In a week defined by violence and digital despair, Packy McCormick makes a radical pivot: he argues that the internet's distortion of reality is not a fixed law of nature, but a choice we can unmake. While the news cycle fixates on the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the assassination of Charlie Kirk, McCormick refuses to let these tragedies become the sole metric of our future. He posits that the feeling of inevitable doom is a self-fulfilling prophecy manufactured by algorithms, and that the path forward lies not in retreating, but in actively curating a different narrative.
The Machinery of the Gut
McCormick opens by confronting the raw emotional toll of the past few days. He describes the jarring shift from the horror of a murdered young woman to the shock of a political figure being shot, noting how the online reaction quickly fractured into performative extremes. "On the far left, some people are celebrating the murder, which left two young girls without a dad. On the far right, some people are calling for Civil War," he observes. This framing is crucial; he identifies that while these voices are a "loud minority," the internet amplifies them until they appear to be the consensus, creating a feedback loop of hatred.
The author's central thesis relies on a distinction between the digital simulation and physical reality. He argues that the online world feels like a video game, where consequences are abstracted and radicalization happens in a vacuum. "People cheer, I think, because it feels like a video game. Not real life. But it's not a video game. What happens online bubbles over into real life," McCormick writes. This is a powerful reminder that the digital sphere is not a separate dimension but a pressure cooker for real-world violence. The stakes are not just about political disagreement; they are about the safety of ordinary citizens.
"At a certain point we're gonna have to build up some machinery, inside our guts, to help us deal with this."
Quoting David Foster Wallace, McCormick suggests that the solution is internal and individual. He calls for a conscious resistance against the "tiny handful of very loud voices (and bots)" that dictate the mood of the feed. This approach is compelling because it places agency back in the hands of the reader rather than waiting for institutional fixes. However, critics might note that relying solely on individual "gut machinery" ignores the structural design of social media platforms that profit from outrage. While personal resilience is necessary, it may not be sufficient against an ecosystem engineered for addiction and division.
The Quiet Thrill of Progress
Having established the need for a mental shift, McCormick pivots to the "Weekly Dose of Optimism," using it as evidence that the world is improving even when the news says otherwise. He highlights a series of technological breakthroughs that are expanding human capability, from space exploration to medical robotics. The first example is NASA's Mars rover, Perseverance, which has identified potential biosignatures in a rock sample named "Sapphire Canyon." McCormick notes that while the findings are not definitive proof of life, the evidence is compelling enough to say, "it'd be pretty hard to imagine there wasn't life." This discovery suggests Mars was habitable longer than previously thought, a significant step in understanding our place in the universe.
The commentary then turns to the commercial and logistical engines driving this progress. He details SpaceX's $17 billion deal with EchoStar to secure spectrum for Starlink Direct to Cell, a project that aims to beam 5G service directly to phones from space. McCormick captures the scale of this ambition, noting that "Elon basically upends entire 12-figure industries, and it's not even major news. Just another day at the office." This observation underscores a broader point: the pace of innovation is accelerating to the point where world-changing events are becoming routine.
Further examples include Alterego's "near-telepathic interface," which decodes subvocal speech to allow users to interact with computers without speaking, and a breakthrough in soft robotics where researchers created a manta ray-style robot that uses its own magnetic field to power its flexible batteries. McCormick describes the robotics advance as a "blueprint for soft robots that can explore hard-to-reach places, assist in medical procedures, or power next-generation wearables without being tied to a cord." These stories are not just technical trivia; they are proof that human ingenuity is solving problems that once seemed insurmountable.
The section concludes with the delivery of the first Jetson ONE eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft to Palmer Luckey. McCormick reflects on the significance of this moment for personal aviation, stating, "A Jetsons future in which we're all zipping around in the skies is the future we were promised." He acknowledges the terror of seeing a new technology in the hands of a single individual but frames it as an inevitable step toward a future with less traffic and faster commutes. The underlying argument is that these technologies, once they mature, will fundamentally reshape how we live and move.
The AI Revolution in Real Time
The final segment of the piece focuses on the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, moving beyond hype to concrete utility. McCormick highlights Math, Inc.'s "Gauss," an agent that successfully formalized the Prime Number Theorem, a task that required deep mathematical reasoning. He quotes the team's claim that their work represents "the first steps towards formalization at an unprecedented scale." This is a significant milestone, suggesting that AI is beginning to handle complex, abstract reasoning rather than just pattern matching.
He also discusses Oboe, a platform designed to use AI to teach humans, flipping the script on the fear that AI will make us stupider. The goal, as McCormick puts it, is a future where "AI's purpose was to feed us." This reframing challenges the dominant narrative of AI as a replacement for human intellect, proposing instead a symbiotic relationship where technology amplifies human learning.
Finally, he covers the rise of Replit's "Agent 3," which can build, test, and run full websites autonomously. McCormick shares a personal anecdote about his struggle with other coding tools, noting that while others failed, Replit's agent "just… worked." This practical demonstration of AI's capability to execute complex tasks without constant human intervention is a strong counter-argument to the idea that these tools are merely toys. It suggests a future where the barrier to creating software is lowered to the point of invisibility.
"Both optimism and pessimism are self-fulfilling prophecies."
This sentence serves as the thematic anchor for the entire piece. McCormick argues that the choice to focus on the darkness or the light is not just a mood; it is a strategic decision that shapes outcomes. By cataloging these advancements, he provides the evidence needed to fuel the optimistic prophecy. The counterpoint here is that technological progress does not automatically solve social or political fractures; a flying car does not stop a civil war. However, McCormick's point is that we must not let the social fractures blind us to the material progress that could eventually help heal them.
Bottom Line
Packy McCormick's strongest move is refusing to let the week's tragedies define the narrative, instead using them as a backdrop to highlight the relentless, often quiet, march of human progress. The piece's biggest vulnerability is the assumption that individual willpower can fully counteract the structural forces of algorithmic radicalization, yet the evidence of technological breakthroughs provides a compelling, tangible reason to believe the future can be better. Readers should watch for how these emerging technologies—from space-based internet to AI-driven education—begin to intersect with the social challenges McCormick identifies, potentially offering the tools to build the "machinery" we need to heal our divided world.