Lifestyle & beliefs

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Diet

Veganism

In 2012 I felt the moral obligation to go vegan, after exceptic research into the topic made me aware of the horrors of animal exploitation, the lack of necessity to consume animal products, and the hipocrisy of continuing to do so.

See: Veganism

Meal replacements

People pretend the need to have multiple meals a day is great because they like to eat. I like to get a massage, but I wouldn't want the need to get 3-5 massages a day or else I feel hunger.

The need to think about what to eat everyday is a particular burden to me; that's why nutritionally complete meal replacements were a blessing. Science fiction made real.

I first tried them out in 2017, then completely replaced my daily meals in 2018 with chocolate flavored Plenny Shake.

I, of course, still eat solid food from time to time, particularly when going out, but it's not a daily concern. I also save time on eating, cooking and cleaning, while simultaneously eating healthier. I love the flavor and never get tired of it.

I've been doing blood and urine tests almost yearly since then. Only vitamin D has shown low (I avoid being directly exposed to sunlight), so I take a daily supplement drop*.

I recently started adding a Coenzyme Q10 supplement* to my morning shakes. It got recommended to me and apparently it has a lot of potential benefits and no drawbacks.

Tea

Every morning I take a cup of green tea (of the Gunpowder variety) for its antioxidant properties, with a couple of slices of ginger root for its sore-throat protection/healing properties.

Drugs

I don't consume any drug, including alcohol and coffee.

Ergonomics

I try to use ergonomic products to improve my health and comfort.

I sit on a Herman Miller Embody I bought second-hand. I choose it green like the Dolce Tutti Frutti Sofa from The Sims, since it was the most comfortable sofa of the original game.

I sleep with an ergonomic pillow*, and a small generic pillow between my knees (if sideways) or behind my lower legs (if on my back).

I use a stool* to rise my legs while sitting on the toilet.

Excercise

I force myself to do a 10-minute high-intensity workout with dumbells at home once or twice a week, and I hate every second of it. I would prefer to play a sport, but I don't have any opportunities available.

I also do radio taiso every morning.

Skincare

I apply face moisturizer* every day, and sunscreen before going out.

Minimalism

I don't like owning much physical stuff. I try to get rid of everything I don't find useful. Being surrounded by stuff, particularly stuff that is not properly organized, gives me a certain degree of anxiety. Not having to care at all about such stuff because it doesn't exist feels liberating.

This extends to digital media to some extent. While it doesn't occupy a physical space around me other than some memory drive, if even, having hundreds of unorganized files feel similarly anxiety-inducing, so I'm also lean with my digital files.

Philanthropy

I donate ~10% of my income. I make a monthly donation to the GiveWell Top Charities Fund, to Animal Charity Evaluators, and to various other animal sanctuaries. I pay a monthly subscription to Wren* to offset my carbon footprint.

In addition, I occasionally donate to singular one-time causes, usually related to animal welfare.

I spend another 20-25% on treating and maintaining the animals I rescue.

Pigeons

I rescue and rehabilitate injured pigeons. It takes a lot of time and energy I'd rather spend on something else, and dealing with dying pigeons makes me sad and depressed. I'd rather not have to deal with this, but I feel a moral obligation to do it.

See: Pigeons

Religion

I was raised Catholic but I don't believe in any religion. A proper god wouldn't care about arbitrary rituals or blind faith.

However, it is a logical conclusion that a god must exist. It doesn't make sense that something exists instead of nothing, because an origin point is impossible. Even if it wasn't, the idea that a complex world governed by complicated and detailed physics rules just happens to exist by random chance, without any thought or design behind it, and that sentience arose in that world also by pure chance, is ludicrous.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I never understood this philosophical question: Of course it makes a sound, I thought. But writing the previous paragraph I finally understood: Existence is irrelevant without sentience. Without the possibility of a sentient entity that could experience it, whether something exists or not makes no difference. This proves that our world is not a product of pure chance, for we are sentient, and a world that couldn't produce sentience would not exist.

Unfortunately, this only implies the existence of some kind of force of creation beyond our understanding, not that the human experience is the purpose of existence, that our lives have any meaning, or that there is an afterlife. But there is some hope for something non-existential-dreading to happen after death.

Software & hardware

I make games on a Windows PC, using Godot (previously Unity).

For a complete list of relevant software and hardware that I use, see: Software & hardware

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