How does being sincerely ironic empower us, then? If you internalize the ironic ridicule of others before they have a chance of applying it to you, you can more easily shrug it off; you can work from a place of near invulnerability, and thus dare to be truly vulnerable.

@issacrosen Not as I have thought of it, but am open to suggestions of other views.

Trust (def. from upcoming book): 1. competence (or credibility, or skill), 2. goodwill (i.e. you think they have good intentions), 3. reliability (they won’t be flaky), and 4. alignment (that our interests align and don’t contradict one another).

I command you to live in a mess. medium.com/@hanzifreinach…

8. And yet, comparing the groups—the ordinary and the extraordinary—the social fallout of the latter is rampant in comparison. Crazy and unbelievable stories and behaviors abound, and they always sneak up unexpectedly.

2. Exceptionally talented, creative, and idealistic people fall apart left and right—despite all the work they have done on themselves, with extensive therapies, meditations, studies, travels, careers, and rich life experiences.

(from the upcoming book)

9. How can such an intelligent and kind person be so dysfunctional, after so much effort to transform and develop? A big part of it is, I think, that they come to expect too much. They fail to be mediocre. Or, should I say, we fail at it, since I am also part of this

1. As a member of what could be called “the creative class” (and the “Triple-H population” of allied Hackers, Hipsters, and Hippies) and its transnational networks, I have become witness to a significant social and psychological fallout within these groups.

7. They truly are kinder, more creative, more open-minded, with softer and more universal values and more self-sacrifice in them, than the people I met when I grew up, and who still know me today, from my “ordinary” life.