The ideas and works of @Saifedean Ammous

A few months ago I discovered Saifedean Ammous by way of Alex Epstein, a longtime hero of mine, as he has made me discover the philosophy of Objectivism thru his work on energy.

Alex discovered Saifedean thru the work he has done on Bitcoin and economics, two domains he has lots of knowledge on, so much so that he has written a best-seller book on the topic, “The Bitcoin Standard“, which I highly recommend reading.

Saifedean has been running seminars with his followers for a while, and many of them have been turned into podcasts, which can be found on his website.

As I have not been writing on this blog much at all this year, I will make a point to write some considerations on the ideas of Saifedean Ammous in relation to what he said in his seminars.

I will start later today by analyzing some of the things Saifedean said in his first episode of his podcast, titled “Monarchy and Democracy“.

It’s always a pleasure to discover new ideas and to be challenged by them, and maybe change my mind about some things.

How I discovered Objectivism, and why

My curiosity in the field of energy turned out to have a much bigger influence than I ever expected.

A staunch supporter of new technology, I always trusted nuclear power as the most advanced way to produce energy.

Enter Alex Epstein and his book tour in 2014, and when I heard his pitch for “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels“ at CATO, I immediately understood that I knew little to nothing about coal, oil and natural gas, and their importance to modern society.

Listening to Alex’s past “Power Hour“ episodes, I heard him mention the ideas and writings of Ayn Rand, and especially “Atlas Shrugged“. With the power of the internet, a few good online searches, and plenty of great content available online, the jump to Yaron Brook and his show, the Ayn Rand Institute website and online Campus courses made me realize that I was missing a fundamental part of knowledge to complete my life: philosophy. And that philosophy, the “Philosophy for Living on Earth”, is Ayn Rand’s Objectivism.

It’s been five years now, and I am happy to have become a student of Objectivism, thanks to my interest in energy, my curiosity, and the guidance of a master of human flourishing, Alex Epstein.

This is why this book dedication, signed by Alex when I met him in person at OCON 2018, is so important for me. Thank you, Alex, you have changed my life in a way neither you nor I could imagine!

Alex Epstein’s book dedication signed on July 3rd 2018 at OCON in Laguna Beach, California.

Discussion on “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” Toastmasters speech

Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog post about the presentation on “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” that I delivered at the EPFL-Unil Toastmasters Club on August 29th 2017.

I would also like to thank Alex Epstein for the new information he has working on for the past 10 years, information that inspired me and allowed me to broaden my views.

This is the link to video on YouTube, with the slides embedded in the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOdWTRMCWI8

Here are some useful resources in order to grow your knowledge in the way Alex Epstein and I think about the importance of energy and human flourishing.

The blog post with the introduction to my speech:
http://lucaberta.com/mcff-intro

My speech on January 5th 2016 on the amazing decline in climate-related deaths from 1900 to 2010:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b25j5O2C99o

Alex Epstein guest of the Glenn Beck Show, a very good interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqHB0X_r_Kw

Alex Epstein speech at Google, a fundamental inspiration and source of content for my speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6b7K1hjZk4

Alex Epstein guest of The Rubin Report on the Climate Change Debate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJmL9hRrpIQ

Alex Epstein’s book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Case-Fossil-Fuels-ebook/dp/B00INIQVJA/

The website of the book, where you can also download for free the first chapter:
http://www.moralcaseforfossilfuels.com/

Any feedback on my presentation, my ideas, and the reference model created by Alex Epstein which I also endorsed in my presentation is more than welcome. Please feel free to discuss it in the comments below or on Facebook.

Introduction to “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” Toastmasters speech

Many of you know that I am a passionate Toastmaster, and that I spend a fair amount of time in Toastmasters-related activities, including preparing and delivering speeches at different Clubs in the Area I manage, as Area J2 Director, in District 59.

I have been wanting to deliver the final project of the “Technical Presentations” Advanced Manual for a while, and finally the time to do it has come. I am very excited about the speech that I will deliver in my home Toastmasters Club, EPFL-Unil Toastmasters on Tuesday August 29th, with the meeting starting at 19:00.

The title of the project is “Enhancing a technical talk with the internet”, and this blog post also serves as an introduction to the speech I will deliver.

The speech title is “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels”, exactly like the title of the book written by Alex Epstein and published in 2014.

This book had a very strong impact in my personal development in the energy field, a field I knew something about, but not anywhere near the depth and perspective which Alex’s book allowed me to develop. It has truly been a life-changer for me, and I will highlight some of my experiences and considerations during the speech.

I am fully aware that for some people just the simple idea of having the words “moral” and “fossil fuels” in the same sentence makes up for a big cognitive dissonance, so my challenge will be to challenge your knowledge and biases, such that you will be better able to respect and maybe understand my point of view, which very much mirrors that of Alex Epstein, a person I consider a role model for me.

I will leave you with a teaser of what the book is about, to create even more expectation about the speech. Or to enrage you even more against fossil fuels. Or both. It doesn’t really matter.

The only thing that matters is to have your brain fully engaged, and to respect the views of people, especially when they are very different than yours.

After all, it’s far too simple to be in agreement with those who share your same ideas. It’s not even fun.