Mike Israetel's new book - review

[Natasha Tori Maru]

For someone who submitted such a poor research thesis for his PhD, I cannot say I am surprised AI was used in such a lazy way with very little review (broken down in the video). 

I think the overall points Mike makes encourage much greater attachment to the physical body, and there isn't enough emphasis on "this body matters, so I will look after it". The issue isn't caring about the body - but making the body into the foundation of identity / value / psychological security. Similar crossover to some of the more problematic extreme views within the looksmaxxing movement (hardmaxxing). I don't think it is good to encourage our wellbeing, identity, worth or security to depend on our bodies being a certain way.

[bazera]

I remember him promoting that book on Dr. Mike's podcast a couple of months ago. It sounded sketchy the first time I heard about it.

He's probably jumping on the looksmaxxing bandwagon with that book (I haven't read it), but some of the points he made on that podcast were reasonable, for example, that looks matter, as opposed to not mattering at all. But his claim that everyone could get an attractive body through surgery sounds like bullshit to me.

One more thing: I also criticized him from an ontological standpoint and assumed that he should have looked at the issue from an existential standpoint, at least to some degree. But then I remembered that he's just a bodybuilder YouTuber. I was asking too much.

Maybe surgery is what someone needs to realize that, ultimately, it was never really about the surgery.

[something_else]

8 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

I think the overall points Mike makes encourage much greater attachment to the physical body, and there isn't enough emphasis on "this body matters, so I will look after it"

The irony is that steroid use at his level is the exact opposite of looking after the body. He's probably cut 15 years off his lifespan, and he openly admits that.

[Leo Gura]

Selling candy to children.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

I wonder if Mike had this in mind when he wrote the book

The Penis Has Entered Its Filler Era

I love me some snark 😈

[Carl-Richard]

"In 2026, we will no longer have to write books because AI can do it for us" -ah Israetel.

[Leo Gura]

Mike Israetel is exactly the guy who would use AI to write his PhD.

[Juan]

 

[eos_nyxia]

Oof. I wanted to see the best in him, I guess.

Not a fan of people who cut corners and freely claim authority though.

[Rigel]

This guy is so cringe. A chemical and surgical vanity contest to go along with his gym rat vanity contest.

He’s the perfect example of what I call « Anti-holism applied to fitness »

[Natasha Tori Maru]

I don't want to straight pathologise him; but he really displays a lot of the markers for body dismorphia 

[KosmicGeng]

I charted him via BaZi, the core issue from a Jungian perspective I see with him, when I wrote some comments, is he can't embrace his feminine side enough as a man, with a Jia-Zi day pillar which is pure yin, and this year it has, especially an importance, due to the core issue of it freeing someone from the perspective of the body, gender and identity itself, which is the goodness part of it, the issue is the pressure of science and the peer pressure, and the physiology of a small man, he is balancing himself imo, and the core issue of science v.s reality, but he has no spiritual practice besides what he does in the gym, I know from experience the gym can be sacred, but the cleanliness of the body is GOD, and the uncleanliness, also as it's all relative he used post-modernism mostly, I see him mostly as a guy with above normal experience with stuff, but he is still stuck on a level of post-modernism, that at times misses the Truth of science a post-modernist can generate when he looks beyond the physical, I looked up his paper, he found something or had an intuition, on a stage orange level or higher, but he was unable to integrate it, he is not done integrating modernism, and the Truth in the rigidity of novelty that post-modernism can generate, there is a huge issue with modernism and science modernism, even when it's true I personally believe he is beyond it, but has some shadow issues and spiritual issues regarding energy and modernism himself he hates it and he has the karma of the green dragon that I also face. 

The issue is modernism v.s post-modern experimentation authenticity and joy, he is very authentic in his videos, the modern snobbery is a huge underbelly for eastern europe and his D.N.A and experience as he is from the hot spot of Chicago. That is my take...

Imo he is kind and helpful in person, but the underlying ego differences, and his own unique Godness, just takes out most modernist to take him under the loop, but modernism is stuck in creating material wealth through science, not creativity, which imo is his strong point, he just was never able to push it to the level a true genius can, he is still in search of Genius, hence GOD imo he could help a lot, but his Ph.d looks worse than my bachelor thesis and project, as I was training with god, but at times god chooses different timings... 

Edited 4 hours ago by KosmicGeng

[Carl-Richard]

4 hours ago, Rigel said:

He’s the perfect example of what I call « Anti-holism applied to fitness »

Anti-holism, except when it comes to making holes in his body (and filling holes, the gay way, he's gay, and that's A-ok).

Edited 47 minutes ago by Carl-Richard