We all have our own unique stories to tell, but sometimes we forget to listen to ourselves and our own opinions. That’s why we thought it would be fun to interview me and answer some of the most frequently asked questions I get from friends, family, and even strangers. Let’s get started!

Why is the site called AI Dreams?

Given the growing openness of AI writing, "AI Dreams" might make it seem as though all my posts are written by an AI. However, I am human.

I wanted to infuse my tech-mindedness with my hope for the future. So it's a play on the book title, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, which you may know more popularly as the inspiration for the 1982 film Blade Runner.

You write bits and pieces about all sorts of topics. Where do you learn all that you know?

Reading books and articles, watching videos on YouTube, thinking and writing about things, and talking to people.

I like books because I find them easier to focus on than videos. With videos, I can easily tune out and miss entire sentences or even minutes of content because it's a medium where I'm a passive consumer of the content. For that same reason, I don't even touch podcasts because the disembodied voice speaking into my ears is even easier to tune out from. But, on the other hand, I'm kept present with books — especially physical ones — because I can't consume the content without focusing on it and actively engaging with it.

I also often explore ideas with thought, but explaining how I think is more challenging. For example, I often wonder how something works and try to figure it out through logical deduction, the implications given certain circumstances, and so on. It's tricky because we humans are great at convincing ourselves that our ideas make sense, so I really have to be critical of everything I've come up with myself. (Is there even such a thing as an original thought, though?)

When it comes to learning by talking, we don't need the people we're talking to be more knowledgeable for us to learn from them. We can engage in enlightening conversations with anyone happy and willing to contribute to such endeavours. So while some people are simply impossible, I have some wonderful people in my life who are great to talk to.

What are some non-fiction books you would recommend?

I recently posted about some non-fiction books that I often recommend. That's a good starting point. I'll try compiling some YouTube channels, podcasts, and other things another time.

How do you find the time to learn all these things?

I've learnt to make time as part of my lifelong process of trying to sort out my priorities. As a result, I'm often multitasking, losing sleep, screwing up my sleep cycle due to hyperfocused moods, falling behind on everything due to burnout, forgetting to take care of myself, and going for really long periods avoiding easy entertainment such as series and movies.

It's quite the process, and I'm not always as "productive" as I might sound — at any given time, I have between 10 and 20 things I've started writing and haven't finished comfortably enough to warrant posting online. But I'm happy with what I achieve with my time and efforts.

Do you have any tips or tricks for those wanting to achieve more with their time?

I have written about my approach to this before, but to summarise: ensure you're entirely honest with yourself about what you want to do, not what others want you to do.

Then start breaking things down into measurable goals and go from there.

Since you talk about wanting to help people and claim that's a goal of yours, what do you think of charities?

They aren't the solution to the world's problems. Most importantly, charities tend to focus on short-term solutions and put the onus on individuals' contributions when issues need to be solved at a higher level.

That doesn't really seem like much of a problem. Is that all?

Hah. It's the tip of the iceberg.

Charities aren't restricted in how much they can pay their employees, and directors on their boards can receive remuneration. We're not talking about volunteer work, but organisations that need to make enough income to cover their own "costs" before they help anyone else.

Furthermore, when it comes to the wealthy, they also provide a convenient method for donors to reduce capital gains and income, estate, and gift taxes, which means lost tax revenue that should go towards the public sector and make things better for everyone.

Isn't some charitable help better than no help?

Not necessarily. Often, some help merely delays the problem until tomorrow. It's similar logic to why the Thanos snap doesn't work — the problem is a symptom of something else, so eventually, we'll end right back in the same problem. Instead, we need real systemic change that prevents these problems from occurring in the first place, not wealthy people donating millions to the arts.

If I wanted something to change, I would instead educate others, organise them together to work towards a common goal, and take action from there. That could lead to running a charity, but it'd be like trying to save a sinking ship with a bucket.

But shouldn't wealthy people be allowed to do whatever they want with their money? They earned it, after all.

They should have some responsibility for where all that money goes. We should address inequality and resource distribution before people buy multiple homes, yachts, and private jets. It's entirely irresponsible to put these excess luxuries before the well-being of others.

Are you jealous of wealthy people?

No, I have no need for jealousy. I live a comfortable life, surrounded by people I value, and more money won't make me more comfortable. I'm just not obsessed with the hedonistic existentialism disguised as freedom pushed by American culture.

Why so much focus on the USA and American culture? Do you have a personal hatred for it?

The US is the dominant power in the world, with politics and culture that heavily affect other countries and what its government and corporations do (there and overseas) are appalling. We should all be accountable to the same morals, regardless of where we live, and the US often goes against much of what is morally correct, hence my criticisms.

On that note, let's not fool ourselves: not all governments and companies are equally bad — that view necessary to think to continue being defeatist and apathetic, which aren't great things to be.

But you're not American, so you can't possibly understand the situation there.

