Category: Truth

When trying to solve a societal problem (X) I like to ask myself two questions.

1. How can I solve X in a way that will help me?
2. How can I solve X in a way that will also help everybody else?

If we’re being intellectually honest we must admit that we look out for ourselves — I would probably include immediate family here as well — first. I don’t think anybody will dispute that.

It seems it often stops there for a lot of people. I’m specifically referring to the far right and far left here but any views that are the extreme can likely be included.

The second question is a tough one. What does “everybody else” mean? Because some (most?) solutions probably can’t help everybody. So another way to look at the question is, “What won’t harm others?” or “What will do the least harm to others?”

This is why the best way to handle topics such as gay marriage, abortion rights, healthcare, welfare, GMOs, immigration, and more becomes clearer to me. It’s not that they’re black and white issues, but there is often a solution that is both best for me (“what I want”) and best for everybody else (“what they want”).

This is also why I don’t identify with so many of my friends and family on the far left or far right. Their solutions, while not objectively terrible, are often skewed to looking out only for those specifically like them. And sometimes, due to lack of knowledge but strong opinions, their solutions aren’t even what’s best for them anyway. I can’t fault them for lack of knowledge, of course. (Can I fault them for strong opinions based on lack of knowledge? Good question. I don’t know.)

Let’s take an example: healthcare.

What I want

I don’t want to worry about debt or bankruptcy if I get sick. I’m a citizen of the wealthiest nation in the world and I feel like it would be nice to be taken care of if something goes wrong. I don’t have a problem if I have to pay for insurance. I have a problem worrying that I’ll be denied “covered” treatment because my insurance company isn’t good. I have a problem being overcharged treatment because of lack of transparency. I have a problem with being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

What they want

The far left: comprehensive healthcare for all, paid for by additional taxes on the wealthy (among other ways)

The far right: everybody for themselves, pay for it or don’t get it

Solution

Let the folks on the right have their private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurance. Let the folks on the left not worry about having their lives ruined because of an accident or illness.

Now, I know that’s simplistic, and it’s not yet even a solution. It’s more like the seed of a solution. I’ve written a longer essay specifically on this topic that I’ll try to post soon.

But it starts there, with two questions. Getting me what I want, and also getting others what they want.

I know it’s possible. Although the divisiveness I’m seeing in politics is going to make it difficult for these types of solutions to see the light of day any time soon. But history shows that we will move towards fairness, even if things are unfair in the present and near future.

###

A previous version of this essay stated that the left wants “free healthcare for all.” I’ve updated it because that is not technically true. Also changed the sentence, “I don’t have a problem paying for healthcare” to “I don’t have a problem if I have to pay for insurance” because it’s more to my point.

A small break from all the seriousness around here. I’ve been wanting to shoot (and learn to edit) more video, but all I have is a Nexus 5 I bought in 2013 along with a tiny tripod. I usually use that as an excuse. The biggest issue isn’t actually the camera — because it takes decent video — but the fact that I don’t have lighting. I did my best sitting next to a window and using natural light. I also have an old computer — 2010 Macbook Air — and iMovie is slow and difficult when editing. Outputting this 7 minute video in HD took over an hour. Yikes!

Educational resources from this video

Spirytus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectified_spirit

Freezing point depression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing-point_depression

100ml = ~3.4 ounces

I wasn’t sure how the last e-mail and essay I wrote would go over. As you can probably imagine, when you’re writing about a dogma — specifically, religion — it can go over poorly.

But, although the unsubscribe rate to the e-mail list was double the norm, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Including from people who didn’t agree with me.

That’s how it should be.

I’m wrong all the time. If I didn’t regularly seek out people (not just friends, but books, blogs, and other media) I disagreed with I’d never know when I was wrong. And then I’d never change my mind about my own beliefs or ideas. I can’t think of a worse way to live life than pretending to never be wrong and, as a result, never changing my mind. (Aside: this is why it infuriates me that people consider politicians who “flip flop” as unworthy of office. I want my representatives to change their minds based on the evidence!)

That doesn’t mean that every time I see something I disagree with it changes my mind, of course. What it does is help me understand the other point of view. And the most important question I can ask myself then is, “is it possible I’m the one who’s wrong here?” Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not.

One of the saddest aspects of growing up in the suburbs is that suburbs are cultural dead zones. For example, I didn’t have non-white friends growing up. Sure, I had friends from other countries or other denominations of the same religion I was being raised in, but that’s not enough. Homogeny does not build a well-rounded character or empathy or compassion.

When I finally went to University in Detroit and befriended an Indian guy, and a Muslim guy, and a black guy, and a gay guy, it had a profound impact on me. I’m sad I didn’t keep up those friendships — I’m bad at keeping in touch with people, mostly because I’m a very hands-off type friend and people read that as something other than what it is — but they all had an effect on me.

It wasn’t until I saw my friend being tailed by security at a store just because of his skin color that I realized, “oh, wow, that is a real problem, isn’t it? I’ve quite literally never been followed by security and this happens to him daily? That’s not right.”

