The Alarming Ethics of Dancing Butt Dictionary Pickles
No, that's not AI generated nonsense. Read on to figure out WTF it means.
The 3 Alarms
Ali Abdaal and Sahil Bloom both recommended this self-help book and the coach/author Eric Partaker.
Eric's story is no doubt inspiring. Despite many health and personal challenges, including a heart attack on a flight and a spouse who almost left him, he went on to have a balanced, successful life. He credits the "three alarm" system for it.
In short, you split your day into three different ideal identities. For Eric, in the morning he wants to act as a champion exerciser. During the day, a world-class coach. And in the evening, the best father and husband he can be. He has his phone clock app ring at specific times to remind him to switch into those identities. You can pre-plan for each phase by having a goal to achieve as evidence of that identity, or what Eric calls "champion proof".
Eric touches on other classic self-help advice such as Covery's pause between stimulus and response, David Allen's weekly review, and Neil Fiore's reframing self-talk from “I have to finish X” to “I choose to start X” to beat procrastination (Seth Godin makes a similar point in his blog).
This book, while well-written and motivational, didn't move the needle much for me. After finishing it, I realized that Ali, Sahil, and Eric are all high-achiever self-employed men with lots of autonomy. Maybe they need alarm reminders to segregate their work, personal, and family duties. I don't need alarms to remind me I have corporate 9-5 and my hours before and after work are for personal needs.
I have an alarm to wake me up. An app to track my morning habits. And an evening alarm to remind me to turn off electronics. Coincidentally, Eric highly recommends cutting off electronics in the early evening as well and calls it a "digital sunset" which is a great name.
The ONE RULE for LIFE
I don't read Mark Manson’s books or follow his blog but did like his video discussing German philosopher Immanuel Kant's ideas on ethics, or what he called "categorical imperatives".
To put it absurdly briefly, the question to ask is "Is this action using someone (or myself) as a means rather than as an end?". This can have fascinating implications as talked about in the video. Being nice to people for the wrong reasons can be unethical. Being lazy and doing less than your potential can be unethical *towards yourself*. In Kant's view, ethics is both about intention and the action.
Circassian Dance
The YouTube algo had me stumble upon this short yet oddly mesmerizing dance. It's a line of women and men dressed in elaborate costumes doing slow movements towards and away from each other.
I wondered a lot. Why are the sleeves absurdly long and they twirl them around? Why are they dancing on their toes? Why are the women wearing nets as scarfs? Why are the men wearing bullets on their chest? Why does everyone wear tall hats and look so aloof? I don't have those answers, but I did find out that the Circassians are an ethnic group descended from a warrior nation conquered by Russians centuries ago and have a diaspora across the world. It's neat what you can learn from random recommendations.
YouTube had me go to more Russian dance performances, like this one, of a coordinated ballet of men dressed as sailors. My favorite part was the guy with the accordion. Doing a dance in sync with a group AND playing an instrument at the same time is an impressive feat by any measure.
Butt or Face?
My library proudly featured on their app a hot new release coming up: Butt or Face? Volume 2: Revenge of the Butts. A children's book where googly eyes are added to face and butts of animal pictures and the readers guess which part it is.
Apparently the first was such a hit, there's now a sequel. This is one of those "I can't believe this is a thing, but of course". I was tempted to reserve a copy and share my review in a later newsletter. As of this writing, there is already twenty-seven hold requests for nineteen copies of the book. My review would be like "Sadly, I had only accurately guessed 4 out of the 23 butts, but it was riveting journey nonetheless. It was worth waiting six weeks to borrow this book."
Dictionary as a self-help tool?
Rapper Kanye West highly recommends choosing a page from a pocket dictionary each day and highlighting words that you feel give positive vibes. You can play it as a game with others and compare/debate your choices. It's shown in an old episode of Keeping Up the Kardashians where he played it with his then-wife and in-laws. David Letterman in an interview asked him more on it and Kanye explains that word choice makes all the difference in your world view and is the best way to reprogram yourself. In one example, Kanye asks the audience which of these three words is the “purest”— hear, listen, or comprehend?
Kanye may have created the simplest yet most powerful explanation and practice of neuro-linguistic programming available. I'm mulling of trying this practice myself.
The magic of pickles
I have an odd habit that if I'm enjoying or like something, I will look it up. In one case it was enjoying kosher pickles during a lunch where I discovered...
1. In 1966, the World Cup trophy was stolen, and dog found it. That dog's name? Pickles and even has his own Wikipedia entry.
2. Kosher pickles don't have an actual kosher status. It's the name for the style of pickles created in New York Jewish delis and uses lots of garlic and dill.
3. In the American South, pickles made in Kool-Aid are considered a treat. You dump a Kool-Aid packet into a jar of pickles. It colors the pickle too. Sounds gross to me but would you try it?
4. In the 19th century, serving pickles was a status signal.
"During the Victorian era, pickles were considered a luxury food, meaning households that served pickles were wealthy enough to have servants or staff who could prepare pickles. Middle- and upper-class households often served pickles in pickle castors, a glass container in an embellished silver holder. The pickles were served with coordinated silver tongs"
Imagine eating at someone’s house and they go "My family is so fancy, we serve pickles at lunch." as servants use silver tongs to gently place one on your dish.
5. Lastly, I found out fried whole pickles is a thing, and I would gladly try it sometime.