EMAIL NUMBER 37
TITLE:
Eating Steak for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
FROM:
Scott P. Scheper
Downtown San Diego, CA
TO:
You*
START TIME:
Friday 2:20 p.m.
Dear Friend,
I am writing this email to you with a wad of beef jerky in my mouth.
Mind you; this is after eating a steak for breakfast and lunch.
Why am I eating only meat?
Am I some kind of freak who hates cows?
No. I am not.
Although, I will say cows aren't the most jocular of God's creatures, I have nothing against cows.
You see, for the past week I have been experimenting with the "Lion Diet."
This is a diet that entails only eating meat. Yes, 100% meat. No carbs, no veggies, no bullshit.
Anyway, why in the hell am I following this Lion Diet?
Before I tell you why, let me share how it all came about:
Last weekend, I was in the mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado for a wedding. The wedding was quaint and fun, and my fiancé and I, well, we had a grand 'ole time.
The next day after the wedding was a Sunday. It was about an hour-and-a-half drive from Estes Park to the airport. I was driving a redneck Dodge Challenger rental car, and sleeping next to me was my fiancé. Because of this, I couldn't blast the radio and listen to whatever's popular amongst Colorado folk (MMMBop by Hanson). So what did I decide to do?
I decided to pop in my Apple Airpods in my ears and listen to a podcast on YouTube.
The first recommendation that came up was an interview with Jordan Peterson, conducted by Lex Fridman (who is awesome). Lex is a young, rather stoic Russian-born American computer scientist who wears the same thing every day: a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie.
The man Lex was interviewing was Jordan Peterson, a Canadian bestselling author, and former clinical psychologist.
Chances are you've heard of Jordan Peterson. And chances are you've probably heard of Lex Fridman, too.
Anyway, Jordan Peterson most famously pissed off social justice warriors and feminists by declining to accept the 78 (and counting) gender pronouns that have emerged.
Jordan is also famous for his fantastic debates with Sam Harris on YouTube (I suggest you watch), as well as his bestselling books: 12 Rules for Life, and Maps of Meaning.
Despite what my fiancé thinks, I'm not a fanboy of Jordan Peterson (she hates him). I do like listening to him debate Sam Harris and talk about archetypal matters (relating to Carl Jung and the Hero's Journey).
Anyway, there I was last Sunday, driving down some road in the middle of nowhere in Colorado, listening to a conversation between Lex Fridman and Jordan Peterson.
During the podcast Lex asks Jordan what his typical everyday routine is like. Jordan responded by saying he's up by 7:00 a.m., and for breakfast he eats steak. "How about coffee?" asks Lex. To which Jordan replies with something like: "Nope, I don't drink coffee. I just eat steak and drink sparkling water." And then Jordan goes on to say that he eats steak probably three or four times, per day.
I found this amusing.
I mean, I had heard of the whole Lion Diet thing before (from a Joe Rogan interview with Jordan's most-probably-insane daughter, Mikhaila). However, it never struck me as feasible, or even appealing.
Yet, for some reason, I found it amusing (and appealing) while driving through some nameless small town in Colorado.
Right then and there, I made a decision:
I shall become a lion!
Therefore, for the past week I have tested out this so-called Lion Diet for myself and I must say: it's not so bad.
In fact, I feel pretty damn good physically, and pretty damn good mentally.
However, I am admittedly not adhering to it strictly. The first I followed it very strictly. I did things Jordan Peterson-style, and I ate only steak and drank only water.
I felt miserable at that point. I felt like the catholic monk in Da Vinci Code played by Paul Bettany who kept whipping himself as a penance for his sins.
So yeah, after one day on a strict Lion Diet, I cooled off, and I allowed myself to have fish, coffee, creamer, chocolate, and of course, Chardonnay. But other than that, I'm like a total Lion Diet beast, man.
So, to sum things up: During this drive from Estes Park to the airport, I decided to switch my diet and become a freaking lion.
By the time my fiancé and I returned our redneck car, and got through security at the airport, there came the first test in this hero's journey: we decided to dine at a restaurant in the airport.
The challenge at hand was this: could I find a meal suitable enough for myself (aka, a fucking lion), and… could I resist eating the sides that came with my meal?
As it turns out, I could.
I sat across from my fiancé and glared down at the menu like the starving lion I was. Lo and behold, there on the menu was some delicious prey. It was nothing other than… elk!
I ordered the elk, and I proceeded to eat the elk, and only the elk (in the most savage fashion, mind you, inside the most regular airport restaurant ever).
I had passed the first test of a lion: I ate meat and only meat.
