This is an instance of what philosophers call testimony. It’s similar to the sort of testimony given in a courtroom, but it’s less formal and much more frequent. Testimony happens any time you believe something because someone else vouched for the information. Most of our knowledge about the world is secondhand knowledge that comes to us through testimony. After all, we can’t each do all of our own scientific research, or make our own maps of distant cities.
This is a nice introduction to the idea of “testimony.” By saying or writing whatever-it-is-I’m-considering, would I be building up, or tearing down my reliability as a source of testimony?
The flame itself has a soothing, mesmerizing effect. So often, the conversation around a campfire hits a lull, and everyone finds themselves gazing into the glowing, crackling bowels of the fire. It seems to say, “Welcome home.”
I am a member of this group, and I have an obligation to treat others as I would like to be treated — I’ll let the guy go before me, clean up the mess, and not waste people’s time for my own minimal gains.
Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
Luckily, this problem has a solution: I call it Getting Your Brain Back, but it is a time-honored problem that has been solved by many people in the past. Originally limited only to company CEOs and world leaders, the excess of information has trickled down to the rest of us. To survive in this flood, we need to learn how to swim, in much the same way as busy and important people have always done.
When someone is that afraid of being contradicted, they are no longer concerned with the truth, only with protecting their priceless investment in what they have said. To honor a statement you made yesterday as a binding declaration of who you are is a tragic, yet extremely common mistake. This is the fundamental error that plagues humanity: to mistake one’s ego for oneself. Enforcing an impossible, lifelong consistency in what you say and believe can only lead to dishonesty and despair.
When I thought I was basically “done” becoming who I would become, I got bent out of shape over all the problems I saw in the world.
Now that I realize that the only meaningful life is one where I continuously tinker with self-improvement, I see that–just like me–everyone else is on a journey of transformation… wether or not they realize it.
For example, as part of GDPR, we’re now constantly seeing pop-ups that say, “Hey, we use cookies — click here.” This doesn’t help. You have no idea what you’re doing, what you’re consenting to. A meaningful choice would be, say, “I’m OK that you’re using cookies to track me” or “I don’t want to be tracked but still want to enjoy the service” or “It’s fine to use cookies for this particular transaction, but throw unnecessary data out and never share it with others.” But none of these choices are provided. In what sense is this a matter of choosing (versus mere picking)?
One cannot legislate morality. GDPR does nothing to change people’s morals. The same people are still working within those same corporations with their same unconsidered morals. A new law simply changes the playing field in which those same people continue working towards the same goals they already had.
I think what I notice with people who are a little older is it’s really easy for them to dismiss social media as, like, this vapid and shallow thing in which you’re trying to get likes and engagement, but what they don’t realize is it’s like a huge part of some people’s social lives and it’s, like, very much a part of how you see this world and interact with the world. And it’s not just “oh I wanna get likes to, like, seem cool” it’s like “Oh, this is my social life in many ways, and it has been for a very long time.” And that’s kinda how I view applause at basecamp in many ways, too; It’s like my social life at work.
It is really easy to dismiss social media, because it is vapid and shallow.
The insight here is that eventually you too will stop acting like a 14-year-old, become an adult, realize social media is vapid and shallow, and then dismiss it easily.
What lessons can we learn about personal growth, community building, and training innovation through parkour?
Craig sits down to interview Ville Leppanen, a lifelong learner and member of the Finnish Parkour community. Ville discusses how he uses different tools in his coaching, how to work smarter instead of harder, and how he uses interval training to help him in parkour. Finally, Ville touches on how his coaching has evolved over the years and how his teaching has helped him learn things about himself.
For me, the process is, ‘okay, I have this idea and… I have no idea…’ Is it any good? Will it work? Will it be interesting? But what the hell, let’s give it a go!
~ Ville Leppanen (4:00)
The conversation highlights Ville Leppanen’s innovative approach to coaching, focusing on using tools, questions, and unconventional methods to inspire curiosity and adaptability in training. Ville shares his perspective on integrating scientific principles into parkour, aiming to combine rigorous research with the sport’s creative essence. Discussions also touch on interval training strategies for maximizing physical performance while balancing intensity and recovery.
