Laura Pike Seeley

Perhaps the most important insight is this: when we criticize our technology, we’re really criticizing ourselves. And when we try to imagine better systems, we’re really trying to imagine better ways of being human.

the internet isn’t some alien force that descended upon us.

It’s just us, but bigger.

Nowadays, whenever I feel scared in the face of a decision and yearn for the safety of an optimizing formula, I try to remind myself that there’s another way of feeling safe. It’s not about perfection, about invulnerability, about control. It’s about leaning into the fact that we are imperfect and vulnerable creatures and that even when we’re tryin... See more

The more I think about it, the more I think this is why so many of us, myself included, are attracted to data-based optimization. We’re painfully aware that we are vulnerable, fallible creatures. Our shame about that is reflected in Western religious traditions: The Bible tells us that upon first creating the world, God “saw that it was good,” but ... See more

Both public and private failures bring their own problems and their own kinds of pain. But private failure is unique in that it often depends on your own, unseen reserves of resilience and fortitude. It is a kind of test between yourself and yourself, with yourself as the judge. And so, it’s easy to cheat. It’s easy to give up and claim it as a win... See more

Scientists have demonstrated that, as the years go by, much of what we think we remember is false. It seems our brains can't store every detail we experience, so we recall the gist of events — enough to create a story that makes sense to us. Every time we recall a story or tell it to others, we change small bits depending on whether our audience lo... See more

Distractions divert you from your goals, while opportunities align with and propel you toward them. For example, Americans spend an average of 11 hours daily consuming media, much of which is unproductive noise. To succeed, creators and entrepreneurs must take intentional control of their inputs, focusing on content and activities that support thei... See more

Like many people I thought Covid, with its stopped clock and blunt force, would bring a major reckoning. A reckoning with small things, like what we wear, and with large things, too – how we relate to each other, for example, how we consume and, crucially, how we work. But what seemed to happen, and very quickly, was that people rushed back to try ... See more