ednite

I burned out after building a large B2B project that got canceled two weeks before launch.

A year later, I found myself learning Sumerian for no reason at all.

Just sharing my experience and curious if anyone else has found meaning by doing something seemingly useless.

Very insightful. I can relate. Thanks for sharing!

Wow! Amazing collection,a visual history of Neuromancer. Thanks for sharing this!

I'm sharing a piece inspired by a fellow HN member who asked what to do when dealing with a bad manager. IMHO, and from someone who's lived this, unless you're a founding member, it's best to start quietly looking for another job. No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, a toxic environment will always hold you back from your full potential. Been there, done that, and never looked back.

TL;DR: A tiny spider kept rebuilding its web on my car mirror, only for the wind to destroy it every day. Watching it became a metaphor for staying in toxic environments and calling it "resilience."

We often mistake endurance for progress. Like the spider, we keep rebuilding in places(workplaces, relationships, or online spaces) that are tearing us down or, at very least, holding us back, believing endurance equals strength. True resilience is knowing when to stop rebuilding and move somewhere healthier.

I do tend to write more fluff than substance, working on it. Thanks for the comment.

I think that part may have been misunderstood. My wife wasn’t upset about me being argumentative, her point was that it bothered her I was convinced by the AI, rather than by her, and what stuck with me is how quickly I was convinced by AI and stopped dead in my tracks. That is why I wrote the piece.

Hey ModernMech, being transparent here and appreciate your take on this. I always start from a blank page and go through several drafts. I do run my raw format through AI to fix flaws and polish grammar, but the ideas, narrative, and structure are mine. If the tool changes the narrative, I don't use it. Simple as that.

For me, AI is sitll a time-saver, like other grammar tools, so I can focus on the message.

I had hoped people would focus more on the message than the craft and tools, but I understand now. Lesson learned, and I’ll keep working on it.

I'm listening to my audience and improving my writing as I chronicle my life experiences.

I don’t use AI to push sales. In fact, I shut down AdSense within minutes of approval because monetizing isn’t my goal right now. Yes, i use affiliate links to books I’ve personally found useful (and love quoting them) and hope others will too, but I’ve been debating removing those as well, the same way I did with ads, if it hurts the reader’s experience. I'm thinking the affiliates don't readers, but I may be wrong.

I’m new to this space and still learning how to be authentic online. This community is actually the only place I share my writing, and as you can see i'm stumbling a lot, but I’m listening, learning, and I genuinely appreciate everyone’s feedback, yours included.

Didn’t expect this one to get flagged, thank you everyone for the great feedback.Learning as a i go.

Well said, AI definitely amplifies agendas, and the lure of “bigger, better, more profitable” usually beats the status quo.

What if that’s not me? I guess I’ll need to practice my “F- this s#!” reps and work my way up.

Your comment is appreciated and heard. That’s the beauty of learning new things, you try, you stumble, and you learn from your mistakes. As I’ve shared before, my blog started out heavily relying on AI for editing and grammar to get my ideas into words.

I quickly realized that wasn’t the best approach and that I needed to respect my readers’ time. If you look at my newer articles, you’ll see they’re shifting, becoming more me.

I’m lightly revising my earlier posts, but honestly I won’t change them much. I think it’s valuable for readers to see the progression, stumbles and all. Thanks for your comment, it might even become the subject of my next article.

To nourish your curiosity, the real domain was meant as a community platform to help others going through something personal my wife has experienced. She has a beautiful soul and wants to share that journey.

As an example and not the real name, but in true HN style, imagine losing sight in one eye, still learning to code like anyone else, and wanting to share that story. You might come up with something like TheCyclopsCoder.com. (Totally made up just now, no comments needed.)

I debated it, since I worried it could alienate or offend blind coders. She disagreed, felt it was genuine.

I hope that helps feed your curiosity and who knows, one day i might just promote her site if she moves forward with it.

Agreed, creativity is very subjective. My point wasn’t about who was right or wrong. What unsettled me was how, the moment AI gave its opinion, my own questioning and reasoning almost instantly disappeared.

That’s really what the piece was about, how quickly I found myself giving up my own judgment to AI.

Yes, that’s always been true. What feels different now is the volume of undermining authority that’s popped up and how so many people feel overconfident. For example, that recent dating app that went viral and became a security nightmare. Most likely created by a very confident non-dev person. Or like the author in the piece (spoiler: that’s me) now has the confidence to give people advice, thanks to AI.

I’m not really questioning that it happens, I’m stating how much energy it now takes to keep pushing back (or approving) and how easy it is to just agree with an AI output these days. Just my experience and two cents.

You’re right, and that’s fantastic advice for anyone serious about the craft of writing. For me, it’s always been more about the message and story than the craft itself. I’m not aiming to be the next Hemingway, I just want to share experiences in whatever format I can.

