Have you ever said something in anger that you later regretted — only to find that your apology couldn’t erase the damage? In today’s high-pressure world, emotional wounds are more common than we realize.
We are living in a period of heightened sensitivity to hurt feelings. Whether it’s politics, kids in school, or even in business … it’s clear that emotions and detection sensors are high.
What do you think it means? Has something fundamental changed, or is it just the natural result of stress, and high expectations?
Happy people tend to find reasons or ways to be happy. Frustrated people are good at finding the things that frustrate them. Meanwhile, people are naturally inclined to notice and avoid things that hurt them.
Of course, a little conflict is normal (or even beneficial). But, perhaps, the pendulum has swung too far?
Let’s be clear, some people intend to hurt others. However, it doesn’t take “intent” to hurt someone’s feelings (or to have your feelings hurt). Hurt feelings can arise from a simple disagreement, a fixed perspective, a careless remark, or even a look.
Effective strategies can sometimes trigger conflict, too. Why? Because people generally prefer winning to losing. It reminds me of angry kids on a playground. As a result, minor outbursts are often dismissed or explained with excuses like, ‘I was angry,’ ‘I’m only human,’ or, ‘There’s no room for emotion in business.’ Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that we should strive to be better.
Lessons From the Nail In The Fence Parable
To drive the point home further, here is the story of “The Nail in a Fence.” I share it every few years, but as we look to finish the year strong, and begin the new year even stronger, I think it’s worth revisiting.
Nail In The Fence
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.
He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it; and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”
A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
This story is a reminder to be mindful of cause and intent. Hope it helps.
How Technology Can Amplify (Not Replace) Our Humanity
As a technology entrepreneur focused on amplified intelligence (which means making better decisions, taking smarter actions, and continually improving performance), I recognize that we’re not using technology to replace humans. Instead, we’re automating activities that humans used to do – so that humans can focus on things more important and more in line with their unique abilities and tendencies.
On the other hand, one of the main reasons for automation is to avoid certain tendencies that are baked into human nature – like these little outbursts. I say that because, as much as the world has changed in the last several thousand years, human nature has remained stubbornly the same.
Making Best Practice Common Practice
It’s hard enough to change yourself … so, it’s unrealistic to expect to radically change others. Instead, if you want to increase the likelihood of certain actions, it makes sense to rely on technologies that are simple, reputable, consistent, and scalable to make your best intentions and best practices more common. This is why I say that amplified intelligence has an automatic advantage … because it eliminates the fear, greed, and discretionary mistakes that humans naturally bring to a process.
The Power (And Limits) of Forgiveness
Inflicting pain on others is harmful — but holding on to anger can be just as damaging to ourselves.
Feeling and stoking anger is like taking poison and hoping the other person suffers. It isn’t efficient or practical.
So, what about “Forgiving”? It doesn’t have to be synonymous with forgetting.
Forgiving removes the valence (or charge) from a situation or memory. It serves you even more than it serves the person you’re forgiving.
It only takes a moment to create an emotional trigger (think about how you felt when you saw a high school bully in the hallway). It is simple, evolution and natural selection favored species that remembered and avoided danger. It is in our DNA. But avoidance isn’t always a great strategy … especially when it is blocking the attainment of something beneficial.
Forgiveness is a way to disable or mute the emotional trigger (this is called “collapsing an anchor” in NLP). It’s also a choice to move forward.
Forgiveness is also a release of “claim”. When we are wronged, we expect an apology, retribution, restitution, or recognition. And until we get it, we are stuck, waiting for it. In a sense, forgiveness releases the stuck energy and makes it available for something else (hopefully, something better).
Forgiveness changes the route and allows you to move forward.
And I’ve found that good things happen more often when you are in motion.
As you look ahead, ask yourself:Who or what do you need to forgive?
Thursday was Yom Kippur, which translates to “Day of Atonement” and is one of the High Holy Days in the Jewish religion. This year, as I sat in synagogue, I found myself reflecting on my own challenges deeply. While tradition calls for communal prayers and rituals, I realized how much these ancient practices are really about the individual journey to become better.
The Persistant Challenges of Human Nature
Ancient prayers can reveal timeless struggles.
As part of the atonement process, participants read a list of sins (available here), apologize for those committed, and ask for forgiveness. I would encourage you to read that list and use it to think about your life and the impact you have on those around you. These issues are likely to be both timely and timeless. The list is thousands of years old, yet it’s still surprisingly relevant.
As I went through the list, two things struck me. First, regardless of the changes in the world over time (technology, geopolitics, urbanization, mobility, etc.), human nature remains relatively unchanged (otherwise, the issues on the list would seem quaint or outdated). Second, despite all that has changed in the World, these issues remain important. That suggests that these issues are more important than most people realize.
