

Mere Mortals Conversations
Kyrin Down & Juan Granados
What is Effective Philosophy? Juan and I simplify hard to grasp concepts into pragmatic takeaways that can be applied to every day life (fitness, goal setting, work, parenting, travel, hobbies, finances, etc.,).
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 31, 2023 • 1h 6min
What To Do When It's Not Working? | Finding The Balance Between Idealism & Practicality
At what point do you stop chasing idealism and accept reality for the way it is?In Episode #378 of 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: the current problems I'm having with dating and v4v support, ways in which being all or nothing is helpful, the impossibility of solving governance and interpersonal relations, why you have to let your ideals go and make some concessions, how being too 'unique' is hurting me and Juan's body not being able to keep up with his mind.A huge thanks to Dave Jones and McIntosh for supporting this week. We accept the reality of your support!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro to the topic(1:21) - Why Idealism is beneficial(7:31) - Accepting physical reality, but not human reality(13:38) - How impossible are most problems?(18:03) - Humans problems vs technical problems(21:27) - Boostagram Lounge(24:29) - Stopping too early or changing too late(29:02) - Value For Value is not Bitcoin(35:56) - Life is suffering(41:28) - Ways I am denying reality?(45:16) - I'm hard to put in a box(50:14) - Juan's fitness degradation(56:39) - Summary(1:02:36) - V4V: Much is happeningIntro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 26, 2023 • 39min
Can You Prepare For A Loved Ones Death? | Taking Supplements & Financial Turmoil
Best to think about death because in the end we're all just mere mortals.In Episode #377 of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: using stoic principles to prepare for death, all the time Juan has spent on health and fitness recently, abstract math required to self diagnose elbow problems, the CrossFit masters competition, bank bailouts and why it's nice to have an independent currency that can't be manipulated.As always, we hope you enjoy. Mere Mortals out!Timeline:(0:00) - Your two favs (0:38) - Can you prepare for grief?(5:50) - Nerdy engineer explains death(7:09) - We're not immortal(10:43) - Supplement frenzy(14:24) - Workouts and pushjerk.com(17:53) - The mystery of the tickling tendonitis(20:24) - A new 10 year challenge(24:19) - Australian financial markets(29:31) - The manic depressive Mr. Market(31:34) - Hyperinflation: coming to a country near you(35:19) - V4V: Read the bitcoin whitepaperConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 24, 2023 • 58min
Asymmetric Opportunity | Determining The Right Risk Vs Reward Ratio
How do you determine the tradeoff's when judging an opportunity?In Episode #376 of 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: the twitter threads popping up for Juan, why it's hard to judge risk, why I place physical safety above emotional well being and material concerns, a sad puppy week, why you don't want to handstand on cliff faces, subjective value changing the opportunities for everyone and why v4v/crypto/introspection/cold approaching might be good opportunities.A huge thanks to Dave Jones for supporting this week. So so consistent.Timeline:(0:00) - Come join live(0:47) - Twitter inspiration for the topic(2:00) - AI assisted research(4:04) - Do we view life in these terms?(7:54) - Judging risk/reward(13:05) - High risk examples(18:24) - Retrospecting on opportunities(22:41) - Boostagram Lounge(27:42) - Are first dates asymmetrically positive?(33:49) - High reward examples(39:47) - Juan summary(43:41) - Kyrin summary(45:35) - Universal opportunities(52:21) - V4V: It's better if you have to struggleIntro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 19, 2023 • 2h 24min
