- Neuroplasticity – An In-Depth Guide to How it Works and How to Transform Your Brain
- Training to Develop Synaesthesia for Improved Memory and Maths Ability (Theoretically)
- How to Train Like Bruce Lee for Insane Power and Speed
- A Complete Guide to Transhumanism
- The Surface Pro 3 – Ideal Productivity for Web Entrepreneurs
- Can You Bench Press a Dinosaur??
- The Neuroscience of Genius And Increasing Intelligence
- How Caffeine Affects Neurotransmitters and Profoundly Changes Your Brain
- A Detailed Guide to Your Brain – So You Can Start Hacking It
- Almost Every Bodyweight Exercise Ever (150+ Moves)
A Matrix Within a Matrix – And the Nature of “Freedom”
Writing this may well be career suicide.
So, why even write it? Why write a post about the manosphere and the “intellectual” dark web? This is a fitness channel, after all.
Well, for one, it’s because I can’t stop thinking about it. This is something I’m truly passionate about. That has always been the way that this channel and brand have worked: I write the things that bubble up from under the surface – the things I find it hard not to write.
Sometimes, I feel less like I write these posts and videos and more like I birth them. The process can be exhausting and brutal.
But this time it’s different. This time the passion comes from what I perceive to be a serious problem. I want this channel to help people be fitter, healthier, happier, and more creative. And I think this alternative narrative that’s circulating the web is doing a serious amount of harm. And that includes harm to our health and fitness.
It’s preventing a future where we could all be healthier, happier, and free-er.
This feels like a responsibility. I have a platform, for better or worse, and with that comes some amount of power. Or at least influence. And with great influence…
Guys, some of this might be confronting for some of you. Some of you might be annoyed that I’m even talking on these topics.
But I ask you to have an open mind.
Because what I’m about to share is important. I invite you to take a journey with me – to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, so to speak.
And remember: there is nothing at all shameful about re-assessing your current views. In fact, it is a mark of a true intellect. I’ve done it many times, which I didn’t intend as self-congratulatory… but I guess it is.
The Matrix Within The Matrix
The other reason I need to make this post, especially, is because a large percentage of fitness content is actually just a “gateway” to these red pill ideas and incel content.
You start off watching a video about building six pack abs. That turns into ways to get women and dating advice. That turns into advice on looks-maxing. That gives away to doomer philosophies and content that resents women and blames society for making men “weaker.”
Or maybe you start out watching content about how to get bigger, stronger lifts in the gym. Next thing you know, you’re learning how to optimize your testosterone. Next thing, you’re being told that oestrogen is being intentionally added to the water. And that this, combined with the “woke agenda,” is all trying to make society more feminine so that we can be repressed. Just look at how our freedom of speech is being taken away from us…
Maybe you started out learning about productivity hacks, which leads to a butchered version of Stoic philosophy, which leads to a rejection of modernity and progress.
You see the problem?
My aim is not to judge anyone, here. You can watch whoever you like.
But I do want to, finally, state explicitly why this content is harmful. And particularly to your health and fitness.
And why it is also, very wrong. And does not come from a place of trying to help.
Let’s start with one individual: Andrew Tate. Now, I hate mentioning people on this site by name. People have praised my YouTube channel for being drama-free and positive and I’m really proud of that.
But there comes a point. And very few people in this industry seem to want to openly criticise the guy. For some reason!?
But he’s also the perfect example of what I’m talking about.
Because a lot of guys, young guys in particular, look up to Tate. They see him as an ally and someone who has their back. A lot of young men are feeling lost and disenfranchised, which certainly is a problem (something I’ll probably address in a future video, seeing as I’m clearly a masochist…). Tate seemingly offers solutions: he suggests ways to make money online and escape “the Matrix.” And he paints a particular picture of how to do this and what the “Matrix” actually is. How guys found themselves in this position to begin with.
For a financially-poor virgin, this is certainly appealing. And it helps that he displays a lot of outward signs of machismo and success: driving a Bugatti, displaying an impressive physique, and talking about his many sexual conquests.
Problem is, he also says a lot of extremely misogynistic things, perpetuates an “us-vs-them narrative,” and ultimately just makes young men far more confused and potentially dangerous.
The mad thing is that a lot of people defend him. I had the audacity to say in a recent video that I “wasn’t a fan.” I got accused of being “in the Matrix” (yes someone actually said that, as though that was an actual thing), of being a coward, and of trying to avoid losing followers; of being ignorant and only getting my news from left sources.
But isn’t this a little suspect to begin with: that the very people who claim to be champions of free-speech are actually very much trying to silence me? When I made such a minor and innocuous comment?
Andrew claims that he has no free speech. But he absolutely gets away with saying whatever he wants with absolute minimal consequence.
He talks about how the world is against him and he is living in The Matrix. He’s being suppressed by the woke left and all of that.
As he puts it:
“The Matrix is strong. The systems which are designed to keep you a slave is strong.”
Or:
“The Matrix is trying to frame me, but God knows the truth. There’s no evidence in my file, because I’ve done nothing wrong. Everyone knows I’m innocent.”
And:
“Every class you learn in school, every TV program you watch, every website you find, all of them are designed to keep you inside of a box, which keeps you broke. And you being broke makes it easier for them to control you.”
But in the very next Tweet, he’ll claim to be the most famous person in the world. He’ll pose with his Bugatti. He’ll explain how rich he is.
Which is it? Is he repressed just like all those other poor guys, or is he in fact extremely successful thanks to the very system he purports to stand against?
To quote Tate himself:
“Everyone has a Lambo or a Ferrari, it’s easy.”
Or “If you ain’t got a Lambo, you’re a shit muncher.”
Or: “I have everything every man has ever dreamed of. I got a big mansion, I got super cars, I can live anywhere I want, I got unlimited women, I go where I want; I do anything I want all the time. So, I’m an amazing role model.”
So, what’s going on here? What’s the truth?
Simple: the truth is that, if indeed there is any Matrix, he is an agent. And he’s running a Matrix, within the Matrix.
Just like in the actual films, where the entire “The One” narrative, turned out just to be another system of control used by The Machines and The Architect to keep everyone docile.
People like Andrew want you to believe that the system is against you. They use scapegoats and conspiracy talk and then paint themselves as the way out. As the Morpheus to your Neo.
Then they sell you products that you can use to “escape” the Matrix.
