Now, by "smarter," let's clarify what I DON'T mean

I DON'T mean IQ. Quite frankly I don't think we have the least bit of understanding of how IQ measures work. Too many multi-dimensional qualities that go into someone having true practically high IQ. Tests don't mean shit.

(Also, the Guinness Book of World Records holder for the highest IQ on the planet declared his faith. Sorry, atheists.)

I DON'T mean knowledge. Knowledge isn't understanding. That's a cliche old as time. I don't even think you can learn without application – your brain can't fully register the lesson unless it gets real world feedback.

So, when I say get smarter than 99% of the population, I mean:

How to UNDERSTAND more than 99% of the population.

Understand how the world works.

You are 12 months away from "getting it" more than the vast majority of people you run into.

How?

First, you need to drop your old identities of understanding.

Accept none of us really understand shit, the way we were taught.

You were taught history by someone who spent 4 years learning how to teach history, not someone who spent 4 years genuinely trying to UNDERSTAND history, find opposing views, challenge their own beleifs, really dig into the truth.

You were taught health and fitness by an overweight balding divorced dad who thinks he could jump in and coach Green Bay if he needed to (from his hours of "research" and "game tapes")

Everything you were taught, or that you read, or that was proclaimed to be "the truth" was what ONE person, or ONE small group of people, decided was their idea of the truth, from privately funded studies in air-tight echo chambers.

I truly do not mean this in a conspiratorial way. I mean this practically. HOW do you know what you know?

So step one is accepting that MAYBE, the way you were taught things isn't right. Or at least, not the full truth.

And you probably sure as hell didn't take the time to understand it. You wrote it in your notes enough to be able to regurgitate it to pass an exam, then moved on.

The food pyramid is WRONG. It's legitimately not a correct guide to follow to get adequate nutrition. To my understanding, it was based primarily on the iron fortification of wheat, and it was established by big companies lobbying to include refined grains into daily nutrition. They also said all fat is bad and red meat gives you heart attacks. Way to go!

(For a fun rabbit hole, look into how "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" and everything that we imagine in a typical American breakfast was invented by marketing companies hired by cereal and milk corps)

The way we were taught money works is WRONG. Ask any average person "Who owns that $100 bill in your pocket?" I bet they tell you the US does! (They're wrong)

The way human beings work is WRONG. We completely lost the understanding of human psyche and nature by identifying natural processes as illnesses and altering brain chemistry to stop those natural cycles, and then put our brothers and sisters into therapy where someone trained in de-escalation tells them everything is okay (good luck working through your trauma!)

–––

Reading this, you will have two reactions:

1. I knew Riley was going to go off the deep end eventually; he's one of "those guys" now
2. Oh shit.

If what I am saying sounds like tinfoil hat conspiracies, I encourage you to read the first part of this email.

All I am trying to do is CHALLENGE your beliefs, and ask:

Where did you learn them from?

Did you take the time to UNDERSTAND them?

I had chronic health issues for years. I went to a dozen doctors, naturopaths, sleep clinics, endocrinologists, psychiatrists, you name it. Nothing helped. Most of them made it worse.

So I took a BIG step back and tried to UNDERSTAND health. What am I experiencing? Am I giving my body the tools it needs to fight this thing on its own? Was I born this way, or was I born perfectly healthy and SOMETHING got in there that shouldn't have? Was I missing something that my body NEEDS to survive, yet I was told is not good for me? (Hint: sugar)

One thing leads to another, some Google searches lead to hundreds of hours of MY OWN research, and would you look at that – my metabolism was a wreck.

Over the next 6 months, I did basically the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what I was taught was "healthy" growing up, and most of my health issues reversed at a rapid pace.

Want to UNDERSTAND health? Learn about seed oils, thyroid, metabolism, energy, stress, bacteria, mold, light toxicity

Want to UNDERSTAND wealth? Learn about Buy Borrow Die, central banking, cash conversion cycles, BUSINESS IN GENERAL

Want to UNDERSTAND people? Learn about NLP, trauma loops, identities, go ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND human psychology, read the great books, understand how propaganda and marketing are so effective

You need to drop the Reddit brain Neil deGrasse Tyson "can I see a source for that?" ideology.

You need to BELEIVE that your gut instinct is powerful, more powerful than your brain, and just because someone has a degree and a lab coat doesn't mean they UNDERSTAND things any better than you can.

We live in an age of abundance of information. True source information.

Drop the identities. DROP the notion that you know everything. Drop the notion that you know ANYTHING!

Go build your own encyclopedia, in a way that serves you, in a way that YOU beleive to be true and useful and just and effective...

And take the time to UNDERSTAND these things.

All you need to do to know more than 99% of the population, is care about dropping your ego and UNDERSTANDING everything more than they ever will take the time to.

Proverbs 4 7: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding."

– RL