What this guy (Joe) is saying seems consistent with Stoicism: we can’t know another’s intentions. That’s a key, isn’t it, to staying centered? Remembering that we don’t if someone is hostile, since they’re usually self-absorbed. So why the fuck is he so bad? I wish I had people like him to call *me* out.

But he attacked the wrong thing. “There’s no question that deep down what attracts you to this lifestyle is it’s lack of falsifiability.” That seems so right whether or not Mr. McKibben is part of it.

What is so interesting about the 23 things you list? Anyone could do most of them at almost zero cost.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to visit about 20 countries”
Anyone can visit 20 countries, if they go to Europe. I live in Europe, and if I got into a car right now, it would take me less than 2 hours to visit 3 foreign countries.

“When I started writing Thrilling Heroics in 2006 I had a strong desire to attend Stanford University for grad school, and I still would like to one day, perhaps after I’ve been successful in business and made a name for myself.”
Is that an achievement? You have a strong desire to do something you weren’t able to do, and maybe you’ll do it after you’ll be successful in something else you haven’t been successful at yet.

“Since I started blogging, I’ve become friends and interacted with some of the coolest people online: Rajesh Setty, Ramit Sethi, Jun Loayza, Adam Baker, Jonathan Mead, Chris Guillebeau, Kare Anderson, Pamela Slim, Monica O’Brien, Ben Yoskovitz, Penelope Trunk, Clay Collins, Guy Kawasaki, Andrew Warner, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, and many, many more.”
It would be interesting to know which of the people you mention have become your friends (and how many know that you are their friend) and which have just responded to your e-mails. I don’t even have a blog, and I have interacted with some of the richest and most interesting people in the world: Mark Cuban, Marc Faber, Jim Rogers, Peter Boettke, Immanuel Wallerstein, Jim Rickards. I’m not going to write a blog about it, because anybody can do it, it’s not an achievement.

It’s to parrrtaaaay!!!!

Suckaz

Maybe you should take a slice of your own crappy advice and stop deriding Ryan publicly so you can get at that better understanding of yourself. So many blatant contradictions, so little time. And oh yeah: keep up with that half-assed version of “truth is relative” to justify it. That’ll work. Except not.

I’ve never met your mother, Assumption, but she sounds loose.

Scammers are currently “creating” so much “value” that value (not to mention every dollar in every pocket around the world) itself is inflated to epic proportions. “Value” with regard to IM no longer has meaning, and it’s all coming crashing down. Those who have come by friendship and resources honestly have nothing to fear. You dudes, on the other hand, are the ones known for causing it. Don’t drop the soap.

“Here. I’m gonna give you a piece of paper that has $5 written on it. You make 3 copies and sell them for $5 each. Then tell your paper-buyers to each make more copies, and sell those. They can even change the price if they want (as long as it’s not lower than yours)!” Voila! Analog marketing.

“I’m sure if we had a few beers, you’d find we’ve got more in common than you realize”
I can already tell you guys have lots in common. Let me guess: you both like music. You both have penises. You both like to write.

But that doesn’t mean either of you is any less of a tool. Anyway, you’ve got bigger problems to deal with. Like the Salty Droid. And this girl.
You’re welcome!