Health and philosophy

Hassabis is not alone in sensing the disquiet. But unlike many in his field, he is willing to make it explicit, even if only obliquely. His remarks function less as a formal philosophical position and more as a provocation, a cue for broader reflection, not a full diagnosis. That intelligence without wisdom is just entropy with good PR . That an AG... See more

And so we arrive at the edge of something old disguised as something new. The problem of meaning. It is not a bug of civilization, it is its first feature. We outsourced memory to books. We outsourced strength to machines. Now we are poised to outsource thinking. What remains? Only judgment. Only values. Only the fragile, fallible process of asking... See more

That slow erosion of inner presence is the heart of The Thinker’s essay on burnout. Drawing on philosophers Byung-Chul Han and Heidegger, he writes about how modern workers are conditioned to optimize, perform, and self-regulate until their labor becomes disconnected from any internal source. Meaning isn’t lost through exhaustion, it rather slips a... See more

Psychologist Mark Travers calls the exhaustion that sets in when your work consistently diverges from your values “misalignment burnout.” He writes that when our behavior is driven by external rewards — money, status, other people’s expectations — rather than internal alignment, we gradually lose our sense of self. That dissonance builds into cynic... See more

“Be forgiving with your past self. What’s done is done. Take the lessons with you and release the guilt.

Be strict with your present self. Win the moment in front of you right now.

Be flexible with your future self. There are many paths to success. You don’t need life to be a certain way to live well.”

Travers suggests that recovery begins with clarity: unplug, reflect, and realign your behavior with your values. Without that step, even success can feel empty. But when alignment returns, so does a sense of direction. You stop just managing tasks and start acting with purpose again.

Both writers stress that burnout comes not from overwork but from ... See more