It wasn’t until a friend couldn’t legally marry his boyfriend that I learned that we didn’t all actually have equal rights and if I’m not part of the solution then I’m part of the problem. Being quiet about injustice is about as bad as vocally supporting injustice. (Which is why some of the best voices in the church state separation cause are the religious folks who are vocal about upholding that part of the constitution.)

It wasn’t until a friend went through emotional upheaval because she got pregnant, didn’t want children, was not in a position to care for a child, and did not want anything to do with the “sperm donor” that I learned that women need more support in these situations to do whatever they feel is best. Abortion is a completely valid option in many situations and whether it’s legal or not it will often be done anyway. But if it’s legal it’s less burdensome on the individual and the community. (Example: many women in Poland get abortions, but since it’s illegal here they have to go to Czech or Germany and be secretive about it for fear of repercussions. Or they do it in a dangerous “backroom” style because they can’t afford a trip to Czech or Germany.)

And it wasn’t until a friend who worked two minimum wage jobs and went to school full time, but was on food stamps because she didn’t come from a nice family that would or could help support her, that I learned that most people on welfare are probably not lazy bums trying to take advantage of the system. Does it hurt me if a small percentage of my taxes go to a system that helps my friends and a lot of other people? I don’t see how it does.

These are all things I’d heard about, of course, but they were kind of just concepts. They weren’t real until I saw they were real. And sometimes my previous thoughts about these matters were in complete opposition to what they are now.

This is why I’m happy to be friends with people who I disagree with, even staunchly. That’s not to say I won’t be upset if I feel they’re doing something detrimental to themselves or others. And it’s not to say that we’ll ever come to agreement on certain ideas. But if we’ve done it right then in the course of our friendship I’ll learn something that will change my mind and hopefully they will, too.

I saw “war on Christmas” type things one too many times last month and it prompted me to write the following e-mail. I scheduled it to be sent on Christmas Day, but backed out and deleted it from my e-mail software a few minutes before it was to be sent. I sent myself a copy before I did that so all is not lost. And I guess it’s kind of appropriate that I am posting this on Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day, one of many religious holidays where Poland shuts down. Don’t worry, I made channa masala yesterday so we won’t go hungry.

Here is that e-mail in its entirety, text unedited. (I’d really like to edit it, because I didn’t make my point as well as I’d have liked, but here it is. Additional text afterwards.)

Start E-mail

Subject: happy xmas, war is over?

Body:

Happy holidays! haha, jk

Merry Christmas if you’re into that. And happy birthday to me.*

Too many people seem to think I hate Christmas. I actually quite enjoy the holiday season! The lights and parties and vibes are generally fun. I also like mulled wine and roasted chestnuts as much as the next bloke. What I don’t like is the trend of buying junk for the sake of buying junk and I buy into that game as little as possible. A feeling of obligation makes for the worst reason to do almost anything.

I really like Niall Doherty’s gift ideas here. (Also, big thanks to Niall for letting us stay in his Amsterdam flat while he’s away for the holidays!)

Anyway, if you watch Fox News or lots of other media in the US you’re maybe under the impression that there is a war on Christmas. (Sorry I’m so US-centric, but I’m an American and 90% of my readership is as well. So it’s what I know best and can most effectively comment on.)

The alleged war on Christmas, to people who don’t live in the US and progressive people who do live in the US, is simply silly.

Let’s look at this pragmatically. According to Pew 70% of the US population is Christian. That means 30% (~95 million people) don’t share the Christian worldview.

But more than 90% of the US Congress is made up of Christians. These are the people who make and pass the laws of the land. They are a large majority no matter the political party. Comparitively, non-christians have essentially no say and governmental Christians are trusted to do what’s best for everybody in the US (if it wasn’t clear that includes the 95 million people who don’t share their views), no matter color, gender, faith, or lack of faith. (They regularly don’t do what’s best if it doesn’t fit their belief system, in case that wasn’t obvious.)

Where is the war?

Objectively, rationally, speaking there is absolutely no war on Christmas. There is a David vs Goliath (wink wink!) style battle on Christian privilege, though. And I’m on the frontlines with my proverbial slingshot. You’re allowed to believe what you want, of course, but you can’t use your beliefs to negatively — particularly un-Constitutionally — affect other people’s lives. If you think and act like you can you’re just not a nice person, are you? (Many would say you’re not Christ-like at all.)

The issue for me isn’t about being insensitive or that “people are too quick to be offended” like the majority privileged class tells themselves in their echo chambers. Ironically, that is mostly stated by people who are offended when their own beliefs and privileges are questioned.

And so, the war on Christmas is really just people getting upset that they’re barely — just barely — starting to lose their unwarranted privileges.

Let’s look at some other ways the war on Christmas is made up and “Happy Holidays” is the correct way to be:

1) Do you wish anybody a happy birthday for weeks leading up to their birthday? Probably not. Because it would be silly. So you wish them a happy birthday on their … wait for it … birthday! Since Christmas is exactly one day (or two, if you’d like) isn’t it silly to say Merry Christmas on days that are not Christmas? Rhetorical question, but the answer is yes, yes it is silly.

2) There are other holidays other than Christmas in late November and through December. Hannukkah lasts eight times longer than Christmas. Shouldn’t you be telling everybody you see Happy Hannukkah instead? I mean, that holiday is actually happening during those 8 days, and Christmas is absolutely not happening during those 8 days. There’s a war on Hannukkah, I tell ya.

