A comprehensive list of books that might be of interest to people whom want to, or do practice SE.
They can also work as book recommendations for people whom you have spoken to, that want to read something that might improve their thinking or as gifts.
I have not read most of these, thus I can not personally vouch for them or recommend one over the other.
But if you do read any of them, or have any opinion it would be nice if you could create a post.
I'm not affiliated with Goodreads, but linked to them since they have links to several sources including libraries if you want to get any one of these, and often some quality reviews.
How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43885240-how-to-have-impossible-conversations by Peter Boghossian (Goodreads Author), James A. Lindsay (Goodreads Author)
3.99 · Rating details · 928 ratings
"This is a self-help book on how to argue effectively, conciliate, and gently persuade. The authors admit to getting it wrong in their own past conversations. One by one, I recognize the same mistakes in me. The world would be a better place if everyone read this book." -- Richard Dawkins, author of Science in the Soul and Outgrowing God
In our current political climate, it seems impossible to have a reasonable conversation with anyone who has a different opinion. Whether you're online, in a classroom, an office, a town hall -- or just hoping to get through a family dinner with a stubborn relative -- dialogue shuts down when perspectives clash. Heated debates often lead to insults and shaming, blocking any possibility of productive discourse. Everyone seems to be on a hair trigger.
In How to Have Impossible Conversations, Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay guide you through the straightforward, practical, conversational techniques necessary for every successful conversation -- whether the issue is climate change, religious faith, gender identity, race, poverty, immigration, or gun control. Boghossian and Lindsay teach the subtle art of instilling doubts and opening minds. They cover everything from learning the fundamentals for good conversations to achieving expert-level techniques to deal with hardliners and extremists. This book is the manual everyone needs to foster a climate of civility, connection, and empathy.
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most
by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen
4.10 · Rating details · 12,354 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/774088.Difficult_Conversations
Whether you're dealing with an under performing employee, disagreeing with your spouse about money or child-rearing, negotiating with a difficult client, or simply saying "no," or "I'm sorry," or "I love you," we attempt or avoid difficult conversation every day. Based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project, Difficult Conversations walks you through a step-by-step proven approach to having your toughest conversations with less stress and more success.
You will learn: -- how to start the conversation without defensiveness -- why what is not said is as important as what is -- ways of keeping and regaining your balance in the face of attacks and accusations -- how to decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversation
Filled with examples from everyday life, Difficult Conversations will help you on your job, at home, or out of the world. It is a book you will turn to again and again for advice, practical skills, and reassurance.
The Thinker's Guide to Socratic Questioning by Dr. Linda Elder
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7276284-the-thinker-s-guide-to-socratic-questioning
Focuses on the mechanics of Socratic dialogue, on the conceptual tools that critical thinking brings to Socratic dialogue, and on the importance of questioning in cultivating the disciplined mind.
About author:
Dr. Linda Elder is an educational psychologist and a prominent authority on critical thinking. She is President of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking.
From a review:
"...it is primarily a set of instructions detailing how to lead a Socratic dialog among (different ages of) K-12 students."
-Feliks
A Manual for Creating Atheists
by Peter Boghossian (Goodreads Author), Michael Shermer (Foreword) 3.93 · Rating details · 1,983 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17937621-a-manual-for-creating-atheists
For thousands of years, the faithful have honed proselytizing strategies and talked people into believing the truth of one holy book or another. Indeed, the faithful often view converting others as an obligation of their faith—and are trained from an early age to spread their unique brand of religion. The result is a world broken in large part by unquestioned faith. As an urgently needed counter to this tried-and-true tradition of religious evangelism, A Manual for Creating Atheists offers the first-ever guide not for talking people into faith—but for talking them out of it. Peter Boghossian draws on the tools he has developed and used for more than twenty years as a philosopher and educator to teach how to engage the faithful in conversations that will help them value reason and rationality, cast doubt on their religious beliefs, mistrust their faith, abandon superstition, and irrationality, and ultimately embrace reason.
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths
by Michael Shermer 3.93 · Rating details · 6,985 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9754534-the-believing-brain
The Believing Brain is bestselling author Michael Shermer's comprehensive and provocative theory on how beliefs are born, formed, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished.
In this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world's best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths.
Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless real-world examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics, and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality.
Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life
by Richard Paul,Linda Elder 3.93 · Rating details · 1,082 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17296839-critical-thinking
Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and lover. Discover the core skills of effective thinking; then analyze your own thought processes, identify weaknesses, and overcome them. Learn how to translate more effective thinking into better decisions, less frustration, more wealth Ñ and above all, greater confidence to pursue and achieve your most important goals in life.
The Thinker's Guide to Analytic Thinking by Linda Elder,Richard Paul
3.89 · Rating details · 163 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19227921-the-thinker-s-guide-to-analytic-thinking
This guide focuses on the intellectual skills that enable one to analyze anything one might think about - questions, problems, disciplines, subjects, etc. It provides the common denominator between all forms of analysis.
It is based on the assumption that all reasoning can be taken apart and analyzed for quality.
This guide introduces the elements of reasoning as implicit in all reasoning. It begins with this idea - that whenever we think, we think for a purpose, within a point of view, based on assumptions, leading to implications and consequences. We use data, facts and experiences (information), to make inferences and judgments,based on concepts and theories to answer a question or solve a problem. Thus the elements of thought are: purpose, questions, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, implications and point of view. In this guide, authors Linda Elder and Richard Paul explain, exemplify and contextualize these elements or structures of thought, showing the importance of analyzing reasoning in every part of human life. This guide can be used as a supplement to any text or course at the college level; and it may be used for improving thinking in personal and professional life.
The Thinker's Guide to Intellectual Standards by Linda Elder, Richard Paul
4.19 · Rating details · 16 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19017637-the-thinker-s-guide-to-intellectual-standards
Humans routinely assess thinking – their own thinking, and that of others, and yet they don’t necessarily use standards for thought that are reasonable, rational, sound.
To think well, people need to routinely meet intellectual standards, standards of clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, depth, logic, fairness, significance, and so forth.
In this guide authors Elder and Paul offer a brief analysis of some of the most important intellectual standards in the English language. They look at the opposites of these standards. They argue for their contextualization within subjects and disciplines. And, they call attention to the forces that undermine their skilled use in thinking well. At present intellectual standards tend to be either taught implicitly, or ignored in instruction. Yet because they are essential to high quality reasoning in every part of human life, they should be explicitly taught and explicitly understood.
The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide by Gleb Tsipursky (Goodreads Author) 4.24 · Rating details · 63 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36800752-the-truth-seeker-s-handbook
How do you know whether something is true? How do you convince others to believe the facts?
Research shows that the human mind is prone to making thinking errors - predictable mistakes that cause us to believe comfortable lies over inconvenient truths. These errors leave us vulnerable to making decisions based on false beliefs, leading to disastrous consequences for our personal lives, relationships, careers, civic and political engagement, and for our society as a whole.
Fortunately, cognitive and behavioral scientists have uncovered many useful strategies for overcoming our mental flaws.
This book presents a variety of research-based tools for ensuring that our beliefs are aligned with reality.
With examples from daily life and an engaging style, the book will provide you with the skills to avoid thinking errors and help others to do so, preventing disasters and facilitating success for yourself, those you care about, and our society.
On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not
by Robert A. Burton 3.90 · Rating details · 2,165 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2740964-on-being-certain
You recognize when you know something for certain, right? You "know" the sky is blue, or that the traffic light had turned green, or where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001--you know these things, well, because you just do. In On Being Certain, neurologist Robert Burton challenges the notions of how we think about what we know.
He shows that the feeling of certainty we have when we "know" something comes from sources beyond our control and knowledge.
In fact, certainty is a mental sensation, rather than evidence of fact.
Because this "feeling of knowing" seems like confirmation of knowledge, we tend to think of it as a product of reason.
But an increasing body of evidence suggests that feelings such as certainty stem from primitive areas of the brain, and are independent of active, conscious reflection and reasoning. The feeling of knowing happens to us; we cannot make it happen. Bringing together cutting edge neuroscience, experimental data, and fascinating anecdotes, Robert Burton explores the inconsistent and sometimes paradoxical relationship between our thoughts and what we actually know.
Provocative and groundbreaking, On Being Certain, will challenge what you know (or think you know) about the mind, knowledge, and reason.
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking
by M. Neil Browne, Stuart M. Keeley
3.94 · Rating details · 1,290 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394398.Asking_the_Right_Questions
The habits and attitudes associated with critical thinking are transferable to consumer, medical, legal, and general ethical choices. When our surgeon says surgery is needed, it can be life sustaining to seek answers to the critical questions encouraged in Asking the Right Questions This popular book helps bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysing the things we are told and read. It gives strategies for responding to alternative points of view and will help readers develop a solid foundation for making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject.
On Truth by Simon Blackburn 3.60 · Rating details · 62 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36722220-on-truth
Truth is not just a recent topic of contention. Arguments about it have gone on for centuries. Why is the truth important? Who decides what the truth is? Is there such a thing as objective, eternal truth, or is truth simply a matter of perspective, of linguistic or cultural vantage point?
In this concise book Simon Blackburn provides an accessible explanation of what truth is and how we might think about it.
The first half of the book details several main approaches to how we should think about, and decide, what is true.
These are philosophical theories of truth such as the correspondence theory, the coherence theory, deflationism, and others.
He then examines how those approaches relate to truth in several contentious domains: art, ethics, reasoning, religion, and the interpretation of texts.
Blackburn's overall message is that truth is often best thought of not as a product or an end point that is 'finally' achieved, but--as the American pragmatist thinkers thought of it--as an ongoing process of inquiry. The result is an accessible and tour through some of the deepest and thorniest questions philosophy has ever tackled
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
4.16 · Rating details · 317,352 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-and-slow?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ZNhf1bAIxd&rank=1
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.
Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking.
He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.
Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do by John A. Bargh (Goodreads Author)
3.97 · Rating details · 788 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35011639-before-you-know-it
Dr. John Bargh, the world’s leading expert on the unconscious mind, presents a “brilliant and convincing book” (Malcolm Gladwell) cited as an outstanding read of 2017 by Business Insider and The Financial Times—giving us an entirely new understanding of the hidden mental processes that secretly govern every aspect of our behavior.
For more than three decades, Dr. John Bargh has conducted revolutionary research into the unconscious mind, research featured in bestsellers like Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, in what Dr. John Gottman said was “the most important and exciting book in psychology that has been written in the past twenty years,” Dr. Bargh takes us on an entertaining and enlightening tour of the forces that affect everyday behavior while transforming our understanding of ourselves in profound ways.
Dr. Bargh takes us into his labs at New York University and Yale—where he and his colleagues have discovered how the unconscious guides our behavior, goals, and motivations in areas like race relations, parenting, business, consumer behavior, and addiction.
With infectious enthusiasm he reveals what science now knows about the pervasive influence of the unconscious mind in who we choose to date or vote for, what we buy, where we live, how we perform on tests and in job interviews, and much more.
Because the unconscious works in ways we are completely unaware of, Before You Know It is full of surprising and entertaining revelations as well as useful tricks to help you remember items on your to-do list, to shop smarter, and to sleep better.
Before You Know It is “a fascinating compendium of landmark social-psychology research” (Publishers Weekly) and an introduction to a fabulous world that exists below the surface of your awareness and yet is the key to knowing yourself and unlocking new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38315.Fooled_by_Randomness
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb 4.07 · Rating details · 49,010 ratings
Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand.
Philosophy books
Epistemology by Richard Feldman 3.84 · Rating details · 182 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/387295.Epistemology
Sophisticated yet accessible and easy to read, this introduction to contemporary philosophical questions about knowledge and rationality goes beyond the usual bland survey of the major current views to show that there is argument involved. Throughout, the author provides a fair and balanced blending of the standard positions on epistemology with his own carefully reasoned positions or stances into the analysis of each concept. KEY TOPICS: Epistemological Questions. The Traditional Analysis of Knowledge. Modifying the Traditional Analysis of Knowledge. Evidentialist Theories of Justification. Non-evidentialist Theories of Knowledge and Justification. Skepticism. Epistemology and Science. Relativism.
Problems of Knowledge: A Critical Introduction to Epistemology by Michael J. Williams
3.79 · Rating details · 86 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/477904.Problems_of_Knowledge
"What is epistemology or 'the theory of knowledge'? Why does it matter? What makes theorizing about knowledge 'philosophical'? And why do some philosophers argue that epistemology - perhaps even philosophy itself - is dead?" "
In this introduction, Michael Williams answers these questions, showing how epistemological theorizing is sensitive to a range of questions about the nature, limits, methods, and value of knowing.
He pays special attention to the challenge of philosophical scepticism: does our 'knowledge' rest on brute assumptions? Does the rational outlook undermine itself?"
Williams explains and criticizes all the main contemporary philosophical perspectives on human knowledge, such as foundationalism, the coherence theory, and 'naturalistic' theories. As an alternative to all of them, he defends his distinctive contextualist approach.
As well as providing an accessible introduction for any reader approaching the subject for the first time, this book incorporates Williams's own ideas which will be of interest to all philosophers concerned with the theory of knowledge.
Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge by Robert Audi
3.54 · Rating details · 176 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/477976.Epistemology
This comprehensive book introduces the concepts and theories central for understanding knowledge. It aims to reach students who have already done an introductory philosophy course. Topics covered include perception and reflection as grounds of knowledge, and the nature, structure, and varieties of knowledge. The character and scope of knowledge in the crucial realms of ethics, science and religion are also considered. Unique features of Epistemology:

• Provides a comprehensive survey of basic concepts and major theories
• Gives an up-to-date account of important developments in the field
• Contains many lucid examples to support ideas
• Cites key literature in an annotated bibliography.

The Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14829260-the-oxford-handbook-of-thinking-and-reasoning
by Keith J. Holyoak (Editor), Robert G. Morrison (Editor)
4.08 · Rating details · 12 ratings
Thinking and reasoning, long the academic province of philosophy, have over the past century emerged as core topics of empirical investigation and theoretical analysis in the modern fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience. Formerly seen as too complicated and amorphous to be included in early textbooks on the science of cognition, the study of thinking and reasoning has since taken off, brancing off in a distinct direction from the field from which it originated.
The Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning is a comprehensive and authoritative handbook covering all the core topics of the field of thinking and reasoning.
Written by the foremost experts from cognitive psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience, individual chapters summarize basic concepts and findings for a major topic, sketch its history, and give a sense of the directions in which research is currently heading.
Chapters include introductions to foundational issues and methods of study in the field, as well as treatment of specific types of thinking and reasoning and their application in a broad range of fields including business, education, law, medicine, music, and science.
The volume will be of interest to scholars and students working in developmental, social and clinical psychology, philosophy, economics, artificial intelligence, education, and linguistics.
Feminist Epistemologies
(Thinking Gender) by Linda Martín Alcoff, Elizabeth Potter 4.14 · Rating details · 43 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/477960.Feminist_Epistemologies
Noticed this review by an evangelical:
"I have found this an immensely suggestive book, collecting as it does essays from both prominent and rising figures in feminist philosophy of knowledge--albeit from about two decades ago. I am struck by how little impact feminist thought, even of this high and generally temperate quality, has had on evangelical theology, to the shame of my guild."
-John
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us
by Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons 3.91 Rating details · 13,537 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7783191-the-invisible-gorilla
Reading this book will make you less sure of yourself—and that’s a good thing. In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology’s most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we’re actually missing a whole lot.
Again and again, we think we experience and understand the world as it is, but our thoughts are beset by everyday illusions. We write traffic laws and build criminal cases on the assumption that people will notice when something unusual happens right in front of them. We’re sure we know where we were on 9/11, falsely believing that vivid memories are seared into our minds with perfect fidelity. And as a society, we spend billions on devices to train our brains because we’re continually tempted by the lure of quick fixes and effortless self-improvement.
The Invisible Gorilla reveals the myriad ways that our intuitions can deceive us, but it’s much more than a catalog of human failings. Chabris and Simons explain why we succumb to these everyday illusions and what we can do to inoculate ourselves against their effects. Ultimately, the book provides a kind of x-ray vision into our own minds, making it possible to pierce the veil of illusions that clouds our thoughts and to think clearly for perhaps the first time.
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves by Dan Ariely 3.94 · Rating details · 13,620 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13426114-the-honest-truth-about-dishonesty
The New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality returns with thought-provoking work to challenge our preconceptions about dishonesty and urge us to take an honest look at ourselves.
Does the chance of getting caught affect how likely we are to cheat? How do companies pave the way for dishonesty? Does collaboration make us more honest or less so? Does religion improve our honesty?
Most of us think of ourselves as honest, but, in fact, we all cheat.
From Washington to Wall Street, the classroom to the workplace, unethical behavior is everywhere. None of us is immune, whether it's the white lie to head off trouble or padding our expense reports. In The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, award-winning, bestselling author Dan Ariely turns his unique insight and innovative research to the question of dishonesty.
Generally, we assume that cheating, like most other decisions, is based on a rational cost-benefit analysis.
But Ariely argues, and then demonstrates, that it's actually the irrational forces that we don't take into account that often determine whether we behave ethically or not.
For every Enron or political bribe, there are countless puffed résumés, hidden commissions, and knockoff purses. In The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, Ariely shows why some things are easier to lie about; how getting caught matters less than we think; and how business practices pave the way for unethical behavior, both intentionally and unintentionally. Ariely explores how unethical behavior works in the personal, professional, and political worlds, and how it affects all of us, even as we think of ourselves as having high moral standards.
But all is not lost. Ariely also identifies what keeps us honest, pointing the way for achieving higher ethics in our everyday lives. With compelling personal and academic findings, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty will change the way we see ourselves, our actions, and others.
How to Stop Believing in Hell: a Schizophrenic's Religious Experience: Intellectual Honesty and Hallucinations - A Memoir
by Robert Clayton Kimball
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22020049-how-to-stop-believing-in-hell
it was amazing 5.00 · Rating details · 1 rating Kirkus Reviews:
“…Kimball’s debut explores his hallucinatory religious mania, from his early childhood onward, beginning when he attended Catholic school. The early pages guide readers through narratives of his uncomfortable childhood traumas, sometimes in ugly detail…. Various other moments of shame revolved around school. Finding sex repugnant and sinful, he decided early on to remain celibate; he avoided sex until his eventual institutionalization. Meanwhile, hallucinatory monsters—including Lorus, “a turbulent face, golden like the comedy mask…”—and company pushed him away from religion, though he did convert to Pentecostalism in spite of them. Through this process, Kimball developed a solipsistic worldview, in which he was never sure others existed. Ultimately, though, it was his fear of damnation that became his greatest obsession, driving all the rest of his delusions and fears. He does exhibit a flair for description…: “On summer evenings, I liked to stand on the arroyo side of the house at night, alone, feeling the desert breeze through the tamarisks and smelling the clean desert smells in the warm darkness. The long row of tamarisks, with its tens of thousands of insects of a thousand species, hummed like the telephone network in The Castle, a beautiful, accidental music.’”
Author’s Description:
How to Stop Believing in Hell, describes the narrator's passage from a golden childhood to an adolescence of cringing guilt and religious fear. By the age of thirty, he had become a deranged street person, screaming horrible obscenities on crowded sidewalks in broad daylight. He desperately tried to stop but couldn’t. He was still filled with the fear of Hell. Then he had a spiritual awakening, broke free of his dementia, and learned to act deliberately. A paperback copy of this book can be purchased through my publisher, Chipmunka Publishing at their web site.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan (Goodreads Author)
4.27 · Rating details · 59,893 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349.The_Demon_Haunted_World
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.
Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.
How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age
by Theodore Schick Jr. Lewis Vaughn, Martin Gardner (Foreword)
4.00 · Rating details · 530 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41756.How_to_Think_about_Weird_Things
This text serves well as a supplemental text in:

• critical thinking
• logic
• introduction to philosophy
• philosophy of science
• epistemology
• metaphysics
• introduction to psychology
• anomalistic psychology
• perception and cognition

as well as any introductory science course.
It has been used in all of the courses mentioned above as well as introductory biology, introductory physics, and introductory chemistry courses. It could also serve as a main text for courses in evaluation of the paranormal, philosophical implications of the paranormal, occult beliefs, and pseudoscience.
Popular Statistics
Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data
by Charles Wheelan 3.94 · Rating details · 10,367 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17986418-naked-statistics
Once considered tedious, the field of statistics is rapidly evolving into a discipline Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, has actually called “sexy.” From batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics continues to grow by leaps and bounds. How can we catch schools that cheat on standardized tests? How does Netflix know which movies you’ll like? What is causing the rising incidence of autism? As best-selling author Charles Wheelan shows us in Naked Statistics, the right data and a few well-chosen statistical tools can help us answer these questions and more. For those who slept through Stats 101, this book is a lifesaver. Wheelan strips away the arcane and technical details and focuses on the underlying intuition that drives statistical analysis. He clarifies key concepts such as inference, correlation, and regression analysis, reveals how biased or careless parties can manipulate or misrepresent data, and shows us how brilliant and creative researchers are exploiting the valuable data from natural experiments to tackle thorny questions.
And in Wheelan’s trademark style, there’s not a dull page in sight. You’ll encounter clever Schlitz Beer marketers leveraging basic probability, an International Sausage Festival illuminating the tenets of the central limit theorem, and a head-scratching choice from the famous game show Let’s Make a Deal—and you’ll come away with insights each time. With the wit, accessibility, and sheer fun that turned Naked Economics into a bestseller, Wheelan defies the odds yet again by bringing another essential, formerly unglamorous discipline to life.
The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—But Some Don't by Nate Silver
3.98 · Rating details · 43,804 ratings · 3,049 reviews
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13588394-the-signal-and-the-noise
One of Wall Street Journal's Best Ten Works of Nonfiction in 2012
New York Times Bestseller
"Not so different in spirit from the way public intellectuals like John Kenneth Galbraith once shaped discussions of economic policy and public figures like Walter Cronkite helped sway opinion on the Vietnam War…could turn out to be one of the more momentous books of the decade." -New York Times Book Review
"Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise is The Soul of a New Machine for the 21st century." -Rachel Maddow, author of Drift
"A serious treatise about the craft of prediction-without academic mathematics-cheerily aimed at lay readers. Silver's coverage is polymathic, ranging from poker and earthquakes to climate change and terrorism." -New York Review of Books
Nate Silver built an innovative system for predicting baseball performance, predicted the 2008 election within a hair's breadth, and became a national sensation as a blogger-all by the time he was thirty. He solidified his standing as the nation's foremost political forecaster with his near perfect prediction of the 2012 election. Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight.com.
Drawing on his own groundbreaking work, Silver examines the world of prediction, investigating how we can distinguish a true signal from a universe of noisy data. Most predictions fail, often at great cost to society, because most of us have a poor understanding of probability and uncertainty. Both experts and laypeople mistake more confident predictions for more accurate ones. But overconfidence is often the reason for failure. If our appreciation of uncertainty improves, our predictions can get better too. This is the "prediction paradox": The more humility we have about our ability to make predictions, the more successful we can be in planning for the future.
In keeping with his own aim to seek truth from data, Silver visits the most successful forecasters in a range of areas, from hurricanes to baseball, from the poker table to the stock market, from Capitol Hill to the NBA. He explains and evaluates how these forecasters think and what bonds they share. What lies behind their success? Are they good-or just lucky? What patterns have they unraveled? And are their forecasts really right? He explores unanticipated commonalities and exposes unexpected juxtapositions. And sometimes, it is not so much how good a prediction is in an absolute sense that matters but how good it is relative to the competition. In other cases, prediction is still a very rudimentary-and dangerous-science.
Silver observes that the most accurate forecasters tend to have a superior command of probability, and they tend to be both humble and hardworking. They distinguish the predictable from the unpredictable, and they notice a thousand little details that lead them closer to the truth. Because of their appreciation of probability, they can distinguish the signal from the noise.
With everything from the health of the global economy to our ability to fight terrorism dependent on the quality of our predictions, Nate Silver's insights are an essential read.
Bayesian Statistics the Fun Way: Understanding Statistics and Probability with Star Wars, Lego, and Rubber Ducks
by Will Kurt 4.21 · Rating details · 128 ratings
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41392893-bayesian-statistics-the-fun-way
Fun guide to learning Bayesian statistics and probability through unusual and illustrative examples.
Probability and statistics are increasingly important in a huge range of professions. But many people use data in ways they don't even understand, meaning they aren't getting the most from it. Bayesian Statistics the Fun Way will change that.
This book will give you a complete understanding of Bayesian statistics through simple explanations and un-boring examples. Find out the probability of UFOs landing in your garden, how likely Han Solo is to survive a flight through an asteroid shower, how to win an argument about conspiracy theories, and whether a burglary really was a burglary, to name a few examples.
By using these off-the-beaten-track examples, the author actually makes learning statistics fun. And you'll learn real skills, like how to:

• How to measure your own level of uncertainty in a conclusion or belief
• Calculate Bayes theorem and understand what it's useful for
• Find the posterior, likelihood, and prior to check the accuracy of your conclusions
• Calculate distributions to see the range of your data
• Compare hypotheses and draw reliable conclusions from them

Next time you find yourself with a sheaf of survey results and no idea what to do with them, turn to Bayesian Statistics the Fun Way to get the most value from your data.

