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...
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 An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.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.
To turn ChatGPT from a babbling sycophant into a no-nonsense mentor, personalize it with these instructions.
October 29, 2025 at 8:44 PM
To turn ChatGPT from a babbling sycophant into a no-nonsense mentor, personalize it with these instructions.
The rise of social media as the primary mode of interaction has caused us to overvalue opinions as a gauge of character. We are now defined more by what we say than what we actually do, and words, unlike deeds, are cheap and easy to counterfeit.
October 29, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The rise of social media as the primary mode of interaction has caused us to overvalue opinions as a gauge of character. We are now defined more by what we say than what we actually do, and words, unlike deeds, are cheap and easy to counterfeit.
When you procrastinate you pass the buck to your future self. The problem is, your future self tends to act a lot like you.
October 29, 2025 at 7:41 PM
When you procrastinate you pass the buck to your future self. The problem is, your future self tends to act a lot like you.
A chief cause of delusion is the need for certainty. Just as the thirst for water may drive a desert wanderer to chase mirages, so the thirst for answers makes us rush into poorly justified beliefs. To avoid being duped, become comfortable with uncertainty.
October 28, 2025 at 6:45 PM
A chief cause of delusion is the need for certainty. Just as the thirst for water may drive a desert wanderer to chase mirages, so the thirst for answers makes us rush into poorly justified beliefs. To avoid being duped, become comfortable with uncertainty.
New study of 10,000 twins finds the rise in autism diagnoses is not matched by a rise in autism symptoms. As I’ve long said, autism rates are increasing not because of vaccines or Tylenol, but because of an ever widening definition of autism.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 28, 2025 at 9:06 AM
New study of 10,000 twins finds the rise in autism diagnoses is not matched by a rise in autism symptoms. As I’ve long said, autism rates are increasing not because of vaccines or Tylenol, but because of an ever widening definition of autism.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Banning smartphone use during class led to a marked increase in students’ test scores the following year, according to new data from Florida. This is such an easy intervention, with no downside and huge potential upside, that it’s ridiculous it’s not more widespread.
www.nber.org/system/files...
www.nber.org/system/files...
October 25, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Banning smartphone use during class led to a marked increase in students’ test scores the following year, according to new data from Florida. This is such an easy intervention, with no downside and huge potential upside, that it’s ridiculous it’s not more widespread.
www.nber.org/system/files...
www.nber.org/system/files...
People often talk of tackling the “root causes of poverty”, but poverty doesn’t have a root cause; it is the natural state of existence. The real question is, what causes prosperity?
October 25, 2025 at 10:32 AM
People often talk of tackling the “root causes of poverty”, but poverty doesn’t have a root cause; it is the natural state of existence. The real question is, what causes prosperity?