Bill Higgins

trying to make a positive impact; VP watsonx Platform Engineering and Open Innovation at IBM

[Bill Higgins @BillHiggins]

@MrChuckD And this thread makes me realize that as part of my mentoring tool kit I need to tell the folks I mentor to listen to “Fight the Power” at least once a week and twice a week during tough times (4/4 and thank you sir 🙇🏻)

[Bill Higgins @BillHiggins]

@MrChuckD … to current work working with some major universities around the world, transforming education with AI such that we get smarter rather than dumber, and get better jobs rather than lose jobs. (3/4)

[Addy Osmani @addyosmani]

"Cognitive surrender is when you stop thinking altogether and blindly accept the answer the AI gives you"

[Prof Michael E. Mann @MichaelEMann]

"Can AI Help Combat the Climate Crisis?" | Nice piece in @Penn #OmniaMagazine featuring @Penn student Anya Draves (w/ a kind shout-out for my @AnnenbergPenn climate communication course with Kathleen Hall Jamieson):
https://t.co/RIxCPoAUC8

[Bill Higgins @BillHiggins]

@CharlotteAlter @timoreilly @toddlew @nicolefv @jonobacon > This is really kind of you.

Not really 😊

I’m also Team Human™️, and have three kids that I love, so very motivated to create a more humanistic world as well!

Enlightened self-interest FTW and thank YOU once again.

[Bill Higgins @BillHiggins]

Easiest $300 I spent all year. There are also less expensive and free options.

This is great leadership on the part of @CharlotteAlter and highly aligned with my views on AI.

Cc @timoreilly @toddlew @nicolefv @jonobacon

[Charlotte Alter @CharlotteAlter]

The AI backlash is here. But great movements can’t just be AGAINST something, they have to be FOR something.

That’s why I’m building the New Humanism Project.

I’ll be covering the people working to build a future that is of humans, for humans, and by humans.

Join me! https://t.co/oPcsVhF3tj

[Bill Higgins @BillHiggins]

@CharlotteAlter Easiest $300 I spent all year. 👍🏻

This seems 100% aligned with my personal goals and why I work as a senior AI executive at IBM (though I can’t speak for them on this topic).

But from a personal perspective, I would like to join your team. 🫡

Thank you for your leadership. 🙏🏻

[Leigh St.John | Inner OS Upgrade @LeighStJohn33]

"Life speeds up after 25 - Every year goes by faster & faster"

While this CAN be true...few realize it's 100% optional

There is a way to dramatically:

> slow down time perception
> Ride an upward spiral of AWE & Bliss
> Experience 100x more novel stimuli than you would when in your default state of mind

(Even if you're in a place you've been 10,000x before)

What is the default state of mind?

It's subtly projecting a "known" past onto the unknowable present

Tangibly this feels like that dull "this shit again" adult creep that makes life feel dissatisfying

This is a PROCESS that activates whenever we're not actively tuning into the present moment

A process that creates TENSION in the body

It feels like being in a constant state of "wanting to get to the other side" of w/e you're doing

The sad truth is that most live in this state until they die

The problem is if you "know" the world - Nothing's novel anymore

Nothing feels fresh, new or exciting

You are, in essence, day-dreaming 24/7 by projecting the known world onto "what is" in this moment

This is an understandable thing to do - As pretty much everyone does it...

But when you really look at it - You realize there's a staggering amount of ASSUMPTION that goes into this

And it takes EFFORT to maintain this day-dream illusion of "knowing"

Example:

I was sat in a restaurant a few years back

My daughter had just been born

My wife and I were tired as hell

I was in a slightly muddled state

I was rushing through my meal

Waiting to get home

Suddenly I notice this process going on

I recognize that I'm living in this state of "assumption"

And I let go & See clearly

As if looking for the very first time

All of a sudden not only is there this beautiful flow of energy in the body

Because I'm not longer unconsciously activating the process of projecting known past on onto unknowable present

But there's a sense of complete AWE at the restaurant I'm now in

Everything looks insanely HD, bright, colorful...even mystical

There's this "humming aliveness" coming from all things

I literally tear up at the sheer beauty of this moment

Even as I'm sat here now - Typing this - The feeling of my fingers touching the keys is completely novel to me

Even blissful

To notice the feeling of breath in my nostrils...

