Gurwinder

A NEW MEGATHREAD FOR A NEW YEAR 25 useful concepts to help you through 2025. Thread:

“Many don’t have an opinion until they’re asked for it, at which point they cobble together a viewpoint from whim & half-remembered hearsay, before deciding that this 2-minute-old makeshift opinion will be their new hill to die on.” — @G_S_Bhogal

Treat your future-self as you’d treat a loved one. Avoid inconveniencing them with too many tasks. Make their life easier by prepping your lunch/bag/desk for tomorrow. Look after their health. And give them wonderful memories to cherish.

one thing LLMs have over social media is that you can't really use an llm without an intention you can't doomscroll an llm

NEW 🧵 A quick thread of charts showing how Trump’s economic agenda is going so far: 1) Trump has had the same impact on economic uncertainty as a global pandemic.

Timeline's feeling down. Thread of good news. At every age, the incidence of dementia is down. As a society, people are no longer suffering dementia nearly as often!

A lot of folks want to argue for a future-world that doesn't yet exist, in which the Trump tariffs guide us to a perfect equilibrium for US growth. But the tariff plan announced yesterday does exist. We can read it. It does not make sense and is not defensible on its own terms.

Despite millennia of wisdom, we only learn the hard lessons the hard way.

The globalization of news has made the whole world’s problems our problem, fostering a sense of powerlessness that’s led many to redefine morality from “doing good” to merely “feeling bad”. C. S. Lewis noted this in his 1946 letter to Bede Griffiths:

Some great heuristics here. I especially liked 13: "Increase bias to action by reframing most decisions as experiments."

To improve your life: Focus on what you like instead of dislike. Focus on people who focus on what they like instead of dislike.

Choose to see the good in things.

Truth is found in the debris of collided narratives. This is why it’s essential to seek out the other side’s views.

"Some people measure their virtue by what they believe rather than how they behave, so they feel righteous even while acting like beasts." @G_S_Bhogal

*A mutual says something you disagree with on Twitter.* You: “An interesting perspective, but one that I feel is flawed.” *A rando says something you disagree with on Twitter.* You: “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You absolute idiot. Fuck you.”

“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.” Very excited to share a conversation between me and the amazing @G_S_Bhogal: freyaindia.co.uk/p/the-agency-c…

Paradoxically, we must restrain ourselves to be free. gurwinder.blog/p/avoiding-the…

Wise words from @FreyaIndiaa in our recent letter exchange. open.substack.com/pub/gurwinder/…