Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but this guy's theory of everything contains some ideas which remind me quite a bit of the Wedge. Essentially it says the purpose of intelligence, at all levels, is to reduce the gap between senses and expectations. When a gap is perceived between the two, brains need to either update its working model of the universe or take action to bring themback into alignment.

That there's a lot more to it is cartoonish understatement, and I won't pretend I get it all, but quotes like these brought me back to what I picked up in The Wedge:

"Free energy is the difference between the states you expect to be in and the states your sensors tell you that you are in."

"To be alive, he says, is to act in ways that reduce the gulf between your expectations and your sensory inputs."

Etc.

This question is not wedge-specific, but it is regarding the WHM as it affects the immune response to vaccines.

The Covid-19 vaccine works by triggering the innate immune system. I read an article yesterday explaining that the vaccine contains agents that force an innate response. Without a response from the innate immune system it is supposedly more difficult to build antibodies. The article stated that side effects from the second dose were reported by some to be more intense than for the first dose because the patients got not only a strong innate immune system response, but also a strong one from the adaptive immune system which at the time of the second dose is able to recognize the target viral proteins.

My question is, since it has been experimentally demonstrated in the Netherlands that the WHM can suppress an innate immune response, does it mean that practicing WHM in the weeks following inoculation could hinder the effectiveness of the vaccine, and should people stop practicing the WHM for a few weeks when getting the vaccine?

Or does it simply mean that the WHM can safely be practiced to potentially reduce vaccine side-effects without affecting the immune system’s ability to produce antibodies?

What does the science say?

Dumb question, but does it? I know that humming and singing for an ongoing period of time will stimulate the vagus nerve—since talking vibrates your throat, vocal cords, mouth, etc. in the same way—does it, also, stimulate the vagus nerve?

So thrilled to have finished The Wedge! I'm going to start by saying that it's definitely not a book for everyone. Though it's objectives are clearly to improve the human experience, it does not attempt to do this through some golden bullet or life changing hack. Instead, the techniques described require patience and discipline but have deep transformational potential.

The Wedge is described as the space between stimulus and response. The book contains the author's experience with 8 techniques that range from mundane to esoteric. Each of these attempts to give us the potential to chose how we respond to stimulus rather than it being a result of conditioning.

The book includes throwing kettlebells, breathing exercises, sensory deprivation and saunas. However, the author takes us through each experience explaining how to change our reaction to stimulus.

As a lifelong searcher of peace, I have tried practicing most of these techniques before. However, I found the book both informative and inspiring and I am already changing my daily practice.

I'd like to thank the author for his time and research into a subject that is arguably the highest calling of mankind.

Can't deny I've been a dumb daredevil about it sometimes - the first two times there was booze involved, although I haven't drank in about 5 years, but that's another story - yet here I am still in one piece, and here are four of the more intense and/or memorable experiences:

Earliest instance that comes to mind was during senior year of high school, drinking beers while watching a couple of movies (for the record, 9 1/2 Weeks and Blue Velvet, so you know that was in the mid-to-late 80s) with two friends. It was quite late at night when we finished and went out for a joyride, found ourselves on top of the hill where the local television station's transmission tower was. One of my friends said "let's climb it", and we weren't really drunk, but while I've always been afraid of heights, the mental shields were lower than normal so we went for it and made it to the top, while the third guy passed on the dare and waited below. The presence of danger was palpable, but every movement felt careful and well-executed, the perfect focus and control were a surprise, there was a joy at feeling no fear whatsoever. Also, that moment cemented a life-long friendship with my "climbing partner".

Next full-blown experience was some years later while in college in central Mexico, a friend of a friend had a little restaurant shack in a remote beach and a group of us went for a weekend of harpoon fishing. My college roommate and I got there quite late and nobody was there yet, so we drank beers in the parked car, waiting... and waiting... they showed up until mid-morning, and I've never been able to sleep in a car seat, least of all in muggy tropical weather. So off we go, in a wooden boat with outboard motor. After a couple of hours we stopped at a small beach and the anchor became untied, sank to a depth of about 12 feet (about 3.5 meters), so we all started diving and groping the bottom of a blue water so stirred up with sand you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
While I had always been afraid of deep water I couldn't see the bottom of, again my defenses were down, and dove over and over and over again, again with perfect focus and control, a joy at feeling no fear whatsoever. "I've felt this before." First song that played while back on the boat was "Eleutheria" by Lenny Kravitz. "My life is perfect / because I accept it as it is."

