I highly recommend anyone who is just starting on Substack to read high-quality articles from writers like you, Craig, and several other great publishers.
Reading high-quality writing at the beginning helps you develop a sense of what "good" looks like. Then, instead of getting lost in an ocean of posts and Notes, you naturally start recognizing the ones that align with your own internal North Star.
Over time, that North Star becomes your taste. It shapes not only what you choose to read, but also the kind of writer you gradually become.
AI is not the real threat. The real threat is elsewhere. The wage slavery structure we’ve been conditioned into through decades of education, the ideologies and belief systems we’ve inherited without questioning.
That structure worked when civilization was expanding. But we live in a different world now. Wars, addictive substances, extreme economic inequality. We are surrounded by things that collapse civilization from the inside. In that world, continuing to follow that structure is not just limiting. It’s dangerous.
Absolutely bro. AI is not the real enemy, it's the underlying systems making up society that is the real threat. Think multipolar traps and rivalrous dynamics, where governments, tech companies, and whatever else is only playing for their own gain at the cost of the other party, which leads to algorithms that rot the brains of society for example.
This is a global problem, but I believe the solution lies in education. Shifting perspective, moving away from dependency, and building a civilization where people who actually create value can thrive.
Agree, AI is a tool and not a threat, similar to how E-mail and Social Media have changed our world forever, creating even more career opportunities for us.
Agree, that’s not new. Email and social media creating more roles, that’s fact. But the real variable isn’t the tool, it’s the person using it. AI is efficiency. What matters is whether you use that efficiency to create something, or just to survive faster.
For decades we've built a society that encouraged people to outsource nearly everything~education to institutions, retirement to employers, meaning to careers, community to social media, and increasingly even thinking itself to algorithms.
When one pillar begins to wobble, millions discover they don't actually own much of their own lives.
That's why AI feels so threatening.
Not because it is uniquely dangerous, but because it exposes how fragile the modern arrangement has become.
The long-term answer isn't simply becoming an entrepreneur or building a personal brand, although those can certainly be valuable.
The deeper answer is becoming genuinely sovereign.
Own skills that can't be taken away.
Cultivate relationships that don't depend on platforms.
Build a family and community that create resilience when markets fail.
Learn practical competence alongside digital competence.
Produce more than you consume.
In other words, stop building your identity around systems you don't control.
The irony is that previous generations understood this almost instinctively. A household wasn't merely a place to sleep~it was an economic unit, a social unit, an educational unit, and often a spiritual one. Modern society dismantled much of that and replaced it with specialized institutions.
Now those institutions are becoming less certain. ( OK, one look at the worldwide fertility rate and I suppose it’s safe to say they are failing spectacularly ).
Perhaps AI isn't the end of work.
Perhaps it's simply forcing us to rediscover an older truth: the more of your life you can build yourself ( and with the people closest to you ) the less frightening technological change becomes.
Technology will continue to evolve.
The real question is whether we're building human beings who can evolve with it.
What caught my attention was the argument that taste is becoming more valuable, not less. We're entering a world where creating something is easier than ever, but knowing what deserves to exist may be the scarcer skill. AI lowers the barrier to production; it doesn't automatically improve judgment
Love everything your shared. Seventy two going to seventy three teenager years. My rule learn something everyday that I can try. The rest follows, your is a roadmap of ready GOD DNA, needed your help to clear the windshield of life. Thanks.
The ungodly amount of delusion non-technical people have when making comments like - "value of code is objective", but you shouldn't use AI to grow your social accounts! On one hand you have something that you need to maintain for a long time. On the other hand media is something you write once throw it out and reflect upon. To non technical people, don't be confused by gurus, create demo apps to gain funding or get started but you must rewrite it with someone professional if you want your business to survive. Media on the other hand I believe is very costly to find someone who is truly good at it, instead look into lots of agent projects which perform really well with enough context given.
My ADHD brain starts hating a job as soon as there is nothing new to learn. 3-6 months in I start getting miserable as my brain is basically on autopilot whenever I am there which is so draining. I don't mind work but it has to be challenging or I just check out. I have no tolerance for meaningless work. It's nice to see this acknowledged by other people.
As with all new technologies there are changes. Some jobs disappear while new job we never knew existed arise. AI is here and not going anywhere so each of us need to understand the technology and use it to further ourselves whether personally or in business. The ones who keep complaining about AI will be the ones left behind in the future. I've been studying AI as a feminist issue and see this same cycle over and over again.
The reduction of our brain activity by offloading hard things onto AI and the environmental impact alone makes me think we are screaming loud enough how much we hate AI. The first part of this post is just disappointing. Let people want to put humans first. Western capitalism is such a disease.
I highly recommend anyone who is just starting on Substack to read high-quality articles from writers like you, Craig, and several other great publishers.
Reading high-quality writing at the beginning helps you develop a sense of what "good" looks like. Then, instead of getting lost in an ocean of posts and Notes, you naturally start recognizing the ones that align with your own internal North Star.
Over time, that North Star becomes your taste. It shapes not only what you choose to read, but also the kind of writer you gradually become.
Reading this, I realized something.
