The beauty of writing in public
- Main Story: Writing publicly acts like a beacon, attracting unexpected conversations.
- Engagement sparked by a recent newsletter led to a fascinating Long Game discussion about the effects of AI on intellectual diversity.
- Also among this week’s stories: Why human creativity has the edge over computers, the humility of the Henokiens, and the pursuit of true happiness.
One of my favorite parts of writing publicly is that it acts like a beacon, attracting unexpected and fascinating conversations.
Case in point: a few weeks ago, Dr. Susan Schneider — the philosopher, author, and cognitive scientist — emailed me in response to a recent newsletter I had written. Her message turned into a phone call, which then developed into a deep and unexpected exchange about the real risks of AI.
Susan and I ended up shaping that conversation into a recent Long Game column for Big Think, where Susan introduced me to some of her latest work, focusing on the “megasystem problem”: networks of AI systems colluding in ways we can’t anticipate. Her perspective is fascinating, and it’s exactly the kind of conversation I hope this newsletter continues to spark.
Key quote: “The deeper issue is uniformity of thought. These systems can test your personality with startling accuracy. Combined with your chat history and prompts, the model nudges you into particular ‘basins of attraction.’ You think you’ve had an original idea, but you haven’t. The model blends and regurgitates existing material. Multiply that across millions of users and intellectual diversity collapses. John Stuart Mill argued that diversity of opinion sustains democracy. If AI funnels us all into the same conceptual pathways, we lose that.”
How the Army learned human creativity beats computers
I recently shared my conversation with Angus Fletcher — a brilliant thinker on creativity, storytelling, and why human imagination still matters in an age of machines.
His latest Big Think piece makes the case through an unlikely story from World War II. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army built ENIAC, the world’s first general-purpose computer, believing it could calculate the future. But then they studied Gabby Gabreski, a fighter pilot who became America’s top ace precisely by being unpredictable — breaking rules, improvising, surprising the enemy.
Study of Gabreski led to an understanding of convergent thinking and divergent thinking, the two pillars of ideation, which can be automated by computers as the basis for generative AI. But, it was discovered, ideation “didn’t work” in the real world of practical creativity.
The bottom line, as revealed by Fletcher and his team, was that “human creativity is driven by mechanical processes that are natural for animal neurons — yet can’t be performed by any known arrangement of electronic transistors.” In other words, the future belongs to human originality, not computation. AI will accelerate, but human creativity remains the decisive advantage.
Key quote: “Perhaps, in time, human engineers will build an artificial brain capable of performing this exercise. (That artificial brain won’t be a computer; it will require the invention of narrative-competent hardware that incorporates the synapse’s nonelectronic architecture.) Until then, however, your best chance at beating your competitors is to learn the lesson of the US Army: computer AI is only partly smart. No matter how quantum, neurosymbolic, or sentient the ENIAC, human creativity remains the future.”
OUTLAST field notes: My week with the world’s oldest family businesses
I’ve just returned from two weeks abroad in Europe, where I spent several days with the Henokiens — perhaps the world’s most exclusive business club.
Founded in 1981, the Henokiens is a small association of family-run companies that have survived at least 200 years, remain in family hands, and continue to thrive today. Membership is currently 60 firms worldwide, which means only a tiny fraction of enterprises in human history qualify.
To sit at their table — as I did for several nights — is to be surrounded by living history: 16th-century vinegar makers, 18th-century jewelers, centuries-old banks and publishers.
Perhaps what surprised me most wasn’t the scale or the wealth: it was the humility.
I’ve spent plenty of time around Fortune 500 CEOs and startup founders; more often than not, those circles are filled with bravado, media spin, and social media posturing. This was a different kind of group. None of the Henokien leaders I met had active Twitter accounts. None sought headlines or fame or gloated in press coverage.
Instead, they were grounded and deeply reflective. Every leader I spoke with emphasized the same truth: survival depends on change, adaptation, and never mistaking legacy for permanence. In other words, humility — more than lineage or fortune — may be the true secret to survival.
A few more links I enjoyed:
The question my ADHD diagnosis didn’t ask – via Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Key quote: “Now, the uncomfortable question this raises is: how many people are being medicated to function in environments fundamentally incompatible with their neurobiology, when restructuring those environments might address the root cause? Sure, not everyone can become self-employed or redesign their career. But asking the question challenges our reflexive reach for the prescription pad.”
Daniel Ek, cofounder and CEO of Spotify – David Senra
Key quote: “Ek presents a provocative and powerful core philosophy: happiness is a trailing indicator of impact. He argues that the pursuit of happiness as a primary goal is often a trap, leading to a state of mere ‘contentment’ rather than true fulfillment… True happiness is not a feeling to be chased but a reward earned through meaningful and impactful work. This reframes ambition from a selfish pursuit to a generous act of creation.”
