The Hidden Benefits of Eating Less Meat

This is a great documentary by Radu on the problem of consuming meat.

Lasting Happiness Depends on Ignorance of Atrocity

A few years ago, I made the decision to stop watching TV because it was filled with crap. There was nothing on TV other than silly renovation shows and other filthy reality TV shows like Big Brother or X Factor. So I decided to simply watch YouTube instead. I purchased a Chromecast and started streaming YouTube to my TV.

YouTube was addictive. One of the benefits of YouTube is that it learns what you like based on what you have previously watched, and it recommends videos to you based on your interests. I started to become very interested in certain topics, such as investing, veganism, digital nomadism, minimalism, and antinatalism. However, being exposed to and becoming obsessive with all of these non-mainstream ideas has somewhat alienated me from the mainstream. This is something I have realized today.

I have become so angry with the world and with other people. I cannot stop seething with anger over just about everything. When I go out to lunch with my dad and he eats meat, I cannot stop seeing in my mind graphic slaughter of animals. I see pigs having their throats slit and cows being shot in the head, and they fall to the ground flailing. When I am with a group of women who talk about weddings and relationships, I seethe with anger because of how superficial these women are when they are obsessive about what colour of clothing they should wear or how to arrange flowers at a wedding. When I see someone at work feeling superior and putting down his subordinates or when I see someone putting down others because he has some status symbol, e.g. trophy wife, luxury car, or large mansion, I can only think about debt or wage slavery, and I know that status anxiety is the primary fuel of the wage slavery system. I see the dark side of everything and it makes me really angry and also really depressed. I cannot stop thinking about everything that is wrong with everything. There is absolutely no positive thinking with me. I can only think negatively, but that is because I am convinced that I am viewing the world objectively. I am convinced that, in reality, we live in a negative world, and positive thinkers are deluded.

It’s not just YouTube. I admit it’s also other circumstances in my life that affect me such as my parents’ divorce as well as tensions with friends and colleagues at work. I have also experienced painful breakups with girls.

There’s not much I can do. One option is to conform to society. I can try to be normal. I can assimilate. But once you know something, you cannot fool yourself. Ignorance is bliss, but once you know the truth, you cannot forget it. If you drank a yellow liquid thinking it was a delicious soft drink, then all of a sudden you realize it is some guy’s urine, you cannot simply erase that knowledge from your mind and go back to pretending that you are drinking a delicious soft drink. The same applies with all the filth in society. Once you’ve seen the truth, you cannot unsee it.

There is no option then but escape. I need to retire and get out of the country where I can be alone and start a new life. I need to save up enough money to do this. While I am doing this, I need to be an urban hermit. I just go to work, come back home, watch YouTube and Netflix, and then go back to work again. It’s tough working and pretending to be normal when you’re not. It’s hard faking it, but it has to be done. I need to become a millionaire before I drop out of society and go ghost. I just hope I can do it before I turn 40. My goal is to be a millionaire in my thirties. Once I am a millionaire, I will quit and retire. I will start a new life. I am thinking I will buy websites off Empire Flippers and spend the rest of my life managing websites for a living. Even if I fail, it doesn’t matter because I am a millionaire who lives off dividends. I will try something else. Managing websites for a living will allow me to live anywhere, but I am sure there are other things I can do to make money online, and even if it doesn't worki, it doesn't matter because I live off dividends. I can travel to, say, Kuala Lumpur, rent a one-bedroom apartment there, and then spend all my time in co-working spaces there managing my websites, and if I feel lonely I can use the internet to meetup with fellow vegans there. I will be free to be with whomever I want. It will be beautiful. Even if things don’t work out, I can just leave and go to another country, such as Bangkok, and even if things don’t work out, I can just fly back home. The bottom line is I have freedom to do what I want.

The Urban Hermit

Yesterday I was very busy. I arrived at work early at six in the morning to get more work done. All in all, I am happy with my job now. I enjoy the work. I have recently signed up for Netflix. Watching YouTube videos is great, and I have learned a lot from watching YouTube videos, but there is so much hate and negativity on YouTube. Dealing with the trolls on YouTube is quite draining. I am hoping the world of Netflix is more civilized. I will still continue to watch YouTube, but I will try to get into Netflix more.

My intention is to become an urban hermit. I am not a hermit who goes out into the wilderness to live. That may come later. For now, I need to earn money, so I need to work, and I don’t know how to earn money if I’m out in the wilderness. I need to be among society for now. However, just because I live among society, it doesn’t mean I need to be fully connected with society. I can erect emotional barriers to protect myself from the negativity of humanity.

I am blessed in that I am happy with my job right now. Only two months ago I was miserable because I had a horrible manager. I was extremely depressed, and I even thought about just quitting. But everything is working out now. I simply spoke to my manager’s manager and told him that I wanted a change, and then all of a sudden I was put into a different team. Sometimes you just have to ask and you will receive. Even if things go bad where I am now, I can just try to move again, and even if that doesn’t work, I can just retire and live off my meager dividends.

But for now, I am happy to work, and I enjoy working. I try to stay away from the office gossip and politics. I hate that. I just do the work, and I like to be around positive and friendly colleagues. Outside of work, I am happy to just eat, sleep, read, exercise at the gym, and watch YouTube and Netflix. I don’t mind being alone. I don’t mind isolating myself. Even something as simple as watching YouTube or Netflix gives me so much joy. I have recently realized that people set standards for you. They tell you to get a girlfriend, get married, get a mortgage, get a car, get a house, and have children. Obviously you’ll be working hard like a slave, and you’ll enrich your bank, real estate agents, and even your wife. Everyone else benefits when you’re a slave. But I will just say no to all this and live my life. If I just make money and then use that money to block everyone else from my life as much as possible, then that’s it. I have total peace and quiet. As an introvert, that is appealing.

The Positives of YouTube Brawl Videos

There's a guilty pleasure in watching a brawl on YouTube. Maybe there is something inherent in us humans to pay close attention to conflict.

Nowadays, whenever there is a brawl, people take out their smartphones and start recording, and at first I thought this was a sign that people were so keen to put up videos or pictures on their Facebook or Twitter feeds that they forget to actually do something to stop the fight. However, people suddenly filming brawls may actually be a good thing.

In the old days, fights were like rapes in that it was one person's word against another. Now because many fights are filmed with smartphones, it helps the police and maybe even judges in a courtroom. The cop who recently shot a black man in the back probably would have gotten away with it were it not for him being filmed (not via a smartphone). He is now indicted for murder.

With wearables technology such as Google Glass and the Narrative Clip allowing people to record anything at all times, privacy may be a thing of the past. We must assume that there will always be a camera on us. This can be seen as a negative, but it may also be seen as a positive. It means we will all be accountable for our actions because what we do will be watched by the world. Whether the world will judge us fairly is another issue.

How to block Youtube comments

I hate it when I'm watching a movie or show online on Youtube and then someone reveals a spoiler in the comments. I also hate how Youtube is filled with vulgar comments. Thankfully, I have found a solution. It simply involves having Firefox and installing an add-on called YouTube Comment Snob!

This add-on not only allows you to block all comments but also, if you want, allows you to filter out ones with too many spelling or punctuation mistakes, which ensures that the comments that remain are likely to be the more educated ones. I would recommend this add-on for teachers who want to block vulgar comments so that Youtube is safe for children.

Image: waxpancake

Youtube Subscription Bar

I do not like Youtube's new subscription bar that appears when you try to view your subscriptions. It gets in the way of all the other buttons you need to press. It's unfortunate that Youtube didn't give users the option to turn it off.