That said, I do love writing. I still have boxes of old fiction drafts from before the internet was even a thing. For me, it’s the story that matters most. If dependingly heavily on AI early on came across as the wrong approach, I apologize. I’ve learned from it, and I’m working to improve. You’re absolutely right that time and words should be cherished.

Nicely said. Do you mind if I quote you in a future piece? You are right. My perfectionism held me back at first. AI gave me a quick way “in,” which turned out to be helpful in its own way because it gave me the push i needed. It gave me confidence not to stress over grammar or sentence structure, little things that used to slow me down, but I always make sure its output, reflects my own thoughts.

That’s really the point of this piece: whatever you get from AI, make sure it aligns with your own thinking instead of just surrendering to it. I came to write this piece because I’ve noticed I question it less than I did in the beginning, and that’s where I have to be careful.

Thank you for your comment.

Not sure where the “blasting people” take is coming from. I’m not for or against it, people should use whatever tools work for them. I do have a few real concerns, like its ability to convince us so quickly, which is why I wrote about safety and the need for regulation. That doesn’t mean I’m anti-AI. Like any new tech, there’s good and bad. I use it, I write about it, and I share my experiences; that’s all I’m really doing.

Hey ModernMech, Ed Nite here. Not AI, just a guy with too much imagination (and yes, a pen name). I’m a real software dev who’s spent years building and supporting B2B platforms as a solo dev. Lately, I’ve been leaning into the creative side, blogging, writing, and soon, YouTube. My ego even likes to think AI sounds like me (wink).

You are right, but I am trying to get at is that AI makes those “shadows” look sharper and more convincing, so it’s even easier to mistake them for truth.

Thanks for your comment. I’m proud that the blog is getting some attention because I really do put a lot into it. After a career working through RFP fluff, websites, and blog copy, I know the whole SEO catchy game. I just have a big imagination and a creative flair, just this morning i came up with 3 more catchy titles for my next blog.

The blog's direction is still unclear for me. For now, I just want to share experiences and ideas, and if even one person finds them useful, that’s enough.

I’m not looking to profit from it. In fact, I turned AdSense off almost as quickly as it got approved. (Point in case: When i got started in April, ChatGPT suggested I apply and i foolishly did) One morning I woke up to see my blog plastered with ads, forgetting I had applied. I nearly fell out of bed in horror and shame. I turned them off.

Author here. My early posts were pretty heavily AI-edited, honestly just me trying to save time since I write these after hours (and for devs, “after hours” usually means late). I’ve been going back to those early pieces and slowly updating them, but I don’t regret it. I’ll use whatever tool helps me get an idea out of my head and into the world. This whole writing thing is still new for me, and I’m learning as I go. thanks.

so true-thanks.

My wife and I bounce ideas around all the time for fun. She would’ve registered the domain anyway because she believed in it, and that’s what really matters to me is conviction and passion. What worries me is when AI interrupts that, and people start following shadows in Plato’s cave instead of their own judgment. Thanks.

The difference I was trying to highlight isn’t that AI was “right,” but how confidently it answered, and how quickly that persuaded me.

If my wife had made the same arguments in the same polished way, I probably would’ve caved just as fast. But she didn’t, AI did... and what struck me wasn’t the answer, it was how fast my own logic switched off, as if I’d been wrong all along.

That’s what feels new to me, sitting in a meeting for hours while a non-tech person confidently tells execs how “AI will solve everything”, and everyone nods along. The risk isn’t just being wrong, it’s when expertise gets silenced by convincing answers, and stops to ask the right questions.

Again, this is my own reflection and experience, others may not feel this way. Thanks for your comment.

Yes, author here. I’m not against AI at all, blogging and storytelling are a new adventure for me.

At first I leaned on AI pretty heavily as my “editor-in-chief” to save time. Later, it’s become more of an opinionated buddy I bounce ideas off. The narrative has always been mine, though, I’ve always understood what I (or it) was writing. I still use AI when it saves me time, but what matters most is the story and the message.

I’m learning as I go, and my newer posts are less AI-shaped and more in my own voice. It’s a process I don’t regret. Thanks for your comment.

lol,same with cinnamon in my stew ai suggested. Btw, the real flowchart was worse.

Yeah, that’s pretty much been my approach too. I try to take both the positive and the negative, since even bad input can help a project evolve. The tricky part now is the energy it takes to sift through it, feedback that sounds like it came from an MIT grad one minute, or my Italian grandma (who’s never touched a device) the next.

Exactly, well put. More and more I’m seeing people who are great at persuading others selling “insights” straight from AI to executives.

Is anyone else finding that the real job now is pushing back against AI-backed “suggestions” , from clients, managers, and even so-called “AI experts”? They sound confident, but too often collapse in design and practice.

How are you handling this shift? Do you find yourself spending more time explaining “why not” than actually building?

This system has helped me move from ideas to plans more consistently.

TL;DR: Mind maps are great for capturing raw ideas. Commonplace books turn those ideas into structured plans. Together, they take you from inspiration to execution.