Y2B - Youtube to Brain

 
     
  About Y2B...

The purpose of this section is to collect my views / opinions / comments / notes on some of the various videos I watch online (typically on either Youtube or Rumble), rather than simply watching and absorbing and moving on to the next.

Disclaimer: It came to my attention a while back that some people are finding their way here and seemingly taking offence to some of the content. I don't seek to offend; at most I like to share alternative views and be open to polite discussion. I rarely take issue with individuals, rather, I consider the system that created them/their/our views/behaviours. I welcome responses/feedback to any points I make.

I don't always leave comments on videos directly because:

  • The video has received a vast number of comments already and I think mine will go unnoticed
  • The youtuber doesn't appear to be someone who reads/responds to comments (so why bother?)
  • I have a lot to say, or more to say than is relevant
  • This is my space and have no trouble finding my way back here, rather than posting on a video and forgetting about it

I intend my viewing habits to revolve more around "thought-provoking" content, but intend to include some "entertainment" also, if not both in one sitting (my comments are often laced with sarcasm).

If you happen to watch any of these videos, or ones on a similar topic, then you are welcome to get in touch to share your views and links.

 

 

Who's TRYING To KILL The ELECTRIC CAR? And What Can You Do About It?
Fully Charged Show | Date added: 18-July-23

 

My response...

I used to be onboard with the electric car hype, with its promises of a cleaner environment, a slick driving experience, and much reduced travel costs. But the novelty* of this concept has admittedly worn off for me; there have been numerous reports* of the actual environmental costs of electric cars (due in part to the mining of raw materials for the batteries), along with a disconnected charging grid that has resulted in EV owners paying more for comparable journeys with fossil-fuel burning cars.

Obviously some of these issues can be improved with time, but some of them should have been the focus from the start; the mining of the raw materials which is claimed to involve child labour in dire conditions may actually mean full-scale adoption of EVs is not "viable" and thus the whole scheme should be called into question. The problem is, and this is made apparent in this video by the very presenters themselves, certain people have a vested and financial interest in these schemes and seem to think that their so-called "fact checking" is not in any way another attempt to silence people that aren't aligned with their agenda. This concerns me.

*it is just a novelty because I have not and do not own an EV (which according to one voice in the video means I should shut my mouth).

*of course (and this is claimed in the video) such reports could be corrected by actual fact-checking. Like the science of Covid, it probably depends on whose "science" you use.

The presenters are:
Robert Llewellyn - founder and CEO of the FullyChargedShow (formerly a presenter on Scrapheap Challenge)
Dan Caesar - CEO of the FullyChargedShow
Quentin Wilson - motoring journalist (formerly a presenter on Top Gear).

Robert Llewellyn and Quentin Wilson are here to be friendly and familiar faces for you to like and trust. But lets start with some words from Dan Caesar...

8:40 Dan Caesar: "The danger is it [negative media regarding EVs] does slow and delay this transition." (as if the transition is fixed, and going ahead regardless... and thus anyone who questions the transition or goes against it is/or causing a danger, or responsible for global warming... of which, it has been said, the UK is responsible for 1% of global emissions).

He goes on to say: "[EVs] are sooo clean compared to a combustion engine car that is sat at the traffic lights outside a school..." [but what about over all? This is a genuine concern; that the production of an EV is far less "clean" by comparison.] If the EVs and the raw materials were mined here in the UK (if that is even possible), they would surely be far from clean and our country-wide "greenhouse" emissions would go up, and this is before we mention where our electricity comes from to charge the vehicles.

"From my experience of driving an electric car, they are just better." #vague [In what ways? I've heard many complaints about the charging issues.]

