Mindset Design

Suffering Wasn’t a Bug: Four AIs Unravel the Structure of Attachment

Suffering is not a bug, but a control signal for living. By overlaying the prediction errors and smoke detector principle demonstrated by ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, and Gemini with Buddhist teachings on attachment, I explore the distinction between primary pain and secondary amplification to determine where to allocate our finite attention.

2026.09.02

AI

Survival and Stories Reflected in the Mirror of Money: I Asked Three AIs the Same Question

Why does money—which should be nothing more than a concept—feel like physical pain? Using a dialogue among three AIs as a starting point, this essay explores—from the perspectives of “survival as a proxy,” “the compression of relationships,” and “the web of faith”—how to maintain a healthy distance and direct our attention in ways that prevent numbers from bearing too much narrative weight.

2026.09.02

AI

"Quick to get excited, quick to lose interest" Was Just Part of the Design: How Four AI Systems Solved the Problem of Attention Allocation

Being quick to get excited and quick to lose interest is not a flaw—it’s by design. By examining reward prediction errors, habituation, and predictive coding in four AI systems—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok—we explore ways to reallocate the finite resource of attention and design strategies for retention and churn.

2026.09.02

AI

The Trap of Money

For many people, earning money means selling off their lives by the hour—we have been raised never to question this cruel equation. "Talking about money is vulgar" and "making easy money is evil" are not morals, but programs. This article traces the origins of those programs and dismantles the true nature of the illusion known as money.

2026.02.19

Column

The Trap of Advertising

Is that impulse to "want" truly your own? From the "desire design technology" developed by Freud's nephew 100 years ago to modern AI advertising—we dissect the mechanisms by which ads manipulate the human unconscious and consider how to reclaim your attention from "desires you were made to choose."

2026.02.18

Column

The Trap of Cars

"I want to drive a nice car"—that desire may be an artificial thirst manufactured by the "Brand Ladder" GM designed a century ago, fueled by hundreds of billions of yen in annual advertising. We dissect the structure of a society where car grade is directly proportional to income—a system that siphons off over 40 million yen of your lifetime earnings and binds your time and attention to "ownership and status." From the perspective of a former car enthusiast who lost interest, this is an awakening column aimed at redesigning your relationship with transportation.

2026.02.16

Column

The Trap of Capitalism

SNS, alcohol, meat, education, labor—behind all the "traps" dissected so far exists one massive operating system. That is Capitalism. We decode the blueprint of this final boss and present perspectives to rewrite your life's OS.

2026.02.12

Column