Pictured in front of his yacht, at John’s insistence. :)

I don't know the status of the daily email house book club, but I'm wondering... What are you guys reading right now? I just started reading Monetization by Caleb O'Dowd. And in non-business, I'm reading (sorta on and off) a curated collection of literary journalism / nonfiction. What are you reading?

Yesterday I wrote a post about unwritten rules that strengthen groups. That post got... 10 likes and 5 people to comment, in a group of 483 members. Maybe it was a particularly bad or irrelevant post. In any case it seems like a good time to talk about written rules. I recently joined a Facebook group. The group is about the same size as Daily Email House, but it's much more engaged. People are enthusiastically introducing themselves in the group as soon as they join (as did I)... ... spontaneously writing up new posts and starting new discussions all the time... ... commenting on others' posts all the time. How? Simple. The group has written rules stating that you have to introduce yourself when you join, and participate once you're inside, or you will get kicked out. And the moderators follow through on these rules. What do you think about that? Please comment below. Or don't. But I've decided to start doing the same: Periodically and randomly and brutally removing people who don't participate inside Daily Email House. Your choice.

I just restarted work on a book I want to write... and eventually even finish and publish. My goal is to be done with it in the next 3 months. I also know that some House members, like @Steve Raju and @Tom Grundy are in the midst of publishing their own books. What about you? Do you have plans to write and publish a book, and soon?

This might tickle thy fancy. I wrote a book. So I’m going to do something mildly embarrassing and ask you to write about said book. It came out three days ago. It’s called Cognitive Sovereignty: How to Think for Yourself When AI Thinks for You. It’s already top 5 in a couple of categories but whatever. It’s what in the book that matters. The central argument is that every time you let AI do your thinking for you, you get a little bit worse at thinking. Slowly, and through covenience, not coercion. . The book isn’t an anti-AI diatribe… nor breathless tribute to tight-shirted tech bros with too much gel in their hair. The argument is subtler than that, in that there’s a meaningful difference between AI that extends your thinking and AI that replaces it, and most people are doing the second thing while firmly believing they’re doing the first. Now here’s why this is actually useful for you specifically. 1. You need something to write about today. 2. have a book about something your readers are definitely doing and probably haven’t thought critically about. 3. Your readers get a genuinely interesting idea. 4. You get to look like the person who brought it to them first. 5. I get a mention. Everyone wins. This is what diplomats call a mutually beneficial arrangement and what normal people call a decent deal. It also, frankly, positions you well. AI noise, I mean, content is everywhere. Shallow AI hot takes are even more everywhere. This is better than that. It’s signal and it’s good. It’ll make you look good. Everything you need is at cognitivesovereignty.io Angles, hooks, key ideas, the works. It’s all there. I’ve done the heavy lifting. Which is ironic, given what the book is about. Cheers Steve