Recommended Watching

Excerpts: 

• “(The meta-analysis showed that) exposure to mobile phones was associated with reduced sperm mobility, and viability.”

Similar results can be seen when looking at studies about the effects of wifi use on sperm: 

• “According to the results of this study, the Wi-Fi group showed a significant decrease in progressive sperm motility and an increase in sperm DNA fragmentation.”

• “(Another study on the effects of EMF radiation on sperm showed) ..such a dramatic effect that they (the scientists who conducted it) suggest women might not want to pocket their cellphones for a few days after trying to get pregnant, so as not to put the sperm at further risk.”

Notes: 

• Given these effects, it seems highly likely to me that the radiation emitted by cell phones might be having deleterious effects on other biological systems. 

 

Recommended Reading

Data and Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder

Screenshot from the article: 

Notes: 

• Some say theses rates are due to increased testing. I strongly disagree, for many reasons that I’m not going to go into here. But if you’d like to do a little experiment to test this theory, try asking some of the older people that you know how prevalent autism was when they were young. If they say anything other than something along the lines of “way less prevalent than it is today” I’ll be very surprised. 

Report reveals rising rise of autoimmune conditions

“For different autoimmune conditions, incidence is increasing at ranges between 3% and 9% year on year (over the past three decades). This includes:

• 7.0% increase per year of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
• 6.3% increase of endocrinological conditions such as type 1 diabetes
• 3.7% increase of neurological such as MS
• Coeliac disease shows the greatest increase per year at about 4–9% a year”

Notes: 

• Studies like these suggest to me that many aspects of modern life are having incredibly deleterious effects on our health. This is why I’m a bit of a luddite, and do my best to mimic the lifestyles of people living in ancient tribal societies. 

• Ways in which I go about doing so: 

• • Eating a diet based of almost entirely whole, unprocessed foods (not even olive oil makes the cut these days) 
  • Never keeping my phone in my pocket or my computer on my lap
  • Rarely, if ever, taking medicine. (If I remember correctly, I haven’t taken any form of oral or injected medicine in over four years, aside from a tetanus shot) 
    • Note on this: I don’t think all Western medicine is bad. Far from it. I might actually be dead if not for a medical intervention I had in my childhood. But I still think drugs are massively over prescribed, as are many procedures. If you want to know more about the research behind my reasoning on these topics, click here and here. 
  • Exercising frequently throughout the day 
  • Never using skin products, name brand deodorant, sunscreen (Here’s why), or normal types of shampoo (My general rule: If I wouldn’t be willing to eat something, I don’t put it on my skin) 
  • Not touching receipts (Here’s why)
  • Usually spending at least an hour using nothing but natural flame for illumination on most nights before going to bed 

 

DMT drug study investigates the entities that people meet while tripping

Notes: 

• The study was published in the highly reputable Journal of Psychopharmacology 

Excerpts: 

• “When people consume enough DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) to have a “breakthrough” experience, they often encounter beings that seem autonomous (sometimes referred to as DMT elves), existing in a reality separate from our own… The majority of respondents believed the beings they encountered were not hallucinations.”

• “The encounters felt more “real” than reality. This was true for 81 percent of respondents during the encounter, and 65 percent after the encounter. One respondent wrote: “There was an indescribably powerful notion that this dimension in which the entity and I convened was infinitely more “real” than the consensus reality I usually inhabit. It felt truer than anything else I’d ever experienced.””

• “The form and nature of these beings vary in reports, but one thing remains curiously constant: People tend to rank these encounters among the most meaningful experiences of their lives. For some people, these encounters change their beliefs about reality, the existence of an afterlife, and God.”

• “…approximately one-third (36%) of respondents reported that before the encounter their belief system included a belief in ultimate reality, higher power, God, or universal divinity, but a significantly larger percentage (58%) of respondents reported this belief system after the encounter.”

More notes:

• I wrote about this study a while ago, but thought it warranted a repost. 

• This isn’t an endorsement of psychedelic use. At this point, I am 100% certain that you achieve radically altered healing states of consciousness without ingesting foreign substances, and that going about things this way carries far fewer risks. That said, I believe anecdotes of psychedelic users often contain a tremendous amount of ontological value. 

 

Videos that have really gotten me thinking / wondering / experimenting

Notes: 

• From everything I know about nutrition, this shouldn’t be possible. Fruits just don’t have enough protein in them to be able to sustain human life indefinitely. (At least according to the most widely accepted academic theories about what the human body needs to survive)

• I don’t fully trust any idea about health and wellness until I put it to the test for myself. While I didn’t go fully fruitarian after watching this video, I did decide to do more research on fruits. I was incredibly impressed with the nutritional profile of several of my favorites, and decided to double my consumption of them. 

• The results have been great. I feel more energized than I did prior to upping my fruit intake, and after around three weeks of trying out the new diet, have never gotten a sugar crash. 

 

Excerpts From My Journal 

Is the solution to this problem a noun or a verb? A healthier diet, or an exercise practice? A pill, or a shift in behavior? 

More and more, I’m beginning to see the value of barriers to entry. 

Is this decision really worth obsessing over, or will things probably work out alright regardless of which choice I make? 

What do you value? What do you believe in? What do you love? I think there is a lot to be said for asking yourself these questions and writing down the answers that come to mind. 

Give it enough space, and it will rise. After it has risen and washed away, you will be transformed. 

You are the one holding the blindfold over your eyes. You are the one who can take it off. 

 

Artist who’s work I’ve been enjoying RiasArtShop

 

Music Recommendation