Gen Y Chronicles Podcast

Show summary We discuss “RULE 7 / Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)”, from Jordan B. Peterson’s best-selling book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. In this episode, we examine self-sacrifice, the dangers of expediency and a hypothesis about why evil exists. Show notes 2:00 - Viewing the Biblical stories through a psychological lens 2:47 - Understanding sacrifice in a new way 3:18 - What does “expedient” mean? 6:37 - What happens when your sacrifice is rejected? 9:10 - Sharing with your future self 10:40 - “…the world is revealed to you through the template of your values.” 12:28 - Is it OK to bring a child into a world full of danger and suffering? 18:59 - Why does evil exist? 22:09 - Is lying actually expedient? 25:03 - Little lies are the seeds of totalitarian regimes

Show summary We’re halfway through our Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos book review/discussion series. In this episode, we chat about how suffering is a part of the human condition and how we confront it using stoicism and individual responsibility (RULE 6 / Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world). Show notes 0:48 - Can you ever “set your house in perfect order”? 2:56 - How some people retrospectively see their suffering as a learning opportunity 3:27 - The bathroom attendant story… what would you do? 10:46 - Leo Tolstoy’s nihilistic view on human existence and life… is it cowardly not to be vengeful and displeased with Being itself? 12:37 - Does RULE 6 conflict with RULE 8? 13:46 - Applied Stoicism can potentially help one avoid breaking RULE 6 14:55 - Dennis’ dilemma about Marcus Aurelius’ brand of Stoicism 18:38 - “Every person is too complex to know themselves completely, and we all contain wisdom that we cannot comprehend.” - Jordan B. Peterson

Show summary We continue our commentary and discussion on Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, and in this episode we discuss socializing children out of the “terrible twos” and we review Dr. Peterson’s 5 disciplinary principles (RULE 5 / Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them). Show notes 0:40 - “Two-year-olds, statistically speaking, are the most violent of people” (Peterson, J.B. & Flanders, J. (2005). Play and the regulation of aggression.) 7:25 - The parent-friend problem 10:25 - Undesirable social behaviour in children if uncorrected, may manifest into major anti-social behaviour later in life 11:22 - “She was out to produce a little God-Emperor of the Universe.” 13:28 - Disciplinary principle #1: “Limit the rules” 16:08 - Disciplinary principle #2: “Use minimum necessary force” 23:04 - Disciplinary principle #3: “Parents should come in pairs” (Amato, P.R. & Keith, B. (1991). Parental Divorce and the Well-Being of Children: A Meta-Analysis.) 24

Show summary We continue our 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos miniseries, and this week we discuss the harm in excessive self-critical social media comparisons and the powerful concept of incremental self-improvement (RULE 4 / Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today). Show notes 1:59 - Comparing yourself to others is a losing game; your inner critic always wins 5:15 - Many social media platforms can drive internal criticism to unhealthy levels 6:30 - Social media consumption is harming the next generation (The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt) 8:01 - Envy blinds you from seeing what you really need in your life 9:30 - The Monkey Business Illusion (YouTube viral video) 11:02 - Incrementally improve yourself one day at a time--aim low 14:55 - Don’t be a tyrant or a slave--negotiate with yourself 21:11 - Darth Sidious, the postmodernist (YouTube clip)

Show summary Welcome back to the 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos miniseries. In this episode we explore friendships—from toxic to ideal—while discussing the third rule of the book (RULE 3 / Make friends with people who want the best for you). Show notes 1:50 - Small-town friends 4:09 - Making friends who strive upwards and have goals 6:04 - Helping friends who actually want to help themselves 7:33 - “Friendships are reciprocal, it’s a relationship that’s beneficial for both people” 10:41 - Making good friends is hard, but making bad friends is easy 12:45 - Long-distance friendships can be tough 13:46 - The “good news” challenge 17:10 - Are you really the sum of the five friends you spend the most time with? 20:27 - Is it okay if your friends don’t want you to change? 21:48 - As an adult in a new city, it isn’t always easy to make new friends 23:47 - RULE 3 is also important for marriages as well