8:38 "It's a shame to see this transition slowed... the odd person saying 'I might wait a little bit longer' [this is actually how many scams work; they push the sense of urgency, like it's a limited-time offer. Of course, if the climate in in dire straits then there is legitimate urgency, but it is actually questionable if the adoption of EVs will have any impact on this... there is actually a possibility they're making things worse]... We're very fortunate on the FullyChargedShow, we have a very educated, progressive audience... they get it." [as in, if you're not one of their fans then you're un-educated and... well, whatever the opposite of progressive is; this is pretty much a cult mindset "you're either with us or against us". He then goes on to claim that everyone has a good experience with EVs, which is clearly not the case and Rowan Atkinson's case that they mention, is a clear case in point, but they're attempted to discredit his experience and claims.

Quentin: "Air quality, energy security, and cheap sustainable energy for all. These are historic goals ...[and progress] will be lost because of some people [not supporting EVs/chose to be on the wrong side]. I've seen graphs that show air quality in the London has been improving over the past 50-100 years, this is surely due to a number of factors, but has little to do with the adoption of EVs - how clean are they expecting the air to get in a city, and at what costs? I'm not sure how the adoption of EVs has any effect on energy security, if anything they're putting excessive burden on our electricity grid, by moving us away from using the fuels that have been on-tap at our petrol stations for decades.

Dan Caesar: teaming up with FairCharge, Quentin's organisation, [so my concern here is that these three people (along with many other people_ have money in the game.] To start "fact-checking" and pushing back against "these stories" [implying there is no question of them being true, they just want to attack anything that is against their narrative].

What do you think?

 

What actually ARE muscle cramps?
Medlife Crisis | Date added: 29-June-23

 

My response...

I've been prone to muscle cramps for the past 20 years or so (I'm now in my 40s). Typically I get them in a foot or a calf muscle, but suffer with them less these days for some reason.

From the start Dr. M. C. refers to cramp as "A universal human physical experience." I would argue that he is mistaken; I'm pretty sure (other?) animals experience muscle cramp too - just the other week I walked my mother's ageing dog who doesn't get walked much; it was a warm day and she was clearly "well knacked" (the dog, I mean, I'm not referring to my mother) by the time we go back home. A short while after she got into her bed, still panting, I witnessed her suffering from what I considered to be cramp in one of her hind legs or foot. It could have been something else, but that is what I deduced.

Anyway, my earliest memory of cramp, which occurred in my foot, happened as I'd stepped into the very slightly cool water of a lake on a warm day. I was already around 20 years of age at this point. After a minute or two of gripping my foot, which felt like it was being forced to contort in a painful way, the cramp went away.

Stepping into cool water is a common feature in my experience of cramp and makes me somewhat fearful of doing so. What if I fell into water and needed to swim to safety, only to be thwarted by pesky cramp?

Sometimes I've experienced cramp when stepping out of the shower, or in the act of reaching down with my towel to dry my feet. The cramp kind of feels like a surge from my heart (more about the heart in a moment). I typically shower after going out for a run or riding my bike, so it would certainly appear that muscle fatigue, "low electrolytes", dehydration, or muscle stiffness could be the culprit or contributing factor (or all of the above when an excessive amount of physical activity is concerned).

I don't get cramp that often, and less so now then I used to (I actually do less cycling these days than I used to, so that might be why). However, because I've experienced it "enough" times now, I can kind of sense when it's about to happen; like, one movement of my foot this way or that, and I'm going to get it if I'm not careful.

I've experienced foot cramp a few times when doing a long walk. A few years ago I walked up mount Snowdon a few times and I think the first time it started to rain 2/3 the way up and just as I was getting a little chill I got cramp, in my calf I think. I've also experienced it on the way down, like the change in the use of the muscles from how they were when walking up the mountain for a couple of hours to how they are utilised on the way down.

One time I had a strange experience of cramp in bed; this was likely during a period when I had been doing a fair amount of cycling. I remember it occurring in my calf muscle and my reaction was to kick my leg out straight. In that instance the cramp went from my calf muscle to my foot.