A Time for Reflection and Commitment
Even if you have managed to stay on the right side of the Ten Commandments and haven’t killed or stolen … you have most likely been frivolous, stubborn, hurtful, dismissive, or judgmental (I know I have …). It’s not just black and white or right and wrong … Frequency, intensity, and duration matter too.
This past year has brought its share of challenges. Yet, Yom Kippur isn’t a time for self-pity or blame — it is a call to look inward with honesty, to reflect, and to commit anew to becoming our best selves.
With that in mind, another prayer read on Yom Kippur is Unetaneh Tokef. This prayer paints a powerful image of judgment day, depicting the fate and destiny of every person — prompting deep introspection about our choices and actions.
To set some context, the theme of the High Holy Days is a Divine decree being written about your Life … think about it as a yearly judgment day. Supposedly, on Rosh Hashana, three books are opened in Heaven – one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for those in-between. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed clearly in the Book of Life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed clearly in the Book of Death. The fate of those in-between is postponed from Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur, at which time those who are deserving are then inscribed in the Book of Life, those who are undeserving are then inscribed in the Book of Death.
Below is a brief excerpt from the prayer that captures the spirit of the judgment each person faces.
Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
On one hand, you can read that and pray for Divine intervention (or perhaps favor), or you can recognize that we each have a choice about who we want to be, how we show up, and what we make things mean. Your choices about these things have real power to create the experience and environment you will live in next year.
Thoughts On Connection
This year’s sermon focused on connection. In past years, the message often centered on being present in the moment — acting with intention and living in alignment with your values. This year was no different at its core, but the Rabbi approached it from a fresh angle. He compared one’s connection to God with the connections we nurture — or neglect — with a spouse, a sibling, or a child. His point was that it’s not enough to be present in the moment; we must also be present with each other. I appreciated that distinction and found myself wondering where I might be “phoning it in.” Living in alignment internally is only half the work … we need to practice that alignment outwardly, too.
What Kintsugi Can Teach Us About Healing
We can learn from many other cultures. For example, let’s look at Kintsugi. It is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. This process highlights the object’s “scars” rather than concealing them. It is rooted in the philosophy that breakage and repair are part of an object’s history and can make it more beautiful and resilient. The artform can also serve as a metaphor for embracing flaws and past traumas as sources of strength and beauty.
This concept is an excellent reminder as we unpack the “trauma” of shootings, culture wars, actual wars, and more. Progress isn’t always linear — every setback is a part of our story, and even our scars can be sources of wisdom and strength. As we heal, we should also strive to help heal the world around us. In the Jewish faith, that concept is called Tikkun Olam.
Transformation Is Closer Than You Think
One of the themes of Yom Kippur is that you’re only one good deed from tipping the scale towards good for yourself and others. As you recognize and repent for your sins, it’s also important to appreciate the good you did (and do) as well.
As I look at my year, atone, and look forward, I’m reminded of two definitions I heard recently.
One is that “intelligence” can be defined as the ability to get or move towards what you want … and the second is that “learning” is the ability to get a better result in the same situation.
I choose to look at going forward as a chance to clear the slate and Be and Do better … personally, professionally, in the business, and in relationships. I know that there’s lots of room for improvement, opportunities for growth, and the ability to simply put the past behind me and focus on a better future.
Initially, I looked at Capitalogix as a technology company that built trading and fund management capabilities. Over time, I realized that the team, our tools, and the things we do backstage are more valuable than the front-stage results that we produce. We can leverage these to amplify intelligence in virtually any industry.
The future is going to be about making better decisions, taking better actions, and continually improving performance. That won’t really change. Almost everything else will. So, the business is really about the things that don’t change.
I think this is probably true in life as well. Many parts of you change … but the part of you that doesn’t is really the core of who you are.
Sprinting Towards What You Want
With roughly 80 days left in the year, it’s easy to get caught up in frustrations over politics or inflation, blaming outside forces for unmet goals. Yet, these remaining days are also a unique opportunity—a perfect time to sprint toward positive changes and finish the year strong.
There is plenty of time to make this your best year yet. What can you do? What will you do?
What could you do to make the life of someone around you better? Likewise, how can you let others know you’re thankful for them?
To reference a book by Ben Hardy and Dan Sullivan, transformational change is often easier than incremental change (because you don’t have to drag the past forward).
So, what can you do that would trigger 10X results? More importantly … Will you do it?
I hope you all experience growth in your mental state, your relationships, and your businesses. As you approach year’s end, remember you’re not just starting fresh – but integrating the “gold” from repaired experiences.
Best wishes for a great day and an even better year!
As most of you know, my son Zach and I co-write this newsletter.
Recently, while talking about articles, Zach opened up about what’s been going on in his life and how it’s affected him. I thought his story would make a great post, so I asked him to share his thoughts. Looking back, it’s easy to relate to where he’s at … Interesting how that happens.
