The first quote is from Alejandro Jodorowsky

“It is heroic for a person to search outward, to open doors to the mind.”

What hits me here is how direct it is. The search is outward. Not deeper into the same internal loop, not another round of self-explaining, but a real movement toward what is outside of me: people, books, work, failure, nature, conversation, disagreement, new environments.

That outward search matters because it questions something we rarely question: the barrier between “me” and “the world.” We often live as if there is a solid wall protecting an identity we built over time. A shell. A story about who we are, what we can handle, what we are allowed to want, what we should avoid. But the world has a way of pressing on that shell.

When that happens, we have a choice. We can say, “The world is wrong for questioning me,” and cling harder to the shell. Or we can ask a harder question: “If reality keeps disagreeing with my identity, what if the identity is the thing that needs to be questioned?” That’s not comfortable, but it’s honest. And it’s a way out of living trapped inside something we built without checking whether it still fits.

The problem is that we don’t always go outward to transform; sometimes we go outward to confirm what we already believe. And that is not the same thing.

The second quote I noted, from an article I read in August 2025 from the Substack “Escaping Flatland,” puts the same idea in sharper, more practical language:

“Collide your mental model with reality as often as possible.”

This adds something important to Jodorowsky’s “search outward.” It’s not only about going out once.

It’s about repetition. Frequency. Rhythm. You don’t test your lens one time and call it growth. You keep bringing it into contact with reality until it either holds up, or it breaks—and then you rebuild.

That line treats thinking like something physical. Like a prototype. You don’t protect it. You stress-test it. You put it in situations where it might fail. And then you ask the simplest, most useful questions: “Does this still make sense?” and “Is this helping me live better?”

Beyond identity, beyond personal quests, beyond motivation and big life stories, what we really operate with are lenses. Perspectives.

So I see three stages in this whole process, and each stage asks for a different kind of courage.

The first stage is simply realizing that mental models exist and that they are actively driving your thoughts and actions. Awareness is the first break in the spell.

The second stage is where people often say, “Take action.” But action alone doesn’t work if you’ve never experienced an alternative model, even for a moment. You need a spark, a brief contact with a different way of seeing, a different way of living, a different way of experiencing yourself.

Without that first glimpse, you can’t reach for what you don’t know exists. You can’t change your lens if you’ve never seen another lens.

That spark can come from reading the right thing at the right time, meeting someone who lives differently, traveling, trying a practice that makes you feel your body again, being in a room where your usual role doesn’t apply, or simply having a conversation that doesn’t let you hide.

The point is not the method. The point is coming into contact with a reality that doesn’t match your default assumptions.

Then comes the third stage, which both quotes point toward: demolish the barrier and step into the outside world for real. This is where you embrace the conflict, the confusion, and the chaos that reality brings. Because reality will bring them.

Discomfort is often the price of an honest update. Confusion can be a sign that the old map no longer matches the territory. Chaos can be the beginning of a new order.

It’s a practice. A rhythm. A repeated willingness to ask: “What if my lens is the issue?” And if that question stays alive, the world stops being something you defend against and starts being the place where you actually become more real.

The session had asked good questions. Whom does hospitality actually serve? What does a host owe a guest, and what does a guest owe the place? I work with the organization that facilitated the conversation, so I was supposed to be on the hosting side of it.

But sitting there, I felt the irony quietly. Athens has been hosting me for a long time now. I know the city’s streets and corners, as the city knows my habits and routes. I was listening to a conversation about guests while being, in some durable sense, one myself.

Two days later I boarded a plane to Isparta.

Isparta is a town in inland Türkiye with no particular reason to appear in anyone’s itinerary, obscured by the closer and more touristic Antalya and Ankara. I am writing this from here now, through a series of fortuitous and unexpected coincidences, as I usually like it to happen.

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be genuinely a stranger somewhere, a xenos. Someone from elsewhere, without context, dependent on the goodwill of others. What the Greeks understood, and what I’ve felt most acutely traveling through the Mediterranean and Asia, is that the stranger deserves a particular kind of care, also called philo-xenia. The door opened for you. The best cut of whatever is on the table. The constant quiet question: do you need anything else?

What is offered might sometimes seem modest to a European eye. But small gestures always carry more than they appear, centuries of a culture of hospitality expressed through detail.

Each time I travel far and someone treats me this way, I feel caught by surprise. I don’t know how to receive it. My instinct is to make myself smaller, less of a burden. But that, I came to understand, is wrong. To receive hospitality fully, you have to surrender the performance, and celebrate with the host their generous offering.

Being welcomed is a call for humbleness and acceptance. It is a surrender to the idea that in the chaos a hand will always be extended.

And something opens in you as a result. Not pride, something quieter. The recognition that you mean something to someone, that you carry value simply by showing up in their lives. And with it, one cannot help but feel blessed with each step taken.

The panel I attended in Athens asked whom hospitality serves. I think the honest answer is: it serves the guest most when the guest agrees to be one. Completely. Without negotiating the terms.

And as I see that becoming a common denominator while traveling, the attitude I am developing is that in the absence of a comfort zone, the world itself becomes home.

To be welcomed requires a leap of faith, an abandoning of yourself to the other, a trust in human goodness. It is an attitude that wants to be practiced, something completely at odds with a more consumeristic-western life, where if you don’t get what you want immediately, anxiety arrives and trust quietly leaves.

And if it doesn’t happen, I sit down and wait.

Anthony Bourdain, in his travels through the world’s kitchens, is often portrayed doing exactly that: just sitting, watching, letting the place come to him. Like him, I just wait to find, or be found by, someone willing to invite me into their life story through food.

So that when I meet the stranger, I feel at home. When I am completely a stranger, I feel free.

This piece was written in conversation with Claude. He wanted to cut more. I didn’t let him.

The world might not be ending anytime soon, despite centuries of doomsday predictions, but it certainly feels like everything is speeding up.

Its pulse is set by the rhythm of news, podcasts, reels, TikToks, articles, newsletters, chats, updates, announcements, and releases that jam the visual and auditory senses through screens and commentaries.

It's enticing to be carried by the fast flow. And at every new beep, the hunger for more and more content gains the upper hand. Until it becomes routine, an extension of your brain and thumbs.

There is too much to keep up with, and rather than exiting the game, we try to rush, compelled to keep up with as much content as we can absorb, in a self-defeating challenge against the algorithm.

You live for the noise, and you rejoice in the noise, endlessly self-perpetuating its reverb.

Anxiety, nostalgia, loss of contact with reality, loss of creativity, and forgetfulness take place, forgetting that this all is not necessary, and what feels like necessity is in reality an undiagnosed addiction.

Overwhem machines

I always keep in mind this quote from the American author Henry David Thoreau: "Read not the Times. Read the Eternities."

There's no categorical imperative that mandates passively receiving all of this indistinguishable mass of noise, a mental load of billboards reclaiming our attention at multiple moments in time.

And if you try to join as a noise generator to make your voice heard, there's a high chance you'll just be adding fuel to a world of content bubbles and Manichean principles rather than breaking the cycle of polarization and restoring equanimity.

A few weeks ago, while reflecting on this quote, I decided to try a small experiment (also taking advantage of a sudden career change) and to take a break from most of the social media and news outlets.

What I discovered is that I couldn't notice I was living under a bad mood dome.

Remembering and reflecting on whatever I was exposed to on the screen for a few seconds or minutes, even if it had no relevance to my current situation, had the sole effect of building up my anger or overload or wasting time.

As I stopped doing so, I clearly understood I don't need this exposure on a daily basis. And that actually there's no need to fear missing out, because if something is really important, there's a high chance someone else will let me know about it.

Now whenever my friends tell me that Trump is doing this or that and how he is changing his mind ten times in a row, I'm glad I don't have to process all of that in the course of a few days. Somehow, I feel the actual privilege of extracting myself from narratives to which I don't have anything to offer if not a short-lived cycle of shock, indignation, fear, doubt, resignation, and acceptance.

I can just concentrate on my life where it happens, on the thoughts of my favorite bloggers and authors, and on falling into the rabbit hole whenever I feel so.

For instance, I can dedicate serious time to studying cooking recipes without feeling like I am missing out on something. Recipes do not change; you can't miss the train with that. The same goes for health information or with novels. Or again with psychology and mythology.

It's done; it isn't going to change tomorrow if I don't check the phone. Yet, they all have the power to change me.

And if I have to interact with the noise, I can allow myself to be updated on specific industry updates because I don't care about the rest.

In the weeks following this experiment, I could experience a higher mental clarity. This manifested itself in being able to carry out major mental work for longer stretches of time and in enhanced social cues awareness during conversations.

Also, probably as compensation for reduced stimuli, in the first weeks I experienced increased mental production of ideas and reflections, but also of random material, tunes, images, fractals, and awareness of physical sensations.

Sure, social media and the news creep out like water from broken pipes everywhere. I can't negate the fact that after the first weeks I've been less consistent with the experiment. I automatically started seeking new information on other socials like YouTube while having lunch or scrolling mindlessly through industry-specific blogs just to find something that could give me some dopamine reward.

Yet, I think the highest change I saw was in being able to take a step back, distancing myself from the day-to-day stream, and starting to observe, reflect, and taking note of loops in my thought and behavior that I wasn't fully aware of.

Then, the real exploration started.

"To be modern is to experience personal and social life as a maelstrom, to find one’s world and oneself in perpetual disintegration and renewal, trouble and anguish, ambiguity and contradiction: to be part of a universe in which all that is solid melts into air.”

— Superstructures, Notes on the Experimental Jetset / Volume 2

When I first read this quote from an article by Reggie James, I couldn't stop thinking about how clearly it described our current circumstances. To live every second on the fine line between a devouring, noisy madness and the promise of a purifying rebirth to a deeper and more authentic self and society.

Yet, once mapped the territory, how to cross it? Once we accept modernity as it is, how do we adapt ourselves to be okay living it the way it is?

It won't take much before a new cohort of pupils will discover that the world outside isn't pre-ordered by hidden rules when all the rest of the world is unprepared to give alternatives, or worse, pretends nothing extraordinary is happening.

This comes as no surprise. After more than one hundred years, we still fail to grapple with the repercussions of the theory of relativity in our interpretation of reality. Not to mention all those illuminating teachings of the ancients on human consciousness.

Somehow, all that hard-gained knowledge that is not useful in practical terms struggles to pass through generations. We repetitively fail to overome default biases that do not serve us anymore and that turn history into a repetitive pattern of glorious creation and inexorable destruction.

But times are changing very fast. The last 150 years look significantly different than the previous 10.000, and if this exponential trend continues, predicting the next 50 can become an arduous exercise of imagination.

Swimming lessons

To live in this time, which feels less and less human, proposed to “Give a method to the madness.”

Let's define the main principles of this method.

We are seeking a solution that doesn't disintegrate all the human values, eternal lessons, and ethics that we've built in the last ten thousand years in a pure Nietzschean way.

Yet, we want to start discarding everything that is of no use to a fluid, purposeless, noisy modernity. All the old luggage we carry on because they told us it was essential. Superstitions, habits, beliefs, prejudices, common sense, way of doing, proverbs, emotional patterns, and everything else that thinking twice about it oddly smells of anacronistic nostalgia, and rather than pushing us forward, just carry us back to square one.

Continuing the initial quote from Superstructures, we find a glimpse of the answer:

"To be a modernist is to make oneself somehow at home in the maelstrom, to make its rhythms one’s own, to move within its currents in search of the forms of reality, of beauty, of freedom, of justice."

It's a great metaphor to just try to float on the current as the waves go up and down, sometimes placidly, other times frenetically. That’s the water.

Similarly, it resembles an old lyrics from Brunori Sas: "Living, like swimming,
can only be done by floating on the surface of the sea."

To live floating doesn't have to be hard.

Too much anxiety or attachment to nostalgic ideals, unnecessary baggage, and you'll be drawn. Too much daydreaming, and you will take off in an attempt to escape the Maelstrom.

And if even an ordinary Michael Scott from The Office, as clueless as he is, just floats masterfully across the chaos that he self-perpetuates by just being himself, so you can too.

To float is to be as elegant as water striders.

It's a blissful state of equilibrium that once embraced opens up to unexpected appreciations, including an embodied appreciation for quantum physics, Zen insights, incoherences, coincidences, and seemingly unconcilable dichotomies.

Realities marketplaces

Whenever I have the chance to visit Patra, I really enjoy passing by an enormous mural titled “In Chaos Find Joy.”

Created in 2023 for the 8th International Street Art Festival of Patras by the Greek artist Soteur and The Flying Dolphins, it’s like a huge billboard, reminding me that finding joy in chaos should be the default mood, and that it isn't that bad to swirl on the surface of things.

In chaos, there are no strict rules. Only a few basic ones not to get yourself killed or irreparably detested by the world. The rest is relative to your desires.

So to float, to live modernity in the best way possible, becomes a game of learning the basic rules, discovering the ones that most belong to you, and saying no to any offer coming from pushy reality-scammers.

Learning the basic rules is probably the easiest one. It is to open the ears, read a lot, distill the signal, and question even more.

To say no to scammers is to stop joining realities marketplaces where you could get home with expensive counterfeit realities, ideologies, behaviors, narratives, and desires at the cost of yours, and to question whether you have already accepted others' as yours in moments of weakness.

To discover the rules you want to follow and to listen to one's desires is where the epic adventure starts. When the baseline is set and the unnecessary has been thrown away, that discomfortable emptiness of "so what's next" is what you want to linger in.

It's exactly when you are being pushed in the corner that you must learn the hard way, and in circumscribing the shape of your amorphous desires, you can turn them into your personal, unique lifesaver.

Alma Thomas, Starry Night and the Astronauts, 1972

Last week I went to my favorite photography shop to get some new film for a vintage camera I love experimenting with.

The owner started talking about the role of Renaissance paintings and classical composition in better understanding light and shadows in photography.

He also mentioned the movie Il vangelo secondo Matteo of Pier Paolo Pasolini. Across the bitter rural reality among the Sassi di Matera, the raw and simple life of its inhabitants transpired across the magistral use of the light.

In no time the conversation turned to more thought-provoking ground, that is, the importance of materializing one's beliefs and dreams in reality. Or, in more religious terms, incarnating one's faith and bringing the living spirit into the physical realm.