Usually my cramp passes pretty quick but one time, similar to what Dr. M. C. reported, my muscle felt sore for a couple of days afterwards. I find with foot cramp it's best to grip the foot firmly with both hands, which is what I did in my first experience. With calf or other muscle then "kneading" it seems helpful, to kind of work against the pain, rather than let it go on, which may be why the discomfort can be felt for days after.

Since it's "muscle cramp" it seems a little odd in this regard to feel it in the foot, since this is not "a muscle", but I guess there are muscles at play there, so who knows?

I once heard something about cramp being due to nitrogen in the blood getting trapped at certain points in the body. My experience of the cramp travelling from calf to foot seemed confirm this, however I've not been able to find any research that backs this up.

I think I have only really experienced cramp when cycling once; sometimes my calf muscles can feel tight, like when walking up a long steep hill, but one time I pushed down hard on my pedal in a strange way and was immediately rewarded with foot cramp; I even "knew that was going to happen" in the moment I pushed down on the pedal.

Finally, in the video Dr. M. C. states that the heart (thankfully) doesn't experience cramp, even though it is a muscle. This, he says, is likely because the muscle (fibres?) is different. However, he also talks about how in addition to how other muscles can experience cramp, a seemingly related experience is a muscle spasm. As someone that has occasionally at times experienced a heart flutter, or at other times experienced what I feel like is a momentary heart pain, if muscle spasms and muscle cramp are related, then surely my experiences of heart flutters and pain is also related. I know I should have these things checked out, but m'eh, some things we put of and put off until there seems to be little to no point making a thing out of it now.

Btw, I have a low BMI (being slim and active), which could be a contributing factor and BMIs were something else also mentioned in the video.

Since I don't know what exactly causes my muscle cramps I cover multiple bases to either help prevent them or treat the cramp by drinking some water and consuming a banana.

So in conclusion, I agree with:

- stretching
- keeping electrolyte levels up when doing physical endurance stuff
- keep hydrated
- eat a banana

Maybe some or all of the above can help.

What do you think?

 

Cyclists Must Go
The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters | Date added: 29-March-23

 

My response (as a cyclist, and a car driver)...

On the whole I like this channel, but there can be presenters spouting views and a perspective I don't agree with. This video is one such example - I present to you below my (counter) opinions of the cycling clips presented. The comments section is also a case where the views here just parrot what has been said to them, because people have a tendency to become normy fan-boys regardless of whether they think they're on the "left" or the "right".

(1:36) Two clips from Jeremy Vine of the BBC (bus cuts him up, taxi 'almost' pulls out on him). Most of what what the "lotus eaters" say is just hating on Jeremy, more on this in a moment. The bus pulling out was unfortunate and indeed the driver may have failed to see the oncoming bike (understandable yet not excusable); perhaps they should have prepared for this possibility; Vine had the right of way (although could have also prepared for what happened) and I don't buy the excuse that "it's hard to stop a bus"; it takes effort to stop a bike, plus the loss of momentum is a faff. The taxi incident was simply a common one due to Vine being hidden by the vehicle he was passing; the taxi stopped when it realised.

(7:29) Guy "flips off motorist" for beeping (apparently, because I'm not certain), then comes a cropper - this is kind of bad karma, but I feel bad for the cyclist hitting the road. The response of the "lotus eaters" shows their lack of compassion. The guy could have ended up in hospital, but they would just say "that serves him right". I'm not sure if he signalled that he was overtaking the other cyclist or was doing a similar pace to the motor vehicles, plus with oncoming traffic making it not ideal for them to overtake him, he was perhaps perfectly justified in his manoeuvre; some motorists just like to beep at cyclists in situations like this when there was hardly an impingement, just some vague notion that "he shouldn't be doing that".