AI is not the real threat. The real threat is elsewhere. The wage slavery structure we’ve been conditioned into through decades of education, the ideologies and belief systems we’ve inherited without questioning.
That structure worked when civilization was expanding. But we live in a different world now. Wars, addictive substances, extreme economic inequality. We are surrounded by things that collapse civilization from the inside. In that world, continuing to follow that structure is not just limiting. It’s dangerous.
Absolutely bro. AI is not the real enemy, it's the underlying systems making up society that is the real threat. Think multipolar traps and rivalrous dynamics, where governments, tech companies, and whatever else is only playing for their own gain at the cost of the other party, which leads to algorithms that rot the brains of society for example.
Glad you resonated with this.
This is a global problem, but I believe the solution lies in education. Shifting perspective, moving away from dependency, and building a civilization where people who actually create value can thrive.
Agree, AI is a tool and not a threat, similar to how E-mail and Social Media have changed our world forever, creating even more career opportunities for us.
Agree, that’s not new. Email and social media creating more roles, that’s fact. But the real variable isn’t the tool, it’s the person using it. AI is efficiency. What matters is whether you use that efficiency to create something, or just to survive faster.
Maybe it goes even deeper.
AI didn't create dependence. It revealed it.
For decades we've built a society that encouraged people to outsource nearly everything~education to institutions, retirement to employers, meaning to careers, community to social media, and increasingly even thinking itself to algorithms.
When one pillar begins to wobble, millions discover they don't actually own much of their own lives.
That's why AI feels so threatening.
Not because it is uniquely dangerous, but because it exposes how fragile the modern arrangement has become.
The long-term answer isn't simply becoming an entrepreneur or building a personal brand, although those can certainly be valuable.
The deeper answer is becoming genuinely sovereign.
Own skills that can't be taken away.
Cultivate relationships that don't depend on platforms.
Build a family and community that create resilience when markets fail.
Learn practical competence alongside digital competence.
Produce more than you consume.
In other words, stop building your identity around systems you don't control.
The irony is that previous generations understood this almost instinctively. A household wasn't merely a place to sleep~it was an economic unit, a social unit, an educational unit, and often a spiritual one. Modern society dismantled much of that and replaced it with specialized institutions.
Now those institutions are becoming less certain. ( OK, one look at the worldwide fertility rate and I suppose it’s safe to say they are failing spectacularly ).
Perhaps AI isn't the end of work.
Perhaps it's simply forcing us to rediscover an older truth: the more of your life you can build yourself ( and with the people closest to you ) the less frightening technological change becomes.
Technology will continue to evolve.
The real question is whether we're building human beings who can evolve with it.
Hope that helps,
~ J.
You're right on the money. I couldn't have said it better.
I’m glad it helps Daniel :)
What caught my attention was the argument that taste is becoming more valuable, not less. We're entering a world where creating something is easier than ever, but knowing what deserves to exist may be the scarcer skill. AI lowers the barrier to production; it doesn't automatically improve judgment
All you have to do is not use AI or social media, that alone will allow you to have more original thoughts than 99% of the population.
wage slavery is the pits
Love everything your shared. Seventy two going to seventy three teenager years. My rule learn something everyday that I can try. The rest follows, your is a roadmap of ready GOD DNA, needed your help to clear the windshield of life. Thanks.
Taste is the ultimate edge right now.
The ungodly amount of delusion non-technical people have when making comments like - "value of code is objective", but you shouldn't use AI to grow your social accounts! On one hand you have something that you need to maintain for a long time. On the other hand media is something you write once throw it out and reflect upon. To non technical people, don't be confused by gurus, create demo apps to gain funding or get started but you must rewrite it with someone professional if you want your business to survive. Media on the other hand I believe is very costly to find someone who is truly good at it, instead look into lots of agent projects which perform really well with enough context given.
My ADHD brain starts hating a job as soon as there is nothing new to learn. 3-6 months in I start getting miserable as my brain is basically on autopilot whenever I am there which is so draining. I don't mind work but it has to be challenging or I just check out. I have no tolerance for meaningless work. It's nice to see this acknowledged by other people.
Ehhh the issue is the system, capitalism. The real solution is changing the root issue.
As with all new technologies there are changes. Some jobs disappear while new job we never knew existed arise. AI is here and not going anywhere so each of us need to understand the technology and use it to further ourselves whether personally or in business. The ones who keep complaining about AI will be the ones left behind in the future. I've been studying AI as a feminist issue and see this same cycle over and over again.
The reduction of our brain activity by offloading hard things onto AI and the environmental impact alone makes me think we are screaming loud enough how much we hate AI. The first part of this post is just disappointing. Let people want to put humans first. Western capitalism is such a disease.
One of the only sensible replies here.
One thought: AI is reducing the cost of building almost anything.
What this means is that the scarce resource is no longer execution.
It's judgement.
Not "Can I build this?"
But "Is this worth years of my life?"
As the cost of creation approaches zero, the quality of our decisions about what to create becomes an increasingly valuable advantage.
I am way outside the DK demographic but the call to action works. Cajoling, I think, was the preferred expression of my cohort.
Fucking Good Bro :D