I'm Heartbroken Because No One Is Living

Tonight, I found myself having an actual conversation with ChatGPT. I can't say it understood me that well, but when it came to core issues, it nailed the gist expertly. That didn't bother me though, because LLMs are a fun experiment and grudgingly admit that they have some pragmatic uses as well. The debate about AI can start here but I'll halt it because the rant belongs somewhere else.

What hit me is that society has become so disconnected that I sought refuge in something that uncannily passed the Turing test. Rather than have these discussions with my family, close friends or even my psychologist, my pupils were dilated by some glorified autocorrect. It is a dystopian reality that both Huxley and Orwell missed out on. Yes, the corporate overlords vie to turn our identities into sellable data, and curate exactly what we consume but I'm not convinced it's that simple.

The world has grown massively thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and hygiene, ballooning to an unfathomable eight billion when my days in high school that number was printed as whopping one billion less. What Segan hopefully called our species as a single organism ended up being like a dead brain. One with many cells, but no connection in between them. The solitude is nice, but it gets painful when it turns into loneliness.

And we thought that the trying pandemic a few years ago was bad, General Murthy gave us a much harder to swallow pill. A growing loneliness epidemic that does us more harm than a daily pack of cigarettes.

Look, I know there's an elephant in the room, and a big one, and that's how stressed we've become. Especially when it comes to finances, we are being choked. And of course, when the discussion of actually having a face-to-face event starts, the busy excuses start flooding in. Apparently, everyone has three full-time jobs, studying for two degrees, has a family of six children; essentially a life with no gaps. And my goodness are people good at making sob stories out of it.

I don't really have to dig deeper to find what this seemingly true, at least to me, reality is. I go out all the time, I host my own social club, attend book clubs and volunteered for the local cat rescue, and the people who join me are oddly so much older, not that I'm that young at 34. And keep in mind, these events are incredibly sparse. Ask anyone who organizes an event on Meetup, they will recite the same tale. "I had over a hundred people RSVP to my event, and only seven attended".

The kinds of people that are joining seem to come from this elusive time where people cared about being human with other humans. Trying to connect via conversation rather than trading Snapchat accounts. Don't get me wrong, these people are lovely, and their wisdom brings a sense of maturity to my life that I haven't achieved yet. Among are some really intelligent people and they've learned hard lessons so we don't have to.

Turns out, it was an ad hoc conversation with my younger sister, the kind of person who can see through the bullshit. I voiced my complaint to her casually, asking "where are my folks at these book clubs?". "Well, what do you think they're doing?". I knew the answer, but I really wanted to be wrong, "I guess they're at home binging on Netflix and scrolling on TikTok". The succinctness of "exactly" was something I just didn't want to accept.

The new atheists like Dawkins, who sees religion as the root of all evil, and Krauss, who calls teaching religion to children "child abuse", were hoping that these fairy tales would be replaced for scientific discourse and humanism. However, their scientism always put them into this tunnel vision that the rest of the world were mirrors of their academic circles. The reality is, people need to worship something. Our brains are literally wired for it.

People will say that this idolatry is a goal post or carrot stick, it was television, then the Internet, social media, on and on… But the reality, there's one god that has become so accessible today — dopamine. Watts described this reality as a push-button world, but he only made it to the seventies. I doubt he could imagine that his metaphor would become literal.

Today, we can push a button or tap a screen, and have something shipped to our door in less than twenty-four hours. Bored, well, a quick pull on TikTok will give you short-form video that will hit your brain in just the right ways. It seems that every other app has found a way to master this quirk of ours. We are in such a rush for another flood of the sacred hormone that even a minute is too long. And for reading two sentences, ain't nobody got time fo' that.

It creeps me out how good smartphone apps have become at keeping me hooked. Yes, I know I sound a bit pretentious, but I'm not immune to it either. I've had my YouTube rabbit-holes too. But, how, it seems that these designers are as apt as manufacturers of casino machines to keep us playing. Maybe pull-down to refresh being analogous to pulling a lever on a slot machine isn't a coincidence after all.

I'm no neuroscientist, so my understanding of dopamine's functions is going to be very elementary. A neurotransmitter responsible for making us predict and feel reward in the form of pleasure. However, the dangerous quirk of this hormone is that not only does it make us anticipate reward, it can try to predict it. Since being right feels so good, when your waiting for your next hit, and that funny meme shows on your screen, you get a tiny, but addicting sense of pleasure.

