by Year Of The Opposite
How I lost 62 lbs, cured my depression, fixed my high blood pressure, & became a better human by living a #YearOfTheOpposite. I'll share what I learned, how I did it, & the science behind it. A Newsletter for people that don't subscribe to Newsletters. <br/><br/><a href="https://www.yearoftheopposite.com?utm_medium=podcast">www.yearoftheopposite.com</a>
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Publishing Since
3/21/2023
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March 25, 2025
<p><strong>Note:</strong> At the bottom of this article you’ll get several <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-training-learn-ai-in-3-hours-tickets-1287166001159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl">FREE tutorial videos</a> that will show you practical uses for AI that you can start using today. This is just a taste of what you’ll learn in the full course. </p><p>* How to use AI to create a poem for your grandson</p><p>* How to use AI to review a lease for you or your family member</p><p>* How to use AI to create a logo for your business or side project </p><p>* How to use AI to plan a vacation customized to your interests</p><p>* How to use AI to code your own version of Tetris! (Seriously!) </p><p>I was recently at a dinner with several of my moms cousins. They are all successful business executives who have retired and they were discussing how they wanted to get started with Artificial Intelligence but didn’t know where to begin. I mentioned some of the things that I take for granted about using AI and their minds were pretty blown. </p><p>I mentioned this to some of my friends and they all said that they were interested in learning more about AI too. </p><p><strong>So, to solve this problem, I have teamed up with my good friend and AI expert, Joe Dearman to offer a </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-training-learn-ai-in-3-hours-tickets-1287166001159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl"><strong>3 hour hands-on in person AI training</strong></a><strong>.</strong> It is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-training-learn-ai-in-3-hours-tickets-1287166001159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl">Saturday, April 5 · 1 - 4pm EDT. </a></p><p>We are still nailing down the location but it will be in the greater lansing area. <strong>We are limiting the first class to 30 attendees. 7 spots are already gone.</strong> </p><p>This training is for beginners and intermediate AI users. You do NOT need to have experience with AI to attend. But you do have to be relatively computer and smartphone savvy. Which just means you need to be able to download apps onto your phone and work with them easily. </p><p>This class is designed for my family members that are interested in learning about AI but they don’t want to wade through the vast number of Youtube videos and how-to Google searches. If you are looking for a hands-on in-person session to have your mind blown about the practical ways you can use AI today - this is your class! </p><p><strong>WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:</strong></p><p>* <strong>What is AI?</strong> (Hint: It’s not magic, but it sure feels like it.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use AI in your daily life</strong> (Save time, make better decisions, automate tasks.)</p><p>* <strong>How to set up and install AI tools</strong> (No technical background required.)</p><p>* <strong>How to prompt AI to get exactly what you need</strong> (Stop getting bad answers—get precision.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use AI for work</strong> (Automate emails, reports, research—work smarter, not harder.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use AI to generate images</strong> (Create stunning visuals with a few words.)</p><p>* <strong>How to process long documents & summarize key points</strong> (Turn hours of reading into minutes.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use AI for learning & education</strong> (AI tutors? Yes, they exist—and they’re amazing.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use Voice AI</strong> (AI that talks back intelligently.)</p><p>* <strong>How to do deep research with AI</strong> (Find the truth, cut through the noise.)</p><p>* <strong>How to verify news stories with AI</strong> (Detect misinformation like a pro.)</p><p>* <strong>How to use ChatGPT, Grok, and other top AI tools</strong> (Which AI tool does what best?)</p><p><strong>WHO IS THIS FOR?</strong></p><p>* Anyone who has heard of AI but doesn’t know where to start.</p><p>* Professionals who want to work smarter, not harder.</p><p>* People who don’t want to get left behind in the AI revolution.</p><p>* Business owners who want a competitive edge.</p><p><strong>WHO’S TEACHING THIS?</strong></p><p><strong>Travis Stoliker</strong> – That’s me! Serial entrepreneur (Liquid Web, TechSmith, Saddleback BBQ, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.socialops.net/">Social Ops</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gyroaster.com/">Gyroaster (The World’s Best Marshmallow Roaster!)</a>, Growth Factory). Scaled companies, built tech products, and now showing you how to leverage AI.</p><p><strong>Joseph Dearman</strong> – Product designer of award-winning tools (Coach's Eye, Camtasia). Using AI to build professional AI-powered products, games, and passionate about maximizing impact with AI.</p><p>So seriously, what is so cool about AI? Why should I do this? Check this out…</p><p><strong>Tutorial: How to create a logo for my business or side project in less than a minute.