Show summary We continue our discussion of Jordan Peterson’s best-selling book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. This week we provide commentary on the second rule of the book (RULE 2 / Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping). Show notes 0:14 - “The best-selling Canadian author of 2018” 1:05 - Why do so many people stop taking their prescribed medication? (Article about medication non-adherence) 2:29 - Does Jordan Peterson's reasoning for RULE 2 actually make any sense? 7:07 - My hypothesis regarding why people don’t treat themselves like someone they are responsible for helping 9:55 - “We are often unaware that we are important to other people” 13:38 - Don’t concentrate on doing only things that make you happy, but concentrate on doing things that are actually good for you 15:23 - “Between you and me, who’s the ‘order’ in our relationship, and who's the ‘chaos’”? 17:57 - Channeling your “dark side” to fuel your assertiveness 27:04 - The importance of having a vision and

Show summary Welcome to the first Gen Y Chronicles podcast episode of 2019! Join us as we discuss the first rule in Jordan B. Peterson’s best-selling book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (RULE 1 / Stand up straight with your shoulders back). Show notes 0:09 - Following through on Jólabókaflóðið (GenYChron Ep. 0017 – Ethnopediatrics, co-sleeping and Jólabókaflóðið) 2:47 - 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson 3:33 - Providing commentary on Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back 7:09 - Observing the “positive feedback loop” and high-stress impulsive behaviour in people 11:56 - Using routine to stabilize one’s mental and physical state isn’t as easy as it sounds 17:32 - Smiling and standing up straight actually works to help change the way I think and feel 21:55 - The Matthew effect and a throwback to our podcast on the Pareto distribution (GenYChron Ep. 0018 – Birthdays, Pareto distributions and spirit molecules) 25:35 - Viewing rejection in a new light

Show summary On this week’s episode, join us on our philosophical journey as we discuss The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, pantheism, meditating with apps, self-healing, hypnotherapy, sensory deprivation tanks and minimalism! Show notes 0:30 - The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius 3:50 - “People don't have ideas. Ideas have people.” ― Carl Jung 5:40 - Pantheism and Pandeism 9:00 - “But nothing that is according to nature can be evil.” ― Marcus Aurelius 12:20 - “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” ― Marcus Aurelius 14:40 - “...for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself.” ― Marcus Aurelius 17:44 - Meditating with an app (InsightTimer) 22:00 - “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?” ― Friedrich Nietzsche 24:20 - Integrated medicine and the phenomenon of self-healing the human body via the placebo e

Show summary Join us this week as we talk about empirical evidence for birthday-dependent personalities, the eerie predominance of naturally occurring inequality within our universe and a psychedelic substance that our bodies produce, known as N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Show notes 1:52 - The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers 5:08 - Gary Goldschneider’s Wikipedia page 7:10 - Confirmation bias 8:10 - “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water”. 10:00 - The Pareto principle 10:25 - Vilfredo Pareto 12:14 - Systems Theory 13:05 - Simulation hypothesis 13:57 - “The universe has a bias towards inequality”. 15:30 - The Matthew principle 20:28 - DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman 20:38 - DMT stands for N,N-Dimethyltryptamine 24:27 - NDE or Near-death experience 30:10 - Psychedelic substances can potentially reduce criminal behaviour

Show summary We’re back! After our three-month podcasting hiatus we dive into some parent-friendly topics ranging from child-rearing practices in different cultures, the prevalence of bed sharing outside North America and research surrounding the risks and rewards of co-sleeping. Also, with Christmas just 37 days away, we talk about our plan to adopt a traditional Icelandic gift-giving practice called "Jólabókaflóðið". Show notes 3:08 - Relaxin 5:03 - Public bookcases 6:25 - Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by Meredith Small 7:05 - Ethnopediatrics 7:44 - Co-sleeping 11:35 - Apnea 12:40 - Is co-sleeping with your infant dangerous? 12:47 - Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 14:00 - Supine sleeping position 17:15 - Baby colic 18:50 - Babywearing 21:52 - Insufficient milk syndrome 28:18 - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by R. Stephen Covey 28:49 - The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 30:00 - Jólabókaflóðið 36:04 - Japanese bedrooms 35:35