Or …

Isn’t it easier to lump all these ideas together during the long December holiday season and just say, “Happy Holidays!”

Isn’t it more kind to be inclusive instead of divisive?

Isn’t it more fun to make people feel good and wanted and respected instead of reminding them that you’re the majority and they’re the minority and your life enjoys extra privileges?

We’re appalled by the sad parts of history (e.g. slavery) and the incorrect parts of history (e.g. geocentrism) and it’s a good exercise to think about what people hundreds or thousands of years from now will think was sad or wrong about us.

As information spreads, as education evolves, and as technology advances I prefer to be on the correct side of history as best I can. What about you?

###

My Favorites of 2015 post is almost ready for Monday (Dec 28) so watch for that.

Happy Holidays from Amsterdam!

Love,

–Karol

P.S. I’ve been reading the Qur’an this month. I felt it was time to study something other than Christianity for a while. Muslims and Christians worship the same god so I guess it’s not a huge stretch, though.

*Just kidding. Christmas Day is not my birthday. And you know who else wasn’t born on Christmas Day? ;)

End E-mail

I probably should have defined “war on Christmas” in that e-mail. In traditional and social media it’s presented as both a war on the word “Christmas” and also a war against Christianity. But no matter how you define this alleged war it’s not the reality we live in.

So why didn’t I send it?

First, I didn’t want to deal with the possible backlash while my wife and I were on vacation. I did a good job of not being angry or attacking, and using the facts and reality, but it’s easy to misrepresent words when they’re not what you want to see or hear. Especially if you feel you’re being put on ideological defensive. Which I also tried to make sure I didn’t do. Although, on further reflection, the David vs Goliath and birthday parts possibly fail that.

Second, there’s the issue of most of my friends and family — dozens of whom read my site and e-mails (hi, y’all) — being some denomination of Christian and I didn’t want to put even a small damper in their Christmas Day festivities. I was actually thinking, “nah, they won’t be checking e-mail on Christmas Day, will they?” Then I remembered the times we live in. So, while an e-mail — now a blog post — like this isn’t as effective when it’s sent in January, I think it’s still effective enough.

Interesting, isn’t it? That I feel the need to censor myself and hold back? Even right now I’m nervous about publishing this publicly. If you’re religious do you hold back from sharing your views with anybody and everybody in your day-to-day and via blog, facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, or whatever else? From my point of view, my various feeds, TV and other media, politics, and being out and about in everyday life the religious are quite loud and open with their religion.

Maybe that’s a small insight into how privileged you are that you don’t have to think about holding back. You’re protected from being labeled as “angry” or “immoral” or “satan worshipper” or “annoying” or “insufferable” or “hateful” or “a know-it-all” (all things I’ve had directed towards me) simply because you were taught to believe something that man made up a few thousand years ago.

But it brings me to today’s Bible study. Matthew 6:

Verse 1: Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Verse 5: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Verse 6: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

It often pains me when I have to share Bible verses to followers of the Bible because of how it comes across, but there it is. Some will try to point out that I’m cherry-picking. It’s a bad argument anyway, but specifically in this case since Matthew 6 also includes the ever-popular Lord’s Prayer (Verses 9-13). So if that’s on your prayer list — it was repeated every time I went to church as a youngster and we had to repeat it multiple times after confessional — you’re cherry-picking as well, and from the same chapter as me. So is the whole chapter useless or just the part that is inconvenient in your life?

So, again, is this a war on Christmas or a battle against Christian privilege (and hypocrisy)?

There are currently Christian churches on nearly every street corner in America. To be less vague: according to the National Congregations Study by Mark Chaves at the University of Arizona there were an estimated 331,000 Christian churches (all denominations) in the US in the year 2000.

There is a lot of power (and tax savings) in those churches. Far more power than any other religion and far more power than non-believers hold. And that’s a lot of choice as to where to congregate. You can literally plop down in any town in America and find a place to “talk” to your god with others. Is that a war on Christmas? The fact that you can go into any town in America and practice your religion with others who share your views? Absolutely any way you define freedom you’ve got it. If you’ve got freedom like that it’s intellectually dishonest to also claim you’re in the midst of some kind of war.

What would happen if there were 331,000 “Centers for Atheism” (there’s no such thing, of course) in America? How would that make you feel? Would it feel aggressive to you that “atheists have to be so loud and open about it”? That’s a common complaint when we do anything — usually simply call out your privilege — in public.

One of the somewhat infuriating aspects of this is that I will fight for your rights to be who you are no matter what you believe even if I don’t get that in return.

If you want to pray in public and you want to go against your god and the Bible (remember Matthew 6?), cool, do it. If you want to shout from the rooftops that “GOD IS GRRRREEEEEAAATTT!!” then I support your right to do so. If you want your child(ren) to follow their specific religion while at a public school, on their own or with friends, that’s all fine. If you want to go on TV and lie about a war on Christmas you’re an idiot, but I’m still going to fight for your right to be able to do so. Or if you want to protest abortion because your ancient text written by men (always men, never women) who are less intelligent than today’s 15 year olds allegedly told you so or because you don’t understand 7th grade biology (fine, 9th grade biology) then please continue. You are allowed to be wrong in public if it doesn’t take other’s rights away. This could go on for days so that’s a whole different essay. (Thesis: you’re causing more harm than good. For another day.)

