Tim Ferriss
tim.blog · Personal blog · on HN since 2017
Tim Ferriss, author and podcaster, writes about self-experimentation, productivity, learning, and interviews on his blog and podcast.
What HN saysHN commenters link it for his lucid dreaming guide, podcast transcripts like Keith Baar's, and his post on reasons not to become famous.
209HN people shared it
144linked it in comments
88stories submitted
1.7Kstory points
3 months agolast shared
2017people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Reasons not to become famous24 people · 1.1K points · first shared 2020 · 408 comments on HN
- 2Has AI Killed How-To Nonfiction?5 people · 12 points · first shared 2026 · 1 comments on HN
- 3The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency – Nick Szabo5 people · 3 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 4Podcast5 people · first shared 2017
- 5Ten Lessons I Learned While Teaching Myself to Code4 people · 10 points · first shared 2019 · 2 comments on HN
- 6Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes (2009)4 people · 10 points · first shared 2018 · 1 comments on HN
- 7Some Practical Thoughts on Suicide (2015)4 people · 3 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 8Fear setting4 people · first shared 2018
- 9Patrick Collison (CEO of Stripe) on Tim Ferriss' Podcast3 people · 4 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 10Stewart Brand3 people · 2 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 11Michael Pollan: This is your mind on plants3 people · 1 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 12The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master (Free PDFs)3 people · 1 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 13How to heal trauma3 people · first shared 2020
- 14Smart drugs fasting and fat loss3 people · first shared 2017
- 15I’m Stopping the Fan-Supported Podcast Experiment2 people · 23 points · first shared 2019 · 13 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
alexpotato · 2026-06-12
For folks interested in how far a publisher will go for a journalist, I recommend reading the story about Michael Pollan when he wanted to publish an article about opium.
Summary:
- first publisher said: you can't publish this b/c you could go to prison and we could get in trouble financially
- second publisher: you are going to publish this. If you go to prison, we will support your family financially for the entire time you are in prison. If you lose your house, we will buy them a new house.
You can read about it here: https://tim.blog/2021/06/30/michael-pollan-this-is-your-mind-on-plants…
People talk a LOT about defending free speech but this story has always stuck out to me as what that really means.
smackeyacky · 2026-04-05
https://tim.blog/2009/09/21/how-to-lucid-dream/
I roughly followed these sorts of techniques after a period of having terrifying dreams related to stress.
It worked. I can recognise dreams and control the outcomes to a very large degree. The downside is that while that’s great for terrifying dreams it’s not so good for interesting ones. To lucid dream is to stop being able to let go completely. I’m ambivalent about it now.
giardini · 2026-01-05
Thank you! I searched for "UC Davis protocol for shoulder" and found Dr. Keith Baars at UC Davis and his research on tendons:
[Tim Ferriss podcast re Baars' work at
https://tim.blog/2025/02/27/dr-keith-baar-transcript/
and "dastratman" has produced an excellent summary of Baars' and Ferriss' discussions:
https://hackmd.io/@dastratman/rygQhSmhke
]
I searched your old HN posts and found that you've explained this before to HN denizens! Thank you, thank you so much!
FWIW I've never been able to throw w/o shoulder pain and, now that you mention it, I may make it my goal to build up to that!
justajot · 2024-06-20
Tim Ferris has a great podcast episode with Matt Pottinger that discusses this topic. https://tim.blog/2024/05/08/matt-pottinger/
Zanni · 2023-05-29
Tim Ferriss has a great blog about this (the risk from crazy folks as your fame increases): https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/
WJW · 2023-01-20
I think it technically only implies that at the time when he first became rich, he didn't understand why. It's possible that he has since discovered what exactly happened.
As a sibling comment already implied, the core message of the book is that the price of getting rich is often not worth it. I personally also enjoy the "Rich but not famous" essay by Tim Ferriss at https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/ which has a lot of vivid descriptions of the downsides of fame.
xyzwave · 2022-11-09
This came up in the Tim Ferris interview with Jim Collins [0].
Collins has a notion called the "Hedgehog Concept". Which is the same as you're noting, but a bit more concise.
- What you love to do
- What you are encoded for (not just good at)
- What you can be paid to do
I think the reframing of the 2nd bullet is important. There's a difference being good at something and being encoded for something. You can be good at math, but relative to someone encoded for math, you're going to face significantly more friction.
This is a hard question and requires a high degree of self-honesty, but I believe it is the crucial differentiator in identifying your "purpose".