While Americans have their cultural nuances and Australia has its own, we're all humans on this planet at the end of the day. There's no reason an outsider can't learn to understand, nor can we avoid being affected by it. Especially considering the constant push for many of our systems to follow the same American structure, the parroting of similar right-wing propaganda talking points, and the fact that we'll follow them into whatever wars they get themselves into.

It might be unpleasant to read criticism from the outside, especially from such a patriotic country as the US, where even many who claim to dislike it will defend it. However, it is a necessary step towards their improvement and putting the brakes on us following them.

What about more Australian-focused content?

I have a closet full of Australian content that's dying to burst out. But I'm saving that for a podcast that will drop the first episode whenever we feel it's ready.

Speaking of content, didn't you say XYZ a few years ago, and now you're saying that's wrong? Isn't that contradictory?

Nope. When constantly learning, we must realise that some things we previously knew were incorrect and replace that knowledge. This will often happen either as new information comes to light or as we refine our logic. It's all just part of the process of keeping our minds sharp.

I've heard this changing of mind called "dishonest", which is pretty absurd to me. We shouldn't pick a hill to die on and defend until the end if we've found it's built upon the wrong things. Similarly, isn't it rather arrogant to assume we're always right from the start? Everyone begins as an amateur, so attitudes will change with experience.

Why do you have so many opinions?

Because I can.

But I mean, why are so many things concerning to you? Why complain all the time?

Because life involves all of these things, whether or not the connections between everything I talk about are apparent. Will my silence change the world for the better? No, silence is inherent acceptance. But my talking about problems and trying to find solutions might contribute to something.

You seem to enjoy being different.

I'm still a human. But I understand what you mean. I feel it can be fucking exhausting at times to think like I do and experience the world as it is. (Remember that Beyond the Singing Skeleton: Embracing Conscious Living in a World of Marketing moment?) But I'm not the only person who thinks like this, it's just that our opinions don't tend to be all over the news.

For me, however, those feelings of frustration used to be worse. I used to struggle with a need to feel understood, so it would frustrate me if I'd explain something and the takeaway another person got was some basic, "ok, you just hate XYZ." But eventually, I realised that I couldn't have that expectation because people like that aren't interested in nuance.

It's also not worth compromising on values to get along with others, a mistake I've subconsciously made more than a few times because I've wanted to avoid conflict. (Or worse, there have been sad times in my life when I've been a people pleaser.) But now, I'm comfortable saying I will not ditch my morals and perspectives to fit in and be more accepted.

How do you stay positive?

Do I?

Well, I try to. Like anyone else, I have my better, worse, and even hormone-fuelled days of full-blown misery thanks to PMDD! Then there's dealing with the fatigue that follows periods of hyperfocus, the drain hot weather has on me (and I live in Australia, where we don't even have cold winters), a day job that requires quite a bit of mental effort, and so on.

But given the things you tend to think about, how do you stop it from getting you down?

Among my rules for a more fulfilling life, I aim to keep my criticisms constructive rather than succumbing to petty complaints. So you won't find me wasting my energy complaining that a random person was rude to me, that the restaurant I wanted to visit was closed, or that a game I was looking forward to was terrible. (Although I definitely will criticise games — it's just not personal.) Not caring about the small things helps a lot because I'm not already frustrated when I get to the more serious topics.

From there, there are two choices I can make in the face of such a terrible world situation:

• Become disillusioned with people and society, turn into a misanthrope and start thinking fascists had some good ideas, or
• Accept this is the hand I've been dealt, and strive to be a positive influence wherever possible, even if that means bringing negativity to the table and trying to put concepts into words we don't quite have the language for.

The first option seems a bit extreme. What's the reasoning behind that? Aren't there more shades in between?

Indeed, there are definitely shades. The issue is, I believe that feeling disappointed in the world is quite self-centred, as it suggests that external factors are supposed to make one feel good. The world does not owe me anything, nor do I naturally merit anything, regardless of whether I do the most amazing things attainable for mankind.

So it's hard for me to understand when others have these expectations and start becoming so bitter. There's an obvious pipeline set up for them to follow once they've decided everyone else is the problem, and that's basically where it leads.

Besides, wanting to solve problems with inequality, resource distribution, national conflict, and so on doesn't require me to personally like the world and everyone in it. However, having apathy towards society or even antagonism towards others based on things that aren't important will change my priorities to become much more self-serving. That's a place I don't want to end up mentally, and that is part of why I emphasise not falling for media sensationalisation.

You seem very sure of who you are and who you want to be. What makes you confident in your beliefs?

I can't say for sure. But the knowledge that I change my stance in response to new information gives me some confidence. Because that means I don't need anxiety over whether or not my current position is correct, as I am not committed to it beyond reason. Combine that with my belief that we should not stop questioning everything, and it seems to work out.

That isn't to say I won't defend what I know as far as I can take it. I also won't simply accept someone else's argument just because they present it in a nice manner — everything still has to pass the gauntlet of questioning. But generally, that's probably how my confidence in my beliefs is able to exist.

And that's all she wrote.

Thanks for attending yet another one of my rambles. See you in the next one.