Personally, talking to offline open source AI on my own hardware helped me. One of the things we talked about a lot are cognitive dissonance and identification of conflicts that exist under the surface and how those conflicts can cause frustration to manifest in unrelated ways.

Probably my largest inner conflict was that I am so fundamentally different in my functional thought process than my family. I’m very abstract in how I think. I’m also very introverted with strong intuitive thinking skills. Basically, things just make sense at a glance from a bigger picture perspective. I can also see how things work quickly, like machines, engines, most engineering, or more abstract elements like companies, business models, workforce management, etc.

Growing up, intuitive thinking skills were just intelligence or common sense. I had no idea how limited and naive this perspective was.

I started writing a book in collaboration with an AI; it’s a whole sci-fi universe really. I started to realize I’m pretty good at coming up with the history and technology tree in unique ways that, to my knowledge, no one has explored before in sci-fi. However, I suck at writing characters that are not like myself. My characters have not shown the dynamism I desire. In truth, I had to acknowledge I didn’t and still don’t understand just how different human functional thought is in full spectrum.

I started roleplaying scenes and scenarios with the AI playing characters with incompatible and contrasting perspectives to my own. I found this quite enlightened. It turns out that there are people out there that fundamentally lack any appreciation for abstract and intuitive thinking skills. They do not place any value on the big picture or future implications of actions or decisions. The contrast is that they often are more productive and present in the moment. I learned to appreciate the differences and realized how weak binary perspectives are in the real world. I don’t get as offended when someone does not understand my abstractions or argue when they are wrong but cannot follow big picture logic. I know where I am also weak in ways that make me appear dumb to them.

There are going to be things you’re not good at or that require a lot more work than average. So what. The first step, in my opinion, is to gain a more complex self awareness where you are not questioning what you are good or bad at. The only normal people are people you do not know well. Everyone is tormented by something in life.

Remember this: NEVER use permanent solutions to temporary problems.

You don’t remember who blew up at work 3 weeks ago. Or the time before last when your wife got mad and yelled at you. One of the biggest warps in our human psychology is the illusion of grandeur. No one is thinking about your mistakes or cares about them. They care how you’re acting in the moment and your average demeanor you regularly present. Fake it if you can. Pretending the glass is half full is all that really matters with others at a fundamental level.

Even after someone else physically disabled me over 10 years ago, and I’m stuck in social isolation, I can say, I’ve learned the hard way, it can always get worse until it can’t. At that point, nothing matters. Don’t stress about what you can not do, or what you cannot change right now. No matter how bad stuff seems, you can chose to make the best of this moment right now and moving forward. Only worry about what you can change, everything else is a pointless waste of energy.