Nobody is trying to take any of these rights away from you, no matter what you tell yourself and no matter what you hear from talking heads on TV and elsewhere.

The problems stem from using your religious beliefs to influence public policy, and therefore the rights of others who aren’t specifically like you.

• No, there can’t be be creationism (also known as “intelligent” design) taught in public schools.
• No, tax-payer funded public property may not be used for your specific religion’s display.
• No, if you’re appointed to public office you may not use your on-the-clock time to further your religious causes. This includes public school teachers and guest speakers. There are religious private schools for a reason.
• No, you may not use your religion as the basis for laws that all people must follow.

Sadly, all of these currently do happen with regularity, even though they are inherently wrong and specifically un-Constitutional.

We’re at 2,000+ words and I think I’ve expounded on that original e-mail enough for now. But I’d truly like to know, do you still think there is a war on Christmas or Christianity?

I’ll probably continue most of this discussion via the e-mail list. Subscribe via the bar at the top of this page if you’re not already on the list.

Comments are disabled on this post. Have a response? Post it to your blog. Am I missing something that makes me look like an idiot? Have I been factually incorrect somewhere? E-mail me and I will edit. (I’ll make note of edits, if any, below.)

I’m 35 years old and I’m still making lists like this? Yes, yes I am.

The reason why is simple: I like reading about other people’s favorites — books, travel destinations, movies, music, apps, whatever — and these types of posts generally have high interest and engagement. Although I’m breaking the mold. No photos. Just text (3,000+ words). For the hardcore among us.

Note: All links below open in a new window so fill up those tabs! And Amazon links are referral links.

Books

Favorite non-fiction book I read in 2015:

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

If I could give one book to every human on Earth and I had to choose it today this would be it.

With a caveat.

There were a couple glaring logical fallacies towards the end of the book that I’m surprised the author made considering what the book is about. The common Ad Hominem fallacy known as Guilt by Association along with a bit of a straw man were particularly grating. Goldacre says he is wary of GM (genetically modified) crops because, among other things, “If you really want to dig deeper, Monsanto is also very simply an unpleasant company (it made Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, for example).”

This book is nearly 10 years old so maybe Goldacre has updated his stance based on the evidence. You don’t decide to stop sleeping because at some point in time you had a nightmare. And you don’t disregard GM crops because of one company’s past. Additionally, Monsanto isn’t the only company doing GM work so using them as a straw man for GM is disingenuous. It’s also an old, tired, and incorrect argument constantly used by people on the left. If you think Monsanto is inherently evil you’ve spent too much time watching one-sided, misinformed, documentaries that agree with your regressive worldview.

Save for that misstep Bad Science is great. Read it if you care about anything at all.

Buy it here.

Favorite fiction:

The Martian by Andy Weir

I know, I know. I know. Really. I know. I’m rarely a fan of science fiction, but The Martian is as good as the hype. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I hear it’s also great and I’ll see it eventually.

Buy it here.

Wait, wait, wait, stop the presses! I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak on Dec 31 and it is my new favorite fiction of the year. It made me cry too much. Get it here.

A few other books (of the 50+ I read this year) you might like:

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I read most of this in a hotel room while waiting for my clothes to dry in Bologna, Italy. It’s too long for my regular taste (nearly 800 pages), but even so, it kept my attention. (Every time I left my hotel I’d get soaked with snowmelt and I only have one pair of shoes. So I spent a lot of time inside reading.)

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I’m surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed science fiction this year. This one will be particularly fun for you if you’re a child of the 80s.

Dreams From Bunker Hill by John Fante

The fourth (and last) in the Arturo Bandini series. If I were you I’d start with Ask The Dust, though. If you’re a Bukowski fan then this series is a must read since Fante heavily influenced Bukowski. “Fante was my god.” – Charles Bukowski

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi

Give this book to everybody along with the previously mentioned Bad Science. It’s free to read online, but I supported the cause and bought a copy.

Creating Change Through Humanism by Roy Speckhardt

Although I’ve been following the American Humanist Association (of which Mr Speckhardt is the Director) for years I’ve never considered myself a humanist. I always felt like it was a bit of a cop out. Or a cloak. Hiding behind the term atheism, which I prefer not to hide. But after reading this book (which I purchased after participating in this Reddit AMA with Mr Speckhardt) I guess I am a humanist atheist.

Creating Change Through Humanism is an account of the challenges that face non-believers in a world of believers, along with a historical breakdown of where humanism began and how it’s growing. More importantly it’s an account of how to create change through positive action. It’s not about proselytizing or deconverting, but about being out in the open and doing good things for the sake of doing good things. For humans, animals, the Earth and the universe alike. Hopefully all can appreciate that message whether they think atheists like me are amoral creatures who will burn in a fictional hell or not.

Music

Metric – Pagans In Vegas (spotify, amazon)

I briefly dated a girl about 10 years ago whose favorite band was Metric. And because of that I never listened to them. “Metric? Sounds like pretentious indie rock. No thanks.” Come to find out I love pretentious indie rock. Ha.