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In modern music, there is a recurring theme of inspiration from ethnic groups. Rather it be native or hereditary, the passage of musical themes is a part of the ever-growing anatomy of music. Charli XCX’s contribution to electronic music has changed the soundscapes of modern-day music. The songs tracked in the album “Pop 2” exude inspiration from the works of African Americans and the LGBTQ+ community. Through the understanding of this album, I will connect its historical influences and cultural effects to scholarly articles. Using the studies by Jake McNulty and H. Powers I will show how Pop 2 has presented a different identity to the middle east and concept of orientalism. Through evaluation of this album, we as academics can begin to better understand modern ethnomusicology. This paper will explore the aural elements of the album and relate it’s sonic qualities to its origin. As I analyse Charli XCX’s album Pop 2 through aural analysis and scholarly examination, I will prove how it gave Middle Eastern music a new identity and provided ongoing relevance and ties to music history.
Charlie XCX’s music has touched many and has changed the perception of current pop music. While Charlie sways gender norms, her preferred pronouns are she/her. Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born August 2, 1992), also known as Charli XCX, is a UK based singer and songwriter. Her heritage however is a mixture between Cottage and Indian descent. Born in Cambridge she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to sing at raves and party parties. The rest of her rise is thanks to hardcore internet marketing and her show-stopping performances.
The album Pop 2 is Charlie XCX’s fourth mixtape/album. The recording for this album came just two months before its release. During this fast turnout time, A.G. Cook (a well-known music producer) provided this album with its signature sound. Prior to this album, Charlie’s career had already been noticed by major labels and artists. This mixtape-album was made to cement a specific sound for Charlie and challenge the sound of popular music at that time. Note that Pop 2 was admittedly created for pop music fans that craved a little experimentation. (Owen)
As a consumer, this type of music can be harsh to listen to. The bright and metal-like synths that are found in the album's songs such as “Tears” and “Porsche” are almost alien. As a music producer who strives to create a new form of music, the sound environment that I am met with is encaptivating. My focus on the production value of the album will ultimately affect how I interpret and analyse the material. While attempting to analyse the lyrical content, I will use the instrumentation as a reference point to conclude a more unprejudiced meaning.
As a scholar who doesn’t seek to overextend the intended meaning of the album, it is my hope that my aural analysis and scholarly study does not draw irrational meanings. However, coming from a producer viewpoint it is impossible not to take the smallest detail and stretch it to an extreme. As mentioned, the sounds found in Pop 2 are historically tied to early and modern electronic music. For me to argue that the album purposely derived from those direct roots is arguable. Artistically it is unlikely that Charlie XCX looked to the history of electronic music for inspiration. Before analysing, I would safely assume that the album was made out of sheer experimentation and “feel”.
My experience as a music producer has helped me to better understand the hidden complexity that Pop 2 has to offer. While staying true to her sound, Charlie XCX has given a twist on popular music. Rather it be political or not, the album’s name Pop 2 could be seen as a sarcastic title that is meant to poke at the music industry. Being in the industry, I could see the need for reformation. In my personal experience, the industry can be extremely biased toward women and especially those who are outwardly spoken about the LGBTQ+ community. Because of that, I see Pop 2 as a response to those biases. Using pop like productions, the album is a play on modern pop music and gives off a dystopian version of what it is today. Therefore, while I can use my identity as a music producer to better relate to the sonic quality of Pop 2, I will innately be more focused on its sonic qualities than its meaning.
In theory, this album is a culmination of past music history. The existence of this album is proof of the growing mixture of influences in modern popular music. Lydia Goehr speaks to this very idea when explaining “music decomposed”. For Gohr, the growth of influences is a philosophical question regarding an artist's true intentions. Charlie XCX’s objective for Pop 2 was to explore a different side of pop music. In collaboration with the Album’s chief producer A.G cook, the goal was to explore that growth. (Owen) Considering the findings by Goehr, Pop 2 would not exist without the groundwork of past musicians.
Though the album is admittedly pop music, it falls into a sub-genre named “Anti-Pop”. To my understanding, Anti-Pop is akin to the labeling of Punk music. Both genres explore independence and going against the grain. But who gets to assign genre labels to music? Imperialistic traditions such as orientalism allow for titles and labeling to occur. Pop 2’s genre is one that is on the cusp of modern popular music. Being titled as an “Anti-Pop” album, I would argue that Pop 2 raises some of the same political questions as orientalism. Questions such as what aesthetics and cultural energies went into the creation of this new title (Said Pg.8) and how many changes are allowed within the title?
While comparing answers between the concept of orientalism and the genre label of Pop 2, varying responses can be found. For “Anti-Pop”, western influences and futuristic themes influenced the aesthetic of the genre. Speaking widely, this genre heavily studies and implements themes that are normally found in Electronic Dance Music and Hip-hop. Culturally this music was influenced by all the factors listed above. If we consider oriental aesthetic and cultural influences, we would be faced with the realization that the title of orientalism was forced upon that people group for the sake of categorization. So how exactly do they relate? The album Pop 2 was a response to this exact notion. (Said Pg. 12)
When Listening to the mixtape-album it is not obvious that Charlie XCX’s heritage would play a role in Indian modern music. Is it fair to connect Pop 2 to Indian modern music because of Charlie’s Indian heritage? According to Danielson, it would be up to the people group to determine if that would be appropriate. To assume yes would be an ignorant takeaway. However, if we only consider her heritage, Pop 2 would certainly give Indian Modern Music a new identity. Pop 2’s aesthetic and sonic qualities would give Indian Modern music a push towards a more global market. Even without direct connection, this album has indirectly been a push for middle eastern art music. If we assess this album’s purpose, Pop 2’s market was not towards India but rather America and Europe. Signed to Atlantic Records, this album reach was intended to be widely acceptable. Because Pop 2 is a pop music derivative, it is impossible to argue against its ongoing relevance and ties to music history. Pop music has always been a combination of past music traditions, techniques and composition forms. In the case of Pop 2, it is no exception to this rule. The foundation of which Pop 2 stands can be credited to American origin music. The works done by mainly African Americans through the 1900-2000s made it possible for the themes found in Pop 2 to be existent. Because of this, Pop 2 delivers relevance to music history and is applicable to the current state of popular music.
On page 142, Goehr refers to Theodor Adorno and his understanding of “aesthetic theory”. Adorno's explanation of this theory would pinpoint Pop 2 as a product of a multifaceted industry. In specific, Pop 2 is the result of a forced evolution by the introduction of new technologies and music mediums. Rather Pop 2 is considered timeless or not, this album inherits the aesthetics laid down by other artists. Speaking towards the modernity of this album, it is evident that Pop 2 lives in the current and strives to be genuine to its own lane.
In relation to my theoretical fixation, Edward Said’s impression of orientalism tied into my understanding of this album. Without stretching the intention of Pop 2, there is depth to be found. And while neither Chalie XCX nor A.G cook explicitly said they draw from the theoretical fixation of orientalism and middle eastern art music, it is evident that the album speaks for itself. By asking similar questions found in Said’s article, we can see how orientalism and the genre labeling of Pop 2 intertwine. It is important to note that genre labeling is caused by the categorization of aesthetics, form, and heritage and not only the type of music style. Because of that categorization, genre labeling relates in perpendicular with orientalism and in turn, relates to Pop 2.
Aurally, this album is a test. While the sonic textures of this album certainly seem conventional, it snatches the listener off guard. A.G Cooks production style shines through in this album. And like many of his works, he leaves the audience questioning what they just heard. Through aural analysis, I discovered that “Pop 2” seeks to mock the state of pop music in 2017. With the album consisting of ten songs, the tracklist is anything but short of diversity. Speaking broadly the album is an electronic boiling pot of common themes that would be seen as abnormal if produced by a contemporary artist.
Featuring electronic instruments and themes that can be related back to electronic music roots, the album is a heavily westernized concoction. Never in the album do we see exotic time signatures or scales. Referring to “What Happened to Indian Music Theory? Indo-Occidentalism?” written by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, I can see no correlation between Pop 2 and Indian Music Theory. Themes like “parampara” and “Ten Thats” are nowhere to be found within Pop 2. Because of this, I can conclude that though Charlie XCX has indian descent - her album Pop 2 was not catered to that audience.
What is interesting is how familiar the album sounds. Songs like “Tears” sound like traditional pop music on the first listen. Only through aural analysis can one pinpoint the odd elements that give commentary to her individual style and inspiration. “Tears” is a perfect example of this argument. At 1:36 you can hear the transition from a pad synthesizer to a guttural scream. The scream goes on to replace the synthesizer and accompanies the vocals as if it was meant to do so. Examples such as “Tears” are what set this album apart.
Sonically you can hear the adoption of synthesizers and instruments that are iconic to other genres such as early techno, 80’s synth-wave and even hip-hop. The inspiration is clear on tracks such as “Track 10” at 4:20 where you can hear 909 drums, Juno synthesis and 808’s all in the span of 10 seconds. The album goes beyond common sound and into futuristic sound design. The song “I Got It” shows Charlie’s and A.G Cooks' attempt at innovation. The industrial-sounding hits and factory derived synths are all rooted in the inspiration of other genres. At 1:34 the song “I Got It” gives the listener a perfectly strange mixture of new and old sound design that perks the attention of any listener.
Auditorily the album has so much to offer. The amount of layers and technical production is outstanding. The lyrical and melodic material of “Pop 2” can be seen as simplistic. Lyrically the album has themes such as love, remorse, and self-encouragement. When paired with the production, the simplistic lyrics evolve into something that could be perceived as complex. Pop 2’s visual aesthetic pairs with the bubblegum like sound and lyrical content. The album art and music video feature futuristic themes that are in part inspired by 90’s and 2000’s artists like Britany Spears and The Spice Girls.
Lyrically Analysing the album's most popular song “Backseat” featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, the track is typical pop. The lyrics travel through the well-known cliché of a one night stand. As mentioned, the album's strengths come from its composition. The simple lyrics allow for crazy sound design. With a simple lyrical message, the listener can then focus on the production and get lost in what sounds like a creation made by artificial intelligence.
Pop 2 sits comfortably in western music traditions. Keeping true to the twelve-tone scale. Seeing how this album is supposed to appeal to the edgier side of the pop-economy is it unsurprising that the album does not wander off too far from what is comfortable. If we consider modern electronic music, this album can be lost in the crowd. The power of this album comes with its intention to make commentary and provide a new sound to contemporary popular music. In relation to my theoretical fixation, Pop 2 is a perfect example of the theories provided by the chosen peer-reviewed articles. The material and auditory evidence that Pop 2 presents is in itself the proof of “aesthetic theory” and orientalism. Goehrs' implementation of “aesthetic theory” categorizes music derivatives (like Pop 2) into a sectionalized understanding of rudimentary origins.
As a final statement, the aural analysis and scholarly examination of Charli XCX’s album Pop 2 have allowed me to prove how modern pop continues to give Middle Eastern music a new identity and provide ongoing relevance and historical ties to music history. My overall understanding of this album is limited to my own understanding of Charlie XCX’s centrifugal meaning. Addressing the theoretical fixation, Pop 2 proposes interesting rhetoric regarding genre labeling, the current state of Indian popular music, and music history. While I used Pop 2 as an anchor for my disposition, I believe that my conclusions can be applied to other examples. The rhetoric in which I participated was one that is fundamentally rooted in the overall comprehension of concepts found in my studies as an academic. In the same breath, however, my arguments (although founded in fact) are ones that can be applied to any concept if deluded far enough. It is my hope that the concepts that I have introduced can be further expanded on by researchers in the ethnomusicology field. Through my argument, researchers can pry deeper into the current state of pop music - hopefully diving into genre labeling. With my album reflection, scholars and researchers alike will hopefully be able to decipher the intricacies of modern ethnomusicology and create a new form of examination.
Bibliography
Charlie XCX. Pop 2. Atlantic Records UK, 2017, CD.
Jairazbhoy, Nazir Ali. 2020."What Happened to Indian Music Theory? Indo-Occidentalism?” Ethnomusicology 52, no. 3 (2008): 349-77. doi: 10.2307/20174604
McNulty, J., Davies, D., De Assis, P., Dorschel, A., Goehr, L., Hindrichs,Rink, J.

1. Response 2: Krenek, Cage, and Stockhausen in Cavell’s “Music

Discomposed”. Virtual Works – Actual Things: Essays in Music Ontology:159-162. doi:10.2307/j.ctv4rfrd0.12
Powers, H. 1965. “Indian Music and the English Language: A Review Essay.”
Ethnomusicology, 9(1): 1-12. doi:10.2307/850413
Said, Edward.1978.“Orientalism.” Excerpts: 1-15. doi:10.2307/2504800
Owen, Myers.Interview with Chalie XCX and A.G. Cook.“Charli XCX and A. G. Cook explain the secrets of her ambitious new mixtape” The Fader. December 15, 2017.

Access to justice by way of using the Magistrates Court of Victoria (MCV) is currently impracticable in low value civil disputes as it is too costly, too slow and too complicated due in part to its outdated way of operation. As the public waits for modernisation of the MCV, companies such as eBay have been forced to take dispute resolution into their own hand’s and surprisingly appear to be successful in settling disputes arising on their platform. However, relying on large private companies for solutions neglects occasional sellers , and stifles public pressure on government to find a practical solution. A current idea is to modernise the court using technology with an online dispute resolution (ODR) system, however, what exact type of online system and whether a system could work is a hot topic and still in its infancy phase. This article surveys whether an online dispute resolution platform may be able to draw upon the use of ‘smart contracts’ on a ‘blockchain’. It finds ideas built on blockchain technology in the private sector that may be a more successful alternative in regard to the status quo ODR systems because they contain a fully automated, immutable transaction recording system and a ‘self-execution’ mechanism. The federal government is using blockchain technology to make the NDIS system more efficient and it is argued here that the same could be done to inexpensively modernise the MCV.

1. What is the blockchain The blockchain is an innovation that removes centralised trust of a private individual third party or the state and replaces it with decentralised consensus of the public when keeping ordered records. It does this through a combination of cryptographic, data management, networking and incentive mechanisms, that support the public checking execution and recording of transactions between parties.

This means there is a publicly available, tamperproof, and traceable record of every transaction ever made. The record is kept secure with an enormous amount of computing power, (approx. 100,000 times the worlds top 500 super computers) and unless an individual actor or group can get 51% of that power the records cannot be changed.

1. What is a smart contract In the technical sense, the idea of a smart contract is a database inside a network that can be added to, but not modified or removed from, and can be thought of as programable transactions that automate business processes.

