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Daniel Thorson Profile
Daniel Thorson

@dthorson

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Host of the Emerge podcast @ Offerer of Unfoldment @

Asheville, NC
Joined March 2007
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
8 years
How would you live your life if the future of the planet depended on your behavior? Good news! It does.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Every-time I see this picture of Piaget's office I get so happy.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
I'm back from 75 days in silence. Did I miss anything?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 months
Y'all remember that Rumi poem where a donkey fucks a woman to death?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
I am so happy and fulfilled in my life. I am increasingly surrounded by friends who I experience deep intimacy with and who share my devotions. The work I’m doing is intensely meaningful and regularly brings me to my growth edges. I wake up with energy and purpose. My life feels
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
The relationship begins after the first cycle of rupture and repair.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
I've had a few conversations with friends recently about an odd phenomenon. We were reflecting on how each year we feel better and better, more and more joyous, that life is somehow more meaningful. And yet, at the same time, we were aware of the darkness of the world, how things
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
2 years
What's a good protocol for when you have let your productivity systems get overgrown with weeds and you're feeling behind / overwhelmed / anxious about things you are missing, etc?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 months
Some things about Jhanas, for the record. - I think it is good that there are lots of different definitions of what a jhana is - I did a 45 day solitary retreat with TWIM style Jhanas - I did a 75 day solitary retreat practicing with Rob Burbea's Jhana recordings - I've done
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Now that is a second brain.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
ChatGPT was released while I was in the middle of my final solitary meditation retreat while training at the Monastic Academy. I remember walking on the path back to my room when my partner at the time excitedly shared about its emergence and the way it was taking the world by
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 years
Lots of folks who think they want to get enlightened actually want to be a fully functioning open hearted healthy human surrounded by friends doing work they love. 🤔
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
This is a must watch. At 11:44 on he reveals the secret magic at the core of IFS, which is also the core of unfolding, and circling, and love. H/t Lacey Clark
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Some of the most interesting developments in spiritual practice and theory are rooted in the work of Rob Burbea. A thread.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
2 years
I'm back from a two month solitary retreat! I did metta the whole time. A++ would recommend 5/5 stars. ✨
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
I'm seeing a woman who is teaching me how to love wisely. Sometimes, I'm afraid she'll decide to end our connection. Sometimes, a part of me wants to prematurely end it to save myself from the pain of opening my heart more and then getting crushed, but in truth, I've been getting
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 months
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Folks who are keyed into what's happening in AI -- What human skills, sensitivities, capacities, etc are you holding as more or less invariably valuable? What human skills gets _more_ valuable as AI becomes integrated into our world?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Maybe the most impactful guided meditation I’ve ever done. @algekalipso is creating and discovering a new way to point to the wonders of phenomenological exploration. It’s inspiring to see it ground down into guided meditations.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 months
My friend @IntegralGuide shared with me a quote that 'the purpose of healing is the end of self-analysis'. This feels true. As I become more and more integrated I just act without thought and reflection. I trust my body to get crunchy when I make a mistake or when it's not clear
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
The next Buddha will be a network. And that network will be created by those who have learned to see networkedly.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
9 years
We need to fundamentally transform social organization at a planetary scale. @cognitivepolicy #podcast
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
As a man if you want to fast track your unfoldment surround yourself with women who are deeply committed to truth and make yourself vulnerable to their feedback.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
I think one of the great stumbling blocks in meditation practice is forgetting to include the whole of one's life. We can easily become obsessed with technique, fine-tuning our way of relating to our mind and developing our practice. While this is important in most cases, the
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
The first time somebody paid me $200 for an hour of unfolding it changed my life. I would do this work for free and to get paid more in an hour than I ever earned before broke through some deep block around valuing my skills.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
The intelligence of the cosmos flows through us. When we resist this flow it becomes foolishness and suffering. Freeing our natural intelligence happens through clarifying our interiors -- making space to see the truth of what is happening within us: our emotions, energies,
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
From conversations with the galaxy-brained, deeply heartful people I've had the profound privilege to host on my podcast, one thing is crystal clear: knowing is not the solution to the meta-crisis. We won't find a way forward by simply knowing what to do. A way forward may
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
🎙 New episode of Emerge with Robert Kegan. My favorite parts: - Exploring typical misunderstandings of his developmental model - How nobody under 40 is Stage 5 (according to his research) - The most important developmental task for planetary culture