0. https://tim.blog/2019/02/20/the-tim-ferriss-show-transcripts-jim-colli…
O__________O · 2022-08-08
>> “That's a lot of words in those links.”
My favorite HN comment ever.
__
As for that lack of a falsifiable claim, agree, not only that, but one that would allow for a preponderance of evidence.
Donald Hoffman was interviewed and topic of falsifiable observations came up and as far as I am able to tell he avoided the topic; search for “falsifiable” in this link:
https://tim.blog/2022/04/18/donald-hoffman-transcript/amp/
___
On same topic, this paper provides overview of possible different approaches testing to quantum gravity with cosmology:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.01597
danboarder · 2022-02-01
This story highlights the value of putting yourself in the mindset and perspective of the "other" that you disagree with, to see things their way, for your own benefit.
The entire Tim Ferris podcast episode (from which the quoted story was told - https://tim.blog/2021/09/09/sheila-heen/ ) is good, and brought to mind an EconTalk podcast episode that explores how seeing and doing things in the interest of others is many times in one's own best interest in the long run:
https://www.econtalk.org/michael-munger-on-desires-morality-and-self-i…
f0e4c2f7 · 2021-12-27
Tim Ferris #542 with Chris Dixon and Naval was the podcast that made me think maybe there might be something to web3 and it was at least worth investigating.
2 months later I'm still not yet sure. So take that for what it's worth.
https://tim.blog/2021/10/28/chris-dixon-naval-ravikant/
As an honorable mention I'll also say that I've been listening to Dan Carlin's series on Japan in WW2 and it has been incredible as I've come to expect from his work.
andreilys · 2021-12-27
Tim Ferriss's second episode with Balaji was great. It was around 4-5 hours, and Tim just steps aside letting Balaji brain dump on all sorts of interesting topics and ideas.
https://tim.blog/2021/11/15/balaji-srinivasan-2/
maltalex · 2021-12-14
The term complaining is overloaded. What you describe is actively doing something to make the problem go away.
The "no complaint challenge" [0] linked from the article gives a pretty good definition of the type of complaining the author talks about:
I defined “complaining” for myself as follows: describing an event or person negatively without indicating next steps to fix the problem.
So "the teacher is just showing us YouTube videos, what a waste of time" is a complaint while "the teacher is just showing us YouTube videos, I'll go talk to whomever is in charge so he stops doing that" is not.
[0]: https://tim.blog/2007/09/18/real-mind-control-the-21-day-no-complaint-…
revorad · 2021-12-07
I don't know much about the field but your post reminded me of this interview of Martine Rothblatt on the Tim Ferriss Show - https://tim.blog/2020/12/17/martine-rothblatt-transcript/
Her story might give you some pointers. All the best to you and your partner.
Wonnk13 · 2021-07-04
Tim Ferris's recent interview of Pollan is excellent, definitely check it out: https://tim.blog/podcast/
I think I might finally have the motivation to read his earlier book How to Change Your Mind
binarypaean · 2021-06-29
If you're interested in testing a further nutritional approach, I suggest the stack suggested by the late great Charles Poliquin.
The stack: https://www.facebook.com/StrengthSenseiInc/videos/anxiety-solutions/21… (sorry for FB link)
Background on Poliquin: https://tim.blog/2015/07/21/charles-poliquin/
msolujic · 2021-06-19
Yes, he talked extensively about rapamycin on the recent Tim Ferriss show podcast, in terms of its potential to extend lifetime. [1]
Also, scientist who has found this compound and saved it in his freezer to be used for transplants rejection problems, applied rapamycin on himself when he was given 6m to live prognosis based on late stage cancer he had. He lived 5 more years, and died short after he stopped taking rapamycin, to prove it was responsible for the cure. Amazing story.
[1] https://tim.blog/2021/06/08/peter-attia-2/
k-mcgrady · 2021-06-07
>> It’s worth mentioning that Tim Ferriss didn’t actually get wealthy by following his own advice.
This is missing the point of the book though. Wealth isn't the goal. Earning enough money per month to satisfy your needs + wants in addition to freeing up as much time as possible is.[1]
[1] https://tim.blog/lifestyle-costing/
tailspin2019 · 2020-12-28
1. Tiny Habits for Behavior Change with BJ Fogg - The One You Feed Podcast
https://www.oneyoufeed.net/tiny-habits/
I'm a big fan of BG Fogg and his Fogg Behavioural Model for understanding behaviour change.