Only dropshipping is not going to make you wealthy or help you escape. And trying to treat women like you’re still in the 1920s (and a piggish bully even by those standards) isn’t going to make you happy or fulfilled.
In fact, it will just make you more angry and more depressed and more broke. And ensure you keep giving money to Tate.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with dropshipping and copywriting. I was a copywriter and, indeed, I used it to escape the rat race (so to speek) and boostrap this channel (along with other projects). His course isn’t even horribly priced. At least on the surface of it, there may be some kind of upsell.
So, what’s the problem?
The problem is that Tate has absolutely zero sense of responsibility when it comes to the things he says to sell those products or to create his legions of fans. It’s bad for society, it’s bad for women, but it’s also highly destructive to the very young men that turn to him for advice.
Because Tate is a misogynist. When I so briefly mentioned that I didn’t like Tate much, people responded that I must not have read Andrew Tate deeply or understood his true meaning. I must have gotten all my fake news second hand. I didn’t see that he also has a lot of good points.
But these are actual quotes from Tate. Quotes I’ve seen him say in videos. And there’s simply no defending any of this:
“How can I use these women to make me money? I don’t wanna put them on the track because they’re my women, I don’t want other people touching my chicks.”
“If we talk about tradition—traditionally—every single man in history had multiple wives, and there was not a single woman who was celebrated for having multiple husbands. Female promiscuity has always been disgusting and frowned upon.”
“I think the women belong to the man.”
“The masculine perspective is you have to understand that life is war. It’s a war for the female you want. It’s a war for the car you want. It’s a war for the money you want. It’s a war for status. Masculine life is war.”
Or this, from his own website:
“I’ve been running a webcam studio for nearly a decade. I’ve had over 75 girls work for me, and my business model is different than 99% of webcam studio owners.
“Over 50% of my employees were actually my girlfriend at the time and, of all my girlfriends, NONE were in the adult entertainment industry before they met me.
Literally, that was my job. My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her. Test if she’s quality. Get her to fall in love with me to where she’d do anything I say. And then get her on webcam so we could become rich together. Whether you agree or disagree with what I did with their loyalty, submission, and love for me doesn’t matter. You cannot reject the results, and the results are simple.
My girlfriends would do more for me 99.9% of men’s wives would do for them.”
This is, honestly, reprehensible. How can people say they don’t have an opinion on Tate? That he has some good things to say? This is horrible.
Some people say that Tate is playing an act. That he’s a practical joker and that he does this to get attention. They point out that he has some okay advice on motivation and willpower. And that he’s a genius marketer.
First, I don’t think that’s true (he did get arrested for precisely this kind of stuff, after all, Which also was in another country before we blame “The Matrix.”)
But listen: I really don’t care about that. Whatever his motivation, millions of people take him at his word – a fact he’s very much aware of. And if guys are internalising these ideas about how to treat women, that’s extremely damaging.
Again: not only to the women. I shouldn’t have to tell you how belittling, threatening, and frankly frightening this likely is to many women. But to the men, as well, who are NOT going to find the world agrees with their newfound sense of entitlement.
And who will get even more angry and upset wondering why they don’t drive Bugattis or have countless women fawning over them. Why that hot woman isn’t responding to their DMs.
And they’ll probably blame the wrong people and the wrong things for their situation.
Andrew Tate has an answer for those men that might be struggling with mental health issues, too:
“Depression isn’t real. You feel sad, you move on. You will always be depressed if your life is depressing. Change it.”
And what are Tate’s credentials for speaking on such a topic? As a psychology graduate, I am still extremely unequipped to tackle such a complex and serious subject. But I know enough to know that this is:
- Factually wrong
- Extremely dangerous
There are many causes of depression. There are many types. Depression is an extremely dangerous condition that can lead to suicide and anyone experiencing it should seek professional help.
And here’s the other question: what if you can’t change your “depressing life”? What if you are subject to conditions outside of your control? Like illness, poverty, grief…
Tate and those like him place all the blame at the feet of the individual. Someone struggling with serious depression, someone lost and looking for love, someone overweight and unhealthy, someone in poverty and struggling to support their own family…
They have only themselves to blame. Governments and society have no part in it. There is no inequality or unfairness that we shouldn’t be able to overcome. No empathy for those unable to.
Because here’s the real crux of the matter for Tate and many people like Tate. Here’s another of his quotes:
“Females are the ultimate status symbol. People think I’m running around with these hoes because I like sex. That’s nothing to do with the reason why I’m running around with these bitches. I got these bitches just so everyone knows who the don is.”
Apart from the serious misogyny on display once again, here, we also see the real con. The real Matrix. The second level of control.
As I said: Tate is part of the system.
If the system has been cruel to you, then rather than change the system, we should take individual responsibility to rise to the top. Through strength, and grit, and glorious purpose: just like Tate.
We do this by signing up to his program, of course.
And it’s all motivated by status.
Guys look up to Tate because he has all the hallmarks of being a “high status” or “high value” male.
Guys who don’t get attention from women feel not just lonely but humiliated by their lack of success. That’s why they lash out at women and accuse them of being Instagram obsessed, shallow, or whatever else. They should be more traditional.
Guys want ugly sums of money so they can feel successful. And they’re willing to work themselves to the bone, to forego their own happiness to get it.
And, worst of all, they’re willing to prop up the extreme beneficiaries of this system because they think they can one day be like them.
We shouldn’t change the system that allowed people like Andrew Tate to thrive; or the several noteworthy billionaires to become so disgustingly rich that they own half the planet. We shouldn’t ask them to pay their fair share.
And why not?
Because if we do that, then we are taking away their freedom – and our freedom – to one day become disgustingly rich.
No, we should use stoicism to ignore the misery of our situation. We should lash out at the people who reject us.
And we should beaver away until the early hours of the morning on side hustles and fitness regimes: like good little soldiers.
Can you see why I think this leads to poor health outcomes for guys?
And here’s the irony: you’re unhappy with your situation. The situation that constant competition and the desire for status got you into. So, you turn to someone like Tate who claims to be helping you break out of the system all while actually just keeping you exactly where you started: running on a treadmill towards the same kind of shallow success.
Motivated by that vague notion of success and status.
You give Tate your money. You create more businesses and commerce. You work without question. And you remain miserable.
It’s a second layer of control. A Matrix within a Matrix.