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Trusting your body is trusting the whole world.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 years
If you do not provide a metaphysics one will be provided for you. And it will probably suck. Deconstruct yrslf lest ye be shoddily constructed. Program or be programmed, etc.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
What are 'black swan' factors that might avert the worst-case scenarios of social collapse? On my list: - Exponential tech (specifically DAOs and AI) - Legalized psychedelics - Some combination of Zak Stein's social miracles (UBI + debt jubilee + democratization renaissance)
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
I predict we will soon see the rise of emergent self-governing collectives organized around shared problems or purpose. To participate in these collectives will require a high degree of sovereignty.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 years
Biohackers talk about how to get energy by adjusting your diet taking dozens of supplements etc. If you want energy live your souls purpose and forget your self. You will have boundless energy not dependent on fragile supply chains and an upper middle class lifestyle.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
Off into silent retreat (aka voluntary physical and memetic self-quarantine) for the next 75 days or so. And, if you're curious about why I would do such a thing, I've just released a podcast with my teacher Soryu Forall. May you be happy and safe. ❤️
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
We’ve so profoundly lost the thread of reality that we call it ‘the imaginal’.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
That depression is seen as a problem of the individual is a profound demonstration of the broken-ness of our system.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Who has philosophically sophisticated takes on AI risk? Especially curious to find people who have thought deeply about the issue and are optimistic.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
I say this not to brag but in the hopes it encourages somebody to take similar risks that I did. Break out of your life path. Choose truth, goodness, and beauty. You have no idea where it will take you. My life is immeasurably better than it might have been if I hadn’t.
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
I’ve always been proud of myself for choosing truth over comfort. I never imagined that would lead to developing a skill the market would value.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Is there an easy way to 'load' a 600 page PDF into ChatGPT such that I could ask questions about the content?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
I've collected some of the more or less 'comprehensive' models of human development that have come my way recently. Which ones am I missing?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
I feel moved to clarify that happiness, fulfillment, and meaningfulness does not equal some stable and consistent emotional experience. These days I experience a wider range of emotion then I ever have before, and big movements of grief and heartbreak are regular daily visitors.
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
I am so happy and fulfilled in my life. I am increasingly surrounded by friends who I experience deep intimacy with and who share my devotions. The work I’m doing is intensely meaningful and regularly brings me to my growth edges. I wake up with energy and purpose. My life feels
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
Wow.
@zyt42970770
z.yt
4 years
@dthorson @johnson_zhan Brother, there are 940,000 likes on tiktok in China! About your tweets in this New York Times。我们都喜欢有趣的故事!
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
On a related note I am declaring notification bankruptcy, so if you reached out while I was gone do it again if it's live.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
I can't remember where I found this but I love it.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
My return to twitter is partially inspired by the wandering online pilgrim @tasshinfogleman who visited a few weeks back. I was inspired by his apparently sane existence online. Is it possible, I wondered, to be on twitter and not have it suck the god juice out of your soul?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 months
Yesterday I applied for an @osventuresllc Fellowship. The program gives you $100,000 for a year so you can devote yourself to your life's work. I loved the application form. I'm hopeful that they'll talk to me, even though my life's work is unusual.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 years
I'm going into a 60 day silent retreat tomorrow morning. Humbled and grateful that the @MonasticAcademy is allowing me this opportunity. I'm praying that I dissolve everything that keeps me from totally seeing and totally loving each next being/experience I meet. 💗
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
Did you know you can just leave kind sweet loving voicenotes for your friends whenever you want? It’s true, there’s nothing stopping you. You can do it right now. Do it.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
Just released an episode of Emerge with Bob Falconer. The dude did the most high integrity in depth research into spirit possession I've ever seen. Totally shatters the western view of the mono-mind. Amazing human, fun conversation.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
You need both Radical uncertainty about what is going on and what to do about it Radical certainty that every choice, relationship, perception, profoundly matters
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
If you haven't been rendered into bewildered wonder by the moon I don't trust you with power.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
8 years
Just as a healthy body takes many different positions, a healthy mind takes many different perspectives.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
Tell people the truth. They will love it. Parts of them might hate you for it. But the depth of them will love it.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
It's my birthday today! It would mean a lot to me to receive some expression of how I've impacted you as a gift today. Could be as a reply or as a DM. ❤️
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
I'd like to interview somebody who has a deep understanding of the psychological consequences of exponential change. Who comes to mind? Imagining someone who is attempting to understand how true Alvin Toffler's Futureshock warnings were...
