Emotional Health, Purpose, and Self-Censorship | Feeding Frenzy #32
Feeding Frenzy is a weekly post that is a collection of knowledge to absorb. Every week you can expect something worth listening, reading, watching, and pondering. Think of this as a boost of the signal above the noise!
In this edition, we have podcasts with Lori Gottlieb on mental health and Dr. David Fajgenbaum on having a purpose. We have an article on self-censorship and a video from the Compassion Prison Project called Step Inside the Circle. Plus, a few more juicy morsels!
Worth Listening
Lori Gottlieb: Understanding pain, therapeutic breakthroughs, and keys to enduring emotional health | Peter Attia
"I went from telling people's stories as a journalist, to helping people to change their stories as a therapist…I feel like I'm as much an editor as I am a therapist, because I really feel like what I'm doing is people are coming in, they're telling me we're all unreliable narrators. They're telling me a faulty narrative. They're telling me a narrative that is keeping them stuck and I'm there to help them edit this story."
I have a soft spot for therapists and journalists. Lori scratches both of those itches for me. Her path to becoming a therapist is unique, but listening to her journey makes sense for her. I now have her book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone moved to the top of my list. Through conversations like this, I find myself reflecting deeply on my emotional health. I hope others can find some solace in that we are all dealing with our demons.
Dr. David Fajgenbaum | Finding Mastery
"I know that I have this awful disease, but it helps me to focus on what's important and what's not important."
David is best known as the 'doctor who cured himself' – he received his last rites while in medical school and nearly died four more times battling Castleman disease. Listening to the clarity of purpose David has around the preciousness of life is refreshing. I know I've talked about stoicism on here before, but we don't appreciate our lives as much as possible. In this conversation, I reflected on my purpose in life and what I to accomplish for others and how my purpose has evolved in the last few years.
Worth Reading
Americans Are Self-Censoring at Record Rates | Persuasion
"So what does predict who is reluctant to speak up? The answer is that Americans are more likely to self-censor the more urban and educated they are. In a surprising reversal of the usual trends of political participation, in which citizens who have more resources feel more empowered to take an active role in civic life, it is the urbanites and the highly educated who are most afraid to speak their mind."
This article is similar to Paul Graham's The Four Quadrants of Conformism. There is a severe problem where people feel they need to conform more than they feel safe to speak their mind; if we don't start to diagnose or this or start have the tough conversations we should be having, this will get worse.
Lego-inspired bone and soft tissue repair with tiny, 3D-printed bricks | OHSU
"A unique advantage of this new scaffolding system is that its hollow blocks can be filled with small amounts of gel containing various growth factors that are precisely placed closest to where they are needed. The study found growth factor-filled blocks placed near repaired rat bones led to about three times more blood vessel growth than conventional scaffolding material.
Worth Watching
Step Inside the Circle | Compassion Prison Project
My introduction with Fritzi Horstman was a link to this video of exercise called Step Inside the Circle. What this video show is a much deeper message about this who spends time in prison.
We know some people have committed horrible crimes and deserve to be there. But a good portion of people are traumatized and never got the help they needed. But this doesn't mean they are beyond hope or compassion.
Worth Pondering
"When the archer shoots for no particular prize, he has all his skills; when he shoots to win a brass buckle he is already nervous; when he shoots for a gold prize, he goes blind, sees two targets, and is out of his mind. His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him. He cares! He thinks more of winning than of shooting, and the need to win drains him of power." from Awareness by Anthony De Mello.
This week is a wrap and plenty to chew over for this week! Feel free to let us know any thoughts and suggestions that may contribute to these posts. It may pop-up on Feeding Frenzy or develop into a full-fledged article of its own.
Stay curious, and have a great week!
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Today on the podcast, we are joined by Joe Jackowski. Joe is a Marine Corps veteran and current graduate student at Vanderbilt University in the Cognitive Psychology in Context program. His primary interest is meaning in life, which broadly extends to problems in ethics, A.I., and culture.
In this episode, we sit down to discuss his first long-form article on his new sub stack, Apotheosis: A Philosophy for Influencers