Here it is:
If you asked me to describe myself, rugby would be one of the first words out of my mouth. Honestly, if you asked me about almost anything, I’d probably find a way to sneak in a rugby reference. More than my time in the gym, my love of books, or my penchant for word games, rugby has always been the anchor of my identity.
But life has layers. I’m now a 32-year-old husband, three ACL tears deep, working in the family business, and serving as President of the Dallas Harlequins — my rugby club. And while I still lace up, I know my time on the field is running short. Priorities change, bodies break down, and after 17 years of rugby, mine has plenty of miles on it.
I actually thought I was done at 28. My body wouldn’t bounce back anymore. I’d wake up after practices or games barely able to walk. I had one more big tournament, where I was going to represent the USA, so I decided to fight through the pain, train for the following six months, and let that be my swan song.
Then I bought a Normatec, started drinking a protein shake after practice, and (shocker) started stretching more. Suddenly, I was young again.
Sure, kids learn to stretch in elementary school, but the Getsons have always been slow learners.
Since then, I’ve only gotten better. I’m running harder, tackling more, and understanding the game at a deeper level. My speed isn’t what it was at 21, and I’m definitely not the indestructible college kid I once thought I was. But I’m playing well, and not only are my coaches and teammates noticing, but even my competition is noticing. This past season, I was team MVP, “man of the tournament” at a 7s event, and earned another shot to represent the USA. My coach (who’s been with me since 2019) called it my best season yet.
Still, the signs are there. Recovery is slower, random injuries creep in (yes, even from sleeping wrong), and I know I’m gambling with my body. I’ve been here before: in 2015, fresh out of college, I tore my ACL for the third time while representing the USA in Chile. I “retired,” and it nearly broke me. I had to rebuild my sense of self without rugby, and by the time I returned in 2019, I thought I’d made peace with the idea of walking away.
But now that the day is actually approaching, it stings again. I lost rugby once — and it feels strange to know I’ll lose it again, this time for good. I’ll still be President, I’ll still have my team, and rugby will always be part of me. But I can feel the shift coming, and I know soon enough, these won’t be moments I’m living, but memories I carry.
Are you ever truly ready?
I have to remind myself that life is a gift, aging is a gift, and so is change. Rugby may be slipping away, but there are plenty of other mountains to climb. I might not compete in the same way, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop being a competitor.
At the core, rugby wasn’t just about the sport — it was about pushing myself, playing through pain, and trying to outdo the person next to me. I’d love to say my only competition is with myself, but let’s be honest, I’m not that mature.
The truth is, I can still channel that drive anywhere: in the gym, at work, in writing, in my marriage, and in the everyday choices that make up my life. I can still choose to be better every day.
Hopefully that’s enough!
Watching Zach reflect on rugby reminds me that the lessons we learn in one arena often carry over to every part of life. The field may change, but the drive, discipline, and the will to turn possibility into reality remain — and those are the qualities that matter most. May your best thoughts become things.
We are living through the fastest period of technological change in history — a fact that demands not just awareness, but active engagement. Here’s how to recognize this shift, and what you can do to succeed in it.
Our ancestors survived by thinking locally and linearly. Yet today, this mindset often leaves us struggling to anticipate the sweeping, unpredictable effects of technology.
To predict the future of technology, you must understand where we are and where we are headed … but it also helps to recognize how far we’ve come—and how quickly things are now accelerating.
A Timeline of Human Innovation – From Stone Tools to AI
Our World In Data put together a great chart that shows the entire history of humanity in relation to innovation. It shows how fast we are moving by telling the story with milestones.
Innovation isn’t only driven by scientists. It’s driven by people like you or me having a vision and making it into a reality.
To see just how far we’ve come — and how quickly things now change — let’s look at some milestones.
3.4 million years ago, our ancestors supposedly started using tools. 2.4 million years later, they harnessed fire. Forty-three thousand years ago (almost a million years later), we developed the first instrument, a flute.
Why Speed Matters
The innovations we just discussed happened over an astonishing expanse of time. Compare that to this: In 1903, the Wright Brothers first took flight … and just 66 years later, we were on the moon. That’s less than a blink in the history of humankind, and yet our knowledge, technologies, and capabilities are expanding exponentially.
Acceleration Is The New Normal
Technology was like a snowball gathering speed, but it’s become an avalanche—hurtling forward, accelerated by AI. Here are some fun facts to back that up.
ChatGPT’s Explosive Growth: In 2025, OpenAI’s ChatGPT will hit 700 million weekly active users—a fourfold increase over the previous year. In its first year, ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in just two months, a milestone that took Instagram 2.5 years.
Yesterday’s stable footing guarantees nothing; you must constantly adjust or get swept away.
