Hey — It’s Toffer.
So I went back to the future and tried the 4D pill — a psychedelic drug that takes you to the fourth dimension.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
The 4D pill provides you with a virtual reality experience of two paths simultaneously happening in your head — you enter a state of quantum superposition1, like enjoying two completely different iMax movies at the same time.
The key use of the 4D pill is for clarity. Because we gain clarity faster through doing, a VR experience makes our choices more apparent in every moment.
The experience taught me that there are three moments repeated every single day. The choice I make in each of these moments define my reality.
Here are the three moments:
The choice to Consume or Create
The choice to Complain or Contribute
The choice to Compare or Connect
🛑 Consume or 🟢 Create
Every morning, as soon as I wake up, I am given the choice to consume or create. Will I read or will I write? Will it be a reactive morning or a proactive one?
I thought it was as simple as prioritizing creation over consumption, or maybe it was just a scheduling thing like time blocking. But it’s more than that.
The 4D pill made it clear:
That I underestimate the benefits of creation and overestimate the benefits of consumption — consumption only makes me feel better, while creation makes me better
That reading what I genuinely love and curious about is more valuable than reading what others assign or recommend
To start with shorter, easier-to-produce content like tweets before moving to longer-form writing like blog posts or books, allowing me to build an audience and distribution before investing more time in longer projects
That the internet rewards creators and that the future will be millions of decentralized creator businesses rather than just passive consumers
🛑 Complain or 🟢 Contribute
Of course, life happens. So another moment is when a problem arises. Will I complain or will I contribute?
The 4D pill made it clear:
That complaining is often unproductive; the choice should be to act or forget
That complaining is the lowest form of conversation; and the world rewards people who solve problems (not just identify them)
That the more seriously I take myself, the unhappier I am going to be
That the true returns in life come from compound growth, which requires consistently playing the long game of contribution
🛑 Compare or 🟢 Connect
The last moment, the most underrated, is our interactions with others. Whether online or offline, our interactions with others constantly present a choice between comparison and connection.
The 4D pill made it clear:
That comparing myself to others is a recipe for unhappiness
That no one in the world is going to beat me at being me
To ask myself, “compared to whom?” — prompting me to recognize that my judgment is likely colored by my own biases and frame of reference, and forces me to gain more perspective and context before passing judgment
That the relationships most worth cultivating are those between peers with mutual respect; the rest are unstable over long timescales — trying to build an unnatural relationship sets a false expectation that I will eventually get tired of
The 4D pill made me realize that the key is to be intentional with my time and energy.
“Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” — Cal Newport
Focus on what's important, contribute to others, and connect authentically. That's the path to a productive and fulfilling life.
Your Friend in Time,
Toffer
Inspired by the recent Apple series, Dark Matter where the concept of quantum superposition was explored. The series uses Schrödinger's cat thought experiment as a narrative device to illustrate the concept of parallel universes and the idea that every choice creates a new reality.