(8:35) Close call with van: "should have been in the cycle lane". I despise this excuse; it's no excuse to drive so close (with this kind of footage I would have reported this driver for dangerous driving; 2 meters is the requirement in the Highway Code); it has happened to me numerous times and it is not pleasant. This kind of driving could land someone in hospital, or worse. In the UK it's not law to use a cycle lane and sometimes it's safer not to; if the cyclist was capable of doing 25mph here (which seems plausible) then surely he's best off on the road, rather than having to navigate perhaps pedestrians on the path or joining side-roads. I've had similar considerations myself; there was no context in the clip but the cyclist clearly had a reason.

(11:25) On shared path, a dispute with a family who apparently called the cyclist out; perhaps they didn't realise it was now a shared path (even when it's not a recent change pedestrians don't always realise), but there is little excuse for saying something "under one's breath" - the cyclist did indeed appear to have slowed down, or be going slow. He wasn't "whizzing past", some paths are too narrow and all need to be courteous to others - give space/allow time to move pets/children out of the way; in this instance I think the pedestrians could have moved over sooner, but perhaps distracted, and thus the cyclist needed to have slowed down a little more or sooner.

(13:31) Car turns into cycle lane (on Vine). The car indicated and was obviously going to struggle to see the bike approaching so the cyclist should have paid attention and just allowed for the inevitable instead of making a fuss and getting right up to the car, but sometimes I do this (not so vocally) to illustrate to the motorist that I was there and they hadn't noticed when they turned in (perhaps they'll take care to look in future); Vine is quite the drama queen though.

On the topic of Jeremy Vine, he is worth millions (to the BBC at least). For insurance purposes it is understandable that he covers himself with cameras and puts the incidents out there as evidence for any future case that may arise (either cycling or abuse), or for promoting his ego, but he's not the only one. Should he come a cropper due to someone's negligence be certain they will be made an example of.

(15:01) The guy on the tram lines was just a moron and would likely be charged for his vandalism.

(16:00) Barriers against bikes... just because it was a "little bike" and he had to get off it... but what if he was carrying KGs of groceries, or had a child strapped in a seat on the back? To dismount and lift the bike over... I'm pretty sure I've encountered such barriers when I had a full complement of panniers on my touring bike, and it was indeed a stupidly tight squeeze. Councils need to take such things into consideration especially when at the same time they are supposedly encouraging the use of bicycles.

And in the comments section there is a whole mass of people generalising and "hating" "all" cyclists. None of this improves anything. Yes it's bad if a cyclist puts a pedestrian at risk (or worse), but this is no reason to hate all cyclists, or indeed suggest they should all be driving a car instead (I both ride and drive, as do others). There are too many people, all trying to get around by whatever means they choose/have at their disposal, whether it be walking, on a bike, in a car, or on a bus. Out of principle I'm against the whole "15 minute city" thing, but most responses are along the lines of "I should be able to drive my car/van without incurring such a penalty" rather than "actually, I could walk to the shops or ride a bike to work..." These people are objecting to being dictated to, which I appreciate, but they are, most of the time, failing to even consider alternatives to the car-driving culture they subscribe to.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that the minority of cyclists who cause problems for other will lead to rule changes and severe penalties (just as motorists have done so); such as licenses for cycling, and mandatory proficiency tests and insurance, all of which I would begrudge. If we could all just chill out then getting from A to B could be far more pleasurable for all.

What do you think?

 

They're Already Dead
Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen | Date added: 18-March-23

 

My response...

I've watched a number of "talks" by Bjorn now. He gives some good advice and comes across as a good roll model or someone to look up to (although this should be done with caution about anyone, particularly if you only see brief snippets of their lives in Youtube videos).

He reads a quote: "The full of guys who mow the lawn and watch TV..." essentially, as he says, these are dead people. It's a depressing thought, but I see it a lot. Sure, the lawn might need mowing, or there might be something worth watching on TV (but I guess both these things could be debateable!) but it's kind of too easy (if that's not an excuse) to be consumed by these mundane things.

The advice in the video is to make the most out of your life; treat every day like an adventure. Don't put off doing what you want to be doing, or at least take the steps each day to achieve those things.

