greetings, friends. i’ve decided to remove the self-imposed publishing schedule to break free from stress inducing deadlines. i want to focus on providing you the best content possible, not the most. ironically, it will probably mean i post more. funny how stress works.
The Good News
Stress is the magic darwinian sauce which propelled us to the helm of this lush floating space rock.
Stress is a tool. A response system to external stimuli. Our quadruped ancestors were tired of being mauled by neolithic beasts, so our cells thought, “Hey, this isn’t cool. We should figure out a way to not let that happen.” Fast forward a few million years and BOOM—we’re walking on two legs and not being eaten dinosaurs.
Our species is evolving extremely fast. A massive reason for our meteoric rise to the top of the food chain is the technology we develop to make life easier. (See We Are Born Terminal). We exist at the greatest point in human history: we’re running around at the same time as antibiotics, agriculture, electricity, plumbing, running water, air travel, AND virtual reality. We have a pretty good gig. However, the human experience has been defined by these comforts for only thousands, sometimes mere tens of years; an extreme contrast to the millions of years required to create significant biological change within our species (i.e. the stress response system). We’re left with extremely outdated biological systems that simply can’t keep up.
Humanity spends less time dealing with existential threats like jungle cats and sub-zero temperatures but more time battling cognitive rot like doom scrolling, watching reality TV, and comparing ourselves to supermodels. If our ancestors were constantly jumping from the frying pan into the fire, we are the frog in the pot of boiling water. Which is better? You decide.
The Bad News
Let’s examine Why Don't Zebras get Ulcers? Spoiler alert: it's because they are dumb.
Seriously, they just eat grass and chill. You know the only way their stress system is activated? When a lion tries to eat them. They don’t hang out in their zebra community worrying about lions eating them: because they can’t, they don’t have the mental capacity. They just eat, shit, and when a lion comes: they run. A simple life. A simple brain.
But we have big brains. And our big brains like to think and dream and problem solve and worry. In fact, we are the only species that can materialize sources of stress in our own heads. Yep. Zero external stimuli. And yet, STRESS.
Here’s the TL;DR on what's happening in the body.
The Players
Neurotransmitters: a neuron that secretes a chemical messenger to cause the next cell in line to act.
Hormone: a neuron that secretes a messenger into the bloodstream, causing widespread action in the body.
The Infrastructure
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): the infrastructure of stress. This system springs into action when a threat is detected. Activating the SNS tells the brain to release hormones to deal with the threat. This explains why people can run twice as fast as normal or lift a car off their pinned friend. The body is flooded with hormones to neutralize the threat.
Badass.
Here's what this looks like in different sections of the body:
The Heart
Shifts into overdrive to deliver more blood throughout the body. Blood pressure increases, vessels expand.
Insulin secretion is blocked
When the body is in a stress response, it needs as much energy as possible.
Insulin does the opposite: storing fats and carbs for later use. When we are stressed the body tells insulin to f*ck off.
Immune System
Shifts into maximum overdrive. It is ready to go to WAR against anything and everything.
Silver Lining
Our bodies going to into Incredible Hulk mode is fantastic news when we are trying to escape a forest fire or lift a car off our grandma. But most of us experience this extreme physiological response daily. Ten minutes on facebook or your traffic-laden commute home signal the same threat as an apex predator millions of years ago. Our bodies are not capable of maintaining this heightened “superhuman” state across spans of hours let alone lifetimes. Sustained high blood pressure will kill you, insulin resistance is the crux to Type II Diabetes, and a weakened immune system is like walking around with our batteries at 3%.
The truth is, our species is extremely stressed and it is going to kill us. If you’re reading this: stop. Look up at your surroundings, become aware of your breathing, check in with your thoughts. Are you tense? On edge? Probably. Just like the frog in the pot of boiling water, you can escape, but only if you notice the the water is getting warmer.
Now, I understand. The only way to truly avoid the stressful pitfalls of our information dense society is to go full Walden and live in the forest (I commend anyone who has the courage to choose this path). But if you choose participation you must also choose discernment. Find release and awareness techniques that work for you: smoke some weed, lift some weights, pick up chess (add me on chess.com if you do). Regardless of the experiences which brought you to this point regardless of your current situation, obligations, responsibilities, and problems: you deserve to relax.
Friends, we live in the greatest era of the human experiment. There is much to be had in our one wild and precious life. We are imbued with tremendous power, the power to summon worlds with the tap of a finger and connect with each other in seconds. Choose to wield that power, or choose to die.
TREASURE CHEST 💰
I firmly believe the human recommendation system is the most efficient way to consume the highest quality information. Here’s the best content I’ve been consuming, systems I’ve been implementing, and frameworks I’ve been contemplating. Unique thoughts, guaranteed.
IDEAS
I am in the early stages of developing a total fitness marketplace. Think Nerdwallet meets FOS. A trusted source for everything and anything fitness. Reply to this email if this piques your interest either as a consumer or partner!
Articles
This Framework will change your entire perspective on reading
James Clear (Atomic Habits) on comparison
Note Taking System
An efficient note-taking system is the best way to counter information overload. Make technology work FOR you not against you.
Here is my stack:
for reading, saving articles for later, research
For note taking, database creating/tracking, writing rough drafts, journaling, etc.
One of the most powerful productivity tools out there
Scrubs all of my highlights, favorited tweets, quotes, books, etc. and resurfaces them every morning. Allows me to revisit ideas I found interesting months ago but were lost in my phone
PODCASTS 🎤
Chamath Palihapitiya: Understanding Yourself [The Knowledge Project Ep. #94] (Link)
Stress reduction techniques, support systems, interpersonal conflict at the highest level of finance + innovation
FIN.
friends, I appreciate you immensely. This little project is continues to inch its way towards growth. If you enjoy, please consider sharing with a friend, colleague, or arch-nemesis (they need love, too.)
Talk soon.
-tommy