Gurwinder
@gurwinder.bsky.social
Examining how technology is affecting human psychology, and how to stay rational in the digital age.
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Gurwinder
@gurwinder.bsky.social
· Aug 3
How Social Media Shortens Your Life
And How to Expand it
www.gurwinder.blog
You spend more time on social media than you intend to, because time flows faster on these platforms, causing you to lose hours in what feels like minutes. This is no accident; it’s a result of a decades-long plot to steal your time.
My new essay.
www.gurwinder.blog/p/how-social...
My new essay.
www.gurwinder.blog/p/how-social...
“Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
—Mike Tyson
—Mike Tyson
November 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
“Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
—Mike Tyson
—Mike Tyson
This will keep you stuck in the past, preventing you from healing. Even worse, your memories of your lost loved one will be polluted and overwritten by your memories of their AI-generated ghost, until you’ve forgotten the person you lost, and instead grieve only their caricature.
November 15, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This will keep you stuck in the past, preventing you from healing. Even worse, your memories of your lost loved one will be polluted and overwritten by your memories of their AI-generated ghost, until you’ve forgotten the person you lost, and instead grieve only their caricature.
The best motivation hack is to switch to a job you enjoy.
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The best motivation hack is to switch to a job you enjoy.
15 years ago, ~30% of relationship advice on Reddit advocated for breakups. Now ~50% does. Perhaps a side-effect of giving everyone the power to mute, block, and cancel anyone who causes them slight discomfort is that people never learn how to resolve their differences.
November 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
15 years ago, ~30% of relationship advice on Reddit advocated for breakups. Now ~50% does. Perhaps a side-effect of giving everyone the power to mute, block, and cancel anyone who causes them slight discomfort is that people never learn how to resolve their differences.
This graph goes viral every few months because it tells a compelling story, but, like most graphs that tell a compelling story, it’s grossly misleading. The demographics of people in prisons are not the same as those once in asylums; the former are much younger and more male.
November 12, 2025 at 12:40 PM
This graph goes viral every few months because it tells a compelling story, but, like most graphs that tell a compelling story, it’s grossly misleading. The demographics of people in prisons are not the same as those once in asylums; the former are much younger and more male.
Reposted by Gurwinder
In one specific way, Grok might be the most honest and transparent AI project out there nymag.com/intelligence...
November 11, 2025 at 2:24 PM
In one specific way, Grok might be the most honest and transparent AI project out there nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Gurwinder
In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write to a famous author & ask for advice.
KURT VONNEGUT - born 103yrs ago today - was the only one to respond.
His reply was a doozy.
KURT VONNEGUT - born 103yrs ago today - was the only one to respond.
His reply was a doozy.
November 11, 2025 at 10:39 AM
In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write to a famous author & ask for advice.
KURT VONNEGUT - born 103yrs ago today - was the only one to respond.
His reply was a doozy.
KURT VONNEGUT - born 103yrs ago today - was the only one to respond.
His reply was a doozy.
The way to use chatbots is not to ask them what’s true but to tell them what you think is true and then ask them for feedback. This lets you learn without eroding your ability to think for yourself.
November 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The way to use chatbots is not to ask them what’s true but to tell them what you think is true and then ask them for feedback. This lets you learn without eroding your ability to think for yourself.
If you really want to understand a topic, don’t read about it, write about it.
November 8, 2025 at 1:20 PM
If you really want to understand a topic, don’t read about it, write about it.
All the horrid people celebrating Watson’s death because he “stole” Franklin’s research are wrong and should read this.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:38 AM
All the horrid people celebrating Watson’s death because he “stole” Franklin’s research are wrong and should read this.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
If you want Google search results to be free of AI overviews, recommendations, image previews, and other enshittified content, use this: udm14.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
If you want Google search results to be free of AI overviews, recommendations, image previews, and other enshittified content, use this: udm14.com
Our suspicions of others stem from our knowledge of ourselves.
November 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Our suspicions of others stem from our knowledge of ourselves.
Reposted by Gurwinder
The big tech companies are reversing the intellectual and political gains of the Enlightenment and returning us to a New Dark Ages of ignorance, rage and superstition - it's the most important story of our time
jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...
jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...
September 20, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The big tech companies are reversing the intellectual and political gains of the Enlightenment and returning us to a New Dark Ages of ignorance, rage and superstition - it's the most important story of our time
jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...
jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...
Lessons learned are quickly forgotten unless they were learned in terror, or sorrow, or shame. Wisdom can always be rented for free, but it must be purchased with pain.
November 6, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Lessons learned are quickly forgotten unless they were learned in terror, or sorrow, or shame. Wisdom can always be rented for free, but it must be purchased with pain.
If you find yourself losing patience with someone, remember that they are an ape adrift in an alien world, born into a struggle they did not choose, taunted by impulses they cannot control, searching for answers they will not find, and condemned to a fate they do not deserve.
November 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM
If you find yourself losing patience with someone, remember that they are an ape adrift in an alien world, born into a struggle they did not choose, taunted by impulses they cannot control, searching for answers they will not find, and condemned to a fate they do not deserve.
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”
―Oscar Ameringer
―Oscar Ameringer
November 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”
―Oscar Ameringer
―Oscar Ameringer
Which skills will stay relevant in the AI age? Skills of discernment, of sorting wheat from chaff. How do you develop these skills? Don't let the AI do the work for you before you've learned how to do it yourself.
Great piece by @naomialderman.bsky.social
naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...
Great piece by @naomialderman.bsky.social
naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...
November 4, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Which skills will stay relevant in the AI age? Skills of discernment, of sorting wheat from chaff. How do you develop these skills? Don't let the AI do the work for you before you've learned how to do it yourself.
Great piece by @naomialderman.bsky.social
naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...
Great piece by @naomialderman.bsky.social
naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...
Automation will make self-reliance more important, not less. When everything can be outsourced except your agency and judgment, success will hinge on taking charge of your life and making good decisions.
November 3, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Automation will make self-reliance more important, not less. When everything can be outsourced except your agency and judgment, success will hinge on taking charge of your life and making good decisions.
One reason negativity dominates the news is that bad things tend to happen suddenly while good things tend to happen gradually so are rarely newsworthy on any particular day.
November 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
One reason negativity dominates the news is that bad things tend to happen suddenly while good things tend to happen gradually so are rarely newsworthy on any particular day.
Reposted by Gurwinder
MEGATHREAD: In 40 skeets I’ll explain 40 useful concepts for understanding the world.
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
October 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
MEGATHREAD: In 40 skeets I’ll explain 40 useful concepts for understanding the world.
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
“The Instagram generation experiences the present moment as an anticipated memory.”
—Kahneman
—Kahneman
November 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
“The Instagram generation experiences the present moment as an anticipated memory.”
—Kahneman
—Kahneman
An easy way to be less miserable is to switch from being anti-things-you-hate to pro-things-you-like.
November 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
An easy way to be less miserable is to switch from being anti-things-you-hate to pro-things-you-like.
MEGATHREAD: In 40 skeets I’ll explain 40 useful concepts for understanding the world.
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
October 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
MEGATHREAD: In 40 skeets I’ll explain 40 useful concepts for understanding the world.
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Value: potentially a lifetime.
Thread:
Reposted by Gurwinder
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
The most important skill is learning, because when you can do that you can do anything else. Learn how to learn.
October 30, 2025 at 12:15 PM
The most important skill is learning, because when you can do that you can do anything else. Learn how to learn.