• 15 min
Chapter 13: The Value Equation
There's a moment when you realize you're not paying for tools anymore. You're paying for time. More specifically, you're paying to buy yourself back.
Books
Explore all posts in the Books category.
26 posts • Page 1 of 2
• 34 min
Alnilam: Decan 34 - Continuity & Legacy
The photons entering your eyes right now left Alnilam around 25 CE, from the year Jesus of Nazareth walked Roman-occupied Judea, when Liu Xiu proclaimed the Eastern Han dynasty, when the Silk Road carried silk and philosophy across continents, when institutions were being forged that still govern civilization two thousand years later. Those photons traveled the void carrying a question: What are you building that will still stand when the next two thousand years have passed?
• 18 min
Bellatrix: Decan 33 - Will & Strategy
The photons entering your eyes right now left Bellatrix in 1775, from the year George Washington took command of a ragtag militia facing the world's greatest empire, when strategic will proved more powerful than brute force, when outnumbered colonists won through intelligence rather than firepower. 250 years that photon traveled, carrying a question across the void: What impossible goal requires strategy rather than strength?
• 17 min
Chapter 12: The Knowledge Spiral
Working with AI doesn't just teach you new things. It reveals how much of what you 'know' is shallow, contextual, or simply wrong. And it happens at a pace that's psychologically disorienting.
• 25 min
Rigel: Decan 32 - Manifestation & Mastery
The photons entering your eyes right now left Rigel in 1165—from the year Notre-Dame de Paris rose stone by stone, when guild masters codified the path from apprentice to craftsman to master, when Chrétien de Troyes wrote the first Arthurian romances of chivalric excellence. 860 years that photon traveled, carrying a question across the void: What have you mastered that proves your readiness for what comes next?
• 14 min
Chapter 11: The Social Machine
When you have unlimited patience from your AI teammate, you grow more patient with your human teammates. When you can iterate rapidly on ideas with AI assistance, you become less precious about any particular approach with humans.
• 32 min
Betelgeuse: Decan 31 - Power & Creation
The photons entering your eyes right now left Betelgeuse in 1477—from the year the printing press arrived in England, when Leonardo da Vinci began his career, when the Renaissance exploded across Europe. 548 years that photon traveled, witnessing humanity's creative revolution, arriving tonight to ask: What are you creating that will seed what comes after?
• 12 min
Chapter 10: The Orchestra of Minds
There's a moment when you realize you're not just using AI anymore. You're conducting an orchestra of intelligences, each with its own voice, its own strengths, its own way of seeing the world.
• 10 min
Polaris: Decan 30 - True North
The photons entering your eyes right now left Polaris in 1592. While the entire celestial sphere spins overhead, this star holds its position within a degree of true north. Ancient mariners crossed oceans by its light. Modern seekers find their center by its example. January 4-13: discover the fixed point you navigate by.
• 13 min
Chapter 9: Quality in the Age of Generation
The code was AI-generated. Beautifully elegant. It had sailed through review, passed all tests. And it had a subtle flaw that only manifested when two processes collided in production. The quality paradox: code can be technically perfect and still fail in ways you never imagined.
• 12 min
Chapter 8: The Development Loop Reimagined
There's a moment when time stops making sense. When the normal relationship between effort and output breaks down completely.
• 19 min
Alderamin: Decan 29 - Leadership Through Authority (December 25 - January 3)
The photons entering your eyes right now left Alderamin in 1976. In 7,500 years, this star will be the North Star. Leadership isn't about control—it's about being the fixed point others navigate by. December 25 - January 3: bear the weight, build for succession, become the foundation civilizations use to find their way.
• 16 min
Chapter 7: The Unleashed Intelligence (Autonomous Mode)
There's something profound about waking up to work that was done while you slept. Not just done, but done with a thoroughness that makes you question your own approach to problem-solving.
• 15 min
Algol: Decan 28 - Renewal through Challenge (December 15-24)
The photons entering your eyes right now left Algol in 1932. For three thousand years called cursed, this eclipsing binary star reveals how challenges follow rhythms and obstacles become fuel. December 15-24: face what blocks your light, consume its mass, emerge brighter.
• 20 min
Chapter 6: The Delegated Mind (Agent Mode)
There's a moment when you realize you're no longer programming computers. You're programming intelligence itself. Not through code but through clear expression of intent. Not through syntax but through structured thought.
• 24 min
Chapter 5: The Socratic Partner (Conversational Mode)
There's a particular kind of clarity that emerges from conversation. Not the false clarity of a quick answer or a copied solution, but the deep understanding that comes from having your assumptions questioned, your blind spots illuminated, your half-formed thoughts given shape.
• 18 min
Mirach: Decan 27 - Reflection & Compassion (December 5-14)
The photons entering your eyes right now left Mirach around 1825. For thousands of years this warm orange star marked the girdle—the center, the waist, the place where forces balance. December 5-14: allow reflection to reveal what action concealed, let compassion tend wounds liberation exposed.
• 19 min
Chapter 4: Agent Mode (The Way That Works)
I don't think in fragments. I don't think in lines. I think in systems. In architectures. In complete solutions to complete problems. So I stopped fighting autocomplete and found what actually works: agent mode.
• 12 min
Chapter 3: Git for the Agentic Age
This commit message tells a story that would have been impossible five years ago. A record of human-AI collaboration that produced something neither could have created alone. Git was built for human-paced development, but AI changes all of these assumptions.
• 17 min
Chapter 2: The Economics of Intelligence
How do you measure the ROI of a tool that makes your team think better? This isn't about faster compilers or better CI/CD pipelines: it's about cognitive amplification that has strange, non-linear returns.