</strong> </p><p><strong>Tutorial: How to write a beautiful poem for my grandson’s birthday</strong></p><p><strong>Tutorial: Use AI to plan your vacation trip itinerary personalized to your preferences</strong> </p><p><strong>Tutorial: How to use AI to review a lease, summarize it, point out problem areas, and negotiate for a better lease on your behalf. Save thousands of dollars on legal fees!</strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>Now for an Advanced Tutorial! How you can use AI to Create your own Games & Applications! Code your own Tetris in a few minutes.</strong> </p><p><strong>Register Now for: </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-training-learn-ai-in-3-hours-tickets-1287166001159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl"><strong>Artificial Intelligence Training & Learn AI in 3 Hours</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artificial-intelligence-training-learn-ai-in-3-hours-tickets-1287166001159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl">Sat, Apr 5, 2025, 1pm to 4:00pm</a></p><p>* Special offer for Year Of The Opposite Subscribers! <strong>Get $100 off</strong> the registration fee if you use the Promo Code: YOTO at checkout! </p><p></p><p></p><p><p>Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack at <a href="https://www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe</a>
February 10, 2025
<p>Capitalism gets a bad rap as a ruthless, dog-eat-dog system, but in reality, it’s <strong>the most effective way to create shared prosperity</strong>. </p><p><strong>Unlike socialism, which focuses on redistributing wealth, capitalism multiplies it. </strong>Take Peter Thiel’s $500,000 investment in Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. At the time, Thiel was the wealthier of the two. But as Facebook scaled, <strong>Zuckerberg became exponentially richer than Thiel—while Thiel still walked away vastly wealthier than before</strong>. That’s the power of investment: <strong>it creates more wealth for everyone involved, rather than just shifting it around</strong>.</p><p><p>Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p><strong>The Difference Between Helping and Hurting</strong></p><p>The problem with socialism—and even well-intentioned charity—is that it often <strong>weakens the very people it’s trying to help</strong>. Giving someone a fish feeds them for a day, but teaching them to fish feeds them for a lifetime. Yet capitalism takes it further—it <strong>builds the fishing industry</strong>, funding boats, bait companies, and supply chains that allow <strong>entire communities to sustain themselves indefinitely</strong>.</p><p>On the other hand, if we contrast that with <strong>TOMS Shoes’ “Buy One, Give One” model</strong>. The idea was simple: for every pair of shoes sold, they donated a pair to someone in need. It sounded great—but in practice, it <strong>wiped out local shoemakers in many African and Latin American countries</strong>. By flooding the market with free shoes, TOMS put <strong>local businesses out of work</strong>, leaving communities more dependent rather than self-sufficient. What seemed like generosity actually <strong>eroded economic independence</strong>—because <strong>giving isn’t always helping</strong>.</p><p><strong>Charity Without Investment Creates Dependence</strong></p><p>This doesn’t just happen on a macro level; it happens in personal relationships too. Think about a family member who struggles with addiction or gambling. <strong>Giving them money doesn’t fix their problem—it fuels it</strong>. Paying off their debts or covering their rent doesn’t make them more responsible—it teaches them that someone else will always bail them out.</p><p>Real help isn’t a handout; it’s <strong>an investment in transformation</strong>. Just like an entrepreneur needs mentorship, capital, and a path to self-sufficiency, struggling individuals need <strong>accountability, discipline, and real stakes in their own success</strong>. Without personal responsibility, no amount of outside aid will create lasting change.</p><p><strong>The True Social Good of Capitalism</strong></p><p>This is why capitalism isn’t just about making money—it’s about <strong>creating opportunity</strong>. When you invest in a person, a business, or a system, you’re not just providing resources—you’re <strong>building capacity</strong>. You’re giving people the ability to <strong>create, grow, and become self-sufficient</strong> rather than remain dependent.</p><p>The beauty of capitalism is that it <strong>aligns incentives and scales effort</strong>. It doesn’t just <strong>redistribute fish</strong>—it <strong>builds a fishing economy</strong>. It’s socialism reimagined—not as a static transfer of wealth, but as <strong>a system where success fuels more success</strong>.</p><p>The more we understand this, the more we can <strong>use capitalism to empower rather than enable</strong>—to <strong>build instead of just give</strong>. And that’s what makes it the only system of shared wealth that truly works.</p><p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack at <a href="https://www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe</a>
January 24, 2025
