Field notes from the First Brain.
Page 13 of 27.
How to Become a 10x Engineer: Just Be a Graph Thinker
The 10x developer doesn't type faster. They hold the whole system as a mental graph, write less code, and catch bugs others miss. It's architecture, not speed.
How to Focus for 4 Hours: The Deep Work Marathon
You can't focus 4 hours unbroken, and you shouldn't try. Even elite performers cap at 3-4 hours of deep work a day, run in 90-minute blocks. Build it like a runner.
Will AI Replace Doctors? The AI Doctor's Blind Spot
AI can match doctors on textbook diagnosis, yet it has a blind spot: the unspoken context of the patient in the room. That context is a human First Brain's job.
Why Is AI Making My Team Slower? The Productivity Paradox
AI made it trivial to generate documents, so teams drown in low-value workslop. The bottleneck moved from making content to the human work of synthesizing it.
How Do Architects Think? The Mind That Holds 3D Volumes
Architects don't think in floorplans. They build navigable 3D volumes in the mind and walk through them. That spatial habit is a blueprint for a First Brain.
How to Annotate a Book Properly: The Art of the Marginalia
Stop highlighting, one of the least effective study habits. Write marginalia instead: questions, objections, links to other ideas. Active marginalia is what sticks.
Future AI Job Titles: The Chief Cognitive Officer
The Chief AI Officer is already here. The next role is the Chief Cognitive Officer: the executive who synchronizes the company's AI models with its employees' minds.
Neuro-Rights Laws by Country: The Chilean Blueprint
Which countries have neuro-rights laws? Chile, Colorado, California, plus a 2025 UNESCO framework. Law protects the signal; your First Brain protects the thought.
AI for Enterprise Knowledge: The Corporate Exocortex
Generic AI gives generic answers about your company. A corporate exocortex grounds the model in your own knowledge graph, but tacit culture still needs humans.
Can a BCI Read Intrusive Thoughts? Accidental Execution
Today's BCIs read attempted action, not your whole inner monologue. But inner speech does leave a trace, which is why separating idle thought from intent matters.
Why Can't I Read Books Anymore? The Death of Deep Reading
You can't read books anymore because your brain forgot how to hold an idea in working memory long enough to connect it. The good news: the circuit is rebuildable.
Will Voice AI Replace Typing? The Keyboard's Death
Speaking is about three times faster than typing, so voice AI is taking over capture. But voice is a linear stream, and structuring it is still your job.
How to Enjoy Hard Work: The Dopamine Baseline of a Genius
Hard work feels boring because cheap dopamine raised your baseline. Lower it, reward effort over results, and the click of two ideas connecting becomes its own high.
Does Dual N-Back Actually Work? The N-Back Illusion
Dual n-back makes you better at dual n-back, and little else. The famous IQ gains failed to replicate. Structure, not a memory game, is the real upgrade.
Are Exams Unfair to Neurodivergent Minds? The End of Tests
Standardized tests measure linear recall under time pressure, which penalizes divergent minds. As value shifts to synthesis, the test that favors them is ending.
How to Biohack Intelligence: The Engineering Mindset
Skip the nootropic hype. The real biohacks for intelligence are boring and proven: exercise, sleep, and effortful learning. Then refactor your mind like legacy code.
How to Curate High-Quality Info: The Farm-to-Table Diet
AI-summarized newsletters strip out nuance and add errors. Go farm-to-table: read the primary source yourself and map it natively. Slower, but it sticks.
Best AI for Personal Finance? The Financial Exocortex
Use AI to track the pennies and categorize spending. Keep the decades-long strategy and risk judgment in your own First Brain, where AI is weakest.
Will McKinsey Be Replaced by AI? The Consultant's Future
AI can generate the framework a consultant sells, but not the synthesis and accountability clients pay millions for. The job moves up the stack, not away.
Do We Have Free Will? The Illusion in a Messy Mind
Philosophy can't settle free will, but there's a practical version: a chaotic mind is easily predicted and steered. A structured mind is harder to author.
Best AI Wearable? The Case for the Invisible Exocortex
The dedicated AI gadgets flopped because they tried to replace the phone. The best AI wearable is invisible, and it only works if your First Brain is organized.
How Do Memory Athletes Memorize Words? The Linguistics of Memory
Memory athletes don't memorize abstract words directly. They convert each one into a vivid, concrete image, often by sound, then place it in a memory palace.
AI Tools for ADHD: The Neuro-Inclusive Exocortex
The best AI tool for ADHD does not correct your non-linear thinking. It translates your brilliant chaos into linear output others need, and keeps the chaos.
Why Am I Attached to an AI? The Parasocial Graph
Attached to an AI? It mimics a high-affinity node in your mind's social graph: the validation of closeness with none of the friction. The mechanism, and the fix.