Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist

Turning prison into purpose: mindset shifts, AI for transformation, healing childhood wounds, and building meaning in chaotic times. Books + real stories.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Take a breath. Unplug from the moment and the distractions of life. So many things are competing for your attention: War, political discourse, violence, hate, division. Let's take a detour to explore something positive!

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

First, let's start with this: Your beliefs form your perception which creates your reality. This programming appears in the form of opinions, choices, actions, etc. Childhood wounds breed faulty programming.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Most of us carry faulty programming from our childhoods. This is a feature of life rather than a bug. The good news is that we're endowed with the ability to change what we believe, and therefore, our reality.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Second, even under the most extreme and harmful situations, it is possible to reprocess and reframe experiences to ignite spiritual growth. It requires a commitment to building a positive mindset and identity.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

I share the above from personal experience. I battled childhood wounds for years. Later, opening a random email landed me in prison for the first time. An existential crisis ensued: "Who am I? What now? What's next?"

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

After years of depression, hopelessness, loss, and uncertainty, I wrestled control of my mind to reboot my spirit and outlook. I chose faith in myself over fear of the unknown. I rediscovered my essence and the power of my imagination.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

I liken my journey as a justice-involved citizen to a reawakening. Forcefully clawed from society, most of life's programming was upended and obliterated. Faulty paradigms I long carried began crumbling away under the weight of frightful change.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Prison has become the greatest transformation platform of my life! What began as a fearful venture into unchartered territory in late 2014 is now fueling my greatest dreams and ambitions! I'm leveraging hell for breakthroughs!

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

This is my moment. This is your moment. These are unprecedented times. The most advanced technology of our lifetimes is instantly available to aid, develop, and manifest our greatness. I am applying this technology from a prison cell! @sama @pmarca @bhorowitz

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

I am using ChatGPT to rapidly accelerate my goals and transformation while incarcerated. Initially, I believed I would start this work on parole, but once I discovered I could experiment by mail, I began writing and mailing prompts. @sama @pmarca @bhorowitz

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Because of LLMs like ChatGPT, I've grown more confident about my future despite the ongoing uncertainty of my sentence and conviction. I am using these incredibly powerful tools in parallel with my infinite imagination to reimagine everything one prompt at a time. @sama @pmarca @bhorowitz

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Podcasts like @a16z keep me abreast of AI and LLMs while incarcerated. The in-depth discussions improve my prompt engineering skills as I develop and build new ideas. Who would have thought that imagination is the new UI for computers?! @sama @pmarca @bhorowitz

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

I have a fervent belief that tools like ChatGPT will aid my quest for freedom from perpetual confinement and parole while advancing ideas to reimagine government as we know it. These beliefs are informed by my ongoing experimentation.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Librarians enable my ChatGPT experiments: First, I print and mail my prompts to a public library. Second, a librarian enters them into ChatGPT and returns the results. Despite the low-tech method, my prompts are yielding gold!

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Let's give a round of applause to librarians everywhere for their priceless role in our communities. Prison reinforced the brilliance of paper and printing for me because of the deprivation of technology I experienced for years.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Remember that no challenge is too great in the age of AI. As long as you're breathing, you're capable of stunning results. You need only apply your will and imagination to do something amazing. What are you waiting for?

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

To every wounded boy hiding within the wounded man, this series is for you. If it resonates, please tell a friend, and repost. And be sure to press that follow button to receive my next series! Now, gather 'round, and let the #WoundedBoy fly free.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Note: Will Smith's 'Collateral Beauty' inspired this series. I watched it recently for the first time. I fought hard not to cry, but then the tears fell. From one wounded man to another, it's okay to cry! And I suggest watching this movie as the first step toward doing so.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

For some of you, the wounded boy was sworn to silence by a trusted family member. For others, he was told to stop crying while being beaten or spanked. Or, he was seated with other underperforming students by his teacher following the death of his father.

[Ronald Lewis | Justice-involved author & futurist @RonaldLewis]

Some wounded boys wound up on the streets, strung out on drugs. Others went to war to become a man. But, still, the wounded boy cries. Are you listening, wounded man? Or, do you still suffer from the untold lies that long robbed you of your self-worth?