Technology and the North Island

from yet another Matt: The value of technological progress (personal examples)

Pictures below from New Zealand's North Island. We didn't get a picture with NonZero James (DOH!) but were happy to meet him). 

On Valentine's Day, we were at a vegan restaurant, and next to us was a young couple on a first date. The guy went on and on and on about how he simply had to work on AI existential risk. We felt so bad for her. 

Our first sunset in magical New Zealand

Waiheke Island, off of Auckland,
was like Hawaii but better

Vineyard on the Island

Mount Taranaki - amazing!    :-0

Wellington (the capitol)

So many flowers on this trip OMG

Wētā Workshop, the visual effects studio for Lord of the Rings
(and many others)

We saw so many LOTR filming locations across New Zealand -
this one (sign above; below, Anne at the spot)
was just in a park in Wellington!

Government buildings in Wellington;
On the left is the Beehive.

Vegan bakery had a booth at the Wellington airport.

Also at the Wellington airport.
Next stop: South Island, where we rented a car.  :-0

The Self vs The Other (but nice flower pictures!)

As a follow-up to the last post, here is yet another example of "Vegans" making veganism all about themselves, rather than a tool to help others who are truly suffering.

We are beyond caricature. 

And here is an example of worrying about personal purity over the big picture. (I love Sam's substack title: "Revolutionary Overthinking.")

We call these "chicken flowers"

I'm told this is nice for people who are not red-green color "blind"

So Very Tired

Star Trek XII: So Very Tired

Just a personal note / vent. This isn't judgment or a request for anything.

I recently started listening to a podcast where two long-time vegetarians were talking with a celebrity. This famous person has been a vegetarian and an activist for a few years longer than me (the late 80s). And when the celebrity's activism came up, they talked as if they'd never heard of vegetarianism or animal rights and had just read Diet for a New America. "Environment! [Blah blah blah] Health! [Blah blah blah] Animals! [Vlah blah blah.] [Various bogus claims/exaggerations*.]"  

Once they got maybe 30 seconds into this litany - one this person must have given thousands of times - I felt So Very Tired. I just couldn't stand it. How could this person just continue to say the same thing over and over and over for decades and expect a different result?

Not saying this celebrity is stupid or wrong. (And maybe later in the podcast they actually discuss the fact that after decades of activism, the situation is far worse than ever. I don't know; I just couldn't take it anymore.) 

We should always look at the results of what we do, rather than just worry about "being right." There are some alternatives we could at least give a fair shot.

* Speaking of exaggerations and lies, I saw a new version of "animal ag is the biggest driver of climate change" last week. (Old version)  <sigh>

Sydney Photos + You can't change a mind

Sydney's own Amit Tewari (above), who quit his medical residency to help animals by following the evidence, asked us why he couldn't convince his friends or family to stop eating chickens. 

That's easy!

Logic and argument have no impact on the human brain. We want what we want because of our nature and nurture (genetics and programming). Then we accumulate "evidence" to justify what we already want. 

There are no exceptions to this rule. 

So we should stop trying to "be right" or "win an argument." It doesn't work and it doesn't help.

To actually maybe make a difference, we must fully understand, accept, and appreciate what the other person wants. And that they have no free will. But our ego gets in the way.

What I want is to show you a few pictures from the Sydney area; as always, click for larger:

That's gonna hurt come winter.

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo.
Can live to be 100!

Swamp wallaby!
Totally unexpected. No one else around.

Water dragon!

The Buddha or The Dude

Duuuuuuude!

If one can accept and truly internalize emptiness and thus achieve enlightenment (full version; shorter) how would that person differ from a stoner? 

Not joking. 

Dealing with Stress from an Evolutionary Perspective (and travel bonus)

LA area.
Here is a pretty good quick overview of how to travel freely.

The brilliant and kind Robert Sapolsky points out that exercise is very often the best way to deal with stress. (Book.)

He notes that the stress response evolved to avoid being eaten. 

Stress is meant to prime our bodies to fight or flee, not to think more. Thus: "fighting or fleeing" (lifting weights, running, etc.) is a good way to deal with stress. 

A very smart (and tall) friend told me that going to a silent retreat made their mental health worse - being alone with their thoughts was not a good idea. Anne and I have a long list of people we know (or know of) who are big-time meditators yet are quite poorly adjusted. 

This is not meant to shit on meditation. But I think simply saying "meditate" or "be mindful" is worse than saying nothing. In my experience, a framework like Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True (or even just this) is vital for any meditative practice. 

More broadly, "smart" people tend to think [sic] that everything can be dealt with by thinking. And many of us (e.g., raised Catholic) tend to think [sic] poorly of "the body." Neither of these are accurate, and often lead to more suffering.

Pain and Suffering and Oceana 1

Taken shortly after the sneeze mentioned below.

I've written a lot about the distinction between pain and suffering (like here). Our recent points-powered #1 bucket-list trip Down Under provides another example.

At one point on the trip, I fractured a rib. It affected my sleep (not in a good way!), made it hard to get out of bed, etc. One time I sneezed and felt like I might pass out from the Owww. 

However, I did not suffer. I was incredibly happy nearly the whole trip (especially considering what was happening back here in Crazy Town). Every single day, I was far happier than a "normal" day with my "normal" pain. 

(But I don't recommend fracturing your rib. Also: this WaPo article claims that not only can the placebo effect work when the patient knows it's a placebo, but it can even work when the patient knows and thinks the placebo won't work!!!)

Now: 

More than any other type of post, readers say they like my picture posts. Yet I feel almost guilty about posting so many pictures of the adventures we've been able to take because of points and miles. I thought about just doing a link, but then I can't give any contextual notes. So I'm going to break this trip up by geographical area and try to be much more discerning in which ones I use. 

Here are pictures from the trip down, Melbourne, and our time on the Great Ocean Road with Vincent, one of three cool people we have known online and were able to meet in person on this trip! I quote Vincent in Losing My Religions, and he used to blog at The Animalist, where he wrote some excellent (and inflammatory to Vegans) pieces.

I'll leave the pictures small; you can always click to see them bigger.

The Arizona desert by the California border. Weird, no?

Free plant-based chicken (far right) and drink at Delta's LAX lounge.

Not a view of the earth you see normally.
Video. #Waterworld

Flying Foxes in the middle of Melbourne; see next

Melbourne definitely won for cool architecture. 

Roos! Video

"Dances with snakes"

Koala! For mah sistah....