leftcoast

I remember reading about this in a Tom Clancy novel many years ago. In the book it was used by the Soviets as an interrogation technique. After 30 minutes in the tank the guy cracked (it felt like many hours had passed to him). Not sure I'd pay for this experience.

Thanks for the suggestions above. I did some more research on meditation practices this weekend. Here's what I found. Basically, it seems like there are 3 major types of meditation: [*]Concentration - to focus exclusively on one thing, such as your breath or a rock in the grass (Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Samatha); [*]Mindfulness - to experience and observe all your sensations and thoughts without attachment (Vipassana, MBSR); [*]Transcending - to think or experience nothing at all (Transcendental Meditation, NSR, Hindu meditations). From these buckets, I found 2 specific techniques that are both widely taught in the West and claim to be backed by scientific research: Transcendental Meditation A meditation in which one silently repeats a specific, meaningless phrase (mantra) while sitting quietly for 20 min twice daily. Popularized by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who turned the technique into a "movement" backed by programs and organizations starting in the 1960s. Maharishi Foundation owns the registered trademark on "Transcendental Meditation" and charges $1500 to teach the basic technique. Claims to be backed by hundreds of scientific studies, but the validity of this research is widely disputed. From my own cursory review, it does seem that much of the research on TM is seriously flawed at best. Personal opinion: It smells a little cult-ish and reminds be of scientology in some ways. Charges big money for something no one else does. Touts a long list of celebrity practitioners, a few of whom evangelize for the "movement" (David Lynch, Ellen Degeneres, Jerry Seinfeld). Used to make crazy claims about levitation and "yogic flying" (not anymore). Claims to be completely secular, but requires the practice of some ancient Hindu ceremonies and incantations. Appears to have a well-funded marketing infrastructure and a very active PR strategy. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Combines mindfulness mediation with yoga for 45 min daily. Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusets. Now widely taught as a 8-week workshop course in medical centres, hospitals, clinics, and non-profit organizations. There are also numerous self-study books written by Kabat-Zinn and others. Completely secularized, with no religious or mystical theory or practices. Lots of peer-reviewed research available. Conclusion from one literature review done at Johns Hopkins in 2008: "MBSR is an effective treatment for reducing stress and anxiety that accompanies daily life and chronic illness. MBSR is also therapeutic for healthcare providers, enhancing their interactions with patients. No negative side effects from MBSR have been documented." Liberty, I think you might enjoy these blog posts by Sam Harris, a neurologist, meditation fan, and outspoken critic of religion: How to Meditate Killing the Buddha For me, I am now going to look further into MBSR and mindfulness meditation. In particular, I'm looking at these books and CDs: Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World A Mindfulness-Ba​sed Stress Reduction Workbook Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series 1 It looks like there are also MBSR classes offered in Vancouver by certified trainers (mostly clinical counselors and therapists): http://www.mbsrbc.ca/pages/classes.htm I may look into those further after reading some of the books. Thanks to this thread for prompting me to pursue this area of interest again!

I got quite interested in this last January, and purchased a few books on my kindle. What I found is that it's difficult to find a "how to" guide that separates the actual techniques of meditation from all of the new-agey spiritual and religious (Buddhist) stuff. Not that Buddhist theology isn't interesting, but it's not what I am looking to learn about... I just want a practical guide on the techniques of meditation and how to setup a meditation program. (I guess I see it as analogous to learning how to set up a personal fitness program and how to perform the specific exercises therein.) My engineer brain just wants to understand what to do and how to do it (and a scientific explanation of how/why it works would be icing on the cake). I did look look at www.getsomeheadspace.com, because it claims to offer just that ("we've secularized meditation") but was turned off by the aggressive marketing and shameless promotion of their subscription service. "We've monetized meditation" might be a better tag line. Would definitely be interested and appreciative if anyone can recommend resources (books or courses) that focus on teaching meditation without the mysticism. I live in Vancouver and would be interested in either in-person classes or online courses.

And now I see on Amazon that the same author has written a whole new book on this specific topic, releasing this fall. Thanks Liberty! http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199678111/

Don't read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Global-Catastrophic-Risks-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199606501/ Great book. I liked the way it gives a balanced, scientific, and even skeptical review of each risk, rather than a sensationalist or alarmist one. I believe it was written with the insurance industry in mind, but as a videogame developer, I've found it a treasure trove of well-researched story ideas. :) My favorite chapter was the one on artificial super-intelligence and how it could pose an existential risk before we puny humans are even aware of it. And FWIW, it looks like Elon Musk is also thinking about this: Even SpaceX's Elon Musk Fears 'Terminator' Robot Apocalypse.