And it even extends to the web and freedom of speech. Just look at how few people openly criticise the blatant misogyny and hate speech of Tate. Why? Because they will be accused of being woke. And, God-forbid, less masculine.
And because the path to absolute success and wealth on YouTube is one where you have to rub shoulders with Tate sympathisers. I’m pretty sure this post will reduce my chances of being invited onto some of the bigger platforms. My only hope being that no-one actually reads this (very possible, given the wordcount.)
Someone even told me in the comments that when I said “I don’t like the things Andrew Tate has said” that that was a “very feminine thing to say.” Had I had my morning coffee, the correct response to that should have been “explain your position.” This is simply nonsense.
OR it’s a handy way to control an awful lot of people who put waaay too much stock in just how “masculine” they are. Like, who cares? Think about it. Why do you care how masculine you are?
According to who? To what end?
Okay, I’m a bit feminine. I’m super okay with that.
And it probably comes down, partly, to the fact that some of Tate’s supporters are pretty vocal and unpleasant.
If anything is going to get you angry, if anything is an afront to freedom of speech, it’s this. People are literally afraid to criticize Tate. If you do, he’ll just say you’re part of The Matrix. And you’ll never go on the big podcasts.
When someone places themselves above criticism, that’s something we should be highly suspicious of.
Is he at least right about the idea that you can pull yourself up by your bootstrings and become like him? Can the struggling person work harder and end up a billionaire?
Is he, indeed, a marketing genius just trying to share some of his knowledge?
The answer, almost always, is no.
Tate is not a marketing genius. He is controversial and I think his success probably blew up more than he expected. He said things that resonated with some very upset and angry people and his content was shared a lot. Controversy sells, this is not rocket science.
Tate has never invented anything, written anything, or done anything that makes him seem particularly smart.
The same goes for me. I’m in a position of privilege thanks to the success of my YouTube channel. I received no funding from anyone. This is the product of hard work and some savvy business decisions. I’m proud of those.
BUT I could just as easily have done the exact same things and had zero success. As I have seen be the case for countless others. Others who are better videographers, who are smarter, who are fitter. I was lucky – the algorithm picked me up. It was luck.
That and I got training from Android Authority because their management liked one of my videos and hired me on a part time basis. That’s luck.
That and I was able to set up my copywriting business while still living with my Mum – because she is well-off enough and generous enough. Luck.
And nothing awful happened to me in that time. I wasn’t struck down with illness or depression. I wasn’t forced to support a family financially at that time. The copywriting industry didn’t collapse from underneath me. The price of rent didn’t skyrocket beyond my means.
This is not a viable strategy for everyone. Saying “look at me, I’m successful, why aren’t you?” is ignorant at best, stupid or cruel at worst.
Especially if you are in a group that starts out at a significant disadvantage. Of which there are many.
So, why does so much of the internet believe there aren’t?
The answer lies with other people trying to inspire young men.
Freedom of Speech
People like Jordan Peterson. A man claiming to be a moderate, centralist, dispassionate intellectual. Another hero to many young men.
And on the face of it, at least, less openly reprehensible than Tate.
But just as destructive.
To be clear: there is nothing centralist about Peterson, and very little intellectual. He is well known for making up facts and figures to support his arguments. And talking on subjects he has very little understanding of. Subjects like climate control and Marxism.
Peterson’s whole deal is based on psychology. Specifically, though, from a Jungian perspective.
Again, during my psychology education, one of the first things I learned was that Jung, like Freud, was largely discredited. As much as Freud made huge contributions to the world of psychology – he was the first to describe the unconscious (not “subconscious” which is a common misnomer), for example – his ideas are nevertheless unfalsifiable, unscientific, and therapeutically questionable.
Many therapists today will incorporate ideas from psychotherapy (the Freudian approach) but they draw on newer, more modern interpretations. And most will then integrate this with other ideas: such as cognitive behavioral therapy, person-centered therapy, etc. This is the integrative approach.
In short, there’s not much place for Freud’s interpretation of dreams always being about our secrete desires, or our universal urge to sleep with our mother and kill our father.
Jung was a student of Freud. And believe it or not, he actually was the wackier of the two. His notion of universal archetypes is certainly interesting and has some merit, these are characters that appear throughout dreams and fiction, as described by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The collective unconscious, another of his ideas, is also interesting and likely somewhat useful under certain circumstances.
But dig a little deeper and you learn that Jung also believed the collective unconscious to be a literal shared unconscious. In other words: he believed we are all psychically connected. He talked an awful lot about the supernatural in his later works.
So, yeah, perhaps not the most scientific basis for a view of the world.
But Peterson does use this background to support the notion of a natural order. Of universal truths. And to make sweeping statements about people’s character and position. Weirdly, few people point out that the very basis of most of his arguments was considered outdated in the 50s.
And, of course, this natural order is how he justifies his own dismissal of racial, gender, and class inequality.
Along with a complete misunderstanding of neuroscience.
Peterson’s mascot, the lobster, is chosen because he believes they demonstrate the natural existence of hierarchies and competition. He cites how, after winning a physical contest, a victorious lobster will puff up its chest and become bigger; as its body is being filled with serotonin.
He points out that injecting serotonin into the lobster will also cause the same effect.
And he links this to the fact that low serotonin is well-known to be associated with depression.
In other words, he concludes, depression is a symptom of low status. It motivates us to go out and fight and strive for success to get to the top.
And this, in turn, will make us feel on top of the world again.
Hierarchies are literally hardwired into our brains, he therefore presumes, and while they might not always be fair, they are inevitable. Our job is to learn how to live within them, and to manage them as best as possible.
Any desire to upend the current hierarchy is dangerous and misguided.
He explains that serotonin is the primary neurotransmitter that underpins most activity in the brain.
Only, he’s wrong. Because, again, he’s not a neuroscientist. And is not nearly as well-read as he purports to be, clearly.
For starters: serotonin is not really the primary neurotransmitter. Funny how whichever neurotransmitter someone is talking about suddenly becomes the “primary one.” I thought YouTube self-help wanted me to believe that was dopamine?
More to the point, lobster brains are wired entirely differently. Serotonin makes lobsters more aggressive, but in humans, serotonin is actually an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Ironically, it makes us more docile. And it converts to melatonin – which sends us to sleep. Serotonin is primarily released in the biggest quantities when we have just eaten.