The dialogue explores the Finnish parkour community’s cohesiveness, influenced by cultural tendencies toward collaboration and organization. Ville reflects on how confrontation and cultural differences affect community dynamics. He emphasizes the value of stepping outside the parkour bubble by exploring other disciplines, fostering a holistic movement practice, and gaining new insights to improve coaching and community-building efforts.
Takeaways
Ville’s philosophy on tools — Using simple objects in creative ways enhances learning and training processes.
Interval training — Tailoring work-rest cycles to optimize endurance and intensity in parkour practice.
Finnish parkour community — Unified by collaboration and early organization, reflecting Finnish cultural traits.
Confrontation avoidance — Addressing how cultural norms shape community interactions and growth.
Questions as tools — Facilitating personal and student growth by fostering curiosity rather than providing answers.
Exploring diverse disciplines — Engaging with other activities enriches perspectives and enhances movement skills.
Long-term physical goals — Prioritizing sustainable, playful training to ensure lifelong movement capability.
Family classes in parkour — A Finnish innovation promoting intergenerational bonding through shared movement experiences.
Resources
American Rendezvous — A well-organized parkour event Ville attended, noted for its professionalism.
Supreme Parkour Armageddon — An annual Finnish parkour event known for its evolving, humorous naming tradition.
Parkour Generations — Features coaching and events that Ville mentioned as impactful early in his training.
Sisu — A Finnish concept of perseverance and resilience, central to Ville’s outlook.
You will get hurt. You will embarrass yourself. You will wish you did things differently. You will forget things that are too important to forget. You will lose things you can’t afford to lose.
Things that are every bit as great happen every day in scientific labs, and no one cares. Maybe as a society we’ve become anesthetized to science — when really, it’s so exciting. We have so much to gain as a country if we invest in science and knowledge and understanding. I don’t blame the public for not understanding, though, or even legislators for sometimes not wanting to invest. They all look so much like my family.
There are several science-y details in this interview that really startled me; Our knowledge of embryo development is vastly improved since last I looked.
…but mostly I just like the sentiment of wonder she expresses. “When is the last time I learned something new?” is a question I try to update the answer to every day.
While I’m worrying in my little apartment about getting my writing done or doing my laundry, it lends me some perspective if I can remember that somewhere out there, precisely as I’m tending to my human to-do list, there are beavers taking down trees, ants hustling to feed their queen, rabbits feasting on backyard gardens, and elephants showing their children where the water hole is.
In the beginning, a few months of summer vacation represents a significant portion of your life’s memories. Years later, each month flies by. In the beginning, the first project you create is the greatest idea the world has ever been shown. Years later, the projects are too numerous to recall, and the next one is considered with a weathered gaze before being sent out into the world. Challenging physical activities are dopamine-fun in the beginning. Years later, the physicality brings only a pleasant, difuse joy.
When our mind is tranquil, there will be an occasional pause to its feverish activities, there will be a letting go, and it is only then in the interval between two thoughts that a flash of UNDERSTANDING—understanding, which is not thought—can take place.
I’m not sure I’ve experienced the not-thought which is that flash of understanding. I think things are even more simple; Year after year, as I quiet my mind, understand simply expands into the new space.
Let the other person have the privilege of being the first one to be understood. The biggest distraction to understanding someone else is self-importance. Needing to say something means you have to be thinking about it, and thinking about it means you have very little mental capacity left for empathy. Free up yours, and it will free up theirs.
Empathy is the most useful ability I have ever developed. Sure, I first had to develop my abilities of self-awareness and self-assessment. But at that point, the need for empathy and compassion became plain as day.
When there is communication without need for communication, merely so that someone may earn the social and intellectual prestige of becoming a priest of communication, the quality and communicative value of the message drop like a plummet.
I find “creative culture” an alluring idea. What have I wrought with my own two hands? I find most competition pointless. I find observing others compete unequivically pointless. But creating—or even just watching others create, or observing the fruits of their labor—provides me endless pleasure and opportunity for growth.
Deep in the vast, mostly forgotten (yet immediately accessible) archives of the blogosphere lie billions of touching, hilarious and brilliant thoughts that humankind has been stockpiling for years. Here are nine that moved me, with excerpts. Bookmark this if you don’t have a lot of time right now.
This is not like the think-pieces I’m normally drawn to share. This is literally a list of nine, individual blog posts (from among the billions) which are worthy of being called great writing. These are among the best things humans have ever written.
Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do. Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you. Sanity means tying it to your own actions.