ALEXANDER WATANABE | The Perfect NFT, Art Discourse/History & The Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Alexander Watanabe is an artist, coder, architect and co-creator of the 'The Perfect NFT' on the Cardano blockchain.In Conversation #85, Alexander and I discuss: why Alex might has a more cynical disposition to NFT's, Sam Bankman-Fried and effective altruism, fun stories from travelling around the world, the cultural critique he is doing with The Perfect NFT and some tips for coding/handstands.Hope you're having a fantastic day wherever you are in the world, Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro to Alex(0:37) - Kompact.io pivot(3:16) - The Guchi experiment(8:00) - Naïve optimism & MLM(13:48) - Gift reciprocity(17:57) - Altruism: You're screwed no matter what(21:55) - Problems with charity(28:22) - Too many people in groups(34:30) - Gem hunting & bogged cars(37:13) - Childhood stealing stories & being skint(41:53) - Travel & not fitting in(48:56) - Misspelling names(52:02) - Artisitic decisions(57:05) - The Perfect NFT(1:02:07) - The underlying rules(1:06:54) - Art is a discourse/history(1:13:33) - Books & reinvention(1:18:22) - New mediums & immutability(1:25:44) - How the mint works(1:32:37) - People interacting as an orchestra(1:44:08) - Peak NFT(1:47:01) - On chain & on Cardano(1:53:14) - Python vs language learning(2:01:39) - Automate the boring stuff(2:08:18) - Lifting weights again(2:12:02) - Strength as a skill(2:21:15) - We're just monkeys(2:22:56) - Closing up Connect With Alexander:Website: https://theperfectnft.art/Discord: https://discord.gg/EYwd6ybgMJTwitter: https://twitter.com/monad_alexanderConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 17, 2023 • 1h 10min
What Are Our Greatest Weaknesses Of Virtue? | And How Can We Fix Them?
What would Benjamin Franklin want us to do?In Episode #375 of 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: a founding father's steps to self-improvement, why you must examine your weaknesses first, how ethics might not be captured in your normal habits, Juan's ethics as first discussed in Ep #138, my new plan to keep myself accountable and why you should only go 2-3 levels deep with self-development.A huge thanks to Dave Jones & McIntosh for supporting this week. Go checkout their shows (Podcasting 2.0 & Generation Bitcoin)!Timeline:(0:00) - We got the date!(0:55) - Why I came up with this topic?(2:47) - Benjamin Franklin's Approach(7:53) - Moral Perfection(12:18) - Juan's Weaknesses(20:02) - My Weaknesses(31:31) - Chat Comments(33:25) - Boostagram Lounge(36:44) - Eminent Human Being(47:53) - My New Plan(56:51) - Juan's Summary(1:01:32) - My Summary(1:07:09) - V4V: How to achieve moral perfectionIntro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 12, 2023 • 55min
Teaching Children Another Language | Intense Bitcoiners At A Meetup
What's better than a bilingual child, only a trilingual child!In Episode #374 of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: a couple of the cool but mostly strange people I met recently, why we only have 2500 books left to read between us, the differences between English/German/Spanish/French, why Juan and I lack finesse with out language skills, my recent chat with Alex again and the ridiculous tendency of the psychoanalysts.As always, we hope you enjoy. Mere Mortals out!Timeline:(0:00) - Slightly new camera setup(0:32) - Texas Slim at the Bitcoin Brisbane catchup(5:08) - Insights from the meetup(10:30) - Don't finish every book(15:50) - Crazy lady & Juan's damaged car(20:39) - Bubbling energy & getting shit done(26:11) - Translations always add extra(30:57) - Raising a trilingual kid(38:09) - Does early childhood travel expand a child culturally?(44:19) - Bitcoin is not the place for degen NFT fun(48:03) - The desire to reduce everything to one thing(53:37) - V4V: What is your maxi position?Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 10, 2023 • 1h 12min
Decades Of Physical Exercise | What Training Methodologies Work Best?
