[antifragile 4 🔥] a rant on modern news psychosis, life storytelling, movies for bedtime, a nuclear take on humans from ChatGPT
#34: a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.
Welcome to the 34th edition of the antifragile 4 🔥.
It’s a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind. Some weeks will have a theme, others will meander. Expect it every Friday.
Here is this week’s antifragile 4 🔥:
a rant 🤬 on the modern news psychosis
a note on storytelling 🏰 and the quality of your life
an amazing idea 💡 for kids bedtime
an absolutely nuclear take ☢️ on humans from ChatGPT
+ AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨
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1.) a rant 🤬 on the modern news psychosis
Elon. Trump. Tariffs. Guns.
OR, how about…
DEI. Pelosi. Pronouns. Climate.
How are we feeling?
Temperature rising? Insides feeling bubbly?
News outlets, social media, and politicians have trained us like Pavlov’s dogs—hear a word, and we start salivating with rage or disgust. We enter a psychosis.
It renders many topics off-limits. It leaves most conclusions pre-ordained.
And what’s the cost?
Oh, not much.
Just truth. And unity. And real conversations. Oh yeah, and real solutions to real problems that actually need solving.
Problems that won’t be fixed by outrage. Problems that demand thought, nuance, and charitable conversations with those we disagree with—not just louder yelling.
Instead, we get tribal bullshit—more division, more outrage, more solutions that end up hurting more than they help.
Our society gets worse.
While we could be asking, “What’s the actual goal here, and is this the best way to get there?” or “hm, I wonder what I’m not seeing that they are?” —we jump straight to, “See? I told you, he’s racist!” or “Shut up, snowflake!”. And the conversation ends. The window for connection and truth closes.
I’m not arguing against standing up for what you believe or standing against abhorrent acts—I’m arguing against doing it blindly. Against skipping the questions that matter:
Do I actually believe this? Or was it spoon-fed to me?
What would convince me I’m wrong?
What’s a piece of the opposing argument I find beautiful?
But the media isn’t built for understanding. It’s built for reaction. For keeping you locked into the feed, nodding along or foaming at the mouth. To keep you neatly in-line, donning the home team’s jersey.
It’s designed to keep you hooked like an addict. Because outrage is votes. And outrage is profit.
They don’t want you thinking—they want you seething.
So…what are you going to do about it?
A start would be to STOP letting your favorite news outlet tell you what to think. Same with your social feeds. Same with your newsletters.
I’m not telling you to stop consuming them. I’m telling you to stop treating them as gospel. To start treating them as data points.
To look at the next headline from your home team and ask, why could this be wrong?
Or look at a publication from the other team and ask, what am I missing here?
Because here’s the thing: finding the truth of a situation ain’t easy. And it sure as hell isn’t going to come from one headline. It takes work.
But imagine a world where bullying is banished to the fringes (where it belongs). Where intolerance for ideas has no home in our discourse.
That is a world I want to live in. Curious, not judgmental.
But it won’t exist until we stop gifting our beautiful minds to those with unsavory intentions.
As it relates to my boys, this is how I aspire to teach them to view the world.
But as this rant ends, I’ll leave you with one final question to consider:
When was the last time you changed your mind?
If you’re interested in a news publication that does a great job of addressing bias, check out Tangle News. For every edition, you get “What the Left is saying”, “What the Right is saying” plus a thoughtful take from the editor. It’s proven a wonderful data point for me.
2.) a note on storytelling 🏰 and the quality of your life
I love this.
We see everything through the stories we tell ourselves. And the better those stories are, the better your life.
Shit happens. You get to tell the story about it. Pick the one that’s most beneficial to you.
3.) an amazing idea 💡 for kids bedtime
A friend of mine has started telling his kids the plots of 90s/early 2000s movies (that they haven’t seen) as bedtime stories. It’s genius.
He says they’re completely enthralled and at the end when he tells them they can watch the story, their little brains almost short-circuit.
Too good.
Thanks for fellow antifragile dad Matt L for the idea!
4.) an absolutely nuclear ☢️ take on humans from ChatGPT
🥵
AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨
create an image of a super evil-looking puppet master controlling the media of a group of people.
😅 Almost as terrifying as the mutant kids from last week. Including the baby flipping me the bird. Thanks to the multiple people who pointed it out!
Two last things for you this week:
Change your mind on something this week. Get curious.
Be fire and wish for the wind 🔥
With love,
Chris
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