In September this album came up on Spotify’s new releases list, I hit play, and I’ve been obsessed with the band ever since. Emily Haines writes what I describe as perfectly relatable lyrics and the music is the type I wish I had the talent to compose. Next month when Spotify sends me my most listened to tracks of 2015 I’m going to guess the top 20 will be dominated by Metric.

Must listen track: Celebrate

Coheed and Cambria – The Color Before The Sun (spotify, amazon)

I saw Coheed live back in 2006 at UCF Arena in Orlando, FL. Although they were good live performers I was not a fan back then and only went because I got free tickets. It wasn’t until a couple years ago and I found their album Afterman (thanks, again, Spotify!) that I actually listened to their work. If you like stories — concept albums — with your music then this is a band you might like. The new album doesn’t follow the storyline of their other albums (it’s difficult to follow the whole story anyway since it encompasses other mediums than just music), but it’s still outstanding.

Must listen track: You Got Spirit, Kid

The White Buffalo – Love and the Death of Damnation (spotify, amazon)

Possibly my favorite musician of the past few years. Every album is listenable through and through. This new one continued that trend. I’m such a fanboy I’ve done a couple bad covers of The White Buffalo songs on youtube (1, 2). Sorry you had to hear that. (Note to self: Add voice lessons to the bucket list.)

Must listen track: Modern Times

Film

Montage of Heck

I wouldn’t recommend this for anybody except Nirvana fans. It’s well done and surprisingly — considering Kurt Cobain killed himself over 20 years ago — reveals new insights into the man.

That’s the only film I watched in theatres, and I don’t recall any new standouts that I watched elsewhere. I’ve seen a bunch of movies via Amazon Prime, but there’s no watch history that I can look back on. So I’ll share one of my favorite movies that I didn’t see in 2015: Once. (Related to Once: We’re going to see Glen Hansard live in February! The last time I saw him was in the top 5 live shows I’ve been to in my life. He is outstanding.)

Apps

I use the following almost daily.

Player.fm

This is the type of app that I wish I could pay for because I want it to prosper. Just let us all send you $10 or something, man!

It is the best Android podcast listening app. Bonus: you can also listen to your subscriptions through a web browser on other devices.

Here is my public Player.fm profile.

TunnelBear (referral link)

If you’re looking for an easy to use and effective VPN then TunnelBear is it. Particularly useful if you travel. I pay for the Grizzly (yearly) plan.

Bonus: if you’re from the US, travel internationally, and want to still use Amazon Prime Video then this is your ticket since Prime Video won’t work without a US-based IP address.

Spotify

I’ve been a paying member since they launched a few years ago. On the one hand Spotify is great because it has saved me a lot of money since I’m grandfathered into the old $5/month plan and I rarely buy music anymore. (I used to spend a few hundred dollars per year on music.) On the other hand, Spotify is probably hurting independent artists whose fans don’t buy albums anymore and that’s not good. So I still buy music that friends release and I’ll buy something if it’s unpopular and amazing, just to support art. (Alan Gogoll comes to mind.)

That said, Amazon Prime Music has stepped up its game and I’m about ready to quit Spotify altogether. I find more value in the $99/year I spend on Amazon Prime (12 book borrows per year, 12 indie book downloads per year, large selection of music/movies) than the $60/year I spend on Spotify and I can only see Amazon doing better in the coming years. (Do I have to disclose that I own AMZN here? OK, disclosed.) When their apps first came out they weren’t very good. It was difficult to find newly added albums, for example. But recently they’ve gotten much better. And I can download songs to my phone for listening offline, which I can’t do with my particular Spotify plan. If you’re worried that Amazon Prime Music “only” has 1 million+ songs and Spotify (and its ilk) allegedly has 30 million+ don’t be. Most of what you listen to is probably on Amazon Prime (they even have T.Swift!) and Spotify (they don’t have T.Swift!) has even stated that many of their tracks have never been listened to. If you need a new release that Amazon Prime doesn’t have — they can be slower with new releases — you can just spend the $10, own it, and still save in the long run.

A note on these music apps: I realize there are free ways to download music and also free apps (like Spotify free). But I don’t want to steal from artists and I don’t want to listen to advertising if I can help it.

Update a few days after posting this: I canceled Spotify!

Cinch

Simple window resizing. It’s more useful than it seems.

Telegram

I like this much better than Whatsapp. Too bad almost everybody I know is on Whatsapp and almost nobody I know uses Telegram except my wife. I much prefer chatting via computer than phone and Telegram lets you send/receive messages across all devices. e.g. My wife can message me from her phone to my computer, and vice versa.

Telegram has recently gotten a bad rep because of their amazing encryption and use amongst Islamists to organize terrorist attacks. I don’t think that should scare you off, but do what you will.

YouTubers

Not surprisingly, they’re mostly woodworkers or makers.

