SamuelH

@DastDn It's referencing the Shield of Achilles from the Iliad, given to him by the gods to avenge the death of Patroclus. The shield is supernatural and the description takes an entire chapter/book of the epic.

Gotta say - I'd have tried to avoid any refences to Achilles when naming a defense program.

@TheMindScourge In the past you WERE a peasant (if you were lucky) because of the mathematics of reincarnation

“In the past, you’d be a peasant” is not a strong objection. Birth odds don’t work that way. You don’t have millions of rolls of the dice. You’re only born once. So you don’t have an 18% chance of being born Indian or African, or a 4% chance of being born American. Your birth odds are 1 of 1. The only semi-rigorous way to think about being born in the past is to be born into the equivalent station to what you are today. So if you’re rural gentry today, that’s who you are in the past. Born as a farmer? That’s who you are in 1400. And so forth. Anything else, and you’d be an entirely different person: different personality, different worldview, different behaviors, different way of walking, different resting face, and more. An entirely alien individual. You aren’t a little homunculus spawning randomly.

@Sanilac_J Dispelling Beauty Lies is an astounding text I blew my mind, and as I went through felt uncomfortably true in every detail

@husafell_stone @BonesawMD Conflating having to RELY on ones mother's "love" to such an extent (as a child) that it is intolerably terrifying to feel that it is less than perfect Vs The love was actually unconditional...

@BonesawMD But if he never really experienced that to begin with, that’s probably even harsher

Once a man loses his mother he will never experience that kind of unconditional love on earth ever again

@feelsdesperate "opthalmologists need to grind" Well of course they do, how else will they make the lenses? :) In all seriousness I think your absolutely right about this

‘Grind culture’ has its place. You want your ophthalmologist or whoever to have high test scores and to be diligent. Nothing wrong with that. But that obviously isn’t what makes America great. What makes America great are visionary and creative people who can see things way ahead of their times. The few brilliant people I know opted out of the ‘test-maxing’ tracks because there were better returns on their abilities elsewhere. We don’t want to confuse ourselves culturally - the people studying 14 hours a day will likely be competent and productive citizens. But we shouldn’t organize society presuming they represent some sort of apex of achievement; it’s more important to offer exceptional people the opportunities they need to do exceptional things - these few have way more to offer than the rote, repetitive closed-task performers.

@PseudoJonathan Yes, it's almost as if the met choose to place certain (more) modern pieces amongst the historical paintings to show how 'historical' work has influenced 'modernist' work...

Everyone likes it when museums are reorganised “thematically” according to certain inscrutable associations in the mind of the curator

@Heliotrophy We also have Ballet, and Western historical dance (such as baroque dance, English country dancing, etc) which are intensely spiritual if looked at from the correct angle

This is an important question for Western pagans too. Firstly: the closest thing we have to a spiritual movement practice like yoga or tai chi is "gymnastics," and actually, more specifically, gymnastic competition + wrestling & combat sports. These are pretty ubiquitous things to other cultures too but Hellenistic and post-hellenistic westerners developed and emphasized them in a way that says a lot about our cultural soul. These practices have actually also been poorly integrated with our religious ideas since *before* the conversion to Christianity. In the beginning sports and gymnastics were very sacral affairs, evidenced by the ceremonies around games like the Olympics and in the proposed ritual origins of gladiatorial games. But a gradual trend towards spiritualism eroded that sacrality, or else possibly we might say these games were becoming more vulgar and so spiritualists turned against them. We derisively remember Gnostics as the avatars of the body-negativity trend but it really did influence almost every school save for maybe Epicureans. And Christianity came to prominence at the height of this trend and didn't really have any good immune response to it, even if officially they teach bodily resurrection and the body as divinely created+designed. You just really can't look at stylites, martyrs, and later on flagellants and seriously say Christianity doesn't have a strong current of body negativity. Overall the result of Western civilization being shaped primarily by middle and late antique sources is that we inherited a heavy weight of mind-body dualism combined with body negativity. For whatever reason, religious sport/spiritual movement practices just did not make it through the Axial revolution in the West while they did survive, become adapted, and thrive in the East. What's interesting is that rampant body negativity in the west doesn't actually change until the scientific revolution starts to make physical life way safer and healthier. It's really easy for us to forget, with our modern level of pleasure and ease, that body negativity is the *easy* position in historical conditions where hygiene and medicine are way less advanced and malnutrition+ violence are rampant. Now that we are in the immensely privileged position to fairly reliably enjoy the sensation of being embodied, I do believe the syncretization of Eastern movement practices and then the development & cultivation of truly Western spiritual movement practices should be a high priority.

@PannonianMantis The best advice!

