The Codependent Problem

Doesn't take his self-worth from anger.

This entire bit is worth reading, but this is really worth considering:

Do you actually want to solve your problem, or are you secretly depending on its continued existence? If you showed up to fight the dragon and found it already slain, would you be elated or disappointed?

After all, a righteous crusade gives you meaning and camaraderie, to the point where you can become addicted to the crusading itself. It is possible to form an entire identity around being mad at things, and to make those things grow by pouring your rage on them, which in turn gives you more things to be mad at. This is, in fact, the business model for approximately half the internet.

Breaking: Record $1,250 Offer on Top Card

Application link

The Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) Visa card has a new record-high 100,000 points welcome offer / sign-up bonus (SUB). (All three of us here at Team Green-Ball have one.) You can only have one CSP at a time and can't get the bonus if you've gotten a SUB on a CSP in the past 48 months. More information from our friends at Travel Freely below.

Even if you don't want to figure out how to transfer points to partners like Hyatt or Air France, you can use those 100,000 points to book $1,250 in flights, hotels, or car rentals through Chase's Travel Portal. We have used Chase points to book stays at great non-chain hotels this way.  

Note: If your credit is frozen (e.g., Experian), schedule a thaw before applying. (More on applying below.)

It will help One Step for Animals if you use this link to apply:

Application link

From Travel Freely:
 New “Best Offer This Year” On Our #1 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card – The Overall Best Personal Card for Beginners

It has been awhile since we saw an offer this big! Earn 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points for $5,000 spend in 3 months for our #1 best beginner travel credit card. That means the bonus is worth over $1,250 in free travel. Do not hesitate to go after this offer!

Two of you? Couples can double up on great cards if you apply separately. That’s over $2,500 in free travel if you are both eligible and can reach the spending requirements during this increased offer.

This card is great for those who want flexibility and value when they do not know what kind of free travel they need–domestic flights, international flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Want to know more? Check out our Rewards Cards 101 mini webinar to get an overview on Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Learn How to Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred  (100,000 points valued at over $1,250) or Read Zac’s review here.

Cilantro-haters are wrong and will burn in Hell

For the longest time, I never really understood the word "normative," even after reading definitions. In short, saying something is "right," "good," and "desirable" is declaring it should be the "norm" for everyone. 

If you spend any time on the internet, you'll find people making normative statements about everything. Everyone must be Vegan! Veganism is a lifestyle, not a diet. "Fake meat" is not Vegan. You can't drink (smoke, drive, have kids) if you are Vegan. 

That's just one example. The same applies to Effective Altruism, rationalism, "Progressive," Woke (anti-racism, allyship), etc. [And, of course, on the right as well, but no right-winger is reading this.] 

As you've seen, it goes beyond politics and philosophy. Everything is to be judged, urgently and with total certainty. Using Facebook. iPhone vs Pixel. Shopping at Walmart. Sweet vs savory. Recycling plastic. Cilantro. Are Kids These Days the Worst or What?

Everything from having children to if the Earth is round.

Luckily, someone did discover The Truth!

It was Keanu:

"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of arguments. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right. Have fun."

Seriously.

There is no reason to have a negative reaction to anyone's opinion on anything, no matter how "right" you are or how "wrong" they are. They couldn't think differently. You won't persuade them. (Example involving aliens.) 

Anger isn't necessary for change.

So why be upset? Seriously. Just consider it. 

But I won't be angry if you don't.   😀

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....