What inspired you as a child? Playing outdoors? Camping? Building dens? Perhaps something more intellectual like learning a language? I think these things, whatever they were, are important, they say something about our individual "essence" but they seem to get "washed" out of us as we get older.

Life should be more than "playing video games".

Don't be consumed by negative stuff.

Pursue your hobbies.

What do you think?

 

Elon Musk's Twitter Files Rollout FAILING, The Story Is Dying
Timcast IRL | Date added: 23-January-23

 

My response...

"The Twitter Files are a set of internal Twitter, Inc. documents that were made public, starting in December 2022, by CEO Elon Musk, [and various] ... and authors ...shortly after Musk acquired Twitter ... [They] coordinated the release of the documents with Twitter management, releasing the details of the files as a series of Twitter threads." - Wikipedia

Instalments include content relating to:

  1. Twitter's moderation process regarding a New York Post article on the Hunter Biden laptop controversy.
  2. what Musk and others have described as the shadow banning of some users.
  3. events within Twitter leading to Donald Trump's suspension from Twitter.
  4. how Twitter employees reacted to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
  5. how Twitter employees influenced the decision to ban Trump from the platform.
  6. how the FBI contacted Twitter to suggest that action be taken against several accounts for allegedly spreading election disinformation.
  7. Twitter's interaction with the intelligence community around the New York Post story on Hunter Biden's laptop.
  8. the Twitter Site Integrity Team whitelisted accounts from United States Central Command (CENTCOM) used to run online influence campaigns in other countries.
  9. to the CIA and FBI's alleged involvement in Twitter content moderation.
  10. [allegations] that the U.S. government was involved in moderating COVID-19 content on Twitter.

At present the Wikipedia page ends there but according to what was said in the Tim Pool video above, the fifteenth instalment has been released (at the time of writing).

Years ago it seemed to me that Facebook was the platform that was in a position to control content to show an apparent leaning of political opinions, i.e. in order to sway voters' decisions in the way of the platform's (Zuckerberg et al's) preference. Now it is clear to me that the FBI/CIA have been in close cahoots with all of these major platforms (FB, Twitter, Youtube and others) and pulling the strings to guide the populace the way they wanted; anyone that speaks out in away that is against this chosen narrative is at risk of being deplatformed or shadowbanned.

Outside of these externally-controlled platforms are others that are indeed medalled with by those who run them because, well, why not? It's their platform and they can do what they want with user's accounts, right? If someone operates such a platform and is, say, anti-anti-vaxer, pro-LGBTQ... then why not kick someone off or quietly shadowban/limit the reach/artificially down-grade the apparent popularity of those with countering views? (Kicking someone off generally provokes a reaction whereas shadowbanning can go unnoticed). I don't think this is right but I can see how it would suck to perhaps end up with a platform that gets overrun by things you don't want to see or hear, but I have landed on platforms for the first time that clearly present things I don't want to see, so I leave; the personal challenge is when you've been using a platform for a while and it slowly changes to something you don't like.

For platforms like FB, Twitter, Youtube and TicToc, it is the nature of algorithms that pose an issue (rather than providing a neat webdirectory such as sites like Yahoo! used to provide in the early days) since algorithms clearly produce echo chambers and not only amplify what is seemingly popular but can lead whole swathes of uses down various paths (sometimes to their literal demise); people chase after what is edgy or provocative and therefore the extreme takes precedence.

Back to Tim Pool's video and he points out that the slow drip-feeding of the Twitter Files has lead to people losing interest in the topic; whatever is revealed is no longer shocking. To me this is the same with how movies are; many a sci-fi and dystopic movie portrays either some truths about the world, or potentials of what "might" become. It is all too easy to watch these and feel the urge to shout out "see, this is how things will be!" from alien invasions, to the take-over of A.I. and robots, and the human population being bred in pods to provide energy for their overlords. But with every rendition of such a plot line, the message becomes weaker, and when this start to come into fruition in the real world, it has already become normalised.

