humor

Diversity, a matter of Perception? . I am a White Latina and Retired Educator. I’ve been living in the Midwest since 2015. Moving here, i witnessed prejudice for the very first time, as well as ignorance and isolationism. I am sbig promoter of Diversity. How do you feel about Diversity in your community? 

AMA with Adrian Grenier. Wednesday 2/4 at 7:00 PM CT

Entourage star who at the top of the Hollywood game pivoted to an integral spiritual path and farmstead

If You Can't Make Peace With Your Partner, How Can You Expect to Make Peace in the World? AMA with Annie Lalla

If You Can't Make Peace With Your Partner, How Can You Expect to Make Peace in the World? AMA with Annie Lalla

AMA with Hannah Aline Taylor. Wednesday 2/4 at 4:00 PM CT

love, boundaries, and mistakes in relating, community, and peopling together (+ thank god love doesn’t look like you expect it to)

Incorruptible Organizations AMA with Eric Ries. Wednesday 2/4 at 3:00 PM CT

Lean Startup author who now focuses on legal structures to protect mission-driven organizations from corruption. incorruptible.co

Free book giveaway! Register here.

AMA with Jeffrey Ladish. Wednesday 2/4 at 2:00 PM CT

Executive director of Palisade Research; studying AI loss of control risks.

AMA with Jordan Myska Allen. Wednesday 2/4 at 12:30pm CST

Founder and CEO of UpTrust, founder of Relatefulness... solving seemingly impossible social problems and having fun doing it

#heywait 

AMA with Ali Beiner. Wednesday 2/4 at 11:00 AM CT

Kainos host Alexander Beiner exploring cultural sensemaking around psychedelics, popular culture, philosophy, psychology, alternative economics, and spirituality.

AMA with Nate Soares. Wednesday 2/4 at 10am CT

Author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies answers questions about why superhuman AI would kill us all.

The Old Guy In The Room, Muttering To Himself?? I'm one of those weird characters that just keeps getting hired to explain things. I was a trained as a military intelligence analyse at 18 and ended up in the Pentagon.  USCB after that to study world religions, dropped out with a minor degree to become a radio DJ and later talk show host (still explaining things). 

Did a LOT more explaining as a (non credit) teacher, communications advisor and spent the last 12 years hosting one hour weekly talk shows/podcasts for a client.  That's 665 of 'em. Also did a half-dozen how-to books for new computer users, including (just out!) "I Want To Podcast!" 

A fun life so far for a guy 77, living with his very creative wife and a pile of cats in an 1890 farmhouse "far from the madding crowd."

That's about it.

Does anyone else have aesthetic preferences about the 6 digit numbers that get texted, emailed or generated as part of a website sign in process?

I just noticed, there are some I like much more than others.

Is a taco a snack or a meal? 

Is a taco a snack or a meal? 

“When discourse ends, violence begins,”. From the Small Stage to Center Stage

Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old. What started as a small group of like-minded college students grew into one of the most influential youth movements in the United States. 

Kirk traveled from campus to campus, never shying away from hard questions or loud opposition. For him, the university wasn’t a battlefield — it was a classroom where young minds could (and, more importantly, should) wrestle with ideas, disagree passionately, and still walk out the door as neighbors.

“When discourse ends, violence begins,” Kirk was fond of saying.

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Kirk’s death is a painful reminder that when we equate one’s political opinions with their morality, we undermine our own. When we stop listening to each other and focus solely on our differences, we lose sight of all we have in common.

America was built by people of different cultures, faiths, and colors who believed that we could live in harmony and even prosper, not because we agree on everything, but because freedom allows us to be the best version of ourselves.

That is what Charlie Kirk fought for — and what he died for.

Today, Kirk’s voice was silenced — but his message endures. 

May he rest in peace.

- The Wellness Company

Why having kids is bonkers (if you’re addicted to comfort). Hot take: If your life is all about chasing pleasure, getting the newest shiny thing, and looking for your next dopamine hit, then yeh – having kids is nuts. They’re messy, noisy, and they’ll likely ruin your dreams of becoming a social media influencer. But look around: something bigger is going on with those dropping birth rates.

Sure, economics matters. But my Irish grandparents had five kids, and they didn’t exactly summer in the Bahamas. I’ve seen families in Africa with seven or eight kids despite barely scraping by. So maybe it’s not just about money.

We’ve built a culture that’s an adult daycare for the comfort-addicted. We’re encouraged – by society, marketing, and that little voice in our heads – to stay immature consumers. It’s profitable and predictable, right? Because if you’re constantly shopping, scrolling, or swiping, you’re not rocking the boat.

From a purely “maximise pleasure” angle, kids are a bonkers choice. They’ll cost you sleep, money, and the ability to go to your hot yoga class. But historically, people saw beyond short-term gratification. They had kids out of a sense of meaning, continuity, legacy. Today, we’re not just lacking cash; we’re starved for connection to something bigger than our own endless entertainment feed.

So, it’s about more than just economics. It’s a spiritual crisis. We’re collectively disconnected from the deeper stuff: community, purpose, “God” (call it what you like). And until we find our way back to that, birth rates might keep plummeting because, honestly, who wants to sacrifice the “me me me” of their Netflix-binging comfort for “grown-up responsibilities”?

I’m not saying everyone has to have kids. But maybe it’s time we grew up. I’m certainly thinking about it 😉 Or at least started asking the uncomfortable questions: Do we want a life that’s only about the next hit, or might there be more to it? Believe me, I’ve tried it and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. That’s why I’m planning some pretty big life changes.

Anyway, that’s just something to chew on. Just do so before your next Amazon package arrives.

"A Future You Love" 10x Game. Here are a few ways that jump to my mind to 10x the thought experiment and discussion:

• Whatever your normal timeline, 10x. (Eg if you thought 5 years from now, think 50 years)
• 1/10x the timeline: If you thought 10 years from now, think just next year)
• Let's make the future we love 10x more lovely
• Whoever benefits from your good future, 10x the people who benefit
• Go 10x weirder, more wild, more fantastic
• Imagine you'll live in that future 10x longer - eg if you expect 50 years in that future, what good do you want to see for 500 years of your experience?  

#FutureYouLove

an inevitable future of unconditional love. "The world is sacred. It can't be improved." says verse 29 of the Tao te Ching.

I know the experience this statement comes from. I believe everyone knows it. Knows moments of simple unimpeachable perfection, no matter how violent (eg watching a crocodile catching a deer in slo mo). In this moment—wedding, sex, nature, child's birth, "first sip" of coffee, simple flower—this sacredness is everything.

What if we all remembered this? What if we made our decisions from this place? What if we let go of needing to "get somewhere" altogether? Like a post-scarcity economy, but for our relationship to existence. Unconditional love and faith. What would a society look like that recognizes it is in full devotion to what already is, and needs do nothing?

I can feel my own resistance—what if I need to take out the trash!? Or redesign social media's incentive structure?! But then I challenge the assumptions these question depend on: how come perfection someone doesn't include taking out the trash? Doesn't it already, if this quote is true? Doesn't the unconditional love I'm pointing to already include all of it?

One view: the future of unconditional love is inevitable, because it's what we already have, and have always had.

#FutureYouLove