death (savings, insurance)

Etc

Less likely things are potentially more disruptive

Natural disaster (food storage, insurance)

Economic problems (food storage, social connections)

War

Pandemics (food storage)

etc

Preparing for the more common things usually sets you up pretty good for the more disruptive things

Find ways to make yourself ant-fragile

Tips:

Make a budget, start saving, financial freedom!!

Eat what you store, store what you eat.

Get insurance!!

Help those around you and build social connections

Podcast Episode 48: Google Keep

 -Widget on your phone

-record audio

When people give you a suggestion, make a note

When you think of something, make a note

Must plan on looking at it at some point

Podcast Episode 47: Collective Preparedness vs Individual Preparedness

Collective preparedness is fragile

We can’t always predict everything

We can’t have stuff for everyone

Only one option, if we get it wrong everyone is hurt

Individual preparedness is anti-fragile

Most people are prepared for the things that they think are most likely

Anyone who is wrong can be helped by those who are right

There are thousands of options with varying degrees of usefulness

Distribution is easier

No single point of failure

Each area, community and person is more likely to know what their needs are

Podcast Episode 46: Time Management

Capture Tasks (Stay Focused)

When you are already doing something and you see something else that needs to be done, write it down wherever you need to so you can remember it later.

Unless it is more urgent or important than what you are doing now

Or it won’t throw you off track

Prioritize Tasks

What is Urgent?

Things that will cause major consequences if they are not done on time

What is most important

What do you enjoy

Plan Tasks

Try to eliminate as many urgent tasks as you can (Focus Funnel Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden)

Eliminate - Ignore

Automate - Invest

Delegate - Delegate

Procrastinate

Permanence of deadline 

Rock - Cannot be changed, you do it at this time or not at all

Wood - Date is set but you could potentially change it

Clay - Better if scheduled but can be moved easily

Water - No scheduling needed, can be done any time

Focus on the most important urgent item and get it done then move on to the next

Take small breaks as desired (pomodoro)

When All your urgent tasks are done, work on the things that are most important and that you most enjoy.

Podcast Episode 45: Aloe Vera Plants

Easy to grow

Basically never water them and they are fine

Uses:

Sunburn

Bug bites

Scratches

Aloe Juice

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-use-aloe-vera-plant#caring-for-aloe-vera-plant

Podcast Episode 44: Crowdsourced Funding

It is difficult to fight piracy.

Are copyrights moral? (another day)

You can get the product for free or maybe watch an ad or something (you would be able to anyway)

Or you can buy the product and then you get a share from all future profits

Podcast Episode 43: Make Everyone Your Coach

Ask For Advice

Ask Questions

Listen

Last week we talked about coaching. This week I will share a trick that will let you turn everyone you meet into a potential coach.

When you talk with people, the natural tendency is to do most of the talking but the people who are the best conversationalists are the people that listen the most. They listen and they ask good questions.

The trick is asking good questions, these are questions that allow the other person to share things that are important to them.

Body Language. Where are the feet pointing

While you are asking questions you may as well ask advice about the things that this person is good at.

Remember, only listen to advice from people that know what they are talking about. If someone is unhealthy, discount their advice about health. If they are poor, money. Etc. (always exceptions)

Podcast Episode 42: Phone Car Mount

https://www.amazon.com/iOttie-Dashboard-Windshield-Samsung-Smartphone/dp/B076B27WP6/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=iottie+car+mount&link_code=qs&qid=1593878725&sr=8-3&tag=amznsearchie-20

iOttie Car Mount

Powerful suction cup with sticky edges to hold

Transfer it from car to car fairly easily

Take your phone on and off with one hand

Adjustable to fit any phone (probably)

Podcast Episode 41: Freedom of Association vs Anti-Discrimination Laws

Freedom to refuse service

Freedom of association

Lawsuits against wedding cake businesses who refuse to make a cake for gay weddings

Anti-discrimination laws for employers

This idea sounds good in theory but has unintended consequences

Whenever we try to legislate morality it becomes difficult to enforce and usually starts creating inequalities with how people are treated under law

If I have a company I have the right to refuse service to anyone no matter what because it’s my company. If I want to be a racist that is my right. I will probably go out of business but I have the right to make that choice.

