Why is the current AI transition so exhausting? It’s not just the fear of the unknown; it’s the sheer metabolic energy we spend resisting the known. In my book, The Coming AI Subconscious, I describe the human mind as having two primary modes: the Subconscious (95%), which is a “Reality Machine,” and the Conscious (5%), which is an “Arguing Machine.”
The Math of Resistance
We use our Conscious Attention to “argue” whenever Reality doesn’t match our Expectations. In the Reality Equation, this looks like a ratio where R ≠ 1.
Intensity = ln(Actual / Expectation)
When you argue with the fact that a task has become “cheap” or automated, you are forcing your conscious mind to stay active in a zone where the Natural Log curve is most volatile.
Expensive Attention vs. Cheap Reality
Conscious attention is the most “expensive” resource you own. It requires massive amounts of glucose and mental bandwidth. When you use that 5% of your brain to perform—or worry about—tasks that AI can now do for near-zero cost, you are engaging in Psychological Warfare against yourself.
Look at the “Geography” of the curve between 0 and 1:
- The Slope of Pain: The derivative of the natural log is 1/x. As your Reality ratio (x) gets smaller (meaning you are getting much less than you expected), the slope becomes vertical.
- The “Regret” Zone: This steep drop represents the “crashing” feel of disappointment. By refusing to delegate “No Surprise” tasks to the AI subconscious, you keep yourself pinned against this vertical cliff.
Reality is Given, Not Made
The “Arguing Machine” wants to rewrite history. It wants to go back to a time when your specific “output” was the source of your identity. But Reality is given. At the moment of “Now,” Reality is always exactly 1. It is what it is.
Whenever you say “This shouldn’t be happening” or “I shouldn’t be replaced,” you are attempting to solve an equation that has no solution. You are stuck in Optional Suffering.
The Way Out: Stop the Audit
To stop the exhaustion, you must stop the internal audit of your old tasks. If the AI can produce the Actual that matches the Expectation ($R=1$), let it. By moving that task into the “Subconscious” layer of your workflow, you return your emotional intensity to 0 (ln(1)).
You don’t win by arguing louder; you win by attending to higher things.