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  • #546 The easiest path to where you want to go

    The easiest path is to miss all days – you never get going in the first place so you don’t know what you’re missing.

    The second easiest is to never miss a day – you’ll get where you want to go with little detours, even if you pay the cost of discipline.

    The hardest (and most common) path is to miss a couple of days here and there – now you run the risk of getting lost.

    We all miss a day sometimes – so we all get a little lost once in a while.

    So what do we do?

    We remind ourselves why we got started.

    We remind ourselves where we’re going.

    We remind ourselves that we’ve been lost before – and that we can always get back on track.

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    #136 Unoriginal thought

    If the storm ChatGPT is causing shows us one thing, it’s how unoriginal most of our thoughts are.

    AI builds on a massive library of what others have learned before.

    (Individual) humans build on a much smaller library of what others have learned before.

    If we merely do what others have done before, in some fields, AI has caught up to us already.

    What happens we build on what others have learned before, and combine it with what we learn ourselves (in other words, practice and skill building)?

    Now we’re talking about innovation: we’re doing things that haven’t been done before.

    And even then, one day, AI will possibly also innovate and do things that haven’t been done before.

    Sheer “processing power” is not a game we can win.

    The true question here:

    If raw intelligence and “brain processing power” isn’t what makes us truly, uniquely human, then what is?

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    #98 The Socializing-Solitude Alternation

    Appreciation arises from contrast.

    How can I enjoy food without knowing what it’s like to be hungry?

    How can I appreciate the beauty of a painting without comparing it to something I’ve experienced as ugly?

    How can I appreciate social connections without being familiar with solitude? (Not loneliness. Solitude.)

    Constant connectivity (especially shallow connections through social media apps) without breaks from socializing numbs the whole bonding experience.

    Alternating socializing with solitude warms the heart.


    Inspired by Cal Newport’s excellent book Digital Minimalism.

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