Mere Mortals Conversations

What makes a bun dance?<br /><br />In Episode #513 of 'Meanderings', Juan &amp; I discuss: the definition of abundance versus how futurists/technologists and everyday folks actually use it, the conflation of “lots of something” with “zero friction access,” whether abundance must be global or can be meaningfully local, test the concept across water, food, intelligence and money, why more does not equal free (or even better), scarcity’s persistent psychological pull, whether a world of replicators (à la Star Trek) would make us healthier or simply more indulgent, Dyson spheres/Matryoshka brains/chess engines and why perfect performance is boring compared to messy human stories. <br /><br />Huge shoutout to Cole for the support!<br /><br />Stan Link: <a href="https://stan.store/meremortals" target="_blank">https://stan.store/meremortals</a><br /><br />Timeline:&nbsp;<br />(00:00:00) Intro<br />(00:00:26) Defining abundance: frictionless access vs sheer quantity<br />(00:03:21) Is abundance local or global? Water as a case study<br />(00:05:23) Tech and food narratives: AI will make everything abundant<br />(00:08:46) Limits, time and space: why infinite abundance breaks down<br />(00:11:14) Air as the closest real abundance; distribution still matters<br />(00:14:29) Observer effects: meaning, colour and value are perceived<br />(00:20:29) Wealth, perspective and the abundance mindset<br />(00:21:45) Boostagram Lounge: Star Trek replicators and personal vs private property<br />(00:23:07) Is abundance actually good? Utopia, suffering and growth<br />(00:26:25) Replicators and diet: would unlimited food make us healthier?<br />(00:32:29) Health, sport and sameness: does abundance kill excitement?<br />(00:36:58) Scarcity still drives value: the mine effect<br />(00:40:00) Waste, recycling and shifting norms in abundant contexts<br />(00:43:27) Raising the floor vs widening the gap: distribution dynamics<br />(00:46:54) Utopian promises, isms and the risk of abundanceism<br />(00:51:58) More isnt always better: goals, dieting and selfcontrol<br />(00:56:57) Longevity, time perception and what remains human<br />(00:59:26) Closing thoughts and next weeks book review: The Sovereign Individual&nbsp; <p><br /><br />Connect with Mere Mortals:<br />Website: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/</a><br />Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU" target="_blank">https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU</a><br />Twitter/X: <a href="https://twitter.com/meremortalspods" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/meremortalspods</a><br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts</a><br /><br />Value 4 Value Support:<br />Boostagram: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support</a><br />Paypal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast</a></p>

Are there any downsides to taking part in upsides?<br /><br />In Episode #512 of 'Meanderings', Juan &amp; I discuss: how the internet moved from corporate networks to open protocol networks to blockchain networks, Dixon’s framing (read, write, own), why he thinks open protocols like RSS struggled against corporate platforms, where blockchains might change take rates, the real-world viability of tokenomics, if ownership will matter for in a future of AI, micro‑payments and abundant digital goods, games vs music business models and whether people will actually care about on-chain ownership if everything becomes cheap and effortless to access.&nbsp; <br /><br />No support for this week :'(<br /><br />Stan Link: <a href="https://stan.store/meremortals" target="_blank">https://stan.store/meremortals</a><br /><br />Timeline:<br /> (00:00:00) Intro<br />(00:00:25) Book pick: Read, Write, Own by Chris Dixon<br />(00:04:16) Corporate vs protocol networks; email and the open web<br />(00:07:23) Owning the network: why blockchains change incentives<br />(00:13:25) Governance, take rates and platform lock-ins<br />(00:17:56) Music vs gaming revenues: models and innovation<br />(00:21:30) Protocol pessimism and the RSS debate in podcasting<br />(00:25:04) Value for value: Podcasting 2.0 funding dilemmas<br />(00:30:08) Could a blockchain fund open infrastructure?<br />(00:34:27) Designing a micropayments-first podcast app<br />(00:38:22) Do users care about digital ownership?<br />(00:41:48) Abundance thesis: free content and data trade-offs<br />(00:45:30) Will advertisers pay users directly?<br />(00:49:45) Will ownership still matter in an abundant world?<br />(00:53:01) Digital status, scarcity and beachfront reality<br />(00:58:48) Extreme efficiency futures: cars, housing and cost curves<br />(01:03:05) Human status, achievement and digital provenance<br />(01:08:33) Voice-first generation and app-less experiences<br />(01:14:47) Ownership vs access: memories, messages and guarantees<br />(01:16:54) Wrap-up: book verdict and sign-off&nbsp; <p><br /><br />Connect with Mere Mortals:<br />Website: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/</a><br />Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU" target="_blank">https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU</a><br />Twitter/X: <a href="https://twitter.com/meremortalspods" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/meremortalspods</a><br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts</a><br /><br />Value 4 Value Support:<br />Boostagram: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support</a><br />Paypal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast</a></p>