Yes, low serotonin is linked to depression. But the opposite of depression is not high status. It’s… being well fed by this reductive logic.
So, instead of propping up artificial hierarchies, we should instead ensure everyone is well fed.
Are hierarchies a part of nature? In some cases. But there are also plenty of examples where hierarchies don’t play a part or have a very different structure. The famous example of wolves having an alpha and a beta, for example, has since been debunked. This behaviour is only witnessed among wolves in captivity.
And if you want to get all evolutionary-psychology about it, then you could point out that evolution is HUGELY predicated on altruism and the sharing of resources.
The survival of the fittest is less to do with individual survival and more to do with the survival of the species. And this is why we do have things like empathy, communication, and altruism.
You could say it’s a large part of what made us successful as a species and what makes us human.
Instead, though, Peterson insists, based on this incorrect science and debunked theory, that it is simply the natural order to have rich, smart people at the top, and poor, dumb people at the bottom. Don’t think that’s me being disingenuous: he literally says that people with a high IQ are more likely to be wealthy AND more likely to invest their money more wisely (despite statistical evidence to the contrary).
Peterson is also quick to discredit the idea of social injustice, and of racial and gender inequality. And he believes that our freedom of speech is being attacked by “woke liberals” who are going to cause the breakdown of society.
He even questions whether women and men can “work together” without men being distracted in the workplace. There’s a famous clip doing the rounds where he says women wear lipstick to be sexually provocative – at least on some level – and so we should ask “should this be allowed in the workplace?”
If this is an issue, I’d rather ban the workplace. Or the men who apparently can’t keep it in their pants. Also should men be forced not to wear nice watches, for the same reason?
But of course, he isn’t saying that. This is a great example of Peterson posing open questions to try and seem impartial. He’s merely exploring, he means no harm by it.
Peterson famously rose to prominence after refusing to refer to a trans student by their preferred pronoun. He believed this to be an attack on freedom of speech, that would stifle open discourse and obscure objective truth. It was an afront on his, and our, personal freedom. It was an example of compelled speech.
More specifically, Peterson was arguing against an amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code, adding gender expression and gender identity to the listed protected groups. Just as you can’t make racial slurs, the same would now apply to trans-folk.
Peterson claimed he would be fined or imprisoned for refusing to use the correct pronouns -which is simply untrue and has never been the case. Countless people have done exactly that since, with no repercussions. Because it was never on the cards.
In other words: he was creating hysteria and panic for no reason other than to advance his own prominence and agenda.
The implication is that many of today’s societal troubles stem from this woke agenda. That this attack on free-speech and this feminising of the nation is destroying conventional values and is what results in the disenfranchisement of lost, young men.
Traditional values are being broken down. The natural order and natural hierarchy challenged by an overzealous left. That’s why so many young men are struggling.
This is what you call “classic redirection.”
How does calling a trans person by their chosen pronoun possibly have anything to do with your personal success or happiness?
Answer: it doesn’t. This is not a conspiracy. It’s just common decency. Calling someone by anything other than their chosen name is simply rude. You don’t expect it from your teacher.
And if he is refusing to let the person identify as they want because he feels uncomfortable with it… that is an afront on their freedom – not his. And it’s also just weird. Why be weird about someone else’s gender?
What does being woke mean?
Simple: it means trying to be mindful of other people. If you can avoid saying something or broadcasting something on TV that will be offensive to a group of people, avoid it. If you can conversely do something that will make those people a bit happier, do it.
No conspiracy, here. Just common decency.
Take all the nonsense about Buzz Lightyear and it’s depiction of a happy lesbian couple who actually kiss on screen. This is still a film about a white, male, protagonist. Sure, he has a character arc in that he isn’t perfect all the way through – but that’s the underpinning of nearly any narrative. This isn’t because Disney hates men, or whataever.
People pretending that it’s unnecessary to show a kiss on screen might be forgetting that nearly every Disney movie ever has some kind of kiss. This is one gay kiss. From supporting characters.
That might just make a few people a bit extra happy. And that accurately reflects and depicts what the world outside is like.
How is asking Jordan Peterson to treat his students with respect silencing his “freedom of speech?” But at the same time, forbidding the depiction of a gay couple in a movie, not?
Is Hollywood woke? This is my inherent bias, but can you imagine a world where characters like Superman or Optimus Prime agree with the views of someone like Jordan Peterson or Andrew Tate?
Honestly?
No. Because they’re the good guys. Good guys don’t do that sort of thing.
There is no logic, here. This is not a fight for freedom of speech, not at all.
More to the point, we need to take a moment to examine the nature of freedom. Total, complete freedom doesn’t exist and never has in a civilised society. It can’t. Otherwise, I would be free to punch you in the face, steal your car, and drive it drunk into the river.
There have always been things we can’t say or do. Those laws exist to protect other people and their freedom. No one complains that they aren’t allowed to drive drunk – because they know it protects other people (and themselves).
Very few complain that they have to wear a seatbelt.
So, why is it so wrong to ask that you don’t unnecessarily insult or belittle people?
If all this panic comes down to the fact that you can’t make as many racist, sexist, or gay jokes… why are you so intent on making racist, sexist, or gay jokes in the first place? Get over yourself.
It’s like that kid acting up in class. Everyone is groaning and asking them to stop but they just keep going out of stubbornness. No one is laughing at them, anymore.
Does political correctness sometimes go too far? Probably. But I’m not losing sleep over that.
This is hardly the big picture, is it? But stoking panic over an imagined “attack on free speech” benefits those already in positions of power.
Why? Because it makes any attempt by marginalised groups to ask to be treated fairly appear to be an ideological war and a threat to our way of life.
Because, ultimately, it would result in some changes to the status quo, resulting in the extremely wealthy likely becoming a little less wealthy.
That most likely doesn’t include you. I’m talking about the absolute tiny minority that is holding onto absurd amounts of wealth.
And perhaps Jordan Peterson is encouraged to share these views, having received funding by Rebel Media, in turn funded by Koch money and headed by the far-right Ezra Levant. Ben Shapiro is another who is funded by Koch money. Peterson has, in turn, attempted to drum up funding for the Institute of Human Studies, where Charles Koch sits as a member of the board of directors.
There’s a huge amount of funding that goes from wealthy billionaires like the Koch brothers and Wilks’ into this type of content. Many of the opinions you read online are paid for, just as many of the laws and policies past are paid for. All by billionaires trying to stay billionaires.
