So what is this?

I studied psychology, mental health, behavioral medicine, and human performance before software started paying my bills. For the last 15 years my day job has been writing code and founding companies. This newsletter is what happens when those two halves of my brain argue with each other in public.

Welcome to 0x4A6F65 (Joe).

The subject here is how humans behave around technology, and how technology shapes how humans behave. AI gets the most ink because it deserves the most ink right now, but the lens applies to anything software does to us.

I approach new technology with curiosity and a little suspicion. Most of the industry races ahead and figures out the human cost later, usually by pushing that cost onto users who didn’t ask to be part of the experiment. I want to slow down long enough to ask better questions before the answers stop mattering.

I’m not trying to tell you what to think. Most of what I write is opinion with some facts attached where I can support them, and the goal is to start a conversation rather than end one. If a post makes you want to argue back, the post is working.

I believe in technology. I’ve spent my career in it because I find it genuinely fascinating. I also believe in people, and I don’t want the human part to get flattened while everything else accelerates.

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