Thinkism, Part 1
With generative AI, think less and do more.
An MBA doesn’t make you a CEO. You can’t cure cancer by thinking. Watching Steph Curry on TV doesn’t make you able to sink a three-pointer. Often, we mistake thinking for progress. It’s such a common affliction that Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired Magazine, gave it a name: thinkism.
Thinkism is thinking too much and trying too little. It’s the pursuit of an illusion that constantly retreats, always “near” but never arrives. But as Kelly says, if we try, one day, we realize it already happened. We turned fear into fuel. We changed slowly — without thinking much about it.
Overcoming thinkism is the key to thriving in the AI age, especially with generative AI, because you can use it to enhance your creativity in myriad ways. Yet most of us have a terrible case of AI thinkism.
I know this because whenever I get asked about generative AI, which happens often, I ask two simple questions: “How many times a day do you use AI?” and “What are your three favorite tools?”
About nine out of every ten people say they use generative AI once or twice a day. (I’m suspicious that these same people report having 2-4 drinks a week on doctor’s surveys — like me — but let’s take them at their word.)
The second question — name your favorite tool—reveals how you use AI. Again, about 90% say they use ChatGPT. When I press “how,” most have tried a simple search — to me, that isn’t aggressive effort, it’s curiosity.
Therefore, most of us are AI thinkers, not vigorous AI doers.
Break Free of Thinkism To Thrive in the AI Age
Tho thrive with AI, you must learn it aggressively. Yes, it’s easier to pontificate and bloviate about its dangers or threat to your job. Thinkism thrives when we’re fearful. But here's the thing - the more you try, the more confidence you gain. Trying AI builds muscle—more muscle than 99% of the rest.
So, think less and do more. Tomorrow’s post will explore how.
Unless you're a cat, then, by all means, do less. 😉
Read part two of this mini-series: How to Beat Generative AI Thinkism.
My New Podcasts and More Substacks I Love
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An excellent related post on AI hallucinations and how to think about them. One of my favorite lines:
"But leave the artistry, the imagination, the inspiration, the creativity to us, with or without digital tools. AI doesn’t care what it does; it’s a piece of software. But we do. We care whether we will be able to earn a living doing what we love, and we care whether we’re able to choose how we create."
https://themuse.substack.com/p/hallucination-nation-part-ii-flowers
In the comments, Zan Tafakari referenced Paul Skallas' writing on this topic, which I had not read before. I found it, and indeed, it's terrific and very aligned with this article and part two. Here's a link to it:
https://paulbakaus.com/ais-biggest-bottleneck-in-2023-humans/