• I feel more confused about the world than ever before.

• I’m often so susceptible to distraction that I’m onto a new thought before fully understanding what crossed my mind moments ago.

• My mind lights up when it shouldn’t (right before bed) and turns off when it should (early morning on weekends).

I start with these because they’re truths about myself that must be overcome if I am to reach my goal for 2026, which is to re-learn how to think. I like to believe I used to be pretty good at it, but somewhere along the way it really feels like I lost it. Going through the covid era and being a parent to young kids definitely contributed to this sense of constantly being harried, but that’s not all. The world has changed as well.

It’s funny how these past few years have come and gone, always ending with an ever rising suspension of belief. It feels like civilization is melting with the loss of decorum, common sense, and empathy. Meanwhile, technology is accelerating at such a pace that fabricated photos can be made instantly with hardly any effort. Things feel like they’re breaking, and I’m tired man. Sometimes all I want to do is just log-off and continue living my offline life as usual.

There’s just one problem with this though; the world continues to change. What scares me is the huge disconnect between what is happening on the Internet versus my everyday lived experience. Inflation (hyperinflation), tech hardware shortages, AGI, nasty geopolitical instability. These remain just outside of everyday life and could materialize at any time. It’s real, and needs to be understood to be dealt with properly.

How to use the time we have now to prepare for the changes that are approaching? How to prepare my kids for the radically different world they will be entering shortly? What is the best balance of reliance on various information sources versus research from primary sources or experimentation? What should I think about all of this? As a result of thinking through, what should I do?

So here I sit, overwhelmed, but fully aware that I am overwhelmed and need to do something about it. Here I declare my attempt to re-learn how to think.

• I feel more confused about the world than ever before.

• I’m often so susceptible to distraction that I’m onto a new thought before fully understanding what crossed my mind moments ago.

• My mind lights up when it shouldn’t (right before bed) and turns off when it should (early morning on weekends).

I start with these because they’re truths about myself that must be overcome if I am to reach my goal for 2026, which is to re-learn how to think. I like to believe I used to be pretty good at it, but somewhere along the way it really feels like I lost it. Going through the covid era and being a parent to young kids definitely contributed to this sense of constantly being harried, but that’s not all. The world has changed as well.

It’s funny how these past few years have come and gone, always ending with an ever rising suspension of belief. It feels like civilization is melting with the loss of decorum, common sense, and empathy. Meanwhile, technology is accelerating at such a pace that fabricated photos can be made instantly with hardly any effort. Things feel like they’re breaking, and I’m tired man. Sometimes all I want to do is just log-off and continue living my offline life as usual.

There’s just one problem with this though; the world continues to change. What scares me is the huge disconnect between what is happening on the Internet versus my everyday lived experience. Inflation (hyperinflation), tech hardware shortages, AGI, nasty geopolitical instability. These remain just outside of everyday life and could materialize at any time. It’s real, and needs to be understood to be dealt with properly.

How to use the time we have now to prepare for the changes that are approaching? How to prepare my kids for the radically different world they will be entering shortly? What is the best balance of reliance on various information sources versus research from primary sources or experimentation? What should I think about all of this? As a result of thinking through, what should I do?

So here I sit, overwhelmed, but fully aware that I am overwhelmed and need to do something about it. Here I declare my attempt to re-learn how to think.