Appearing on Glasp Talk #23 | Unlocking the Power of Words in a Digital Age
Musings on Writing, AI, Startups, and More
In spite of the abundance of information, or maybe because of it, the West has difficulties in understanding reality such as it is…Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance. —St. Jerome
Above: Gabbing with the Glasp Team.
No matter the genre, I annotate every book that I read.
My reason is simple: The more senses you engage, the more likely you are to retain something you perceive/take in (reading out loud is a bridge too far, however). And yet, as Emerson quipped, “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
What the pen does for paper, Glasp does to the digital.
A PDF and web highlighter, Glasp aims “[t]o democratize access to other people’s learning and experiences that they have collected throughout their lives as a utilitarian legacy…Glasp stands for "Greatest Legacy Accumulated as Shared Proof." We want to help visualize everyone’s contribution to human knowledge and history.”
A few days ago I had the pleasure of virtually sitting down with co-founders Kazuki Nakayashiki and Kei Watanabe on their wonderful program: Glasp Talk.
I leave you with their exceptionally kind introduction:
Today's guest is Thomas White, an accomplished writer, investor, and advisor. Thomas is the Founder and CEO of Battle Media, a writing and communications consultancy, and has served as a guiding force behind numerous startups through his advisory work at several venture firms.
In this interview, we dive into his journey as a writer, his philosophy on writing and editing, and his unique approach to capturing and articulating ideas. He also shares his thoughts on the future of AI, the importance of authentic intelligence, and the challenges facing humanity in the digital age.
In case you don’t have a full forty-five minutes, below are a few lightly polished excerpts:
On Writing:
"I don't like writing; I like having written. I enjoy publishing, sending out my posts or thoughts. The best part for me is taking unintelligible ideas and translating them so others can universally read, understand, perceive, and take note of them…Writing more comes from compulsion than from desire. I write because I need to express these things; it helps me make sense of the world, update who I am, and why I believe what I do."
On Identifying as a Writer:
"I still recoil when I call myself a writer. I don't feel like I've earned that title, which is strange, but I think it's common for many who write."
On the Writing Process:
"For me, writing isn't about sitting down and hammering things out on a blank screen. It's more about assembling all the pieces—snippets, sentences, and paragraphs—and arranging them into a cohesive narrative. It’s more Legos than Etch A Sketch."
On Good Writing:
"Good writing is just great editing. As Hemingway said, 'The first draft of everything is shit.'"
On Artificial Intelligence versus Authentic Intelligence:
"AI is mechanical. Artificial intelligence, as it stands, is soulless and purely based on pattern recognition from large language models and massive amounts of data…I prefer Authentic Intelligence that's built on blood, sweat, and the suffering that comes from deeply embedded ideas in someone's heart, soul, or mind. It's about extracting those ideas so others can feel what they're feeling, understand what they're saying, or be inspired by their words."
On Startups:
"The team is everything in startups because of how tough they are. My favorite quote about startups is from Sean Parker: 'It's like chewing glass, but eventually, you start to like the taste of your own blood.'"
On Life:
"Life is simple, but it's not easy. It's often difficult because we overcomplicate things by chasing the wrong goals and focusing on unnecessary concerns. You don't need much to not only survive but also to truly live and be happy."
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did:
Per my about page, White Noise is a work of experimentation. I view it as a sort of thinking aloud, a stress testing of my nascent ideas. Through it, I hope to sharpen my opinions against the whetstone of other people’s feedback, commentary, and input.
If you want to discuss any of the ideas or musings mentioned above or have any books, papers, or links that you think would be interesting to share on a future edition of White Noise, please reach out to me by replying to this email or following me on Twitter X.
With sincere gratitude,
Tom
We appreciate you for joining the talk and for sharing your experiences and insights with us! It's so valuable for us and our audience!
Thank you so much for the insightful talk!
That was THE BEST talk ever!!