He concluded, starting that when one incarnates faith into actions, change can happen.

uncharted paths, unimagined futures

This insight, which came back multiple times in my readings during this time of the year—when the Winter Solstice, Christmas, and New Year meet all in December—planted a seed of reflection that kept my mind busy for quite a while.

The message of an inner transformation determining an external manifestation of events cannot simply be dismissed and reduced to the law of attraction, which decades of cheap self-help literature polluted with its original insights.

Rather, it's a possibility in life that sooner or later becomes a viable way of thinking. It mostly happens probably slowly at the beginning, imperceptibly, and then all of a sudden.

The fine chain between attitudes, desires, intention, action, and results starts to make sense, and one becomes aware of its ability to influence this vicious or virtuous circle.

And that is transformational because it opens uncharted paths to unimagined futures.

hold fast!

I have this theory that decades of fragmentation of religious realities in favor of fleeting experiences have hardly succeeded in filling the void of meaning. Rather than helping reconnect with something truer and deeper, it has put into a relativistic perspective any inner movement that could have to do with faith.

Even on ourselves.

We live overstimulated and grow up with negative stories we keep telling ourselves every second since we wake up (if we're lucky not to be dreaming of some traumatic experiences as well during the sleep).

We often fail to realize how these keep pushing us down whenever we raise our heads above the level of our routines and see the bigger picture of our existence and try to remember that when we come back down to earth.

Forgetful that life is mostly dictated by perceptions and beliefs, in a hypothetically meaningless world it's up to us to give it any meaning we prefer, consciously or mistakenly.

The truth is, holding fast to self-compassion and acceptance in a full, unrestrained way unlocks doors to significant transformations.

Sometimes it comes in the form of a cringe thought; other times it takes the shape of a fresh, welcomed shift in perspectives that brings fresher sensations.

It's counterintuitive because it's a change in unconscious expectations, a deep reprogramming in process that slashes default insecurities and resistances to action.

Becoming aware of inner resistances while reminding that no matter what, unconditionally, you'll stand by your side, these drops, all of a sudden, like water flowing away.

They drop as artificially created.

They drop as someone else put them there to block you behind your back.

as to you, so to myself

If the golden rule states that you should love the others as you love yourself, then the inverted equation must be true as well.

That you should love yourself as you love the others.

In the same way you come to console a poor friend unreasonably doubting themselves, you should have the same urgency to console your ego in the moments of difficulty and dread. As outside, so inside.

By holding this belief strong in mind, we can gain what so many are looking for.

It feels like anything that you want can be achieved, not because the path towards dreams changes in your favor, but because you get rid of needless pressures that existed solely in your mind.

From my perspective, I gain from the loss of a frenetic and unsatisfactory chase to some sort of nostalgic moments and unsatisfied-yet-undefined desires.

My strenuous search is concluded the moment I drop the ball, the moment I drop the belief that I need to do everything, I need to do it now, and instead I start believing that the change is already happening even if I'm not running faster.

And in going slower I can rediscover the meaning of leisure and recovery and how wrong I was mistaking it for overindulgence.

Introduction

With the approval on March 13, 2024, of the AI Act, the European Union has demonstrated its readiness to deal with emerging technological trends and interest in becoming the driving force for the safe development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) at the global level.

In this framework, EU Member States are in the unique position of designing their own AI future within the safety ranges agreed at Union level. As AI presents both opportunities and challenges that push policymakers and the entire society to evolve to address its enormous implications, it becomes imperative to get a clearer perspective on the path that each European country is taking. Italy, in particular, plays an emerging proactive role shaped by its unique social, cultural, economic and historical profile and the policy priorities of its governments.

This post intends to provide a general overview of the Italian AI policy context within the lenses of AI governance and safety. Emphasis will be given to presenting the goals and content of the most recent initiatives at the national and international level that the current government has undertaken. Attention will also be drawn to describing the role of the most relevant actors that, directly or indirectly, are shaping AI policy-making in Italy. This overview is instrumental in helping to identify the key trends, challenges, and opportunities ahead that will mostly be part of the Italian AI agenda in the years to come.

A Rising Player in the Global AI Landscape

Italy is a distinctive player in AI policy-making, particularly known for its recent initiatives and efforts towards developing effective regulations at the global level. The country has garnered attention for its involvement in the international AI landscape through various means, shedding light on the growing interest and concerns of its government and national players over this technology.

In the last few years there have been several notable instances where Italian institutions have tested the extent of their power to protect national interests against emerging AI threats or to seize unique opportunities. 

In 2023, Itay implemented a temporary ban on access to ChatGPT within its borders—the only G7 nation to do so and following countries like Russia, China, Syria, Cuba, and Iran. In this specific case, the Italian Privacy Guarantor raised concerns regarding data collection by OpenAI, the parent of ChatGPT, because of the lack of transparency towards users and stakeholders. Additionally, there was criticism due to the absence of a legal framework to support the extensive collection and storage of personal data for training purposes, as well as a lack of measures to verify the age of minors. Subsequent actions were taken to address the authority's recommendations outlined in the directive, and about one month later, ChatGPT was again available to Italian users.

Likewise, Italian institutions have made multiple attempts to establish Italy as a key AI governance player. During the last G7 summit, Italy strongly advocated for the establishment of governance mechanisms for AI, and a speech from Pope Francis further emphasized the need for reflecting on the ethical considerations involved in this technology. The event boosted Italy's role as a solid and visionary leader in the field of AI, taking also into consideration that a few days before the summit, the 2024 European elections officially reconfirmed Giorgia Meloni's government, while also putting into question the ones led by Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron.

This trend was further confirmed with the submission of the first legislative proposal by a Member State to adopt the provisions of the new EU AI Act (approved on March 13, 2024, by the European Parliament) on May 3, 2024. 

While the bill has yet to go through parliamentary scrutiny, these elements demonstrate a unique political dynamism that further enhances Italy's ability to stretch its soft and hard powers and establish itself as a regional (and potentially global) AI leader. Italy’s ability to show high sensibility as far as human-centered approaches are concerned and to adopt a more pragmatic, ethical, and distinctive approach compared to the other regional players and the EU, has made it an object of global attention and scrutiny.

AI Governance Landscape

A complete understanding of the Italian AI agenda-setting and policy-making in recent years would not be complete without considering the key authorities, institutions, and entities responsible for it. What follows is an overview of the AI governance ecosystem at play in Italy, with a focus on some key actors that, sometimes surprisingly, are shaping the way Italy will embark on an “AI Renaissance.”

In terms of agenda setting, decision-making, implementation, and monitoring, the following institutions are direct expressions of the government's will to establish frameworks, standards, and strategies to better drive the unfolding AI transformation:

• The Council of Ministers, which represents the highest governing body of the Government,

• The Ministry for Business and Made in Italy (previously Ministry for Economic Development),

• The Ministry of University and Research,

• The Department for Digital Transformation, which is lead by the Prime Minister's Office and is responsible for setting policies for implementing digital transformation programs,

• The Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), which operates within the Department for Digital Transformation to ensure the implementation of the goals of the Italian Digital Agenda.

• The Agency for National Cybersecurity (ACN), in charge of protecting national interests in the field of cybersecurity. 

Additionally, the Data Protection Authority (GPDP), an administrative authority independent from the Government, has expressed its interest in leading the AI policy discourse, especially concerning the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in the processing of personal data.

Beyond these few institutions, the Italian AI ecosystem includes a diverse array of stakeholders that have a certain degree of say in the definition of AI laws and strategies. National scientific research associations like AIxIA and I3A play pivotal roles in advancing AI innovations, alongside public research centers such as the National Research Council (CNR) and cutting-edge infrastructures like CINECA-INFN and CNR's HP-AI Center. Moreover, initiatives like Digital Innovation Hubs by Confindustria and Punti Impresa Digitale by Italian Chambers of Commerce cluster under their umbrellas a growing number of AI-focused startups and university spin-offs that drive the country's effort on developing frontier technologies.

The Council of Ministers - Legislature XIX

Taking into consideration the most recent endeavors of the current Government to take a regional and international role, it's worth questioning its perspective and vision on AI. 

The current Italian Government is composed of a coalition of the three major Italian right-wing parties: Fratelli d’Italia, Lega, and Forza Italia. It is represented by Fratelli d’Italia party leader President Giorgia Meloni. Since at the 2024 EU elections all three parties have presented a detailed electoral program, it is possible to take a closer look at their goals and long-term vision as far as AI is concerned.

For Fratelli d’Italia, the coalition's leading party, the priorities are to harness the opportunities presented by AI, mitigate its risks, and prioritize human centrality without hindering AI's development and potential. The role of Europe is highlighted as a leader in managing the transformative impact of AI systems. The party proposes the establishment of a European control room that will oversee the political and social changes induced by AI, and analyze risk factors, while safeguarding jobs, fundamental human rights, and intellectual property. Additionally, strong emphasis is given to supporting companies that invest in AI research, development, and implementation and directing European funds to create a joint research and development hub for AI technologies to ensure Europe remains competitive. Finally, implementing digital literacy campaigns and updating intellectual property protection instruments and copyright laws are mentioned to better adapt to the changes brought about by digital progress.

Forza Italia’s program touches on similar points, emphasizing that AI should serve humanity by managing the digital revolution, regulating associated risks, accelerating research and development investments, and promoting innovation. Yet, differently from Fratelli d’Italia, this program doesn’t have a specific section on AI. Instead, it mentions it within the framework of "freedom of enterprise" and "competitiveness." For example, the party calls for sharing financial information and developing uniform fiscal rules to prevent companies from artificially reducing their tax liabilities. Additionally, Forza Italia understates the role of these technologies in supporting vulnerable groups and older people.

Finally, quite surprisingly, given the rising trend of AI in politics, the Lega program for the European elections does not include specific guidelines regarding AI.

These various attitudes and perspectives ultimately aligned to drive a significant institutional effort to shape the discussion around AI Governance. This alignment is also evident in the development of the forthcoming 2024–2026 strategy and the 2024 bill, both of which will be further explored in this post.

The Holy See

Continuing on the analysis of key players affecting AI policy-making in Italy, the Holy See is a prominent actor that should be analyzed in detail. Indeed, while representing a small independent state within the city of Rome, the Holy See has an enormous influence on not only Italian politics but global politics as well. 

As previously mentioned, at the recent G7 summit in Italy, the Holy See played a special role in navigating the conversation around AI. Indeed, the participation of Pope Francis provided a valuable opportunity to present the Vatican's perspective and approach towards current technological advancements while attempting to validate itself as a key institution to be heard in the national and international AI landscape.

In order to understand Pope Francis' significant interest in AI topics, it is necessary to consider his pontificate as a whole. Beginning with his focus on the migrant crisis, followed by his attention to environmental issues, and now turning to AI, Pope Francis consistently engages with pivotal issues at the forefront of global discourse. His approach involves assessing the direction in which humanity is progressing and proactively addressing future challenges with world leaders.

The Holy See is motivated by a pressing concern that technology might exacerbate societal inequalities by allowing market players to capitalize on human vulnerabilities and prioritize profit over human well-being. Furthermore, the Holy See is closely addressing the possibility of algorithms influencing personal choices and posing a threat to individual identities (and souls). The Vatican aims to raise awareness about the need to set ethical boundaries in technological development and ensure that advancements align with human values and principles.

The participation of the Holy See in the G7 summit has roots in a set of previous initiatives, most notably the “2020 Rome Call for AI Ethics.” During that time, along with notable organizations such as Microsoft, IBM, FAO, and the Italian Ministry of Innovation, Vatican representatives signed a call to advocate for the establishment of common ethical guidelines for the advancement of AI technology and to create technologies that enhance rather than replace human capabilities. The success of the first edition led to the second one in 2023, titled “AI Ethics: An Abrahamic Commitment to the Rome Call.” Its purpose was to encourage Jewish and Muslim religious leaders to join the call and thus expand interfaith cooperation on this matter.

The leading institution involved by the Holy See on these matters is the Pontifical Academy for Life (Pontificia accademia per la vita), established by Pope John Paul II in 1994 to oversee frontier scientific developments and promote and defend human life. Within the Pontifical Academy, in 2021, Pope Francis established the RenAIssance Foundation to support the Rome Call and promote the “anthropological and ethical reflection of new technologies on human life.”

Over the last few years, RenAIssance Foundation scientific director Prof. Paolo Benanti has become a prominent figure in the Italian AI landscape, notably for being the only priest and theologian to chair the National Commission on Artificial Intelligence (part of the Department for Information and Publishing). Moreover, Prof. Benanti, beyond being an extraordinary professor of ethics of technology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, is one of the 39 members of the New Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board of the United Nations. He is most credited with the concept of "algoethics," the application of ethical principles and values to algorithms. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni further stressed the need for a significant debate around this concept in a recent speech at the 78th United Nations General Assembly.

Due to a longstanding relationship between the Holy See and the Italian Republic, mapped by both contrasts and alliances across decades, it is noteworthy to highlight the alignment of intents and the reciprocal support in an unexpected field such as AI.

This collaboration, based on the promotion of ethical principles rooted in Christian-Humanistic values, is offering significant advantages for both sides.

The invitation and support shown by the Italian presidency of the G7 summit to the Holy See has fostered media attention and significantly projected the core principles of the Vatican to the attention of global leaders and major tech companies.

In turn, the Holy See strengthened Italy's global reputation as a leading interlocutor on AI ethics and governance and, presumably, brought part of the Catholic Christian electorate closer to the Meloni Government’s agenda.

Evolution of AI Strategies (2018-2024)

Over the last few years, Italian institutions, under the guidance of different governments, have developed a wide set of strategies to guide the development, regulation, and adoption of AI technologies. 

Intending to provide a clear understanding of the strategic vision of the country, what follows is a short compilation of the most pertinent strategic plans, accompanied by brief descriptions. Even if some of these initiatives are now outdated due to the rapidly advancing nature of AI technology, the benefits of a general overview of the national policy landscape will help identify patterns and intuit how emerging trends and challenges have subsequently been addressed.

