Tag: jonathan blow

Since I know Jonathan as an indie game developer (an amazingly successful one), I didn’t have an expectation from this online talk he gave on self-motivation, mental health, and elements of stoicism.

It was very good. 10/10 would recommend. Some of my notes are below:

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Key takeaway:
There are 3 aspects – Thoughts, Bodily sensations, Emotions
1. Thoughts – don’t identify too closely; stand back and watch them happen
2. Sensations – they’re fundamentally neutral; your mind interprets and amplifies, see thru this
3. Emotions – they tend to disappear instantly when you look at them

“You are not your thoughts. There’s a limit to how useful they can be”

How much do your thoughts weigh?

Your mind is interpreting and translating all of your experiences, doesn’t represent the totality or reality of what happened

Lots of everyday physical experience is imposed by the mind

Emotions don’t last long, but we can keep them burning for a long time with our thoughts and perceptions, even years

Was mild to moderately depressed in past, could have multi day episodes

Antidepressants are not well understood, unlike other western medicine, “science’s weaker medicines of last resort”

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There’s an additional 1-hour Q&A which I haven’t watched yet.