Constant complaining. Nothing more than feelings. Tasty curation. Cringe wins over silence. AI vs. humanity. Starving for (good) information. You could be wrong.

If someone corrects you, and you feel offended, then YOU have an EGO problem
– Nouman Ali Khan
1. “Consumed by their constant complaining”
On complaining – Manuel Moreale – (Blog)
This short piece is about how things are not frustrating, but how things frustrate us. Complaining, or being frustrated by something, much like being offended, is a choice, a reaction, and not an intrinsic quality of some situation.
This observation caught my eye.
The more you complain the more you find and see things worth complaining about. And that’s not healthy. It’s not healthy for them, it’s not healthy for the people around them.
Not only is it not healthy, it’s not enjoyable, particularly for the people around you.
Do this: I won’t say “don’t complain”. The author actually outlines how he finds some rants therapeutic. “But it doesn’t consume me.” So I’ll focus on that: don’t let complaining consume you.
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2. “Don’t be a little bitch to other people’s approval”
How to Make Your Feelings Your Bitch (es) – Elyse Wild – (Vulgar Advice)
We often imply a lot when our feelings are hurt, and we probably shouldn’t.
Just because someone hurts your feelings doesn’t mean that person is wrong — and it doesn’t mean that you’re right.
What the essay doesn’t touch on is how often hurt feelings result in anger. Just look at the political landscape around you (if you can), and see how people are reacting to the thoughts, opinions, and actions of others. People’s feelings (among other things, for sure) are being hurt, and anger is often the result.
Whether it’s the right result in every situation is unclear. But feelings, like anger, come from within, and can do with some serious introspection.
Do this: Pay attention to the pain.
3. “Taste is a responsibility”
Taste Is the New Intelligence – Stepfanie Tyler – (Wild Bare Thoughts)
This is a wonderful piece, weaving curation and attention and algorithms and more all around the concept of taste. Taste is the element of discernment.
When anyone can make anything, and everyone is shouting into the void, the question isn’t “what should I make?” but “what should I ignore?”
It’s wide-ranging, and I truly recommend reading the entire essay. Another tidbit that got my attention was this:
Algorithms are not neutral. They are amplifiers of our least intentional selves.
Algorithms rightly get a lot of negative press, but sometimes I think it’s not negative enough. Submitting to an algorithm optimized for engagement really does amplify our laziest, least thoughtful selves.
Do this: Curate better, even if only for yourself.
4. “The worst thing you can be isn’t cringe. It’s silent.”
The Unbearable Lightness of Cringe – Joan Westenberg – (blog)
This is a call to stop letting the fear of the judgement of others prevent you from doing what you feel called to do.
Stop filtering yourself through the imagined judgments of people who don’t matter.
Writers, YouTubers, podcasters, creators of any sort: they were all “cringe” at the start, and they’re still cringe to some of the people that encounter their work. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that they create, and that they reach the people that their work would speak to. As a 67 year old tech YouTuber, I’m absolutely cringe to the younger folks (who use that very term), and yet apparently very, very valuable to many others. This applies to anyone creating anything anywhere.
(FWIW: I’m still getting use to “cringe” as a noun, but language is defined by its use. So, yeah, “cringe” is still cringe to me.)
Do this: Embrace cringe, and move forward.
5. “We’ve created something incredible—so why are some of us so scared of it?”
How I Stopped Worrying About AI and Learned to Value My Humanity – Sari Azout – (Every.to)
If you write with the help of a human editor: You’re collaborative. If you write with the help of AI: You’re lazy, cheating, and inauthentic.
Azout lists three “reality gaps” (unfounded fears) relating to AI. A good approximation of an idea I’ve had difficulty articulating is this:
With LLMs, the real expertise isn’t in doing the work. It’s knowing how to guide and evaluate the work.
You can ask AI to do anything, but the results are only as good as what you know to ask for. Put another way, your ability to articulate what you want and get accurate results remains a reflection of your own skills and knowledge. And humanity.
Expectation: Machines are becoming too human
Reality: We should worry more about humans becoming machines
Do this: Value your humanity.
6. “We lived in a world of information scarcity.”
You’re Not Addicted to Content, You’re Starving for Information – Hank Green – (vlogbrothers on YouTube)
Green begins by outlining our relationship with food. What was once something scarce is now generally available in abundance. As a result, food purveyors work to make their food more appealing, so we’ll spend more and consume more. Healthiness isn’t the driver, but hyper-palatability, which typically results in less-healthy, but very popular food.
And then we pivot to the real point.
And now we live in a world of information abundance, almost as if there’s too much information. And definitely, the people who package up information to sell it to you are competing with each other to make that information more hyper-palatable. And in many cases, the process that makes the information hyper-palatable also makes it worse for you. It makes it easy to only consume information that you like.
The term information “diet” exists for a reason.
Companies will do everything they can to make things that are very appealing, even addictive. We have less control than we imagine that we have.
Do this: Pay attention to what you consume. (Both food and information.)
7. “Ego never ages well”
34 Lessons From Writing Every Day for Two Decades – Ryan Holiday – (Blog)
As with many of these “X number of lessons” round ups, there are several good points made. The entire list is an interesting read. This caught my attention because it applies to so many situations in life:
When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re almost always right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re almost always wrong.
It’s too easy for creators to only notice the second half. By dismissing a suggested fix, they then also dismiss the need to fix something in the first place. That’s not to say everyone is always right about something being wrong, but they’re just typically wrong about how to fix it. Don’t let the latter get in the way of listening to the former.
Do this: Set your ego aside.
Random links
- The Pledge of Allegiance Was A Marketing Ploy – Even before the “under God” thing.
What I’m reading now
- Mistborn: The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
- Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff
- Project Hail Mary: A Novel Kindle Edition – Andy Weir (audio)
- We Did That? – Sophie Stirling (audio)
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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