David Pennington
@dtpennington
I write stuff. I’d like to write more stuff. Currently: reclaiming my brain.
David Pennington
dtpennington.com
“If the machine can take over everything man can do, and do it still better than us, then what is a human being, what are you?”
When Krishnamurti (1895–1986) asked this question, he was an 85-year-old sage who’d spent nearly 60 years probing the mysteries of the mind, consciousness, and the need for a psychological revolution.
When Krishnamurti (1895–1986) asked this question, he was an 85-year-old sage who’d spent nearly 60 years probing the mysteries of the mind, consciousness, and the need for a psychological revolution.
Big Think • Mechanized Minds: AI’s Hidden Impact on Human Thought
Side projects as the key to the good life By Marty Bell • 31 Jul 2025
When I was 13, I created a chat room for teenagers to talk about art and photography (the tagline was, if I remember, “The future of art but we don’t give a fuck”). I think that was the first self-made project I put out into the world, and it taught me one of the most important
... See moreWe should all want to cultivate a thirty second mind that can absorb the essence of a problem and come up with insights based on deep fluency with how the world works. However, a different type of “thirty second mind” is far more common today. Nearly thirty years after the internet became mainstream, the majority of people in our society have... See more
The Rational Walk • The Thirty Second Mind
Thinking About Thinking and Mental Models
The detriment of going from a multi-disciplinary mindset to an attention vacuum.
This idea is nothing new and ever more relevant in our age of digital detoxes and celebrities who are famous for being famous. We know what we want, we have made that choice, and the only chance for improvement is a gritty dedication to your discipline.
Entertained to the Death of It – D.T. Pennington
After the forest expands, we will become deeply sceptical of one another’s realness . Every time you find a new favourite blog or Twitter account or Tiktok personality online, you’ll have to ask: Is this really a whole human with a rich and complex life like mine? Is there a being on the other end of this web interface I can form a relationship... See more
Maggie Appleton • The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI
Addressing those who are critical of using the technology in this way, Zuckerberg said, “If you think that something someone is doing is bad, and they think it’s really valuable, most of the time, in my experience, they’re right and you’re wrong, and you just haven’t come up with a framework yet for understanding why the thing that [they’re] doing... See more
Vincent Sanchez-Gomez • We’ve all bought into technosolutionism, but we can opt out.
So, I just haven’t figured out how to make AI work with my life? Lame.
but, you cannot be generous when you need something from the world — and are always in resistance/conflict with it. you must give yourself permission to BE yourself, and to find your own freedom and creative self-worth independent of any external reception. to believe in your creativity enough to make art for no audience. through slow... See more