I started my career as a mechanical/aerospace engineer, then after a few years in the workforce, went back to school for the much-maligned MBA. Roughly a third of my b-school classmates were engineers like me making a career change into management, consulting, or finance (and much less commonly into marketing or HR). I think engineering-->business is a very common career path. Going the other way -- from finance into engineering -- is much less common. In fact, you're the first person I've heard of to do that! Not surprised at all that so many people here are engineers, or that so many engineers gravitate toward value investing, whether personally or professionaly. The highly quantitative, analytical, and probabilistic approach to problem-solving that is drilled into engineers is particularly applicable to this field of business. In engineering, you are right or wrong based on how accurate your insights, models, and calculations are... not because of who agrees with you or how persuasively you can argue or bullshit. Same goes for value investing. There's something very appealing about that to many engineers. Many of the "mental models" that value investors use come from the field of engineering, the most obvious of which is the concept of "margin of safety." I was calculating margins of safety a full decade before I discovered value investing. But it wasn't on stock valuations, it was on things that would kill people if the numbers were wrong. Mechanical and civil engineers in particular have a very healthy respect for the concept of margin of safety.

+1. Wow! Thanks for posting. Given that it is written by an experienced pilot, it is the most credible "in the pilot's shoe" description of what likely happened. Will be validated when they find it in the Indian Ocean along this trajectory. The article's "electrical fire" hypothesis seems weak to me for several reasons: 1. The exact timing and sequence of events are really suspicious and strongly suggest pre-meditation rather than an in-flight emergency. The transponder was turned off 1 minute before the final radio transmission, when someone in the cockpit said "alright, goodnight" to Malaysian ATC. That radio transmission makes no sense if the crew was battling a fire. I know the article says that maybe the crew was unaware of either the fire or the disabled transponder at that point.. but it was just moments later that the plane changed course without any further communication, so that doesn't make sense either. This precise moment of transition between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace, just after the plane signed off with Malaysian ATC, but before saying hello to Vietnamese ATC, would be the perfect time to divert the plane, since there would be confusion on both sides about who was responsible for it. The pilot would know this. 2. The plane made several more heading changes after the first one. It did not fly along a straight path after turning west toward Langkawi, as the article suggests. According to military radar, it changed direction several more times, following various navigational waypoints. This means that someone was either awake and at the controls (not overcome with smoke as the article suggests), or more likely IMO, that these waypoints had been programmed into the FMS and the autopilot was flying. 3. If the pilot was intending to make an emergency landing at Langkawi, he should have been dumping fuel to lighten the aircraft and minimize post-crash fire. This is what the crew of Swissair 111 (referenced by the article) did when they tried to divert to Halifax. A fully-loaded airplane is harder to land gently and will not glide as far if engine power is cut. But according to the satellite "pings" the plane flew on for 6 more hours, which suggests no fuel was dumped. I don't like casting suspicion on the 2 people that were most directly responsible for the passengers' safety either, but to me it's the simplest explanation that fits with all of the known facts. Pilot suicide is a taboo subject in the aviation industry (just look at the investigation of the EgyptAir crash in 1999), and is likely under-reported. mh370flightpath.jpg-large

No need for the pilot to stay conscious once the new flight plan has been entered and the autopilot engaged. If you really think the whole thing through (as a pilot would), you might deliberately choose to go to sleep along with the passengers, because it's relatively nice way to go. You actually feel euphoric and dopey for a few moments and then you just go to sleep. Much better than being awake for those final moments of terror when the ocean is coming at you at hundreds of miles per hour. And being awake at that final moment might test your conviction on the whole matter... maybe you're self-aware enough to know that you'll likely lose your nerve and be tempted to pull the nose up when that moment comes. Better to just automate the whole process and then check out pleasantly.

