❤️‍🩹 Learned helplessness

Earlier this week I read an article from someone claiming they cannot be technical. It struck me as rather odd, because this person is genuinely smart and capable. They are well read, well spoken, and driven. They’ve probably done more technical things than they give themself credit for, and yet somehow firmly believe they can’t be technical.

It reminded me of our younger cat, who suffers from specific acts of “learned helplessness”. You see, our cat is incredibly agile and athletic – running the length of our first floor with blazing speed and nimble parkour skills. She literally bounces between, off-of, and over multiple pieces of furniture in a single bound.

And yet, our cat begs and pleads for us to help her get onto the mantle above our fireplace. I’ve watched her literally jump from the floor to the mantle – I even have video footage of it happening! But for some reason, she’s adopted a “learned helplessness” mindset regarding future attempts.

This week’s newsletter is about dealing with “learned helplessness”. We’ve all experienced it at different moments in our life, and my hope for this week’s newsletter is that it helps you find the mental fortitude to overcome this mindset.

Please note: this newsletter adheres to Daniel Miessler’s AI Influence Level (AIL) Zero

Step out of your own way; we’re often the one responsible for the barriers we face.

It doesn’t matter how many times you fall; what truly matters is how many times you get back up. Is the person you want to become someone who stopped getting back up?

Make your own luck; it is forged when preparation meets opportunity.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek. “Passion alone can't cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure. A why without how has little probability of success.” Start with Why, sure – but don’t forget the importance of working out the How (and then practicing it regularly).

So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. “Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.” This is the way of the shokunin.

Deep Work by Cal Newport. “Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love—is the sum of what you focus on.” Focus on becoming the best version of yourself – it will shape your reality in countless ways.

Executive Offense - Building AI Hackbots, Part 1. Jason’s guidance, shared resources, and opinions on what works (and what doesn’t) in this space provide a significant boost to anyone just getting started. Thank you, Sensei! 🙇

The melancholy of history rhyming. “The ‘AI’ Bubble feels more like the all-encompassing wasteland that was the 2007 bubble in Iceland than anything else I’ve experienced.” Fun fact: around 33% of the U.S. stock market’s valuation can be attributed to just 7 companies. Nearly 10% of the entire market valuation comes from Nvidia alone. Does this sound sustainable to you?

These psychological tricks can get LLMs to respond to “forbidden” prompts. “. . . the fact that these human psychological phenomena can be gleaned from the language patterns found in an LLM's training data is fascinating in and of itself. Even without ‘human biology and lived experience,’ the researchers suggest that the ‘innumerable social interactions captured in training data’ can lead to a kind of ‘parahuman’ performance”.

After undergoing knee surgery in January of 2020, I thought I was on the road to recovery – soon to be back on my stationary bike and shedding the weight I had regained. Unfortunately, the pandemic happened and everything shut down – including my physical therapy appointments.

For years now I’ve been walking with a cane while traveling, and have mostly reverted to a sedentary lifestyle at home. This, of course, has meant putting on all those pounds I had previously lost – and feeling dejected about losing that piece of my life.

But, this year, I made a Bingo card to track the goals I wanted to achieve. On the card I included one tile that reads “Adopt a new, healthy habit” – and that habit turned out to be Tai Chi. So far, it has significantly improved my balance, core stability, and range of motion. Most importantly, it has substantially reduced the frequency of my knee buckling, and the subsequent pain that comes with the experience.

I might just manage to get back on that stationary bike this year, after having adopted a “learned helplessness” mindset about it for so long. The moment I realized this, it very nearly brought me to tears. I’m not quite ready to get back on the bike yet – but someday soon, I will be.

So, what are you experiencing “learned helplessness” about in your life?

What are you doing to help overcome this challenge?

Let me know what you think.

– Keith