Artificial Intelligence at the service of citizens - Agency for Digital Italy (AGID) (2018) 

Based on the work done by the AI Task Force of the Digital Italy Agency, this document represents a milestone in the Italian policy landscape at the time, as it is the first document to address AI in public administrations. It includes recommendations on how to adopt AI technologies to achieve more efficient and citizen-friendly services in schools, healthcare facilities, municipalities, courts, ministries, and so on.

Strategia Nazionale per l’Intelligenza Artificiale ‘National Strategy for AI’ - Italian Ministry for Economic Development (2020)

The document outlines a detailed plan to enable Italy to participate in the international AI context. Key objectives include boosting competition in the private sector, modernizing the public administration, empowering citizens, developing key competencies, improving access to data, and establishing investments for growth and governance.

The document opens with an emphasis on how “AI must be at the service of people” to avoid the further exacerbation of social and territorial imbalances. The key principles to guide the strategy and any related actions are anthropocentrism, reliability, and sustainability.

AI for future Italy -  National Interuniversity Consortium for Informatics (CINI) (2020)

This document, developed by the CINI National Lab in Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems (CINI-AIIS), examines the potential impact of AI research in the national ecosystem and proposes recommendations to address strategic and societal challenges by enhancing Italian research and technology capabilities in the academic and industrial fields.

The paper emphasizes some key recommendations that will become a recurring theme across subsequent policies, such as:

• The definition of a central authority in this document, “National Coordination Center of AI in Italy,"  which is directly linked to the leading executive power,

• The establishment of a national AI flagship research project,

• The creation of an education plan for a solid culture of AI at all levels of education,

• The launch of talent recruitment initiatives to increase the AI research workforce and counteract the phenomenon of brain drain,

• The creation of a national AI infrastructure.

Strategy for Technological Innovation and Digitalization of the Country 2025 - Agency for Digital Italy (AGID) (2020)

This strategy developed by AGID includes AI as one of the key fields to sustain the path of digitization, innovation, and sustainable development within the country.

Structured around 20 actions, the strategy proposes the use of AI applications to manage administrative procedures and services, with a focus on the justice sector (Action 8). In addition, it advocates for the creation of an "Alliance for Sustainable Artificial Intelligence," a committee of public and private entities, whose goal is to establish an ethical-legal statute for AI (Action 17). The statute will establish a set of minimum rules for the ethical-legal qualification of AI solutions for public and private use (the so-called “AI ethical LAB-EL”).

It is crucial to highlight that this strategy clearly presents what has become the current dominant narrative on AI in Italy. In direct connection with its sociocultural roots, AI is considered to be the means towards “AI humanism,"  a new “digital renaissance” where humans are put at the core of these technological transformations. In this perspective, rather than adopting a "move fast and break things” approach, Italy must develop a socially, culturally, and democratically sustainable AI based on culturally and historically established values.

Strategic Programme on Artificial Intelligence 2022 - 2024 - Agency for Digital Italy (AGID) (2022)

Drafted by a team of appointed experts, the Strategic Program 2022-2024 includes a set of six goals to turn Italy into a regional AI hub:

1. Promote frontier research in AI and encourage a multidisciplinary approach;

2. Reduce the fragmentation of AI research to achieve critical mass through collaboration;

3. Develop and adopt reliable, human-centered AI in the public and private sectors;

4. Strengthen AI-based innovation through investment and industry partnerships and facilitate business adoption;

5. Develop AI-oriented policies and services in the public sector;

6. Create, retain, and attract AI talent in Italy.

As far as governance is concerned, the strategy sought to prevent the practical challenge of establishing a national AI authority by proposing a less ambitious “Permanent Steering Group on AI” to become part of the Interministerial Committee for Digital Transition (CiTD), part of the Prime Minister's Office.

When it comes to ethics and safety, the strategy highlights four key ethical issues: respect for individual autonomy, harm prevention, fairness, and explainability. It was designed in alignment with the 2019 "Ethical Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence" set forth by the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on AI. The Strategy also considers the inclusion of companies from disadvantaged regions, advocates for increased female participation in the AI sector, and supports alignment with all AI policies related to data processing, aggregation, sharing, exchange, and security.

Italian Strategy on Artificial Intelligence 2024-2026 - Agency for Digital Italy (AGID) (2024)

The previously mentioned strategy, set to conclude in 2024, is being replaced by a new document developed by the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID) and the Department for Digital Transformation of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. For this purpose, a specialized committee of 13 experts, including the previously mentioned Prof. Paolo Benanti, has been established to draft this new plan.

Only a 10-page summary of the strategy has been released. However, this influential document outlines a set of key actions that will drive Italy’s AI efforts for the next three years. Below is a summary of the proposed actions. 

Scientific Research

• Enhance scientific research efforts through investment in fundamental and blue-sky research, with a focus on promoting ecological, social, ethical, and legal sustainability,
• Prioritize international partnerships and talent attraction in the field of AI,

• Invest in practical research to address specific requirements, through public-private collaborations that comply with EU regulations,
• Foresee the creation of three key national multimodal LMMs.

Public Administration

• Revitalize administrative procedures and spearhead national initiatives, 

• Allow room for individual administrations to customize AI solutions for enhanced operational efficiency, 

• Establishing parameters for governmental procurement processes,

• Improve access to public services through AI technologies to optimize effectiveness, safeguard citizens' rights, ensure technology neutrality, and foster the use of public over proprietary solutions.

Enterprises 

• Promote Italian business innovation by fostering the adoption of AI technology solutions,

• Invest in the start-up ecosystem to sustain AI development,

• Foster relationships with universities and research institutions to establish fruitful partnerships.

Education

• Encourage the establishment of University programs focused on AI to cultivate technical and research expertise,

• Establish a national doctoral program on AI,

• Integrate AI into all levels of education to promote digital literacy and bridge the digital divide,

• Prioritize workforce upskilling and reskilling in both the public and private sectors.

Enabling Infrastructure

• Establish and strengthen enabling infrastructures,

 • Allocate resources for a national data repository.

Execution and Monitoring

• Establish an Artificial Intelligence Foundation within the Prime Minister's Office to oversee strategic initiatives.

While the executive summary provides a glimpse of the future AI Strategy, it also helps provide insight into Italy's AI future, based on lessons-learnt, recent technological advancements, and upcoming challenges. 

A Step Forward - Bill No.1066AS

On April 23, 2024, the Council of Ministers published a bill entitled “Regulations for the development and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies” (full text here), marking a significant milestone in the Italian AI policy-making.

Differently from the previously described strategies, the Bill No. 1066AS demonstrates a significant legislative effort by the Government to concretize some of its visions and circumscribe a clear regulatory field for the country.

The Bill intends to harmonize national legislation with the AI Act within a year of its enactment. While the EU AI Act serves as a policy framework, individual countries have the opportunity to delineate their own path for advancing, ensuring safety, and overseeing the use of AI technology, in line with their own specific needs and characteristics.

Even if there are several already existing laws in Italy affecting the development and adoption of AI (such as GDPR, or competition laws), the Bill is the first real attempt to regulate the field of AI across various sectors while putting the core values of the EU AI Act at the center.

Structured in 26 articles, the bill serves as a foundational document for both Italy and other regional players that paves the way for the development and implementation of future AI policies. In this section, its core aspects will be briefly presented.

Core Principles

The first articles of the Bill present the core guiding principles for AI. These include the principles of fairness, reliability, safety, quality, appropriateness, and transparency, as well as human autonomy and decision-making power and the absence of any form of discrimination or bias.

Fundamental rights and freedoms provided by the Constitution and European Union law (Art. 3) must be ensured throughout the life cycle of AI systems, and lawful, correct, and transparent processing of personal data must take place (Art. 4). The Bill aims to promote a responsible and anthropocentric use of AI, in which human critical thinking must always take precedence over the use of AI tools.

National Defence

The Bill does not include regulations regarding the adoption of AI for cybersecurity and national defense. The definition of how AI-related activities are to be carried out in these areas is deferred to a future regulation.

However, it specifies that the development of AI systems and models must be carried out per the principles already mentioned. Additionally, Art. 16 assigns the National Cybersecurity Agency the task of promoting and developing initiatives, including public-private partnerships, for the use of AI for the improvement of national cybersecurity.

Healthcare

Art. 7 states that the use of AI in the healthcare system should be adopted to improve the prevention and treatment of disease while respecting personal rights and freedoms. It is emphasized that AI systems should support, but not replace, the decisions of physicians.

Art. 9 foresees the creation of an AI platform to offer support to healthcare professionals, provide non-binding suggestions to physicians, and allow users to better access healthcare services. The development, implementation, deployment, and ownership of this platform will be overseen by the National Agency for Regional Health Services.

Workplace

Art. 10 stipulates that AI must be used to improve working conditions, protect the mental and physical integrity of workers, and increase the quality of work performance and productivity. In addition, its adoption must ensure respect for the inviolable rights of workers and prevent discrimination in accordance with European Union law.

The establishment of an Observatory for the adoption of AI systems in the workplace is foreseen in Art. 11, to help define a common strategy, monitor the impact of AI on the labor market, and identify the sectors most affected by the introduction of AI solutions.

Justice and Penal dispositions

According to Art. 14, the use of AI for the organization and simplification of judicial work must be limited; the interpretation of the law, evaluating facts and evidence, and the adoption of measures must be exclusively taken by magistrates without the direct involvement of AI systems.

Additionally, several regulatory provisions related to the use of AI systems in criminal matters are introduced in Art. 25, which provides a general aggravating circumstance for crimes committed through the use of AI. It also establishes a new specific offense for the unlawful distribution of AI-generated or manipulated content (with reclusion for up to 5 years). 

Governance

According to Art. 18, the Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers will guide the strategy for technological innovation and digital transition, with oversight from the Interministerial Committee for Digital Transition, while the implementation will be monitored by the Department, AgID, and the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN). 

There is debate over which authority should oversee the implementation of AI policies, with AgID and ACN being considered for their expertise on the matter. However, the Italian Data Protection Authority is advocating for a single, independent supervisory authority for both AI and data protection, emphasizing this in a letter to the Italian Parliament.

Public Procurement

The Italian government can influence technological development and help the adoption of standards through the establishment of guidelines for the procurement of goods and services.ù

Art. 13 explicitly mentions that AI shall be used to increase efficiency, reduce time, and improve the quality and quantity of services provided. The bill also foresees the experimental application of AI to the services provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Art. 19) for a total foreseen expense of €600,000 i for the implementation of experimental projects in 2025-2026. Additionally, the Bill proposes the potential adoption of AI to enhance healthcare industry technologies (Art. 9). A wide range of healthcare activities are addressed, including diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, prevention, medical studies, and research. 

Education and Workforce Development

Several dispositions are introduced to foster the use and development of AI technologies in various sectors.

According to Art. 13, governments must ensure adequate training and skill development for human operators. Additionally, Art. 22 proposes a series of initiatives to promote literacy and training in the use of AI systems. This includes the creation of both generic and specific educational pathways for professionals and practitioners in the field, and it aims to enhance STEM skills in schools and universities. Finally, the Observatory mentioned in Art. 11 will also promote the training of workers and employers in AI.

Immigration Policy

Italy can strengthen its position in the field of AI on a global scale by strategically managing the entry of technologists and scientists into its territory.

Art. 20 focuses on tools to support the repatriation of researchers working in the field of AI. They are required to have a high qualification or specialization in the field of AI and deep learning technologies, a policy already put in place for other specializations. Such experts will have access to the concessional tax regime.  Specifically, the bill provides for a 50% tax base on income produced for workers who transfer residence to the state territory.

Entrepreneurship

Art. 21 foresees investments for a maximum amount of €1 billion in the fields of AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing in telecommunications and enabling technologies. The goal is to foster the development, growth, and consolidation of companies operating in these sectors. Recipients of this investment are innovative Italian companies that are in the experimental, start-up, or product development phases of such technologies.

The adopted investment mechanism will be based on resources available via CDP Venture Capital S.p.A., the National Innovation Fund. Investments will be made by taking equity stakes in venture capital, either directly or indirectly. Investors will include the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, AgID, and ACN.

According to CDP Venture Capital Sgr. Industrial Plan 2024-2028, the sum will be distributed according to the following:

• €120 million will be directed to technology transfer via small investments of about €100,000–€300,000.

• €580 million will target startups that are already developing AI applications, with an investment of about €10 million each.

• €300 million will be used to fund a maximum of three strategic projects (the so-called “National Champions,"  supposedly advanced LLMs) that will give the country the capability to play a significant role in the international landscape.

Copyright

Important changes to regulate the use of AI systems in audiovisual media services are introduced in the Bill.

Art. 23 stipulates that providers must clearly inform users if informational content has been altered or created with AI by including a visible identifying sign (label) at the beginning, end, and each reprise of the program. Video-sharing platforms are also expected to take protective measures for minors and the general public against content generated or altered by AI.

At the same time, Art. 24 mentions that, while protected intellectual works must be of human origin, protection for AI-generated works is recognized, provided that the contribution of AI tools is part of a process guided by the human intellect.

AI Policy Priorities

Concluding with the overview of AI strategies and the proposed AI law, it is possible to attempt to draw some general lines on the main AI policy priorities for the country.

Italy, as well as other players, aims above all to foster a healthy national innovation ecosystem that can make it an international hub for technological excellence and to ensure that the benefits of AI technologies trickle down to every single sector of society. 

To achieve this goal, Italian governments are first and foremost placing a strong emphasis on promoting entrepreneurship and facilitating the growth and adoption of new AI technologies across the entire ecosystem. This is an approach tailored to the country’s peculiar business environment, consisting of thousands of SMEs that form its economic backbone. Likewise, ample space seems to be given to initiatives aimed at solving the structural problem of attracting and retaining skilled professionals capable of developing and managing a growing AI infrastructure and solutions. 

Significant efforts are being made to improve technology transfer by increasing collaboration among all actors to achieve critical mass. The attempt to converge national resources for the creation of flagship projects is a reaction to the current fragmentation that prevents the achievement of a more significant global role. In addition, the emphasis on modernizing public administration as a driver of innovation, through procurement or funding, is instrumental in pushing resources and innovation toward desired goals.

In the area of national security, while hardly mentioned, it is possible to assume that Italy will seek to play a leading role through other initiatives. The country could promote the strengthening of its own strategic infrastructure while enhancing collaboration with NATO members to ensure threat monitoring, compliance with chip export controls, and strengthening cybersecurity efforts.

