1/ On growing up: A man should be sensitive (to inputs from reality), smart (at making sense of reality), and strong (to effect reality).
2/ focusing on one leg of the tripod (DEX, INT, STR) at the expense of the other two is the most painful way to develop as a person
3/ I personally put most if not all of my skill points in INT. Problem is- without DEX, you're wasting your INT processing contaminated data
4/ and without STR, your INT gets into elaborate StrangeLoops trying to explain itself. You become a crazy scientist type. Or Amos Yee.
5/ STR without DEX and INT is brute, blunt, easily exploited. Think Boxer from Animal Farm. Or you might hurt others with blind recklessnees
6/ a lot of young men fall into this weird STR-worshipping cult. Work 100 hr weeks. Lift till you puke. Unsustainable machismo. And boring!!
7/ DEX without INT and STR is pretty rare. DEX is probably hardest to learn, so most people learn it late. You get silent Watchmen types
8/ My heart aches for the pure DEX heroes. They know something is wrong but they don't know what to do about it. Anxiety. Injustice. Pain.
9/ School attempts to teach you INT and some STR with little to no DEX. This is hollow and fragile. You get good at playing static games.
10/ I started out INT, discovered need for DEX. Only now starting to fully appreciate power of STR. Just think about say, a soldier at war.
11/ DEX gives her context- surveillance. INT helps her figure out what to do- command. STR is her ability to inflict damage- firepower.
12/ War is an extreme context but it's very revealing. You wouldn't want to be without DEX, INT or STR in a war, or in the wild. You'll die.
13/ The great bargain of modern civilization is that it enables u to stay alive without ANY of the 3 attributes. Miserable maybe, but alive
14/ To live in modern civilization without a decent amount of each stat is to be a soldier without intel, command or firepower- aka Sucker.
15/ You might stay alive but you're always going to have to depend on someone else's intel, command, firepower. And nobody cares about you.
16/ knowing what I know now, if I could go back 10 years, this is what I'd do to pump DEX and STR:
17: When socialising, relinquish all desire to assert INT. Acknowledge limitation of knowledge. Mine other ppl's data. Ask questions.
18/ Dominating conversations is like going to war, ignoring your spies + surveillance, and insisting your battle plans are sound.
19/ STR: Lift, goddamnit! Big compound lifts. Eat heavy. Sleep early. Also be super deliberate about exercising your will. Do what you say.
20/ this isn't even about saving the world or big ambitious plans. It's about being responsible, useful and happy w/o burdening others.
21/ it's about sleeping well at night. Which is what I'm going to do now. I hope this was useful to someone. Wish I heard it at 15. G'nite!
