Tim Ferriss

and, like, Bertrand Russell and this, this, and this.

And we would have these long debates, and I'm trying to kind of prevent him from being weaponized in this church, because he was, like, the heir apparent.

Like, he's got a really smart guy, very intense, super aggressive in everything he did.

And I was very concerned, but ultimately realized that at that point in time, he had no safety net.

He was going through this horrible divorce.

His life was falling apart.

His family was having all these problems, meaning his family of origin.

And I was like, I think if this gets taken away, I'm not even convinced I can take it away, but if I were to be able to take it away, then what?

And I was like, I'm not willing to, I would rather him roll the dice with this particular church than have on my conscience that he killed himself or something horrible happened.

But from that point forward, I had this really bad taste in my mouth.

And so I had really strong conviction around not necessarily atheism, but like hyper skepticism, which I think I still have and that served me well.

But

after some of these psychedelic experiences, and also just, frankly, after spending time with some of these indigenous groups, with the recognition that, like,

Some of these groups also use what we might consider, like, stage magic, right?

Like, there are performances that a mentalist or someone could potentially try to replicate, right?

Just like someone can mimic remote viewing, right?

Like, there are people who've done this.

There's a great documentary called Honest Liar that people should watch.

But...

I've just seen too many things now and experienced too many things.