While AI dominates headlines, the same story of acceleration is unfolding in fields like biotechnology, climate tech, and robotics. It’s happening everywhere all at once. From nanotechnologies to longevity and age reversal, and from construction to space exploration … exponential change is becoming a constant.
Turning Information into Actions – What To Do Now
Though I lead an AI company, I’m not an engineer or a data scientist — I am a strategist. My role is to envision bigger futures, communicate them clearly, and leverage tools that free me to create greater value. Ultimately, that’s going to become everybody’s job.
I don’t believe that AI will replace people like us quickly, but common sense tells us that people who use AI more effectively might replace us faster than we’d like.
Start by experimenting with new AI tools. When was the last time you tried a new tool or technology? Even though our company works on AI every day, I’ve challenged myself to continually expand my ability to use AI to create the things I want.
You’ll probably find that the things you want most are just outside your current comfort zone — or you’d already have them.
The next level of impact and value lies just beyond your current habits—comfort is the enemy of reinvention.
A good start is to think about what routine task you could automate next week.
Leaders must move from certainty-seeking to rapid experimentation. Encourage nimble, high-frequency experimentation with emerging tech.
Focus on skillsets that complement, not compete with, automation. And vice versa, focus on automation that complements (rather than competes with) unique abilities.
Share your learnings with your team or community. Set the expectation of progress, and make regular sharing and reporting part of your process. Reward the sharing of learnings over the accumulation of dead knowledge.
Prepare teams not only technologically, but culturally and psychologically, for relentless reinvention.
Don’t let perfectionism hold you back. You don’t need to know every destination before boarding the train; what matters is that you get on. Waiting too long is no longer safe—the train is leaving, and the cost of inaction is climbing.
Success now means hopping on and adapting while in motion—not waiting for all the answers.
New technologies fascinate me … As we approach the Singularity, I guess that is becoming human nature.
Ray Kurzweil (who is a well-respected futurist, inventor, and entrepreneur) optimistically predicts accelerating returns and exponential progress, where the technological advancements experienced in the 21st century will be vastly more significant and disruptive than those in previous centuries. Kurzeil believes: “The next century won’t feel like 100 years of progress—it will feel like 20,000."
However, there is a tension between our ability to imagine grand futures and our struggle to execute the how—the messy, uncertain work of getting there.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (a noted expert on randomness, probability, complexity, and uncertainty) reminds us that, “We often overestimate what we know and underestimate uncertainty.” There is a risk that “continuous forward motion” sometimes leads to dead ends and that speed without thoughtful direction can be dangerous. This is true in part because technology adoption is often more about human nature than the absolute value of technology.
This post is about embracing the paradox of accepting both the value of vision and the discipline of small, progressive steps.
Dreaming vs. Doing
Recognize that the future is co-authored by dreamers and doers.
To get us started, here is a video, put together by Second Thought, that looks at various predictions from the early 1900s. It is a fun watch – Check it out.
It’s interesting to look at what they strategically got right compared to what was tactically different.
In a 1966 interview, Marshall McLuhan discussed the future of information with ideas that now resonate with AI technologies. He envisioned personalized information, where people request specific knowledge and receive tailored content. This concept has become a reality through AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, which can provide customized information based on user inputs.
Although McLuhan was against innovation, he recognized the need to understand emerging trends to maintain control and know when to “turn off the button.”
In 1966, media futurist Marshall McLuhan envisioned a form of digital research eerily similar to the customized queries now answered by AI. Then he makes a surprising admission about why he studies technological change—with a lesson I think many need to hear. pic.twitter.com/yEBJv95GvP
While we revere “prophetic” moments, most successful outcomes arise from continuous adjustment—not perfect foresight.
Peter Drucker famously said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
I’ll say it a different way … It’s more useful to view innovation as navigation, rather than prophecy.
Like evolution, Success isn’t about strength or certainty—it’s about the ability to adapt quickly and course-correct as conditions change. This mindset urges leaders to embrace agile, resilient strategies that can respond rapidly to emerging opportunities and threats.
With that said, activity is not progress if it doesn’t lead you in the right direction. There are times when continuous course-correction can lead a team in circles. Pausing for periodic reflection and creating feedback loops helps prevent innovation drift.
While not all predictions are made equal, we seem to have a better idea of what we want than how to accomplish it.
The farther the horizon, the more guesswork is involved. Compared to the prior video on predictions from the mid-1900s, this video on the internet from 1995 seems downright prophetic.
The Distinction Between Envisioning Outcomes and Creating Practical Paths to Them.
There’s a lesson there. It’s hard to predict the future, but that doesn’t mean you can’t skate to where the puck is moving. Future success goes to those who can quickly sense shifts, reorient, make decisions, and take action.
Even if the path ahead is unsure, it’s relatively easy to pick your next step, and then the next step. As long as you are moving in the right direction and keep taking steps without stopping, the result is inevitable.
