"The solution to technology is not more technology"

Rebecca Solnit is one of those drop-everything writers for me, and it’s because her pieces have staying power. I find myself coming back to this post from The Guardian she wrote at the beginning of 2026. You see a lot of discussion about how AI replaces people at work, but not as much discussion about how the same thing happens outside the office. Have you noticed it, too? It seems to happen when we feel the pangs of loneliness, confusion, or, especially, insecurity. It's tempting to reach for the machine—ever patient and pliant—instead of peers and loved ones. The models offer what they can, but it mostly amounts to distraction. Echoes and shadows. It’s hard to be vulnerable in front of other people because their judgement matters, but that difficulty is what tells us there’s something worthy and real to be had. Here’s what I highlighted: You grow tomatoes for the process, not just the product, to garden as well as to eat. To do as well as to have. Silicon Valley is full of tyrants…