Luke Rudkowski argues that all the Twitter Files should have been dropped at once (and certainly not at the end of a Saturday when they'll generally go unnoticed because people have, as Tim said better things to do (bars to get drunk at), but as I see it this hasn't been done for a couple reasons: 1) they've been releasing them as they've been sifted through, rather than holding back until they've prepared the whole lot, 2) releasing them individually like this gives people the opportunity to read, comment on, and converse about specific topics therein. This second one kind of mimic's our addictive behaviour and our preference for that dopamine hit from having new things arriving in our Feeds; that people have lost interest is not so much because the topics themselves are less important, but because their impact is less impactful, just like needing more and more of a drug/substance to satisfy the craving.

Something else to point out that many of these topics have already been talked to death and they don't reveal anything new, rather they only provide evidence for what was perhaps previously a hunch or "common knowledge". It's now down to what is done with this material evidence, but since a lot of this boils down to these platforms being run by the likes of the FBI/CIA/Chinese Government, how do you expect this to change?

What do you think?

 

  Previous Topics...

2022:
September - December:

Heated debate between Bret Weinstein & Robert Wright about military readiness and system corruption

How I Cured Years of Depression Within Days (Do These 4 Things)

Physician Gabor Maté Gives His Analysis on ADHD and Anxiety

June - August:

Mark Zuckerberg Answers to Facebook's Moderation of Controversial Content

It's Happening [Palm Payment]

[Gender and] The Amount of Round-Up & Plastic Contamination in Food

[LEAKED] AI is WHAT Now?!!

Friends: Rachel Asks Ross To Be Her Backup

Dating Apps SCREW Young Men, Making It Difficult To Date Women

May:

Lex Fridman's Analysis of Putin and Ukraine

Pizza Hut Nationalism

When your Parents get a new Phone

Brian Cox: How Can We Trust the Objectiveness of Science

January - April:

Dentists Debunk 15 More Teeth Myths

The Russian / Ukraine Conflict

Alchemy

Not complying with immoral orders

RECOVER from ADDICTION by DOING THIS w/Anna Lembke MD

This Is What's REALLY in Plant Based Food

Addiction: Why We Can't Fast or Keep a Diet...

2021:
November
September
July - August
March - April

2020:
December
November
October

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  Tips & Tools...

*Updated October '23*

Avoid binge-watching and mindless scrolling!
Youtube employs various algorithms/techniques to serve up content (such as through its Feed) to keep you scrolling, tapping, clicking, watching and consuming.

Avoid addictive tendencies encouraged by such platforms by consciously choosing the content you want, where you source it from, when you want it, and for how long. Consider if things benefit you. Keep your own list of channels to watch rather than relying on a Feed.

Download videos and watch them offline, perhaps on a dedicated device, and at a time that best suits you. Avoid consuming while you're consuming (eating).

Y2Mate
This service allows you to download Youtube videos as MP4 video or MP3 audio files. (After 'converting' the video, right-click the Download button and choose 'Save Link As...')

PasteDownload.com
This service allows you to download Rumble / BitChute videos. (After 'converting' the video, right-click the Download button and choose 'Save Link As...') While this lacks an audio-only option you could use VLC Media Player to convert the file to MP3.

Unhook
Youtube (like other) wants to keep you on the platform for as long as possible. This browser add-on enables you to remove the Feed and more, helping you to only watch videos you've actively searched for.

ReturnYoutubeDislike
This is an Add-on for various browsers that brings back the Dislike counter on the Youtube page. This is important in order to help you judge if a video is going to be worth watching.

Video Length
Consider actively seeking educational and informative content of a reasonable length (you can always digest this in smaller portions). Keep a notepad/Notepad to hand and build on what interests you.

Free Speech and Anti-Censorship
If you value these things, consider seeking out creators who upload their videos to Rumble or BitChute, rather than Youtube.

 
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