Nostr notes by JA Westenberg

You have so many opportunities to learn. Right now. From videos ...

2026-08-09T00:19:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…hewe
_________________________

You have so many opportunities to learn. Right now. From videos on YouTube to entire volumes of incredible, important books that are available as a free download on Gutenberg. Not to mention the online courses that will let you learn about almost any subject. Or failing that - Wikipedia.

12/13

The future of privacy may come down to a very awkward sentence: ...

2026-07-02T01:13:43Z

The future of privacy may come down to a very awkward sentence:

“Yes, I do mind. Please turn it the fuck off.”

https://buff.ly/gHSZytP

Nostr event nevent1qqsxzgpaw5swdct55mfy09c8vs7larf72famr33w4nlhfq5wgnqkz6gzyp6c0k6aqw0rzqr6vnfrv5f84hwum0dz43klhpkx8phrtvajjxj9k2drprn

2026-06-29T00:17:15Z

It’s far better to be uninformed than to be informed by TikTok.

The crash diet is easier than a relationship with food. The vow ...

2026-06-28T01:28:14Z

The crash diet is easier than a relationship with food.

The vow of silence is easier than learning to speak carefully.

Burning it all down is easier than staying.

The extreme isn't actually discipline; it's the easy way out.

https://buff.ly/2UiCzgn

"Keep your options open" might be the worst advice we ...

2026-06-23T19:25:36Z

"Keep your options open" might be the worst advice we give ambitious young people.
Humans are measurably less happy with decisions they can reverse; and the escape hatch you're guarding is making you miserable.
Caesar crossed the Rubicon to destroy every alternative he had. Remove the irreversibility and the whole legend is reduced to a man wading across a stream.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/publish/posts/detail/203291601/share-center

A funny thing about task management apps is that eventually the ...

2026-06-08T04:41:00Z

A funny thing about task management apps is that eventually the main task becomes managing the task management app.

The honest version of "we're rethinking our pricing" ...

2026-06-07T04:41:00Z

The honest version of "we're rethinking our pricing" is "we've decided to charge more."

Just say the honest version.

Half of good writing is deleting the thing you were proud of ...

2026-06-05T04:41:00Z

Half of good writing is deleting the thing you were proud of yesterday.

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy ...

2026-06-03T21:10:21Z

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.”

The most dangerous strategic failure is loyalty to a plan built for conditions that no longer exist.

Institutions might call it consistency.

Reality calls it drift.

And reality is unforgiving.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thedailygeneral/p/against-the-quiet-past?r=53ll86&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

The 7 golden rules of not being a dick on the internet 1. No ...

2026-06-03T08:13:34Z

The 7 golden rules of not being a dick on the internet

1. No quote dunking. If you disagree with someone, reply to them directly. Broadcasting their post to your audience with a snide caption turns a disagreement into a pile-on. Which is the entire point, I know. But we're better than that, right?

...right?

The strength of your conviction tells you nothing about whether ...

2026-05-31T23:23:57Z

The strength of your conviction tells you nothing about whether you're right.

It tells you about your appetite.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/be-thou-not-pilled/

Every gatekeeper produces an Index. A list of books not to read. ...

2026-05-27T01:45:04Z

Every gatekeeper produces an Index.

A list of books not to read.

Topics not to touch.

Methods not to use.

The Vatican’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum tried to suppress Erasmus, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Voltaire, Diderot, Mill, Marx, Sartre, and de Beauvoir.

Read as a syllabus, it’s one of the better reading lists ever assembled...

https://www.thisisstudioself.com/permissionless

There are two kinds of productivity systems. The first makes you ...

2026-05-26T00:15:02Z

There are two kinds of productivity systems.

The first makes you feel like a more sophisticated person than you are.

The second actually helps you do the work.

We keep building the first because the second leaves us alone with the rather terrifying idea that it's actually up to us...

https://www.selfonomics.com/p/how-i-run-a-solo-6-figure-agency

In 1654 Pascal wrote that all of humanity’s troubles come from ...

2026-05-25T23:07:00Z

In 1654 Pascal wrote that all of humanity’s troubles come from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone. He died before push notifications, which feels like the universe granting a mercy…

"Greatness" is not a personality trait. It's closer ...

2026-05-21T01:34:51Z

"Greatness" is not a personality trait.

It's closer to accumulated evidence.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/nobody-is-destined-for-greatness/

There’s functionally no engineering reason to put a robot on ...

2026-05-20T03:51:07Z

There’s functionally no engineering reason to put a robot on two legs. Every other form factor is cheaper, more stable, more efficient, and easier to maintain.

There is, however, a very good marketing reason: everyone’s watched Terminator, fear goes viral, and anxiety drives attention.

A warehouse robot is infrastructure.

A humanoid robot is an engagement strategy…

A huge amount of online conflict is two people defending ...

2026-05-19T04:41:00Z

A huge amount of online conflict is two people defending positions they were assigned by the algorithm an hour ago

The thing nobody warns you about therapy is that it gives you a ...

2026-05-18T04:41:00Z

The thing nobody warns you about therapy is that it gives you a new vocabulary, not a new self, and far too may people stop at the vocabulary.

A staggering number of adults have organized their personalities ...

2026-05-17T23:07:00Z

A staggering number of adults have organized their personalities around having read one book in 2019. And the book sucked.

Imposter syndrome is largely an affliction of the competent. ...

2026-05-12T02:04:03Z

Imposter syndrome is largely an affliction of the competent. Actual impostors seem to feel just fine...

In 1960, France detonated its first atomic bomb in the Algerian ...

2026-05-05T05:38:41Z

In 1960, France detonated its first atomic bomb in the Algerian Sahara. Charles de Gaulle had spent the decade prior arguing that American security guarantees couldn’t be trusted in a serious crisis, that no superpower would risk its own cities to defend a junior ally, and that France needed weapons it owned outright.

The argument was simple: if you don’t control the means, you don’t control the outcome.

https://www.thisisstudioself.com/insights/sovereign-ai-brief

Whenever someone says “the future is Thing” you can be sure ...

2026-04-16T23:41:12Z

Whenever someone says “the future is Thing” you can be sure of 2 things:

1. The future is absolutely not Thing
2. They are over invested in Thing

I have developed a foolproof system for inbox zero. it’s called ...

2026-04-16T22:29:02Z

I have developed a foolproof system for inbox zero. it’s called “a separate email address I never check” and I feel fucking great about it buy my course.

If your centrism moves with the Overton window instead of ...

2024-10-20T04:41:25Z

If your centrism moves with the Overton window instead of anchoring in an actual belief system you’re not a centrist you’re just pissing your pants in the middle and pretending it’s a point of view