Using AI for math only makes sense if we have already forgotten what math is for. The purpose of mathematics is not primarily utility. Most people will never personally “use” advanced mathematics in their daily lives, and that has always been true. Mathematics exists first for formation. It disciplines the mind, orders our thinking, and trains us in patience, precision, and humility before reality.
Properly taught, math conditions the heart and the intellect to receive beauty and truth. It habituates us to recognize that answers are not matters of preference, that reality has a structure we must conform ourselves to, and that clarity is something achieved through effort. When AI replaces the work of thinking in math, it does not merely save time; it removes the very struggle by which the student is formed. At that point, math is no longer education but mere output—and the soul is left untouched.
I hate when fitness influencers are in their early 20s. Listen I was skinny and hot when I was 21 too. My diet was vodka, noodles, coffee and cigarettes. My workout was walking to parties in 5inch heels. You don’t impress me. Come back when you’re 50.
Most people see this and think “dogs are good for you.”
The actual mechanism is more interesting.
Three minutes of petting your dog triggers oxytocin release in both you and the animal. Your cortisol drops. Your heart rate decreases within an hour. This happens every single day you own a dog. Twice a day, three times a day.
The loop: physical touch → oxytocin release → HPA axis downregulation → lower cortisol → reduced neuroinflammation → preserved brain volume.
The study everyone’s referencing had only 95 participants, which is small. But it replicates. A longitudinal European study tracking adults 50+ over 18 years found pet ownership associated with slower decline in executive function and episodic memory. Baltimore Longitudinal Study data showed the same pattern across multiple cognitive tests.
Why dogs specifically? Cats showed similar effects. Fish and birds didn’t. The difference is tactile interaction frequency. Dogs demand contact. They interrupt your doom scrolling. They force you outside. Dog owners in the research showed higher physical activity levels, lower BMI, and lower incidence of hypertension.
The brain age gap in this chart isn’t about dogs being magical. It’s about dogs being a delivery mechanism for consistent nervous system regulation that most people fail to achieve on their own.
Human connection does the same thing. Most people just don’t have a human who wants to cuddle them twice a day and force them on walks.
A belief that really solidified for me this year is that if you are a romantic, and want to see the world full of magic and love, you have to create it.
Host the dinner party, send the flowers, write the note, share the compliment, put up the decorations, plan the outing, so on and so forth.
The default state of life is decay. To create a world that is warm and wonderful and one you and others want to participate in, you really have to work at it.
The good news is, it doesn't take that much work at all.
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
“Think not of the books you’ve bought as a ‘to be read’ pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place, and the right mood.”
-Luc van Donkersgoed