Non-fiction – Page 3

Adaptations

David V Stewart October 7, 2020 October 7, 2020Art, Movies, Non-fiction, politics 3

It’s not hard, or at least, it shouldn’t be when you have 100 million + dollars to fling around. So why so much failure? Because “Hollywood,” as the collection of producers etc. that run the business, doesn’t care a lick about the stories that they adapt. They adapt things like books and movies for two reasons: There is already a built-in fanbase (in other words, some guarantee on a return on investment). The key elements of the story have already been filtered in the free market to have wide appeal. In other words, the book was already successful, so a…

Gen Y Stares at the Mirror

David V Stewart September 27, 2020 September 27, 2020Non-fiction 4

I realize with my latest story, another one focusing on the experiences and in some ways plight of members of “Generation Y,” those of us born between 1975 and 1985 (give or take), that I have spent a good part of the last year reflecting on my age cohort. I don’t think this is uncommon or it is coincidental with me turning 37 this year. Indeed, there is a lot of reflecting that could not be done prior to reaching the second half of my thirties, simply because I didn’t have enough context to understand my past experiences and what…

How to self-publish a book

David V Stewart September 15, 2020 September 15, 2020Non-fiction, Uncategorized, Writing 2

Occasionally, I get messages from people trying to break into the “traditional” (as in 20th century) publishing industry, and they always seem to be under some distress. In fact, the messages often come off like the pleading of abuse victims, with authors talking publicly on twitter sounding like battered women excusing their abuser. Everybody is aware of how lame it is to “pay” an agent (in reality, they pay you, and you better hope they are honest, unlike Chuck Palahniuk’s agent, who left him broke) to have coffee with someone at the publishing imprint, who then takes years to make…

Stop Seeking Magic Fixes Your Problems!

David V Stewart August 29, 2020 August 29, 2020Non-fiction, Writing 3

This is it! This is what my entire existence on YouTube has really been about, now that I stop to think about it: There is no magical secret that will fix what is wrong or make you good at something quickly. Sorry, folks, you can’t learn to play guitar in six weeks. You can’t write a guaranteed best-seller in two days with the “secret story formula.” You can’t become a shredded bodybuilder in six weeks by learning this “one diet trick.” STOP LOOKING FOR EASY SOLUTIONS. The more advanced you get in any field, the more you learn that “secrets”…

Stuff is not “Just Stuff”

David V Stewart August 20, 2020 August 20, 2020Non-fiction, Philosophy, politics 5

These argument have been popular lately with the fallout from the Black Lives Matter (sort of, now antifa) riots and banditry: that you can replace your stuff and that crime arises from conditions the criminal has no choice over. These arguments are actually totally incoherent. Let’s dive into them, both as they are articulated here as well as the wider “debate.” First, the premise that physical goods are replaceable is false. Some things are replaceable, other things are not. I can replace my copy of Lord of the Rings. I cannot replace the photographs of my dead grandparents. Even goods…

Politics: Coalitions of Ethnicities and Ideologies

David V Stewart August 13, 2020 August 13, 2020Non-fiction, politics 4

There is no “Republican” position on any issue. There is no “Democrat” position on any issue. This is because the two major political parties in the USA are not coherent wholes, but are coalitions made up of disparate, often conflicting, groups which each have their own particular position on particular issues. What you end up with, at best, is a general compromise from within the group on some issue, like Republicans being, in general, for free markets and Democrats, in general, being for welfare benefits. I line those two up because what you quickly find is that there is rarely…

MONEY

David V Stewart August 13, 2020 August 13, 2020Ethics, Non-fiction, Philosophy 2

I did a livestream last night talking about some of the big “Red Pills” I had taken, especially having known and spent time with Dan Bilzerian. As part of that, I said that the biggest thing I learned from him is that MONEY is the most important thing when it comes to pursuing worldly ambitions – sex, power, status, etc. Enough money can overcome any deficit. It can: Buy attention directly (advertising) Buy attention indirectly (lavish parties, etc.) Buy sex directly (prostitution) Buy sex indirectly (lavish vacations provided free to women, the transaction of attention from a “high-status” male for…

I mentioned school indoctrination

David V Stewart August 8, 2020 August 8, 2020Education, Ethics, Non-fiction, Philosophy 3

If you read the short thread and its replies – especially from teachers – you have another piece of evidence to what I asserted regarding education just being one of many products produced jointly through schools. Just to clarify, “indoctrination” is not necessarily bad or good itself, but is bad or good depending on what is being preached. The real question here is not what, but by whom. The party that is both most interested in the healthy attitudes of the child, is in the best position to judge a child’s needs, and is through the natural order the first…

YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS

David V Stewart August 3, 2020 August 3, 2020Non-fiction 5

Great thread from Alexander, as usual: There’s lots of great responses that I don’t need to repost here. Instead, I’ll give my own take on it. Undoubtedly some of these reasons will repeat what others have said, so if it seems like I’m ripping you off, then forgive me. This take is pretty spot on when you consider that there is a strong transition from the extended period of youth that men have in the west (basically, their late teens and twenties) to the more established “productivity mode” that defines men in their thirties. You go from a state of…

ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS

David V Stewart July 29, 2020 July 30, 2020Economics, Non-fiction, Philosophy, politics 1

The obsession with the material… That’s what the vast majority of “conservative” arguments are these days – appeals to the material. I write this article on a state-of-the-art (from five years ago) computer powering two huge monitors whose inner workings might as well be magic, surrounded by walls full of guitars – and not just any guitars, some of the best ever made. I have a magical electronic drum set a few feet from me, just in case I want to play drums without bothering my neighbors. I live in a huge house in one of the most expensive states…

Category: Non-fiction