RustFisher

You Need to Be Bored. Here's Why.

2026-04-01T15:47:59.000Z

Dr. Arthur Brooks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orQKfIXMiA8

The Science of Boredom: The Default Mode Network

What it is: Boredom occurs when we aren’t cognitively occupied, which activates the “Default Mode Network” (DMN) in the brain.
The Conflict: Humans generally dislike this state. A study by Dan Gilbert showed that people would actually prefer to give themselves painful electric shocks rather than sit in a room with nothing to do for 15 minutes.
Why we avoid it: The DMN makes us think about uncomfortable existential questions, like “What is the meaning of my life?”.

The “Doom Loop” of Digital Distraction

The Problem: We have effectively eliminated boredom using smartphones. Even a 15-second wait at a traffic light prompts us to check our screens.
The Consequence: By shutting off the DMN, we avoid the very questions that lead to life’s meaning. This contributes to the modern “explosion of depression and anxiety” and a sense of hollowness.
Creativity: Constant stimulation kills creativity. You are likely to have your most interesting ideas when you are “in your head” without devices, such as during a workout or a commute.

Practical Protocols for Reclaiming Meaning

Professor Brooks suggests several “prescriptions” to practice the skill of being bored:

The 15-Minute Rule: Start getting better at periods of boredom that are 15 minutes or longer.
No-Device Zones:
- After 7:00 PM: Implement a no-device policy in the evening.
- Bedroom: Do not sleep with your phone in the room.
- Meals: No phones during family meals to ensure you are “there for each other”.
Screen Cleanses: Regularly engage in longer periods of social media fasts to break the dopamine addiction.
Emergency Management: Use your phone’s settings to allow only one or two vital numbers to reach you, so you don’t use “emergencies” as an excuse to keep scrolling.

The Benefits

By mastering the “skill of boredom”, you will find that:

You become less bored with ordinary things, including your job and relationships.
You begin to answer the big questions regarding purpose, significance, and coherence.
You may ultimately become happier.

Conclusion: “Put down your phones. You need more meaning in your life.”

Retrain your dopamine system

2026-02-26T06:47:59.000Z

You over notice how you can scroll your phone for 3 hours, but 10 minutes of studying feels like torture?
It’s not that you’re lazy. It’s that your brain has been hijacked.
Every notification, every short video, every like, they’re feeding your monkey brain, the ancient part of your mind that only care about survival, comfort, and dopamine.

And today we’re going to outsmart it. We’re going to reprogram your brain to actually enjoy doing hard things.
Because once you master this, discipline won’t feel like pan anymore. It’ll feel like power.

UNDERSTANDING THE MONKEY BRAIN

Your brain has layers. At the core is the limbic system, the emotional, impulsive monkey brain.
And above it sits your prefrontal cortex, the rational, goal-driven human brain.
These two are in a constant tug of war.

When you scroll TikTok, dopamine floods your system instantly. Your monkey brain celebrates.
When you sit down to work, there’s no instant reward. Your monkey brain gets bored. That’s why you procrastinate, not because your weak but because your brain’s reward system is broken. You’ve been feeding it fast dopamine, but real growth comes from slow dopamine.
Slow dopamine is what you get after reading 10 pages, finishing a workout, or completing deep work. It’s harder to earn, but it last longer.
The goal isn’t to kill dopamine, it’s to rebalance it.

THE DOPAMINE RESET BLUEPRINT

Here’s how to retrain your brain step by step.

Step 1: the detox phase (24 to 48 hours)

Unplug.
No social media, no music while working, no junk dopamine.
You’re not punishing yourself, you’re resetting the system.
The first 6 hours will feel awful. Your monkey brain will scream for stimulation, but stay calm. This pain means your dopamine receptors are healing.

Step 2: the rewire phase (day2 - day4)

Replace the junk with neutral habits.
Walk without your phone, journal, read something long form, clean your room in silence.
You’re teaching your brain to find peace in boredom, and that’s when focus returns.

Step 3: the reward phase, day5 onward.

Now add your productive habits back: studying, deep work, workouts.
But here’s the twist: after every hard thing you do, give youself a micro reward: a stretch, a walk, a playlist, a favorite snack.
This links pleasure to progress. Your brain starts to crave challenge, not comfort. That’s when you win.

