On February 14th, Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, posts to 2.2 million followers: “Prediction: In the AI age, taste will become even more important. When anyone can make anything, the big differentiator is what you choose to make.” Paul links to an essay he wrote in 2002, “Taste For Makers.” Two days later Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI, adds five words: “Taste is a new core skill.” Combined 3.7 million impressions. Rick Rubin photos flood the comments. Is divine revelation unveiled to us? Utter nonsense.

Advertising feels safe now.

Safe like it avoids opinions.

A good idea starts wild. Then it goes through rounds of approval. Each round removes a little touch of genius. Until it comes out clean, polite and easy to ignore.

And the problem isn’t that it offends nobody. The problem is that it reaches nobody.

This article is a manifesto about the lie of “simple.” I argues that real simplicity isn’t an aesthetic and instead it’s the result of brutal iteration, deep understanding, and integrity in the invisible details, where complexity is solved by the creator so the user experience is truly blissful.

It’s also a warning that minimalist-looking work without that depth is just fake simple, clean on the surface, fragile underneath and it only takes one overlooked detail to turn product into garbage.

My friend asked how I come up with creative ideas. After I explained my process, they asked, no, I mean what prompts do you use? That's when I realized we're watching creativity die and we're the ones killing it.

Think of your online presence like a credit score. Not official. Not mandated. BUT universally understood. Employers won’t say “show us your social media or you can’t apply.” They just won’t call you if they cannot find you online. Already 57% admit to this. The media credit score is coming and people who build theirs now will have every advantage.