Agency
Ideas around agency, aka the sense of control that you feel in your life + your capacity to influence your own thoughts and behavior
unoptimal and
Agency
learn to notice what your awareness is doing, because a collapse in awareness is a clear sign that you are losing the capacity to make a new choice, becoming more like a train that can only run on pre-laid tracks rather than, let’s say, a drone that could go anywhere. If you notice this, first re-expand your awareness by noticing more of the space... See more
Michael Ashcroft • How to Make Unfixated Choices
I think that talking about agency and introspection separately is misguided. People who emphasize how to get things done, and move faster, and reach higher levels of mastery—agency without introspection—tend to get pulled into fierce yet boring status competitions. People who emphasize introspection and emotions but without a problem solving... See more
Spot on thought via Henrik Karlsson
Sometimes you will exhibit reflexive agency - agency as an automatic response to the situation you’re in. You have a preference, you have the ability to satisfy it, so you do that. What could be more natural?
David R. MacIver • Learning to exercise agency
Be optimistic, you only stand to gain. You are as good as you believe you are, your beliefs will shape what you do and, ultimately, who you become. Pay attention to your thoughts, they are the First Movers of your journey through this path called ‘life’. You are not a helpless bystander, you have control. You are the main character of your story.
Sherry Ning • Optimism Is Always the Best Strategy
FOMO is good. Being plugged in is good. There is valuable info at all levels from twitter gossip to philosophy books. You should stay plugged in. You can manage anxiety and beat the House without resorting to shaming social platforms into managing attention for you. That's a terrible yielding of agency.
Venkatesh Rao • Against Waldenponding - by Venkatesh Rao Against Waldenponding
As the old institutions continue to crumble, the most independent minds and high-agency private networks will continue to fill the vacuum.