In Uncharted Territory, It’s Better to Use a Compass Than a Map
The distant future may be fuzzy, but it’s our willingness to keep moving—and keep learning—that tips the odds in our favor.
Reflect on the value of looking ahead, not for certainty but for direction.
Don’t worry if you can’t see your intended destination. Just focus on your next step and trust the journey.
The World seems very “Us” versus “Them”… But are we really that different?
The six largest religions in the world are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
If you stripped away doctrine, what patterns might emerge in the world’s great sacred texts?
Similarity in Diversity.
We often think about the differences between religions. However, a deep review of their sacred texts shows striking similarities (and may be indications of a more integral “truth”).
Below is a word cloud for each of those religions based on their primary religious text. A word cloud is a visual map of language where the size and boldness of a word reflect its frequency in the text. In this case, the image spotlights the most frequent words across different religious texts (e.g., Jewish Bible, Christian New Testament, Quran, Hindu Vedas, Buddhist Tripitaka, Sikh Guru Granth Sahib).
Each panel highlights high-frequency terms like Lord, God, man, people, Israel, Indra, Agni, Allah, fortunate, Guru, etc., with the most frequently used words appearing larger and bolder. A visualization, like this, makes it easy to identify the recurring themes or focal points of each tradition.
So, here is a closer look at what a word cloud of the world’s religions reveals if we strip away doctrine and focus only on frequency.
On one level, this post explores both the similarities and limits of religious texts via word clouds.
As historian Yuval Harari notes, “Humans think in terms of stories, not statistics.” Those word clouds are the beginnings of narratives that go beyond the numbers. For example, shared words don’t mean shared values. The word ‘love’ in one tradition may imply obedience, while in another it means self-transcendence.
The Power and Pitfalls of Translation
Likewise, translating sacred texts into English makes them more accessible, but can distort meaning and nuance. As an illustration, if you noticed the name “Keith” at the bottom of the Hinduism word cloud, it’s because that was the translator’s name. You might also have seen the word “car” in the Hinduism cloud, that is not an anachronism or prophecy… it is just another old-fashioned word for “chariot”.
It’s also worth acknowledging that this word cloud is from the English translations, so some words that may mean slightly different things in other languages can be all translated to one word in English. For example, it’s very common in Biblical Hebrew to see different words translated into the same English word. Examples include Khata, Avon, and Pesha – three different “ways of committing a wrong” that may all be translated to the same English word.
Distortions like these occur across many texts and cultures. In other words, similarities in word usage do not always reflect shared values. Recognizing this helps us navigate between the boundaries of certainty and uncertainty.
This brings to mind an ancient parable …
The Parable of Perspectives – Lessons from the Elephant
I’ve always loved the parable of the blind men and the elephant. While there are many versions, here’s broadly how it goes:
A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This being is like a thick snake". For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.
This parable highlights that even when everyone is “blind” to the whole truth, each perspective still holds real insight. Recognizing that partial views are still valuable can drive innovative, integrative thinking.
The blind men and the elephant parable also reminds us of the limitations of individual perspectives and the value of integrating multiple viewpoints. Interestingly, that integration is one of the things large language models are best at … and helping humans access a perspective of perspectives might be a step towards enlightenment.
Future societies may see it as obvious that synthesizing perspectives (religious, cultural, strategic) can be done by advanced AI at scale, transforming how we resolve complex disputes.
Hope that helps.
Oh, and as a thought experiment … What would the word cloud of your own guiding beliefs look like?
I have a poster hanging in my office that says: “Artificial Intelligence is cool … Artificial Stupidity is scary.”
The point is that we like the idea of automation and real-time decision-making, but only if the answers are correct.
Speed amplifies truth and error. AI makes you smarter faster—or wrong at scale. Sometimes, the systems we build to make better decisions also multiply our mistakes. Several core tensions create that paradox.
Velocity vs. Veracity: Pressure to move fast conflicts with the need to verify causal logic, not just correlation.
Persuasion vs. Truth-Seeking: Organizations reward confidence and narrative; reality rewards calibration and evidence.
Automation vs. Accountability: As decisions become machine-mediated, ownership blurs—who is responsible when logic fails and who is supposed to catch the error?
Simplicity vs. Completeness: Leaders want short answers; complex realities resist neat categories and invite fallacies.
The problem isn’t just with automation. I’ve come to understand that an answer is not always THE answer. Consequently, part of a robust decision-making process is to figure out different ways of coming up with an answer … and then figuring out which of those serves your purposes best.
That distinction is essential in automation and designing agentic processes, but it’s also important to think about that as we operate on a day-to-day basis.
That’s the point of today’s post. It’s about some of the common logical errors that prevent us from getting better results.