<p><strong>Personal Note:</strong> I’m very sorry for the delay in publishing. We took a vacation to Florida to see the first launch of Blue Origins New Glenn rocket. Our 6 year old loves rockets and space —it was awesome! Although a bummer that all of the launches were at 1am. Quite a difficulty for a 6 year old and a wife that is 6 months pregnant. But they were troopers and really impressed me. If you can make it down to the space coast, I highly recommend it. </p><p>My research project this week was about the microplastics we keep hearing about in our water bottles. As you read this one, please remember, absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of harm. I do NOT want to worry anyone. But with all the talk about plastics in our water, I thought it was a good time to explore the plastic pipes that are in many of our houses. This is what I found out. </p><p><p>Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></p><p>We’ve all heard the concerns about microplastics in water bottles—especially when you leave them in a hot car. But here’s a twist: the water lines running through many modern American homes are now made of plastic, too. It’s called <strong>PEX (cross-linked polyethylene)</strong>. And despite its widespread use, there are <strong>no large-scale, long-term human studies—or even randomized controlled trials—confirming whether PEX is 100% safe for our health</strong>.</p><p>Before you panic, keep in mind that the absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of harm. It just means research on PEX as a drinking water pathway hasn’t fully caught up with its popularity. Here’s the story so far:</p><p><strong>A Quick History of PEX</strong></p><p>• <strong>1960s</strong>: PEX technology emerged, originally used for radiant floor heating in Europe.</p><p>• <strong>1980s–1990s</strong>: U.S. building codes gradually allowed its use for potable water.</p><p>• <strong>2000s</strong>: PEX gained traction as a flexible, freeze-resistant, and cost-effective alternative to copper or PVC.</p><p>By now, it’s the go-to solution for new builds and retrofits. Architects, plumbers, and homeowners alike praise its bendable nature, fewer connection points, and resistance to corrosion.</p><p><strong>What the Studies Say</strong></p><p>• <strong>Chemical Leaching</strong>: Laboratory tests have detected small amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), like MTBE, that can leach out of PEX into standing water (particularly when new). Researchers found these levels drop with regular use and flushing.</p><p>• <strong>Taste and Odor</strong>: Some people report a temporary plastic taste or odor from new PEX. Studies suggest it usually fades over time.</p><p>• <strong>Microplastics?</strong>: Most available data focus on chemical migration, not tiny plastic particles. Current regulatory checks haven’t flagged microplastics as a concern with PEX, but the research is still thin.</p><p><strong>Regulatory Green Light</strong></p><p>PEX is approved under <strong>NSF/ANSI 61</strong>, a standard that tests for any contaminants leaching into drinking water at levels above acceptable thresholds. It also meets <strong>ASTM</strong> specifications for durability and performance. Local codes rely on these certifications to ensure PEX is safe for installation.</p><p>Here’s the rub: <strong>certification is not the same as a 20-year population study</strong>. Instead, it involves lab-based testing against chemical limits. Many experts consider it sufficient. Others wonder what the unresearched long-term effects might be.</p><p><strong>Where This Stands</strong></p><p>• <strong>Widely Used, Light on Human Data</strong>: Millions of homes already have PEX, with very few reported issues. But we still lack large-scale, longitudinal health research tracking real-world outcomes over decades.</p><p>• <strong>Absence of Evidence ≠ Evidence of Harm</strong>: No data says PEX is dangerous. No data says it’s perfectly harmless. It’s simply a technology that outpaced in-depth human trials.</p><p>• <strong>Takeaway</strong>: If microplastics in water bottles worry you, it’s worth asking what other plastic pathways your drinking water flows through—and whether you’re comfortable with the relative unknowns.</p><p><strong>Want to try a new perspective this week?</strong> Rethink your assumptions about what “safe” really means. Just because something passes today’s regulatory hurdles doesn’t guarantee a well of peer-reviewed, long-term RCT data. Sometimes we accept what’s proven to “work fine” without a definitive 40-year, double-blind experiment behind it.</p><p>That’s not necessarily bad—it’s just where we stand right now. If you’re feeling curious or concerned, do a little digging into how your home’s water system is built. It might surprise you how many modern houses rely on plastic from the curb to the kitchen sink.</p><p>But we also must keep in mind to always ask ourselves: “Compared to What?” Meaning, if we don’t want our water to be stored in or transported in Plastic, are we safer if it is transported in metal? Lead? (Flint?) Buckets? Rivers? All of these sources have concerns and contaminants of their own. I guess this is all to say, it’s complicated. </p><p>Stay curious. Stay positive.</p><p>-Travis</p><p><strong>Further Reading</strong></p><p>1. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266255022_Release_of_drinking_water_contaminants_and_odor_impacts_caused_by_green_building_cross-linked_polyethylene_PEX_plumbing_systems">Residential Tap Water Contamination Following the Use of Crosslinked Polyethylene (PEX) Potable Water Pipes (Whelton et al., 2014)</a></p><p>2. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135402005766">Volatile Organic Components Migrating from Plastic Pipes (HDPE, PEX, and PVC) into Drinking Water (Skjevrak et al., 2003)</a></p><p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Year Of The Opposite - Travis Stoliker's Substack at <a href="https://www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">www.yearoftheopposite.com/subscribe</a>
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