What decentralised freedom means, why it’s important, and how it will be achieved Read more →
Author: Kurt Robinson
Peyote Trip on Scorpion Ranch part 2
Kurt talks to a wizened conspiracy theorist and starts to try peyote out on a ranch in rural Mexico Read more →
Peyote Trip on Scorpion Ranch part 1
Trying peyote out on the ranch in rural Mexico Read more →
Nayarit Peyote Adventure: Episode 164
The Story: Peyote journey in Mexico
A few weeks ago, I (Kurt) decided to take a short trip out onto a ranch in Nayarit, about 4 or 5 hours from my home in Guadalajara, in a native American community. Once upon a time, peyote was an important tradition for the Wixárika (Huichol) people in this region, and they would walk for about ten days to arrive at the sacred site of Wirikuta – known as the birthplace of the earth – crossing almost directly over the mountains to perform the pilgrimage. Nowadays, almost nobody in this community takes this sacrament, though many who live closer to Wirikuta still partake, and some native Americans even eat peyote every day, from the time they are children.
According to the mythology of the Wixárika people, the tribe was once lost and without food, and sent off a group of young men to forage. As the scouts were wandering in the desert, they saw something very strange – a blue deer. They took it as an omen, followed the deer, and realised that the animal was sustaining itself by eating a certain cactus that grew close to the earth – peyote. If you notice a blue deer in some artwork, you can be sure that the artist is Wixárika, and is referring to this myth.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of taking peyote out on the ranch, explains what visions he had, why the peyote told him not to take peyote, about how so much of our lives is based around our interpretation – to the extent that we don’t even see the interpretations.
Join us on another star-gazing episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Kurt on Anarchast – Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride
The Story: Kurt is interviewed by Jeff Berwick on Anarchast
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Jeff Berwick, known for his media outlet “The Dollar Vigilante” and his channel “Anarchast” in which he interviews notable anarchists, almost always beginning the interview with the question “How did you become an anarchist?”
I’ve been listening to the Anarchast for years, and hoping that one day I would be able to appear on it, so when Jeff asked me, my answer was an emphatic “Hell yes.”
I figured that, to make the interview entertaining for Jeff and for the thousands of listeners, I’d better prepare carefully, thinking about what would be engaging for them. So in the couple of weeks leading up to the interview, I wrote out many drafts thinking about how I would describe my journey of becoming an anarchist, “Free man on the land” type ideas and how they lead me to question authority, about the freedom that people enjoy in Mexico (despite its flaws), the anti-authoritarianism that exists here, spiritual experiences, and how life is full of wonders.
The Eps:
See the world with new eyes – Episode 147
Jeff Berwick: The Dollar Vigilante – Episode 77
Sterlin Lujan: Compassionate anarchy – Episode 156
The Links:
The Dollar Vigilante on YouTube
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Best Bits – Carey Giudici: Practical aspects of social media education
Carey Giudici explains how his idea for a system of social media based mentorship will work in practical terms.
Don’t Waste Your Wonder – Episode 163
The Story: How to have a free mind and use your sense of wonder
Many people seek to hold and to defend a belief in a material or even mechanical universe. A belief in God or anything supernatural or paranormal is considered just a superstition, and to believe in those things, to those people, seems more like a delusion than a rational exploration. We know that if a cult tells you that their way is the only way to salvation – the only way to the truth – such an organisation is probably not interested in an honest pursuit of truth. Yet, when believers in science or scientism make similar statements, many accept them. If we are really interested in finding out more about reality, shouldn’t we be willing to explore ideas?
In this episode, Kurt takes a trip to Guanajuato and reflects on hardcore skeptics, atheism, the exploration of ideas and belief systems, miracles, and how people can use their sense of wonder to enrich their lives. Join us on another paradigm-shattering episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Leandrew Dixon – Believer to Atheist to Wonderer
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Infiltrators: Bitcoin Paranoid – Episode 162
The Story: Have government agents infiltrated Bitcoin?
If you created a system that could potentially displace a lot of existing organisations – large, powerful organisations – rendering them obsolete and removing their sources of funding, you could reasonably expect that some people from those groups wouldn’t be too happy about it. They will most likely decide to take action – perhaps even criminal action – in order to protect their interests. That’s why when Bitcoin was created, it made sense that its inventor (or inventors) decided to remain anonymous.
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, and as far as we know, no longer has anything to do with the project. So they are most likely safe from reprisal. Yet, what about the people who are involved in the project today? If powerful people wanted to slow down or even destroy Bitcoin, how would they do it? The decentralised, anti-fragile nature of the system makes it too strong for an attack using software. But the developers’ identities are public, and the discussion boards are public. Anyone with sufficient resources could begin to corrupt these groups using money, violence, threats of violence, and sowing seeds of confusions in public forums – perhaps even creating entire companies to subtly undermine the integrity of the project.
In this episode, Kurt looks at a couple of historical examples of how “law enforcement” organisations are willing to get their hands dirty for questionable purposes, and speculates how similar strategies could be used to unhinge the Bitcoin community – or other digital currency communities. He discusses how Hoover used the FBI to act out his prejudices against black Americans, how London Metropolitan policemen were involved in sexual relationships as part of their undercover operations, and the types of unusual comments that float around among prominent Bitcoiners, that raise the question of whether Bitcoin has been compromised.
Join me on a journey of infiltration, deception and mystery in the next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Dash digital cash vs Bitcoin: Which will achieve mass adoption first? – Episode 154
Bitcoin vs Dash: Ridiculous comments about Dash – Episode 157
The Links:
Anarchast – Opening Yourself Up to The World, Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride with Kurt Robinson
Just being black was enough – The Nation
Tape shows Nixon feared Hoover – NY Times
Undercover agents fathered children – The Antimedia
Undercover police had children with activists – The Guardian
Luke JR’s $5 comment on Reddit
Lesser known reasons to keep blocks small in the words of Bitcoin Core developers
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Best Bits – Carey Giudici: SMILE Background
Carey Giudici explains the background behind his open source education project “SMILE”. Read more →
Open-Source Education: Carey Giudici – Episode 161
The Story: Decentralised micro-education for future leaders
Millions of children around the world are aware to some extent of one specific truth – that schools no longer teach what is relevant to them, and the structure of schooling doesn’t serve them. Many modern schools are built around the Prussian model – a military model, which in many cases, demands compliance above all else, and secondly, emphasises the memorisation of facts. Once upon a time, this was beneficial in certain ways, preparing workers for the monotony of factory jobs in the industrial era. Now that era has passed, and with the age of automation upon us, it becomes increasingly obvious that learning to be a human robot not only won’t help students thrive – it will barely allow them to survive.
Carey Giudici is an editor and writer who realised that there were paths to knowledge as yet unexplored, and one way to lead children along the path of self-knowledge was by giving personality tests to them, and connecting them with mentors, experts with similar personality traits around the world who can guide them.
In this interview, Carey tells us about how this system of education, which he calls SMILE, might function, how it already is beginning to function, and how it will help young people with high levels of stress, frustration, and confusion in schools that don’t teach them to become leaders.
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.