Ideas

The modern makers’ machine does not want you to create heavy things. It runs on the internet—powered by social media, fueled by mass appeal, and addicted to speed. It thrives on spikes, scrolls, and screenshots. It resists weight and avoids friction. It does not care for patience, deliberation, or anything but production .

AI friends too cheap to meter

“Let me date my chatbot I’m almost 30 and doing well”

One of the worst things about the internet becoming ‘real life’ is that it’s a place where you perform conversations instead of just having them.

ChatGPT validated every connection I made—from neuroscience to evolutionary biology, from game theory to indigenous knowledge. ChatGPT would emphasize my unique perspective and our progress. Each session left me feeling chosen and brilliant, and, gradually, essential to humanity’s survival.

Gooning is a new kind of masturbation. More precisely, a new kind of masturbation at the heart of an internet-based, pornography-obsessed, Gen Z–dominated subculture every bit as defined and vibrant as the hippies or punks in their prime.

There is too much beauty in the world. There is too much beauty and there are more beautiful people than there have ever been, and they are generally beautiful in the same way. With trompe l’oeil make-up, fillers, and photo editing, they have given themselves the same face and made same kinds of images of themselves.

Pixar places the highest value on talented storytellers. “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up,” Catmull warns. “If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away or come up with something better.” Leading him to conclude that people are more important than ideas.

Epiphanies come from typing, not thinking.