Mere Mortals Conversations

Do we actually have the ability choose our own actions? In this themed episode Juan and Kyrin discuss the topic of 'Free Will'. As usual the discussion kicks off with the MMM's and definition before explaining where the crew were influenced on this topic. Kyrin explains why he doesn't believe in free will but how it is a very useful psychological tool. Juan also details how he believes we have free will but it is in a diminished capacity and depends on the boundaries of the definition.
Also touched upon in this conversation was: the ego/self and our subconscious, how free will is used in the justice system, the levels of free will that animals, babies and comatose people have, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and how this influences determinism and randomness, what would experience if the brain and heart were switched as well as some fun facts about the eyes. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments2:40 - Definition4:02 - Our influences on the topic6:12 - Why free will doesn't exist14:24 - Boundaries, the ego and the self18:51 - Criminal law and the ethics of punishment22:14 - Do animals have free will? What about babies or a comatose person?35:15 - Heisenberg's uncertainty principle43:12 - Where is the self located?47:12 - Experience if the brain and heart were switched49:55 - Eyes and the world upside down52:38 - Sum up of the discussion58:47 - YOU HAVE NO FREE WILL, DO WHAT WE SAY

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

What do you wish you had been told in High School to prepare you for entering the workforce? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: a mini Q&A session following on from their engineering episode, different meditation techniques and how Juan dealt with a situation of a conflict of ideas, Kanye's appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience and the speed at which his brain works, discussing general ethics from Kyrin's use of the Instagram app and why certain words should be avoided due to the strong negative connotation behind them. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments3:38 - What made us leave engineering?6:20 - Would our high school selves have chosen a different path?9:01 - Did our school give us adequate career advice?12:28 - How would you suggest high schools prepare students?13:47 - Juan's learnings from an Indian meditation workshop21:24 - Kanye West is a manic genius!26:10 - The ethics of 'judging' people35:08 - Finding a better lexicon for certain words40:27 - Sharing the love

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

Is it time to loose our minds yet or is it really blown over proportion. In this little monologue, Juan goes over his thoughts on Trump loosing, spending energy on the subject and who exactly benefits from knowing such information.
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

Have you heard young kids talking about Trump, Biden and the latest American political news? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: the absolute waste of time that the average Joe spends on watching politics, how to deal with poor customer service, the let-down of buying a 2L beer tower, sports becoming gamified and Ultimate Tennis Showdown, why there is a strong emphasis for Colombians to attain degrees in higher education, what the MM's would do if they had to start from scratch and how Juan approaches networking in person. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Burning in the sun & Mere Mortal Moments5:22 - Is following politics a waste of time?14:37 - Joey's and poor customer service19:21 - Terrible beer towers 24:03 - Ultimate Tennis Showdown25:56 - Colombians emphasis on higher education31:27 - Starting from scratch: what would you do?34:50 - How Juan networks37:39 - The Mere Mortals are on the move!

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:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

Tanya Hall is an ultramarathoner, food blogger and mother/spouse to a loving family. Previously a journalist/editor in the UK, Tanya now lives in Brisbane devotes large amounts of time to following her passion for running and food. In this conversation we chatted about her relatively recent deep dive into the world of running very long distances, the mental process she goes through and touch upon the books 'Born To Run' (Christopher McDougall) and 'The Run-Walk-Run Method' (Jeff Galloway).
The second half of the interview focuses upon Tanya's passion for food and blogging. Thanks to the creation of Instagram and blogs, she has found a niche for herself by reviewing restaurants, posting recipes and enjoying all the 'unhealthy' but extremely tasty food the world has to offer. Tanya is an amazingly positive person and she also talks about how she overcame postpartum depression and the value of living in the moment to find the most joy in life.
Timeline:0:00 - Introduction1:53 - Tanya's MMM4:09 - Going from no running to ultra marathons14:51 - The mental process while running20:08 - Barefoot running & the run-walk method25:53 - Australian Foodie30:02 - Separating the creative and financial36:16 - The Broccoli Volcano42:21 - Optimism and struggling with postpartum depression46:33 - Getting out the demons vs reinforcing positivity50:21 - Anti-goal setting: living in the moment53:54 - Impactful & influential books1:00:50 - Going within and accepting contradictions
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Connect with Tanya:Blog: https://www.australianfoodie.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/australianfoodie/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tanya_Hall_Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/australianfoodiecom
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Interviews & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

