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Agency

How do you validate the value of your point of difference in the age of AI?

The Validated Virtuous Feedback Loop
The Validated Virtuous Feedback Loop — Flow

Develop broad appeal and distribution networks with deep domain expertise across two or more verticals.

Go Deeper​

The Matrix​

CapabilitiesLow CharacterHigh Character
High CapabilityDangerous — skilled but untrustworthyLeader — creates patterns others follow
Low CapabilityIrrelevant — nothing to offerTrustworthy — valued for integrity, learning fast

Capabilities without character are a liability. Character without capabilities is potential. The combination creates irreplaceable value.

The Loop​

Perceive, Question, Act, Measure, Learn. For a person, this is how you grow. For an agent, this is how you improve. For a team of both, this is how you compound.

AgentFuelPerceivesDecides ByStrength
HumanFood, sleep, connectionConsciousness, felt experienceValues, meaning, judgmentPurpose, trust, narrative
PhygitalElectricity, data, codeSensors, patterns, signalsConstraints, optimisationSpeed, scale, consistency
TogetherBothWider perceptionHuman values + AI analysisFlow at compound rate

When AI is the better teacher, social spaces become coaching arenas — not for knowledge transfer, but for belief transfer, character formation, and the collisions that build trust.

The Challenge​

We have entered a positive feedback loop and that is not necessarily a good thing, it means we are going to lose control of the ship. The agricultural revolution transformed our navigation systems over 7,000 years. The industrial revolution took 140 years. AI is rewriting the operating system of the world in a decade — faster than systems of governance can adapt.

Components​

What combination enables valued contribution?

Tight FiveComponentWhat It IsPattern SkillAI Resistant?
01FoundationsWhat you NEEDEnables all threeContext-dependent
02CharacterWho you ARECreation (identity shift)Yes — can't be faked
03CapabilitiesWhat you can DORecognition + UtilizationMixed — many are automatable
04CapitalWhat you HAVEExpands optionsType-dependent
05DriversWhat MOVES youSustained utilizationYes — purpose is human

How quickly and effectively can you coordinate meaningful endeavor?

Patterns​

Seeing patterns is seeing the meta in the matter — the invisible structure that shapes what's visible. These are the meta-skills behind all thinking systems.

SkillWhat It IsThinking Method
RecognitionSee what's coming before othersSystems thinking — see the whole
UtilizationUse what you seeMatrix thinking — fill gaps
CreationDevelop new patternsFirst principles — build from truth

Games provide the tightest feedback loops for developing pattern skills. Coordination games teach the most — how to see, use, and create patterns with others.

Games → Patterns → Beliefs → Culture → Agency

Human Touch​

Touch For Fun AI handles routine cognition. What remains is what requires skin in the game:

  • Purpose — only you can work out why you are here
  • Trust — you can't sell conviction you don't have
  • Conviction — committing to what matters can't be outsourced
  • Stories — stories need a storyteller with stakes
  • Taste — knowing good from good enough requires values

To sell is to be human.

Context​

  • Play — The lightness that keeps the loop alive
  • Scoreboard — What measures your evolution
  • Science — The method that tests each iteration
  • Games — Tightest feedback loops for developing patterns
  • Culture — Where beliefs become shared identity
  • Work — Activity-level tracking of what's automating