These are the same articles that say they’re being censored by the left. They’re saying this and it’s printed and you can read it. With no irony. And they’re funded by powerful corporations.
Why else would someone like Peterson take a stance on climate change? Because this is once again an area of interest for very wealthy billionaires who got their money from fracking, gas, and oil. They signal boost voices that claim climate change isn’t happening – despite indisputable evidence that it is – because slowing it would require structural changes that would threaten their position.
I don’t know that Peterson is actively saying these things to ensure he stays in the good books of these very wealthy players. He very possibly genuinely believes those things. But he’s still supporting the system that undermines the little guy and props up those with ridiculous wealth and power.
Who does this worldview benefit? That’s always the question to ask. Here’s a clue: it’s not you or me. It’s certainly not our children.
How to Unplug
Work harder. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And you too will be like the 1%. With their appalling amounts of wealth. With their many women and sports cars. Ignore the woke left, the liberals, the feminists, the racial minorities, the LGBQT community…
They are the Matrix. They’re the reason you’re weak.
Don’t complain. Don’t ask for change. Be a man. Otherwise, you don’t value freedom.
If you’re struggling to get out of your situation, you’re not trying hard enough. Depressed? You need to fix your life. Can’t fix your life? You must be lazy.
Not lazy? That’s just the inherent law of the universe, I’m afraid.
Climate change? Not real.
The people pushing this narrative are the ones funded by huge corporations and billionaires. The ones that want everything to stay just the way it is.
And this is seriously harming the mental health of the young men they are targeting. Young men who they condition to feel entitled to sex-on-tap and sports cars and wealth. The ones who want desperately to climb to the top of the arbitrary social hierarchy and achieve status.
Young men being taught that anything else is failure. Anything else is evidence they are not really men at all.
The ones who, nevertheless, remain broke, out of shape, and single. And very angry at all the wrong people.
The ones working stupid hours and forgoing social connections because they need to “grind.” The ones pushing hard in the gym and turning to steroids to get an edge. The ones who pay other men to rate their looks and hate the answer they get. The ones spending the money they do have on ridiculously expensive courses and side-hustles and pick up artist lessons.
And yet thinking they are the ones that see the strings. They are the ones who recognise they are in “The Matrix.” Aye.
And, to be clear, The Wachowskis who originally popularized the whole notion of “The Matrix,” are trans. The first film is a trans coming-out story. The story of “The One” is another form of control.
The system and the agents are the ones preventing people from being themselves.
This is precisely what “The Matrix” was always meant to be.
So, what do we do? How do we unplug from the Matrix?
On an individual level, we do it by forgetting all about status, all about being “alpha,” all about driving a Bugatti. That stuff literally doesn’t matter.
Not caring about status is about the most liberating thing you can do right now. And pursuing what actually makes you happy. For me it’s family and playing Sonic the Hedgehog and doing handstands and eating tuna sandwiches. And it’s writing and creating videos and expressing myself.
When I found my wife, someone who I love and who loves me back, and when we had children who also love us unconditionally… suddenly I was free from the dating game. Do you know what that does for you?
It means that you don’t need to buy expensive watches. It means you don’t need to signal that you’re “high value” on social media. It means you don’t need to try and be alpha or get upset if someone calls you “gay.”
Not that I did any of those things, anyway. I was always alarmingly weird.
Guess what happens when you stop trying to impress other men and, instead, just try and surround yourself with people you genuine like?
You can relax. You can stop pushing yourself to get that max bench press and instead focus on the fitness-encouraging activities you actually enjoy. You can talk about your feelings and cry and make stupid jokes and share embarrassing secrets. Build deeper relationships with people as a result.
You start to see all the posturing bullshit as just that. As kind of ridiculous.
And all the videos about it on YouTube just seem so depressingly shallow and misguided.
Likewise, once I decided I didn’t want to continue growing my business – that I was happy with a lifestyle business – do you know what it did for me?
It meant I could say what I wanted on the channel. It meant I could slow down my output and take more breaks. Come home to spend lunchtime with my kids.
And not bullshit through meetings to try and appease potential investors or business partners or collaborators.
I went to Silicone Valley a couple of times. The amount of BS being spread about there from people not half as smart as they thought they were was honestly bewildering. The amount of cash being wasted on ego projects, shocking.
But THIS is freedom: being happy.
Relaxing.
No, I can’t buy Bugatti. I really badly don’t want one.
You know, the other day, I put coolant in my car’s oil reservoir?
I should never be allowed a Bugatti!
Who cares what my status is? If I’m alpha or masculine or any of those things? That’s painfully boring to me.
I don’t want to be stoic or badass or any of those things.
I’d rather be Sonic the Hedgehog than the Punisher. Any day.
But, like I said, this is at the crux of who Andrew Tate is and who he caters to: the person desperately seeking status and power in the most shallow ways. And who honestly believes it’s just within reach.
And, honestly, he is the most tragic figure of them all.
I believe he purposefully manipulates young men just as he manipulates women. But I also believe he genuinely believes a lot of his own BS.
He thinks he is the most special and the most successful and the most famous. BECAUSE he sleeps with lots of women and drives a sports car. The earlier quote pretty much admits as much.
Like a 12 year-old.
Here’s a story that Tate wrote himself on his website:
Atop Wudan, Master Po snapped necks at will. Assessment was continuous, never ending.
Sometimes, mid morning exercise – he would snatch life from a training adept.
To us, the adepts technique looked as good as any of the students. Nobody knew exactly why.
All we could be certain of, is that death comes instantly. Quickly. We didn’t spend time admiring the body.
We refocused and continued training. Honing our skills. It was important we were always learning…. Because Master Po snapped necks at will.
I’m not here to mock. I’m simply pointing out that this is, irrefutably, the kind of story that a 12 year-old boy writes. Clearly, Tate believes himself to be a sage like Master Po. And lacks the self-awareness to know not to post this online.
He desperately wants to be admired as a powerful man.
His website might as well have been called “Daddy, do you love me now?”
Like I said: unironically tragic.
Another quote from the real-life Master Po, Andrew Tate:
“I’m either asleep, or at work. I don’t take a second off. I don’t take a minute off. I don’t rest. I don’t relax. I don’t chill. None.”
Does that sound like a happy man?