Simple question, what is the best way to train?In Episode #373 of 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: our experience after training for decades, Juan's advice to a friend who needs a training plan, the difference between our session lengths, how the styles matter little in comparison to volume/time and why a plan is useful for continuing through the 7/10 workouts.A huge thanks to our one and only supporter Dave Jones for this week. Sad puppy apart from him :'(Timeline:(0:00) - Bammmm(0:32) - 2 decades of experience between us(1:44) - T-Nation article inspiration(6:13) - The best plan is the one you stick to(10:48) - Time length of the session(16:42) - What training styles does Juan advocate?(20:34) - Questions to determine your training method(26:30) - Chat comments(31:42) - Boostagram Lounge = Sad Puppy(36:05) - No intentional experimentation(41:00) - How experimental should one be?(47:31) - We were all beginners once(51:47) - A decade of data(1:01:59) - Chat Comments & Juan Sum Up(1:04:40) - Kyrin Sum Up(1:09:24) - Top of a Mere Mortal(1:11:22) - Value For Value: Train For ItIntro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 6, 2023 • 34min
Monthly Goals | March 2023
You smell that ....... it smells like it's goal time.Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series, showcasing our own methodology. What do you do differently and why?Timeline:(0:00) - We're live and goaling(0:45) - Juan's February Goals(2:20) - Kyrin's February Goals(8:43) - Supporter recap(13:34) - Juan's March Goals(18:38) - Kyrin's March Goals(29:11) - Fitness recap(32:52) - Value for value: Join In!Intro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 5, 2023 • 1h 49min
JUSTIN FOX | Digital Art, Online Communities & Vulnerable Dating
Justin Fox is the founder of Zen Garage, graphic designer and first appeared on the Mere Mortals in Conversation #72.In Conversation #84, Justin and I discuss: how he is finding an artistic outlet in plants, how technology changes the art scene, the various behaviours found in digital communities, why it's valuable to have the ability to cold approach, finding a girl who isn't just a cookie cutter template and the issues he was having with Patreon and DeviantArt. As always, I hope you enjoy. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro to Justin(0:40) - The merging of years(2:16) - Don't buy a Bonsai tree!(6:44) - Reconnecting with art(12:06) - Code is art(17:22) - Talent is not courageous(20:30) - Arguing on the internet(24:03) - Digital & AI art(29:10) - Virtual reality is coming(32:09) - New online behaviours(36:08) - Newbies with questions(39:54) - Cold approaching(46:21) - Good looking girls and opportunities(51:10) - Finding love(54:42) - Digital communication in forums(1:02:33) - Creating connection within a community(1:12:02) - Too many choices(1:14:36) - And they're all template(1:19:08) - Never say never(1:21:50) - Bipolar dating: no relationship is perfect(1:26:30) - Being vulnerable(1:33:56) - Patreon's arbitrary rules(1:41:36) - Value for value haters(1:44:58) - We could talk about anythingNote: We had some audio/video issues so you might notice a few cuts I had to make.Connect with Justin:Website: http://www.justinfox.com.au/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZenGarageInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinfox.com.au/Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show

Mar 3, 2023 • 1h 4min
It's Time To Step Into The Future | Improving The Podcast Beyond The Substance
We're going to be experimenting and altering our style soon, what can you expect?In Episode #372 of 'Musings', Juan and I discuss: why we're unlikely to need a trademark, how we will try to move forward but without breaking things too badly, the way to get a Mere Mortals shirt, Juan's creation of a new podcasting room, why I had to give up fixing Juan's spelling mistakes and other mini changes that will occur when Juan's baby arrives.A huge thanks to our supporters of Dave Jones, McIntosh and Joshua Dennis. Go check out their podcasts!Timeline:(0:00) - Live intro(0:57) - We're established, now it's about touching up(1:52) - Podcast Meetup with James Cridland(4:13) - Do you need a trademark?(10:02) - Progressive but pedantic(15:31) - Lightning node talk(19:23) - Want a Mere Mortals shirt?(23:28) - Boostagram Lounge(29:54) - Infinite money glitch on PodFriend(31:10) - The space for the podcast(34:50) - Creating clips(41:24) - Our main product is long unedited episodes(48:08) - AI assisted but retaining originality(55:19) - Coming up(58:57) - Lonnngggg podcasts(1:01:56) - Value for value: we're not influenced by anyoneIntro Music by 'Signs Of New Growth':https://podcastindex.social/@SignsOfNewGrowthConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcastSupport the show