<p>It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.<br /><br />Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series, showcasing our own methodology. What do you do differently and why?<br /><br />Stan Link: <a href="https://stan.store/meremortals" target="_blank">https://stan.store/meremortals</a><br /><br />Timeline:<br /> (00:00:00) Intro<br />(00:00:36) Juan's January 2026 Recap<br />(00:06:10) Kyrin's January 2026 Recap<br />(00:12:51) Support Overview<br />(00:13:27) Juan's February 2026 Goals<br />(00:18:24) Kyrin's February 2026 Goals<br />(00:24:01) Moltbot Sidenote<br />(00:32:21) Fitness<br />(00:37:00) V4V</p> <p><br /><br />Connect with Mere Mortals:<br />Website: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/</a><br />Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU" target="_blank">https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU</a><br />Twitter/X: <a href="https://twitter.com/meremortalspods" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/meremortalspods</a><br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts</a><br /><br />Value 4 Value Support:<br />Boostagram: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support</a><br />Paypal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast</a></p>

You can't say yes to everything .... so where do you draw the line?<br /><br />In Episode #511 of 'Meanderings', Juan &amp; I discuss: the “hell yes versus no” decision-making lens and where it truly fits, opportunity cost/time constraints/certainty versus uncertainty, how emotion or rationality shapes decisions, stacking reasons to make a strong yes, a practical quadrant for choosing activities based on enjoyment and likelihood of meeting people. <br /><br />Stan Link: <a href="https://stan.store/meremortals" target="_blank">https://stan.store/meremortals</a><br /><br />Timeline:<br /> (00:00:00) Intro<br />(00:03:39) Context matters: opportunity cost, age and life stage<br />(00:07:45) Replacing habits: when a simple yes is enough<br />(00:09:44) Decision heuristics: yes vs hell no for everyday choices<br />(00:13:14) Capacity fills the time: stacking commitments and hard trade-offs<br />(00:19:10) Workplace decision matrices vs personal life choices<br />(00:23:06) System 1 and System 2: training intuition with deliberate thinking<br />(00:27:49) Certainty vs uncertainty: when you need a hell yes to persist<br />(00:31:07) A practical framework: enjoyment vs meeting-people quadrants<br />(00:35:25) Boostagram lounge<br />(00:36:02) Listener input: lazy no vs instinctive no<br />(00:37:40) Upcoming moonshot gathering: why it's a clear yes<br />(00:44:31) Stacking reasons: VeeCon memories, serendipity and energy<br />(00:50:00) New tech temptations: why not every tool warrants a yes<br />(00:55:01) Where we're still weak at decisions: money and overcommitting<br />(01:03:17) Emotion vs reason: explaining feelings with rationality<br />(01:05:48) Wrap-up, live time and Brisbane Marathon team invite&nbsp; <p><br /><br />Connect with Mere Mortals:<br />Website: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/</a><br />Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU" target="_blank">https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU</a><br />Twitter/X: <a href="https://twitter.com/meremortalspods" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/meremortalspods</a><br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts</a><br /><br />Value 4 Value Support:<br />Boostagram: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support</a><br />Paypal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast</a></p>

We're destressing and just going over all the non-goal related things swirling around in the current moment.<br /><br />In Episode #510 of 'Meanderings', Juan &amp; I discuss: the old million dollar homepage and the new x402 version, experimenting with a cheeky one‑pixel squatting strategy to test rent‑seeking dynamics, why some value‑for‑value/Lightning initiatives plateau despite strong early communities, advertising economics from retro web banners to F1 liveries, if energy could become the unit of exchange in agent‑to‑agent worlds and whether the current moment has the most amount of historical rate of change. <br /><br />Huge thanks to Cole for the support!<br /><br />Stan Link: <a href="https://stan.store/meremortals" target="_blank">https://stan.store/meremortals</a><br /><br />Timeline:<br />(00:00:00) Intro<br />(00:00:49) Remembering the Million Dollar Homepage and link rot<br />(00:03:07) Hype cycles and the modern x402 Wall revival<br />(00:06:44) Domain‑squatting pixels: ethics and ROI debate<br />(00:12:45) Advertising realities: from F1 liveries to failed walls<br />(00:15:04) Old web ads versus brands and what’s obsolete now<br />(00:19:10) Micropayments vision: beyond subscriptions<br />(00:23:56) Index decentralisation, AI spam, and niche podcasts<br />(00:28:20) Ads, ethics, and why ‘wall squatting’ targets advertisers<br />(00:32:03) Boom–bust build‑outs, block space, and critics<br />(00:36:54) Agents, moats, and access to compute<br />(00:39:02) Boostagram Lounge and community shout‑outs<br />(00:45:34) Agents doing business end‑to‑end: Truth Terminal case<br />(00:50:07) Beyond attention? Energy, agency, and ‘currency’<br />(00:56:36) Speculating on rights for uploaded minds and AI<br />(01:00:24) Short‑term goals, schooling, and planning in fast change<br />(01:05:03) Is today’s change really faster? Moore’s Law debate<br />(01:10:26) Exponential feels: compressing change into months<br />(01:16:22) Falling out of the loop: TikTok, crypto, and pace<br />(01:19:35) Can AI replace governments? Companies vs states<br />(01:23:46) Wrap‑up, shout‑outs, and value‑for‑value support&nbsp; <p><br /><br />Connect with Mere Mortals:<br />Website: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/</a><br />Discord: <a href="https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU" target="_blank">https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU</a><br />Twitter/X: <a href="https://twitter.com/meremortalspods" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/meremortalspods</a><br />Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/</a><br />TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts</a><br /><br />Value 4 Value Support:<br />Boostagram: <a href="https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support" target="_blank">https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/support</a><br />Paypal: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcast</a></p>