"This is your captain speaking. Please remain calm. We are being diverted due to severe weather. We expect to resume our original course once we have been given proper clearance". Or whatever bullshit story. Why would anyone panic? Or turn off the cabin pressurization. You'd have tops 30 seconds before going to sleep. Exactly. Apparently the airplane climbed to 45,000 ft shortly after diverting course, past the operational ceiling of the 777. Depressurizing the cabin at that altitude (or even at 35k ft) would take care of any unruly passengers very quickly. The pilot could have: 1. disabled the co-pilot or locked him out of the cockpit, then 2. entered a new flight plan into the autopilot/FMS, then 3. disabled the comms, then 4. said goodnight to Malaysian ATC just before entering Vietnamese airspace, then 5. instructed the autopilot to execute his new flight plan, then 6. depressurized the cabin and gone peacefully to sleep (then death) along with everyone else. The plane would continue executing whatever flight plan he programmed (which could include any number of altitude and heading changes) until it ran out of fuel. As for why someone would divert an airliner before intentionally crashing it, who knows. Whatever thought processes make it seem like a good idea to commit suicide and take 238 people with you could also lead you to do other irrational things. Maybe he wanted to commit suicide but never be found. Maybe he wanted to create a lasting mystery and be immortalized in aviation history like Amelia Earhart. Finally, despite what the media seems to think, a commercial pilot having a homemade flight simulator in his basement isn't suspicious at all. Lots of aviation enthusiasts have homemade flight sims. It was probably running a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator. There are plenty of reasons to suspect the pilot here (opportunity and ability more than obvious motive), but having a flight sim at home isn't one of them.

If you're a resident of the United States, then you pay capital gains tax to the IRS at whatever rates they set. Capital gains from Canadian stocks should be treated no differently than capital gains from US stocks.

Cool, thanks. To be clear, early retirement is not an imminent event for me... I expect I'll be working for a few more years at least before I hit my number. (And anyways there's something that feels slightly indecent about retiring before the age of 40. ;) ) It's just that I can now see that number is eventually achievable, which makes the whole idea is start to feel real and not just like a pipe-dream. And as it starts to seem real, I feel like I need to start thinking about some of the other aspects besides the number itself. It's a bit of a bewildering line of thought to follow because it leads quickly to both practical and existential questions.

Mmmm... free bacon.

This definitely resonates. Some kinds of work stress are positive and even fun, but stress from office politics and working with assholes is not one of them. I'm curious... as a full-time investor working from home, what kinds of contacts and confidants do you develop? Are they fellow investors that you share ideas with?

That is a bit of a problem. Moving to Montecito made it easier because a lot of people here have a lot of money. However most of them either currently own a business that pulls in a lot of money, or they have already sold one for many millions and are set for life. So it's a safety in numbers kind of thing. The neighbors aren't jealous of me. I have two kids (kindergarten and 2nd grade) so we meet a lot of parents. I think if we didn't have kids it would be much harder to establish social relations. Your kids are the exact same ages as mine. When our oldest was born, my wife quit work to stay home around the time we moved into a new neighborhood. It was very isolating for her. Many nights I'd come home from work and would be the first adult she'd spoken to all day. She's naturally more extroverted and outgoing than me, and as much as she found fulfillment with the kids, she also found the social isolation incredibly difficult. Once preschool started and she got plugged into the "mommy network" with regular social activities, she became 10x happier. As soon as our youngest graduated from preschool, she went back to work part-time even though it was not necessary financially... I think she was really seeking another social group to be part of. I look at her experience and realize I need to think hard about how I would handle being at home alone all day, everyday. I suspect I would need something (hobbies, volunteering, school, fun job) to get me out of the house.

I've been thinking about this topic a lot over the past few weeks, which is probably another sign that the market's due for a big correction :-) Calculating the magic number you need to achieve "escape velocity," as Eric once called it, mostly comes down to your expenses and what kind of margin of safety you feel comfortable with. (For those that want to dive deep into this analysis, I recommend a book called "Unveiling the Retirement Myth" by Jim Otar. He back-tests various strategies against 100 years of stock market history.) But I find that as the possibility of reaching escape velocity starts to feel more real, it's in the non-financial aspects of life that I feel unprepared for it. I'm in my late thirties, decades away from "normal" retirement age. I have a demanding and often stressful managerial job that I don't hate most of the time and that a lot of kids would consider a dream job... but for a variety of reasons, the thought of climbing higher doesn't fire me up the way it used to. My career has been demanding enough that it hasn't left much time to pursue other interests... my time outside of work mostly goes to my busy young family, and to the investing hobby. So the idea of just stepping off the treadmill is both exhilarating but also kind of terrifying... what exactly would I do if I didn't go to the office everyday? Who would I be without a career to help define my identity? I know, this sounds kind of pathetic! First-world problems for sure, and not ones you can really talk to that many people about. It's much easier to just focus on the numbers than it is to confront these kinds of questions. My questions for those that have "retired" early: Did investing really become a full-time activity once you stopped working? And did you see your returns improve as a result? (I'm in the camp that suspects my returns would suffer if I devoted all of my time and attention to my portfolio.) Did you ever find it socially isolating to be "retired" when everyone else your age was working during the week? Most of the friends I've made in the past 10-15 years were met through work. What kinds of other projects or activities have you taken up to replace your day job? Were they difficult to find? Did you find them before or after you quit your job? Do they give you the same sense of meaning and/or fulfillment that your career did? Has anyone used their "retirement" as an opportunity to find or start a new career?