If I want to fire someone I should be able to do that for any reason whatsoever. For the same reasoning. If I fire people because I’m racist then I will miss out on good employees from other races and will be less competitive. Plus as news of my stance spreads, there will be many people that will boycott my business because of that.

The market will correct itself if people truly believe in a cause.

If the government gets involved it can create many unintended consequences. If I fire someone because they are a bad employee. They might try to sue me for discrimination. Well I was discriminating... against bad employees. The creates an enforcement issue that favors bad employees because they have less to lose from the situation.

What if I have a haircutting place for people with african style hair. Someone that doesn’t have that type of hair would be discriminated against because they can’t be served.

What about a mens haircut place? Is that discriminating against women?

If I have a sales job then I might want someone who can speak fluent english. Is that discrimination?

What about movie studios, when they need someone to fill a black role is that being racist that they aren’t hiring white people?

Podcast Episode 40: Natural Talent and Hard Work Are No Longer Enough

Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

Natural Talent is no longer enough

When playing sports the older you get, the less it is about natural talent

Canadian kids highlight the advantage of coaching

Thrive 15 coaches businesses to success

Kids that have better test coaches/tutors get higher scores on standardized tests

Better schools lead to better outcomes

No matter how good/smart you are, you will not be able to compete for long without some sort of coaching.

Is this a problem that exacerbates inequality?

Podcast Episode 39: Motion Sensor Solar Lights

Solar Motion Sensor Lights

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/aiotd-4-13-17

 

I found some cheap with a deal several years ago and really liked them. I don’t have a specific brand but Jack over at the Survival Podcast recommends these ones and his reviews are very reliable.

Podcast Episode 38: How a Free Market Handles Shortages (Toilet Paper Anyone?)

Auto-Adjusting Price

https://twitter.com/bytemaster7/status/1254229127219105793

Empty shelves are evidence of government interference in the free market or an economically ignorant population educated by said government. In free markets scarce goods are always available at a price and competition keeps it as low as possible.

In an optimized market store shelves could automatically increase pricing as inventory fell and lower pricing as inventory rises.  Imagine if we used bancor to ensure everything is always available to those who need it most when they need it.

All the more reason to have prices rapidly adjusted to ration remaining supplies and reward those who prepared. Instead we punish those who prepare to serve this market by denying them profits.

Those guys take an economic bet that future demand will be higher.  Further more, if stores had dynamic pricing then it wouldn’t be possible to buy them out to resell higher.

In a market with fair money and free from government distortion those with money have earned it by providing value to others in the past.  If money is not the arbiter of scarce resources then political clout or those willing to wait in line at 3am become the “virtuous” entitled.

Podcast Episode 37: Should I Invest In Bitcoin?

What is bitcoin

Peer-to-peer network

Immutable Ledger of transactions

Decentralized

Bitcoin solved the “double spend” problem

World wide access (internet)

Fixed supply. Rate of inflation cannot be altered

Relatively fast and cheap transactions

Risks:

In a normal market, as demand increases the price increases which leads to more supply being created by producers joining the market which lowers the price which leads to less supply being created as producers leave the market.

This happens constantly which allows the price (supply and demand) to reach an equilibrium.

If you have something with a fixed supply then there is no way for supply to adjust to meet demand. This means that the price is completely tied to demand. And because demand is the unpredictable and uncontrollable aspect of price. The swings can be irrational at times.

This is predicted to lead to volatility.

There are other, theoretically better, cryptocurrencies out there that could make bitcoin obsolete.

There could be a new technology that renders bitcoin useless. Perhaps quantum computers

Conclusion:

Many people have gotten rich from the large price swings of bitcoin.

Many people have lost everything from the large price swings

At this early stage it isn’t really an investment, it’s speculation. Which means that you should only speculate with money that you are willing to lose because you probably will.

Podcast Episode 36: CamelCamelCamel.com

Amazon price tracker

Notifies you when it hits a certain price

Shows best deals on amazon

Rss feeds of deals in a category

It only saves you money if you would’ve spent it anyway

Just because it’s a deal doesn’t mean you have to buy it.

Podcast Episode 35: Virtual Reality Driver Training

Virtual reality simulator that mimics real driving as much as possible

Let kids drive when they get a high enough score?

Your car can judge your driving?

Yearly test or something

Maybe a vr app you could have at home.

Over time your score goes down

As you drive in the app your score goes up

Testing centers