You must imply this to life itself. Flirt with life. She wants be seduced, she wants to know if she likes you. She wants you to want her. She wants you two to work out. Give it a try.

@LaocoonofTroy Kinski

Happy Halloween. Choose your Dracula/vampire: - Lee - Lugosi - Schreck - Oldman

@032ilysm The Elaine Scarry is rather a deep cut

I’m finally allowed to start posting about Ray Peat. I now have an OG copy of Generative Energy!

@BowTiedKong To face all that a second time within yourself is quite brave Good luck and Godspeed

Started a two week intensive PTSD treatment thing today I came back from Croatia with issues, finally some stuff happened and I knew I had to do something about it Guy warned me it would be rough the first few times. I thought, how bad? Outside of finding my son's mother dead, this is right up there. I want to crawl out of my skin and scream. I had to spend 30 minutes writing every detail about finding my son's mother dead The one thing that stuck? The sounds her parents made when they saw her, and the subsequent screams and cries There is nothing worse than that, and I listened to it for two plus hours On the flip side, this type of treatment probably works in reverse, so if you write in detail about something good, you'll probably feel good Anyhow, hugs your kids tight

@Heliotrophy The value I found in reading his work was his articulation of cultural physiognomy; how to read a cultural 'soul' from the it's artistic design and organization of space and time His proscriptions I never connected with

Spengler is the single most overrated RW author. His only real contribution to the discourse seems to be giving people excuses to blackpill. Even if his analysis was correct, we are past the time frame in which it could be useful; actually, if you believe him, his analysis is useless because there is no reversing or redirecting decline. His work should be considered historical like Gibbon, not prescriptive like Benoist or Evola.

