Understanding Death, Psilocybin and Depression | Feeding Frenzy 45
Feeding Frenzy is a weekly post that is a collection of knowledge to absorb. Every week you can expect something worth listening to, reading, watching, and pondering. Think of this as a boost of the signal above the noise!
In this edition, we have two podcasts. One with BJ Miller on understanding death and Tristan Harris sits down with Joe Rogan. Worth reading, we have an article from Big Think on critical thinking stages and a new study from John Hopkins with psilocybin relieving major depression. And as always, a few other ideas for worth time!
Tag us in your favorite content in the week!
Worth Listening
BJ Miller, M.D.: How understanding death leads to a better life| Peter Attia MD
"I had a totally different relationship with fear. I saw falling as a skill." —BJ Miller
BJ Miller provides a unique perspective. As a hospice and palliative care specialist, he can share unique views at the end of life. I know some may find this topic morbid or depressing. Once you get the natural aversion to death, I think there is much to gain from these experiences.
Tristan Harris | Joe Rogan Experience
If you've been following these lately, you're probably familiar with my interest in Tristan's work. Every time I hear him, I can't help but be energized by how important it is to understand our technology's emergent properties. While the maliciousness may not have been intended, we still have to be aware of the negatives that affect our ability to function as a society.
Worth Reading
How to think effectively: Six stages of critical thinking | Big Think
"There are many ways to teach content so that students progress as thinkers. However if we are to do so, we must explicitly focus on the mind intellectually and grasp the stages that students must progress through. We and our students must recognize that we all develop incrementally as thinkers, and that the progress of any one of us is directly dependent on our level of intellectual knowledge and commitment. Put another way, if I am to develop my critical thinking ability I must both "discover" my thinking and must intellectually take charge of it. To do this I must make a deep commitment to this end." - Linda Elder with Richard Paul
Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression, Study Shows | Hopkins Medicine
"The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market," says Alan Davis, Ph.D.
This is an incredibly important study. When I saw the news break on this study, I could not be more excited for the future of the efficacy of psilocybin as another tool to treat depression. It's worth noting that this study is still small, so we will have to wait and see for larger-scale studies, but so far, the results are promising.
"For the entire group of 24 participants, 67% showed a more than 50% reduction in depression symptoms at the one-week follow-up and 71% at the four-week follow-up. Overall, four weeks post-treatment, 54% of participants were considered in remission – meaning they no longer qualified as being depressed."
Worth Watching
Houska Castle: Europe's Gateway to Hell | Geographics
Houska Castle has its walls built facing inwards. Legends state that the reason was to keep whatever was there from getting out. This video captures everything we know about this interesting castle and its place within the myth.
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