{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The Foothills Of Bay Area House Party","description":"[previously in series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] Paul Graham once said that every city sends a message. New York says you should make more money. Berkeley says you should live better. Boston says you should be smarter. People shouldn\u2019t decide on a permanent residence until they\u2019ve lived in several cities and understand their differing psychological effects. San Francisco sends a message too. It speaks it in a cacophony of dissonant voices, some sounding like the hissing of snakes, others like the chittering of insects. \u201cYou should pierce the veil,\u201d it says, with a faint accent which you are not scholarly enough to recognize as ancient Sumerian. \u201cYou should rip through the flimsy screen that separates your world from the infinite, and witness what lies behind. Because you\u2019d like what you saw there? Oh no, nothing like that. But aren\u2019t you curious? The thirst for knowledge that moved Eve, Faust, Pandora - don\u2019t you have it too?\u201d There\u2019s also a second message from a second voice, one which sounds like a deranged carnival barker, constantly shouting \u201cSTONKS! STONKS! STONKS! STONKS!\u201d Which of the two voices you hear depends on your personality, and maybe how many psychedelics you took in college. According to legend, Sam Altman hears both voices simultaneously all the time, like those Tibetan throat singers who can harmonize with themselves. But when the demonic babble becomes too much to tolerate, the San Franciscans drown it out with alcohol, loud music, and various forms of tedious socialization. Thus the famous Bay Area house parties, one of which you will be attending this very night. https:\/\/www.astralcodexten.com\/p\/the-foothills-of-bay-area-house-party ","author_name":"Astral Codex Ten Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/sscpodcast.libsyn.com\/website","html":"