Tim Ferriss - 5-Bullet Friday — August 5, 2022

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what I’m pondering and exploring. If you enjoy it, please feel free to forward this along to friends.

What I’m reading

“The Perils of Audience Capture” by Gurwinder Bhogal (@G_S_Bhogal). Everyone should read this brilliant piece. It could alternatively be titled “How Influencers Become Caricatures with No Exit,” “How Anyone Online Can Lose Themselves,” or “Succumbing to Quicksand: Digital Identity Creep in the 2020s.” If you spend any time online, you are subject to the dynamics described in this article. Read it, even if only for preemptive planning. I chat so often with friends about these things that one texted me this today: “Holy shit. Reading now. Has this guy been reading our texts?”

Short video I’m rewatching

“This is Water” commencement speech by David Foster Wallace, which he gave at Kenyon College on May 21, 2005. It is also available in book form, but I highly recommend the audio. Past podcast guest Dr. Peter Attia listens to this every two weeks, which is how it first crossed my radar.

What I’m listening to while writing

“Fata Morgana” (YouTube, Spotify) by Their Dogs Were Astronauts (@theirdogswereastronauts).

What I’m watching in theaters

​Vengeance. I loved this film and laughed so hard that I made people uncomfortable. Give it 10–15 minutes to really warm up. Here’s the description: “Vengeance, the directorial debut from writer and star B.J. Novak (@bjnovak) (The Office), is a darkly comic thriller about Ben Manalowitz, a journalist and podcaster who travels from New York City to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was hooking up with.” The dialogue in this entire movie is hilarious. At least watch the trailer, and here’s one sample exchange from a dinner in Abilene, TX:
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​Ty: “There’s something you gotta know about this place, Ben. This is the most wretched, godforsaken stretch of land on the face of the earth—and I’d never leave. Know what I mean?”
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​Ben: “Yeah. That’s how I feel about Twitter.”

Passage I’m pondering, bolding is mine

“‘Despair, or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.’
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‘At least for a while,’ said Elrond. ‘The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.’”
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— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring​
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You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with my interview with Vengeance writer-director B.J. Novak, my most recent conversation with Dr. Peter Attia, and Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” commencement speech, a mandatory listening for anyone who hopes to be creatively successful.
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And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.
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Have a wonderful weekend, all.
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Much love to you and yours,
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Tim

P.S. Deal of the Week — LMNT tasty electrolyte drink mix!

I’ve stocked up on boxes and boxes of LMNT, and I usually use 1–2 packs per day to add electrolytes. These days, as I’m logging more outdoor and hiking hours, LMNT has been critical, especially in hot temperatures when I’m sweating. Electrolytes are essential minerals that keep you moving and prevent dehydration symptoms like headaches, muscle cramps, and fatigue. They support hundreds of processes within the body. I add electrolytes for many reasons: because I over-hydrate compulsively while stuck at a laptop (which dilutes electrolytes and leads me to feel tired), because I’m on a low-carb diet, because I’ve lost electrolytes through exercise, etc. It’s simply cheap hydration insurance that tastes great.
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