Asklemmy

The Gospel of Thomas. Before going down that rabbit hole I had no idea that Lucretius had laid out evolution in 50 BCE and would have never thought there was a sect and text claiming Jesus was talking about quantized matter, evolution, and pre-computer simulation theory in an agreement with the Epicurean rejection of intelligent design while rebutting their conclusion that there must not be an afterlife.

Not only did the study of the work itself lead to mind blowing realizations about history and philosophy, but the sheer absurdity of its existence has (for me) led to heavily complementing the physical arguments for simulation theory and pushed it over the edge from something just "interesting to entertain" to something I'm fairly confident in.

If you'd told me 6 years ago a 2,000 year old document would change my perspective of metaphysics and core beliefs, I'd have laughed you out of the room. And yet it today stands as by far the most interesting thing I've ever researched and likely the most influential to date.

Vagabond manga.

A friend once gave me an ipod mini with Tony Robbins’s Personal Power series on it, and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.

In fact, I’m gonna get in touch with that guy.

This is social media but I suppose that counts, Livejournal. Made friends there I still have 25 years later I am closer to than anyone else.

Reading the parahumans story, "Worm", has changed how I look at people. It is my personal-favorite character study. There are dozens of characters who all have unique world views to explore.

Podcasts count? Huberman Lab has been such a life-changing listen! Lots of great information about sleep and how our body functions

The Illuminatus Trilogy did a lot of heavy lifting in inspiring a sense of meta-skeptical relativism, though largely by offering a central hub for many other rabbit holes.

Gurren Lagann instilled me with a sense of inextinguishable optimistic determination, for myself individually and as a part of the human race

There are plenty of others, but these two had the most profound effects.

Edit: I almost forgot about this webcomic that lived in the back of my brain until I got a bidet.

This: https://youtu.be/A-Rm1DsV7GM?si=jSkPqYnhMy8NXz7q

I have several!

Disco Elysium: I played Disco Elysium at a dark time in my life and seeing the protagonist hit absolute rock bottom and begin to cope with his myriad problems throughout the story amidst how fucked his situation (and the world's) was resonated with me a lot. I could go on a lot longer about this game, but it definitely changed my perspective on life and the world.

Mr. Robot: What starts out as a story about a hacker and the ethics of technology ends up as a look at personal trauma and coping mechanisms. As someone in tech who's dealt with a lot of mental health issues throughout my life, I (and my sister) saw a lot of me reflected in Elliot as well.

A lot of similarities between those two pieces of media, lol

HTML 4 for Dummies

Red Dwarf anyone?

Pinkerton by Weezer. Its my favorite album of all time. It also introduced to a while bunch of other great albums, namely American Football's first album and Kid A by Radiohead. And El Scorcho is an absolute banger.