Show summary This week we listen to Jasmin share her knowledge about foraging for wild edibles. We talk about our experiences foraging berries, nuts and various plants in Germany and Nova Scotia. We also explain how we make teas, juices and salads from wild berries and herbs. Show notes 1:00 - Picking elderberries and making homemade elderberry juice 3:05 - Elderberry juice is an important ingredient for making German Christmas wine (Glühwein) 3:55 - Make your own camomile tea by picking it fresh in your neighbourhood 5:00 - We noticed that the locals in Munich love to forage for wild onions 6:48 - “Bang peas”? 7:22 - Dandelions 8:35 - Fiddleheads 9:02 - Making tea and salads from the prickly stinging nettle 10:29 - Walnuts do not look like walnuts when they’re growing on a tree 11:53 - Hazelnuts 12:53 - Beware of mushrooms (Do not eat wild mushrooms if you don’t know what is safe to eat) 15:12 - Don’t mistake elderberries for “bird berries” 15:38 - Raspberries and blackberries tend to grow in t

Show summary On this week’s show, listen to us reminisce about our eyebrow-raising experiences with servers and cashiers in Germany, Austria and Canada. We compare two different service cultures and two different perspectives to see which one stands supreme. Prepare yourself for a mildly heated discussion! Show notes 0:50 - “It’s strange how the level of expectation for good quality service is pretty low” 1:34 - During one of my university lectures, our professor asked for a show of hands to see if we agreed or disagreed with American-style customer service 3:36 - Canadian restaurant servers vs. German servers 5:09 - The art of German restaurant billing: it may take multiple waves and shouts to get your server to bring you the bill so you can pay and leave 6:08 - In Canada, good tipping is expected, but in Germany it’s not obligatory 8:36 - Dare to return your food to the kitchen in Germany 10:00 - Germany’s cash culture vs. Canada’s card culture 12:18 - Watch out for those German ATM fees; they’ll s

Show summary This week on the Gen Y Chronicles podcast, Jasmin and I tackle some complex topics that affect Gen Y. Listen to our personal experiences and stories about the age perception gap between North America and Europe, and our opinions about the evolution of emotional maturity in Millennials. Show notes 0:40 - How do you define emotional maturity? 1:22 - Jordan Peterson on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend Show #110 discusses why family gets more important as he gets older (YouTube video) 2:25 - Do Millennials value family less and less while career is becoming overvalued? 6:15 - Wisdom from the Game Grumps: You care less about what people think of you as you get older (YouTube video and research article on how age affects perception of emotions) 7:59 - Jerry Seinfeld’s funny observation about older people/fathers: “I can make my own people” (YouTube video) 9:21 - Growing out of your shell of shyness 9:50 - How age is perceived differently in Canada versus Germany 16:39 - At age 18 you are legally a

Show summary Let’s talk about tea... the drink of choice for our generation. This week, we discuss the growing demand for tea among Millennials, coffee substitutes, making tea from local plants and the health benefits of drinking various teas. We also share our opinions on some of the finer green and black teas, and we outline the different perspectives on tea in Canada and Germany. Show notes 0:26 - Tea is more and more popular among our generation than previous generations (YouGov article) 2:34 - Tea shops like DAVIDsTEA in Canada, are catering to the growing demand for more sophisticated tea flavours and varieties 3:06 - Some teas are used as a substitute for coffee (Dandelion coffee and Rooibos tea) 4:00 - Tea perception in Canada vs. Germany (Black vs. herbal) 5:34 - Green, black and white teas all come from the same plant species (Wikipedia article about camellia sinensis and Britannica article about tea production) 6:27 - First flush vs. second flush teas (Article from Tea101) 6:45 - High quali

Show summary On this week’s episode we sink our teeth into a trending food topic: the meatless burger that bleeds, AKA “The Impossible Burger”. We also review research about the relatively unknown dangers of eating unfermented soy. To finish, we discuss how the ever-increasing global demand for meat may eventually force us to invent a substitute for meat that is equally nutritious and delicious. Show notes 0:20 - Adam Savage introduced me to the Impossible Burger (YouTube video) 0:40 - What’s an Impossible Burger? (Impossible Foods home page) 1:20 - “Faux” (Dictionary definition) 1:34 - Bill Gates is investing in the Impossible Burger (GeekWire news article) 1:57 - Where can you get the Impossible Burger? In 2018, White Castle started to sell the Impossible Burger in the United States (The New Yorker article) 2:13 - What’s the Impossible Burger’s secret ingredient? What is Heme? (Wikipedia article) 3:19 - The Impossible Burger’s list of ingredients (Impossible Burger FAQ) 3:34 - Does the Impossible B