@TakeThiamine This is incredibly thoughtful and detailed Thank you

Rethinking Depression The pathophysiology of depression is far from settled, but a closer look makes it clear that it is not a problem of low serotonin. The “chemical imbalance” theory was always an untested, ad-hoc hypothesis—more marketing than science—and is now largely abandoned. Serotonin depletion does not induce depressive symptoms in most healthy volunteers.[1] Depression is a multifactorial condition involving overlapping disturbances in neurobiology, metabolism, and stress-response systems. It is physiologically similar to anhedonia and overlaps heavily with anxiety, leaving little reason for a rigid distinction. The human brain accounts for just 2% of body weight yet consumes about 20% of total energy, underscoring its immense metabolic demand. In large part, depression is a problem of insufficient energy production, and in rat models, serotonin has been shown to decrease brain ATP.[2] Functionally, serotonin can act as a hormone of withdrawal,[3] and is often elevated in depressive phenotypes.[4] Unsurprisingly, adverse life circumstances explain depression more reliably than biological defects.[5] Qualifying criteria of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): • Consistently feeling sad, empty, and hopeless • Markedly diminished interest in pleasurable activities • Significant weight loss or gain; increased or decreased appetite • Insomnia or hypersomnia • Fatigue or loss of energy • Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive/inappropriate guilt • Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness • Recurrent thoughts of death and suicidal ideation without a specific plan • Psychomotor agitation or retardation Per the DSM-5, at least five of nine of the listed symptoms (and at least one of the first two) must be present most of the day, nearly every day, during the same 2-week period to classify as having MDD. Symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment and not be attributable to substances or another medical condition. Based on our (faulty) model, historically it was assumed you had low serotonin if you qualified for MDD. This is never tested, and if it were, it would be measured in the blood—which is a problem, because blood serotonin does not reliably reflect brain serotonin. Depression involves: • Oxidative stress[6] • Low brain ATP[7][8] • Low thyroid hormone activity[9][10][11][12] • Low sex hormone activity[13] • Increased inflammatory cytokines[14] • Increased stress hormones (HPA axis over-activity)[15] • Decreased dopamine activity[16][17] • Decreased allopregnanolone[18] • GABA/glutamate imbalance[19] • Dysbiosis[20] • Environmental factors[21][22] Not a Chemical Imbalance “In truth, the ‘chemical imbalance’ notion was always a kind of urban legend—never a theory seriously propounded by well-informed psychiatrists.”[23] —Dr. Ronald Pies, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Psychiatric Times “There isn’t an iota of direct evidence that chemical imbalances are at the root of anyone’s mental disorder.”[24] —Dr. Steven Hyman, Former Director, U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) “The serotonin theory is as close as any theory in the history of science to having been proved wrong. Instead of curing depression, popular antidepressants may induce a biological vulnerability making people more likely to become depressed in the future.”[25] —Dr. Irving Kirsch, Associate Director, Program in Placebo Studies, Harvard Medical School What the Studies Show • The “chemical imbalance” theory is a controversial hypothesis that has yet to be proven[26] • A 2022 meta-analysis found no correlation between low serotonin and depression[27] • A significant portion of SSRI benefits are, on average, attributable to the placebo effect[28][29] • Inhibiting peripheral serotonin synthesis reduces obesity and metabolic dysfunction,[30] while peripherally-acting serotonin promotes energy absorption and storage[31] • Exercise is effective and comparable to antidepressants for non-severe depression[32] • When Eli Lilly first tried to get Prozac approved in Germany, their own studies showed people taking Prozac committed suicide at a 3x higher rate than placebo, leading the German health authorities to reject it as "totally unsuitable for treating depression"[33] • 30% of babies whose mothers take SSRIs experience neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which can cause jitteriness, irritability, and difficulty breathing, among other symptoms[34] • A 2015 study analyzing 856,000 SSRI users in Sweden found significant association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions for males and females aged 15-24[35] • There is substantial scientific evidence that depression is often a low dopamine state:[36] Wellbutrin (bupropion), an NDRI (Norepinephrine-Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitor), has demonstrated comparable efficacy to other antidepressants in treating depression[37] • Thyroid supplementation has been shown to be effective in treatment-resistant depression,[38] in one study cohort, 93.3% of moderate-severe grade depressives demonstrated low T3 (active thyroid hormone) levels[39] • A 1997 study found that six months after discontinuation, 81% of participants showed no improvement in symptoms of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD)[40] FAQs Q: If SSRIs are so bad, why do they work for some people? A: SSRIs don't just increase serotonin. 1. In the short term, serotonin can “help” in a rough spot—it’s a stress-coping hormone—but dulling emotional responses to tolerate a bad life is hardly ideal. 2. SSRIs can indirectly raise dopamine and key neurosteroids: fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and paroxetine (Paxil) increase allopregnanolone, a progesterone metabolite and major positive allosteric GABA_A receptor modulator.[41] 3. Many SSRIs—including fluoxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine—are functional inhibitors of acid sphingomyelinase (FIASMAs), potentially reducing neuroinflammation independent of serotonin. 4. With repeated use, plasma serotonin often decreases in responders[42]—consistent with compensatory feedback—though plasma may not reflect brain serotonin activity. 5. Serotonin can trigger bowel movements, and constipation is significantly associated with major depression.[43] 6. Serotonin has direct anti-fungal activity.[44] Q: Some of those things sound good—are SSRIs worth taking if they can confer those benefits? A: You don’t know if you will end up with PSSD until it happens. You don’t know if SSRIs will increase your aggression until it happens. You don’t know if you have a rare genetic condition or metabolic idiosyncrasy that will react poorly to an SSRI until it happens. Zoloft is 45x more likely to induce an otherwise rare genetic disorder called adult-onset multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD). Symptoms of MADD include: • Fat accumulation in skeletal muscle • Exercise intolerance • Muscle pain or weakness • Episodic vomiting • Fatigue • Rapid or difficult breathing • Seizures • Hypoglycemia • Prostate inflammation • Sensory neuropathy • Damage to the liver, heart, and skeletal muscle These are not gambles worth taking when there are so many safer alternatives for treating depression. For more on this, see SSRIs Can Cause Severe Mitochondrial Dysfunction by Chris Masterjohn, PhD. Q: How could the experts get this so wrong? A: The pharmaceutical industry has a history of major errors (e.g., Vioxx, thalidomide, the opioid crisis). When billions are built on a flawed premise, reversing course is nearly impossible. As Upton Sinclair said: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” SSRIs have been linked to high-profile violent incidents, including school shootings. While causality isn’t proven, population data suggest higher aggression or violence risk in some young users, and SSRIs carry a black box warning for increased suicide risk in adolescents and young adults. Fully investigating serious side effects—and reexamining serotonin’s “happy hormone” reputation—would be costly and could destabilize the entire industry, leaving little financial incentive to do so. The bottom line is that there are many better options for alleviating depression—ones that don’t carry the risk of PSSD, suicidal ideation, or rare but catastrophic behavioral side effects. Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, and nothing in this article should be considered medical advice. If you are considering tapering off of SSRIs, consult your primary care physician and do so gradually. Alternatives As we covered in the beginning, depression involves: inflammation, low brain energy, hypothyroidism, low sex hormone activity, stress, low dopamine, dysbiosis, environmental factors, and more. Logically, it follows that addressing these points is a priority. While individual physiology and circumstances will influence which of these deserve more attention, there are many safer, broad-spectrum approaches worth trying. The following recommendations are presented in order of safety and general likelihood of benefit. Lifestyle • Early morning sun exposure • Engagement in hobbies • Walking (5–10k steps) • Regular exercise • Nutrient-dense, digestible diet • Micronutrient tracking (Cronometer) • Adequate dietary carbohydrate intake • Adequate dietary calcium, choline, tyrosine, and gelatin • Coffee consumption (daily) • Carrot salad or white button mushrooms (daily) • Sauna use • Red light therapy • Lymphatic drainage Nutritional • Creatine[45][46][47] • Benfotiamine (B1) • TTFD (B1) • Niacinamide (B3) • Pyridoxal-5’-Phosphate (B6) • Inositol (B8) • Methylfolate (B9) • SAMe • Magnesium Glycinate[48] • Magnesium Chloride[48] • Magnesium Bicarbonate[48] • Magnesium N-Acetyl Taurinate[48] • Magnesium Oxide[48][49] • Calcium Pyruvate • Vitamin A • Vitamin D3[50] • Vitamin E • Vitamin K2 (MK4) • Zinc[51] • CoQ10 • CDP-Choline/Alpha-GPC • Theanine • Tyrosine • Glycine • Taurine Herbal, Probiotic, Bioactive • Agmatine Sulfate • Saffron[52] • Apigenin • Naringenin • Pau D’Arco • Cascara Sagrada • Oregano Oil • Activated Charcoal • Colostrum • Kefir • B. subtilis • S. boulardii • L. reuteri Hormonal • Progesterone (low, non-suppressive doses in men) • Pregnenolone (high-purity) • DHEA (≤5 mg per dose, max 15 mg/day) • Testosterone (males) • DHT (males) • Thyroid hormone (T3 or T3:T4 combination) Pharmaceutical • Aspirin • Penicillin VK (low dose, short duration) • Tetracyclines, e.g., minocycline or doxycycline (low dose, short duration) • Cyproheptadine • Metergoline • Memantine • Selegiline[53] • Ketamine[54][55] • Lithium Thank you (give these accounts a follow) @PSSDNetwork @PrometheanAngel @ChrisMasterjohn @dannyroddy @haidut