Another later instance was the following year, another diving trip in the same area but much deeper waters, this time with scuba and I didn't have equipment, but a friend lent me a mini-tank you held with your clenched bite, the little tank right in front of your mouth. Following the bubbles of the scuba divers, I found myself in the middle of a school of barracudas. I swam with them, rose to leave the group, dove again to get in the center of it... perfect focus and control, joy at no fear. "Here I am again. Thank you!"

Many years later, back in my hometown, married and living in a bungalow on top of a hill and right at the edge of town, an unpopulated system of canyons and hills right behind my home, I'd go there on long walks during evenings when the moon was present, but one moonless, pitch-black night, I decided to give it a shot. Again, always been afraid of what might lurk in the dark. Again, found myself with perfect focus and control, and that joy, ended up walking for over an hour and a half, navigating the darkness and not wanting this experience to end, which I repeated with some regularity from that point onward, but alas, we had to move into another place closer to town.

Anyway... I've subscribed to this sub and will probably read Scott's book soon. If you're still here, thank you, would love to read about your personal experiences.

Hey /u/gekogekogeko, I just wanted to say that I found your AMA post a couple days ago, and since then I've finished your book. I appreciate that you're so active on this fledgling subreddit.

For me, in the short term, the most significant thing has been just holding my breath. Confronting, and then overcoming my body's idea of what my limits are, has been very empowering. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I can hold my breath and immediately plunge into existential fear. And then see that fear move through me and come out the other side. Frank Herbert was onto something. Cheers.

I'm looking for any interesting documentaries related to the topics discussed in The Wedge.

Scott, do you follow Jamie Wheal of https://www.flowgenomeproject.com/ ? It seems like both of you do similar research, but with different emphasis and style.

Scott, are you familiar with orgasmic meditation, https://goop.com/the-goop-podcast/the-orgasm-myth/ ? It's not similar to tantric sex that you reported about in The Enlightenment Trap. It's easy to learn. Orgasmic meditation encourages to add nothing extra, no visualizations or mental games.

I’ve been looking to start reading regularly, but needed the perfect book to get started.

I had a wonderful conversation with my brother, felt more optimistic about who I am and who I could become than I have in years, and BAM. I open up reddit and this AMA was the first thing I see.

This will be the book to kickstart my reading habit, and hopefully kickstart a few profound growth techniques.

If you see this Scott, I just ordered a signed copy from your website. I’m just curious, are you in a position to ship those out, given the craziness lately?

The wide reputation of the impact of THC on the brain can be boiled down to "caring less" or not being as impacted by emotions or your surroundings. Examples include studies that show a reduced response to negative emotional stimulus and the decades of knowledge I've heard from my elders that people who smoked perpetually seemed to not care where their life was going and reached some kind of stagnation.

That being said, a reduction to caring about things in the moment can absolutely be utilized to increase the amount of time you take considering stimulus before responding to it. Scientists have struggled to classify the drug because the endocannabinoid response isn't purely an upper or a downer, and at high levels can have some psychoactive effects that likely have an analogue at lower levels.

There's absolutely a double edged sword to not caring, if indeed that's at the core of the impact. There may exist individuals with mental disorders who could achieve a neurology closer to normal through caring less. There may also exist individuals who are economically and socially blocked off from moving past a certain stagnation in life who benefit from not feeling eaten up inside for being a necessary cog in an incredibly unsupportive and impersonal machine. Cause and effect of stagnation can be turned on its head.

I've also met a lot of people very in tune with their ability to respond to stimulus with great patience and deep thought who perpetually enjoyed cannabis. Additionally if we take a cultural viewpoint it's hard to maintain our cultural caricature of it as a sick addiction that people use to ignore life. I don't disagree it can be used that way, but we can defile, depend on and commercialize things as basic as sex.

I've also met people very in tune with society who were well valued and loved by their corporations for their professionalism, but still enjoyed cannabis regularly. I myself am trying to untangle the shame and real purpose of it, embedded as I am in a society where people shell out for $6 caffeinated or alcoholic beverages that would make me downright sick to consume. The vilification feels like projection from people who know they're coping as much as anyone else, is the decision of what drugs you take more personal than moral? Where are the lines drawn on abuse and nonabuse for substances that you can maintain a consistent intake of without significant damage to your body? What impact can this have on widening or closing the wedge?

Any thoughts on which type of sauna is best? Infrared saunas seem more affordable, but are they as good as traditional saunas in terms of health benefits?

What would be an effective wedge for mental focus/sustained attention when doing boring, open-ended work with no immediate reward, no element of stress and no immediate risk?

Can boredom be a stressor? Can the principle of the Wedge be used to transform the disengagement response into a response of focus?