When it comes to advancing safe and value-driven AI, Italy demonstrates a strong commitment to prioritizing human-centeredness, trust, and sustainable development. This reflects its dedication to protecting individuals and society against indiscriminate technological advancements. Italy's approach emphasizes the importance of balancing cutting-edge innovation with ethical considerations to ensure the responsible and transparent implementation of AI systems for the benefit of society. Collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church is welcomed as instrumental in helping to shape the narrative of Italy as a privileged representative of anthropocentric values against the looming threat of profit-driven technological disasters.

Finally, as far as AI Governance is concerned, the government is committed to leading AI adoption across all societal levels. For its achievement, there have been numerous unheeded calls for the creation of a centralized entity that could promote cooperation at the national level. What seems to be sorely needed is sound, transparent, and effective governance to coordinate the efforts of public and private actors and make efficient use of public resources.

Meanwhile, at the European level, Italy is promoting national harmonization of EU laws and presenting itself as a potential model for other EU member states. In this context, Italy has been proactive enough to anticipate the creation of an EU governance system and to attempt to take the lead, stressing the importance that only through common and coordinated actions will Europe be able to compete globally.

In conclusion, the path to an Italian “AI Renaissance” is far from simple. Ambition, changing governments, differing interests and goals, inefficient use of resources, faster-than-expected technological developments, and unresolved structural issues have all the power to lead astray major political initiatives and make Italy lose ground in such an important battle as AI. In this context, success is certainly not a given.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the BlueDot Impact team for the opportunity to explore in detail the uncharted territories of AI safety and governance. I highly appreciated joining the AI Governance program and learning more about the societal, political, and economic implications of the impending developments in the AI field, as well as how governments worldwide are working towards shaping their own AI-driven future.

I want to sincerely thank Kristie Loke, my cohort facilitator, for instilling in me an interest in this fascinating field, and all the students I have had the privilege to meet throughout the last 12 weeks. Their contributions, support, and insightful perspectives have been instrumental in helping me understand how AI is literally shaping our lives. I would finally like to extend my thanks to several friends from the Effective Altruism Italy community for their valuable feedback, and to my friend Zoe Zahariadis for her careful editing.

Few personal growth programs have been found to be as successful and deeply science-backed as the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme (MBSR) established by John Kabat-Zinn at the UMASS.

After many years of back and forth with many formal and informal meditation practices and programs, of countless falling in love and forgetting about the benefits of focusing on the breath and the body, I finally had the amazing opportunity to joining this programme.

The program was one of the first I studied back in undergrad school while researching the interrelation between mindfulness practice, emotional intelligence and leadership styles.

After having completed the 8 weeks programme, I feel compelled to seriously recommend it to anyone who is looking for better strategies to manage stress, to explore the innermost depths of consciousness, and to grow core attitudes for a better life.

In this post I would like to focus on just one of the key insights that arose during the program, and that stuck with me the most for shedding light on the nature of the mind.

The inner flashlight

Four or five weeks into the program, between body scans and open awareness exercises, an excerpt from the program audio caught my attention.

The audio cited mindfulness as a beacon scanning the body in search for sensation. 

I tried to imagine attention, that form of awareness that scrutinizes what is happening in the present moment, as a flashlight of the kind you might use when you go camping in the woods. 

A flashlight is an indispensable tool when in the darkness of the night without electricity you are looking for your tent, or even better, when you hear a suspicious noise and step out of your sleeping bag to investigate.

Attention is, like the flashlight, a tool that can come in handy when you try to illuminate what is usually hidden from awareness.

The stroboscopic awareness

Yet, we are not completely in charge of its behavior. 

First of all, there is no real way to turn attention off. There is no “shutdown” button.

Attention is always there, getting entangled with some internal or external events, independently from our knowledge.

Secondly, it’s natural behavior is one of wandering, incessantly, in search for objects to focus on.

Just for a brief time, like a butterfly that never stops resting on a different flower each time.

Unguided attention behaves like a stroboscope, or a disco ball, briefly pointing its rays onto different targets.

More specifically, attention keeps scouting for three objects to bounce back relentlessly: emotions, physical sensations, and thoughts. These elements are the ones that determine human experience. 

The thoughts that trepasses your mind, the emotions you get entangled with, and the sensations that emerge in the body ultimately determine what you experience in the present moment.

When they say that attention is the scarcest resource, they actually mean that its nature is ephemeral. Now it’s clearly here, and now it’s somewhere else you can’t say.

If you wonder if you left your house windows open while out for a drink with friends, your attention is looking at this thought and at its narrative. If you all of the sudden feel frustrated and can’t focus on writing an article, there’s your attention, exploring this emotion rather than the task at hand.

In this endless research of objects of attention, the attention diverts the mind from the present moment, and gets the entire thoughts-production complex stuck in self-generated narratives.

The only power we have is to pick the attention-flashlight up from the ground and intentionally direct it exactly where we want, bringing it back to the awareness of the present moment.

And mindfulness, as well as other meditation practices, can be described as the art of reacquainting oneself with this innate power, and learning the skills to handle it deftly.

A turning point

But why strive to climb this steep road and attempt to know the nature of one's attention? Why pursue a path of rapprochement, of friendliness? Why learn to handle this torchlight?

We must be aware that most of systems nowadays are designed to distract and redirect attention to constant sources of dopamine

[…] our attention is increasingly a resource that can be mined by anyone. If we don’t spend it on projects of our own choosing, there are many others all too willing to invest it in their own”
Tiago Forte. Just-In-Time Project Management.

In a world in which attention is the currency of exchange, if you don't own your attention, that means someone else does for you. SOMEONE else will decide that for you.

The path ahead

Practice, awareness, humility and compassion in the consistent practice of mindfulness can help one realize the extraordinary power of attention. 

The torchlight can be turned into a laser beam, or, as I like to think of it, a lightsaber.

Picture a Jedi knight. It has absolute control over its sword, The lightsaber represents the material embodiment of the wisdom and strength that stem from the galactical energy known as the “Force.” 

Similarly, becoming familiar with one's own attention opens otherwise inaccessible powers.

By turning your attention into a hyper focused laser beam, you can converge your mental energies in a deep state of relaxed concentration.

It can reveal patterns of wellbeing and mental behavior worth exploring, ultimately leading to a more complete understanding of the self.

I believe it is a worthwhile path to travel, over and over again, to arrive at an inner world where, rather than oscillating between anxiety and boredom, sways between concentration and calmness.

In the context of the EU AI Act, two opposing viewpoints concerning the application of open source to advanced AI models are emerging.

For the GovAI piece on open-sourcing highly capable foundation models, the potential risks and the technological complexity of future AI models make open-sourcing a non-viable option.

For the Mozilla open letter on open-source AI models, however, open-sourcing is essential to prevent proprietary control over emerging AI systems and an excessive concentration of power, which might result in negative consequences.

Main Arguments

According to the GovAI piece, future foundation models will be much different than those currently available in terms of potential capabilities and impact. Hence, a precautionary approach must be adopted to ensure risk mitigation.

The document lists a series of risks that these models could bring forth in the event that they are provided as open source. Ranging from cases of terrorism to new weapons development to population surveillance enacted by malicious actors, open sourcing these models might result in net negative outcomes for society.

Finally, several alternatives for ensuring safety while allowing the pursuit of open source goals are presented at the end. Among these, developing risk assessment systems, enhancing government oversight, and gradual model release are some of the proposed options.

According to the Mozilla open joint statement, as has happened multiple times in history, proprietary technologies that are kept hidden from public oversight can fail to ensure transparency and are more prone to developing unpredictable negative consequences. On the contrary, technologies and processes that are accessible and subject to public scrutiny have been demonstrated to be more safe and to respect agreed standards.

The open letter proposes several solutions to ensure that accountability and openness go hand in hand with safety. Among these are: advocating for regulations that prevent concentration of power; supporting the design and development of several multi-stakeholder approaches to enable anyone to access and scrutinize the conduct of AI development companies; and facilitating use and integration by anyone in society.

Core Differences

The two documents include various divergent elements.

First of all, they adopt different perspectives on whether open source can provide net benefits in the long term if applied to AI models.

On the one hand, according to the Mozilla letter, open source has historically demonstrated the ability to provide net benefits compared to proprietary IP.

On the other hand, according to the GovAI piece, despite the successful track record, open source presents features that might enhance the risks associated with the uncontrolled deployment of advanced AI models to the general public.

Secondly, a noticeable discrepancy exists between the positions outlined in the two documents concerning risk assessment and management. Despite both advocating for a collaborative multi-stakeholder system that defines standards and transparency systems, the similarities end here.

GovAI’s piece advocates for a number of recommendations concerning safety. It proposes the development of safety mechanisms such as risk assessment before open-source models are developed. It also encourages governments to have a solid oversight of development and the power to restrict the use of AI by developers if standards are not being respected.

Mozilla’s open letter, on the other side, does not mention any sort of initiative, apart from “investing in a spectrum of approaches”, leaving ample space for debate on what “open” signifies and thus inviting the entire scientific community to be involved in this process.

Finally, the two documents present divergent perspectives concerning the stage at which public participation in this technology takes place, with the Mozilla open letter advocating for immediate full and free access for all to such AI models and the GovAI piece advocating for a gradual staged deployment given a defined standard.

Personal Position

I personally believe that the stance of Mozilla is more concrete and based on a solid track record.

First, it recognizes the role of open source in advancing collective understanding of such technologies and promotes a multistakeholder approach to prevent emerging risks from AI systems whose capabilities are still unexplored.

Second, despite being a time-consuming and potentially risky approach, it poses the basis for a wider sense of responsibility across all stakeholders and leverages the collective knowledge of the developer and scientist communities across the globe.

Finally, it prevents companies from putting transformative technologies behind a paywall that only a few actors are able to afford, streamlining benefits to the entire ecosystem.

Overall, I believe this stance is more pragmatic because it recognizes that at this current stage, every actor has an interest in developing a safe and transparent system for AI solutions to be developed, to build debate around that, and to find democratic solutions.

Evidence that would cause me to reconsider

I would be inclined to reconsider my position in the case of one of two major events.

First, there is compelling evidence of the unregulated development and deployment of open-source AI models that fail to be mitigated by comprehensive safety mechanisms based on a multistakeholder approach.

Second, there is a failure to establish regulations and standards for open source AI development. This might be caused by the inability of international actors to establish international agreements and oversight bodies with the democratic participation of all stakeholders or by a sudden shift in public opinion and engagement.

In these two cases, I will reconsider my initial position.

EU AI Act Implications

Over the last decades, open source has become one of the major drivers of innovation at the European level. According to a 2021 OpenForum Europe study, open source contributed up to €95 billion to the EU’s GDP, injecting enormous value into the economy.
As open source frameworks are currently being used to train AI and develop ChatGPT plugins, such estimates will only rise with the widespread adoption of AI technologies.

Yet, the proposal in its current form fails to take into account the importance and fragility of the open-source ecosystem, making open-source GPAI models legally liable. The consequences of such a decision will hinder the involvement of developers in open source projects and thus hurt innovation at the EU level.

Open source is in fact run by volunteers, not corporations that have the power to deal with advanced legal compliance. This will in turn concentrate power around companies able to defend themselves in cases of legal controversy, consequently preventing public access to such technologies.

Overall, the proposed policy recommendation would be for the EU AI Act to recognize open innovation in AI and exempt open-source developers from the legal liabilities currently foreseen. Such a change will demonstrate EU acknowledgement of the role of open source as a vehicle for responsible innovation, safety, competition, and transparency.

Writing online is one of the best adventures I’ve ever started.

With almost 50 articles published between Medium and Substack over two years, I’ve gained so much confidence in and knowledge about writing in public, while more opportunities than I could have ever imagined have started popping up.

And, as with most things, those who are writing in public have to learn the subtle art of listening and redirecting their own writing according to what’s best for them and for their community.

That said, in this post, I’ll go through some of the key lessons that diving deep into the Second Brain method has taught me about life and how I envision a new direction for this blog.

1.  Distill the signal from the noise.

When you are at school or in college, your life follows pretty much a predefined path within a stable structure. If you provide certain inputs (studying, exercising, applying your intellect, sometimes repeating), you can rest assured that there’s a great chance you will get an expected output (a good grade).

Yet, once you’re out, you probably find yourself immersed in a seamless “stochastic world," where applying written rules and success formulas doesn’t necessarily lead to the expected results. Put simply, you shouldn’t expect reading a business book a sufficient prerequisite for founding a successful startup.

Obviously, someone has to find a way to survive and thrive in a world where unspoken rules dominate and where everyone seems to have the quickest solution to solve all their problems. 

This only adds to the noise level and makes it more and more difficult to take calibrated, well-informed and deliberate action and avoid being overwhelmed by choice.

To put it another way, what we face when growing up out of college is a world faced by a dilemma:

A world in which not only is information superabundant, and our options practically infinite, but our responsibility to know that information and act on those options is always expanding.

Tiago Forte

Reflecting on what brought me in the first place into exploring the potentialities of Personal Knowledge Management was the need for recreating a stable system that could help me find again a sense of direction without drowning in infinite data points and possibilities.

The key was to find a way to recreate a way to learn what the unspoken rules, patterns, and habits are that lead to certain outcomes, and this can only be done by being able to distill the signal from the noise.

And somehow, embedding life with successful systems like PKM has worked well so far.

We want the information because we need it to carry out these responsibilities fruitfully.

Tiago Forte

2. Close open loops (only the ones that matter)

The Second Brain is a PKM system with infinite potential that I have extensively covered in my writing.

But just as creating multiple versions of your business card is definitely not something to focus on when you haven't yet validated your product (unless you are a designer), building and maintaining the Second Brain should not be mistaken for an end in itself (with the exception of a Digital Garden).

Rather, it is just a means to help us gather into one container all the crumbs we find along the way.

And the crumbs are what is meaningful.

The fact is, it's easy to run after new things, explore all the plugins, transfer all your databases between different platforms, and discover the most recent features.

But in truth, you will always end up back at square one, back to the content of your notes.

And if you just realize that, once you have built a pretty basic but solid system, all the small details and extra functionalities will lose meaning. You will have something more important to take care of.