@wolfstrength If this is the kind of machine I think it is, then it's a dual-pulley system (there are two "independent" cables, and if you connect a normal lat pulldown bar, it clips in twice) if that's the case, those weight measurements are PER pulley not total weight of the stack

Something so obvious to a lot of us that we forget we had to learn it: the poundage labels on cable stacks are essentially worthless and you have to learn the actual difficulty of each one and assess it 100% independently of any other cable stack you’ve ever used. Example: both these cable stacks, in the fore and rear grounds, are labeled with almost exactly the same weights. The foreground is 2.5-97.5 in 5 lb increments. The rear is 5 to 95. But take a close look. The foreground stack is much wider than the rearground stack. And if you use them you’ll soon realize, the one in the foreground is consequently a lot heavier too. But if you go solely by the label, this will confuse you greatly and you’ll think there’s something wrong with you. “I used 65 for sets of 12 on tricep push downs just last week. Why is 67.5 lbs SO much harder, I can barely do 5 reps with compromised form?!” The labels are meaningless. Maybe to the point they shouldn’t even be labeled at all, I don’t know. But you definitely have to learn each cable stack’s difficulty and not assume the labels are at all transferable from any one stack or tower to another.

@T3MaxxiAlt Graves' disease

I am a little stumped on what to write about next. If you have something in mind, preferably a topic that has never (or rarely) been explored, please note them below.

@bronzeagemantis youtu.be/X7Q_7rrtFEE?si… Please listen

I am not a fan of Mozart or Haydn but I don't BESMIRCH out of mere personal taste...

My position on Scriabin is non-negotiable. Any pretended music-lover besmirching Scriabin is to be dismissed as a clownish snob poltroon, a spiritual mannikin and a bloody blasterd fool.

@exfatloss Thank you so much for posting this! My sense of the strength of the honey diet (and modified honey diet/peat adjacent diets in general) is that they let you keep your metabolism very 'hot' despite being I a caloric deficit Was that part of your experience?

Honey Diet review - Gained 5.4lbs lean mass - Didn't lose any fat

@SperglerAcolyte Charles Rosen's The Classical Style is excellent

Need book recommendations on music theory. Not normgroid beginner friendly bullshit.

@TharkunLore If you're a classical music fan, Sibelius did a fantastic choral symphony based off of this story

Never heard of this story!? 🤯

@Cernovich Your reaction videos feel very kinetic and genuine, and are hard to look away from Please keep doing them

Tbh I don’t want to be a “reaction video” guy. I’m almost 50. But man, they really do land. Maybe I gotta get over myself and give people what they want. ???