Summary: In a world increasingly dominated by automation and AI, many people struggle to maintain their sense of agency and trust in their own judgment. As we rely more on technology for decision-making, there is a growing risk of losing our ability to think for ourselves. To combat this, engaging in practices like journaling can help individuals reconnect with their thoughts, refine their beliefs, and strengthen their personal agency.
every time you ask an AI to double-check your text messages, to make sure your email sounds right, to help you flirt with someone, you lose a little more trust in yourself, in your own judgement. (View Highlight)
the greater danger of AI is not that machines will think for themselves, but that humans will cease to. (View Highlight)
agency typically can’t be given; it must be grown. (View Highlight)
So the low-agency person would use AI to eliminate choice, while the high-agency person would use AI to increase choice. (View Highlight)
I therefore see AI as a personality amplifier; it will give more agency to those who already have it, and take more from those who already lack it. (View Highlight)
as a fugitive from yourself makes you forget who you are and relinquish who you could be. (View Highlight)
To overcome the strain of thinking, do more thinking. (View Highlight)
Daily journaling also acts as continual feedback by which you can evaluate whether you’re moving toward your goals. All of this brings order to the mind, so that, like a well-tended garden, it becomes a place we want to spend our time in rather than escaping at any opportunity. (View Highlight)
the purpose of writing is not just to produce writing, but to distil your thoughts, refine your beliefs, and maintain your agency. (View Highlight)
“beingsomeoneoften means being someone you’re not, and if you chase the approval of others, you may, in the end, lose the approval of yourself.” (View Highlight)
New highlights added September 19, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Ironically, the more the world becomes automated, the more important self-reliance becomes. When every task can be mechanized except personal agency, success hinges on taking charge of your life and making good choices. (View Highlight)
I therefore see AI as a personality amplifier; it will give more agency to those who already have it, and take more from those who already lack it. (View Highlight)
Living as a fugitive from yourself makes you forget who you are and relinquish who you could be. (View Highlight)
To overcome the strain of thinking, do more thinking. (View Highlight)
Write, even though machines can write for you, because the purpose of writing is not just to produce writing, but to distil your thoughts, refine your beliefs, and maintain your agency. (View Highlight)
having the wrong audience would be worse than having no audience (View Highlight)
If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything. So, while my self-identity was vague, I made sure my goals and principles were specific and concrete. The surer the path ahead, the better your resistance to being led astray. (View Highlight)
You learn that life is not frictionless, how to depend on someone and be dependable, and how unreasonable it is to expect a life without distractions. (View Highlight)
Many young people seem so afraid of being hurt that they pack their hearts with mental bubble-wrap, which stops them from breaking, but also from beating. So it may be that their pathologisation of love stems in part from the normalisation of abandonment. (View Highlight)
economic and technological changes incentivise new lifestyles to emerge, and then culture changes to accommodate and justify these new lifestyles. (View Highlight)
And when you don’t have a system to organise your life around, your principles tend to just become flexible post-hoc rationalisations for your whims. (View Highlight)
As the Arabian caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab wrote, “He who does not live in the way of his beliefs starts to believe in the way he lives.” (View Highlight)
people tend to underestimate how much they’d enjoy social interaction, and how much others enjoy their company. (View Highlight)
Something I’ve noticed about humans is that they tend to value each other in proportion to how rare other people are. They’re unfriendliest in the most densely populated areas, like in the centres of big cities (and on social media). And they’re friendliest in the least populated areas, like in remote rural communities. (View Highlight)