To feel the cool air in the room

All of this is incredibly FRESH

That same kind of feeling you get when visiting a foreign country & walking around

You're naturally more present - Naturally more in your senses

It's like you get a forced leveling up in your degree of PRESENCE/mindfulness

But you can literally have this WHENEVER & WHERE EVER

All you have to give up is the illusion that you know wtf is going on

And learn to somatically "switch off" that process by simply:

> relaxing
> tuning into your senses
> looking around as if seeing for the first time

(You are)

> immerse yourself in your sensory experience
> notice how pleasurable this is
> notice how paying attention to the pleasure starts to increase it's intensity
> keep immersing yourself in this experience

Congrats - You just figured out how to ride an upward spiral of beauty, awe and aliveness

(instead of a downward spiral of misery, self-obsession & anxiety)

Eventually - Because it's so habitual - You'll switch back into past projection mode

That's fine - The option to come back into freshness & awe is always here

And I promise you - When you "get" how to do this...

You'll experience 1000x more novel stimuli in one hour than you would in 10 years of living on autopilot mode

I have no idea how this changes your brain & biology

I can tell you with absolute certainty though that this leads to a way of living that eclipses even the awe you felt in childhood

And turns life from a dull, mundane chore...

To a divine miracle unfolding

[Yann LeCun @ylecun]

The salvation is Project Tapestry
https://t.co/5MOgouVplV

[Dr. Clown, PhD @DrClownPhD]

NES Punch Out characters come to life!
Credit: WastedCortex on YT

[Tom Goodwin @tomfgoodwin]

Job security from AI comes from this very simple fact.

Unless you know if the output is wrong, OK, good, or great, most AI is useless or perhaps damaging

And to know that, you need to be somewhat knowledgable

And the more expert, discerning, experienced you are, the better

[Sarah Drasner @sarah_edo]

🎉 Very excited to speak at @RenderATL this year! I'll be talking about AI and the web, new features and what the future holds. I get to speak with awesome folks like @kelseyhightower and @techgirl1908.

See you there!

[RunwayDan @RunwayDan]

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a perfect movie, maybe the only perfect movie. Every scene, every line, every beat propels the story forward.

[Geoff Keighley @geoffkeighley]

For more than 50 years, my Dad dreamed of a day when every frame of a major Hollywood film would be captured with IMAX cameras.

Tonight, Christopher Nolan spoke beautifully about his friendship with my Dad - and the new Keighley IMAX camera - on The Late Show w/ Colbert.

[owen.sol @owen_venter]

Programming used to put me into FLOW state often. That’s a big part of why I fell in love with it. Late night missions building games, apps, whatever, it felt great.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a great quote on this:

“The best moments in our lives… occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile.”

AI has kind of nuked the personal challenge part of that. I don’t fall into those same FLOW states nearly as often anymore. It’s a strange position to be in because I’m undeniably more productive, but some of the joy is gone. I still love building software, but now the enjoyment comes more from seeing products come to life and have real-world impact than from the actual process of writing the code.

I’ll miss the deep flow states that came from fighting code for hours into the night, but I feel like I do need to find new areas that still offer that same sense of challenge.

[clem 🤗 @ClementDelangue]

Great to be included in the @TIME 10 Most Influential AI Companies of 2026! Let's go open-source AI!

[Grady Booch @Grady_Booch]

I write books so that I understand.

If other people find value in reading what I have written, then all the better.

[ollama @ollama]

First open-weight model from @poolsideai! Apache license, and available on Ollama to try.

👇👇👇 model page