I lived in the States for a few years before returning to Canada with an American wife. (She's now a dual citizen; I'm still a pure-breed Canadian). Our 401ks were rolled into Vanguard IRAs when we left our US employer. In 2008 we got polite letters from Vanguard informing us that while they were still happy to keep our money, they could no longer allow us to place trades in those accounts (so our positions were frozen unless we wanted to liquidate to cash and hold that for 30 years until retirement). This is apparently a common issue among US brokerages... most of them will not allow non-residents to make trades due to regulations I've never fully understood. Last year, I discovered that TD Ameritrade is an exception to that, presumably thanks to its Canadian parent company. So after switching brokers, I can now happily trade within our IRA accounts again. Yes, I expect I'll probably retire in Canada, but who knows. No experience collecting benefits. I'd be surprised if either country would allow non-residents to collect UI, but I'm certainly no expert. This year, for the first time, I am actively seeking out professional cross-border tax advice, due mainly to the new regulations going into effect this year (FATCA) that target American expats via foreign financial institutions (like Canadian banks), and the potential financial and privacy implications those regulations have for myself and our children. I'm finding it difficult to find a personal tax accountant who knows both US and Canadian tax law. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/u-s-fatca-tax-law-catches-unsuspecting-canadians-in-its-crosshairs-1.2493864

Video-game development for the past 10 years. Before that, commercial and military flight simulation.

Freakonomics: Charity “Shoppers” vs. Charity Investors http://freakonomics.com/2013/12/31/charity-shoppers-vs-charity-investors/ Yet when it comes to charitable giving, most people spread their money around. Why is this? And is it an effective strategy for helping people, or just a way to make ourselves feel good? ... But I suspect this is all mere rationalization, and that, we really divide our charity for a third reason: giving is more like consumption than like investment. We give because it makes us feel good. (And, for the math-geeks among us, the warm fuzzies we get from giving isn’t linear with the amount given — we get more warm fuzzies from splitting our gift between two charities, or among three or four or more.)

Canada Mortgage Trends: Fighting Mortgage Fraud http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/canadian_mortgage_trends/2013/09/fighting-mortgage-fraud.html Mortgage fraud in Canada has increased by a staggering 50% in recent years, according to Equifax. While accounting for only 13% of attempted frauds in 2011, mortgage fraud was responsible for two-thirds, or $400 million, of the estimated dollar amount of financial fraud in Canada. According to John Russo, Vice President of Equifax, that number jumped to $600 million in 2012.

Ben Rabidoux: Four changes CMHC needs to make to rein in its mortgage market influence http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/four-changes-cmhc-needs-to-make-to-rein-in-its-mortgage-market-influence/article16178271/ 1) Increase income documentation requirements on insured mortgages 2) Reinstate the regional mortgage cap 3) Eliminate the second home program 4) Increase transparency and oversight

Seriously? You'd admire him more if he'd spent it on himself instead of saving and growing it for charity?

It would be some kind of motion graphics and video compositing software package... probably something like Adobe After Effects .

Almost 7 years without cable now, and I have a wife and kids. When we first cut cable, it was simply to save money after our first was born and my wife stopped working. But now, I honestly believe we're all better without it in the house, especially the kids at this age. I don't think I'd take it back now even if it was free. The only time I can remember missing it was when the Winter Olympics were here in Vancouver... we went to a family member's house to watch the gold medal hockey game. We subscribe to Netflix, which provides more quality kids programming than they could ever consume, along with a mediocre selection of movies and TV. We download or rent from the library all the TV shows we want to see, and watch them when we want. I much prefer to watch a season of Breaking Bad all at once anyway. The big benefit, IMO, is how it's changed our TV-watching patterns. With cable, I remember that it was common practice to just flop down in front of the TV to "see what's on." Now when we watch, it's a deliberate decision to watch a specific piece of content. Then when it's over, the TV turns off and we go do something else.

Any manned mission to Mars would use a conjunction class trajectory, in order to get as close as possible to a minimum energy transfer and to minimize transit time. Conjunction class trajectories have regular departure windows that open about 50 days prior to Earth-Mars opposition, which is an event that occurs every 26 months. Source: My undergraduate thesis entitled "Proposal for a Near-Term Manned Mission to Mars." :)

Congratulations to you and your investors! And thanks for building and maintaining the best community of value investors on the internet. I believe this board has had a life-changing impact on a lot of people.