Doesn't it seem like that mechanism is nailed to a T? Well, it's an open secret that app designers hire behavioural psychologists, euphemistically called engagement engineers, that enable them to nail those feedback loops. Facebook, TikTok and Duolingo are probably the biggest examples in the wild. And Meta in particular was exposed to having done internal studies revealing essentially how effective this is.

Huxley's "soma" was a happy pill that neutralized the subordinated population to ineffectiveness. The apps are much more magical, they do this all through something indistinguishable from telepathy.

Part of me wants to put my tin-foil hat on, this is a conspiracy that the globalists are doing to control and subjugate us. Reduce the population of the world and squeeze us dry from our wealth. Yes, some conspiracy theories end up being uncovered as true, but this isn't one of them.

The truth is much more gut-wrenching. We wanted it. Isn't it so enticing that we can have heaven on Earth, right now? Happiness is a push button away. Right? We should be in total euphoria and absolute felicity. Yet, the WHO is having a panic about the crisis of rising depression. Anti-depressants are becoming some of the most prescribed medications.

Things have become so disposable. Yes, the cheap goods we buy from Amazon and Temu aren't going to last more than a few months, but they don't need to, with fashion turning from a long-term statement to a microtrend. The whole world is turning to a trash bin, we already made third-world countries into that but we can't keep that forever. But even the immaterial has become so throwaway.

Social life especially for the younger is slowly dissipating. It's not just that they don't talk to each other even when they are five feet away from each other, but I feel like the humanity isn't there anymore. Your friends are the numbers of your Instagram followers. Anyone you happen to be texting with is not even an acquaintance, they're an app. That match you made on Tinder, he wasn't a comedian within the first five messages? Just block him. It's so easy now. My parents often had neighbours that they didn't like, but they didn't have the luxury of being able to delete them.

All of this is making me miserable, it's tugging away at my heart strings. Yes, the people I see on the street are going through all of this paralysis. But I'm watching myself and the people I love, my family and friends, going through these, honestly, unnecessary, hardships. Really, has the world become so unbearable that we need to neuter our minds? Or are we so scared at answering the big questions that anything that will keep us away from that is somehow better?

I'm heartbroken, because no one is living. I look into people's eyes and there's no soul in there anymore. We're as invisible as NPCs and extras. And it's all our fault. Because we weren't insightful enough that getting what we wanted so bad would mark our demise. At one point or another, we're going to have to face a harsh reality. What we are doing isn't working.

Try this exercise. Sit down for a second and you don't even need to close your eyes for this. We are Sagan's pale blue dot, a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. That tiny dot is part of our solar system, but the sun is just a star.

The Milky Way, where our sun is tucked away in a team of another 100 billion stars. The universe, the only existence we can measure, has 2 trillion of them, galaxies like ours. And keep in mind, that's only what we can see, the observable universe. We have no clue how big is the actual universe is compared to the observable one. Trillions of stars are so far away, that even if we lived for eternity, their light would never reach us.

Don't our needs, our lifetime of 70 years, compared to 13.8 billion years seem so feeble and elementary? Spinoza inspires us to see the world in the same way that God, sees it: Sub Specie Aeternitatis - under the aspect of eternity. Just keep in mind these massive numbers, doesn't the count of Instagram likes seem so daft?

This isn't a call to action, because I'm not the right one to make it. But please, for God's sake, wake up.

You can’t afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected.

Us denizens of the Internet have become familiar with concepts that were foreign more than a decade ago, one of the most that causes the most influence is going viral. There’s so much variety on the web with content providing the impression that anything could essentially make you rich. However, hidden behind the curtains of survivorship bias is a massive community of people that practice art and express their creativity in a way that’s absolutely thankless.

Due to the accidental underground nature of an artist’s work, it’s unlikely that they will make any dough out of their production. Seems like in order to practise their art, they need a reliable but remedial job to pay the bills. Unfortunately, the nature of that kind of work is energy depleting zapping any creative juices needed for the concentration and initiative to produce content. Let alone something of high-quality that doesn’t exude fatigue.