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
@algekalipso 's new set of guided meditations are some of the most potent practice instructions I've ever heard. They are different and they are grounded in a new language of phenomenology that's informed by Rob's work.
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Maybe the most impactful guided meditation I’ve ever done. @algekalipso is creating and discovering a new way to point to the wonders of phenomenological exploration. It’s inspiring to see it ground down into guided meditations.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
🎙️New podcast with @leashless We explore what it will take to avoid total human extinction and the role of spiritual practice in this time of crisis. We also decapitate a slew of sacred cows. Probably my most confrontational episode so far.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
9 years
"I will never solve my life." Some thoughts about future, work, and #mindfulness .
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
"Trauma is autopoietic. The more traumatized I am the more likely I am to behave in ways that will perpetuate trauma to myself and others." - Daniel Schmachtenberger
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
Some days you think it's time to work but actually it's time to cry for an hour (and then work).
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
I was surprised and heartened at how well my previous post resonated. I received numerous messages, even friends reaching out to tell me how it touched them. I've had things go viral before, but I've never had something go viral that represented an expression so close to my soul.
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
I've had a few conversations with friends recently about an odd phenomenon. We were reflecting on how each year we feel better and better, more and more joyous, that life is somehow more meaningful. And yet, at the same time, we were aware of the darkness of the world, how things
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
In the past I encountered hierarchical developmental models and attempted to project myself as near the top as possible. Now I read them and see how low I can reasonably get away with positioning myself.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
Heading into a two week silent retreat. See y'all on the other side! ♥️
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
People at the grocery store seem more anxious than I remember.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
In speaking with a friend we agreed that how one dies is an excellent indicator of the quality of that person's life. I recalled reading a book of Zen Death Poems, and how touched I was by the elegant tracelessness of the passing of the masters. Derek's video is a different
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
This is a must watch. At 11:44 on he reveals the secret magic at the core of IFS, which is also the core of unfolding, and circling, and love. H/t Lacey Clark
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
🎙New episode of Emerge with Daniel Scmachtenberger. We discuss the generator functions of x-risk, the 'state of the phase shift', and where Daniel is seeing signs of the emergence of an adequate civilizational operating system that won't self-terminate.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 years
Just finished the first mini-retreat for the Willow @MonasticAcademy three month intensive. The focus was integrating Gendlin Focusing, Internal Family Systems and Rob Burbea energy body practice. It was delightful! And we developed a potent form of IFS social noting practice.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 years
First brain = biological brain Second brain = exocortex (computer) Third brain = your network Fourth brain = network of networks (noosphere)
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
What can be done to heal your gut and digestion? Things that have actually worked for you.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
I love when James Hillman rails against modern psychology. 🥰 Very resonant with the poetic attunement of Steve March + Aletheia Coaching.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Being attached to the view that you shouldn't be attached to views.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
2 months
I'm pumped to announce that I'll be co-facilitating the return of the Anti-Fragile Heart Retreat from July 7th to July 12th. Having run this retreat three times during my time at the Monastic Academy, I can confidently say that it is one of the most powerfully transformative
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 months
I’m in an airport now and feeling nearly overwhelmed by the latent love and beauty in humans. We are deeply profoundly good and beautiful.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
i want my love of truth to be far greater than my concern about what you might think of me
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
A lot of folks seem interested in my recent long retreat. I'm curious what you're curious about -- what would you like to know about the experience?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
My writing is at least a combination of -things I wish I had known earlier that I probably wouldn’t have listened to at the time anyway -advice to myself now -an attempt to consolidate my ongoing learning & process -a summoning of myself and I hope others
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
There is a movement of transmuting suffering into art; It can only take place when things have been sufficiently felt through. It is the culmination of the breakdown - Art falls out the bottom. This might happen as actual art (poems, drawings, music), Or it may come in a
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
I sometimes worry that methods like IFS dampen the fire of pathos that might otherwise create an extraordinary soul. The relationship between brokenness, pain, trauma, etc and greatness is real. But then I don’t want myself or others to suffer unnecessary. What do?
