A question I had to ask myself
She asked if I was happy.
Writing
Essays on owning the things that matter, thinking for myself and building a life I actually want to live.
A selection from my writing and reflections. Start with the SOVEREIGN thesis, then trace the questions through the connected essays.
The SOVEREIGN thesis
Own what compounds. Rent capability when it helps. Keep the memory, the judgement and the ability to leave.
Read the thesis →One idea. Three ways into it.
Keep your memory, practise your judgement and choose what stays private. Start with the thesis or choose a thread below.
Selected essays
The life I’d keep
The strange thing is how much of my week I’d keep.
The dependence audit
A simple test for the things I call mine: what happens if the company behind them changes its mind?
The model isn’t the memory
I changed the AI I work with. The useful question was how much of my working life had to move with it.
Think before you ask
I built Ponder because I wanted AI to help me think without quietly doing all the thinking first.
The question can be wrong
A confident question can smuggle in a false fact. I learnt that by answering questions about my own life.
Skills that outlive their tools
My 60/30/10 rule for learning: a small place for the tools, a much larger place for what travels with me.
The parts I don’t publish
What happens when documenting a life starts changing the life being documented.
A name that lets me make things
I thought I’d lost the creative spark. Looking back, the spark was there. Publishing under my own name was harder.
Your reading desk
Your reading desk
Saved on this device when you choose. No account needed.
Save an essay or choose “Remember my place” while reading. It will be here when you return.
Your passage notebook
Select text in an essay and choose “Save selected passage”. It will be here when you return.