In the academic literature scholars are grappling with the term ‘smart contract’ as there is an overlap in the fields of science an law. Computer scientist Nick Szabo, in the genesis paper introduced smart contracts through the analogy of a vending machine being a device implemented in physical hardware that implements and safe guards the conditions of an agreement. In other words, you put money in and water comes out; if you do not put money in, water does not come out and the vending machine is an encoding of these rules that also comes with some sort of mechanism keeping it secure.
Eliza Mik, points out that actually a vending machine is an offer to the world, not a contract. Riikka Koulu, argues that a smart contract is similar to a traditional contract in that the declaration of intent is given through a transaction to the smart contract itself.
In any case, it is conceded that hundreds of years of case law and the nature of the real world cannot be fully written into code; thus, the phrase ‘smart contract’ is confusing. The more likely scenario will be software wrapped within a legal framework that links the code with the traditional contract, so words such as ‘automated contract tool’, ‘automated transaction tool’ or ‘programable money’ should be used to reduce confusion.
Nevertheless, in theory such an innovation could be an alternative to orders from an ODR within the MCV because it is the smart contract itself that upholds itself, not the court; eliminating the need for parties to seek enforcement orders from the court. Also, considering cases of fraud, the transaction records are irrefutable which allows them to be trusted for evidentiary purposes, something an ODR system could benefit from. Thus, discovery processes and forensic analysis that require substantial resources, expensive technologies or special methods are significantly reduced. This ‘digital’ evidence can non-discriminately be accepted by the MCV under the guiding principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures 2001, the principal referred to as “technology neutrality”.
5 NDIS myplace participant portal and commbank app An interface using smart contracts has been produced by the Australian government and the Commonwealth Bank to automate individualised payments for people on the NDIS to pay for services provided by e.g. power scooter repair people, to stop disabled people from being defrauded. This platform recognises the repair man is accredited and releases the specified digital tokens that are redeemable in AUD once the job is done. It would not take much to take this system and modify it in a way that would support an ODR system within the MCV, if funding were made available If funding is not given to incorporate such an innovation into some sort of online platform within the MCV it may not stop the technology being used in dispute resolution, set out below is what is on the verge of being functional and freely usable in the ‘off the grid’ world of cryptography.

1. Peer to peer to peer … (Multi signature) smart contracts and the internet of things The popular understanding of the blockchain is that it is a peer to peer mode of transacting with no third-party facilitator. That is no longer the case, as developments have allowed for a centralised, or decentralised third parties by way of a function described as multi signatures. Some blockchain traditionalists are not pleased with the involvement of a centralised third party, because it starts to undermine the original benefits (no single point of failure) of putting smart contracts on the blockchain. Nonetheless applications using decentralised third parties are proving to be innovative, namely using the ‘Internet of things’ (IoT) as third-party signatory’s; as of 2017 there are 12.32 billion connected devices such as fridges, gps, etc.

For example, Alice and Bob have a $100 bet on the weather. Alice believes the average temperature in Melbourne will not reach 30 degrees Celsius on the 21st of January 2020, and Bob thinks it will. The bet is coded into a smart contract in a way that allows the contract to receive input from multiple weather stations in Melbourne. The weather stations are the third parties or more correctly the third signatory in this multi signatory contract.
If the combined weather stations data report an average of over 30 degrees, the contract will recognise it and immediately self-execute by allowing Bob to use his private key transfer to the funds, but not Alice. Such a design could be used to help farmers with crop insurance with records of rainfall where a farmer would instantly access an insurance claim if a drought hit.

1. Smart contracts as an alternative to the Online Court What if the weather stations were freelance arbiters? Would this fit into the hard to define definition of ODR? Or is it simply a pre cursor to an MCV ODR? Or does it make ODR unnecessary? There are still many questions to answer.

In any case, opt-in blockchain driven online dispute resolution platforms have been conceptualised in the private sector and are currently entering the testing phase using the multi signatory approach, ‘Kleros’ and ‘Jury online’ are two such projects the MCV can draw ideas from.
4.1 The overarching idea Alice from Melbourne engages Bob, a freelance programmer from Ballarat to build her a website. Alice creates a smart contract with the payment embedded, entailing that if she is unsatisfied with Bob’s work the contract can be modified to require the vote of a pre-agreed online court. This way Bob does not need to worry about being paid and Alice does not need to worry about Bob doing a good job.
After the job is done and a pre-agreed amount of time Bob could use his private key to access the money. If Alice is unhappy with Bobs work, she can digitally add to the contract in the online platform which results in a digital complaint which engages the third party. This will block both her and Bob’s access to the funds and prompt Bob to click a button to defend, which he does. They are then both prompted to submit evidence to support their claim. Now a decision is required from arbiters in a pre-agreed online court; from which a third signature is now required to access the funds.
Within the online court, financially incentivised arbiters weigh in to decide on whether Bob held up his end of the bargain or not. If the majority believe Bob did fulfil the conditions of the agreement, Bob’s defence will be successful, and the arbiter’s addition to the contract will allow Bob’s private key to access the money embedded in the contract.
4.2 Who are the arbitrators The arbitrators are members of the public, the example used in Kleros for a type of arbiter in the afore mentioned dispute is: Thousands of miles away, in Nairobi, John is a software developer. In his “dead time” on the bus commuting to his job, he is checking Kleros website to find some arbitration work. He makes a couple thousand dollars a year on the side of his primary job by serving as a juror in software development disputes between freelancers and their clients.
This could be anyone, plumbers, mechanics, architects etc may want to find work as freelance arbiters. They get involved by meeting the skill requirements that the dispute court requires. For example, the contract of building a website would require skills in html, javascript and web design. Problems regarding what substantive and procedural rules will be applied are still to be solved, this is due to lack of legal expertise not technical reasons. The benefits are immense as there is no delay or way of influencing the public arbiters as they are simply random experts sub-contracting their free time.
Depicted below is a limited hypothetical example of different types of courts an arbitrator could find work in. When Alice and Bob create the smart contract, they choose which court their case will be ruled in, which has the option to appeal.
They will also pre-select specific options arbitrators can select e.g. a) Reimburse Alice b) Give Bob and extra week c) Pay Bob
4.3 Discovery Evidence is submitted online through the online interface Kleros provides, this could be oral, video or written and all stored in one online searchable location that both sides can see. This is encrypted for privacy and the process has already been proven in simple civil cases in other e-commerce ODR applications,
4.4 How to keep isolated arbiters honest Nobel prize winning Game theorist Thomas Schelling’s focal point theory is used here as a solution Consider the picture below:
Imagine two people are isolated, know nothing about each other and cannot communicate, they are told that they will win a prize if they select the same square as the other person, despite not being able to communicate, and assuming they want to win the prize people will most likely select the red square.
This theory is then coded into the contract, whereby once the ballot has been finalised the arbiters who voted with the majority will be rewarded financially, and those in the minority will be penalised financially, this is the cornerstone of how arbitrators are incentivised to act reasonably.
4.5 How arbitrators are selected from the specific dispute courts The arbiters self-select by depositing a token into the specific dispute, the more tokens deposited the higher the chance of being selected to stop inactive arbiters from being selected.
4.6 Bribe resistance If Alice is not happy with the outcome, she can appeal to a higher court much like the current system works. At the next level, twice the number of arbitrators plus one is used. By the time it gets to the general court a bribing party would simply have too many people to bribe and it would be too expensive, relative to the claim.

1. Conclusion In the Australian economy disruptive digital technologies are a pervasive force, these technologies develop innovations and drive growth, which lead to improved living standards, thus accepting they are here, and humbly recognising their potential early, is important as Australia moves into the digital age.

Clearly, in the face of globalisation and disputes arising across borders something like smart contracts may be the only way to get enforcement, because traditional streams will struggle to manage different jurisdictions laws and enforcement.
There is concern around terminology and that decentralised consensus provides absolute certainty by removing ambiguity completely. Eliza Mik argues from a legal perspective that ambiguity is something very useful to contract, and that computer scientists mistakenly believe that it is not. However, there simply may have to be increased lawyer-programmer collaboration and some giving up of ambiguity in traditional contracts to get easier pathways of access to justice and enforcement.
Bibliography
A Articles/Books/Reports
Amy J. Schmitz, 'A blueprint for online dispute resolution system design' (2018) 21(7) Journal of Internet Law 3.
Daniel Royal, Paul Rimba, Mark Staples, Sophie Gilder, An Binh Tran, Ethan Williams, Alex Ponomarev, Ingo Weber, Chris Connor, Nicole Lim Making Money Smart Empowering NDIS participants with Blockchain technologies. (Report, CSIRO Canberra, 2018)
Eliza Mik, 'Smart contracts: terminology, technical limitations and real world complexity' (2017) 9(2) Law, Innovation and Technology 269.
Federico Ast Cl´ement Lesaege, Kleros Short Paper v1.0.6 (November 2018) https://kleros.io/assets/whitepaper.pdf.
Hanson RT, Reeson A, Staples M ‘Distributed Ledgers: Scenarios for the Australian economy over the coming decades’. (Report, CSIRO Canberra, 2017).
Katarina Palmgreen, ‘Explore the use of online dispute resolution to resolve civil disputes: how to best integrate an online court into the Victorian public justice system’ (2018) Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
Koji Takahashi, "Implications of the Blockchain Technology for the UNCITRAL Works" (Paper presented to the Congress of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Vienna, 4-6 July 2017 [unpublished]. This paper-which the author expressly considers be subjected to a final revision-is online: .
Nick Szabo, ‘Smart Contracts: Formalizing and Securing Relationships on Public Networks’ (1997) First Monday, Volume 2, No. 9 https://ojphi.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/548/469
Pietro Ortolani, 'Self-Enforcing Online Dispute Resolution: Lessons from Bitcoin' (2016) 36(3) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 595, 605
Riikka Koulu, 'Blockchains and Online Dispute Resolution: Smart Contracts as an Alternative to Enforcement' (2016) 13(1) SCRIPTed 40.
Richard E. Susskind, The end of lawyers? : rethinking the nature of legal services (Oxford New York : Oxford University Press, Rev. ed. ed, 2010) 93
Satoshi Nakamoto, ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ (2008) < https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf>.
Vitalik Buterin, ‘Ethereum White Paper: A Next Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform’ (2015) http://blockchainlab.com/pdf/Ethereum_white_paper-a_next_generation_smart_contract_and_decentralized_application_platform-vitalik-buterin.pdf’.

2 accounts got shadowbanned for uploading this post. Spam filter kept on removing it this post. Messaged the moderators, but received no answer. Removed many links, so check post history for full version.
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First time making a Reddit post. Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes
Brief summary of post:

1. History of Journey
2. Using Subliminals (affirmations converted into audio) to reprogram the subconscious, overcome nocturnal emissions, and turbo-charge the Law of Attraction
3. Experience from meditation retreats
4. Massive booklist covering psychotherapy, spirituality, and general books such as negotiating and advanced social skills
5. Fundamental shifts that occurred
6. Experiences with semen-retention benefits
7. How I overcame and conquered negative entities
8. Tantric meditation method that actually works with zero side effects
9. Experience on speaking Japanese for 1 full hour with native speakers without notes after 3 months of learning

