Tuur Demeester: Identifying Our Shackles
“I define addiction as any behavior that helps you avoid feeling your feelings. By that definition, most of us are addicts. And Fiat money is one of the biggest drugs of all.”
Today’s episode of the podcast is a conversation with Tuur Demeester.
Tuur is an analyst and investor, probably best known for his work within the Bitcoin ecosystem. I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time, greatly appreciating his ability to bridge the gap between traditional finance on one hand and the more esoteric world of Bitcoin on the other.
Before diving into this episode, I highly recommend checking out Tuur’s interview on the What Bitcoin Did podcast, episode #691, entitled “From Psychedelics to the Bitcoin Boom.” In that episode, Tuur shares his harrowing experience with the psychedelic Ibogaine, which he took in an attempt to uncover the root of some long-standing personal anxiety.
In my conversation with Tuur, we jump straight into those experiences. Listening to the What Bitcoin Did episode first may provide helpful context for what we discuss.
I’ll admit that my questions in this discussion may come across as a bit chaotic, and I hope you can forgive me for that. I had so much I wanted to explore with Tuur but only 1.5 hours to do so. In hindsight, I was trying to convey the idea that what Tuur experienced during his Ibogaine journey mirrors what many of us encounter in our daily lives. Tuur encapsulates this well in the episode when he says: “Let’s identify how we are shackled.”
Many of us move through life unaware of the shackles that influence our actions. This applies not only to personal struggles—such as suppressed childhood experiences—but also to societal constructs, like fiat monetary systems. As Tuur and I discuss, the key to transformation lies in becoming aware of these shackles. From that position of awareness, we can begin to loosen them, or as Tuur puts it, allow them to become “unstuck.”
This episode is about finding hope in dark places. It’s admittedly a bit of a strange one, but I hope you can distill some truth from our conversation and find ideas that might help you on your personal journey toward freedom in these chaotic times.
Enjoy the conversation.