In the last two essays in this series, we established that agency is the critical resource of our age, and that networks—not just tools—shape how we exercise that agency. But there’s a deeper question: what fuels agency? What creates the gravity that holds these networks together?
The default answer in tech is “narrative.” The most common fundraising advice, for example, is to “work on your narrative.” This suggests a framing problem, as if you just need to find the right words. But the real problem isn’t narrative—it’s conviction and courage.
Most technologists don’t actually believe in something.
The Crisis of Attention
Our attention splinters across an endless stream of content, positioning, and meta-commentary. We’re told to build, to accelerate, to grow our audience—but for what? The industry promotes motion without meaning, engagement without direction.
This matters more than ever because computers can now generate infinite content. GPT can write decent market analysis. Midjourney can create compelling visuals. The supply of superficially competent content is unlimited. But algorithmic content serves only itself, expanding to fill every available space with what Thiel calls indefinite optimism: belief in a better future without conviction about what it looks like or how to create it.
What we’re missing isn’t attention or even creativity, it’s conviction. It’s the ability to believe in something specific about how the world should work, and the courage to act on that belief.
Narrative R&D
We have a responsibility to shape the world with specific, defensible ideas. The technologist’s role isn’t to capture attention but to craft environments that enable authentic belief and intentional action.
This requires what I call the “narrative R&D” stack:
Worldview: The Vision of What Should Be
Start with a vision of change—not just a market thesis or growth hypothesis, but a specific belief about what should exist. What are we actually working toward? What values drive our work? What kind of world are we trying to create?
The strongest worldviews often emerge from deeply understanding existing values and beliefs, then extending them into new domains. Your responsibility is to be clear about what you believe and why it matters.
Our lack of worldview – of core values and beliefs – is the plague of our time. Alain de Botton’s diagnosis is one of self-worship: “We have nothing at its center that is non-human. We are the first society to be living in a world where we don’t worship anything other than ourselves. […] Our heroes are human heroes. Most other societies have had […] the worship of something transcendent.”
Islamic scholar Amana Raquib has noted, “Technological developments appear purposeful from a local, limited perspective, such as that of companies and firms. When seen from a global perspective, one cannot find a single [thread] that unifies technological developments in different areas.”
That is the state of the world that we’re fighting against.
Pulse: Systematic Understanding
Your vision of the world must connect to reality. This means developing deep knowledge of what’s actually happening—not just trends and data, but understanding the underlying dynamics that shape behavior and belief.
Good intelligence means seeing both what changes and what endures. It means understanding which existing beliefs remain powerful but need new expression.
I’ve said before that one of the companies that win in the AI age will be those with a deep, earned understanding of and trust with a niche audience that they’re building for. You need to keep a pulse on their own beliefs, actions, and desires and filter it through your own worldview.
Some would call this “taste,” but I look at this more as the process of taste than the static trait itself, if there even is one.
Content: Evidence of Conviction
Content isn’t a product—it’s what Jack Butcher calls “sawdust.” It’s evidence that you’re doing the work in alignment with your worldview.
Content becomes great when it’s not just evidence of work, but evidence of wrestling with something larger than yourself. My favorite writers, for example, those that document their struggle with ideas. This is why the most compelling writing often feels like field notes from the frontier of understanding: it shows someone actively grappling with questions that others have felt but haven’t been able to articulate.
Your content reveals your values. When done right, it attracts others who recognize truth that needs new expression. Networks form not around pure novelty, but around shared conviction about what matters.
Writing as the Essential Act
In “Conversation With The Network,” Sonya Mann describes a very similar system to the one I outlined above, with the same goal: a deep understanding of what’s happening in the world and a cultivation of your own perspective.
I think Sonya would agree that the most important tool for building conviction and courage to act is writing.
Writing forces clarity about what you believe and why. It exposes loose thinking and reveals hidden assumptions. More importantly, it creates leverage. Good writing scales your worldview and attracts aligned people to build with you. One of my favorite blog posts is by Henrik Karlsson, titled: “A blog post is a very long and complex search query to find fascinating people and make them route interesting stuff to your inbox.” I think that’s fairly self-explanatory, and I believe that deeply.
This is why writing matters more than ever in an AI world. Computers can generate endless variations on existing patterns. But they can’t generate conviction. They can’t tell you what’s worth believing in or why it matters.
The world is more malleable than ever. Institutions are becoming softer; technology more modular. But this malleability makes conviction more critical, not less. Without specific beliefs about how the world should work, we default to slop.
The future belongs to those who can articulate and act on their own beliefs. This requires moving beyond both empty narratives and blind tradition to believing in something specific and meaningful. When you truly believe in something—whether newly discovered or durably relevant—you create gravity that attracts others who share that belief.
The technologist’s responsibility is to shape environments that enable authentic belief and intentional action. Not to capture attention, but to create tools and networks that help others discover and act on meaningful conviction. That is how you increase the amount of agency in the world. That is how you build networks of aligned, courageous folks to help you shape the world in your vision.
Believe in something.