Issue #1 — What does “better” actually mean?
Welcome. And thank you.
You’re here early. I’ve barely told anyone about this yet, which means you found your way here on your own — and that tells me something about you. You’re curious. You’re asking the same question I am.
So let me start with a proper introduction.
My name is Lance. I’m about to turn 70, and I’ve been thinking about what it means to become a better person my whole life. That’s not a modest claim — it’s just true. Kindness, patience, integrity, humility — these aren’t things you arrive at. They’re things you practice. Badly, then less badly, then better.
What I didn’t expect, at this particular moment in life, was that a technology would show up and make those questions feel urgent again.
The question everyone is asking — and the one I’m not
Everyone I talk to wants to know what AI is going to do. Will it take jobs? Will it write better than us? Will it think faster, know more, render us obsolete?
Those are real questions. But they’re not mine.
Mine is: can it help us become who we’ve always wanted to be?
Not more productive. Better. More patient with the people we love. More curious about ideas we’ve avoided. More honest with ourselves about where we’re falling short.
That’s a slower question. And I think it’s the more interesting one.
What “better” means to me — right now
I’ve been trying to get specific about this, because “be a better person” is easy to say and hard to actually work toward. Here’s where I’ve landed, at least for now.
There are two dimensions that matter to me.
The first is character — the inner stuff. Kindness and empathy: can I genuinely see the world from another person’s perspective, even when it’s uncomfortable? Integrity: do my actions actually match my words, or am I fooling myself? Patience: can I find peace in the process, even when things move slowly? Humility: can I think of myself a little less, and learn from my mistakes instead of defending them?
These aren’t new ideas. Every wisdom tradition in history has pointed at them. What’s new is that I now have a thinking partner available at any hour who will help me examine them — honestly, patiently, without judgment.
The second dimension is capacity — the tools for actually doing the work. Better discernment: can I cut through the noise and find the signal? Faster learning: can I build the meta-skill that accelerates everything else?
Here’s what I’ve noticed: when I use AI not to get things done, but to help me think — about a difficult conversation, about a decision I keep avoiding, about something I believe that might be wrong — the quality of my inner life actually improves. It’s not magic. It’s practice, with a better tool.
What this newsletter is going to be
I’m going to explore this honestly. Some issues I’ll share something that worked. Some issues I’ll share something that didn’t. I’m not an AI expert — I’m a man about to turn 70 with ADHD who is genuinely curious and genuinely still learning.
That’s the whole pitch.
I’ll write whenever I have something worth your time. No schedule, no quota — just the slower, more interesting question, when I’ve got something real to say about it.
I’m glad you’re here.
— Lance
p.s. — I’d love to know what brought you here. Just hit reply. I read every one.
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