Mere Mortals Conversations

Can silence be used to actually enhance your conversations? In this episode of 'Musings' we discuss: how to begin researching a new interest, Juan's experience in the consulting world, triangulating for the basics across multiple sources, why looking at the top performers might not be useful for the layman, the tell-tale signs of bullshit artists, intentionally introducing a silent pause while conversing, a surprising fact about people on silent retreats and the mental difference between introverts and extroverts. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Operatic opening & Mere Mortal Moments3:56 - Method for researching a topic8:08 - Consulting: the expert without any expertise12:50 - Aggregating the fundamentals15:48 - Research at the extremes17:38 - How to find out the bullshit artists?22:26 - Does emotion help when deep diving into a topic?26:07 - The power of silence32:18 - 10-15% of people have a mental breakdown on silent retreat36:55 - People who need constant social stimulation41:06 - Share by being silent

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

“Work hard to beat the competition” can be just as negative as it can be positive. As Terry Crews puts it, competition is the opposite of creativity.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Meanderings, Interviews & Themed Podcast.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_mediaFacebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

In the future will consciousness replace money as a placeholder for value? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: the possibility of virtual reality allowing consciousness to become a commodity, why the attention economy is becoming the most valuable economy, why consciousness isn't already the most valuable item to humanity, how the Mere Mortals will disagree in an argument, deciding whether to resolve or simply avoid a conflict, a couple of real-life examples of disagreements and when it is worth getting into an argument. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments1:42 - Can consciousness become a commodity?6:11 - Your attention is becoming the most valuable thing16:42 - Nobody is talking about consciousness19:49 - The only thing you can be sure of is that something is happening right now22:30 - How the Mere Mortals are able to disagree amicably30:40 - Intentionally not resolving a disagreement33:20 - Kyrin's Chilean tree story36:53 - Don't half-ass an argument42:42 - Share the arguments across the world

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Brendan joins Kyrin again but this time out in beautiful nature of Brisbane. No punches are held, going straight into a conversation about whether humans have free will. Also touched upon were: the manipulative advertising of companies trying to maximise profits, Alex Jones and why certain extreme viewpoints can be quite liberating, the world tricking us into working, whether UBI would create bad incentives and reduce human motivation, the love some people have for toiling at their job, realising your true nature when you sit down to meditate and the funny 911 calls that dumb Americans make. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Do humans have freewill?2:42 - Big companies using manipulation techniques6:19 - The psychology of hardcore conspiracy theorists8:50 - We've been tricked into being productive10:48 - Human motivation and UBI15:50 - $50k in your pocket17:00 - Some people love to toil20:48 - Kyrin's nature is to flip out at ants22:42 - Loud motorbikes and frivolous noise complaints26:19 - Easter eggs from the handstand master

Connect with Brendan:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brendanjayobalances/
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

In this themed episode Juan and Kyrin discuss the topic of 'Gratitude'. As usual they kick off with their MMM's before defining the word. Being thankful doesn't seem to come easily to most people and a lot of the language tends to reflect this. It somewhat needs to be treated as a skill to be acquired, hence the need to 'cultivate' or 'grow' the habit of showing appreciation and returning kindness.
The role that gratitude plays in religion also seems to be quite crucial. There is a strong message found in the major religions of returning kindness to one's neighbours and showing thanks to one's god for his bounty. Kyrin made the point that this is perhaps why religion helps form a cohesive social society, much like trust is what allows for economical development. Both Mere Mortals believe that introducing a gratitude practice into one's life is a useful edition and provide some tips on how they personally incorporate it. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments2:44 - Definition and gratitude in Spanish7:20 - How not to practice being grateful12:07 - How to practice being grateful15:40 - Enjoying the suffering21:43 - Taking it to the extreme26:33 - Gratitude doesn't come easily32:59 - Expressing thankfulness in religions36:56 - How can I be thankful when life is shit?43:04 - Does gratitude make a society prosper socially?48:08 - Summing up our thoughts

