Weasel Words

So I’ve recently been binge-reading Dave Asprey‘s books. He offers up a smorgasbord of biohacks that range from “you’d be crazy to skip this” to “you’d have to be pretty desperate (not to mention filthy rich) to even try”. Still, a lot of it is very doable, and I’ve always enjoyed self-experimentation, so I’ll be busy guinea-pigging for the foreseeable future. Apart from the physical hacks to upgrade your body and mind, there was one concept that appealed to the linguist in me. It’s the concept that words, used thoughtlessly, can have big repercussions on our mindset. In his book Read More …

Don’t Take on the Stress of Others

“Don’t take on the stress of others” is advice (from Mark Sisson) that recently popped up in my inbox. I don’t take it to mean that we’re supposed to be as cold as a dead fish in the face of other people’s distress. If we can in any way help, we should do so, if our help is welcome. Sometimes it isn’t — and that’s all right. All we can do is to be gracious about offering our help as well as accepting a rejection. Empathy and Outrage Empathy is a precursor to any genuine wish to help that’s driven Read More …