Turns out, for most of us, we can’t afford to be artists, authors and creatives. Having full control over your processes comes at a cost of uncertainty and instability of money supply.

I was a deluded believer at one point that what made things so popular was the quality of a project. Eventually, I realized that it’s not the best work and most original that makes it to top, but rather the mediocre. Luck plays a big part in climbing the ladder in addition to slick marketing. The creatives with eccentric personalities often fail. Why?

My walks across the web has exposed me to obscure concepts that I found serendipitously. It was exciting to find a new favourite music track only to discover that the video accompanying it to have only several hundred of views. In fact, seeking refuge in Spotify divulges no result for which to add to my library. Going back to our question, what makes things fail? I have the impression, as some others have taught me, rather than through my own intuition, that what ‘makes it’ is something that fits the most common denominator.

These include things like food where tasters spend weeks finding the bliss point, or a pop artist using the same chord progressions over and over again; with lyrics they probably didn’t even write. Or perhaps another sitcom with yet another ironic love triangle with predictable outcomes and endings so obvious that spoilers are not even warranted.

I grew respect for many of these artists and people who radiate originality. Writing another exciting book or a low-budget movie with a more esoteric story. Rather than feeding themselves, they are feeding us, unintentionally, or even unwillingly. They bestowed us with gifts that fit our niches so we can distance ourselves for yet another mediocre work.

Some of these types have divulged the differences between being unknown and popular. Many have revealed to me that if they get big enough, their fans’ expectations of a constant stream of content puts them on a production treadmill. As a result, turning their passion into yet, another job.

Many creative types, and arrogantly putting myself into that bucket, hope for some kind of impossible miracle of some type of passive income that will keep us alive with much initial effort but eventually getting big enough to put it aside but give us a positive cashflow.

I can see my projects present hints of tiredness of the obligatory 8 hours and I see it everywhere too. The inertia of the energy is no longer there anymore. What they had time for before moving out have become an insufferable chase for free time that simply cannot be filled with anything else of lifelessness.

Although I can throw the idea of donating to someone you like, it results in absolutely nothing. Even very popular, say bloggers, don’t get much money from donations. Ads and sponsorships work, but my inclinations whisper to me that it’s not kosher. Going back to my first blog post, I alluded that the nature of our jobs no longer matches its own output when it comes to money. I can’t think of a solution because abuse will be rampant. Say we introduced a pension for artists, it will be used by the same people who defraud for disability pay or early retirement.

The only thing I have right now is thankfulness and gratitude to the many obscure artists who keep me entertained and for free. I don’t want to sound cheesy and say that you’ll end up somewhere and to work even harder.

However, you have been so late and never attempted to defend yourself. Think of the world’s unions protecting workers in order to keep their job a bit more sane. Lobbyists have the power to push governments to submit to them. Too bad nothing like that can exist for my most loved makers.

There’s no judgement for the popular ones, but I implore that those who work white-collar jobs to have a bit more respect for something they take for granted. Endlessly rich CEOs, don’t look down at someone who is trying to make their voices and guitar solos heard on stage. If you don’t want to help, and I bet most of you wouldn’t even help yourselves, at least, give their content a chance. Take a break and admire, there’s much love in there. They are the true evangelists.

I believe it would be a very interesting topic to gather up ideas on potential ideas that would allow people to express themselves without having to suffer too much from the universal grind. Leave comments below.

Much discussion flourished on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32487190

Slowing Down Your Time Through Chaos…

Life brings you to meet many people and you start to arbitrarily and judgementally to make distinctions about what they do in life. It’s even more obvious when you consider yourself a productive person.

To give one anecdotal example, someone would work at the same time doing the same thing everyday churning out tickets. After work, they might have supper with their family and then run to their television or phone for the rest of the night. Then go to bed. Those who have a bit more pizzazz in their life might have gone to the gym as an item in their life before or after work. Assuming the matrimonial life hasn’t destroyed platonic relationships, you see your friends at the same day of the week in the same bar. Being drunk means, you talk about the same things over and over again.

My elementary, high school and university life went by very quickly. Every week, it was the same thing. Every night, it was homework and assignments. Every weekend, it was the same activities with your friends.

It gets trite really quickly and your birthdays get closer and closer. I realized that I didn’t want to live in a fleeting life that just flashed before my eyes with vague memories.

I had to kill routine.