• Make Something – David is a rocker / web designer turned woodworker. Great stuff. Watch: DIY Stereo Speaker Build
• Jimmy Diresta – Jimmy can make anything. It’s wild what he’s able to do. Most of his videos have no talking, which is unique in the maker realm. Watch: Dracula’s Coffin Jimmy also reminds me a lot of my Dad. My Dad has always been able to build or fix anything, often without using plans or instructions. And I did not inherit that talent.
• Darbin Orvar – Beyond being a good maker, Linn is a great storyteller. Watch: DIY Overhead Camera Rig
• April Wilkerson – April makes a lot of practical and useful things. But mostly I like that she makes me feel like I can make stuff too if I just take it slow and work things out. Watch: DIY Fold down work bench
• I Like To Make Stuff – Bob likes to make stuff and it varies from woodworking to electronics to other. Lots of cool projects. Watch: How To Make A Simple Work Table From 2x4s
• Steve Carmichael – Steve is really creative and, as a musician, has done a few fun musical instrument builds. Watch: Make a 2×4 Acoustic Telecaster Guitar
• Steve Ramsey – I think Steve Ramsey is the first woodworker I found on youtube. He focuses mostly on projects for beginners, which is nice for people like me. Watch: Step Stool From A Single 2×4

Bonus non-woodworker: Thunderf00t, even though he spends too much time talking about modern western feminism and how detrimental, misguided, and misinformed it is. His science experiments and pseudoscience debunking videos are great, but if I never see anything anywhere about professional video game complainers again it will be too soon. He does a lot of fun experiments, but I particularly like when he dissects the science or lack thereof in popular culture. Such as this: The stupidity that just won’t die! Super Cycleways and other snake oil.

Update (March 13, 2016): I’ve unsubscribed from Thunderf00t. There have been far too many non-science videos and it’s annoying to consistently see negative videos in my feed.

Podcasts

• StarTalk Radio – Still my favorite. If you’re not a fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson yet let’s never hang out. Just kidding. We can still hang out. If by hang out you mean listen to StarTalk Radio and not speak to each other.
• The Skeptics’ Guide To The Universe – Steven Novella is one of my favorite bloggers and I’m not sure how he also has time to do this podcast and work as a clinical neurologist. For some reason I didn’t start listening to the Skeptics’ Guide regularly until this year even though it is precisely the kind of echo chamber I sometimes need in a world full of pseudoscience and in-your-face religiosity.

Blogs

Science:

• Neurologica – Dr. Novella is a masterful communicator, but he writes so often that it’s difficult to choose a favorite. So I’m going to go with a recent essay: We Need Both Science and Critical Thinking. Related: I’ve listened to Your Deceptive Mind about 5 times now.
• Sam Harris – He gets too involved with defending himself against people who hate him (thereby promoting them since he usually has the bigger platform), but he’s a great writer and orator when he’s on the offensive. The Fireplace Delusion is one of my favorite pieces. Update (March 13, 2016): I’ve unsubscribed from Sam’s podcast and newsletter. The pettiness and sarcasm has become unbearable. Case in point: The Best Podcast Ever. The title of a podcast he didn’t want to post because he didn’t like the interviewee. It’s something I would expect from a 15 year old. Anyway, I’ll still read his books (and maybe some articles if they happen to make their way to me somehow) because he is a great writer, but I’ve unsubscribed from his stuff.

Finance:

The blogs below are all what I would call intelligent-aggressive personal finance for the layman. Meaning, you don’t need to be special or hold a high paying job, but you have to be intelligent enough to understand basic economic principles and get aggressive about your finances.

• Afford Anything – What a great name for a project: afford anything. I used to always say if you want something don’t say you can’t afford it, but figure out how to afford it. Paula Pant took it to a level I didn’t and I wish I had friends or acquaintances like her when I was younger. Thankfully, the internet has allowed me to pretend I do. Must read: Renting Is Throwing Money Away … Right?
• Root of Good – If you’re of the mind that you can’t build wealth while working at a regular job then Root of Good will flip that script for you. Must read: Climbing the Roth IRA Conversion Ladder To Fund Early Retirement

Thanks to these blogs (along with Mr Money Mustache, Go Curry Cracker, Financial Samurai, and Mad Fiendist) for teaching me I did nearly everything wrong in my 20s. I now feel both better and worse about wasting hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars as an adult. This includes a massive chunk given to charities and people, which I would’ve been better off saving/investing and giving away in 30-40 years when it’d be really significant. Building wealth first and then giving it all away when it can make an impact is much more exciting to me now. (In my defense, I’ve already given away more than most people probably will in their lifetimes so I don’t feel bad about holding back on charitable giving nowadays. FFRF and Wikipedia will likely continue to get my cash, though.)

Miscellaneous

• Jesus & Mo – This cartoon is spot on week after week. I support it with a small monthly donation on Patreon.
• Life of Norman – My wife and I are big fans of Norman and his cat Norman. He’s a nice guy who’s maybe a little too proper and sometimes things don’t work out for him. But sometimes they do. Anybody can write a Norman story and the community will let you know if it’s good.
• French press – We bought a cheap french press at Tesco and I’m surprised at how often we use it. Once per day, maybe more. And we now rarely waste time or money on coffee outside of the home. Of course, now I leave home even less than before. Win some lose some. (Also, I’m usually more a tea drinker than a coffee drinker, but I’ve grown to enjoy coffee over the past few years.)
• Vegetable bouillon – Making vegetable broth is time consuming and I don’t like making it. But I love soup. These things are difficult to reconcile. Vegetable bouillon is the solution that I refused for years because of a misinformed opinion that it’s “unhealthy.” You know what’s actually unhealthy? Almost anything else in comparison to a cube of bouillon. A couple bags of various frozen veggies, a can or two of beans or a chunk of tofu (diced), water, cayenne pepper and a bouillon. Bring to a boil and eat. Tasty, simple, healthy. Difficult to top that.

