I couldn’t really get focused this morning for some reason. So, here are some of the things that popped into my head while I was trying to write. I didn’t get any sparks for a complete blog post at this time on any of these subjects but maybe I will in the future.
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I sometimes get very frustrated with myself and the missed opportunities in my life. On multiple occasions I’ve had an idea for an invention, company, or whatever, but instead of pursuing it I decided to just play video games or nap. Then, I turn on Shark Tank and somebody is on the show getting a million dollars for the same basic concept.
Networking has made a greater impact on my life than my degree ever has. Every, single job I got post-college was because of my network. My degree may have been a necessary pre-requisite, but that didn’t get me the job.
I don’t quite understand how some of the towns we come across still exist. Many of them are old rail towns, but the trains left decades ago. There are no stores, no businesses, and no educational opportunities. I can’t imagine young people growing up in these towns stay for long. I’m just confused about how there are still 100 or so people in them and how those people support themselves.
There seems to be a mind/body connection for me. On days when I get up, meditate, and write are also the days when I pay more attention to the food I eat and remember to exercise. I guess getting the day started on a healthy, productive path is important.
This last week I found out that the Agora Marketplace is down indefinitely. For those that don’t know, Agora is one of the “darknet” websites where you can order things with Bitcoin on the black market. Most people use it for illegal drugs, I used it to order MDMA which I use medicinally for my mental health, as a relationship tool to build bonds between myself, my partner, and friends, and as a recreational drug. Now that it is offline if I want to receive my medicine I will need to seek out a street dealer. This poses three main drawbacks. First, it makes me more vulnerable to violence. I will need to conduct illegal activity with a stranger who may be violent or intent on robbing me. Second, the product will be of unknown quality and could contain dangerous chemicals. I will test my drugs (like I always do), which means if things turn out bad I will be out money instead of harming my body. Third, I am much, much more likely to face the most dangerous aspect of using drugs… the police. Nothing in the United States ruins more lives than the police getting involved in peaceful drug users and sellers lives. Luckily, I don’t think I will need any MDMA soon, I only buy enough at a time to use during a particular session so that I’m never carrying contraband, but it is unfortunate that a safe and easy way to get my medicine is off the table. I know there are other marketplaces out there besides Agora but now I need to go through the lengthy process of finding them and getting set up. Blargh
I don’t think a lot of people understand evolution or natural selection. I am certainly no expert, but my “education” in it before college was basically two weeks of one science class in high school. At that point in my life my church and parent’s had drilled into me that evolution was wrong (and possibly evil). Of course, what I was taught by my parents was not what evolution or natural selection actually was. They were ignorant straw man arguments. I think one of the most frustrating things nowadays are people that argue for some life choice based on evolution. People will claim that because we evolved to do something we should return to that. That isn’t how evolution works, evolution isn’t a straight line to provide happy and healthy creatures, it is simply a process where certain genetic mutations allow those genes to reproduce more effectively than competing genes. Just because we evolved around certain foods or certain environments does not mean returning to those will provide happy and healthy humans. If tomorrow someone was born with a genetic mutation that made them irresistible to their mates and they always had triplets, but their hearts exploded on their 35th birthday, that genetic code would likely spread quickly and soon take over the entire species. That doesn’t mean it is creating a healthy or happy person, evolution is indifferent to that. Well, I guess a certain level of health is necessary but it isn’t the primary goal.
Wandering Oak 