The trickiest part was work, because that really forces yourself to follow the same schedule every week. Suddenly, my preferences made my job selection really small as flexibility wasn’t a luxury everywhere. Becoming a freelancer helped quite a bit because I held contracts with different clients doing different things every week. I attended the meetings and pulled on the due dates, but that was it. My hours were put all over of the place in both time and setting.

Other things such as hobbies can be spread out through the week in any way you want. Friends and family time become a choice based on convenience. Volunteering was outside of work hours and there various events were spread out well. I read whenever I felt like it and wrote at whatever time. Learning was no longer a forced setting, but rather according to my own pace and interests. On and on…

My organizational skills used to be based on a strict calendar. While it decided when and what I’ll do, I couldn’t account for any originality or even worse sudden interruptions. Instead, I started to decide the night before what activities I’d like to do. Then, I’d eliminate any temporal concept. Instead, anything could be done at any time as long as it was finished on time.

Things suddenly looked more colourful as they were based on whims and interests at a given moment.

I fell in love with the chaos that I lived in, and realized that I wouldn’t want to live my life in any other way. It was difficult at first because the discipline it needed. Every day was different and every day you had to adjust to your tasks.

Going back to the anecdotes, I realized that many people were only comfortable with the routine but it seemed so vapid to me. I respect people’s choices but I still feel a sense of arrogance because of my living arrangements.

My advice at this point, stop doing the same thing all the time. Explore your life a bit and enjoy discovering yourself. Sitting in front of Netflix every night isn’t going to get you anywhere. As I mentioned in previous blog posts, take that new-found time to learn and express yourself in ways that you never imagined.

Leaving routine is very difficult and sometimes soul-crushing to the point of bringing down morale. However, the journey will start slowly and eventually you will enjoy it.

How to Learn...

“You can do anything if you put your mind into it”

Some Optimist - Many Years (Eons?) Ago

The infamous quote is thrown everywhere so much that it has become sort of a platitudinal stereotype. However, it skips on one thing: the effort required to actually “put your mind into it” and what steps and procedures you’re actually supposed to take. Learning takes copious time and unending dedication to the point where you may have to sacrifice parts of your life to get to where you want to in a practice, art or field. You may face obstacles you believe that you can’t surmount and face fears that have never been shown to you.

Turns out, it’s not that easy.

The Dangers of Specialization

Universities aren’t the best place to learn - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 by barnyz

As our world steers into a specialized one, where one only masters one very particular topic to detriment of ignoring everything else, we are losing our generalists who can be pretty good at many things at the same time. For the past few centuries, several institutions notably universities, how been touted as the primary way of learning. Amassing knowledge is expensive, time consuming and often loaded with boring lectures and unending sprint of assignments.

Intellectuality without the Formal

What a fancy diploma looks like serving but nothing as a decorative piece - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by mag3737

Many of the concepts I’ll be presenting here are based on anecdotes rather than hard science. I’m doing this on purpose because I saw what some have become although they didn’t even complete high school. I’ve met many people online and offline who have amassed quite some knowledge in addition to healthy critical thinking dipped in reason and even some emotionality. Some of the most intelligent people I’ve met have no semblance of any credentials such as diplomas still having a hunger for knowledge.

These people have become intellectuals without the need for anything formal. There’s a fine line between intelligence and intellectuality. The former is essentially a status that is achieved and grown through intellect; it’s the measuring stick. Being an intellectual represents a deep hunger for knowledge usually seen as simply a means to an end. In other words, learning for the sake of learning.

The average person has limited their knowledge to what their formal education has taught them, much of the content actually forgotten after the exam, and work in fields completely unrelated to what they studied. On the other hand, specialists are too engrossed in the tiny subject that they are obsessed about. I fail to see how these knowledge perspectives can actually be steps toward building a solid intellect. I’ll actually argue that they are both the same, they’ve hit a wall with no doors to newness or curiosity.

Neglecting Learning

Boxed and scared in by not learning - CC BY 2.0 by admiller

Knowledge a few centuries ago were limited to the elite who could afford to travel to absorb books and meet scholars. However, with innovations such as the printing press, known as the printer today, knowhow and many topics became accessible to many more. Oddly enough, libraries are frequented by few people being full with unread books collecting nothing but dust. There’s a few statistics about this, but I’ve been given the impression that few people read. Their bookshelf is nothing but a showpiece and the Kindle was a useless birthday gift.