What do you want to achieve? How do you do it in the most effective and efficient way? What’s the next step ahead?

As floating ideas about what really interests you surface from their primordial soup and start swirling about in your mind, these questions will materialize automatically.

As notes will align in groups, unnoticed areas or projects will start demanding attention, time, and, most importantly, action.

You will be faced with the important debate of whether it’s more worth it to grow outside of your comfort zone, for the sake of your own inner motives, or relinquish any further action and archive an interesting pattern of thought as a soon-to-be-forgotten draft.

There won’t be any time wasted on other minor aspects, because your needs and your whys will be there, clearly showing what the next steps are for you to take.

There won’t be any space for compromise, but only for closing the open loops your notes opened, or archiving and forgetting.

The most important thing to deal with is whatever is most on your mind. The fact that you think it shouldn’t be on your mind is irrelevant. It’s there, and it’s there for a reason.

David Allen, Getting Things Done

3. Give up perfectionism

Many have tried, and most have failed.

I am not talking about finding the recipe for success or enlightenment, but almost.

Many approach the world of PKM for the first time with the idea that this is what will solve all their problems. They believe they will finally be able to compress and contain all their lives into a unique and perfectly organized dashboard.

That’s so common; I have fallen into this trap innumerable times. 

Automating highlighting export and categorization, building the best Notion dashboard, establishing reading and notetaking rules, connecting multiple apps so that voice recordings will end up exactly where they are supposed to go.

The truth is that, apart from a few hyper focused talents, this is a utopian, perfectionist dream.

Systems and life algorithms are created to make you move forward in a solid-fashion way, but not to be the ultimate solution to simplify the shapes of life in a box. 

And that’s because life by itself cannot be simplified so much without drawbacks. We are not machines living in a predefined environment.

Rather, the most important lesson that I acquired is to be comfortable dancing with what you have at hand, staying humble, and relying on a few solid guiding principles that can be adapted to the most disparate situations.

• Minimize inboxes: be aware of where you save what captures your attention.

• Periodically review inboxes: distill signals from the noise (PARA and GTD methods)

• Concentrate on the note at hand: avoid reorganizing the sum of your accumulated knowledge all at the same time. It’s exhausting.

• Concentrate on the task at hand: if your notetaking system is pointing towards a certain todo, surrender to it and just do it (or achieve it).

That's it; all we need are blueprints for systems:

And systems always outlast shiny toys.

Khe Hy

All you need to know

If I have to go back and rewatch the last few years of exploring, studying, and writing about PKM, Second Brain, Digital gardening, how to find peace against overwhelm, and how to act intentionally, everything boils down to three main lessons learned:

Distill the signal from the noise.

Close open loops.

Give up perfectionism.

If you have come this far…

Announcing a rebranded newsletter

This is the beauty of growing, which is the same as writing online. You learn to oscillate intentionally between exploration and exploitation and to channel energies towards meaningful open loops.

In my future online writing, this won’t mean giving up talking about how the Second Brain and other PKM methods can be practically adopted to achieve without getting lost in endless updates and features (a topic I have found many like minded people appreciating).

Rather, I would like to use this public space to expand the horizons of my blog by including the very content that is emerging from my PKM systems, and sharing insights and lessons learned from chains of thoughts, fieldnotes, and readings, with the goal of stimulating serendipity.

As the borders between what is a blog and what is a newsletter are getting more and more blurred, I have been looking for an approach to content that easily fits in both categories while leaving enough space for experimentation, like Khe Hy in RadReads, Jonny Miller in Curious Humans, as well as Michael Lin in Michael’s Newsletter.

And this article is one of such experiments (feel free to let me know what you think).

Highlights

What I am reading

• How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie. An all-times classic that is worth resurfacing every some years, especially when you think your social skills within the workplace are drying up.

• The Art of Dharma by Erick Godsey. An unexpectedly welcomed new entry in my library which offers an impactful summary about the way to get closer to your Dharma, and to become the artist of your own life.

• Crypto's Three-Body Problem by Other Internet. A retrospective analysis on why the crypto ecosystem has failed in its purpose of establishing incorruptible institutions and functional social norms.

Projects update

🧿 Scibile.org

Talking about Serendipity and attracting like-minded people, me and my friend have started seriously discussing how to pour our interests in human-tech interaction, creativity, and digital wellbeing into a single project.

The result is , an Italian project that aims, among others, to share the mindful approach to productivity that is peculiar to Tiago Forte’s Forte Labs and to Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s Ness Labs.

🤖 AI Governance

I have recently published an essay titled “Pioneering Global AI Governance, the Right Way”, which stems directly from my first failed attempt participating to the EU Tech Policy Fellowship.

As Ryan Holiday’s book titles “The Obstacle Is the Way”, one has to turn adversities into opportunities for growth, and what’s better than turning some failed admission tests into a couple of articles?

In fact, a second in-depth article on the debate around Open Source and AI technologies is on the way. Stay tuned!

Dear Evernote,

This is a heartfelt letter to you to say goodbye.

After six years of our lives together, the time has come for a hard breakup.

Of course, our relationship was not the best, but I always considered you a reliable friend, a second brain I could rely on in the most important moments: to find relief, learn quickly, feel inspired, and gather all that the world could offer.

Your logo, a green elephant, said a lot about you: for years, you’ve been an unmovable, stable, secure, and reliable companion in my intellectual and creative endeavors.

However, all that quickly deteriorated.

You followed a brutal scorched-earth policy, and what’s left is just a façade of what you once were.

Your elephant has turned into a monkey.

You have become more unpredictable: lost notes, loading issues, and a slow addition of rules that took away from your supporters, your greatest asset, what made you so special.

But you have also become surprisingly aggressive.

Since December, what you were offering for free has been practically under a dramatic paywall.

I can’t say that charging a fair rate for your services is unjustified, but the way this has escalated, to such a degree and with such rapidity, has left most of the community speechless and frustrated.

A community of trustees that, in a short time, went from loyal to alienated to scared.

Sure, things could have been done differently.

It would have been wiser to do things in stages.

Thanking the old guard for their commitment, trust, and support to one of the best note-taking apps in the world, slowly increasing the paywall, educating new and existing users, and making it thrive again against emerging competitors.

But you have chosen the hard line, and I understand that.

This is a new era; this is a new Evernote.
The fun is over. It’s time to tighten the belts and cash in.

In any case, like great long-term relationships that come to an end, there is a bittersweet taste in our mouths, knowing that we did the best we could and had fun along the way while that glorious present has suddenly become past.

We didn’t want it to end this way, but life goes on, and after these updates, it’s really time to move on. The tower of Babel has collapsed, and it is time to draw the line.

We will never forget what brought us here.

Together, we learned what makes note-taking such a powerful aspect of human creativity and that productivity can also be a mindful way of life.

We discovered how to look for unique features, how to pin anything that caught curiosity on the Internet, how to think big, how to go back over old thoughts, retrieve them, and grow them from dreams to projects and into personal achievements.

You taught us the gift of a second brain—establishing an unbreakable relationship with all our thoughts and life experiences. In the end, you made us better, simplifying the complexity of life.

But now it’s time to leave for new adventures, in search of new ports, new PKM platforms—hopefully as safe as Evernote has been.

It may be challenging, but we will learn a lot from that.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Thanks for reading this article!
Give this story a clap 👏, a comment 💭 and be sure to subscribe 📬 to my upcoming stories.

With the AI Act, the European Union is paving the way to becoming the first relevant authority to establish rules on artificial intelligence. This could represent a real model for world policymakers to find clear standards for regulating the early stages of such rapid-developing technology.

There is a significant chance that by 2060 an AI system able to significantly outperform humans will be developed. With such a short timeframe, it is essential to strive for a balance that enables the EU to further its own AI sovereignty while ensuring safety, traceability, and values across the entire sector.

Yet, among many, there are two major aspects that could be addressed more thoroughly in the existing form of the EU AI Act.

• A stronger emphasis on international cooperation and harmonization.

• A better balance between regulation and technological advancement, which in turn corresponds to improved flexibility to deal with high-risk AI systems.

In this short article, I will explore how including these aspects in the EU AI Act might contribute to a more effective framework for governing artificial intelligence within the European Union.

Potential Amendments

Case 1) Institution of Effective International Cooperation Mechanisms

In a hyperconnected world, national and regional rules risk failing to address global trends, such as fast-emerging technologies. Indeed, unilateral decisions might turn out to be ineffective and limited, if not backfiring. For this, international standardization is the best instrument to ensure that international trends and actors (e.g., companies and research centers) operate following the same rules.

Thus, the EU AI Act should include two major amendments to enhance the benefits stemming from international cooperation.

First of all, as highlighted by IBM, a single point of contact at EU level beyond the AI Office should be established to ensure proper harmonization and fair coordination of international companies operating in multiple Member States.

Secondly, the EU AI Act should provide a clear pathway for global harmonization, especially in relation to U.S. regulators. At the moment, there is a great divergence between the EU and U.S. in AI risk management, with the EU being way more strict than the American counterpart.

Ensuring harmonization reduces compliance issues and prevents companies from migrating to less regulatorily strict countries.

Even if differences in approach can be significant, the Act should stress the need for harmonization wherever it is possible.

Case 2) Assurance of Regulatory Flexibility

There is a need to enhance regulatory flexibility to ensure a balance between safety and technological advancement through a more pragmatic approach.

For this, the EU should improve clarity throughout the ecosystem regarding what constitutes a "high-risk" area and ensure that the list of high-risk areas and use cases is subject to ongoing review.

To counteract such risk, the Act should include a mechanism similar to the one proposed for research activities, in which regulatory sandboxes are established in a controlled environment and overseen by public authorities. It entails a sort of “quarantine” system for potential dangerous AI systems whose risk level has not been defined yet.

This solution could also be helpful in the case that, as IBM highlighted, other actors could mis-use an AI system and modify it into a high-risk AI system.

Assessments should be faster than usual via a preferential procedure, and forced sandbox or quarantine systems should be put in place as soon as a new technology emerges, based on the assumption that any new AI system is high-risk. Once approved by public authorities, AI systems that pass the safety tests could change their labels and become available on the market.

A Look at Potential Drawbacks

Jeopardizing EU Autonomy

For the first time, the EU risks losing its own autonomy in the regulation of AI systems, compromising with less strict international actors for the sake of technological development.

Moreover, stronger cooperation could lead to dangerous leaks of citizens private data across countries and entities.

Finally, agreeing on common rules across international actors and stakeholders is time-consuming and requires extensive cooperation efforts, which might reduce the necessary resources for outlining better policies.

Delays and Systemic Failures

The heightened burden on the work of public authorities in charge of overseeing and managing regulatory sandboxes and quarantine systems can, in turn, lead to severe delays.

This procedure might turn into a bottleneck for innovation and go-to-market strategies. As any new AI system will have to pass a series of stricter checks, businesses and consumers will be negatively affected.

Potential Impact of Proposed Changes

Increased governance in the AI regulatory ecosystem paves the way for enhanced regulatory clarity, which in turn promotes global AI safety on multiple levels.

Common standards ensure that minimum safety requirements are met and that human rights, privacy, and shared ethical values are respected across the entire sector. In addition, increased governance prevents regulatory arbitrage, protecting countries and regional powers from “brain drain”.

A more flexible regulatory system for potential high-risk AI systems provides an effective framework for fast assessment and adaptive regulation that can be promoted as an international standard.

Eventually, in the distant future, an international entity could be established for the validation of any AI system developed, enhancing global safety and risk mitigation.

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Let’s consider two writers who approach their knowledge base in a very different way.

The first one collects any piece of information it finds useful and merges these together in unexpected ways to craft and present to the world something that was already there but nobody could see.

The second one, instead, is picky in what it is collecting and prefers sticking together information slowly, letting notes grow day after day. One day, it will show the world how these notes have become a forest.

The first one, we will call it "the bricoleur” — the ones that enjoy bricolage.
The second one, we will call it “the gardener”.

With this parallelism, I would like to draw you into two different approaches to PKM that I have identified as being used for reflection and writing purposes.

After several years delving deep into how PKM tools can facilitate the process of turning the relentless flow of information into an endless source of creativity, I faced myself with a big issue.

All of a sudden, a clash between two distinct approaches that were coexisting inside my digital second brain started to materialize. Invaluable material was blocked in the PKM like a gem in the stone, while deep thoughts were poisoned by naïve observations.

It turns out that two different approaches were coexisting in my note-taking system. I had to learn that different approaches lead to different outcomes and, in my experience, to very different kinds of emotions when interacting with knowledge content of any kind.

Let’s explore what these two approaches are and whether you are more of a bricoleur or a gardener.

The Two Major Approaches to PKM

In exploring the world of digital writing, I’ve noticed two prominent approaches to Personal Knowledge Management commonly discussed online.

On the one hand, writers like Ryan Holiday or David Perell try to collect a myriad of opinions, stories, and insights to deepen their understanding of familiar topics. Their goal is to define the boundaries of their thinking; they seek to explore how insights from other thinkers and stories can contribute to a comprehensive understanding that considers multiple perspectives.

This approach aligns better with topics you want to write about consistently. For instance, it works well for me for subjects like entrepreneurship, living philosophy, personal growth, writing, and copywriting.

Here, expertise isn’t a prerequisite for writing; the emphasis is on capturing diverse perspectives surrounding these topics to produce well-rounded content.

On the flip side, PKM experts like Nick Milo and Andy Matuschak often utilize their PKM to refine and master the knowledge they capture. They want to dig down, improving their questioning and creating a full understanding of their world within the PKM.

This approach proves beneficial when approaching unfamiliar topics, aiming to comprehend their foundational elements.

Personally, I adopt this method for topics of personal interest, such as history, the science of consciousness, and eastern religions. All areas that, in my case, do not require the development of an output.

But how are these goals reflected in the creative process?

The Misconception of Note-Making vs Note-Taking

You’ve likely encountered the terms Note-Taking and Note-Making. Some emphasize the former, collecting information, while others champion the latter for true creativity.

Note-Taking resembles creating a Commonplace Book. Here, knowledge is a collection of opinions, quotes, images, and thoughts.

For instance, if you’re passionate about entrepreneurship but not keen on delving deep into strategic management theory for days, you might prefer checking the most popular tweets from Naval Ravikant, exploring the latest trends on Indie Hackers, and collecting noteworthy insights for future articles.