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Terminology:
Wet dream/WD – sexual dream causing semen emission while sleeping
Nocturnal Emission/NE – semen emission occurring while sleeping even without dreaming
Semen-retention/SR streak – avoiding porn, masturbation, and ejaculation whether conscious or unconscious
Nofap Hardmode – avoiding porn, masturbation, and conscious ejaculation. Unconscious ejaculation/WD is considered fine.
​
As the title suggests, my current streak started in the middle of June 2017. Haven’t watched any porn or masturbated in 3 years. Experienced almost all the benefits such as massive attraction (men, women, children), an aura/energy surrounding me, enhanced charisma, less need for sleep, insane levels of energy, drive, and motivation, zero anxiety or fear, massive confidence occasionally bordering on arrogance, increased manifestation/LOA, people admiring/respecting me for no reason, online attraction, less procrastination, better athletic performance, greater creativity/intelligence, the desire to live a purposeful life, greater emphasis on spirituality, and much much more. Could probably write several posts just on the benefits themselves. Only thing that didn’t improve was my skin, which was later fixed using subliminals.
It’s been a long journey, so I’ll start with background information, and later elaborate on how I managed to go from nocturnal emissions every 5 days (avg) to having a perfect SR streak for 3 months.
Used to watch anime which led to hentai (2013), and eventually western/japanese porn. Don’t even bother to search these terms on Google. It’s not worth it. Thankfully, those days are long behind me. As a side-note, I discovered the nofap/semen-retention subreddit in November 2017. Didn’t even know about SR before that.
I was raised a Catholic in a fairly religious family. Always started various streaks, and eventually broke them due to boredom/emotional coping/curiosity about new videos. Thankfully, I got good grades, read books, and was interested in self-development, but all that time spent on porn was a complete waste. Assuming I spent at least 2 hours everyday for 4 years (1460 days), it amounts to 122 complete days or around 4 months in total. It’s pretty sad on reflection, but at least the experience is now absorbed, and I can write this post.
On June 2017, after summer break started and final exams were over, I decided to permanently quit this habit. Downloaded an application called Cold Turkey and completely blocked all websites I used to visit. Now use Leechblock, which is available on most browsers (also use it to block/restrict access to non-NSFW websites which impair productivity like ESPN). Started 30 minutes of daily meditation (mindfulness + metta). Still continue the habits to this day, although the length is increased to 1 hour. Read Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana and Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg for instructions. Have re-read these books multiple times.
Mindfulness will allow you to be self-aware of your mental conditioning, while metta (feeling compassion for yourself, a friend, neutral person, and enemy) can remove thoughts of lust and fundamentally alter your mental programming. Compassion is a very powerful exercise. Read “The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion by Christopher Germer” while you’re at it and learn tonglen. All of these books contain zero fluff, and are invaluable reads.
Started drinking 16 glasses of water (thought it would help skin, but helped in other ways), and doing 100 pushups + 100 sit-ups everyday. Increased it to 200 pushups + 200 sit-ups after 1 month. After 2 months, I made a decent amount of gains (SR helps), and people started asking me workout tips and what gym I go to. Had a Kindle Paperwhite, which is frankly one of my most valued possessions. Still works perfectly fine after 5 years, and costs only $130. Buy one now. Read a lot of books mostly consisting of biographies/spirituality/practical social skills/800+ page novels for around 6 hours per day. Still try to read for at least 15 minutes/1 chapter even when extremely busy. Will post a small booklist at the end of this post.
You can upload books to it for free if you lack money. Visit (gen.lib.rus.ec), download the ebook in epub/mobi format, open it with Calibre (https://calibre-ebook.com/), and send it to Kindle using USB. Knowledge is an investment that produces continuous returns. Warren Buffett spends 80% of his time just reading! and takes action based on that knowledge.
Even managed to have the motivation to learn Japanese by joining a foreign language exchange website. People, especially women, accepted and sent a lot of invitations to have a conversation; didn’t realize online attraction was due to SR back then. None of us showed our faces, so my physical appearance had nothing to do with it. From experience, the best way to learn a language was to make a phrase sheet with the most common phrases/questions, such as “okay”, “that’s awesome”, “what is that word in English/Japanese?” Basically a human AI bot. Don’t waste time trying to learn how to write the alphabet, although my primary purpose was to learn how to speak. Google Translate is good enough to understand the pronunciation.
I learned Japanese primarily by watching Terrace House. First watched the episode with subtitles, then re-watched it without, while simultaneously writing all the connectives/conversational phrases. You can try unique methods to remember, but brute-force memorization/review worked the best. Never tried Anki since it was cumbersome to use.
For the accent, the best way is to watch Japanese people trying to speak English, and try to mirror their accent as much as possible. It honestly helps. After 3 months, I could have a full 1 hour conversation in Japanese with a native speaker without looking at any notes. I wasn’t “fluent” (still stuttered and made mistakes), but it was a huge amount of progress for starting from scratch. Eventually after 6 months, I gave up practicing/speaking the language. I was mainly trying to fulfill a childhood fantasy, and I’m glad I tried since I learned a lot from it and got to talk with interesting people. But in reality, I stopped watching anime, and honestly never needed to speak Japanese in real-life. Now I barely remember any of the words, except a few basic phrases. Could probably last 30 seconds of full conversation at best.
So, everything was going great until December 2017. During this time period, I probably had wet dreams/nocturnal emissions every 1 – 2 months. Barely felt much difference since there was a decent time interval between emissions. Drank 2 glasses of water everyday before bed, slept on my stomach, and ate spicy food (practices that cause nocturnal emissions), but was perfectly fine. However in December I started having emissions every 2 weeks. Initially didn’t care about it. In January it started happening every 1 week. Nothing really changed in my life during this time to cause emissions to increase. Then it started happening every 5 days, every 3 days, sometimes even 2 days in a row!
Most of you will have no idea how terrible it feels to be on top of the world, and then suddenly crash down. The difference between living life with/without SR benefits is night and day. Even after sleeping 10 hours, I used to feel completely exhausted. People ignored me, or worse started “joking” around me. Complete disrespect by friends, family, and acquaintances. No energy/motivation to do anything. Constant brain fog, could barely concentrate. Felt even worse than my porn days when I ejaculated everyday. Voice completely shot, started feeling anxious about oral presentations for no reason, when I always excelled. Felt like my soul was dying. Those were really dark times. People started saying I “changed”, and started pointing out and constantly magnifying my flaws. It’s strange how people exaggerate our skills/talents on SR, while they completely ignore them post WD/ejaculation, and focus only on your flaws/mistakes. It makes you lose trust in everyone around you, as if all of them are energy vampires who only like you due to SR.
I grew desperate. During this whole time I meditated, practiced no lust/no arousal as best as possible since July 2017, yet emissions increased massively in frequency. Some occurred due to sexual dreams, but most were nocturnal emissions. Thought I had a UTI at first, and went to a general practitioner. He didn’t seem very reliable, so I went to a prominent urologist. Did all sorts of tests, paid a good amount of money, and the doctor said everything was fine. Having nocturnal emissions every 5 days was perfectly normal at my age. Encouraged me to masturbate regularly if it became an inconvenience :)
So medical science obviously failed. Started following all the tips/methods in this subreddit, and believe me I tried almost everything no matter how uncomfortable or time-consuming. Omad, avoid food/water before bed, vegetarianism, tantric meditation, different diets, various sleeping positions, no/increased meditation before bed, no/more exercise, yogic exercises, qigong, some tips mentioned by Soaring Eagle, prayed to God. None of them worked. The only method I didn’t try extensively were kegels. Initially tried a normal + reverse kegel routine, then found an article by coincidence on this subreddit about someone who permanently damaged their penis from doing kegels. Immediately stopped, thank you to that person for sharing your experience. It’s as if the universe was looking out for me. Best to avoid such risky methods even if you’re desperate. Currently sleep on my back since it avoids any "accidental physical stimulation" from occurring.
So this nocturnal emission phenomena continued for over a year. Some methods worked better than others, while for some, I wasn’t sure if it was merely the placebo effect. In mid-2019 I came across subliminal videos (finally the good part!) on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0W5AB1sGr0) This video explains it more thoroughly, but basically you convert affirmations (sentences like “I am happy/smart/handsome”) into audio using text-to-speech software and reprogram your subconscious mind. Tried a beauty subliminal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEXaAsm-Iys) as a joke, but the next day I noticed changes in my facial structure. Listened for an hour the first day, which was easy given the music. You have no idea how amazing it feels to know that you can control your reality just by using your mind. Completely magical. Supposedly it works due to the Law of Attraction; you can find out more by reading/watching “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, and later reading all the books by Neville Goddard. Started using a skin subliminal as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqi8Q80pspk and later moved onto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COxz8hvl14Y ), and now my skin is completely normal. Visited prominent US dermatologists, tried all sorts of acne medicine including Accutane, and even did SR, yet none of them worked. Skin was pretty terrible, and I was glad it got fixed. Took around 4 months of daily listening although it can be shortelonger depending on your belief, blockages, and levels of positivity. There’s a CIA document on holographic universes, astral projection, time travel, and psychic powers if you need scientific validation: https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5.pdf
Disclaimer: Although there can be bad subliminal makers, they are very rare, and there has been only 2 of them in the history of the community. Someone named MindPower and Rose subliminals. The vast majority (99%) put positive affirmations. It’s best that you verify by checking all the comments, seeing their subscriber count, general personality, etc, but ultimately there’s no guarantee. The only way to make sure the affirmations are 100% positive and safe are to make them yourself or use a subliminal that blocks negative affirmations.
One thing to note is that physical change (biokinesis; search that term)/spiritual subliminals utilize the prana in your body to a certain extent to make changes. It makes sense since physical change is essentially a psychic poweenergy work. So your SR benefits/aura might temporarily decrease. Hydration is also recommended, and you will notice feeling thirsty. Personally drink 20 glasses of water everyday.
Obviously, my interest now turned towards using subliminals to cure nocturnal emissions. Unfortunately there’s a huge lack of subliminals regarding semen-retention or those targeted towards nocturnal emissions. Initially bought a subliminal using a paid request (you pay a subliminal maker for a specialized subliminal), but it didn’t work that well. Desired to be permanently free of nocturnal emissions, or at least reduce the frequency to once a month. So I decided to make my own subliminal. The affirmations will be posted below, and this is how I eventually cured my nocturnal emissions.
Steps on how to make your own subliminal:

1. Write all the affirmations in a word document and save it.
2. Download text-to-speech software like Balabolka and output the audio file in wav format (you want both uncompressed + lossless)
3. Optional but recommended; download an audio editor like Audacity, and fast-forward the audio as much as possible using the “Change Tempo” effect. Personally I speed the audio to one second and then loop it 1000x. Continue the process as much as possible, but never make the audio length less than 1 second. Some subliminal makers make their subliminals even more powerful by creating multiple audio streams of their affirmations using different voices, merging all the voices together, and speeding them up. It’s called layering. Why super-sped affirmations work better can be somewhat explained by this article (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sensorium/201812/experiments-suggest-humans-can-directly-observe-the-quantum), but science still doesn’t have all the answers. Will take time.
4. Converting the affirmations to binary code (https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/numbeascii-to-binary.html) is a technique some subliminal makers use. Supposedly it penetrates the subconscious faster.

Affirmations Link: https://www.reddit.com/pureretention/comments/hg0tjb/practicing_sr_since_july_2017_finally_conquered/ (same content; scroll down to the subliminal section and download the affirmations file from the mega link)
Listened to this personal subliminal for 1 hour everyday for an entire month. Still listen just to be safe. Took months of testing and editing affirmations to make it perfect. Experienced massive sexual dreams on certain days, more than normal, and found out that entities could be responsible. Try to avoid this subreddit as well, since reading the posts can trigger memories. More energetically sensitive now, and sometimes there’s a lot of low-vibrational energy. On a side-note, porn cripples your aura and invites negative entities (https://www.awakeningstaryoga.com/blog/expanding-away-from-porn-aura).
Non-subliminal solutions:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMx69hgYq0s (morphic field)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWK0D1g069I (powerful aura cleanse; Tibetan bowl sounds)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moRsibNyMA (reiki)

Subliminal solutions (ordered in terms of effectiveness):

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt9s5tY1YE
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvyPscRD1ss
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTmnrFzR0_Q (for spells, curses, black magic, etc)
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt9s5tY1YE (last resort)

The entire channel is a gem; these were some of the best. Have used them for a few months and feel much lighter and peaceful; experienced only headaches due to subconscious absorbing the affirmations, but zero negative effects.
Advice: Remember to immediately download any subliminal video you find that is useful in wav format (https://www.savethevideo.com/download). Subliminal channels are sometimes deleted by YouTube (spam filter) or the creators themselves.
Waited 3 whole months before deciding to make a Reddit post to make sure the method was 100% foolproof. Remember many people offering solutions in the past, yet 1 month later they would have another wd/nocturnal emission.
The first month there was a lot of fear. Will I have a wet dream/nocturnal emission tonight? Was so traumatized it was difficult getting to sleep every night. After the 2nd month, I experimented with sleeping on my stomach and eating/drinking before bed. Nothing happened. Stopped recently to stay careful.
After 2 years of suffering, this is a method that has worked. Try and see for yourself.
Present day:
How do you feel now? Some days it’s meh (due to flatline) like today; on other days I feel divine. No idea why flatline still occurs. Have regained all the benefits, feel love and happiness all the time. Experience intense states of bliss in meditation more frequently, although it’s just a distraction.
Religiously/Spiritually I’ve moved from Christianity to Buddhism/Advaita Vedanta/parts of New Age. Found them more practical and useful in life. Was inspired to aim for spiritual enlightenment after reading “The 3 pillars of Zen” by Philip Kapleau. Read it, it might change your life.
Have attended a number of meditation retreats now, along with 10-day ones. Everyone reading this post should try it. Understood how much our mental programming defined us, and that we aren’t are thoughts. Our childhood traumas define so much of our habitual reactions. Realized its okay to feel bored rather than chasing after constant stimulation.
Even attended a Jhana retreat, which is exclusive for people who have attended prior retreats. Entered intense states of meditative absorption, understood the permeability/impermanence of reality, and had all sorts of mystical experiences. Experienced past lives; can confirm my mind did not make it up, since it’s an experience you can constantly replicate using the same methods. Before attempting such methods, you need to have the ability to sit down and meditate continuously for at least 3 hours. If you live in the US, attend IMS (Insight Meditation Society) or any prominent Vipassana/Theravada related retreat. Zen is a valid form of enlightenment, but it personally felt unstructured.
Gave up music, took time since I was convinced it was needed for creativity. Instead, it was just a substitute source of dopamine and a way to avoid my emotions. Have much less brain fog after quitting. Only communicate using regular phone calls these days, which no one uses, and Snapchat/WhatsApp for texting. Avoid stories, waste of time. Instagram/TwitteFacebook are a waste of time unless you are using it for business purposes. The only social media you really need is LinkedIn.
Women: You’ll learn more about them by reading romantic novels, Korean mangas, and watching Kdramas then reading all that seduction/red pill stuff. Focus on general charisma (men and women) instead of a specific gender. Read “The Charisma Myth” by Olivia Fox Cabane; it’s the most practical book on social skills I have ever read, and possibly the most life-changing as well. Teaches you self-awareness, applies Buddhist psychology to social interaction. Used to train executives in Google, read it now (and do all the exercises). The bibliography sent me on a rabbit hole that made me read ton of books on psychotherapy, meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhism; this was before SR. Inspired me to practice meditation, although the habit only became regular after SR.
Read books such as Crucial Conversations by Al Switzer, Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, How to Talk so Kids will Listen by Adele Faber (works very well in general since even adults have childhood programming, and can act like children), Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (FBI's chief international hostage and kidnapping negotiator from 2003 to 2007), Getting More by Stuart Diamond (trains negotiators at Google), and Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff (more theoretical but useful). Also read The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan Pease and What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro. These are all books that will greatly improve your human interactions and contain limited fluff. Have re-read all of these books in difficult times, and they have never let me down. You should read it as well. Even if you become a monk, there’s lots of social infighting even in monasteries. Highly-developed social skills are invaluable whenever you are dealing with individuals. Read “How to make friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie once in a while, since most forget to apply his “basic” advice. Learned a lot about oral presentations by watching Alan Shore on Boston Legal (TV show).
Current position in life? Studying for a bachelor’s degree. My family is financially well-off, and my father is paying for my college tuition and dorm. Scholarships aren’t available for all income levels. Although I come from “privilege”, the above information can help anyone regardless of their financial position. We live in an era where information is accessible to all social classes, so excuses aren’t that relevant. If you’re practicing SR, you are already 20 steps closer to success. The tips above can be applied for free as long as you have a computesmartphone. Read books starting from today, knowledge is a source of power. People spend so much time reading the news, scrolling social media feeds, reacting to comments, chatting about useless things with friends, binging shows on Netflix, browsing YouTube/Reddit, that time quietly passes by. Time is the most valuable commodity you have; don’t waste such a limited resource on things that will contribute nothing towards your purpose in life. Once it’s spent, you can never get it back.
Personally, I schedule the next day before going to bed. Leisure, Reading, Schoolwork, Meditation, everything is mapped out perfectly. Try to eliminate habits that just waste time and stick to your schedule perfectly (working on it myself). If you feel tired after work/studying, take a nap or meditate instead of receiving even more stimulation from videogames, YouTube, or other artificial dopamine sources. Try NoSurf.
​