Several times this week, I used a simple framework that says if the outcome isn’t right, start by looking at the people, the process, and the information. Meaning, when troubleshooting outcomes, investigate whether you are using the right resource, the best method, and whether you have enough complete and accurate information to make an informed decision.
Because AI is an amplifier of existing decision quality, it is also a good practice to add a “precision gate” before automation: meaning, don’t automate a process until you can articulate the decision criteria, known error modes, and the top 3 fallacies likely to occur in that context.
Understanding is often more complicated than it seems.
Richard Feynman, a renowned physicist, was also well known for making complex things simple. He believed that if you couldn’t explain something simply, you didn’t truly understand it yourself. He stressed that it’s crucial to be honest with oneself, as self-deception is a common pitfall that hinders genuine understanding. Feynman said: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.”
So, before you automate something, state the rule in plain words. Then list the top three ways it could fool you. If you can’t explain the rule, don’t automate it.
Likewise, with ideas and beliefs, ask yourself, “What would prove me wrong?”
With that in mind, here is a quick primer on logical fallacies.
A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning. In other words, logical fallacies are like tricks or illusions of thought. As you might suspect, politicians and the media often rely on them. Recently, we discussed the Dunning-Kruger Effect … but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
It is fun to identify which of these certain people (including yourself) use when arguing, deciding, or otherwise pontificating. To help, here is a short list of TWENTY LOGICAL FALLACIES:
They fall into three main types: Distraction (10), Ambiguity (5), and Form (5).
A. Fallacies of Distraction
1. Ad baculum (Veiled threat): "to the stick": DEF.- threatening an opponent if they don’t agree with you; EX.- "If you don’t agree with me you’ll get hurt!"
2. Ad hominem (Name-calling; Poisoning the well): "to the man": DEF.- attacking a person’s habits, personality, morality or character; EX.- "His argument must be false because he swears and has bad breath."
3. Ad ignorantium (Appeal to ignorance): DEF.- arguing that if something hasn’t been proved false, then it must be true; EX.- "U.F.Os must exist, because no one can prove that they don’t."
4. Ad populum: "To the people; To the masses": DEF.- appealing to emotions and/or prejudices; EX.- "Everyone else thinks so, so it must be true."
5. Bulverism: (C.S. Lewis’ imaginary character, Ezekiel Bulver) DEF.- attacking a person’s identity/race/gender/religion; EX.- "You think that because you’re a (man/woman/Black/White/Catholic/Baptist, etc.)"
6. Chronological Snobbery DEF.- appealing to the age of something as proof of its truth or validity; EX.-"Voodoo magic must work because it’s such an old practice;" "Super-Glue must be a good product because it’s so new."
7. Ipse dixit: "He said it himself": DEF.- appealing to an illegitimate authority; EX.- "It must be true, because (so and so) said so."
8. Red Herring (Changing the subject): DEF.- diverting attention; changing the subject to avoid the point of the argument; EX.- "I can’t be guilty of cheating. Look how many people like me!"
9. Straw Man: DEF.- setting up a false image of the opponent's argument; exaggerating or simplifying the argument and refuting that weakened form of the argument; EX.- "Einstein's theory must be false! It makes everything relative–even truth!"
10. Tu quoque: "You also" DEF.- defending yourself by attacking the opponent; EX.- "Who are you to condemn me! You do it too!"
B. Fallacies of Ambiguity
1. Accent: DEF.- confusing the argument by changing the emphasis in the sentence; EX.- "YOU shouldn’t steal" (but it’s okay if SOMEONE ELSE does); "You shouldn’t STEAL" (but it’s okay to LIE once in a while); "You SHOULDN’T steal (but sometimes you HAVE TO) ."
2. Amphiboly: [Greek: "to throw both ways"] DEF.- confusing an argument by the grammar of the sentence; EX.- "Croesus, you will destroy a great kingdom!" (your own!)
3. Composition: DEF.- assuming that what is true of the parts must be true of the whole; EX.- "Chlorine is a poison; sodium is a poison; so NaCl must be a poison too;" "Micro-evolution is true [change within species]; so macro-evolution must be true too [change between species]."
4. Division: DEF.- assuming that what is true of whole must be true of the parts; EX.- "The Lakers are a great team, so every player must be great too."
5. Equivocation: DEF.- confusing the argument by using words with more than one definition; EX.- "You are really hot on the computer, so you’d better go cool off."
C. Fallacies of Form
1. Apriorism (Hasty generalization): DEF.- leaping from one experience to a general conclusion; EX.- "Willy was rude to me. Boys are so mean!"
2. Complex question (Loaded question): DEF.- framing the question so as to force a single answer; EX.- "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?"
3. Either/or (False dilemma): DEF.- limiting the possible answers to only two; oversimplification; EX.- "If you think that, you must be either stupid or half-asleep."