Anyway, while all of this was going on, my email was blowing up. It was filled with messages from fantastic and freaking awesome volunteers who offered their translation services for free.
In case you don't remember, last week I sent out an email talking about how Niklas Luhmann's son, Clemens Luhmann, shared with me a chapter from a book he had. This chapter (written in German) is a document Clemens insists that his father was influenced by when he began building out his Zettelkasten in the early 1950s.
In that airport restaurant, while stuffing my face with elk, I was glancing down at my phone to sift through all of the people who offered to help me translate the document.
Well, I have some good news to share: I ended up getting the chapter translated from German to English so that you can read this special chapter for yourself.
This chapter is from a book titled, "Technik des Wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens" by Johannes Erich Heyde. In German, the book's title translates to Technique of Scientific Work. Several astute readers guessed the "secret book" I was talking about was this book (and they were right)!
The interesting piece is that Clemens confirmed this book had a great influence in shaping how Luhmann built his own Zettelkasten.
Anyway, if you'd like to read the chapter, here's the link:
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_n18sh8I5uSofWU6f_SpBShVbEvUrE0a/view?usp=sharing]
Again, this chapter is what Luhmann read early on in his career as an intellectual. It greatly shaped how he architected his Zettelkasten.
Apart from transforming into a lion in the past week, and apart from uncovering an influential document that shaped Luhmann's Zettelkasten, I also have a few more updates to share with you:
First, most of my time and energy are dedicated to two things:
First and foremost, much of my time is spent serving my private 1-on-1 clients via my three-month program called the Neo-Intellectual Institute. This program is dedicated to helping people achieve what I call the "Neo-Intellectual Life." That is, how to spend your days reading, writing, researching (while also making a comfortable living doing so). How? By building out your own audience and community.
My time has been occupied with my Neo-Intellectuals lately. It's been a blast! I've been coaching my Neo-Intellectuals and creating course content for them.
If you'd like to get on the waiting list for the next class (which will open up in November), you can learn more and apply here:
[www.neointellectual.institute]
The second thing that has me occupied is my book!
I'm happy to announce that I've locked down a designer to do the typesetting and interior design of the book.
I've also begun discussions with offset printers.
Last but not least, I'll be getting the cover designed here soon, too.
In the meantime, I'll be releasing and working on even more stuff in preparation for the book launch.
In brief, my top two priorities are, (1) My Neo-Intellectuals, and (2) The Antinet Zettelkasten book.
By the way, the official title of the book is ANTINET ZETTELKASTEN, and the subtitle is Uncovering the True Magic of the Notebox System That Will Turn You into a Research and Writing Machine.
If you like the sound of this, shoot me a reply and say, "Hell yeah, the book's title and subtitle sound awesome." And feel free to add anything else.
Ah, and before I go, I just remembered where I was going with all this time and "priority" stuff.
In order to practice what I preach with the Neo-Intellectual Life (and not become a "Hashtag #Hustle bro" who works 12 hours a day), I decided to place one of my usual activities on pause (for now): YouTube video creation.
For the past good while now, I've been releasing one new YouTube video per week.
This has been fine; however, my current focus is to serve my Neo-Intellectuals and produce deep video lessons and course material for them on a weekly basis. On top of this, it's "go-time" for my book launch.
As such, my time and priorities for creating YouTube videos have been demoted.
Therefore, for the time being I'm going to stop releasing new YouTube videos. I will focus on building private course content for my Neo-Intellectuals, and focus on the book launch.
Around the time the book will be launching I'll hopefully have some good ideas reserved for my next set of Antinet Zettelkasten videos.
Until then, sorry, it's only my Neo-Intellectuals who will get juicy video content.
The content they're getting is quite different than my typical YouTube videos.
The course material I create for my Neo-Intellectuals are pre-planned and contain in-depth, action-oriented lessons. It takes a lot of time and energy to create such videos.
The next Neo-Intellectual Institute class will be launching in November 2022. If you're interested in joining the next class, you can apply here: [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScr44nUywl46uJ5oIZryqCQXpK6wHibaNYCqxSzWqbeYALzcw/viewform]
Until then, I hope you can sit tight on the YouTube content. I'll be releasing more videos, just less frequently. Hope you understand.
Your once friendly neighborhood provider of free Antinet Zettelkasten YouTube content,
Scott P. Scheper
"A Man Who Is About to Make Sure The Whole World Knows About The (True) Zettelkasten and The Analog Knowledge Revolution We're Creating. Get Ready."
P.S.
Stay crispy, my friend.
END TIME:
Friday 6:03 p.m.
AUTH TRUTH:
97