ADVANCED REWIRING TECHNIQUES

Here’s how to level up the detox into a long-term system.

1: the 2 minutes rule

When you don’t feel like starting, just do two minutes. Because once the brain starts, momentum kicks in dopamine naturally.
The first 2 minutes are the battlefield. Win those, you win the day.

2: the friction trick

Make bad habits harder: delete apps, use grayscale mode, block websites.
Make good habits easier: keep your journal open, water bottle near, workspace clean.
You’re not fighting willpower, you’re designing your environment.

3: the habit stack

Link a hard habit to an easy one.
After I make coffe, I’ll meditate. After I brush my teeth, I’ll write my to-do list.
Your brain fllows patterns, not motivation. Stack your wins.

4: the reward redirection

Instead of dopamine from distractions, get it from creation: making, building, learning, improving.
This flips your brain from consumer to creator mode.

THE MINDSET SHIFT

Here’s what no one tells you: Your monkey brain never disappears. You just become the one holding the leash.

At first, doing hard things feels like punishment. Then it becomes routine. Then, it becomes pleasure.

When your brain starts getting dopamine from progress instead of comfort, you become unstoppable.
That’s why high performers, athletes, creators, they’er not superhuman, they just retrain their dopamine system.
They love the grind because their brain rewards it.
And once you taste that kind of peace, the peace comes from discipline, you’ll never go back.

So next time your monkey brain says, “This is too hard”, you smile and whisper, “I know, that’s why it’s worth it.”
Because growth isn’t about fighting your brain, it’s about teaching it to love the right things.

Trick your monkey brain, detox you dopamine, and watch your focus and your life transform.

Using ChatGPT to Modify Images

2025-08-08T15:12:59.000Z

Using ChatGPT to Modify Images

Use a ChatGPT Free account. Try ChatGPT’s image modification function.

The original image is a toy image.

On the ChatGPT, upload the image and indicate that you want to modify it as follows:

1	`let this toy dress in blue`

After waiting for a while, the output image is as follows:

It can be seen that the toy’s ears have also turned blue.

Enter again to give it a moon and stars style:

1	`Incorporate elements of stars and the moon into this toy.`

Wait a little longer, and the output image is:

ChatGPT does not just modify colors and styles solely based on instructions. You can also input an additional image and let it modify according to the style of another image.

For example, upload both the toy and The Starry Night at the same time.

Enter the instruction:

1	`Let the toy's clothes have the style of this oil painting.`

The resulting image is:

It can be seen that the toy has oil painting-like colors, and the toy’s face has also been modified.

Tell ChatGPT again:

1	`Do not modify the toy's face.`

After a while, the given image is:

ChatGPT’s image processing function is quite good.
Unfortunately, the Free version only allows inputting a few images a day. Next, let’s try Google Gemini.

Gemini Modifying Image Styles

On the Gemini, also upload the toy image.

1	`let this toy dress in blue`

Gemini’s output image:

The output image has a black background on both sides. The toy’s edges have jagged lines. The effect seems worse than ChatGPT.

2025 AI Chat Tools Recommendations and Comparison - ChatGPT/Gemini/DeepSeek/Doubao

2025-07-30T06:12:59.000Z

2025 AI Chat Tools Recommendations and Comparison: ChatGPT/Gemini/DeepSeek/Doubao

This article compares the core features, user experience, pricing plans, and applicable scenarios of mainstream AI chat tools in 2025: ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Doubao.

It aims to help readers choose the most suitable artificial intelligence assistant. These tools are capable of natural conversational interactions, understanding users’ questions, responding to needs, and providing help, whether it’s chatting, answering questions, or assisting with tasks.

This article is continuously updated.

ChatGPT

Engage in various conversations, answer questions, offer advice, and assist with creative work. It handles text, analyzes information, and can generate or help modify images.

You can log in using Google, Microsoft, or Apple accounts. Experience the free version with GPT-4o mini.
The Plus version is $20 per month, providing deep research, multiple reasoning models (o4-mini, o4-mini-high, and o3), and the GPT-4.5 research preview.

The Pro version costs $200 per month, providing access to GPT-4.5 and the Operator research preview.