So, yes, simply not competing and not placing importance on the things that you’re being told are important – the signifiers of wealth and influence – will go a great way to helping you achieve personal freedom in a much truer sense.
As will finding someone you actually love and who loves you.
I hate seeing advice from pick up artists and the like saying that women only care about high value men with six packs and high-paying jobs on Instagram. That women are only attracted to status and wealth. That they spend all their time on social media.
Again, demeaning stereotyping and simply wrong. I’m not saying that as a wishy-washy “be yourself” type thing. I’m telling you the actual truth.
If you are confident AND a fun, kind, person, you’ll do great. You just have to find the person or people who like you.
My wife likes history (specifically the Tudors), baking, and psychology, among other things. She is SO unimpressed by wealth, swag, or abs. She’s effortless kind and fair.
It’s a similar story with all my female friends. That’s normal. Don’t live in this insane influencer world where you get women by paying for an online course. Where all women are the same, where they all want the same thing from men. Where being rejected is somehow the worst thing in the world.
Relax. You’re already free. Just stop pushing.
Of course, that’s all fine for me to say as someone who has enough money and a happy family. As someone who now hhas the luxury of focussing some of my time and energy on other things.
Those who can’t find work, who are marginalised, who are suffering… I’m truly sorry. But don’t take it out on the wrong people.
It’s okay if you don’t agree with my ideas of a welfare state that shares at least some of the horrific amounts of wealth possessed by just the few “elite.”
To me, it’s very apparent that we could have more equality and fairness by sharing the pie a little. I liken it to chips or French fries. If I have 10,000 French fries and you have a single French fry, I can afford to give you twenty French fries and still be absolutely fine.
What’s more, is that if another person comes along with no French fries at all, I should give them some of mine and not expect you to give any.
10,000 is too many French fries. No one needs that much at all.
It’s unfair. Gross. Disgusting. Glutenous.
This is the situation we live with. 54% of global wealth is owned by 1% of the population. In the US, 1% of households hold 32.2% of the country’s wealth and the bottom 50% hold 2.6%.
These stats are changing all the time. The specifics aren’t accurate but we know this is broadly true.
Unless you are a wealthy millionaire, then the “left” are trying to give you more of that 32.2%. No matter who you are. Whether you agree with everything they stand for or not, that is the basic concept behind left-wing politics.
They also want to ensure that healthcare is available. That you have somewhere safe to sleep, no matter what.
Make small changes – like helping us to work less so that the labour can be shared and there are significantly fewer people living in poverty. Simultaneously improving health by giving us more time away from stressful work environments. All simply by slightly reducing the huge amounts of profits allowed to go to and remain with those at the very top.
And I’m not saying all right wing politics is bad and all the left win politics are good. But know that this heavy leaning being spread all over YouTube and the fitness community… it doesn’t come from people trying to help you. It comes from the 1%. The people that have everything. Who want to make you angry at the wrong people.
You might not agree with all this, though.
That is honestly, fine.
Just PLEASE know that Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, and others like them are not your friends. They are not the wise purveyors of truth. They are very wealthy individuals, propping up other extremely wealthy individuals. They are not wise and they are not kind. And they are causing you far more harm than good.
Just as viewing women as conquests won’t make you happy. Tying your self-esteem up in how many women you’ve been with won’t make you happy. Chasing after status and cars, won’t make you happy.
And this should have no place in fitness content.
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I knew I liked you for a reason. I’m sure you will get blowback for this, so I want to make sure you know some of us appreciate you.
Thank you 😀 Appreciate you, too! Probably not my smartest career move, but I have a platform and honestly it just feels like a responsibility. Thanks for the support.
I just want to train like Batman, and now politics is claiming yet another of my favorite channels. Crap baskets.
Apologies. I genuinely didn’t plan on this and I know it’s not what a lot of people are here for. But, ultimately, I have always used this as a platform to express myself. This is something I needed to get off my chest. And, tbh, with so much harmful content out there, it really started to feel like a responsibility to speak up.
I’ll probably be returning to these topics (sorry). I hope you’re still able to enjoy the other stuff 🙂
That was awesome. I started watching some of your videos on YT yesterday and one thing I was concerned about was the typically stupid advice about fitness and health.
I have never watched Tate because I realized he was a moron. I read both of Peterson’s books and then went into stuff that criticize him just to balance my reading out and I decided I couldn’t stand the guy.
Well said.
Thank you! 😀
Yeah, I wasn’t sure what to make of him either. But the more I watched, the more I started to dislike the guy’s views. I think that’s what makes him quite dangerous – he seems very reasonable and quotes a lot of “facts.”
Well said brother! Thank you for sharing and spreading such a positive message.
Hey Adam, that was a very thorough and very heartfelt discussion of some pretty dark material. That can’t have been easy, and it must have been a lot of work, and I want to thank you for taking it on.
This kind of content feeds on discontent, and produces more of it, a perfect loop. The consumers imagine themselves as players without ever realising that they are being played, but I have never fully understood how much they really need to blame others (women especially) to maintain the illusion.
I have learned what to look for and now find it easier to spot and avoid these destructive messages, so I probably haven’t been aware of the scope of this problem, but I know one young man who is thoroughly impressed with people posing with Lamborghinis. He imagines how great it must be to have one parked in front of his home, although he never explains what he would do with it or how it would change his situation (he still lives with his parents and seems quite depressed). He only seems to become animated when talking about people he imagines to be very rich.
It’s weird and sad.
Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback and I’m glad you found it interesting. I’ve seen a lot of guys like that, and I really hope they find more positive role models.
To be honest, this felt like something I had to write – despite my reservations. I don’t think I’m done yet, either!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and writing this. Something that I saw on your Interview with Thomas Merick(Bodyweight Warrior) was how you were setting aside what you wanted to do with your channel just to fulfill the desires of your audience, it has stuck with me for a while. Hope this was a step in the right direction, once again thank you for writing this.
Oh yeah, this wasn’t my best career move. Very much something I felt I had to write.
I want to make this into a video but it’s 7,500 words and it seems like a monumental project. The “How to be a Man” short is the best I have for now, but I’ll definitely be coming back to this topic for more content. Wish me luck haha!
Well said. It’s always very seductive to think that you’re privy to some secret knowledge or insight, and that the reason you’re not living some fantasy life is because the world is broken in some way. Then you get to put yourself in a heroic narrative of resistance against the dark powers that are keeping you down. The dull and humdrum reality — that life is full of minor (and sometimes major) disappointments, is boring and unsatisfying much of the time, and that not only is no one in control, but no one even cares about you enough to try and keep you down — is much harder to face.