Self-Learning

This is where self-learning comes into place. Rather than spend thousands of dollars to hear tasteless lectures that induce sleep better than most hypnotic agents, you can acquire knowledge and learn new arts on your own. The difficult part is the discipline needed to keep going. The avolition that stems from a fatiguing life steers us toward Netflix rather than say a book or a documentary.

Most will agree that the Internet has brought a paradigm shift to how knowledge can be acquired. Many resources are becoming free or simple to pirate bringing a endless world of paths towards expertise. Books are getting cheaper than ever with the advent of online stores and enjoyed in many formats from text to a talking audiobook. Google has made it possible to find things so quickly (at the price of losing any sense of privacy).

Approach

What I’m going to be touting here is an approach to learn, and learn quickly. I will be trying to combine effective techniques that modernity and technology has presented to us in addition to ancient proven methods that made our notable figures in history as polymaths.

Pick Something You Want To Learn

For me, this is the easier (or day I say. the easiest) part of the entire endeavour. Look at the many around us who can produce music in short moments or an author who writes world-renowned books. What about the more mundane such as knitting or geocaching? Do you want to become a simracer who tops the multiplayer charts or even learn how to fly an airliner in a flight simulator?

The end goal can be whatever you like but keep in mind that failing at achieving it isn’t the end of the world. You can always reset your compass whether you want to move to something else or find a new objective. Some of the more shallow purposes such as money and fame are more luck-based and will often lead to disappointment. While some other ideas such as developing your intellect and stimulating your brain can be more figuratively lucrative. Maybe you want to use those new powers for helping others or perhaps just for a sense of fulfillment. This is something that no one can pick for you and left to your own imagination and worldview.

Momentum

How momentum plays a role in learning - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 by Chris Devers

Like I mentioned before, learning resources have become so abundant thanks to our modernity and technology. They can come in so many forms that are easy to find, affordable (or even free) and copious. Formats are also of many mediums and styles.

The discipline will be difficult to develop and I can’t tell you how to forge it into your lifestyle. Everyone is geared to a method that only works for them as a means to success. Productivity isn’t found in a self-help book but rather through experimentation. I’ll admit that school forces us to discipline because we’re chasing a good grade but that is honestly quite artificial. Rather, try something more novel. Here are some ideas:

• Finding an accountability buddy where you can make promises to keep about a step you want to take. Either offline or online will probably work.

• Sharing your experiences with others ideally like-minded. Admitting grudgingly, I used to believe that no one was interested in the obscure things that I did, it turned out that many were lit up by it.

• Turn your learning into a game using perhaps a todo-list or a calendar. Keep track of your success of a reminder of your progress.

Many people talk about motivation and concentration to obtain a dopamine rush but we are not automatons who can enter learning mode in an instant. Through personal experience, I realized momentum played a more important role into actually doing something. In the likeness of pushing a heavy boulder at first seems unsurmountable but once it’s starts moving, it’s easier to keep it going. I’ll admit that this is my biggest challenge but I realized that it’s like your appetite. It doesn’t start until your first bite and then you keep going. Once you surmount your first steps, you develop a quasi-addiction that you can even claim to be enjoyable. You start looking forward to it all the time.

How?

Reading is one method of learning - CC BY-SA 2.0 by benuski

• Reading is the classical way to acquiring knowledge and even entertain ourselves. The advantage is that the subject is covered in-depth spread across hundreds of pages. No one is forcing you to read so you can develop your own pace that works with your life. However, in my opinion, this is probably the method that needs the most concentration and dedication. I didn’t mention a medium on purpose because there’s so much such as books, newspapers, blog posts, Wikipedia and countless others.

• Listening seems to be a very popular method to learn even for the more visual. The success of audiobooks is a clear sign that it seems to be working for many. A great advantage is how it can be integrated and mixed with other mundane tasks such as driving home from work or cleaning the house.

• Watching is an obvious one and we know how popular it is through the infiltration of cable TV at everyone’s place and the universality of streaming services. Documentaries are a great way to amass knowledge and the abundance of it means you can enjoy different perspectives of the same thing. I did say that it was boring, but that was my view, recorded lectures can now be found for free.