2. Jim Collins on The Value of Small Gestures, Unseen Sources of Power, and More - The Tim Ferris Show
https://tim.blog/2020/11/30/jim-collins-returns/
I also recommend Jim Collins' earlier episode on Tim's podcast.
Biba89 · 2020-12-25
My favorite is Naval’s talk at Tim Ferriss:
https://tim.blog/2020/10/14/naval/amp/
imglorp · 2020-10-04
Robert Metcalfe gave a great interview with Tim Ferriss not long ago. He has some sharp insights and stories to tell.
https://tim.blog/2018/02/14/bob-metcalfe/
eluketronic · 2020-09-24
For those interested in learning more about Stamets and his fungal endeavors, I recommend listening/watching the JRE episode with him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ6Ym719urg) as well as the Tim Ferris Show episode (https://tim.blog/2018/10/11/paul-stamets/). Fascinating individual.
sockdrawer · 2020-06-17
> There's just today, and whether you're going to
> make things better by one day's worth.
So true. The guest post on Ferriss's blog on this is quite good --
https://tim.blog/2009/07/28/the-big-question-are-you-better-than-yeste…
mightybyte · 2020-06-05
When I read that, I immediately thought of this article from earlier this year by Tim Ferriss.
https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/
Having a large and visible private identity has a cost, and I think that post does a great job at illustrating it.
eadan · 2020-03-13
I actually really appreciate companies that produce research and write articles on technologies adjacent to their business. It's a great way of building trust and a community around the business' core product. Digital Ocean are a good example. Reminds me of Patrick Collison mentioning on a podcast [0] that one of the biggest drivers of new customers to Stripe in their early days was a blog they wrote on using the Python debugger.
[0] https://tim.blog/2018/12/20/patrick-collison/
e1g · 2020-02-18
"People who want to be rich and famous should try being rich first."
Tim Ferris recently had an excellent essay[1] on the downside of fame, including issues with dating, friendships, travel, death threats, family impact, and questionable myths that you can have an impact based on fame alone. It seems like if you want to influence outcomes on a large scale, controlling large piles money remains significantly better than being famous.
[1]https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/
lihaciudaniel · 2020-02-02
If you like to read more about Seneca, I can't recommend enough Tao Of Seneca [1] by Tim Ferris. Other classical text that are must read include Enchiridion by Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius Meditations
[1] https://tim.blog/2017/07/06/tao-of-seneca/
georgewsinger · 2019-10-07
Street cred: Steve Jurvetson has been investing in quantum startups since the early 2000s. It is discussed at the very beginning of his Tim Ferris interview: https://tim.blog/2018/05/31/steve-jurvetson/. Highly recommended.
BjoernKW · 2019-08-26
The first one is a very well-known and popular one: The Tim Ferriss Show is a long-form interview show with a single guest per episode. It provides profound insights on a wide range of topics and areas of life (given the guests' diverse backgrounds). In Tim Ferriss' own words the show's aim is to deconstruct world-class performers and tease out their tactics, tools, and routines: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Revolutions is an in-depth history podcast about, well, revolutions: https://www.revolutionspodcast.com/
So far, it has covered - amongst others, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, the Springtime of the Peoples (1848) and the Mexican Revolution. The current season is about the Russian Revolution.
Another amazing history podcast is 'The History of England', which provides meticulous detail on England's long and colourful history: https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/
bschne · 2019-03-18
I've been following this somewhat because I learned about Tock, a Chicago startup founded by one of the Co-Founders/Owners of the Alinea restaurant. [1]
Their founder Nick Kokonas is quite interesting and seems to have a bit of an ongoing fight with OpenTable, Tock even built a tool where restaurants can analyze if they're paying too much for OpenTable's services [2].
If it interests you, check out his interview on Tim Ferris' podcast, it's well worth the listen. [3]
[1] https://www.exploretock.com/join/
[2] https://medium.com/tock/weve-built-a-website-to-check-if-you-are-overp…
[3] https://tim.blog/2018/10/18/nick-kokonas/
bevan · 2019-01-16
For anyone not familiar with EA or Will MacAskill, I highly recommend these podcasts:
Tim Ferriss: https://tim.blog/2015/11/22/will-macaskill/
Sam Harris: https://samharris.org/podcasts/being-good-and-doing-good/
Joe Rogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buyBzK5yM-s
Also, short Economist article on EA: https://www.economist.com/international/2018/06/02/can-effective-altru…