Basic Booklist:

Spirituality:

1. The End of Your World by Adyashanti (fantastic writer; must-read if you have had an awakening experience or believe you are "enlightened")
2. How to Attain Enlightenment -> The Essence of Enlightenment by James Swartz (best introduction to Advaita Vedanta I have read so far)
3. I am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
4. In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi (best introduction to Buddhist scripture)
5. Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright (secular perspective but informative; his previous book The Moral Animal is a good introduction to evolutionary psychology. Read this first if you are non-spiritual)
6. Wisdom Wise and Deep by Shaila Catherine (comprehensive introduction by one of the best Jhana teachers in the US)
7. Manual of Insight by Mahasi Sayadaw
8. Emptiness: A Practical Guide by Guy Armstrong (good introduction to the Buddhist version of reality)
9. Books by Loch Kelly (practical guide to non-dual meditation practices within Buddhism; The Little Book of Being by Diana Winston may be a better introduction. Also read Thrangu Rinpoche)
10. Seeing that Frees by Rob Burbea (really advanced but profound)
11. http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html (Buddhism > Advaita)
12. Books by Robert Bruce such as Psychic Self-Defence and Energy Work
13. Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn
14. Dream Yoga by Andrew Holecek (amazing/practical book on lucid dreaming -> dream yoga)
15. Autobiography of a Yogi
16. The Practice of Brahmacharya by Swami Sivananda and Soaring Eagle (https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/6-years-clean-rebooting-as-the-best-remedy.135983/) if you haven’t read already

Novels (use translators mentioned):
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/fiction/? for foreign literature

1. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (Taiko is decent as well, but this one was a masterpiece)
2. Romance of the Three Kingdoms trans. Moss Roberts
3. The Dream of the Red Chamber trans. David Hawkes (read it in the summer of 2017, profound but not all may see the deeper meaning)
4. The Nine Cloud Dream trans. Heinz Insu Fenkl
5. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Inspirational for Entrepreneurs, however don’t start adopting this book as economic philosophy. It’s just a novel!)
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (read now if you are experiencing an existential crisis)
7. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment + The Brothers Karamazov (optional reading; prefer Pevear translation)
8. Perry Mason and Sherlock Holmes Series (pleasure reading but not useless)

Psychotherapy (never visited a therapist, but found these useful):

1. Getting Past Your Past by Francine Shapiro (by the founder of EMDR, best practical book on trauma and exercises to resolve it)
2. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (another immensely practical book on recovering from trauma)
3. Breaking the Cycle by George Collins (best practical workbook on sexual addiction I have read; all should read)
4. Get out of your mind and into your life by Steven Hayes (Was mentioned in the charisma myth booklist; take control of your thoughts and mind by the founder of ACT)
5. Mindful Compassion by Paul Gilbert and Choden (prominent researcher on compassion applied to therapy; part one can be boring, but part two on practical exercises is invaluable)
6. Feeling Book by David Burns (rightfully a classic book on therapy and CBT; read if you are suffering from depression)
7. Healing Development Trauma by Laurence Heller (best book on the impact of childhood/development trauma but meant for therapists, might explain why we use addiction to cope from childhood memories; google ACE study as well)
8. The Boy who was raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry (stories about children experiencing trauma. Increases empathy for yourself and others; you realize how childhood trauma affects how a lot of people think and behave)
9. Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse by Jackson MacKenzie (fantastic book on recovering from relationship abuse. Many of us have emotional baggage that fuels coping and addiction loops. Read Healing from Hidden Abuse by Shannon Thomas as well.)
10. Self-Compassion by Kristen Neff (optional reading, but complimentary)

For biographies, read those of presidents and important leaders. Also about famous/successful individuals. Read all of Ron Chernow’s books. Abuse the Amazon Search Engine and look through their categories. Reading biographies can fundamentally enhance your worldview so you realize that real-life issues are much more nuanced and gray rather than black and white. Also shows how successful people deal with difficult crises and their perspective on life. Especially for public policy. If a President implements an economic policy that has short-term gains, but long-term loss, he has a greater chance of being re-elected. However, short-term loss in favor of long-term gain is the correct policy. Employ critical-thinking! Avoid cable news even if you need to stay informed. Don’t even have a television in my house. Unnecessary. Just read 2 – 3 reputable news sources for 20 minutes max. Sometimes I even avoid the news since there’s too much negativity.
https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/1unyph/a_tantric_perspective_on_the_use_of_sexual_energy/ (tantric meditation technique that actually works; you are supposed to do it for 1 hour. Optional.)
https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/2zn8ev/grounding_201_two_effective_quick_methods/ (energetic protection + grounding method after doing the tantric meditation)
Avoid learning Mantak Chia’s techniques from a book, since some have suffered side-effects to their energetic/biological body. For NEO, Tibetan buddhists practice meditation for 13 years before attempting it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmamudr%C4%81). Not easy. Not sure about women, since SR streak is more important. Don’t pick a partner to fulfill some kind of emotional void, or due to societal programming where women are held to be the ultimate goal. Spiritual Enlightenment is the ultimate goal now, but even enlightened people need money for food and shelter.
Youtubers I follow are Graham Stephan, Ryan Serhant, Rupert Spira, and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUX1V5UNWP1RUkhLewe77ZQ (cured women objectification for me; wholesome content) although mostly I avoid the website. Easy to loose track of time.
Avoid smoking, alcohol, recreational drug use (https://www.elitedaily.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol-aura-damage/1743959), casual sex (https://mywakingpath.wordpress.com/tag/aura/; sensitive images but useful), and fast food. Budget your money, and learn how to save as much as possible.
Hope everyone reading this post experiences their definition of success and leads a purposeful life. Will end it by stating two quotes that have inspired and guided me:
“You yourself have to change first, or nothing will change for you!”
― Hideaki Sorachi
“It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than you were yesterday.”
― Jigoro Kano (Founder of Judo)
Update 1, 2, 3: Added a post summary and the audio as well in the affirmations link
Update 4: https://starseedsunited.com/negative-entities-and-psychic-attacks (basic article on entities)
Some solutions are posted above. Updated* daily routine:

1. https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/1xyp5k/a_simple_and_universal_white_light_protection/ (basic psychic self-defence)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt9s5tY1YE (at least once everyday; cures sexual dreams and flushes all entities)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P8plUy7Exg + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xoRmTAoJ1E (best shielding combination so far; general spiritual protection)

Note: Will continuously update this post based on further clarification. Close to 40,000 character word limit.

Description:
"Statistical mechanics is one of the pillars of modern physics. It is necessary for the fundamental study of any physical system that has many degrees of freedom. The approach is based on statistical methods, probability theory and the microscopic physical laws. It can be used to explain the thermodynamic behavior of large systems." -Wikipedia
Preliminary:
I do want to say before a user starts this Bibliography, that this was one of the most difficult Bibs I've had to make in regards to the textbooks. For some reason, the textbooks pertaining to this field aren't highly regarded, nor are they usually well written. I have a hard time recommending any undergraduate textbook for Stat Mech or Thermodynamics:

• Kittel & Kroemer hasn't been updated in over 40 years and the publishers are still asking nearly $150 for the book (at the time this bib was published). It is usually recommended in lieu of Schroeder.
  
• Schroeder is typically used for intro Statistical Mechanics, and in most forums, is usually disliked, wherein most users refer to Kittel & Kroemer as their preferred textbook. This begins a cycle where one users hates Kittel & Kroemer and recommends Schroeder, another user comes in and recommends Kittel & Kroemer and thus continues the cycle.
  
• Reif is known for it's usage for obscure notation, unnecessarily formality, and clarity issues. Some users state it is the best book, while others want to burn it in a fire.
  
• Herbert B. Callen: Published and not revised since 1985. "In the preface to this second edition, Callen described his 25-year-old postulatory approach to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics as "now widely accepted". In fact, by the time of his second edition, his approach was completely outdated, because it springs from nineteenth-century ideas of thermodynamics in which concepts such as entropy were not understood. This means that Callen simply postulated the core quantities such as entropy and temperature with essentially no context, and without providing any physical insight or analysis. It might all look streamlined, but his approach will give you no insight into the difficult and interesting questions of the subject. Callen described his approach as rendering the subject transparent and simple; but his approach comes across as obscure. For example, in the early part of the book, he insists on repeatedly writing "1/T1 = 1/T2" for two temperatures that are ascertained to be equal, when anyone else would write "T1 = T2". And, for what he does write, the devil is often in the details that he tends to leave out. Even at the start, when Callen introduces the concept of work, he fails to say whether he is talking about the work done on the system, or by the system, leaving the reader to work that out for himself from some irrelevant comments about the mechanical work term −P dV. Callen's incorrect renditions of the Taylor expansion in an appendix seem to suggest, rather oddly, that he didn't understand the difference between "dx" and "Δx". His book includes a 20-page postscript in which he makes claims about the role of symmetry in thermodynamics; but, as far as I can tell, this section says nothing useful at all. I suspect that the reason this book is as frequently cited as it is said to be lies in its being used as the basis for a course by many lecturers who never learned the subject themselves, and hence don't reseal that the book's approach is outdated. If you really want to learn the subject, use the modern statistical approach, in which entropy is defined to relate to numbers of configurations. As far as readability goes, Callen's writing tends to omit commas; but this can make his sentences tedious to read, since the reader ends up having to make two or three passes to decode what some sentences are saying. (If you use few commas yourself, study a typical sentence in Callen's book: "the intermediate states of the gas are non equilibrium states for which the enthalpy is not defined". Callen is not singling out a special set of non-equilibrium states here; instead, enthalpy is not defined for any non-equilibrium state. He should have included a single comma, by writing "the intermediate states of the gas are non-equilibrium states, for which the enthalpy is not defined".) " -Vijay Fafat - UCR
  

Prerequisites:

• Statistics and Probability
  
• Multivariable Calculus
  
• Linear Algebra
  
• Ordinary Differential Equations
  
• Classical Mechanics
  
• Math Methods in Physics
  
• Electrodynamics
  
• Quantum Mechanics
  

Books:

• Undergraduate Books

  • Thermal Physics (2nd Edition) Second Edition by Charles Kittel (Author), Herbert Kroemer (Author) Not a bad a book but considering that most Statistical Mechanics aren't very well written, it stands out from the few decent books
  • Introduction to Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics 2nd Edition by Keith Stowe (Author) A very good book that has plenty of good explanations. Mathematics is a little less than what you would hope for, as some explanations and crucial calculations are left to the appendix. A more modern and meaningful approach to Stat Mech than most books
  • An Introduction to Thermal Physics 1st Edition by Daniel V. Schroeder (Author) The replacement textbook from Kittel & Kroemer commonly used in most Universities.
  • Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics by Frederick Reif (Author) A well known book among Physicists, usually known for its' use of obscure notation and being unnecessarily formal. Usually used for reference, as most information is not presented in a clear way
  • Thermodynamics; Intro Thermostat 2E Clo 2nd Edition by Herbert B. Callen (Author) See Preliminary

• Graduate Books

  • Statistical Physics: Volume 5 3rd Edition by L D Landau (Author), E. M. Lifshitz (Author) Landau & Lifshitz textbooks are typically considered the pinnacle textbooks of their fields, usually known for their clarity. Usual complaints are that it is very math heavy and challenging. Used to tighten up foundations and knowledge.
  • Statistical Mechanics, 2nd Edition by Kerson Huang (Author) Mixed reviews from all over the place, after much deliberating and reading, I can't say that this book is a recommendation or not. It may either work for you or it may not.
  • Statistical Mechanics by R K Pathria (Author) Unknown about how well written it is what most users think about this book. On the list do to the fact it is commonly used for some Graduate programs at R1 and R2 universities
  • Statistical Physics of Particles 1st Edition by Mehran Kardar (Author) Used for Statistical Mechanics I at MIT
  • Statistical Physics of Fields 1st Edition by Mehran Kardar (Author) Used for Statistical Mechanics II at MIT
  • Statistical Physics: Theory of the Condensed State (Pt 2) by E.M. Lifshitz (Author), L. P. Pitaevskii (Author) Not written by Landau so the quality or difficulty may be up in the air. Has more applications to Condensed Matter Theory