4. Petitio principii (Begging the question; Circular reasoning): DEF.- assuming what must be proven; EX.- "Rock music is better than classical music because classical music is not as good."
5. Post hoc ergo propter hoc (False cause): "after this, therefore because of this;" DEF.- assuming that a temporal sequence proves a causal relationship; EX.- "I saw a great movie before my test; that must be why I did so well."
I like reading lists like that … but how can you use the insights? Here is an idea: pair each fallacy with a “counter-check” question. For example, for Red Herring: “Did we change the topic because the original claim was uncomfortable, or because new data was material?”
For more on that, here is a fun and informative infographic by The School of Thought.
Now, let’s take a look at which industries are struggling to find qualified candidates or to keep them.
As AI becomes more prevalent, it’s essential to consider several key factors when thinking about jobs and the future of work.
One thing to consider is whether an industry is ripe for disruption … or just replacement. Another consideration is whether a role can be easily automated.
Labor shortages are increasing globally, and yet many young adults are struggling to find careers.
That’s an interesting contradiction: lots of jobs need people, but lots of young folks can’t find work.
This is crucial because it shows there’s a mismatch — the jobs exist, but the skills, readiness, or interests aren’t aligned with what employers want. It’s not just about having jobs; it’s about having the right people for those jobs. Zooming out, this mismatch reveals a bigger gap in education, training, culture, and how we prepare people for work. Fixing this isn’t just about filling seats; it’s about building a workforce that can grow with the changing economy and replace the aging boomers as they begin to retire en masse.
This chart helps us understand where skilled workers are needed and which industries may be struggling.
Real estate tops the list with 60% anticipating hiring difficulties in the near term. With high interest rates and market volatility, it does make sense. People tend to look for easy wins, and volatility scares both investors and employees alike.
While we know that retail & fast food workers are still among the most common jobs, hospitality has been struggling. This could be caused by labor conditions and complaints about compensation.
Meanwhile, tech, healthcare, and telecom are the least affected by job insecurity. While these are saturated markets, they’re also growing markets with well-defined career paths and consistent demand.
People thrive when given autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Understanding motivation beyond money helps struggling industries rethink job design to attract and keep talent. And in the bigger picture, meaningful work fuels engagement and innovation, creating a cycle of growth and satisfaction.
The struggle to find good workers is a canary in the coal mine—a warning that the world of work is shifting beneath our feet. It matters because work shapes economies and lives. Leaders who grasp not just the “what” but the layered “whys” have a chance to build a future workforce that’s resilient, motivated, and human-centered.
In times like these, some people see the challenges … while others see the opportunity.
Today’s my birthday. I woke up on the right side of the dirt, in America, grateful for the opportunities ahead.
So far, so good.
For me, birthdays also invite a moment to pause and reflect on where I am, where I want to go, and what it’ll take to get there.
On the health front, I’m reminded of a simple truth: A healthy person has a thousand dreams, while an unhealthy one has only one.
Thankfully, I still have many dreams.
We’re lucky to be born late enough in human history that medicine isn’t just about fixing what’s broken—it’s about regeneration and life extension. The real promise isn’t just living longer, but living well longer.
That’s a future worth investing in.
So today, I’m dusting off some notes from a meeting I had years ago—lessons that feel more relevant than ever.
A Chat With The Father of Biohacking
In 2018, I was in Alaska at Steamboat Bay for a CEO retreat. I was spending time with a friend, Dave Asprey, a successful serial entrepreneur, author of several great books, and a thought leader in biohacking. In many ways, he’s the father of modern biohacking.
We recorded a video where Dave did a great job of relating his world to the world of Capitalogix and trading. I share it in part so you can experience his wide range of interests and expertise. It holds up well. I encourage you to watch it.
In the video, Dave explains that life evolves through a series of algorithms operating at microscopic levels. Your body and brain are made of tiny parts working like clever little computers. These parts constantly talk to each other, sense what’s happening around them, and change their behavior to keep you alive and thriving.
Nature has been running this amazing program for billions of years, constantly improving through trial and error (that’s evolution).
Dave points out that there are striking similarities between genetics/epigenetics and modern digital algorithms. Markets and businesses make numerous small decisions and adjustments to achieve significant outcomes.
In a sense, Markets and industries function like biological environments where algorithms continuously evolve and adapt.
So really, life and business aren’t magic—they’re just lots of tiny choices happening at once. If you learn how to listen to these choices and guide them wisely, you become better at playing the game. And that’s how evolution, biology, and even markets all tie together.
The lesson? Build systems and habits that are flexible and adaptable, like living things.
It helped me reframe my perspective on my business. But it also got me thinking more about my health and how I wanted the next 20 years of my life to look. As a result, I started taking care of my health and paying more attention to preventive care.
Health is the foundation that gives all ambitions a place to stand.
