Don’t Outsource Your Thinking

Someone asked me: “How would The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck have been different if AI existed when you wrote it?”

My answer:
It would’ve gotten written slightly faster.

That’s it.

When I wrote Subtle Art, I spent more time digging than I did writing.

I slogged through books, interviews, psychology papers, Reddit threads, old Buddhist stories—anything that could illustrate a point or make a concept feel real.

That’s what writing a book is: 20% writing, 80% excavation. You become a thesaurus-humping archaeologist with a deadline.

AI would’ve made that process so much faster.

Three minutes with ChatGPT and I’d have examples from history, philosophy, and Reddit all lined up in a list.

…and then I would’ve still researched everything and written the damn thing myself.

Because outsourcing your writing to AI is a one-way ticket to destroying your voice and originality. You know, the part of you that actually has something to say.

So yeah, Subtle Art would’ve been written faster.

But not better.

Because the hard part of writing—the part where you wrestle with what you actually believe—that’s still 100% human.

And if you try to cheat that, you might still publish something…

But it won’t be yours.

See you Monday,
Mark Manson

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author
My Website – My Books – My YouTube Channel – My Podcast – My App