About Self As Lab
I have always been curious. Obsessed with learning. Devouring everything I can trying to "level up", to understand myself and this world better, to edge an advantage, to try and shine a light slightly further down the tunnel of where life might go. Well these writings are a another attempt to go even further. I'm not going to lie. This is not purely altruistic, from the good of my heart, for the benefit of my fellow man and woman. I have an ulterior motive, though as a side effect I hope you'll gain something valuable to start you on a journey towards a better you.
The motivation is this. I want to remember, embody and communicate the books I read. How often have you read a book, only to begin telling someone about it a few weeks later and realize you can barely remember a sentence or two, let alone the full colour of the argument and thrust of the book? I used to get so frustrated by this. Was I wasting my time reading these books, only to have a vague notion that I knew slightly more about the subject but could not speak clearly about it if the topic came up in conversation?
So I set myself the task of summarizing the main points of a book into an essay, mixed with my own thoughts and learnings, with the express intent to further embed the gained knowledge by sharing it with others. The best way to learn something is to be forced to teach it. So here it is. Hopefully through this process I retain more in my skull and you get some action-packed notes that jump out at you ready to improve your life.
What’s with the name?
As I’ve aged like a fine wine, I’ve realized that my entire life I’ve been stress testing ideas I’ve found in books. Questioning the author to see if the ideas really carried water by reading multiple books on the subject and then diving into bibliographies of those books. I wouldn’t just read the book from the sidelines. I’d try it out and see if it worked. I’d wear it around for a few months. I’d drive my wife crazy with polyphasic sleeping, carnivore diets and cold exposure therapy. I also began to realize that this is not something any sane person typically does.
And I would talk relentlessly about it. I’d fall in love with an idea and drive everyone around me crazy. I needed an outlet. So this is it. Experiments on the self. Self As Lab.
Through this process I’m hoping to meet other people obsessed by ideas and self experimentation. I know you’re out there. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Try out the ideas in the arena. You will be surprised how quickly you can find direction and truth.
Where does Bitcoin fit into this?
I am also obsessed by Bitcoin, but I’m worried by how much effort I had to put in to really understand the significance of the invention and the potential impact it will have on the world. Every time I’d talk to friends and family they’d look at me sideways and say it is too volatile, hard to understand, and how can it have value if it is digital? As early as a few weeks ago I thought the space was adequately covered with people putting out great educational content but with the recent collapse of LUNA and the discovery that so many friends actually owned this shitcoin, I realized I’ve got to help if I can, to at least get the people I know onto a Bitcoin standard. I'm tired of seeing people invest their hard earned money into the crypto casino only to lose it to pump and dump Ponzi schemes. Bitcoin is a tool of liberation. And it is the hardest money humans have ever invented.
Categories for the essays?
I envisage the pieces broadly falling into the following categories:
General Book Summaries: essays designed to refresh the memory, give a high-level understanding of the book, impress the pants off people at parties.
Bitcoin Education: summaries of books and original writings and thoughts on the world-transforming technology that is Bitcoin.
Experiments on the Self: original writings on both experiments and revelations that have helped me live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
An essay based on a book does not replace the book
I shouldn't have to say this but the essay does not replace reading the book. Think of it like reading the course overview. You have an outline of the course that provides some understanding, but you can't say you KNOW the course. Reading the book is essential for understanding the supporting evidence of the arguments and the full richness of the story. These summaries can be an important tool to help maximize the learnings from the book.
I like to think that these essays can be useful to readers/listeners in the following way:
Finding new books that interest you, without having to make the significant financial and time investment to find it. Perusing my list will enable you to skim read many books quickly, pointing you towards the ones that are worth you money and time based on where you are at in your life.
Once you've read the book, review the book quickly using the summary to refresh the main points. I've read so many books two or three times to get the information to stick. A simple summary would have saved me so much time.
You're in a hostage situation and your life depends on you being able to recite Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life. That’s easy because you’ve internalised the summary I made by reading it each week for two months. Ha! No fictional terrorist will see that coming.
Imagine you are at a party and everyone starts talking about the latest book. You know the one. The one that has been sitting next to your bed for two months and you’re thinking about skipping the Prologue to make progress. Now you can excuse yourself to the bathroom, flick through the summary, return to the party to catch the tail end of the conversation and contribute meaningfully and dramatically! Everyone will think you are a god.
You get the idea…
In the interest of saving you time and money, with the express purpose of helping you find the right books for you and making it easy to review and make the information stick, I humbly offer my hard-earned summaries.
Open your mind for a few minutes. Let me educate you about Bitcoin. Let me show you what I've learned through applied experimentation. Let me crystallize a 500 page book into an intriguing 15-page essay, that pulls you in and makes you want to know more, to hunt down that author, to buy that book and feel the power of leveling up. The power of a human being becoming more complete and awesome.
I'll be presenting these pieces in both the written and podcast form. Follow along if you find it interesting. Reach out if you have any feedback, or would like to request I read a certain book. Thanks in advance.
Why subscribe?
So you can be amongst the first to see these incredibly useful and time-saving summaries of course! Click the button and your world will be changed, your inbox will become a richer, more novel and gratifying experience and you’re friends will say, “You’ve changed. You’re now better”. Maybe.
David Hart - 21st May, 2022.