Assignments

• MIT OCW Undergraduate Statistical Physics I
  
• MIT OCW Undergraduate Statistical Physics II
  
• MIT OCW Graduate Statistical Mechanics I/Used in conjunction with Kardar Book I/Kardar Lecture I
  
• MIT OCW Graduate Statistical Mechanics II/Used in conjunction with Kardar Book II/Kardar Lecture II
  

Lecture Notes:

• MIT OCW Statistical Physics I
  
• MIT OCW Statistical Physics II
  
• MIT OCW Graduate Stat Mech I
  
• MIT OCW Graduate Stat Mech II
  
• Rochester Undergraduate Lecture Notes
  
• Stanford Undergraduate Statistical Mechanics
  
• Caltech Landing Page for all three terms
  
• UCSC Landing Page for Undergraduate Stat Mech & Thermo
  
• Rutgers Landing Page for Graduate Stat Mech for Rutgers
  
• University of Cambridge - David Tong David Tongs' Lecture Notes are usually considered the best around
  
• University of California, San Diego Currently a Work in Progress, though David Tongs landing page refers to them directly
  
• MSU Graduate Statistical Mechanics/ Landing Page which has Lecture Notes, Problems and Solutions, and Midterms
  
• MSU Graduate Statistical Physics, course from 2007-2016
  

Exams

• MIT OCW Statistical Physics I
  
• MIT OCW Grad Stat Mech I (Only Reviews, no actual tests)
  
• MIT OCW Grad Stat Mech II (Only Reviews, no actual tests)
  
• MSU Graduate Statistical Mechanics / Quizzes & Exams
  
• Rochester Homework/Midterms/Final Exam
  

Lectures:

• Stanford - Leonard Susskind Undergraduate Statistical Mechanics
  
• Mark Ancliff As per the comments as Mark Ancliff states, this class is taught to non-native English speakers, the class may be a lower level than what you might expect, as he was making sure they were comfortable with all the basics in English.
  
• MIT OCW Grad Stat Mech I
  
• MIT OCW Grad Stat Mech II
  

2 accounts got shadowbanned for uploading this post. Spam filter kept on removing it on Semenretention. Messaged the moderators for help, but they didn't care. Takes less than 3 minutes to approve a post from the spam folder. No idea if they read this post.
​
First time making a Reddit post.
Terminology:
Wet dream/WD – sexual dream causing semen emission while sleeping
Nocturnal Emission/NE – semen emission occurring while sleeping even without dreaming
Semen-retention/SR streak – avoiding porn, masturbation, and ejaculation whether conscious or unconscious
Nofap Hardmode – avoiding porn, masturbation, and conscious ejaculation. Unconscious ejaculation/WD is considered fine.
​
As the title suggests, my current streak started in the middle of June 2017. Haven’t watched any porn or masturbated in 3 years. Experienced almost all the benefits such as massive attraction (men, women, children), an aura/energy surrounding me, enhanced charisma, less need for sleep, insane levels of energy, drive, and motivation, zero anxiety or fear, massive confidence occasionally bordering on arrogance, increased manifestation/LOA, people admiring/respecting me for no reason, online attraction, less procrastination, better athletic performance, greater creativity/intelligence, the desire to live a purposeful life, greater emphasis on spirituality, and much much more. Could probably write several posts just on the benefits themselves. Only thing that didn’t improve was my skin, which was later fixed using subliminals.
It’s been a long journey, so I’ll start with background information, and later elaborate on how I managed to go from nocturnal emissions every 5 days (avg) to having a perfect SR streak for 3 months.
Used to watch anime which led to hentai (2013), and eventually western/japanese porn. Don’t even bother to search these terms on Google. It’s not worth it. Thankfully, those days are long behind me. As a side-note, I discovered the nofap/semen-retention subreddit in November 2017. Didn’t even know about SR before that.
I was raised a Catholic in a fairly religious family. Always started various streaks, and eventually broke them due to boredom/emotional coping/curiosity about new videos. Thankfully, I got good grades, read books, and was interested in self-development, but all that time spent on porn was a complete waste. Assuming I spent at least 2 hours everyday for 4 years (1460 days), it amounts to 122 complete days or around 4 months in total. It’s pretty sad on reflection, but at least the experience is now absorbed, and I can write this post.
On June 2017, after summer break started and final exams were over, I decided to permanently quit this habit. Downloaded an application called Cold Turkey and completely blocked all websites I used to visit. Now use Leechblock, which is available on most browsers (also use it to block/restrict access to non-NSFW websites which impair productivity like ESPN). Started 30 minutes of daily meditation (mindfulness + metta). Still continue the habits to this day, although the length is increased to 1 hour. Read Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana and Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg for instructions. Have re-read these books multiple times.
Mindfulness will allow you to be self-aware of your mental conditioning, while metta (feeling compassion for yourself, a friend, neutral person, and enemy) can remove thoughts of lust and fundamentally alter your mental programming. Compassion is a very powerful exercise. Read “The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion by Christopher Germer” while you’re at it and learn tonglen. All of these books contain zero fluff, and are invaluable reads.
Started drinking 16 glasses of water (thought it would help skin, but helped in other ways), and doing 100 pushups + 100 sit-ups everyday. Increased it to 200 pushups + 200 sit-ups after 1 month. After 2 months, I made a decent amount of gains (SR helps), and people started asking me workout tips and what gym I go to. Had a Kindle Paperwhite, which is frankly one of my most valued possessions. Still works perfectly fine after 5 years, and costs only $130. Buy one now. Read a lot of books mostly consisting of biographies/spirituality/practical social skills/800+ page novels for around 6 hours per day. Still try to read for at least 15 minutes/1 chapter even when extremely busy. Will post a small booklist at the end of this post.
You can upload books to it for free if you lack money. Visit “gen.lib.rus.ec” without quotes, download the ebook in epub/mobi format, open it with Calibre (https://calibre-ebook.com/), and send it to Kindle using USB. Knowledge is an investment that produces continuous returns. Warren Buffett spends 80% of his time just reading! and takes action based on that knowledge.
Even managed to have the motivation to learn Japanese by joining a foreign language exchange website. People, especially women, accepted and sent a lot of invitations to have a conversation; didn’t realize online attraction was due to SR back then. None of us showed our faces, so my physical appearance had nothing to do with it. From experience, the best way to learn a language was to make a phrase sheet with the most common phrases/questions, such as “okay”, “that’s awesome”, “what is that word in English/Japanese?” Basically a human AI bot. Don’t waste time trying to learn how to write the alphabet, although my primary purpose was to learn how to speak. Google Translate is good enough to understand the pronunciation.
I learned Japanese primarily by watching Terrace House. First watched the episode with subtitles, then re-watched it without, while simultaneously writing all the connectives/conversational phrases. You can try unique methods to remember, but brute-force memorization/review worked the best. Never tried Anki since it was cumbersome to use.
For the accent, the best way is to watch Japanese people trying to speak English, and try to mirror their accent as much as possible. It honestly helps. After 3 months, I could have a full 1 hour conversation in Japanese with a native speaker without looking at any notes. I wasn’t “fluent” (still stuttered and made mistakes), but it was a huge amount of progress for starting from scratch. Eventually after 6 months, I gave up practicing/speaking the language. I was mainly trying to fulfill a childhood fantasy, and I’m glad I tried since I learned a lot from it and got to talk with interesting people. But in reality, I stopped watching anime, and honestly never needed to speak Japanese in real-life. Now I barely remember any of the words, except a few basic phrases. Could probably last 30 seconds of full conversation at best.
So, everything was going great until December 2017. During this time period, I probably had wet dreams/nocturnal emissions every 1 – 2 months. Barely felt much difference since there was a decent time interval between emissions. Drank 2 glasses of water everyday before bed, slept on my stomach, and ate spicy food (practices that cause nocturnal emissions), but was perfectly fine. However in December I started having emissions every 2 weeks. Initially didn’t care about it. In January it started happening every 1 week. Nothing really changed in my life during this time to cause emissions to increase. Then it started happening every 5 days, every 3 days, sometimes even 2 days in a row!
Most of you will have no idea how terrible it feels to be on top of the world, and then suddenly crash down. The difference between living life with/without SR benefits is night and day. Even after sleeping 10 hours, I used to feel completely exhausted. People ignored me, or worse started “joking” around me. Complete disrespect by friends, family, and acquaintances. No energy/motivation to do anything. Constant brain fog, could barely concentrate. Felt even worse than my porn days when I ejaculated everyday. Voice completely shot, started feeling anxious about oral presentations for no reason, when I always excelled. Felt like my soul was dying. Those were really dark times. People started saying I “changed”, and started pointing out and constantly magnifying my flaws. It’s strange how people exaggerate our skills/talents on SR, while they completely ignore them post WD/ejaculation, and focus only on your flaws/mistakes. It makes you lose trust in everyone around you, as if all of them are energy vampires who only like you due to SR.
I grew desperate. During this whole time I meditated, practiced no lust/no arousal as best as possible since July 2017, yet emissions increased massively in frequency. Some occurred due to sexual dreams, but most were nocturnal emissions. Thought I had a UTI at first, and went to a general practitioner. He didn’t seem very reliable, so I went to a prominent urologist. Did all sorts of tests, paid a good amount of money, and the doctor said everything was fine. Having nocturnal emissions every 5 days was perfectly normal at my age. Encouraged me to masturbate regularly if it became an inconvenience :)
So medical science obviously failed. Started following all the tips/methods in this subreddit, and believe me I tried almost everything no matter how uncomfortable or time-consuming. Omad, avoid food/water before bed, vegetarianism, tantric meditation, different diets, various sleeping positions, no/increased meditation before bed, no/more exercise, yogic exercises, qigong, some tips mentioned by Soaring Eagle, prayed to God. None of them worked. The only method I didn’t try extensively were kegels. Initially tried a normal + reverse kegel routine, then found an article by coincidence on this subreddit about someone who permanently damaged their penis from doing kegels. Immediately stopped, thank you to that person for sharing your experience. It’s as if the universe was looking out for me. Best to avoid such risky methods even if you’re desperate. Currently sleep on my back since it avoids any "accidental physical stimulation" from occurring.
So this nocturnal emission phenomena continued for over a year. Some methods worked better than others, while for some, I wasn’t sure if it was merely the placebo effect. In mid-2019 I came across subliminal videos (finally the good part!) on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0W5AB1sGr0) This video explains it more thoroughly, but basically you convert affirmations (sentences like “I am happy/smart/handsome”) into audio using text-to-speech software and reprogram your subconscious mind. Tried a beauty subliminal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEXaAsm-Iys) as a joke, but the next day I noticed changes in my facial structure. Listened for an hour the first day, which was easy given the music. You have no idea how amazing it feels to know that you can control your reality just by using your mind. Completely magical. Supposedly it works due to the Law of Attraction; you can find out more by reading/watching “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, and later reading all the books by Neville Goddard. Started using a skin subliminal as well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqi8Q80pspk and later moved onto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COxz8hvl14Y ), and now my skin is completely normal. Visited prominent US dermatologists, tried all sorts of acne medicine including Accutane, and even did SR, yet none of them worked. Skin was pretty terrible, and I was glad it got fixed. Took around 4 months of daily listening although it can be shortelonger depending on your belief, blockages, and levels of positivity. There’s a CIA document on holographic universes, astral projection, time travel, and psychic powers if you need scientific validation: https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5.pdf
Disclaimer: Although there can be bad subliminal makers, they are very rare, and there has been only 2 of them in the history of the community. Someone named MindPower and Rose subliminals. The vast majority (99%) put positive affirmations. It’s best that you verify by checking all the comments, seeing their subscriber count, general personality, etc, but ultimately there’s no guarantee. The only way to make sure the affirmations are 100% positive and safe are to make them yourself or use a subliminal that blocks negative affirmations.
One thing to note is that physical change (biokinesis; search that term)/spiritual subliminals utilize the prana in your body to a certain extent to make changes. It makes sense since physical change is essentially a psychic poweenergy work. So your SR benefits/aura might temporarily decrease. Hydration is also recommended, and you will notice feeling thirsty. Personally drink 20 glasses of water everyday.
Obviously, my interest now turned towards using subliminals to cure nocturnal emissions. Unfortunately there’s a huge lack of subliminals regarding semen-retention or those targeted towards nocturnal emissions. Initially bought a subliminal using a paid request (you pay a subliminal maker for a specialized subliminal), but it didn’t work that well. Desired to be permanently free of nocturnal emissions, or at least reduce the frequency to once a month. So I decided to make my own subliminal. The affirmations will be posted below, and this is how I eventually cured my nocturnal emissions.
Steps on how to make your own subliminal:

1. Write all the affirmations in a word document and save it.
2. Download text-to-speech software like Balabolka (http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm) and output the audio file in wav format (you want both uncompressed + lossless)
3. Optional but recommended; download an audio editor like Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/), and fast-forward the audio as much as possible using the “Change Tempo” effect. Personally I speed the audio to one second and then loop it 1000x. Continue the process as much as possible, but never make the audio length less than 1 second. Some subliminal makers make their subliminals even more powerful by creating multiple audio streams of their affirmations using different voices, merging all the voices together, and speeding them up. It’s called layering. Why super-sped affirmations work better can be somewhat explained by this article (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sensorium/201812/experiments-suggest-humans-can-directly-observe-the-quantum), but science still doesn’t have all the answers. Will take time.
4. Converting the affirmations to binary code (https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/numbeascii-to-binary.html) is a technique some subliminal makers use. Supposedly it penetrates the subconscious faster.

