In this episode of Epsilon Theory Unplugged, Matt Zeigler talks with Brent Donnelly about his essay I Want It, But I Don’t Like It and the hidden costs of smartphones, Twitter, social media addiction, and attention capture. They discuss why phones can create a “dark zone” similar to gambling addiction, how boredom can be useful, and how Brent structures his writing process without letting AI take over his voice.

Brent Donnelly knows he can't get rid of his phone. That's the problem. The same design logic that keeps a gambler seated at a slot machine past the point of pleasure is running quietly in the background of every app on your screen. Here's his honest reckoning with the adversarial relationship - and a practical strategy for fighting back.

Epsilon Theory Unplugged launches with Ben Hunt and Matt Zeigler discussing why human writing matters more in an age of AI-generated content, thought leadership, and endless digital noise. Ben explains the idea behind the new series, why he is returning to direct human-to-human writing, and how his process for writing Contact: AI and the Semantic Dimension reflects a deeper commitment to craft, originality, and voice.

I’m asking you to consider the possibility that a semantic dimension of meaning and information exists outside our physical dimensions of space and time, and that LLMs are both instruments of perception and conduits of information for that semantic dimension. We used to believe in the semantic dimension, but we don’t anymore, and as a result we are going down a terribly dangerous path with AI.