Book Reviews & Beyond

Book Review: The BIGGEST Biohacking Book

I write this with a sense of accomplishment, having just finished Ben Greenfield's +1000-page magnum opus, Boundless. I'm something of a superfan of Ben's - I read and listen to nearly everything he puts out - and I do recommend this book enthusiastically, but I'll begin my review with some criticisms...

The current year is a renaissance for the Cyberpunk genre for the worst reason: Cyberpunk dystopia is no longer fiction; it's... Tuesday.

Being chauffeured through a decaying urban center in a self-driving taxi is no longer an unsettling novelty. Your smartwatch vibrates as you doomscroll videos of soldiers fleeing drones across a forlorn battlefield, warning you that your heart rate variability is non-optimal. You take Nootropic cognitive enhancers for the edge you desperately need at work; hopefully the soulless megacorporation you work for won't replace you with AI agents. An ad pops up for the exact thing you mentioned to your girlfriend, in bed last night, while you thought your phone was off.
It's not just you; it's getting weirder out there—we're just a few holidays away from your socially awkward cousin bringing a robot girlfriend home. (Yes, I just em-dashed—UNAPOLOGETICALLY—I em-dashed before AI did and will continue to dose my hyphens with Viagra whenever I damn well please).

Book Review: A sales manifesto for unapologetically effective persuaders

The manifesto of the world's most infamous salesman, Jordan Belfort, has some devilishly clever persuasion hacks.

I've been reading this book about Taoism and longevity...

So some people might hear Taoism and say: Isn't that like a religion? Isn't this a branch of Eastern Spirituality?
Yeah, it's kind of a religion, but it's like religion-light.
There are no 10 commandments
There's no heaven
There's no hell
Mostly, it's a lifestyle system to live a long, vibrant life with some spiritual undertones.

One of the things that becomes pretty obvious early on in this book is that Taoism is basically like The Force from Star Wars - minus the lightsabers (unfortunately) and the celibacy (fortunately!)

Taoist masters over a very long time developed these counter-intuitive breathing techniques for mindful spirituality, tantric sex, longevity, explosive physical performance, and everything in between. This is how a Jedi would breathe.

In principle, breathing is a science, but in practice it is an art. (3119-3120)

Book Review: "Young-Civilizationists" are the new “Young-Earth Creationists"

This is Graham Hancock’s most recent book, a follow-up to Magicians of the Gods, painstakingly evaluating the evidence that hints at a lost civilization in deep antiquity (Atlantis?)

An admission, I used to be a "young-earth creationist," which means that I was among the Christians who believe that God created the world and universe about 6,000 years ago. A commonly-held and dogma-driven view of history that we now view as absurd and anti-rational which necessitates ignoring a lot of evidence. Almost nobody (Christians included) is now a young-earth creationist - but (even the intelligentsia of) society still holds some very dogmatic views of history that require ignoring a lot of evidence. Graham Hancock has written several books thoroughly documenting and analyzing this evidence. According to the mainstream view of history, our species suddenly jumped from scratching about in the dust to building the pyramids and other megaliths of tremendous proportions and size - civilizational endeavors requiring mastery of complex mathematics and engineering principles. While our modern civilization can barely keep the lights on in a lot of places (and can't even keep the Notre Dame cathedral from burning down), we're made to believe that ancient humans jumped right from chasing down megafauna on the flatlands with spears to the decadent project of building giant monuments perfectly aligned to the astrological starscape above, in a matter of (at the most) a few thousand years, while they were mired in a barbaric and deeply superstitious societal state. Indeed, "young civilizationists" (like young-earth creationists) believe that something magical happened about six millennia ago.

Book Review: I'm Adaptogenic!

The definitive guide to adaptogenic herbs, formerly known as “tonics,” that counter the effects of age and stress on the body.

The Internet is making everyone stupid, and that's a good thing!

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains is a book that dramatically changed how I view the Internet. You don't need to read this book because the title says it all - your suspicions are correct, the Internet is NOT very good for our minds.

Flow state may save us from ourselves…

Book Review of “Stealing Fire” an ecstatic manifesto

This is the 3rd book I’ve read authored by wordsmith and ecstatic practitioner Steven Kotler. When I think critically about the future of our species I oscillate between being a black-pilled accelerationist and a cheerful optimist who thinks we will one day salsa dance on Olympus Mons — when I read Kotler’s books I lean more towards the latter than the former.