• Kinesthetic learning involves going through the motions of doing what you’re learning. It’s both a form of starting from scratch and practice towards expertise. Just like watching, it can be done alone or in a group. For those with more social predispositions, this might be very effective.

• Meetups are a great way to get exposed to a field quickly. It’s akin to diving into a cold swimming pool. There’s many places to find them such as Meetup.com or Facebook groups where you can meet like-minded people who have the same cravings as you. Some are more freeform while others more serious. Debate groups are abound and you’ll be forced to give in your two cents or ask difficult questions. This is ideal for the extraverted.

Now, I’ve heard so many claims about how one method leads to more retention than a another but these are based on simplistic views of psychology. The truth is that everyone has a different personality structure that prefers one method over another. The most effective technique is probably doing a combination of the above to make use of the advantages of each other.

Ducking Academia

As you may have noticed, I totally ducked the whole idea of academia. This isn’t an accident or an exercise of forgetfulness. We have been blessed by our technological advancements that make learning so cheap (or even free). No need to pull out a mortgage for tuition and putting ourselves in crushing debt.

One thing I would like to mention briefly, don’t put yourself into a money pit. Don’t go on a book shopping spree or buy the most expensive camera equipment for your new found love of photography. If you can, try to start with what you already have and control your spending. Many hungry knowledge seekers are young and don’t have any income as a means to purchase equipment. I’ll leave to your online search skills to find way to get things for cheap. At one point, once you’re in the zone, it will make sense to spend a bit. Remember, the equipment isn’t for showing off, but should be seen as method to become better at what you do.

Multitasking

Our minds work like single-core processors - CC BY-SA 2.0 by loan Sameli

Our brain is like a single-threaded processor, it can’t do exactly do two things as one. While you can do what most operating system schedulers do, switching between one task and the other constantly, it will lead to concentration issues and loss of the momentum I just mentioned earlier.

This doesn’t mean though you can’t dedicate yourself to more than one thing. You can alternate between many things over time and find yourself learning even more, widening your skillset and become an expert in many trades. The statement “jack of all trades, master of none” is a big fallacy in my view as I’ve seen people who’ve mastered many things. Look at our historical figures who were polymaths innovating in many fields and being pioneers in all sorts of arts.

Me

Personally, I was never satisfied enough with what was brought to me by high school or university. My diplomas are fancy papers that I hang on my entrance but don’t define my field or even my identity. As one of my favourite managers put it, I’m always “stuck in learning mode”. It’s an obsession where every question that pops up in my head must have an answer by the end of the day, otherwise I’ll going into a deep downward spiral (maybe this is a bit of catastrophizing). I enjoy the exercise of coming up with more questions on the spot. I find my browser full of tabs of keywords that I came up across up on Wikipedia. One article keeps leading to another. There’s a ongoing joke which is partly true that every link path links to philosophy.

This is a list of things that I’m trying to learn right now:

Learning how to use automatic landing in a crosswind on a 767 - Copyright 2022 Ahmed El-Hajjar

One of my aspirations is to become an author - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 by vogmae

• Improve my writing skills which I’m doing through my blog and social media presence. I aspire to be an author and have many subjects in mind but I can’t pick yet. I feel like I’m still a mediocre writer so I’m reading as much as I can to determine what structure is ideal. On the other hand, I still want to have my special touch.

• Read more. I’ve been a lazy reader for a good part of my life and eventually realized on how much I was missing. My goal for 2022 was to read a book a week and so far so good. I’m managing to read two books a week sometimes. I mentioned that I wanted to become a generalist before, but this is the path I’m taking towards that goal. I’m a non-fiction lunatic and will read anything that isn’t a biography.

• I want to drive better. One of my hobbies is driving and it’s something I do daily despite not always having a destination. Learning better car control, improving observation skills and knowing local laws better. Most importantly, I want to drive standard transmissions more smoothly and use advanced techniques. I’m just about to do my first mod to make heal-toe easier with a pedal bracket.

• Learning more about flight. My first experience with flight simulator was when I was nine. Back then, I would constantly crash the plane on takeoff and couldn’t even do a simple pattern. I’m at a point now where I can do some procedures for different kinds of planes and have basic IFR navigation skills. I’m learning ATC phraseology so I can go on the VATSIM network.