What are some of the early childhood signs that might make for a good engineer? In this themed episode Juan and Kyrin discuss the topic of 'Engineering'. Both Mere Mortals initially went to university for engineering (graduating in Civil and Mining) and subsequently worked as engineers for the early part of their careers. This episode covered their experiences at university, in the workplace and what it is like to be an engineer.
The discussion starts off with indications in high school that suggested an aptitude for this profession: naturally good at maths, interest in mega-structures and buildings, enjoying problem solving and a desire to see things 'add up' nicely. For their first years in uni, both studied hard and tell of their moments of joy, frustration and learning. The most important learning coming from university was the value of fundamental engineering concepts and discarding the information that was not useful in the actual workplace.
The second half of the conversation centres around some of their experiences in the workplace and why they transitioned into different career paths. These include some of their worst moments as well as the funny stories that can occur on a mine site. The episode ends with a quick look at the 6 classic simple machines and a delve into the etymology of 'engineering'. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments4:31 - What is an engineer?6:05 - Suits, steelcaps and high vis: the engineering outfit11:01 - Why we got into engineering and the early signs of an aptitude for it18:53 - What to expect in a 1st year engineering course21:33 - The choice between party time or studying hard26:40 - The worst parts of studying at university 31:07 - Benefits of studying hard33:56 - Impracticality of higher education and learning the basics39:01 - Transitioning from university to the workplace48:30 - Worst moment in engineering54:38 - The biggest learning from our engineering experiences56:44 - Funny stories from Kyrin's workplace59:08 - The 6 classic simple machines1:01:58 - Latin confirmed: the Mere Mortals are clever
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:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? The Mere Mortals crew on the first Thursday of every month go over their progress from the previous month and where they are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings, what they didn't achieve in the previous month's goals and how they will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series, showcasing our own methodology. What do you do differently and why? Let us know in the comments, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Introduction0:25 - Review of October 20204:20 - Fitness, stretching and cross lifting7:26 - Morning routines and giving back9:54 - Goal setting template, blogging and the MM website15:34 - Instagram tracking, minimising chips and halving meat consumption19:38 - No phone in the morning and family conversations22:56 - Focus regime and how to learn a new language25:43 - Preparing for a silent retreat and becoming charitable32:30 - Points in the fitness challenge
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:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

Where is the boundary point that separates a cult from a self-development type 'success program'? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: Juan recanting on previously strongly held position that The Social Dilemma was bullcrap, taking small actions of integrity in the micro-level, the cruel voice in your head and how to have compassion for it, a discussion on the NXIVM cult and the type of mindset required to be fooled so convincingly, joining Wim Hof's breathing cult (if he makes one!), the Turing Test and whether it would be easier to fool humans in different countries due to the structure of their language, how the Mere Mortals would fool the killer-robots before ending off with a little milestone celebration for ourselves. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Intro & Mere Mortal Moments2:20 - Juan clarifying his position on 'The Social Dilemma'5:09 - Seeing beyond the micro to the macro message8:03 - The importance of integrity in the small details13:28 - The cruel voice in your head19:38 - Joining the breathing cult21:08 - Can AI trick us easier in the Turing Test in different languages?25:20 - How the Mere Mortals can tell if you are really human28:40 - Celebrating hitting 100 subscribers (twice!!)
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Interviews & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show

Mere Mortals is built on the foundation of striving for excellence through life's lessons and one of the critical ways to do that.. is to be honest with yourself.
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

What has been your scariest moment in life? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and Kyrin discuss: how Kyrin went about creating his Halloween costume for Dora The Explorer, what movies scare the Mere Mortals and their scariest moments in life, the experience of driving into a kangaroo at 80 kmph, the experience of being in Mexico for the Day of The Dead, a philosophical question about punishing people for not helping out or doing the right thing, global connectedness and how bad it would really be to have your persona stolen online. As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Scary intro & Mere Mortal Moments2:43 - Dora The Explorer: Serial Killer8:10 - Juan in a Minion10:09 - The scariest movie ever13:58 - Running into a kangaroo18:30 - Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico23:01 - Should we punish people for inaction?30:22 - Would war be harder because we are globally connected?33:05 - Impersonating people online and Only Fans38:04 - Halloween Edition ending
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Interviews & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalsmedia.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mere_mortals_media/Facebook: https://facebook.com/MeremortalsmediaSupport the show