Congrats on going full time! What do you think of a corollary to Hanlon’s Razor? Always attribute to malice what has gone on too long to be explained by stupidity.
I think this piece reinforces my desire to read history books and to stay away from the news in general. Keeps my mind free of the noise and sharpens my discernment of the flaws in human nature (including my own).
“A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore…immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press of his own age.”
Wonderful. Thanks for this! And congratulations on being able to focus full-time on your wonderful work here. I think you were the first Substack I ever followed! A much-needed salve for the probably far-too-online, but who remembers a pre-digital world and rather misses it.
If you want to know where to go next, one option is to use Cammarata's Razor, and imagine where you'd go if you had ten times more agency (or curiosity!)
Excellent points and reminders. I am especially going to focus on applying the George Bailey Effect. Also, while I have long been aware of the Paradox of Boredom, I need to do better at allowing myself to be bored rather than constantly being stimulated.
Really interesting. Thank you. The only one that didn't land for me is Sleepwalk Bias. The logic doesn't really hold up for me. The fact that Y2K didn't end the world hardly "proves" anything. The meteor that misses doesn't prove that meteor strikes aren't real.
And don't several of the other concepts suggest that social media, AI, and other modern "conveniences" are, in fact, weakening our capacities for attention, focus, and thus, resistance and the ability to make radical changes? It can't be coincidence that as these technologies become more powerful, our political systems grow weaker and less effective at making any meaningful changes in how we treat the climate or each other.
I don't think Sleepwalk Bias is to be interpreted as "don't worry about the future, future generations will handle it", but rather as a reminder that posterity are not puppets but agentic actors. Viewing them as having agency doesn't mean we should care less about them, but more, since the decisions they make to reshape the world will be influenced by the tools and philosophies we bequeath to them.
I certainly don't believe we should leave all future problems to future generations; I think the most important task for our generation is to ensure that future generations retain their attention spans and access to high quality information, and I'm doing my small part to address this as best I can!
I enjoyed this, very funny! But "we" applies to whom? Not to me! Health and may God bless you with less generality and cynicism in the New Year. Good things happen, too, you know!! 😊
I love this list you put out every year. I feel like I should study them all, maybe read and ponder one a day. Gurwinder's Useful Concepts Study and Support Group could be fun and interesting for your Substack. A combination of a confessional AA meeting and an academic seminar. Thanks for being so awesome.
Congrats on taking the plunge. I almost always enjoy your musings, particularly on Twitter. (No, I won't ever be calling it "X" so...) Given how much I enjoy your work, I'll likely become a paying subscriber, if only to support someone whose work I value. Continued success! Don't let the Golden Hammer get you. :-)
Congrats on going full time! What do you think of a corollary to Hanlon’s Razor? Always attribute to malice what has gone on too long to be explained by stupidity.
Could be true in certain scenarios. But I think it vastly underestimates the longevity of stupidity...
Yes, the stupidity of the group think crowd that rather not say anything than address issues.
These issues get swept under the rug.
It's just like an abusive household where everyone hides from the abuser but nobody addresses it.
Perhaps it's because they feel powerless?
I think this piece reinforces my desire to read history books and to stay away from the news in general. Keeps my mind free of the noise and sharpens my discernment of the flaws in human nature (including my own).
“A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore…immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press of his own age.”
—C. S. Lewis
"I am unable to understand how a man of honor could take a newspaper in his hands without a shudder of disgust." Baudelaire
"The reality of the Tao lies in concern for the self. Concern for the state is irrelevant, and concern for the world is cowshit." Chuang Tzu
Wonderful. Thanks for this! And congratulations on being able to focus full-time on your wonderful work here. I think you were the first Substack I ever followed! A much-needed salve for the probably far-too-online, but who remembers a pre-digital world and rather misses it.
I was about to send this to you, Jenny! Salve, indeed. I'll return to this list a lot in the coming months.
Honestly, I have nowhere to go with this. Alarmed or comforted. Optimistic or the end is nigh.
On reflection, this is good, shouts a version of reality seldom aired.
Question is, what next?
If you want to know where to go next, one option is to use Cammarata's Razor, and imagine where you'd go if you had ten times more agency (or curiosity!)
Good steer. Agency is often underestimated – especially once people internalise the system’s limits rather than challenge them.
I was waiting for this. thank you Gurwinder.
Thank you for another fantastic collection. I’m going all in on Pronoia. And the pluralist conviction that no one worldview is “correct.”
Thanks for the pearls of wisdom! Particulary love Pronoia and Cammarata's Razor.
Looking forward to 2026, HNY!
(this comment isn't AI either)
Excellent points and reminders. I am especially going to focus on applying the George Bailey Effect. Also, while I have long been aware of the Paradox of Boredom, I need to do better at allowing myself to be bored rather than constantly being stimulated.
Really interesting. Thank you. The only one that didn't land for me is Sleepwalk Bias. The logic doesn't really hold up for me. The fact that Y2K didn't end the world hardly "proves" anything. The meteor that misses doesn't prove that meteor strikes aren't real.
And don't several of the other concepts suggest that social media, AI, and other modern "conveniences" are, in fact, weakening our capacities for attention, focus, and thus, resistance and the ability to make radical changes? It can't be coincidence that as these technologies become more powerful, our political systems grow weaker and less effective at making any meaningful changes in how we treat the climate or each other.
I don't think Sleepwalk Bias is to be interpreted as "don't worry about the future, future generations will handle it", but rather as a reminder that posterity are not puppets but agentic actors. Viewing them as having agency doesn't mean we should care less about them, but more, since the decisions they make to reshape the world will be influenced by the tools and philosophies we bequeath to them.
I certainly don't believe we should leave all future problems to future generations; I think the most important task for our generation is to ensure that future generations retain their attention spans and access to high quality information, and I'm doing my small part to address this as best I can!
The Oxytocin Paradox really had my bells ringing and head nodding. Yup, yup, yup.
I enjoyed this, very funny! But "we" applies to whom? Not to me! Health and may God bless you with less generality and cynicism in the New Year. Good things happen, too, you know!! 😊
I love this list you put out every year. I feel like I should study them all, maybe read and ponder one a day. Gurwinder's Useful Concepts Study and Support Group could be fun and interesting for your Substack. A combination of a confessional AA meeting and an academic seminar. Thanks for being so awesome.
I'm intrigued by #25. I will try this in the coming weeks.
Good luck taking The Prism professional!
Congrats on taking the plunge. I almost always enjoy your musings, particularly on Twitter. (No, I won't ever be calling it "X" so...) Given how much I enjoy your work, I'll likely become a paying subscriber, if only to support someone whose work I value. Continued success! Don't let the Golden Hammer get you. :-)
Brilliant!