Show summary This week we focus on the benefits of marriage, the ever-changing perspective of marriage in Western society and the unfortunate victim mentality of Millennials. We’ve collected a tonne of facts that will make you second-guess your preconceptions about marriage. We also share our opinions about why we should actually be excited about Generation Y’s prospects. Show notes 1:03 - These days people are much older when they first marry (Article on the Time magazine) 1:18 - In Germany, people wait longer to get married compared to people in Canada (List of countries by age at first marriage on Wikipedia) 1:54 - In today’s Western culture, marriage has become devalued to the point of becoming taboo 2:33 - People see marriage as a first step towards divorce (Divorce statistics by country on Wikipedia) 3:07 - The likelihood of divorce increases if your parents got divorced (Journal article) 4:22 - In Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest rate of divorce; whereas, Quebec has the highest r

Show summary Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! On this week’s episode, we review a list of seven facts based on research about how fathers can affect a child’s development. We talk about the surprising importance of roughhousing, how fathers encourage courageous exploration and many other relatively unknown facts that will change the way you think about fathers. Show notes 2:28 - Analyzing statistics with a critical eye and remembering that studies don’t always use the same research methodologies 3:54 - A good rule of thumb for reliable research: if at least three studies show similar results using similar research methodologies, then the results are probably reliable 4:41 - Fathers encourage courageous exploration; they push you to your limits and help you achieve your potential (Research article) 6:09 - Having a father in your house decreases the chances of having shorter telomeres (Research article) 9:28 - Clarifying the terms: non-resident fathers, resident fathers and fatherlessness

Show summary On today’s show we talk about two cities that make the top-five list on both Mercer’s and Monocle’s “the most livable cities” rankings: Munich and Vienna. Having lived in both cities, we compare our own anecdotal evidence with these two livability rankings. We also chat about how some cities in North America are starting to plan their cities for people instead of cars. To finish, we discuss how happiness is not a goal, but rather a side effect. Show notes 0:28 - The most livable cities in the world (Wikipedia article) 1:48 - Many of the most livable cities are in Canada and Germany 3:15 - The ranting U-Bahn operators in Munich 4:48 - Strangers in Munich are friendlier than strangers in Vienna 5:10 - Comparing Munich’s infrastructure to Vienna’s infrastructure 7:15 - Munich has hundreds of bicycles hanging upside-down in trees (The Local news article) 7:54 - Why are there so few American cities in "the most livable cities" rankings? 9:29 - The affordability of accommodations doesn’t seem

Show summary Do you know how your personality compares to 10 000 others? This week we try to demystify ourselves by taking a scientifically valid personality test. The results were somewhat surprising... we also discuss some facts worth knowing about intelligence and how your IQ is determined. To top it off, we talk about our childhood experiences in an obsolete education system. Show notes 0:35 - understandmyself.com (A scientifically valid personality test that compares the five big personality traits against +10 000 people who’ve also taken the test) 2:32 - Learn more about the understandmyself.com personality test and its practical applications (YouTube link) 5:40 - Jordan Peterson’s 2017 lecture on Biology & Traits: Openness/Intelligence/Creativity I (YouTube link) 5:45 - Fluid IQ and crystallized IQ (Wikipedia article) 7:03 - Fluid IQ decreases with age, but you can slow down this process with exercise (Research article) 8:05 - Brisk walking is a good kind of exercise for all ages (Research post

Show summary Warning: listening to this week’s podcast episode may change the way you think about food and your genes. Did you know what you eat today can affect your great-grandchildren’s genes? Can fasting actually make you live longer? Did you know that the recommended limits on alcohol consumption significantly differ from country to country? Is eating eight servings of grain-based foods per day still a relevant recommendation? Show notes 0:18 - Learning about epigentics on SciShow in 2012 (YouTube link) 0:48 - What does epigenetics mean? (Wikipedia article) 2:32 - How starvation affects epigentics and future generations 3:24 - Study on roundworms passing on their epigenetic information to their offspring (Research article link) 5:27 - Reduced caloric intake in rodents has shown to increase overall lifespan (Research article link) 5:50 - Fasting in cultural and religious traditions 6:58 - How dietary practices outlined in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible/Torah) helped ancient people live safer l