I’ve been biking the Mission Beach Boardwark for ~25 years and I’ve seen that guy for as long as I can remember. Never really talked to him, just hi-fived him as he passed by (as lots of folks do). I looooved the documentary. My favorite line was him saying that “I’m just trying to get to the end of my life without becoming an asshole again.” So finally after seeing it I stopped and talked with him for awhile. Super interesting dude. However, the conversation turned weird for me when he started talking about the Middle East and he had a rap about how some religions are inherently better and more righteous than others, and it was our duty to go get them before they got us. Take them all out! Bummed me out that Slomo was a warmonger. But you have to take the good with the bad, He seems like a complex guy, and interesting as hell. I did love what he had to say in the documentary.
The religious tribal warfare stuff would be disappointing.
Being a first generation off the farm professional would be a lot harder than coming from a tradition of trained professionals. Might be too big of an adjustment. Not groomed properly. Checking out is understandable.
We all want to justify our existence, even as a monk on wheels, he has decided that the measuring stick is time in the “Zone”. It really comes down to whatever gets you through. A lot of us are wired best for heavy doses of checking out. he is a bit like a monk who can afford to skip the affiliation with a cult structure or organized religious body. A one man cult?
Not to say at all that I don’t value what he is saying or respect his life. It is really his fault that he was so materialistic as a doctor and missed the other satisfactions from his profession. Many doctors are not assholes. I would have liked it better if he was a former weapons designer, or Realtor, who denounced that kind of thing.
The stuff about acceleration bringing a sense of well-being is interesting. Kind of goofy too. How about just being physical in some semi-challenging way? Probably the same thing.
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