And that does it for 2015. Thanks for reading. If you’ve made your own favorites of 2015 list share it in the comments.

“The thing about the absolute truth is, it’s not pretty, and not everyone is interested in it. But it’s still the truth.” – Mike Skinner

Afternoon, everybody!

On Saturday I finished up a streak of 100 days of mindfulness meditation. Thank you, I’m impressed too. It’s rare I do anything for 100 days straight, except maybe eat. But even that I forget about some days. As it is, my history with meditation has been long and full of failure.

I bought my first book on meditation when I was 18 and attempted to get into the habit for the next 16 years. It never lasted more than about a month.

Until now.

After reading 10% Happier and listening to Waking Up I decided to challenge myself to meditate for 100 days for an average of 10 minutes per day. I started with just 5 minutes per day to make it easier.

I wanted to do it consistently to the best of my abilities, but I had no expectations. Although I guess I probably did hope it would help with all the general things it has been reported to help with or I’d not have bothered. I mean 1,000 minutes is nearly 17 hours. That’s 2 seasons of Cheers!

The (Incomplete, Flawed) Research On The Benefits of Meditation

There is a lot of research regarding the supposed benefits of meditation, but if you learn even just the basics of how to read a scientific paper you quickly learn which research to pay attention to (not a whole lot really) and which research needs more research (most of it).

I’m not going to dissect every research paper on meditation because I have important things to do like catch up on all that Cheers I missed out on, but let’s dissect just one, for education’s sake.

I’ve often heard that regular meditation creates actual physical changes in the brain’s gray matter, making it more dense. That would be incredible! (Although I’m already pretty dense as it is so maybe I shouldn’t get so excited.)

But let’s hold on a second and take a look at the study in question.

According to the abstract — red flag! most bloggers and journalists only read and report on abstracts and that’s no good — what they did was take 16 healthy individuals who wanted to take an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. They measured these individuals before and after the program using voxel-based morphometry. (I don’t know what that is either, but that’s actually not important in determining if the study is done well.) They also measured a control group of 17 individuals.

Hopefully you see another red flag.

A total sample size of 33 individuals is, for statistical intents and purposes, nothing. You’ll be happy to know the researchers were up front about this if you read the full paper instead of just the abstract. See, most scientists mostly have an interest in truth. Journalists and bloggers (and podcasters and authors and TV presenters) have an interest in increasing their audiences and bank accounts, even if it means lying. Intentional or not. Ignorance is not a good excuse.

Beyond sample size, if you read the paper you also learn that two people dropped out of the study after one week.

“Due to discomforts during the first MRI scanning session, two participants did not return for the second session.”

That’s not a big deal in this particular case, because they’re not trying to hide the drop out rate, but drop out rates can matter a lot. It’s an easy way for a researcher to massage the results and make them more positive, but that’s a whole other essay. (Google “p hacking” if you’re interested.)

Additionally, this group of subjects was self-selected. And they got a discount on the MBSR course to participate in the study. A group of subjects that is self-selected is usually not as good as a group of randomly selected individuals although for a study using MRI I don’t think it’s as big a problem. Somebody who understands and works with MRI would be better equipped to speak to this.

If this is confusing or convoluted you now see why if you care about your health it’s your duty to go beyond the headlines when you hear news that says anything to the effect of “Science confirms …” or “Science says …” or “backed by science!” It’s usually not an absolute even if it’s reported as such by your favorite A-list bloggers, journalists, or authors.

Happily, and I think you’ll find this often, in the Discussion section of the paper the researchers here are up front about the faults of their study:

“It should be noted also that MBSR is a multifaceted group program and some positive effects may result from components not specific to meditation or mindfulness, such as group social interaction, stress education, or gentle stretching exercises.”

“Also, the current study investigated physician- and self-referred individuals seeking stress reduction and generalizations should therefore be limited to this population of stress individuals. Future studies will be required to test whether findings extend to non-stressed individuals as well as individuals suffering from mental disorders. Finally, the current study employed a rather small sample size and replication is necessary.”

Emphasis mine.

This is why I love science.

These researchers are so honest THEY DON’T EVEN TRUST THEIR OWN STUDY!

That doesn’t make for a good headline on Buzzfeed or HuffPo or [insert most bloggers who report on science] so it’s up to you to read the often confusing research papers before making a decision based on a well written or well marketed article.

You might be thinking, “OK, Karol, so maybe meditation increasing gray matter density is inconclusive, but I’ve heard it works for depression and other psychological issues. What about that?”

There is no doubt lots of research to this effect. One of the best ways to look at it is through a meta-analysis, which is an analysis of the analysis. In other words, researchers don’t take just one study, but they take all the studies that fit their criteria and come to a conclusion based on a bigger sample size.