• Making gadgets. I started with a free piece of software called Fritzing trying to design circuits. I kept it as simple as possible using the simplest of tools to make things. I can now program microcontrollers and design basic circuits. I’ve procured a cheap refurbished 3D printer having learned some 3D modeling.

A Desktop Application that I’m currently working on. - Copyright 2022 Ahmed El-Hajjar

• Make user facing applications. I spent a good part of my life doing web servers and APIs in the corporate realm. I want to make something that has a visual aspect to it. I’ve started to learn UI libraries in languages that I already know but also look at embedded web frameworks.

• Learn more about myself. This is very difficult for me because I only recently started to face the fears that I had about the various worldviews that life had for us. Finding out what I liked and what didn’t through experimentation. I feel like I’m nowhere near my maximum potential but I’m finally learning labels to describe my story.

Conclusion

My article doesn’t have the objective of telling you exactly what to do in order to learn and become proficient at something. Rather, try to build a framework that works for you and your unique personality and style. Most importantly, remember to enjoy the journey rather than zone-in on the goal. Trust me, it will eventually become an addiction to the point of having a faith that dictates what your life should look like: one that is as fruitful as possible. Self-learning is where it’s at!

Gems

A plug to my Gems List, except mine are coloured and much cheaper than these diamonds - CC BY-ND 2.0 by Kim Alaniz

I have compiled a long list of resources where you can learn different things for free on my website. This is a shameless plug for my Gems List, which is growing all the time.

Click HERE FOR Gems!

The 5G COVID Mind Control Conspiracy Is True!

I used to think that I was better than everyone else because I thought our pandemic was a result of an evolutionary accident that spread through contact with animals. I would read the newspaper everyday in fear of death because another 300 people died and another 5000 are at the hospital. What if I’m next?

Turns out, I was all wrong and those conspiracy theorists actually turned out to be very insightful people.

So my first hint that something was up when I got my third vaccine. I noticed that my cellphone reception got so much better and download speeds were much improved. The corner where the reception bars are no longer showing LTE but instead 5G. I was stunned. This was undeniable proof that COVID was in part caused by the installation of new 5G towers.

Our cellphones have become spying machines but there weren’t enough because they couldn’t read our minds or control our heart rate. This is why they implanted a chip inside the vaccine that would be injected to us. This is no doubt that it is for mind control. Just like fluoride in our water.

The deaths and illnesses that are developing are completely normal. Everyone dies of viruses every year, nothing is going wrong. The statistics are pure fabrication just to put the world in mass hysteria. This was simply the precursor experiment to see if the globalists could control us only with propaganda. But that failed so they decided that they needed to implant chips as phase two.

Globalists are keeping gene pools in storage containers in the arctic because they’re protecting themselves from all the genetically modified organisms that they are feeding us. COVID is simply another organism that they created in a lab. This is exactly like the black plague that was made by the British Empire to reduce world population.

The other hint that made me reflect was that after the second vaccine, I developed a deep love for Bill Gates and Elon Musk. I really wanted to donate to the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation despite having only a few dollars left in my bank account. I signed up to be next on the list to buy an expensive Tesla Model S Plaid. That’s probably because of the chip. I’m finding it harder to believe my theory about COVID but with pure willpower I’ve overcome the effects of the chip. You can do it too if you read my book “The Truth About Covid And How To Use Your Mind Powers To Combat It”

Unfortunately, I felt like it was too late knowing this conspiracy after getting three shots. So I worked with some of the top homeopathic doctors in the world to develop a remedy for this. This is a very effective product that we spend months developing. We patented it so big pharma couldn’t use it. It can only be bought through me. Based on it’s healing properties, we called it Restoria XL.

The patented mix contains high quantities of phosphatidylserine sourced from bovine cortexes and other secret herbs which strengthens your immune system. It contains calcium orotate with eradicates all the fluoride in your blood. It also contains detoxing properties which will make you feel so refreshed every morning. We also used an innovative method to microdose organic phosphiliates using healing crystals. All these ingredients are 100% natural and vegan friendly. Don’t talk to your doctor about it.

If you put the coupon code Anti-5G-Mind-Control when checking out, you will get a 34% discount on your next bottle of our amazing patented product. Get it now before Bill Gates controls your mind!

This was a satire…