Plus US$20 / month
Pro US$200 / month

Website: https://chatgpt.com/
Company: OpenAI

Core Features: GPT-4 Turbo model supports 128K context, multimodal interaction, advanced data analysis
Advantages: Well-established ecosystem, rich third-party plugins, enterprise-level API support
Disadvantages: Free version has slower response speed, some advanced features require a Plus subscription
Applicable Scenarios: Professional content creation, programming assistance, academic research

A flagship product in large language models that has sparked a new wave in AI.

Gemini

Google’s large language model. Currently offering the 2.5Flash and 2.5Pro models.

It can perform content creation, summarization, translation, rewriting, editing, expansion, formatting, sentiment analysis, keyword extraction, code generation, explanation, debugging, and technical concept explanation.

The editor believes that when it comes to technical questions about Google, Gemini’s answers are more professional since it is a Google product. For example, questions about Android, WebRTC, etc.
Gemini can also generate videos. PRO users can generate up to three videos per day.

Google AI Pro is priced at US $19.99 per month.
Pricing details: https://one.google.com/about/plans

Website: https://gemini.google.com/
Company: Google

Core Features: Multimodal understanding (text/image/audio/video), real-time web search, code execution environment
Advantages: Deep integration with Google services, powerful free version
Disadvantages: Some advanced features are only available to PRO users
Applicable Scenarios: Multimedia content processing, real-time information retrieval, educational purposes

Copilot

AI companion built by Microsoft.

Share knowledge and explain complex topics in simple terms
Help with writing—emails, essays, poems, resumes, bios, you name it
Translate, summarize, and brainstorm ideas with you
Solve problems like math, coding, or organizing information
Generate and edit images based on your ideas or uploads
Be a chat buddy for anything—from deep talks to fun facts

💰 Copilot Pro US$20 / month

Website: https://copilot.microsoft.com/
Company: Microsoft

Grok

Grok, developed by xAI, is a powerful AI assistant designed to provide accurate, helpful answers and assist users with various tasks. xAI is backed by Elon Musk.

Grok can answer almost any question, from science and history to daily life. It can also search for the latest information on the web and the X platform, suitable for querying news, trends, and more.

It supports multimodal capabilities, including text, image analysis, and file processing. It can also generate charts (e.g., bar charts, line charts, pie charts).

It supports multiple languages, such as Chinese and English.
For software engineers, it can write simple code and explain code logic.
The free version of Grok uses Grok 3. Grok 4 requires payment.

SuperGrok: $30/month
- Increased Grok 4 access
SuperGrok Heavy: $300/month
- Exclusive Grok 4 Heavy preview

You can log in with an X account, or register via email, Apple, or Google login.

▶

Ask what Musk said on X

Part of the answer

Elon Musk’s Recent Posts on X
Based on the latest available information, here are some of Elon Musk’s recent activities and statements on X as of August 3, 2025:

August 3, 2025, 03:09 PDT: Musk posted, “This is getting ridiculous!” likely reacting to a specific event or discussion, though the context wasn’t detailed in the source.
August 3, 2025, 02:58 PDT: He shared a link to a video or content, indicating active engagement with media or memes.
August 2, 2025, 16:56 PDT: Musk promoted the Grok app, encouraging users to “Bring memes to life!” suggesting a focus on creative content creation using xAI’s tools.
July 25, 2025: Musk commented on Tesla’s self-driving capabilities in China, noting that despite data export restrictions, Tesla achieved top results without local training data, and plans to enhance performance using world simulator data.
July 23, 2025: He shared a post about xAI’s Colossus 2, describing “Cable pr0n of @xAI GB200 servers,” highlighting the infrastructure for xAI’s AI compute goals.
July 23, 2025: Musk outlined xAI’s ambition to achieve “50 million in units of H100 equivalent-AI compute” within five years, emphasizing power efficiency.
July 20, 2025: He announced plans for “Baby Grok,” an xAI app dedicated to kid-friendly content.
July 20, 2025: Musk reflected on his initial resistance to AI, stating, “I resisted AI for too long. Living in denial. Now it is game on,” signaling a strong commitment to AI development across xAI, Tesla, and SpaceX.

These posts reflect Musk’s focus on xAI’s AI advancements, Tesla’s autonomous driving, SpaceX’s achievements, and engaging with X’s community through humor and tech promotion.