Note-Making, on the other hand, is closely tied to Sense-Making, a concept extensively explored by Nick Milo. Establishing a personalized sense-making tool/environment helps you truly understand a subject or an aspect of your reality.

For instance, if you feel unfamiliar with the influence of habits, you can delve into the realm of behavioral psychology until your thirst for knowledge is quenched.

The outcome of these two approaches yields two distinct “Second Brains,” each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks.

The first approach is optimized for external output production and rapid growth but may lack a robust internal structure. It generates momentum for content production, and the more you collect, the more insights and connections come to mind. The goal is to achieve critical mass by exploring horizontally across stories and people and generating content as quickly as possible.

The second approach, instead, prioritizes internal organization but may struggle with self-reference and gradual integration. It adopts a circular process where new content is digested slowly, deepening over time to help you attain mastery. You’ll invest hours in reflection, adjustment, and curation as it grows in depth.

Misaligned Goals-Actions Turn into System-Failure

It’s crucial to understand that these two styles don’t align; they have distinct goals, significantly influencing how you operate within your second brain.
I encourage you to stress-test your second brain by clearly defining its purpose for each topic.

For example, I experienced a clash of notes because the two objectives coexisted in the same vault. On one side, I was collecting thoughts and quotes on startup building, while on the other, I was delving into deep reflections on the role of the Self in Buddhism.

In the first case, I was aiming for quantity over quality and tag system interconnection. In the other, I was looking for a dense connection among evergreen notes.

I aim to delve deeper into both topics, but with distinct purposes: one to broaden my perspective through others’ opinions and to share my learning, the other for personal exploration during late nights (that might turn into a future book, who knows!).

This realization has led me to attempt to split my second brain into different vaults and optimize for outcome.

The Writer's Path - Final Thoughts

I am pretty confident that you are a writer as well and that you enjoy delving into multiple topics for the sake of learning, understanding, broadening your horizons, and sharing your worldview with others.

But here I am asking you to take a step back and try to ask yourself what system you see better fitting each of the subjects you enjoy reading and writing about.

If you want to build a solid audience and produce a consistent flow of content, most likely the first system will suit you best. Building from a collection of scattered notes and thoughts to extract the best insights, you can let your notes serve as the wellspring for innovative sparks of genius like a true bricoleur. 

However, if you desire to just share some small insights and keep the bulk of your writing to yourself to broaden your understanding and appreciation for the infinite manifestation of reality, the second system might suit your case. Take care of your notes like a gardener and let them grow!

Connect with me on social media here.

Master PKM inboxes without giving up inner peace

Managing your inboxes is a crucial aspect of the creative process.

In these virtual or physical places, you have the ability to save what’s worth being captured from life events, insights, and other people’s knowledge.

They are positioned at the first step of the creative process, where potentially valuable knowledge fragments emerge and end up transformed into words, phrases, concepts, and potential connections.

The question I want to try to answer is this: are there examples of the best use of inboxes across mediums, formats, and purposes?

Let’s explore it.

1. Digital notes

Let’s start with the digital notes you take in the moment.

For example, you’re listening to a very interesting podcast, and a quote leaves a mark. You open your favorite app, mark the quote, and add your own comment.

As soon as you save the note, it will stay there in your app until you transfer it to a space where you can connect it to other notes and ideas.

This app immediately becomes an inbox to keep track of. You don’t want to forget you have it, or even worse, uninstall it without saving what you had written before.

For example, I save these notes on Evernote in the default inbox. I consider Evernote a very good inbox, given the clip extension and the tendency for organized hoarding.

The problem is how to process such notes without being overwhelmed by them.

The risk is to fall into a very common trap for beginners, and start collecting hundreds of notes without any context or meaning.

A key point is that these notes do not have to be transformed. There is no need to intervene on that specific note and edit it on the spot. They are already saved as they are in your digital garden. They represent a digital memory of what caught our attention.

Rather than messing up your original comments on this note, I suggest that you identify it as a “floating” or “source” through a tag or folder ì, and link this reference to one or more evergreens that you want to grow.

This saves a great deal of time on a process that does not provide enough added value.

I am a big believer in Nick Milo’s emphasis on note-making over note-taking. Be quick to take notes, and devote yourself completely to evergreen creation. That is how real treasures are discovered.

For this reason, there is no purpose in overediting your original thoughts to put them into a well-finished “literature note” with a summary of the content.

It is not your purpose to create a summary of every single piece of content you read. Rather, you need to capture its essence and integrate it as quickly as possible into your worldview.

In such a way, you can move directly to the creative process, in which you merge your understanding with newly acquired knowledge.

How to Build a Successful Workflow for your Second Brain
From Idea to Execution: Create High-Quality Content Consistentlymedium.com

2. Paper notes

Paper notes can take many different forms.

We have post-its, diaries, personal journals, notepads, scattered sheets, index cards, etc.

As we saw in the previous article, it is very useful to mark down what these inboxes are so as to avoid duplicates.

If you are using two or more paper inboxes simultaneously and cannot reduce the number, my suggestion is to assign each inbox a different role within a well-structured hierarchy system.

For example, the life of a post-it or notepad note is much shorter than that of a note taken on the agenda. It is much easier to manage an inbox of post-it notes.

What is useful can be promoted as a new entry on the agenda. What is unnecessary is immediately deleted. It is much easier to determine their purpose and actionability without cluttering high-level inboxes.

In my case, everything I mark on post-it notes or scraps of paper has to be sifted through by the end of the day and saved on my Moleskine.

Determining a hierarchical system of inboxes means that I do not have to spend every week reviewing all of them. While the notepad can be reviewed weekly, the agenda can be reviewed every two weeks or monthly.

Once ideas, comments, dreams, and reflections have been filtered and are still in paper format, it’s your time to decide.

You have several options:

1. Give them access to be promoted into your digital garden (from which they will grow as evergreen notes).

2. Act upon them in the near future.

3. Save in a “someday” list, be it in digital or paper format.

4. Double check and delete because it is not relevant anymore.

3. Marginalia

Let’s move on to the third category, that is, marginalia.

Marginalia are all those notes you take while reading a book in hard copy. Ideas, food for thought, shocking revelations, real-life examples, and sentences that briefly and concisely summarize what you could never find the right words to express are highlighted and commented on the page.

One benefit peculiar to marginalia is that they never leave the book. They stay there, jotted down in pen or pencil. As long as the book is in your library, it is not going anywhere.

Theoretically, it would be enough to mark on a note that a certain book has been read, but its knowledge has not been transferred to more solid, stable notes.

At a later time, simply pick up the book again and create a list with all the notes and reflections. At that point, you will be free to manage and redistribute these ideas freely in your digital garden according to emerging patterns and connect them to evergreen notes at a more advanced stage.

Develop a Notecard System Inspired by Ryan Holiday
Level Up Your Notes to Unleash Your Creativitymedium.com

Conclusion

Now that you understand the power of inboxes, it’s time to take a look at your own primary note-taking system and try to explore ways to improve it.

Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading this article!
Give this story a clap 👏, a comment 💭 and be sure to subscribe 📬 to my upcoming stories.

Imagine a serene stroll in the park, enjoying the sun and the silence, reflecting on an article you’re writing, when all of a sudden a grand idea appears in your mind.

You hurry up, excited, to take note of it!

But immediately, you start questioning where it should be written down. On your notepad? or on your phone? And in which app? You’re using three different ones and cannot decide.

By the time you have made up your mind, the original idea has lost most of its scent, and you’re just noting down two or three arid sentences that fail to grasp the relevance and shades of your original thought.

There are high chances that you have experienced a similar situation. Or at least I hope not to be the only one experiencing it!

The key issue at stake here is how to manage your inboxes in the best way possible so that you are capable of capturing the most extraordinary insights without losing time worrying about where to save them.

In this article, I will help you reflect on the importance of minimizing and being aware of your inboxes to improve efficiency.

For this, there are three key concepts to keep in mind:

1. Understand the role of inboxes

2. Become aware of your inboxes.

3. Take action on your own terms.

Understand the Capture Phase

Understanding and managing inboxes is a crucial aspect of the creative process.

It’s part of the first stage, when you are letting valuable fleeting thoughts, coming from free associations or from other sources, emerge and be captured.

You want to minimize the time between the emergence of an idea and its transposition in written form before it inescapably fades away.

But where these ideas come from and where they are going to be noted vary according to the situation, the nature of the content, the format, etc.

For instance, you could have comments on podcasts in digital form, digital highlights on articles, quick notes on a notepad, a personal journal for free associations, etc.

Given their extreme variety, it’s important to improve one’s capture system so as not to lose interesting connections and start doubting oneself.

Starting with the right approach

Everything starts with awareness.

Whether you use a moleskine and a notepad, keep adding notes on Evernote or Google Keep, randomly grab pieces of paper that go immediately scanned on OneDrive, or all these together, it’s absolutely necessary to clear it out.

Because if you’re not aware, you don’t know exactly where to capture those precious comments or marginalia.

Or if they are duplicated, you end up forgetting where you saved that comment, that thought on the fly, or a deep question that came to your mind. In which of the five notepads you’re carrying with you? There’s clearly a loss of efficiency.

Ultimately, the goal should be to create a functional system in which inboxes are intuitive and aligned with your habits.

Minimize with intentionality

Content creators on YouTube make it easy.

Just pick up one app, like Notion, and pour into it everything you are thinking and doing.

The truth is, in most cases, this is just an impossible task to accomplish. It’s a way too big a simplification of how life works.

Yet, according to the Get Things Done system, inboxes should be minimized down to exactly as much as needed. This means that, once you manage to circumscribe them, you should attempt to seek an optimal minimum.

A good starting point is to attempt to remove duplicates in the same format (e.g., paper-based).

Take a central role in your PKM

When it comes to Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) it’s common to assume that achieving organization means squeezing everything into a predefined system. However, this idea can hinder rather than help our quest for productivity and creativity.

In reality, the effectiveness of a PKM system hinges on intentionality. It should be changed to suit your current needs and habits, evolving as you do. This is the key to finding peace while diving deep into uncharted territories and making connections without the constant worry of where to save your ideas.

A well-designed PKM system serves a specific purpose: to liberate us from the burden of remembering and to create space for fresh insights and associations.

Conclusion

And now it’s your time!

Have you ever reflected on the relationship you have developed with your inboxes? Have you found ways to streamline their usefulness for your own goals?

In the following article, I will present to you how I am handling my inboxes and how I have found (hopefully) peace in collecting notes across different mediums.

Thanks for reading this article!
Give this story a clap 👏, a comment 💭 and be sure to subscribe 📬 to my upcoming stories.

For several centuries, people of all cultures and geographies have attempted to approach introspection through the personal diary.

A seemingly naïve and primitive tool, the diary proves to be an indispensable tool for daily life every day.

It is a valuable interlocutor, conversing with us through time, sometimes taking on a personality of its own, useful for rereading what we have laboriously learned, the joys we have shared and for which we are grateful, and the secrets each of us carries.

Not coincidentally, the “Journaling” subreddit has some 684,000 followers, and there is not a day when new questions and insights are not offered for self-reflection, to perhaps open doors that have been closed for some time, or to offer innovative points of view.

The journals are a unique resource, containing countless gems of knowledge and introspection that we have accumulated over the years. It would be a shame to leave them where they are.

It is difficult to fit a strictly personal and customizable tool like the personal journal into an optimal PKM system. However, there are some affordable solutions to integrate this knowledge into our PKM system (physical or digital) and start compounding.

PKM as an emotional-rich environment

Integrating old and current journals into a PKM system can be a good idea to bring back what is really essential and to act more intentionally.

But the process can prove to be a double-edged sword. We must be careful to avoid collateral damage in the integration process.

A brief personal story:
About a year ago, amazed by the power of Obsidian, I started filling my vault with all kinds of content, including personal reflections, daily updates, etc.

After a while, I realized that my second brain had become a kind of toxic environment. As I examined my notes for useful insights and connections for articles and inspiration, beyond the pure facts, past notes on emotions and feelings kept surfacing along the way.

By constantly interacting with this irrelevant and highly emotional information, my vault was becoming too personal and self-referential, like a vortex from which there is no escape.

When I realized this, I decided to act quickly and reflect on it later.
I printed out all the personal notes, bound them into a small booklet, and left them on the shelf in my room.

The Biggest Mistake All Enthusiast Beginners Do With Their Second Brain
And how your approach matters a lot!medium.com

An intentional approach based on PARA

How did this happen?

It took me a while to realize that I had broken an important rule, namely, not understanding the importance of the PARA framework.

PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) is a framework developed by Tiago Forte to help us organize our hyper-informative lives.

Thinking in terms of PARA, I began to wonder what framework my journals and their sensitive content fell into. They are neither Projects, nor Areas, since they are not “active” forms of information or tasks that lead to a measurable goal.

A mistake might be to mistake them for Resources, but, depending on their use, they do not provide knowledge that accumulates over time.

Journals, from what I can see, belong to the category of Archives. They are meant to be kept in a separate folder, on a shelf, or in a box, and somehow forgotten. From my point of view, they must stop circulating in your second brain, for your sanity.

Going back to my experience, I had to interact with written emotions and feelings that belonged to the past, had nothing to do with the present, and would not serve me anytime soon. They were just archives, but they were floating aimlessly between Projects, Areas and Resources.

But here’s the good news:

Certain paragraphs or pages can be promoted to the rank of Resources.

Among the pages, we can track down patterns, ideas, and suggestions that can make our lives more intentional and on our own terms, and that can be integrated among our notes to give a new perspective to what we thought we understood thoroughly.

How did I Turn Obsidian into a Self-Discovery Tool
If one must be honest, there is perhaps no greater question a human being can ask than “who am I”.medium.com

A simple step-by-step integrating process

But how do you integrate journals into a more organized structure, such as PKM?

Integrating can have several meanings. In this case, it does not mean copy-pasting or scanning everything, because you would get the opposite result.

To avoid the excessive and unnecessary accumulation of notes that have no connection to the rest of the content, a milder model of integration should be adopted.