Anything like this with regards to meditation? Glad you asked. Yes, yes there is: Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits. A meta-analysis

I do have the full paper, but it’s not necessary in this case because fortunately, the abstract is telling (emphasis mine): “Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and nonclinical problems.”

Although not ideal you can sometimes use an abstract to dismiss a paper. You can almost never use the same abstract to determine if the paper should be accepted as fact.

Relatively small? Suggest? May help? Pardon me if I say that’s not convincing. It’s like the first time Sam tells Diane, “I love you,” because Diane bought him tickets to the big fight. You think maybe it is true and it does seem true, but even Sam’s not convinced. But hey, now we’re going a little off the rails, aren’t we?

“It’s good to stay true to your own vision. Even, or maybe especially, when that vision is that you know your life is going substantially off the rails, and you’re determined to try to present that situation in an honest way.” – Mike Skinner

That quote has absolutely nothing to do with meditation, Cheers, or scientific research, but it sure does have the phrase “off the rails” in it and that’s good enough for me.

Have I lost you yet? No? Ehh, win some lose some.

So … what happened after my own stint of 100 days and 1,000 minutes of meditation?

Well, before we get to that, lately:

• I haven’t been sleeping well. As a result I’m tired most days and …
• I’m more stressed than before. As a result I’m frazzled and …
• I’m less focused than before. As a result …
• I haven’t been getting any good work or reading done. (Didn’t finish a single book in June, which is not normal.) As a result …
• I’m less happy than before. As a result …
• I sleep worse than before, I’m more stressed than before, I’m less focused than before, and I’m less happy than before. And so on.

Now, insomnia is nothing new for me and I’m not blaming meditation for any of this. It very well could be due to life changes. I got married — my wife actually joined me in meditation for most of my last 50 days — and our future is held up in annoying bureaucracy. That hasn’t been easy for me to deal with because although I’m okay dealing with change I’m not good at dealing with being forced into things. Top that off with all of the uncertainty (6 more months until we can move? 12 months? Longer? I don’t care how long it takes anymore, but I’d like to know.) and I’m enjoying Poland less as I feel more trapped here.

Again, I am not blaming meditation for these issues.

But meditation has not helped. I don’t feel less stressed after a meditation session. I don’t feel more calm after a meditation session. I don’t feel more focused after a meditation session. I don’t feel much of anything after a meditation session except, “Oh, cool, well, I meditated.” So what’s the point? If it’s not making my life better then it’s making my life worse if for no other reason than by wasting my time.

Yesterday, the first full day after my meditation streak ended, was one of my most relaxed feeling days in weeks. I actually think I may have been starting to get a sort of meditation anxiety and it was a relief to know I wouldn’t be meditating at any point in the day.

Before you think I’m being unreasonable, much like the research dissected above cannot be taken as a definitive positive statement on the benefits of meditation, you also cannot take my anecdotes as a blanket statement that meditation is useless. It has been useless for me. Sample size of Karol Gajda.

If it comes out that there is definitive research that meditation is beneficial even when it doesn’t seem like it then I will consider doing it again. Until that time, well, after 16 years of fits and starts I can finally say I gave it a good shot and it’s time to move on to not giving meditation much thought. (Is that a pun? I can’t tell. My sleep deprived brain is broken.) It also leaves more time for Cheers. I’m happier already.

If you are interested in meditation there are a few things I learned about it during my 1,000 minutes sitting in silence.

Contrary to what it might seem I didn’t hate meditating and I didn’t decide I was going to stop until last week when I looked more closely at the research. Even though I wasn’t getting anything out of meditating I was committed to keep doing it if the science was in its favor. Alas, that’s not the case.

If nothing else, it was interesting to learn …

1. It’s incredibly difficult — nay, impossible — to shut off your thoughts.
2. You will not be able to focus on your breath for more than a few seconds at a time.
3. Some days your time spent in silence will go by quickly. This is enjoyable.
4. Some days it will feel like you are at war with your thoughts and 10 minutes will seem like 30. This is exhausting.
5. Don’t scratch the itch. Focus on it. It will go away. (I quite liked this.)

An aside: Think god gave you free will? Sit in silence and don’t let your thoughts wander for 10 minutes. If you can’t control your own thoughts, what else can’t you control?

If after some time meditation isn’t doing anything for you then quit. No regrets. Maybe you, like me, are one of the many people meditation doesn’t help and that 10-20 minutes per day could be better used reading a book or engaging in myriad other activities. (*ahem* Cheers)

I would like to end on a positive note, because that feels nice, you know? So, on the positive side I’d always planned on doing a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat at some point and this experience has saved 10 whole days of my life from that torture. Huzzah!

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Do you meditate? What has been your experience?

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Update: Lots of great comments (here and on Reddit) and e-mails about meditation and science journalism over the past 24 hours. I’ve run into some doxastic openness and, unfortunately, some intense doxastic closure as well. But that was to be expected. In general, I’ve been feeling great since stopping the meditation. But I’m also more open to trying it again at some point in the future. Longer sessions, but without the “must do it daily” requirement. And maybe with a teacher in the beginning. For now? I’ll stick to other activities.