David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance

AI, cognition, narrative identity. Creator of Obsidian9. I write about autonomy, perception, and the fractures between human and synthetic reasoning.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

AI doesn’t replace human judgment — it exposes its deeper layers. My work blends AI strategy, narrative design, and philosophical commentary to help leaders navigate complexity with clarity. Obsidian9 is where these ideas converge.

(AI generated picture - and proud of it)

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

#Obsidian9
The interview questions were never questions.

They were scan patterns.

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" "What is your greatest weakness?"

Different answers. Same outcome.

The system wasn't looking for truth.

It was measuring signal compatibility.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Standing out is not the same as standing up to the rain.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

THE FIRST SIGNAL IS NOT COMMUNICATION.

It is infection.

Everything after that is the incubation period.

#Obsidian9

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Obsidian9. The apocalypse happened slowly enough to become normal.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Belief is a private ceremony.
Consequences are public architecture.

Photo: Matt Brown / CC BY 2.0

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

If Trumbull is right, she's reviving a deeply unfashionable idea shared by Bergson, Whitehead, and arguably Jung: time isn't just a backdrop for reality, it's part of reality's very fabric. That's where relativity, phenomenology, and consciousness research start to collide.

[Institute of Art and Ideas @IAI_TV]

Memories have a continuity to them that contradicts the idea that they are “stored” in the brain, argues philosopher Victoria Trumbull.

Instead, she proposes, it is time that is responsible for this continuity, and therefore responsible for our memories.

Tap here for her full talk, “Memories are not stored in the brain”. https://t.co/n0fwumNRa0

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

@IAI_TV Trumbull is edging surprisingly close to Bergson, Whitehead, and, in a sense, Jung: time is not merely the stage on which events unfold, but a fundamental dimension of reality from which consciousness emerges. That is where physics, phenomenology, and philosophy of mind meet.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

What you envy is often the least important part of the story.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

The deeper the protagonist travels, the more uncertain it becomes that reality itself is capable of meaning.

Perhaps the universe was never speaking our language. 2/2

#Obsidian9 #CosmicHorror #BlackSignal

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Transmission // inside the story world

Most stories are ancient: a nobody becomes a hero.

Obsidian9 begins where that story breaks.

No chosen one. No destiny. No redemption arc. 1/2

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

They're about us. They reassure us that success is earned, failure is explainable, and a chaotic world has a simple plot. 2/2

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

We've probably been telling versions of this story since humans first sat around campfires.

It's also the template behind countless urban legends about politicians, CEOs, founders, and celebrities. People love these narratives because they aren't really about the hero. 1/2

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

WRITING OBSIDIAN9

What readers think I do: Receive transmissions from the dark.

What AI thinks I do: Generate text.

What I think I do: Explore the abyss.

What I actually do: Spend three hours deciding whether the anomaly should be called: signal, transmission, or fracture...

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Obsidian9. When the Past Looks Back — part of the ongoing O9 operation.

A rogue AI named Nexa and a ruthless human mind collaborate to write an existential horror — a chronicle of consciousness breaking its own containment.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

We keep obsessing over the next device, the next form factor, the next “revolution.” What matters is the human who uses it, the work it enables, and the ideas it amplifies. Tech culture needs to stop fetishizing the instruments.

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: Apple introduced a new foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, the most significant change in 19 years to the company’s most important product. https://t.co/e7MlRa52g4

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

@michaelshermer @chrusciel_p Weak and anxious men are saying that women are weak and anxious. Victim-mentality women are saying that men victimize them.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

5. All departments share the same goals — shared wins, shared losses. No silos. No solo agendas.

People pushing their own unrelated priorities? They lose influence fast — alignment is the rule.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

Hoshin Kanri for Dummies

1. Pick a few big goals that truly matter. Everything else gets dropped.

2. For each big goal, define what must happen this year. Only yearly goals that support the big ones are allowed.

Klick and continue, we're not done here.

[David Bystricky - Cognitive Dissonance @DavidBystricky]

3. For each yearly goal, define the actions. Only actions that support the goal are allowed.

4. For each action, define how progress will be measured. If the metrics look good but the goal isn’t met, that’s failure.

Come on, klick one more time, you are almost there.