nikki.lol
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Universal Mentor & Coach Prompt
The below prompt is something I add to each conversation I have with LLMs/AIs that isn't a coding chat. I am concerned about the use of AIs and falling for the sycophantic nature…
Morning on the trail
One of the things I'm enjoying is watching the slow changes that occur when walking the same trail morning after morning. This is the first time I've seen the sun crest over this…
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
I'm someone that isn't ever up on timely cultural trends. It's probably my allergies to the status quo or falling into what's cool or popular at any given moment (having a…
Change requires consistency
In order to change, consistency is required in the form of rituals or systems. These provide the backbone and solid base with which to totally blow up one's life and become a…
"We must be willing to be changed by what we see"
From a recent essay:
AI Discipline
A lot has been written about the huge leap forward the different AI models went through in late 2025. Before this jump, I used AI sporadically in my day job, but certanily not…
morning on the trail
Snow beginning to melt and stream running clear. On Tuesday, it was 20°C; this morning, -4°C. New England at her best.
this is a fascinating concept
This is a fascinating concept: Crime as a Service (CAAS). The IMSI Catcher isn't something I knew about, though the data collection isn't anything new. The amount of data our…
Fantasy
Fantasy by DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ.
first ride of the season
It was 20°C today. Went out to start Bella and nothing but clicking. She hasn't been on a trickle charger over the winter (I know, I know). I had no clue how to get at the…
Change Your Liking
If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not…
Predictability is banality
Denny Crane: You know, the best part of my marriages has always been the first day. Alan Shore: 'Just Married.' Grand thing. But for me there was nothing more devastatingly lonely…
Simplicity is a prerequisite for reliability
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.
Comets & Habits
The meteor belt remains in its circular orbit but occasionally a comet lets loose from some unseen force. If it is to be believed that humans do not possess free will, the only…
Complexities in relationships
Do we over-complicate our relationships by adding or considering our fears and insecurities into an already complex dynamic? It seems that difficulties arise when one person…
Almost everything is a paradox
Often, to gain that which we desire, we must behave in an opposite or in a counter-intuitive manner to obtain the object of our desire. To receive love, we must give love. To…
Grief is a lens with which to increase focus
As Kathryn Schulz remarks in her conversation with Ezra Klein ("Our Lives Are an Endless Series of 'And'"), "Grief is an amazing lens. Its capacity for sharp focus is incredible."…
It behooves us to know ourselves well and deeply.
If we do not, how can we live a full life? Be a mature, confident, kind, emotionally resilient human? Partner? Parent? Knowing one's self is prologue to anything great in one's…
The point of education is expanding your known world and self
You should be a different person after active learning. Education grows yourself and should alter the way you move through the world. We must be changed.
It is difficult to understand our potential without first realizing our potential
Both in my HES religion coursework (on the "Three Peas (Ps)") and in other writing on Kundera, there is the idea of proleptic rationality, which is akin to faith. We must accept…
Emotions and thoughts do not define personality
Our raw emotions and thoughts aren't our personality, though they are often conflated as being so. Without mindful action regarding our emotions and thoughts, we are at the behest…
Stable relationships allow emotions to surface without judgment
From one writer on relational stability:
AI use in education will increase bad behaviors
The past two courses at HES have allowed, even encouraged, use of AI, or rather LLMs. I did use the LLMs yet still spent considerable time learning the traditional method.…
Be real online
One writer described AI as a "mediocrity machine" — the culmination of reducing attention spans to short tweets, IG stories, and fast TikTok videos. Combating this means being…
College English majors can't read critically
A recent study tested college English majors and their inability to distinguish between figurative and literal language, and the inability to process prose even with access to…
Concentrated effort is required to foster critical thinking
Thinking hard and deep about concepts and ideas requires focus and concentration. This means actively combating the systems and mechanisms that seek out our attention. In the…
It can happen (again)
Because something hasn't happened before, does not mean that it won't happen in the future. And those events that have happened, may happen again (and may even become more likely…
Learning how to learn requires experimentation, reflection, and then adjusting based on internal feedback
One writer on learning puts it well: we need to "experiment, reflect, adjust" in order to learn how we learn. This feels true to what I've started exploring in the past month or…
Meditation creates the capacity to open our lives
A very real consequence to meditating so regularly, albeit for short durations at a time, is that life becomes bigger and more whole because it has become easier to experience the…
Relying on technology for processing notes and information doesn't mean you'll understand it
Reading through a recent guide on zettelkasten practice (section 2.3.3), one notes that we can highlight information in Zotero and have the highlighted bits automatically added to…
Teenagers are infantilized in the modern age
Hackers, the 1995 film, treats high school students like adults, as opposed to the infantilization of teenagers now. Joey is chain-smoking throughout the movie, and the kids are…
The Enshittocene is what we get when capitalism is the driving force
The Enshittocene, coined by Cory Doctorow, is the "perfect breeding ground for the worst practices in our society."