Affirmations + Audio Link: https://mega.nz/foldeWcwhhAia#RmD8e0I3uzjyeDdW22wEHg
Listened to this personal subliminal for 1 hour everyday for an entire month. Still listen just to be safe. Took months of testing and editing affirmations to make it perfect. Experienced massive sexual dreams on certain days, more than normal, and found out that entities could be responsible. Try to avoid this subreddit as well, since reading the posts can trigger memories. More energetically sensitive now, and sometimes there’s a lot of low-vibrational energy. On a side-note, porn cripples your aura and invites negative entities (https://www.awakeningstaryoga.com/blog/expanding-away-from-porn-aura).
Non-subliminal solutions:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5-DrYahaSc (morphic field)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWK0D1g069I (powerful aura cleanse; Tibetan bowl sounds)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moRsibNyMA (reiki)

Subliminal solutions (ordered in terms of effectiveness):

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xoRmTAoJ1E
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvyPscRD1ss
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTmnrFzR0_Q (for spells, curses, black magic, etc)
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt9s5tY1YE (last resort)

The entire channel is a gem; these were some of the best. Have used them for a few months and feel much lighter and peaceful; experienced only headaches due to subconscious absorbing the affirmations, but zero negative effects.
Advice: Remember to immediately download any subliminal video you find that is useful in wav format (https://www.savethevideo.com/download). Subliminal channels are sometimes deleted by YouTube (spam filter) or the creators themselves.
Waited 3 whole months before deciding to make a Reddit post to make sure the method was 100% foolproof. Remember many people offering solutions in the past, yet 1 month later they would have another wd/nocturnal emission.
The first month there was a lot of fear. Will I have a wet dream/nocturnal emission tonight? Was so traumatized it was difficult getting to sleep every night. After the 2nd month, I experimented with sleeping on my stomach and eating/drinking before bed. Nothing happened. Stopped recently to stay careful.
After 2 years of suffering, this is a method that has worked. Try and see for yourself.
​
Present day:
How do you feel now? Some days it’s meh (due to flatline) like today; on other days I feel divine. No idea why flatline still occurs. Have regained all the benefits, feel love and happiness all the time. Experience intense states of bliss in meditation more frequently, although it’s just a distraction.
Religiously/Spiritually I’ve moved from Christianity to Buddhism/Advaita Vedanta/parts of New Age. Found them more practical and useful in life. Was inspired to aim for spiritual enlightenment after reading “The 3 pillars of Zen” by Philip Kapleau. Read it, it might change your life.
Have attended a number of meditation retreats now, along with 10-day ones. Everyone reading this post should try it. Understood how much our mental programming defined us, and that we aren’t are thoughts. Our childhood traumas define so much of our habitual reactions. Realized its okay to feel bored rather than chasing after constant stimulation.
Even attended a Jhana retreat, which is exclusive for people who have attended prior retreats. Entered intense states of meditative absorption, understood the permeability/impermanence of reality, and had all sorts of mystical experiences. Experienced past lives; can confirm my mind did not make it up, since it’s an experience you can constantly replicate using the same methods. Before attempting such methods, you need to have the ability to sit down and meditate continuously for at least 3 hours. If you live in the US, attend IMS (Insight Meditation Society) or any prominent Vipassana/Theravada related retreat. Zen is a valid form of enlightenment, but it personally felt unstructured.
Gave up music, took time since I was convinced it was needed for creativity. Instead, it was just a substitute source of dopamine and a way to avoid my emotions. Have much less brain fog after quitting. Only communicate using regular phone calls these days, which no one uses, and Snapchat/WhatsApp for texting. Avoid stories, waste of time. Instagram/TwitteFacebook are a waste of time unless you are using it for business purposes. The only social media you really need is LinkedIn.
Women: You’ll learn more about them by reading romantic novels, Korean mangas, and watching Kdramas then reading all that seduction/red pill stuff. Focus on general charisma (men and women) instead of a specific gender. Read “The Charisma Myth” by Olivia Fox Cabane; it’s the most practical book on social skills I have ever read, and possibly the most life-changing as well. Teaches you self-awareness, applies Buddhist psychology to social interaction. Used to train executives in Google, read it now (and do all the exercises). The bibliography sent me on a rabbit hole that made me read ton of books on psychotherapy, meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhism; this was before SR. Inspired me to practice meditation, although the habit only became regular after SR.
Read books such as Crucial Conversations by Al Switzer, Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, How to Talk so Kids will Listen by Adele Faber (works very well in general since even adults have childhood programming, and can act like children), Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (FBI's chief international hostage and kidnapping negotiator from 2003 to 2007), Getting More by Stuart Diamond (trains negotiators at Google), and Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff (more theoretical but useful). Also read The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan Pease and What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro. These are all books that will greatly improve your human interactions and contain limited fluff. Have re-read all of these books in difficult times, and they have never let me down. You should read it as well. Even if you become a monk, there’s lots of social infighting even in monasteries. Highly-developed social skills are invaluable whenever you are dealing with individuals. Read “How to make friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie once in a while, since most forget to apply his “basic” advice. Learned a lot about oral presentations by watching Alan Shore on Boston Legal (TV show).
Current position in life? Studying for a bachelor’s degree. My family is financially well-off, and my father is paying for my college tuition and dorm. Scholarships aren’t available for all income levels. Although I come from “privilege”, the above information can help anyone regardless of their financial position. We live in an era where information is accessible to all social classes, so excuses aren’t that relevant. If you’re practicing SR, you are already 20 steps closer to success. The tips above can be applied for free as long as you have a computesmartphone. Read books starting from today, knowledge is a source of power. People spend so much time reading the news, scrolling social media feeds, reacting to comments, chatting about useless things with friends, binging shows on Netflix, browsing YouTube/Reddit, that time quietly passes by. Time is the most valuable commodity you have; don’t waste such a limited resource on things that will contribute nothing towards your purpose in life. Once it’s spent, you can never get it back.
Personally, I schedule the next day before going to bed. Leisure, Reading, Schoolwork, Meditation, everything is mapped out perfectly. Try to eliminate habits that just waste time and stick to your schedule perfectly (working on it myself). If you feel tired after work/studying, take a nap or meditate instead of receiving even more stimulation from videogames, YouTube, or other artificial dopamine sources. Try NoSurf.
​

Basic Booklist:

Spirituality:

1. The End of Your World by Adyashanti (fantastic writer; must-read if you have had an awakening experience or believe you are "enlightened")
2. How to Attain Enlightenment -> The Essence of Enlightenment by James Swartz (best introduction to Advaita Vedanta I have read so far)
3. I am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (essence of Advaita)
4. In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi (best introduction to Buddhist scripture)
5. Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright (secular perspective but informative; his previous book The Moral Animal is a good introduction to evolutionary psychology. Read this first if you are non-spiritual)
6. Wisdom Wise and Deep by Shaila Catherine (comprehensive introduction by one of the best Jhana teachers in the US)
7. The Visuddhimagga
8. Manual of Insight by Mahasi Sayadaw
9. Emptiness: A Practical Guide by Guy Armstrong (good introduction to the Buddhist version of reality)
10. Books by Loch Kelly (practical guide to non-dual meditation practices within Buddhism; The Little Book of Being by Diana Winston may be a better introduction)
11. Seeing that Frees by Rob Burbea (really advanced but profound)
12. http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html (Buddhism > Advaita; ebooks in sidebar)
13. Books by Robert Bruce such as Psychic Self-Defence and Energy Work
14. Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn
15. Dream Yoga by Andrew Holecek (amazing/practical book on lucid dreaming -> dream yoga)
16. Autobiography of a Yogi
17. The Practice of Brahmacharya by Swami Sivananda and Soaring Eagle (https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/6-years-clean-rebooting-as-the-best-remedy.135983/) if you haven’t read already
18. Xunzi trans. by Eric Hutton (final evolution of Confucianism)

Novels (use translators mentioned):
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/fiction/ for foreign literature
​

1. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (Taiko is decent as well, but this one was a masterpiece)
2. Romance of the Three Kingdoms trans. Moss Roberts
3. The Dream of the Red Chamber trans. David Hawkes (read it in the summer of 2017, profound but not all may see the deeper meaning)
4. The Nine Cloud Dream trans. Heinz Insu Fenkl
5. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Inspirational for Entrepreneurs, however don’t start adopting this book as economic philosophy. It’s just a novel!)
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (read now if you are experiencing an existential crisis)
7. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment + The Brothers Karamazov (optional reading; prefer Pevear translation)
8. Perry Mason and Sherlock Holmes Series (pleasure reading but not useless)

Psychotherapy (never visited a therapist, but found these useful):

1. Getting Past Your Past by Francine Shapiro (by the founder of EMDR, best practical book on trauma and exercises to resolve it)
2. Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (another immensely practical book on recovering from trauma)
3. Breaking the Cycle by George Collins (best practical workbook on sexual addiction I have read; all should read)
4. Get out of your mind and into your life by Steven Hayes (Was mentioned in the charisma myth booklist; take control of your thoughts and mind by the founder of ACT)
5. Mindful Compassion by Paul Gilbert and Choden (prominent researcher on compassion applied to therapy; part one can be boring, but part two on practical exercises is invaluable)
6. Feeling Book by David Burns (rightfully a classic book on therapy and CBT; read if you are suffering from depression)
7. Healing Development Trauma by Laurence Heller (best book on the impact of childhood/development trauma but meant for therapists, might explain why we use addiction to cope from childhood memories; google ACE study as well)
8. The Boy who was raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry (stories about children experiencing trauma. Increases empathy for yourself and others; you realize how childhood trauma affects how a lot of people think and behave)
9. Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse by Jackson MacKenzie (fantastic book on recovering from relationship abuse. Many of us have emotional baggage that fuels coping and addiction loops. Read Healing from Hidden Abuse by Shannon Thomas as well.)
10. Self-Compassion by Kristen Neff (optional reading, but complimentary)

For biographies, read those of presidents and important leaders. Also about famous/successful individuals. Read all of Ron Chernow’s books. Abuse the Amazon Search Engine and look through their categories. Reading biographies can fundamentally enhance your worldview so you realize that real-life issues are much more nuanced and gray rather than black and white. Also shows how successful people deal with difficult crises and their perspective on life. Especially for public policy. If a President implements an economic policy that has short-term gains, but long-term loss, he has a greater chance of being re-elected. However, short-term loss in favor of long-term gain is the correct policy. Employ critical-thinking! Avoid cable news even if you need to stay informed. Don’t even have a television in my house. Unnecessary. Just read 2 – 3 reputable news sources for 20 minutes max. Sometimes I even avoid the news since there’s too much negativity.
https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/1unyph/a_tantric_perspective_on_the_use_of_sexual_energy/ (tantric meditation technique that actually works; you are supposed to do it for 1 hour. Optional.)
https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/2zn8ev/grounding_201_two_effective_quick_methods/ (grounding method after doing the tantric meditation)
Avoid learning Mantak Chia’s techniques from a book, since some have suffered side-effects to their energetic/biological body. Zero advice for those practicing NEO. Must be hard. Not sure about women, since SR streak is more important. Don’t pick a partner to fulfill some kind of emotional void, or due to societal programming where women are held to be the ultimate goal. Spiritual Enlightenment is the ultimate goal now, but even enlightened people need money for food and shelter.
Youtubers I follow are Graham Stephan, Ryan Serhant, Rupert Spira, and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUX1V5UNWP1RUkhLewe77ZQ (cured women objectification for me; wholesome content) although mostly I avoid the website. Easy to loose track of time.
Avoid smoking, alcohol, recreational drug use (https://www.elitedaily.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol-aura-damage/1743959, http://sshc.in/?p=1123 ), casual sex (https://mywakingpath.wordpress.com/tag/aura/; sensitive images but useful), and fast food. Budget your money, and learn how to save as much as possible.
Hope everyone reading this post experiences their definition of success and leads a purposeful life. Will end it by stating two quotes that have inspired and guided me:
“You yourself have to change first, or nothing will change for you!”
― Hideaki Sorachi
“It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than you were yesterday.”
― Jigoro Kano (Founder of Judo)
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Update 1: Made the instructions regarding super-sped affirmations more clearer.
Update 2: Added the audio file as well to the affirmations link since someone requested it
Update 3: https://starseedsunited.com/negative-entities-and-psychic-attacks (basic article on entities)
Some solutions are posted above. Updated* daily routine:

1. https://www.reddit.com/kundalini/comments/1xyp5k/a_simple_and_universal_white_light_protection/ (basic psychic self-defence)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt9s5tY1YE (at least once everyday; cures sexual dreams and flushes all entities)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P8plUy7Exg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xoRmTAoJ1E (best shielding combination so far; general spiritual protection)

Note: Will continuously update this post based on further clarification.