Sloww hit 600 posts! This is a “short” summary of posts 501-600 on my journey.
I’ve been creating 100-post recaps since the beginning. They’ve become one of the most useful ways I reflect on my ongoing evolution. Browsing the topics below gives you a sense of where I’ve been and where I may be headed.
The posts 1-100 summary focused on:
- Busyness, Slow Living, Decluttering, Minimalism, & Simple Living
- Life Purpose
- Perspective & Future
The posts 101-200 summary focused on:
- Sloww’s Evolution, New Newsletter, & New Premium Membership
- Slow Living, Simple Living, Voluntary Simplicity, & Minimalism
- Life Purpose, Self-Actualization, & Transcendence
- The Art of Living & Spiritual Growth
- Society, Work, & Money
The posts 201-300 summary focused on:
- Sloww’s Evolution, New eBooks, & Newsletter Issues
- Life Purpose, My Purpose, & Monetizing Purpose
- Better Thinking & Human Development
- The Art of Living & Spiritual Growth
- Health, Society, Culture, & History
The posts 301-400 summary focused on:
- Sloww’s Evolution & Newsletter Issues
- Life Optimization (Habits, Time, Money, Lifestyle Design, Reading & Note-Taking)
- Mental Mastery (Brain, Synthesis, Mental Models, Cognitive Biases, & More)
- The Art of Living (Human Development, Society/Culture, Spiritual Growth, Meaning of Life)
The posts 401-500 summary focused on:
- Sloww’s Evolution, New Product/Project, & Newsletter Issues
- Sloww Stage Support (Transformative, Interdisciplinary, & Lifelong Learning)
- Sloww Stage 1 (Solopreneurship & Nervous System)
- Sloww Stage 2 (Lottery of Birth & Branding Yourself)
- Sloww Stage 3 (Less Bias, Better Thinking, & Human Development)
- Sloww Stage 4 (Self, Enlightenment, & Free Will)
Posts 501-600 focus on the following topics: Click a link here to jump to a section below
- Sloww’s Evolution, Podcast Appearances, & Newsletter Issues
- Sloww Stage Support (Lifelong Learning & Deeper Development)
- Sloww Stage 1 (Physical Health & Optimal Living)
- Sloww Stage 2 (Appreciating & Accepting Others)
- Sloww Stage 3 (Brain, Mind, Birth Lottery, Questioning Socialization, Moral Responsibility, Free Will)
- Sloww Stage 4 (Science + Spirituality, Religion + Spirituality, Spiritual Classics, & Nonduality)
A “Short” Summary of Everything I Learned from Sloww’s Posts 501-600
Sloww’s Evolution, Podcast Appearances, & Newsletter Issues
Sloww’s Evolution:
- In the prior 200 posts, I mentioned that I started to gain more clarity around how Sloww has evolved and emerged since my existential crisis in late 2015 (now 8 years ago at the time of this writing). In the most recent 100 posts, I revisited these posts and updated them: What is Sloww?, Sloww Stage Support (Lifelong Learning & Deeper Development): How do I develop by learning?, Sloww Stage 1 (Intentional Living): How do I design a lighter life?, Sloww Stage 2 (Life Purpose): How do I find a higher purpose?, Sloww Stage 3 (Mental Mastery): How do I build a better mind?, Sloww Stage 4 (Spiritual Seeing): How do I see beyond mind?
Podcast Appearances:
- As something new in 2023, I started making podcast appearances and recorded 8 episodes before getting sick with Covid which knocked me out for half of April: “What Got You There” Podcast, “Audience of One” Podcast, “Through Conversations” Podcast, “Where the Road Bends” Podcast, “Elevating Consciousness” Podcast, “The Pathless Path” Podcast, “Curious Humans” Podcast, “The Knowledge” Podcast
Sloww Sunday Newsletter:
- If you’re a 🔒Sloww Premium member, you have access to the full newsletter archive of all issues. Here are the issues that were released in the last 100 posts (click a random one as a “choose your own adventure,” and I guarantee you’ll learn something new): 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162.
Bonus:
- I’ll be updating this post soon to reflect 600 posts: 10 Most Life-Changing Ideas I’ve Discovered after 500+ Posts
📘🌀 Sloww Stage Support: Lifelong Learning & Deeper Development
Sloww Stage Support (Lifelong Learning & Deeper Development): How do I develop by learning?
Lifelong Learning:
- Probably the biggest idea here that I came across was “living life as inquiry” (Book Summary | 10 Characteristics | 🔒 20 Characteristics) which led me to quotes to inspire inquiring minds.
- I also went deep into interdisciplinary studies, interdisciplinary research, and synthesized them into 🔒 how to be an interdisciplinarian. And, of course, I ventured even deeper down the rabbit hole of all things synthesizing with 25 synthesis quotes, 🔒 100+ synthesis quotes, and 🔒 how to be a synthesizer with “A Synthesizing Mind” by Howard Gardner.
- I thought the much-hyped “The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin (Book Summary) was pretty good storytelling but not as good in terms of applicable/practical learning. And, I also read “Teaching Complex Ideas” by Arnold Wentzel (Book Summary).