There are positive spins we can put on it but you’re right – a lot of the appeal comes from that idea of being a hero against the system. Ironically, I think life would be a lot simpler for a lot of people if there really *was* some big conspiracy!
Thank you, I feel like this is what I needed from one of my fav fitness people. I love how you linked the issue of Tate and his misogyny to a plethora of interconnected problems that harm everyone. I was excited to share this article with my trans spouse because it is awesome when someone you look up to can be identified as a “safe person”. By that I mean, I truly appreciate your humanity, self-awareness, and humility.
I think you made the correct choice in throwing your hat in. It helps create the world you want to see more of, and that takes courage, which benefits communities more than individual monetary gain. Good on ya mate.
Thank you 😀 Really glad some of this resonated. And I know what you mean. I don’t want to villainise anyone, but it is very refreshing to know that others think the same way as you. I guess I felt a need to distance myself from some of the rhetoric surrounding the online fitness “community” because maybe people otherwise assume that’s my stance. And I personally find it so unpalatable.
And, yeah, it kind of does feel like a bit of a responsibility. With so many people, unfortunately, looking up to Tate and his ilk, I think it’s important to push back with alternative view points. I *hope* that those sorts of channels are the vocal minority and the world as a whole is becoming a little more tolerant – but I’m not sure that isn’t just optimism.
Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence – it means a lot!
The world needs more people with this mindset, keep it up.
Thank you for this article it has made me challenge my thinking about these two figures. However I still feel that Jordan Peterson does have a net positive effect. His YouTube channel and psychology lectures keep me pushing past my limits. And just a simple YouTube search will show tonnes of people both men and women stating how Jordan Peterson changed their life for the better. Even Cristiano ronaldo explains how he resonated with the lectures and after meeting him in person. Says how much of a great guy he was. I personally think viewers should listen to him fully and take his advice on more of the controversial matters with a pinch of salt. This is just my opinion, feel free to convince me otherwise. Love your channel and the newsletter. God bless you and your family
I just want to say, I really appreciate all the work you do (everything you write is always a pleasure to read), and I commend the responsibility and courage you have in writing this.
I’ve been watching you train like a super-hero for a few years now. All the while I didn’t know you were literally an actual hero of the people, just waiting til you were established enough to be open about it without losing your livelihood. Nicely done. ????
Completely agree with this. Well said!
Even though It felt kind of out of place for me to read a political article from you as I follow you strictly for your fitness content (Btw would love another fighting related video, similar to the one you made on Baki) I still appreciate you taking your time to express your Opinion on this. I usually withhold from most political commentary but since I have already spend a lot of time reading this, a couplemore minutes to comment can’t hurt:
Whilst reading your text I found myself agreeing with a lot you were saying but also had many moments of disagreement. And this situation probably describes my general take ok the public debate best. I believe that many public debates have increasingly gotten more heated and toxic in recent years, everybody must have an opinion on everything and there’s always just 2 opinions on a matter: you are either for something or against it. And this is a phenomenon that people from both left and right have pushed.
On the woke left you have people who are offended at everything said and are never not angry at someone or something. Many of them believe in Marxist or far progressive ideals, which sound good on paper, but only lead to misery in the real world.
On the other side you have people that deny everything the left says just out of principle. You have people that deny real world issues and spew hatred onto those around them.
there is idiots on both sides which is why my take is always this: Instead of worshipping these famous individuals, taking everything they say for true and dismissing everything said against them as hate or “an attack from the matrix”, just listen to what they are saying, take the part that’s good from them and move on. Don’t get stuck on the negative, judge people as a whole by how they impact those around them.
Whilst I don’t necessarily enjoy listening to Tate, I still admire his work ethic and will to stand for what he believes to be true. Even though I might disagree with some things he says This is still something that I appreciate and that I can pursue for my own personal life.
Same goes for Peterson. I don’t agree to everything he says and I haven’t watched any of his new stuff since I noticed him getting more radical in his speech in newer videos. Still, I read (or rather listened to) his book and older lectures and was pleasantly surprised by how useful and positive a lot of the stuff he’s saying really is. There’s no wonder so many people online thank him for helping them out or getting them on the right track again, this guys advice, especially to young men is legit!
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s all about balance. People who disagree with you aren’t evil and people you agree with aren’t saints. Judge everyone fairly and not through the lenses of you own political or social beliefs. You can look at the extremes but never tend to them as they are harmful in both directions
Hard work is important and beneficial for improving your life. If you all you do is “hustle”, you’ll miss out on opportunities to enjoy life. If you don’t work and slack of the same will happen. It’s all about balance.
Treat yourself and others with respect. If you take yourself to serious and are always trying to portray a perfect image of yourself, you’ll miss out on the actual good people that you need in life and you’ll become miserable. If you don’t treat yourself with respect and only pity yourself all the time the same will happen. It’s all about balance.
I hope I was able to get my point across., I’m not a native speaker so I found it quite challenging to articulate my thoughts on this topic but feel free to challenge or debate me on anything I said. I’m a firm believer of open dialogue so I’m open to your comments!
You didn’t have to post this, but I’m glad you did. It’s also great to see that you have a very human, considered stance as well. There are a lot of knuckleheads in the fitness space, and I’m glad to see you are not one of them. I look forward to continuing to support you and what you do.
I’ve been watching you train like a super-hero for a few years now. All the while I didn’t know you were literally an actual hero of the people, just waiting til you were established enough to be open about it without losing your livelihood. Nicely done. ????
The problem with the system is that it finds being Heroic, except in a fantasy, movie / Superhero way. You dont need a massive conspiracy for that, just a grey mass of middle managers counting beans and covering their ‘assets’.
The world has gotten so boring and safe that people need to make up things to fight about….its what the late Ted K called in his book ‘surrogate activities’ for the energy that used to go into ‘power process’ that people needed to do to stay alive. Add in that most people dont have a religious tradition to make them feel permanent or important in the scheme of things and its no wonder people are going bonkers on the left and the right.
Didn’t expect this!
I’m glad some people are starting to speak out against these reactionary scam artists. I know that the red pill movement is relatively small (in the offline world, at least) but it’s increasingly influential with teens and that’s the terrifying thing.
