Propaganda of any kind deadens the mind.

Human discernment was better at promoting quality than the algorithm is. Bright people reposting other bright people made this platform great. An entire scene could spring up around one high-value account. The algorithm rewards stolen content and lowbrow bait.

Some things can only be grasped if you reach for them softly.

The future is rich with possibility. The present is rich with actuality. The ripe harvest of the moment lies before you.

A lot of bad advice encourages interpersonal paranoia and instructs already isolated people to withdraw further. People benefit from becoming more resilient IN the world, not retreating from the world.

To go viral, affirm their existing beliefs in new language.

Politics as influencer drama is stupid and tedious.

Parsing ambiguous information and sorting true from false is a critical skill in this network age. Fact, fiction, and misdirection all come at us with great velocity. Most people wouldn’t be prepared to deal with this onslaught of information even if all of it were true.

Their low standards are their problem. The standard you apply to yourself is your concern.

Followers are as dangerous to leaders as leaders are to followers.

If you can’t focus: Replace scrolling and short-form video with reading. If you feel you must “keep up” with the feed, only do so at a scheduled time. Log out of your socials after each use. Login time allows you to second guess the impulse. You can repair your attention.

There will always be some out-of-favor fool of the day that you can safely feel superior to. Is it good for you to enjoy it?

The credibility collapse of mainstream institutions has created an ambient zeitgeist of unreality. Many people are passionately invested in worldviews based entirely on fiction. This can make discussion difficult. You can’t argue rationally with someone who is hallucinating.

“Noble lies” don’t work in a society with free speech and open access to information. You can’t mislead the public about facts without enormous backlash. Noble truths are what is needed. A noble truth speaks of reality in a manner that is both accurate and morally clarifying.

Disregard all opinions from podcasters who do ad reads for gambling.

The algorithm recreates high school in the way it forces you to constantly hear about the popular people.

This era requires a paradoxical mix of high openness and heavy skepticism.

People who become addicted to contrarianism will eventually run out of good contrarian stances and start pushing bad ones to keep the game going.

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While a man lives, he may choose. He may choose to act. He may choose to do what is right. He may choose to meet the noble hour. While a man lives, he may choose.