Previnder
@previnder.com
Founder discuit.org. Open-source maintainer. Works with Go, JS/TS, and Linux (btw). Interested in philosophy and history.
Writes at previnder.com.
Writes at previnder.com.
Michael Lynch (@mtlynch.io) has compiled here a wonderful list of essays about software that influenced him. The ones I’ve read (and I’ve read a few before) have all been very good.
December 23, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Michael Lynch (@mtlynch.io) has compiled here a wonderful list of essays about software that influenced him. The ones I’ve read (and I’ve read a few before) have all been very good.
Take everything and nothing seriously, at the same time. Contrary to how this sounds, this is not paradoxical.
December 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Take everything and nothing seriously, at the same time. Contrary to how this sounds, this is not paradoxical.
If you’re not Steve Jobs, however, it’s probably for the best if you disregard the advice implied here.
December 14, 2025 at 6:05 PM
If you’re not Steve Jobs, however, it’s probably for the best if you disregard the advice implied here.
Standing in front of the entire human race, looking at the faces in the crowd, and them looking back at you. How do you relate to them? What words do you have for them? Do you feel naked in front of them?
December 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Standing in front of the entire human race, looking at the faces in the crowd, and them looking back at you. How do you relate to them? What words do you have for them? Do you feel naked in front of them?
When you plan for the future, try not to be a tyrant over your future self.
December 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
When you plan for the future, try not to be a tyrant over your future self.
Complete disengagement from time to time, from whatever it is that you’re doing, even sometimes from your whole daily routine and way of life, is critical for maintaining perspective.
December 12, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Complete disengagement from time to time, from whatever it is that you’re doing, even sometimes from your whole daily routine and way of life, is critical for maintaining perspective.
Not to sound all grandiose, but recently, there has been this nagging feeling that I was put on this Earth for a purpose and that I’m not fulfilling that purpose. It’s probably time for a reinvention of the self.
December 12, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Not to sound all grandiose, but recently, there has been this nagging feeling that I was put on this Earth for a purpose and that I’m not fulfilling that purpose. It’s probably time for a reinvention of the self.
"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time."
— Leonard Bernstein
— Leonard Bernstein
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 AM
"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time."
— Leonard Bernstein
— Leonard Bernstein
Reposted by Previnder
Are we still doing starter packs?
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
November 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Are we still doing starter packs?
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
Put this one together because I love seeing things that lovely folks write on the internet, and I'm sure there are more people to meet and add to this list.
go.bsky.app/AnM2t7r
If people can predict you, they'll take you for granted.
November 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
If people can predict you, they'll take you for granted.
If you can think of yourself not merely as this self limited by this body, but as part of the human race, as part of life, then your own inevitable death wouldn’t appear so tragic.
November 11, 2025 at 5:09 PM
If you can think of yourself not merely as this self limited by this body, but as part of the human race, as part of life, then your own inevitable death wouldn’t appear so tragic.
When I really think about it, at bottom, there's very little I want for myself.
November 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
When I really think about it, at bottom, there's very little I want for myself.
Everything that needs to be said is not already said.
November 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Everything that needs to be said is not already said.
Reading too many books, watching too many videos, reading too many articles, etc. Some amount of information consumption is absolutely critical, but taken too far this is time that could rather be spent doing and practicing and creating and contemplating.
November 4, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Reading too many books, watching too many videos, reading too many articles, etc. Some amount of information consumption is absolutely critical, but taken too far this is time that could rather be spent doing and practicing and creating and contemplating.
Pretend that you have more than enough time—after all, you might.
November 4, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Pretend that you have more than enough time—after all, you might.
“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.”
— Heraclitus
— Heraclitus
October 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.”
— Heraclitus
— Heraclitus
Motivation provided by alluring images of possible distant futures is great at the beginning of a pursuit, but it's not nearly enough to sustain that pursuit once it’s begun.
October 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Motivation provided by alluring images of possible distant futures is great at the beginning of a pursuit, but it's not nearly enough to sustain that pursuit once it’s begun.
Yesterday’s tasks remain for today.
October 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Yesterday’s tasks remain for today.
Nothing baffles me more than the fact that people just seem to go about their lives everyday with no apparent consciousness of the sheer incomprehensible mystery that is existence.
October 23, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Nothing baffles me more than the fact that people just seem to go about their lives everyday with no apparent consciousness of the sheer incomprehensible mystery that is existence.
Listen to the silence in between the notes and you’ll hear the music better.
October 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Listen to the silence in between the notes and you’ll hear the music better.
In the place that anxiety now occupies in the atmosphere of your mind, you could have curiosity instead—curiosity, specifically, about what might happen.
October 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
In the place that anxiety now occupies in the atmosphere of your mind, you could have curiosity instead—curiosity, specifically, about what might happen.
Derek Parfit on the effect that understanding the fact that there’s no unique and unchanging self—the lack of a sort of serial number to us that remains fixed in time—had on his outlook on life in general (quote from his book “Reasons and Persons”).
October 17, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Derek Parfit on the effect that understanding the fact that there’s no unique and unchanging self—the lack of a sort of serial number to us that remains fixed in time—had on his outlook on life in general (quote from his book “Reasons and Persons”).
The slower I start the day the better it seems to go.
October 17, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The slower I start the day the better it seems to go.
Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers in history. Most people know him from the Foundation series, I Robot, and other works of science fiction, but he wrote more than 500 books in his lifetime.
Here’s how he, in his own words, was able to be so prolific.
Here’s how he, in his own words, was able to be so prolific.
October 14, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers in history. Most people know him from the Foundation series, I Robot, and other works of science fiction, but he wrote more than 500 books in his lifetime.
Here’s how he, in his own words, was able to be so prolific.
Here’s how he, in his own words, was able to be so prolific.
Nihilism and addiction go hand in hand, because if nothing really matters, hedonism becomes very attractive. Conversely, acquiring a sense of meaning is necessary for overcoming addiction.
October 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Nihilism and addiction go hand in hand, because if nothing really matters, hedonism becomes very attractive. Conversely, acquiring a sense of meaning is necessary for overcoming addiction.