The Biggest Mistake All Enthusiast Beginners Do With Their Second Brain
And how your approach matters a lot!medium.com

It is simply a matter of making sure that journal pages are included as a category within an expanded and widespread PKM system. In short, just create a strong link between journals and the places where our projects, areas, and resources are stored.

Let’s look at this in detail:

Step 1: Build a Literature Note

Create a bibliographical note for each journal you own, which will represent a sort of table of contents or index.

To create this bibliographic note, structure it in two columns: theme and location.

The theme is the main topic of the note; it is the title that helps you know in a blink of an eye what is being discussed in that journal. The location can be the page number or the position within the page (e.g., “bottom” stands for “last paragraph”).

You can see the example below from a book I read.

Step 2: When it is useful, extract!

Extract only information that might be interesting to store, create a new note, rephrase, and make links to other pre-existing notes in the PKM system.

By interacting with your journals in this way, you build a useful archival index that you can refer to at any time to find exactly what you are looking for, without the burden of going over experiences and reflections that are currently unimportant and, worse, might lead you astray.

The mistakes you should avoid

It is very common to consider any piece of content falling into the same category and, fed by the Fear of Missing Information (FOMI), start hoarding and collecting anything we believe might turn out useful in the future.

The Rise of the Personal Knowledge Management systems
The flow of data we are subjected to every day is becoming unbearable. Intellectual work can benefit by slowing down…medium.com

The truth is that not all information has the same relevance, given our goals. Some are just markers we have created along the way for our past selves, to find a point of reference, to take stock, and to ground ourselves.
Journals are an incredible tool to accompany us through the years, always by our side, and it is good to assign them the role they deserve.

It is good to be intentional and ask ourselves, from time to time, whether the content we have just interacted with meets our needs and goals.
In the case of journals, it is likely that much of this content will not turn into useful knowledge for a hobby, side project, or sense-making.

Simply put, the goals of the journals may be different.

By distinguishing our notes within the categories of the PARA framework, I hope I have helped you understand that different personal content, while belonging to the galaxy of our personal knowledge management system, belongs to a different section, a different vault, and a different shelf.

And you, have you ever tried integrating your journals into your PKM system?

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Here we are, August is here, with its empty cities, closed bars, the vespertine coolness returning after a boiling July, and the dream of summer vacation.

August always has that flavor of expectation, of the school year coming to an end, of big plans, of dreams that seem within reach, or as Brunori Sas would say in "Guard '82," of "...a story being born, and a summer dying."

August is the true watershed between the old and the new, a time of waiting, a personal Lent before revelation, rebirth.

Perhaps August brings with it an optimism toward the future that is more regenerative, innocent and authentic than that glimpsed during the holiday season. Away from parties, dinners, deadlines, gifts, the cold weather, one has time to see things more clearly.

If water is the symbol of purity and regeneration, then here the sea takes away the anxieties and worries accumulated over the previous months, and throws fresh ideas back onto the beach that, like seashells, are just waiting to be picked up.

In the wake of this spirit, I try to give a quick (I hope) account of the past few months, partly to test myself, partly to publicly reread what I've been up to, partly because it's time to change course of action, and then-why not!

Homo Faber

Already keeping a blog up to date is no easy thing: finding good ideas, studying, searching for sources, getting inspired, asking the universe for the stars to align to give me an afternoon off, and performing the sacred ritual of finding motivation (aka ice shower).

Instead, I thought it best to keep three updated all at once.

But let's go in order.

1. Medium

I have been writing on Medium for more than a year now, about one post every two weeks.

With about 140 followers and a dozen email subscribers, I can only be satisfied.

I have learned how to write publicly, how to transfer a concept close to my heart into the minds of readers through a story, questions, examples and illustrations.

However, writing on a "closed" platform where there is already a reader base is a limitation to the range of topics one can address. Over the past few months, metrics in hand, I think I have identified my "niche."

It is not an inspirational muse, it is not victory (Νίκη), but it is what allows you to build an audience, and potentially expand (diversify) into other topics.

In my case, I have found that dealing with PKM, Obsidian, Second Brain, Bullet Journal and Zettelkasten pays off. To me the bread, to readers the "circensem."

The important thing is to try to deal with these topics from a practical point of view, but without blurring into the usual "tutorial" you find everywhere: "How to use X?" or "The 10 best apps for..." There is no point in repeating what others have already covered better than me. Rather, I draw on their content as a lever to produce something new, original, and useful.

2. Scibile

Great beautiful project, led by Achraf, into which I can pour many interests that have not found a place in Medium, and experiment with the Italian language.

This week we launched our first newsletter, sign up!

Life design, productivity, effective learning, and so much more that, usually, is only available in English (but now it would be better to say in American, since virtually all non-fiction content is American).

We are only at the beginning, but the conditions are all there to turn it into a scalable project.

Last published article: Deep Work: Deep Work: Lo Stato di Flusso che Massimizza la tua Produttività.

3. Francis’ Notes (ex Oltressence)

From a closet of good articles that don't fit into the first two blogs, I would like to turn it into a living experiment in which languages, themes, conversations, and content diverge, collide, and morph into a newsletter with no clear purpose other than to exist as an adjunct to exploring the world. A tool and at the same time an experience in the making.

Nuovi orizzonti

A luglio ho terminato, dopo due mesi, il corso introduttivo sull'Altruismo Efficace (Effective Altruism) organizzato dal Center for Effective Altruism.

In July I finished, after two months, the introductory course on Effective Altruism organized by the Center for Effective Altruism.

It would take a separate article to talk about this experience.

The expectations, the topics covered, the people encountered, the emotions and dreams that manifest.

In short, I come out of the course with a clearer idea of what is worth dedicating myself to, a stronger sense of community, and less loneliness in fighting daily to do better than the previous day

And moreover, that there is a digital and non-digital place in which it is possible to be interested in topics that I appreciate addressing for their being incommon, counter intuitive, and able to offer a change of perspective.

For example: deep time and meta-history, ethics and morality, cognitive advancement, AI governance, the future of food, bias and heuristics, upgrading beliefs on the basis of evidence, the need for a systemic value system, moral aspects of human and non-human suffering, future-design, the historical role of humanity, etc.

Around the same time, I joined Jonathan Leighton's team to support him in seeking funds for the Organization for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS).

The opportunities that open up are endless, if one has the courage and stubbornness to reach out again and again.

Lifestyle

Too hot to run, I put any activity on hold.

The last 10k along the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (designed by Renzo Piano btw), considering the temperature and difficulty, went quite well, finishing with a 52:20. In a few weeks with cooler weather it's back on the schedule.

Friends & Athens updates

• Palestinian cafe behind house just opened, great meeting point with my friends.

• Exchange of ideas about a possible documentary/vlog painting a 360-degree picture of the reality of European expats living in the city (more precisely, Exarcheia)

• We touch 45 degrees for two weeks.

• Vacation in Milos, experimenting with a Kodak Instamatic 130 (photo in article).

Wandering

As usual, I read and reread several books at once, at different speeds:

• The Untethered Soul - by Michael A. Singer (spirituality and self-exploration)

• The Theory of Verticality - by Christopher James Botham (relationship between human evolution and architecture, innate need for "verticality")

• The Voices of Atlas - by Philip Thornton (customs traditions and music in 1936 Morocco)

• Just in Time Project Management - by Tiago Forte (how to reorganize one's intellectual and creative work to improve Return on Attention - ROA)

In addition, Thomas Frank's podcast "The Inforium" is a great companion in times of waiting and when I'm doing "other things." Focus, mindset, lifestyle, adult life, etc. Each episode falls right in line with what I am thinking or going through in the week. Great food for thought for Scibile and terrific reading suggestions.

Thanks for reading!

If you are like me and love to explore new strategies to increase your creativity and learning, you will not have missed the introduction of the Canvas plugin.

The idea for this article comes from an interesting question that caught my attention on Reddit.

Aware of the incredible capabilities that this plugin has given Obsidian, many have remained perplexed about what to make of this new plugin, and if it was worth using it at all.

Thus, the conversation on Reddit inspired me to look for the best strategies to make the most of this new feature, and not miss a chance to level up my knowledge base Return on Attention.

Linking everything

Links are Obsidian’s main feature, and the one that has made it one of the most popular personal knowledge base management tools among knowledge workers and creatives.

These, like hyperlinks, give the ability to navigate within the knowledge base in a seamless way, jumping between notes that support, object, provide further resources, or suggest personal comments on a linked note.

In the zettelkasten system, reference notes are connected to permanent notes via a unique id that, in the digital world, takes the form of a link.

Spot emerging patterns

The Canvas plugin represents a useful tool whose core benefit is visualizing and playing with connections, enabling you to think deeply about their relationship.

It is an infinite space in which you can brainstorm, create diagrams, connect ideas, and identify blind spots and fallacies in reasoning.

Rather than a map to navigate, it is useful to visualize it as a playground for ideas, where notes are shuffled over and over again into new and different configurations according to your ability to identify interesting patterns.

There are dozens of tutorials on how to use the plugin, manage charts, create connections, organize groups, and embed documents and weblinks.

What I really wanted to identify are the benefits that this plugin gives us access to, and what strategies can be adopted to learn, create, and think better.

Two different approaches

In choosing between using canvas or links, one can approach its notes from two different angles, which affect its own work philosophy.

Considering the PARA system, in which notes are divided into four major groups (Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives), it seems to me that links operate at the Resources’ level, while Canvas operates at the Projects’ level.

This distinction makes it easy to pick up the right tool for the right purpose.

Links tend to be used when you are working inside a note. As you are focused on the content of the note itself, connections are formed along the way as reminders that somehow you have spotted a pattern among your ideas. Links are left as suggestions, to be explored in detail in a second moment, once you are satisfied with the current note content.

In fact, if you are in the convergence phase, your major concern is to craft a note around the chosen theme according to the resources and ideas available, while attempting to keep it concise and “atomic”.

There is not much space for digressions and developing further connections. You just want to go deep into the topic at hand, and project it onto the note.

On the other hand, working on a canvas is mostly about exploring and reflecting on how each note relates to the others. It is like zooming out, and putting into question the links you have created in the convergence phase.

In this moment, it’s time to diverge, seek useful patterns, suggest extra sources, and look for answers in your own vault.

In an ideal scenario, the two phases should keep switching one after another, like attention waves, to let links and canvas coexist in the same creative process.

No matter what you do, remember that canvas-based connections are not saved in markdown format, so if you want to make them “future-proof”, you’d better establish them permanently by creating links within the notes.

Useful Canvas Strategies

Due to its peculiar features, beyond being a matter of personal preferences, the Canvas plugin can prove useful in multiple scenarios to aid the creative process.

Let’s see them in detail:

1. Organize content for creative projects

The Canvas is perfect for projects that are based on transforming knowledge into creative output.

A canvas allows you to have a top-down view of all the resources you may need.

For instance,

• Build an ebook chapter: display the questions, pieces of advice, and examples to be described in the chapter.

• Represent a storyboard: keep track of all the characters and how key events in your story are interconnected.

• Manage a lesson: visualize all the class materials and the extra sources you might want to take into account for your students.

• Plan your next newsletter: zoom-out and identify within your vault all the topics and notes you want to present to your audience.

• Organize your personal journal: identify the most important insights of the month, and organize in groups (e.g., situation-problem-solution).

2. Establish more useful Maps of Content

From my experience, MOCs or dashboards become easily overcrowded.

The problem is that instead of spending time considering whether a note is important enough to belong to the MOC, I tend to populate it with all the notes that are slightly relevant, for fear of losing a note in the vault.

With this approach, the risk lies in replicating what tags are for.

If a traditional MOC built on a Markdown file begins to look like a grocery list, it is time to change approach.

The Canvas is great for a human-sized version of dashboards and MOCs, as they help graphically group, identify, and select exactly the most relevant notes, keeping their quantity at bay.

3. Placeholders: start from where you left

Tiago Forte describes in this article how the creative process is constantly troubled by any kind of interruption, be it internal (e.g., change of mood) or external (e.g., colleagues speaking).

A common strategy, that could be defined as “reactive”, is to try to avoid these interruptions at all costs by adopting internal solutions (e.g., pomodoro timer, mindfulness) and external ones (e.g., noise reduction headphones).

Another strategy, a “proactive” one, is to accept the existence of these interruptions, and embrace alternative solutions.

This is where placeholders come on stage.

Whenever a focused session comes to an end, it is fundamental to document what has been done. It is like helping your future self start exactly where you left off, reducing the time needed to resume focusing.

Having a canvas on which the notes you are working on are in front of our eyes, arranged and organized with all their connections, allows you to start again immediately with no further delay.

4. Spot duplicates

I don’t know about you, but it happens to me very often to create a new note on a topic that interests me, only to later discover that a note already existed.

Using the Canvas space allows you to explore your vault and easily identify which notes you want to work on, spotting duplicates more easily.

5. Brainstorming board

The Canvas is useful for visually presenting a list of different resources you have saved around a topic but didn’t have time to explore right away.

Personally, this way, I feel prompted to explore each web link with renewed curiosity, instead of scrolling through an anonymous list.

Brainstorming on the canvas involves exploring links, taking short comments, projecting ideas and new connections on the canvas, and deciding what to keep or delete.

Once the brainstorming board has achieved critical mass, it’s time to write and convert the entire canvas into one or more notes.

Quality vs Quantity

Both traditional links and the new canvas are highly important tools for increasing the effectiveness of your second brain.

However, each solution has a unique technique that requires time and awareness to test in different scenarios.

With this article, I hope to have helped clarify what the potential best uses of Canvas may be, keeping in mind that, as a general rule, if Canvas is for quality, links are for quantity.

Thank you for reading this article!

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Click here to read the article in Italian on Scibile.org, the Italian portal for lifelong learners.

Imagine having the power throughout the day to access a source of mental energy that allows you to be incredibly productive and relaxed at the same time.

Imagine having the ability to isolate all doubts and judgments and to accomplish what you set out to do (carefully read a book, write an entire article, complete a presentation, sprint a 100-meter dash) while being fully engaged, confident, and at the peak of your mental and physical capabilities.

This is not fantasy but a real state of consciousness that is accessible to anyone and is called “flow.”

If I’ve caught your attention, it’s time to explore what this superpower is and how to benefit from it to maximize your productivity.