Summary
Elon Musk’s recent X posts focus on promoting xAI’s AI initiatives (like Grok and Colossus), Tesla’s self-driving advancements, and engaging with followers through memes and commentary. If you want a deeper dive into a specific post, topic, or need further details about Grok’s capabilities, let me know, and I can provide more tailored information or analyze specific X posts if you provide them!

DeepSeek Chat

DeepSeek Chat, developed by DeepSeek, is an intelligent AI assistant. The core model is DeepSeek-V3, with knowledge up to July 2024.

It has a powerful 128K context processing capability and can help answer various questions, process documents, analyze data, and chat with users.

Website: https://chat.deepseek.com/
Company: DeepSeek
DeepSeek Open Platform: https://platform.deepseek.com/usage
API Documentation: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/zh-cn/

Core Features: 128K super-long context, specialized domain knowledge (mathematics/physics/programming), document analysis
Advantages: Strong Chinese language processing, no restrictions on free version features
Disadvantages: Relatively small ecosystem, limited plugins
Applicable Scenarios: Chinese content creation, technical document processing, academic research

Currently, personal use is free. API integration requires a paid plan.

Doubao

Doubao is an AI assistant developed by ByteDance. Its features include AI search, writing, AI programming, image generation, and AI reading.

Website: https://www.doubao.com/
Company: ByteDance

Core Features: AI search integration, multimodal creation, voice interaction, local deployment
Advantages: Fast access speed in China, well-developed localization services, advanced voice features
Disadvantages: Weak international support
Applicable Scenarios: Daily assistant, content creation, local services

Currently free for personal use. Available as both a web and desktop version, with additional features on the desktop version, such as voice conversations with AI.

Qwen (Tongyi Qianwen)

Qwen is a large-scale language model developed by the Tongyi Lab. It is capable of answering questions, generating text (such as stories, official documents, emails, and scripts), performing logical reasoning, programming, expressing opinions, and even playing games.

It supports many languages, including Chinese, English, German, French, and Spanish.

You can experience Qwen on the Alibaba Cloud Bailian web platform, or integrate it via API.
The Model Square offers multiple versions of the model, such as Qwen3, Qwen-Plus, Qwen-Turbo, and more.

Website: https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/?tab=model
Company: Alibaba

Core Features: Natural language understanding, multi-turn conversation interaction, code comprehension, logical reasoning, sentiment analysis, and opinion expression
Advantages: Strong Chinese language understanding, excellent context comprehension, support for public cloud, private deployment, and local deployment
Disadvantages: Limited multimodal capabilities, no real-time internet access
Applicable Scenarios: Intelligent customer service, content creation, educational tutoring, code development, data analysis, and more

AI Chat Tool Comparison Summary Table

Tool Name	Core Advantages	Pricing Plans	Best Use Case	Free Tier
ChatGPT	Well-established ecosystem, rich plugins	Free/Plus $20/month	Professional creation, programming	Limited
Gemini	Multimodal processing, integration with Google services	Free/Advanced $19.99/month	Multimedia processing, education	Unlimited
DeepSeek	Strong Chinese capabilities, super-long context	Free/API paid	Chinese creation, academic research	Unlimited
Doubao	Voice interaction, localization	Free/Subscription	Daily assistant, content creation	Unlimited
Qwen	Strong Chinese capabilities, super-long context	Free/Token	Daily assistant, content creation	1000000 token in 180 days free

How to Choose the Right AI Chat Tool?

Professional Needs (programming/creation): Prioritize ChatGPT or DeepSeek
Multimedia Processing: Gemini’s multimodal capabilities stand out
Chinese Scenarios: DeepSeek and Doubao perform better
Limited Budget: DeepSeek’s free version has the most comprehensive features
Usage in China: Doubao has the best access speed and localized services

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Are the data in AI chat tools secure?
A: All mainstream tools use end-to-end encryption, but it is recommended to avoid inputting sensitive personal information. Do not upload information like Tokens.

Q: What are the core differences between the free and paid versions?
A: The main differences lie in response speed, context length, advanced features, and priority support.

Q: Can these tools be used for commercial purposes?
A: Check each tool’s terms of service. Free versions generally prohibit commercial use, while paid versions usually allow it.