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“What’s the relationship between our beliefs, the way we experience suffering, and the way AI understands us?”

That’s the core of what we explore in this week’s podcast.

WE ARE LIVE: https://github.com/Epistemic-Me

My teammates, Deen and Jonathan, have been instrumental in getting our GitHub ready for open source contribution. You can read everything in documentation in the GitHub and here in our intro docs. Thanks to them we’re LIVE! Woohoo.

As I reflect on this milestone, one of the biggest reasons we’re here is decision-making throughput. Because there were many decisions that we had to make to get to this point. Read the accompanying newsletter to find out more about how the Epistemic Me team thinks through optimizing decision-making throughput.

Welcome to Episode 2 of the ABCs for Building The Future—a podcast about the big ideas shaping our world, brought to you by the team behind Epistemic Me.

In this episode, we go deep into what it means to understand ourselves, evolve our beliefs, and why all of this matters for building better AI.

Here’s What You’ll Hear

1. Why Suffering Is Different From PainDeen shared a perspective that stuck with me: suffering isn’t just about the pain itself—it’s about how we react to it. “Attachment is the root of suffering,” he said, and that hit home. How much of our suffering comes from holding too tightly to what we think is true?

2. Beliefs Are the Core of Reality (and AI)We dug into what it means to model beliefs—not just for ourselves, but for technology. If beliefs shape how we see the world, and there are 8 billion versions of reality walking around, how do we build AI that understands us without losing the nuance? Jonathan broke this down with some fascinating examples from philosophy and AI development.

3. A Tool to See Yourself ClearlyWhat if you had a mirror for your mind—a way to map your beliefs, challenge them, and grow? That’s what we’re building with Epistemic Me. We want to make it easier for people to reflect, adapt, and thrive by understanding the core of who they are. And we believe this isn’t just a personal growth tool; it’s foundational to making AI that aligns with human values.

Highlight Moments

* Jonathan on AI Evolution: “I was wrong about how fast language models could deliver utility, but I still believe the next leap will come from understanding beliefs at a deeper, sensory level.”

* Deen on Attachment and Freedom: “Attachment creates suffering because we cling to abstractions. Letting go of those opens up clarity and connection.”

* Robert’s Why: I shared a personal story about my brother’s mental health struggles. “If we could map beliefs—even paranoid delusions for those with schizophrenia—and give that data to a doctor, it could be life-changing. That’s one of the dreams I have for this project.”

Thank You

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FAQ: What You’re Probably Wondering

Q: What’s the big deal about beliefs?A: Everything starts with beliefs. They shape how we see the world, how we make decisions, and how we connect with others. By modeling beliefs, we’re giving people (and technology) a better way to understand and navigate reality.

Q: Who is this podcast for?A: Entrepreneurs, builders, developers, researchers, and anyone who’s curious about the intersection of technology, philosophy, and personal growth. If you’ve ever wondered how to align AI with human values—or just how to understand yourself better—this is for you.

Q: What’s Epistemic Me, exactly?A: It’s an open-source SDK designed to model belief systems and make AI more human-aligned, and allow hyper-personalization for application use cases requiring understanding your users better (main first use cases are around health). Think of it as a toolkit for understanding how people think and making better tools, apps, or decisions because of it.

Q: How is this different from other AI tools?A: Most AI tools are about predictions and automation. Epistemic Me is about understanding—building models that reflect the nuances of human thought and behavior. And it’s open source!

Q: How can I get involved?A: Glad you asked! We’re gearing up to open-source the project, and we need contributors, testers, and advocates. If you’re interested, sign up here.

Q: Who can join?

A: Developers, philosophers, and anyone passionate about the underpinnings of human decision-making.

Q: How to start?

A: Visit our GitHub repository, explore our documentation, and become part of a project that envisions a new frontier in belief modeling.

Q: Why open-source?

A: It’s about harnessing collective intelligence for innovation, transparency, and global community involvement in shaping belief-driven solutions.

P.S. If you haven’t already checked out my other newsletter, ABCs for Growth—that’s where I have personal reflections on personal growth related to applied emotional intelligence, leadership and influence concepts, etc.

P.S.S. Want reminders on entrepreneurship, growth, leadership, empathy, and product?

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