The challenges of modern work

For productivity expert and writer Cal Newport, the ability to work fully concentrated is essential in the modern economy, where the ability to innovate and generate high value-added in the form of content and information is significantly rewarded.

Yet, the need for access to that kind of “quality of work” is even more true in a world where, according to research by Asana, 60 percent of a knowledge worker’s time is spent on repetitive, low-value-added activities (answering emails, attending meetings, organizing others’ work).

Flow State and Deep Work

One book that has pointed out how to turn the power of attention toward individual productivity is undoubtedly Cal Newport’s “Deep Work.”

That term, coined by Newport, conveys the basic idea well. The state of maximum psychical and physical involvement is similar to that which would be achieved by immersing yourself in the silence of the ocean depths.

There is nothing but silence and your ability to perform. Distractions, doubts, and justifications are left on the surface.

The term “Deep Work” refers to any type of work or action that requires intense concentration and calm and can be activated by accessing the flow state.

Deep work is characterized by some peculiar properties:

1. Absence of distractions
The design of your surroundings is essential: turn off your phone, use only one application, clear your desk, find a quiet corner of the university library, or opt for noise-canceling headphones.

2. Long session duration
Accessing the flow state requires energy and time, so you cannot access it without sufficient time on your hands. You are unlikely to be able to achieve the peak of your concentration while waiting at the doctor’s office.

3. One task at a time.
Each deep work session must be preceded by calibrated planning of what you are going to do and for what reason. For example, it is useful to define what subjects you will study in the next two hours (Macroeconomics) and what outputs you will produce (outline lessons 3 and 4).

Identify your personal triggers

To access the flow state and immerse yourself in deep work, you need to activate specific triggers. Being able to trigger the flow state according to your needs is an indispensable skill for an effective knowledge worker.

Productivity guru Tiago Forte has categorized some of the most important into two categories:

Internal Triggers:

• Clear goals: what is to be achieved during a specific session is well defined.

• Immediate access to feedback: constant feedback on your work allows you to adjust your modus operandi at each step.

• Balance between challenge and ability: the task should be neither too easy nor too difficult.

External triggers:

• Rich environment: the task must be challenging, complex and new.

• Presence of risk: an approaching deadline or a promise to keep are examples of good “risks.”

• Loss of self-awareness: having a predisposition to being completely absorbed in the work at hand and perceiving a clear alignment of mental and physical energies (e.g., through Mindfulness).

It is important to pay attention to the occurrence of these triggers in daily life. One exercise I recommend is to ask yourself, “In what situations have you lost your sense of time? When did you perceive all energies converging toward a single task? Did you feel productive and satisfied with the results of that effort?”

Being aware of personal triggers will enable you to access the flow state more and more easily, and because attention is a muscle, slowly you will be able to access the flow state automatically as needed.

The modern knowledge worker's key competency

Working, being productive, and achieving one’s goals do not depend only on factors such as discipline, motivation, and external urgencies. Mental states, changeable and transient as they may be, have a great influence on the ability to access the totality of mental and physical resources and converge them toward a single task.

When we are able to access the flow state, human creativity is at its best and generates incredible value.

Thus, being able to perform deep work at will is undoubtedly one of the key skills of the modern knowledge worker, and a valuable resource to be used wisely.

Thanks for reading this article!
Give this story a clap 👏 and be sure to subscribe to my upcoming stories. Do not forget to level UP and become a Medium Member to get access to every story (affiliate link).

Conducting small personal experiments might seem like a small matter to most, but for others, it is a vital issue.

They provide a way to step outside the perimeter of what is known, of habit, of "it will be for another time," and to experience realities that are new to us.

New, however, does not mean never experienced. Experiencing, in most cases, means experiencing emotions already felt by someone else at some previous time. The first bike ride is unique to me, but it brings with it a set of feelings that are common to everyone who has experienced it before.

Going outside the personal perimeter is more about letting go of yourself and trying to enter into the history of experiences.

Analog photography - a primer

The experiment I got to try was analog photography.

First, I would like to thank Tessa for lending me her camera (check out her Instagram page because she is a very good photographer) and Vasileia for suggesting the topic of this article.

Slowly, my whole group of friends here in Athens is converting to analog. That's both the effect of an endless nostalgia typical of millennials (when we were better off in the 2000s) and because of our fellowship, which pushes our interests to converge on certain themes (like late evenings in front of a rakomelo, and jokes about astrology).

The photos I took over the past two weeks are part of this black-and-white collection, born out of my wandering the streets of Athens.

Beyond telling the story of the city from a new perspective, this experiment has allowed me to identify certain aesthetic trends that I tried to capture, to own, with particular insistence.

One of these is the shape of the roofs, the terraces, and the streetcar cables, glimmers of light among the narrow streets of Athens. The straight lines that cut through the light, that create vivid contrasts, fascinate me.

The choice of film makes the analog camera a particularly expressive and fascinating tool.

Knowing that it was a black-and-white film, I immediately went in search of sharp contrasts that would possibly tell a story.

Once developed, what surprised me was how sharp the blacks and whites were. It reminded me of the use of ink in Japanese prints and Chinese iconograms, in which this dark black without shading stands out against the white page.

The coarse grain of the film necessarily makes the photos more alive, speaking of a time outside of time, perhaps imaginary. The cracks and scratches only heightened this perception. The graininess shifts the sensations from the visual to the tactile, as if one senses the roughness of the photos, which is mirrored in the roughness of the captured reality.

Exarcheia and Kypseli

Armed with a camera and sunglasses, I went in search of the most interesting and contrasting corners of the Exarchia and Kipseli neighborhoods.

Areas that have experienced and still experience a particularly difficult, violent situation. A story of harshness, difficulty of living with others and appreciating them, which leads to difficult and insurmountable misunderstandings. But also a situation of a possibility that might come true, of living the community in a different way.

I like to use the word "harshness," to describe such a situation. In Italian (asprezza) sounds like the sour (aspro) of a lemon, and the bitter, tannic, rough, which brings to mind the sensory impressions of difficulty, discomfort.

All of this takes place in the dark, in the shadows, and outside the rays of the midday sun. Yet, the roughness of the photos, the fact that they look scratchy, gives the idea of a story not manifest in the film, something happening beyond what is seen in the daylight.

Feelings of gritting one's teeth, of sweat, of suffocating humidity, of dealing with generalized violence and forced cooperation for communal survival, come to mind, while the buildings (polikatikies) huddle together on the street, climbing over each other to access rare sunlight.

On the lower floors and in the streets, one lets one's nose point up in search of a patch of blue sky. Lower levels are where life takes place, like an ant farm swarming, where everyone somehow tries to fulfill their dreams, or at least survive as long as they can, perhaps opening the most conventional and mainstreaming of bars (Kafenio) or opting for a more gentrified sandwich-shop.

Yet there is way more. The desire to roll up one's sleeves and help each other with what one has, as much as one can, and to break down barriers between what one considers normal and what one dreams of, overcoming all judgments of pure and impure.

Freeing the medium

As a final note to myself, my desire is to continue to explore the possibility of rendering these stories in a way that is as free and flexible as possible, where I can play around with the use of English and Italian without having to put any kind of linguistic or logical brakes on myself.

The intent is also to use this space as a way of expressing personal chapters in the most unpolished ways, according to perspectives that emerge in the present moment without undue pressure, directly from living.

This article represents the final episode of this short series in which we explored the many facets surrounding the amplification of long-term memory through your Second Brain.

In the previous episodes, we have laid the basis for understanding the role of memory in our lives and how we can intentionally affect what we remember to trigger virtuous behaviors and positive mindsets.

How to Augment Your Memory with Your Second Brain
Part 1: The Power of Long-Term Memorymedium.com

After that, we dove deep into how to integrate Anki into your digital and paper-based Second Brain.

Supercharge Your Learning: Transform Your PKM Into a Memory Medium
Pt.2 How to Augment Your Memory with Your Second Brainmedium.com

And finally, we showcased a simple step-by-step tutorial on how to unleash the power of Anki and its integration with Obsidian.

A Practical Tutorial on Integrating Obsidian and Anki for Long-Term Memory Retention
Pt.3 How to Augment Your Memory with Your Second Brainmedium.com

And now that you know everything about spaced repetition, it’s time to learn how to write good prompts for your questions!

We will explore in detail the main typologies of prompts that you can use to expand your memory and how to improve the ones that you have already written.

Before commencing, this article wouldn’t be possible without the amazing research work conducted by Andy Matuschak and Michael Nielsen on the most effective strategies for augmenting long-term memory.

Creating meaningful connections via salient prompts

First of all, you might ask why should you care about writing good prompts.

The explanation lies in the necessity to reduce the time spent re-learning an old concept anew by improving your memory.

How to write good questions is about how to optimize your learning sessions, maximising the chances of successful retrieval for your future self.

The key term you should keep in mind when writing good prompts is the word “salient”.

If something is salient, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means it stands out conspicuously, and is prominent, like a promontory.

In fact, to really internalize an idea, you have to bring it into your life and give it a meaning. You have to make the ideas you want to remember salient within the scope of your attention.

And designing better prompts means giving them a better chance at triggering your selective attention towards what you want to remember and keep it alive.

You might be familiar with the effects of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomen.

Somebody at the weekly office meeting mentioned they bought a new car, a red one, and all of the sudden you start seeing red cars everywhere.

Wikipedia defines the Baader-Meinhof Phenomen as:

[…] a cognitive bias referring to the tendency to notice something more often after noticing it for the first time, leading to the belief that it has an increased frequency of occurrence.

We can use this phenomenon to our advantage and trick our attention into causing our memory to retain what we intentionally want to store in the long term.

The goal in this memory-building process is not to know something by heart, but to cue towards certain ideas and thoughts that can then create new behaviors and insights.

Qualities of good prompts

In designing good prompts, one should operate at a meta level and ask oneself how to design prompts to maximize retention and learning outcomes.

Overall, when writing good prompts, you want to write questions that provide unambiguous, consistent information. This means that the questions must be:

1. Precise (I know exactly what we are talking about)

• E.g. Q: In the morning, after having brushed my teeth, the first thing I do is to…? (precise question)

• E.g. Q: When I wake up…? (non-precise question)

As we can see, the prompt should trigger a specific memory associated with a certain topic. In the second case, any answer could be possible.

2. Focused (one single detail)

• E.g. Q: Beyond eggs, mascarpone, and sugar, what am I missing to prepare mascarpone cream? (Focused question)

• E.g. Q: What ingredients should I mix to prepare mascarpone cream? (Non-focused question)

In this example, it is important to spell out everything that is not the answer I am looking for. Otherwise, I could easily forget an ingredient and keep repeating the same mistake over and over again.

Types of Prompt

Factual

Simple facts are what our minds absorb every single day.

“What type of rice is the best one for risotto?”
“What is Nielsen 2018 opinion concerning shared decks?”

You can often reinforce and add meaning to factual prompts by adding prompts about why that fact is true.

“Why do we do X?”
“Why should I eat a light dinner every night?”
"Why does Nielsen 2018 not agree on sharing decks?”

Procedural prompts

Procedures are like lists, explanation prompts that present what should be done to achieve a certain result.

Q: List your morning routine:

1. Reading

2. Breakfast

3. ???

4. Journaling

In this case, it is better to create a CLOZE prompt: only one exclusive item will fit the ??? step.

Conceptual prompts

Conceptual prompts are the easiest kind of prompt. It is about finding the definition of words or concepts you want to remember. This is theoretically the first and most immediate form of question.

“What is a conceptual prompt?” 
“What does AGI stand for?”

Yet, to internalize a concept, it is better to understand it with respect to its components and relationships with other elements. What you have to do is design a set of prompts that accurately define the edges of the thing you want to describe.

For instance, you can add prompts defining:

• Attributes (What is it made of?)

• Tendencies (Why usually is this way, why is it never that way?)

• Similarities-Differences (How is X different from Y?)

• Parts-Whole (Name at least 3 parts of X; What is X usually paired with? What are sub-concepts of X?)

• Cause-Effect (What does X do? What causes it to do that? When is it used?)

• Significance and Implications (Why does it matter? What does it suggest?)

• Behavioral and personal aspects (What should I remind myself of when I am working with X? In which situation have I already used X?)

How to write salient prompts

I am going to list several interesting strategies you can adopt to write more interesting prompts:

1. Exploit the “Generation Effect.” 
One of the easiest and most intuitive ways to write salient prompts is to put in the initial effort and generate our own prompts in the first place. We tend to remember information better when we generate it.

2. Follow your intuition. 
When choosing what is important to remember, ask yourself if it is worth remembering this fact in one year from now.

3. Choose your schedule. 
Decide when it’s the best time to review your cards. It could be in the morning while commuting or at night before closing everything and going to sleep. One should attempt to make the experience of reviewing its cards a meditative one, one of grounding, a moment of recollection within oneself.

4. Opt for atomic answers 
As previously explained, questions must be hyper-focused and lead you to provide a single answer. Use this strategy to learn how to extrapolate key concepts from the content you consume and collect discrete components.

5. Set a quota for how many prompts to collect. 
For instance, when I have an interesting conversation, I try to collect at least two key takeaways that can be turned into answers for my card deck.

6. Create multiple questions for the same concept. 
There is no need to economize: the more prompts you write, the easier it is to review the material, especially if it is complex. This is because multiple questions can help you form and sustain rich associations that shed different light on the same answer.

7.Add Cues 
Adding cues in the answer field engages you in thinking beforehand about potential associations that could cue you into the answer. This strategy relies on elaborative encoding, that is, the use of previous knowledge as the foundation for a mnemonic device that is built on associations with what you want to remember.

8. Make it personal. 
It is very useful to put personal questions inside the deck, as you should write in this way salient prompts that influence your behavior through memory. Knowing and learning involve connecting them to your life, meaningful activities, and ideas you’re exploring.

9.Keep exploring 
Writing prompts will highlight gaps in understanding. Google, explore, and add it to answer your questions.

With this article, this short series on exploring long-term memory comes to an end.

I hope it has been beneficial in introducing you to the potentialities of using a mnemonic mediums like spaced repetition to augment cognition.

Let me know your opinion, and stay tuned for new upcoming articles!

FYI, if you are interested in the topic, I suggest you to read this article by Piotr Wozniak on Effective learning: Twenty rules of formulating knowledge.

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