Kudos!
An excellent article! It is disturbing how dangerous demagogues like Peterson and Tate go unchallenged intellectually. You have done this. Since the economic crisis of 2008 many people’s lives have been ruined and the likes of Tate divert them to blaming other people, often those already suffering from prejudice. They ignore where power really is, that is the class system. You are correct that their is also an attack on modernity, which is no surprise as you say their ideas went out in the 50s.
Ollie
Tate is just a pimp directing people into pursuits and predation on their own people, which dont threaten the power structure. Dr EM Jones wrote an article “Pimping the system and the system of pimping” that shows how the same thing was done to US blacks when their political movements were turning violent.
Jordon Peterson, on the other hand, is just a sign of how pathetic our society is when young men need someone to tell them the basic stuff their father or older men used to teach them. He is soft soap, IMO, and just an indicator of what the decline of steady 2 parent families have done.
Its a self correcting problem though, modernity is just the normal cycle of civilizations hitting a peak of comfort and decadence which is followed by a return to more normal conditions when people cant maintain the same level of wealth that has allowed the relaxation of regular social constraints.
Hey Bioneer, I got a little emotional with your post because this is what I’ve been trying to figure at the age of 24. There’s a lot of content on social networking (especially YouTube) that hit you with these misguided ideas about men, woman, society, the system (possibly a lot more bs) that pop up from thumbnails, headers, and titles, descriptions. What makes the content tragic is that the people who make them..REALLY believe it. And that everyone needs to believe it, yet the claims don’t touch reality and don’t have a structured/good explanation; or they don’t consider other’s views about what they share (most likely they are always different point of views, yet they may not be open minded to them). It’s like my step father has always told me about social media – “People just say WHATEVERs on their minds.” And he made a good point, a lot of them do, yet we may be vulnerable to their ideas and claims; and end up…believing it. The next you thing you get is muddled thinking about life. This is why I ended up leaving most social networking sites and keep my YouTube usage lower because…most of the content is simply…TOXIC to the mind. I’ll be honest, I used to believe all this nonsense, I really did, but I started to sense that something felt really wrong or off about it; especially when I took it to mind for a couple years. I realized that this isn’t what I really want out of life or what I would like to view in life; and it’s very likely that there is people out there who think the same way. Not all of us want cars, want sex, want lots of wealth, girls, dates, and whatever the hell social media has tried to make people believe is…the LIFE (when people have different perspectives on how they want to live life and they are passionate about it; well hopefully). I’ve been a lot happier and looking for meaning in life. I figured a simple and responsible life was good enough for me (and I do my best to never be ashamed of it). Still facing problems with my mental health/bad habits (can’t deny it), but hey, everyone has problems. It doesn’t always involve with our mentality, but without current situations (poverty, loss of job, family issues, whatever you encounter everyday). And there’s times where I always pity and try to be everybody’s shoes. Because deep down, we are doing our best, we are trying to live, and we are dealing with our problems. No, it doesn’t mean we are lazy, or not working hard enough, or we aren’t being smart, or we aren’t good enough. We are just being human. We are trying to survive and be grateful with what we have in life, and we try to support each other. Wooooooo….that was lot on my mind, but wanted to share this with you, Bioneer. There’s so much else to say, but these were my main points. Thank you for this post, man. I still got a lot to learn growing up, and I’m still keep that in thought every day. I hope you read this and know that you aren’t the only one who is getting a bigger picture about life.
Whoops, going to comment again because of an error. When I talked about situations, I meant “with current situations”, not “without current situations”. Haha, got to double check my writing next time. Again, thanks for this post Bioneer. Hope all is well!
Nicolas
There are way too many people who think they have everything worked out- it took me years to get to my current understanding of the way the world works and I expect it will evolve over time.
If your looking for good explanations of why people act as they do you could do worse then “The Jolly Heretic” , Prof. Dutton, he is kinda a weirdo but his work on Evolutionary Psyc gives a pretty good guide, way better then the current “blank slate” model of human behavior being utterly teachable and utterly shapeable.
His book on the decline of IQ is stellar, and he ties his work into the cycle of civilizations super well…spiteful mutants thriving in the wealthy phase and then causing the adooption of destructive behaviors until the collapse. It fits well with the history I’ve studied.
Two books that cover Incentives and how they shape behavior and shape society in unexpected ways are “Freakanomics” (They have a podcast too) and “Superfreakanomics”
Well said. The media commentators propping up the obscenely rich are so obvious that it is an insult to a genuinely free mind to listen to the obvious bias of their fantasy where everyone can be happy as long as we support ‘the landed gentry’. This doesn’t make you rich. This makes you a serf. Fitness and a healthy lifestyle doesn’t just stop at training and nurturing your body, it’s the pursuit of happiness. You can’t buy that, there’s no plan that can guarantee it.
I am a Finnish elected politician, and a “right wing” at that, even called “extreme right wing” in Finland. Nonetheless I agree with you.
I started following your channel because I was interested in Charles Atlas. But then I noticed that you have a bright mind about lots of things. You put in words what I have always thought about the so-called “manosphere”, “matrixosphere” or what ever you want to call it. I thank you for your insights and teachings. You are doing a good work.
I hope I can some day write you an email about interesting things about how Charles Atlas and isometric training is connected to occult via a British comic book writer. I think it would be a topic interesting and curious enough that you would be entertained enough to read a small email about it.
Disclaimer: What is considered “right wing” in Finland would be considered “left wing” in USA, even more so than Bernie Sanders. Your “left wing” is far more “right wing” than even the most radical capitalist and nationalistic politicians in Finland.
Really enjoyed reading through this. I’ve honestly never followed Tate or Peterson and perhaps am therefore biased to take your side on the topic, but it has often been an underlying viewpoint of mine that if something gains excessive popularity there is normally strings being pulled by people with different agendas. I’ve read a great number of books relating to nutrition and fitness for example and what I’m finding more often then not is that some of the most heartfelt and sincere writing comes from many individuals that are not viral influencers. This is of course how I came across your book on functional training. I’m not implying that you haven’t been successful of course. It’s rather that your opinions are not simply the paid opinions of others that wish to push a certain agenda, or “the matrix within the matrix” as you call it. Anyhow, I’m glad others are showing positive feedback on this to and hope you always remain committed to this mindset! Cheers.