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

How bad is climate change really? In this bonus episode Juan and Kyrin go over their thoughts of the recent David Attenborough documentary. This starts with a summary of the doco, before leading onto the parts they liked/disliked as well as the thought provoking questions that were raised. These included discussion points on: providing actionable advice and an uplifting ending, personal accountability and gratitude, humans propensity to hate change of any sort, animal extinction perhaps not always being a negative, the value of animal lives and whether nuclear energy should be considered when compared to renewable sources. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro0:55 - Overview of the doco2:42 - The parts we liked: cinematography, young David, uplifting ending9:20 - The parts we disliked: personal accountability15:11 - Gratitude and judging past humans19:04 - Valuing animal lives21:44 - Finite and infinite games24:28 - Is nuclear energy better than wind or solar33:25 - Summary of our viewing experience

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

In this fitness dominated episode of 'Musings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: realising the podcast is a serious venture due to the sacrifices being made, Kyrin's problem with ever elongating workouts due to all the fun exercises out there, taking shorter rest times in the gym, exercising based on feel vs based on data, Bradley and his propensity to take things to the extreme and taking care of your body. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments4:41 - Making sacrifices: what is important?6:20 - Concept creep in workouts8:29 - Extremely long gym sessions10:10 - Why don't people record their workouts?14:20 - Bradley and overdoing to the extreme19:03 - Reduce human suffering one injury at a time20:36 - Help out your injured friends; the Mere Mortals say 'no'

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

An example from everyday life on how gamifying life can help you stay on track and keep progressing, specifically discussing the term SWOLF in swimming.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Meanderings, Interviews & Themed Podcast.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_mediaFacebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

In this super special episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and Kyrin are announcing their mini-partnership with Jonathan from Suit Society to giveaway a $150 suit voucher to the Mere Mortal listeners. The offer is only applicable for those living in the Brisbane area but the reward for those unable to enter is the knowledge that both Mere Mortals really appreciate you for listening from across Australia (and across the seas) and that we are and will continue to send positive vibes your way.
But onto the actual episode. Discussed within is: Kyrin's continual self-hatred for getting sunburnt, Juan's annoyance at useless words and lexicon, a hypothetical about AI increasing the gini coefficient and making the rich even richer, whether wealth is a zero-sum game, Ubuntu and living a life connected with others, whether intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is more powerful and the potential for a structured routine to actually minimise effectiveness. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - We're doing a suit voucher giveaway!!!2:42 - Mere Mortal Moments9:56 - Extending the difference between the haves and have nots15:22 - Are the rich stealing from the poor?23:12 - Ubuntu: I am because you are27:08 - Something to live for or something to die for33:10 - Structured routine or loosey goosey35:34 - More details about Suit Society and the competition

About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show

Liliana Maria is an experienced & skilled cultural trainer, educator and storyteller. She has over 5 years experience in the refugee and asylum seeker sector. Liliana arrived in 1988 as a refugee herself on a humanitarian visa from Santiago, Chile. In this conversation they first touch upon her family's backstory of fleeing from political repression under the military dictatorship of Pinochet.
Identity is also an intriguing question that Liliana has had to deal with, having strong cultural ties to both Australia and Chile. This leads to talking about why labels and having borders can harm the ability to have open communication. Storytelling is a key part in creating open communication and Liliana does this through workshops under her brand of 'Moving Cultures, Moving Stories'. The conversation ends with the change Chile has undergone in her lifetime, teaching children about the world and her favourite book 'The Little Prince'. As always we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Introduction to Liliana Maria1:09 - Liliana's Mere Mortal Moment2:48 - Leaving Chile7:44 - Returning to your cultural roots14:42 - Identity and using labels21:54 - Storytelling and eliciting the right emotions28:47 - Chile: past and present33:58 - The right time for children to learn about the world36:33 - Favourite book: The Little Prince38:53 - Where to find Liliana
Connect with Liliana:Website: https://movingculturesmovingstories.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movingculturesmovingstories/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MovingCulturesMovingStories
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Support the show