Do not fall for the industry tricks, stay free.

Remember the good-ol' times when you bought something and it was yours, forever? When you owned things? Fast forward to today, and realize that you only rent things, you do not own anything like before.

It is true for material possessions as well, but also true for services and virtual goods. Thanks to the invention of planned obsolescence, yield management, and now the subscription model, you are hard to find anything that you can really own with a peace of mind...

So, long story short, here is the takeaway: focus on anything that you can still own, cherish them, hunt them down, and try to get out of the eternal treadmill.

Try to live without gadgets, vehicles, fixed assets. It is hard, but possible.

If you need to live with material possessions, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I really need it? If not, you are done. Move on. If yes, read on.
• **Can I rent it? **If yes (cheaper, better), do it. If not, read on.
• Can I buy it, in the sense I really own it? Fantastic. More likely not, so read on.
• Who is behind this thing? Do your due diligence: if dandy, buy it. If not, read on.
• Look for competitors. Found a good one? Done. Cannot find one? Read on.
• Exit strategy? What if it fails? Backup plans okay? Done. No exit? Give up.

Some practical advice for the modern man:

1. Do not fall for the "you need to be updated to be safe" trick. Update less often.
2. Do not buy the newest things, ever. Wait and buy the second-newest thing.
3. If the second-newest thing is still an overkill, look for the oldest solution.
4. If neither the second-newest nor the oldest works, look for an optimized solution.

Use this logic for both hardware and software.

If you need concrete advice for a specific case, contact me in private.

Realize the ultimate futility of outsourcing intelligence.

Stand back, and ask the jolly joker question: "what is it?". Well, it is what its name indicates: it is artificial intelligence. You, reading these lines, on the other hand, are RI (Real Intelligence), or sometimes called HI (Human Intelligence). You can read heaps of analyses about both, but instead of making the question even more complicated than it is, let us find the solution in the other direction. Let us use "reductio ad absurdum", as a mathematical tool, to apply for this philosophical question. Let us assume for a moment, that having developed AI is actually beneficial for you, me, anyone: mankind.

Let us see if the inception, the nurturing, the development of AI and the ultimate dependence on it would make our lives better. AI could help us, just like automation helped us, to outsource our brainwork. Just like a chess computer can calculate a better strategy to win a chess game, just like a robotized factory can churn out more/better pieces in a given time-frame, AI is relieving us from the chores, leaving more time for fun. Is that really what we want from life?

Let us assume for the moment, that yes is the answer, we want more fun, less chores. Thus, with the help of AI, we outsource the cumbersome, the boring, the tedious tasks and focus on the tasks that need higher intelligence. But hold on: isn't intelligence exactly the one feature we tried to outsource? How can be more left of it for us? Let us outsource that, too! Back to AI, and let us develop it to a level where it can also make those decisions instead of us. Alas, this line of thinking has no end in sight: where is the line where we say stop, after this step it is us who will make the final decision? This leads to an infinite line leading to zero thinking and decision-making left for us, the biological brain.

In addition to the how question, there are others: who, why, when, where should be allowed to use AI? If it were all peace that is all cool and dandy, but alas, our species is anything BUT peace, it is at constant war with itself. If I am allowed to be helped by AI, is my enemy also allowed to use the same or better AI tools? Who should be allowed to use AI? Oops. Why should I use AI, instead of relying on my own human intelligence? To gain advantage? Okay, then we go into an escalating rabbit-hole that has no end in sight, only mutual destruction and final annihilation of ourselves. The answer to the when question if obviously: the sooner the better. It is a competition for time, if the goal is to compete, to gain an upper hand, to fight our fellow human brothers and sisters. Again, it will lead to a vortex out of which the only exit is Armageddon. Finally, where should it be allowed? It is linked to the who question: who will decide where it should be allowed?

Even if we disregard the military use of AI (which would and will be the primary use of this technology, just like any of the others that came before it), even for our own peaceful use, it is detrimental to our own cerebral health and mental acuity. We are born biologically, we will die biologically (let's hope so, because "eternal life" is a curse in itself), and in between these two end-points, we should maximize the time we spend living biologically. So, every non-biological tool that steals time from your biological existence, is not helping, in fact, rather, leaving you less time to enjoy your biological existence. It is not about the quantity, rather the quality of time you have living.

Looking at the questions in their entirety it should be clear that AI, together with genetic research, chemical and nuclear weapons, and similar tools which only serve to continue animosity, hatred, warmongering in our species homo sapiens sapiens, are the worst uses of our innate, biological, evolved intelligence. If you zoom out enough, you arrive back to the same teaching found in every philosophy and religion: do not think! This AI saga, along with all the other sagas, are part of our inability to understand that by thinking we get nowhere. Thinking is a paradox. You can arrive to the conclusion of the futility of thinking even by simply thinking: realize that the entire world is a paradox, and by thinking we only reveal only local, limited non-paradoxes, while the infinite rest remains paradox. You can also arrive to this conclusion simply by not thinking.

AI is an ultimate thinking tool. Think about it for awhile. Pun intended!

Realize the addictive nature of things and phenomena, and avoid them at all costs.

Addiction is the process when you lose control over your time, your attention, your life. How to identify a process, an action, a deed, a thought, anything, as an addition? Ask yourself the following questions: when I engage with this "thing", is there a built-in mechanism that makes me either a) to continue it, or b) to re-visit it again in the future? In other words: is this thing programmed in a "positive feedback loop", ie. to make me repeat my actions, tied to this thing?

If the answer is "yes", then it is an addictive substance, program, or activity, and you should avoid it at the outset. Do not even play with it for a short period of time, thinking you will have the willpower to get out of the spiral, of the vortex, of the loop. Realize for what it is, and do not even start the process. Get out of it quickly if sucked in. Only deal with non-addictive things.

Examples of addictive substances and programs: alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, any drugs in general; food (gluttony); gambling, dreaming about getting rich quick or without work, charging interest; getting sucked in the pointless "money, power, fame" devilish triangle of deception; all "forbidden" or "secret" things; reading the news; computer games; social media, vanity, pride; all competitive games (like chess, or Olympics, or team sports, etc), anything that has a positive feedback loop (thus either it rewards you or punishes you, making you go back for more rewards or to take revenge). Keep your mind always in the middle, independent, free and neutral. Do not listen to slander. Never take sides, do not bet on anything, or the future. Remain the observer, the eternal traveler, the one who has no stake in anything, except your clear mind.

Avoid five divisive/explosive topics.

There are five topics that are divisive, and which never in human history have ever resulted in peace, understanding, or agreement between people. In other words: these are topics which are absolutely futile to discuss, to debate, to argue pro or con any side, idea, concept, etc. History has shown that millions of people have debated these for millennia, and never ever got anywhere while doing so. The only result of these pointless, divisive debates was war, destruction, mayhem, disorder, unhappiness. Be wise, and when you realize that a conversation with someone(s) is veering into the direction of these five topics, respectfully resist the temptation to partake, stay away from these topics, do not discuss them in public.

Remember, there is definitely nothing positive resulting in discussing these topics with anyone, so you are not left out of anything good. In fact, you do a great service to yourself, and to mankind, by steering clear of these dangerous topics. I hope you will be a happier person by doing so.

They are fun, but most likely not worth your time.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) goggles are a hype.

If people have to strap something to their heads, they find it uncomfortable after a short period of time. Also, people care more about how they look to oothers. Most people try one and then either return it or put it on their shelves and forget about it. There might be some special use cases for professional use though, but for the general public it is just a hype.