Focusing on the positive is important, but extending your healthy lifespan starts by being honest with yourself and identifying what you and your body struggle with the most.
A doctor friend gave me some advice. He said it doesn’t matter if you’re on top of 9 out of 10 things; it’s the 10th that kills you.
The goal isn’t just to stay alive longer; it’s to live life to its fullest for as long as possible.
I recently joined a fantastic mastermind group called DaVinci 50, run by Lisa and Richard Rossi. It brings together a remarkable collection of medical professionals and entrepreneurs focused on the latest research, treatments, and opportunities in health and longevity.
Another great tool I rely on is Advanced Body Scan. Early detection is crucial, but so is tracking the history of your scans to monitor changes over time. In my opinion, the most valuable scan is always the next one.
Additionally, I utilize a growing list of trackers and biometric devices to monitor my heart rate, along with various apps and tools for mindfulness, breathwork, and journaling. It is essential to recognize that the mind, body, and spirit work together to shape how you live your life.
Where Biohacking Fits In
It’s not surprising that biohacking has become as popular as it has. In a society that encourages (and perhaps even necessitates) an impossible balance between work, responsibilities, and self-care, it makes sense to want to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
Biohacking helps you do more with less. Biohacking is popular because it promises to help you achieve peak performance via the path of least resistance.
Having trouble with sleep, but don’t want to stop using your phone before bed? Wear blue-light blocking glasses.
While biohacking started as tricks like that – nootropics to help your mind, light and sound machines to decrease stress – it’s becoming increasingly tech-centric and augmentation-based.
Long-term, it’s likely you’ll see it moving toward exoskeletons, AR/XR experiences, and, unsurprisingly, sex toys. It’s also being used to create artificial organs and counteract memory loss. Companies leading this movement are Neuralink, Biohax International, and Digiwell. While it’s currently being adopted primarily by fast movers and technocrats, it’s pragmatic to think that more widely adopted versions of this will emerge as technology becomes standardized and protections are put in place.
For all the excitement, it’s necessary to remain skeptical and patient. DIY biohacking raises several ethical concerns, particularly regarding data protection and cybersecurity. As a reminder, when it comes to cybersecurity, you, the user, are the biggest weakness.
There’s no stopping this train, but there’s still time to ensure it stays on track.
If you’re looking to get started, here’s an hour-long conversation with Dave Asprey about his favorite optimizations.
Here’s to having a thousand dreams, leveraging the best of today’s medical advances, and investing not just in years added, but quality within those years.
We live in a world where technology changes quickly and often, while human nature remains relatively unchanged.
For most of us, human nature is the key variable.
I suspect Henry Ford focused on that when he said, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't. You're right."
Processing the possibilities of tomorrow is often difficult for humans. Part of the problem is that we're wired to think locally and linearly. It's a monumental task for us to comprehend exponential growth, let alone its implications. For example, consider what happened to seemingly smart and forward-looking companies like Kodak, Blockbuster, and RadioShack.
The world changes quickly.
Change is constant. The wheels of innovation and commerce spin ever-faster (whether you're ready for it or not).
As a practical matter, it means that you get to choose between the shorter-term pain of trying to keep up … or the longer-term pain of being left behind. Said another way, you have to choose between chaos and nothing.
It's hard to keep up – and even harder to stay ahead.
Personally, I went from being one of the youngest and most tech-savvy people in the room to a not-so-young person close to losing their early-adopter beanie. Sometimes it almost seems like my kids expect me to ask them to set my VCR so it stops flashing 12:00 AM all day.
My company may not be doing "rocket science", but it's pretty close. We utilize exponential technologies, such as high-performance computing, AI, and machine learning, to amplify intelligence and make data-driven, evidence-based decisions in real-time, all the time.
But, as we get "techier," I get less so … and my role gets less technical, over time, too.
Due to my age, experience, and tendency to be a pioneer, I've been battling technology for decades.
Don't get me wrong, technology has always been my friend, and I still love it. But my relationship with it is different now.
I recognize that there are things that change and things that stay the same. And for me, the things that "stay the same" tend to be more important.
Paradoxically, the part of me that stays the same can still change and grow – that is how you become more (and a more evolved version) of that thing.
The Bigger Picture
My father said that not worrying about all the little details helped him see the bigger picture and focus on what was possible.
You don't have to focus on the technological details to predict its progress. Anticipating what people will need is a great predictor of what will get built. That means predicting "what" is often easier than predicting 'how'.
Why is that often the case? Because technology that solves a problem is more profitable and popular than technology searching for a problem to solve.
Here's a video from 1974 of Arthur C. Clarke making some remarkably accurate predictions about the future of technology.
Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, augmented reality, neuro-interfaces, and a host of exponential technologies are going to change the face and nature of our lives (and perhaps life itself). Some of these technologies have become inevitabilities … but what they enable is virtually limitless.
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