Deeper Development:
- One of the most urgent and important questions of the year (and probably many years to come): 🔒 Is the Meta-Crisis a Me-Crisis?
- It’s no secret I’m a big fan of developmental stage theories like Ego Development Theory, which is why I thought it was so important to synthesize 🔒 Nora Bateson’s thoughts on why developmental stage theory is BS.
🌎 Sloww Stage 1: Intentional Living
Sloww Stage 1 (Intentional Living): How do I design a lighter life?
Physical Health:
- I “binged” the Andrew Huberman podcast on what drinking does to the brain and body and decided to 🔒 quit alcohol.
Optimal Living:
- I read Brian Johnson’s new book “Areté” (Book Summary) and also published a 🔒 Brian Johnson synthesis on how to optimize your heroic potential.
🧭 Sloww Stage 2: Life Purpose
Sloww Stage 2 (Life Purpose): How do I find a higher purpose?
Not much in this stage this year:
- This is probably something we should all read daily: 10 Thoughtful Quotes on Accepting & Appreciating People for Who they Are.
- Didn’t love this one: “Excellent Advice for Living” by Kevin Kelly (Book Summary).
🧠 Sloww Stage 3: Mental Mastery
Sloww Stage 3 (Mental Mastery): How do I build a better mind?
The Brain & The Mind:
- On the brain, “Livewired” by David Eagleman (Book Summary) was one of my favorite books of the year.
- On the mind, I enjoyed “The Extended Mind” by Annie Murphy Paul (Book Summary) more than “Clear Thinking” by Shane Parrish (Book Summary).
- As a bonus to shave off bad thinking, check out these 25 philosophical razors.
Birth Lottery:
- I think I’ve officially exhausted all things birth lottery after: 10 birth lottery videos, 25+ birth lottery implications, and 50+ birth lottery quotes.
- Not to mention related thought experiments like the “original position” or “veil of ignorance” (John Rawls) and the college graduate & the garbage collector (Robert Sapolsky). I even created my own thought experiment on the birth lottery, moral responsibility, and free will called The Life of Luckia.
Questioning Socialization:
- My favorite teacher for questioning socialization/conditioning (or what he refers to as “programming”) is Anthony de Mello. Here’s what he says about the societal drug keeping you a sleeping robot. More of his quotes are also included in these deep quotes to free your mind from psychological prison.
- I also added a new Premium post for an older book summary: 🔒 How to achieve Personal Freedom with “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz (+ Infographics).
Moral Responsibility:
- It doesn’t get much simpler than Galen Strawson’s basic argument against ultimate moral responsibility, but in case you need more: 🔒 is ultimate moral responsibility a myth?
Free Will:
- If you want links to everything I’ve ever published on free will: The Ultimate Free Will Guide for Open Minds & Sincere Seekers.
- If you’re a Premium member: 🔒 How I Live with the Lottery of Birth & Lack of Free Will (1 Year Later) and 🔒 What’s our Problem with (Mis)Attribution of Agency?
- I summarized and synthesized free will perspectives from Yuval Noah Harari, Robert Sapolsky (Summary & 🔒Synthesis), and Bernardo Kastrup (Summary & 🔒Synthesis).
☯️ Sloww Stage 4: Spiritual Seeing
Sloww Stage 4 (Spiritual Seeing): How do I see beyond mind?
Science & Spirituality:
- I read about neuropsychology and Buddhism in “No Self, No Problem” by Chris Niebauer (Book Summary) and also 🔒 synthesized the book and workbook.
- What continues to resonate more is Douglas Harding’s work called “the headless way”: “The Science of the 1st Person” by Douglas Harding (Book Summary) and these 🔒 headless way experiments.
Religion & Spirituality:
- Long overdue, but I read “Waking Up” by Sam Harris (Book Summary).
- I also explored the differences between religion and spirituality.
Spiritual Classics:
- I finally read “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” by Shunryu Suzuki (Book Summary) and published a Premium post on 🔒 how to practice Zen.
- I also finally read “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass (Book Summary) and summarized 🔒 how to practice witnessing.
- Lastly, the short intro to Advaita Vedanta and Mandukya Upanishad: “Who Am I?” by Swami Sarvapriyananda (Book Summary).
Nonduality:
- One of my favorite discoveries of the year was 🔒 Nicholas Lattanzio’s nondual empiricism and embodied nonduality.
- My deepest dive of the year was on Rupert Spira: “Being Aware of Being Aware” (Book Summary), “The Heart of Prayer” (Book Summary), who is the chooser of tea or coffee?, the dream metaphor of Mary & Jane, 🔒 the screen analogy, and my ultimate 🔒 Rupert Spira synthesis.
- Rupert Spira also introduced me to “Know Yourself” by Ibn Arabi & Balyani (Book Summary) and Spira’s teacher Francis Lucille as they both explore what’s between a question and an answer?
If you made it this far, thank you! Want me to explore more in a certain area or topic? Please let me know in the comments. Here’s to the next 100 posts!
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