You only live once
As we all know, the Internet has no shortage of slang words and idioms. One of the more common ones nowadays is YOLO, or “you only live once”. While it’s most commonly heard in informal contexts, it has started to boil over into more professional circles as well. (The most recent example I can think of is Cursor’s auto apply mode which bypasses permission requests; it was originally called “YOLO” mode on release.)
“YOLO” is often said in situations where the best path forward is unclear but a decision needs to be made. It tends to invoke a feeling of missing out if you don’t take a risk. After all, “you only live once”, so you might as well make it count, right?
Today’s world is a rapidly evolving landscape, with geopolitical instability, the rapid proliferation of LLMs to even non-tech industries, and longstanding societal issues that seem to grow worse by the day (mental health, food insecurity, and many more). In light of all these factors, I believe the colloquial definition behind “YOLO” is the wrong philosophical model to have.
It is true that we don’t get multiple lives in this world, but if anything, that makes the one life we get all the more important. It is important to discern when to move fast, and when to take it slow. If we speed through every aspect of life then we risk missing the beauty in the details.
There is also the reality that nothing built can last forever. History has shown time and time again that even the most ambitious human undertakings eventually show their cracks. In the first century A.D., the Roman empire was regarded as one of the most powerful empires in the world. The fate of the Roman empire is well-known and I need not elaborate. :)
In the last month or so I have eliminated most “feeds” from my devices, especially those driven primarily by an opaque algorithm. This is tricky to do while not also becoming a hermit, especially with how modern apps & websites are built. I have found solutions like NewPipe for YouTube, https://old.reddit.com for a much faster and more streamlined Reddit interface, Hacker News for a quick rundown of what’s going on in the tech space to be a good compromise.
Another great option is RSS feeds; they are largely forgotten technology but still just as usable as they were a decade ago. Look for them on your favorite blogs. You can add these to an RSS reader app and check it for updates at your own leisure, rather than giving out your private email address and being bombarded by marketing campaigns.
A little bit of minimalism is quite refreshing. I don’t have any strong desire to return to the endless stream of often useless YouTube recommendations, and the extra “friction” in consumption makes me much more aware of what I choose to spend my time reading or watching.
You only live once, so don’t waste it. Waste here goes both ways. Inaction is deadly and the cause of many disasters in history, but caution should not be thrown to the wind either.