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 years
I love meditation. Getting to the point where I can really see the appeal of becoming a cave hermit.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 months
It is as simple as this. If you believe that an LLM has more care or wisdom then a cat, a tree, or a fellow human then you are (currently) lost. I'll add that everybody who has stepped up to defend the sentience of LLMs has been a man and everyone that has been most clear (from
@GraceRachmany
GraceDAO
4 months
@dthorson Aye. If you believe an LLM has more care and wisdom than your cat, truly you are lost.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
I’m no longer affiliated with the Monastic Academy. I left due to ideological differences and because I wanted to start a new project. It’s not an evil cult it’s an amazing place trying to do hard and beautiful work in a deeply confused inhospitable culture.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
6 years
1/ The newest episode of Emerge is with @fer_ananda of @holochain . I call it: "WTF is a Holochain?!" We explore how Holochain could become a KEY technology in building a more thriving future for all humanity. Let the infinite games, begin! 😺
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
"The illiterate of the future will be those who cannot feel." - @bonnittaroy
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
A cool thing about metta practice is that at some point you realize you don’t have to produce metta because you are metta and then yayyyyy wow
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
I just centralized many of the PDFs I've found over the last couple years. Lots of good stuff re: adult development, philosophy, psychology, meditation, etc. Enjoy!
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
I'm back on the internet! I ended up getting an extra month of retreat for good behavior. 🤠 These were the most challenging and rewarding 74 days of my life. I am filled with gratitude for the @MonasticAcademy , @soryuforall and the Buddha. ❤️
@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
2 years
1/ I'm going into a 45ish day silent solitary meditation retreat on Friday 🫠 These past months I've been reckoning with aspects of my being that I buried deep in my psyche. Even after thousands of hours of meditation practice, dozens of retreats, I was still blind to them 🧵
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
Feeling inspired to post my conflicts and struggles more often. My Twitter network is full of brilliant and generous people who are willing to help me see through my patterns. What a gift!
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
What do you think of this construction? + There is a meta-crisis + The meta-crisis is an epiphenomenon of human behavior + Human behavior is an epiphenomenon of the human mind + A beautiful mind leads to beautiful behavior + Beautiful behavior leads to a beautiful world
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
7 months
y'all know that secular humanism is a religion and netflix is it's holy space and academia is it's seminary right? it's like a D tier religion tbh.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
5 years
The new Emerge platform launches today. My podcast, also called Emerge, will be 'merging' with this new platform. My hope is that it will become a major watering hole for those in the metamodern + metarational + metagaming tribes. 💓 @whatisemerging
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
4 years
Concepts and mental models are more akin to a sculptor's tool than a map. Relating to concepts as if they are a map is a particular way to sculpt experience.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
11 months
There's a pseudo-monastic residency happening at @forlifeitself in France starting in October. Great opportunity to eat well, practice in community, and live in a deeply human way. $1k / month for a beautiful room.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
3 months
None of this is about you and you are sitting on a big pile of gold. Better give that gold to god, friend.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Meditation takes you from I can’t do it. 😭😞 To I can’t do it. 🫠🥳
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
In this house we believe goodness, truth, and beauty emerge from an ontologically real field of values. We believe humans long to live in accord with the demands of love. We believe that evil is a failure of intimacy. In this house we demand that you show up now.
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@dthorson
Daniel Thorson
1 year
Take refuge in truth and sooner or later goodness and beauty will come to keep you company.
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