As a teenager I figured out that kind words get further than harsh ones. Then a girl called me a liar for it, and I had to decide what my words were for.
The Same Tongue
Starting in the Middle
I got so excited about a project at work that I started explaining it from the middle. They looked at me like I'd lost my mind, and they weren't wrong.
The Rain I Asked For
We'd been praying for rain for months. When it finally came, I spent my whole commute complaining about it.
More Muscle Than Magic
For years I sat in coffee shops waiting for the muse, and it showed up every time. That's when I realized it was never the muse.
Private Practice
Anthropic now prohibits sustained, needless cruelty toward Claude. The bigger question isn't what the AI feels. It's what the person typing is practicing.
