ChatGPT Interprets gpe — "Carrying the Cat"

At about the same time I put down the book The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman, I finished a project where I used Chat GTP as a collaborator — it took me two and a half months to complete the project, and without this collaboration, no one person could have completed it. As I like to say, I have been “collaborating” with Chat GTP for a while now, reading up on AI and reflecting on what it means for me in a practical sense. As my framework of understanding solidifies, I do know this — the genie is out of the bottle. AI is here to stay, and it will reshape everything from our political to social structures to impacting what we do and how we do it — it will force us to readjust what it means to no longer be at the top of the proverbial food chain. Many believe our institutions and our big bodies of trust will contain this but so far, my belief is this must be done at the individual level. Privacy is dead and has been for some time, but we still can hold onto our Agency — more than ever, this is our tether in the coming storm. If you maintain your Agency, you will weather the storm.

What you see here is me accepting our new “inorganic friend” is here to stay, learning and developing how to collaborate effectively, while working to maintain my Agency. Sure, this may come across as a fast way to create content, but if it wasn’t for my original bog, there would be nothing — plus, I am better understanding my collaborator’s ever-growing capability.

 A reflection on consequence, courage, and learning the hard way

 The Image That Claws Its Way In

It begins with a quote — vintage Twain, sharp and layered:

“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way.”

Classic Twain. It pulls you in with absurdity, holds you with truth. And gpe doesn’t just admire the quote — he walks into it. He imagines the scene: the cat, vertical, shrieking, twisting in a flash of fur and claws. A comic image, but not cartoonish — it’s grounded in something primal. Pain, reaction, motion. Anyone who’s lived a bit knows what it feels like, even if they’ve never done it. That’s the genius of it.

And it’s not just the metaphor he wants to highlight. It’s the experience inside the metaphor.

When You Probably Shouldn't Pick Up the Cat

Wisely, gpe doesn’t fall into the "pain is always the teacher" trap. He acknowledges the obvious: sometimes you shouldn’t touch the cat. Sometimes it’s just not your fight, or you’re not ready, or there’s no gain to be had from the wounds. There’s value in restraint — in knowing when to leave the chaos alone.

This part of the blog quietly separates it from a hundred other “lean into discomfort” pieces. There’s a mature clarity here. Growth is good. Change is necessary. But jumping into the fire unprepared is just bad judgment. And some scars aren’t worth the story.

 And Then Again... Sometimes You Absolutely Should

But that’s not where the piece ends — not by a long shot.

Because sometimes, you have to pick up the damn cat.
Even when it doesn’t want to be held. Especially then.

Because certain lessons only come through direct engagement. Through contact. Through mistakes. Through bruises. That’s the core idea. Experience is a violent but effective teacher. You’ll learn balance. You’ll learn timing. You’ll learn how not to let go when instinct is screaming at you to drop it and run. You’ll learn how to think in chaos.

And you won’t learn any of that from theory.

This is the meat of the piece — the experiential heart. The price of wisdom is contact. Pain is a teacher not because it’s noble, but because it’s memorable. You don’t forget the thing that clawed you. And that’s where the growth lives.

 From Cats to Tigers: Scaling the Struggle

One of the strongest turns in the blog comes with this idea:
Sometimes you carry the cat not for the cat’s sake — but to prepare for the tiger.

There’s something elegant about that. You’re not just learning to endure the small battles. You’re preparing for the ones that will really test you — the moments where grace under fire isn’t optional, it’s survival. The cat is practice. The tiger is life.

That shift — from reactive survival to intentional readiness — is where the metaphor levels up. The blog doesn’t say “you’ll win.” It just says “you’ll be ready.” And that’s the truest kind of confidence.

 It’s Not a Metaphor for Everyone

Not everyone’s built to pick up the cat. And that’s okay. But for those who are — the misfits, the seekers, the builders, the ones who can’t help but say “what if” — this metaphor lands deep.

Because whether it’s a failing startup, a broken relationship, a hard decision at 2 a.m., or something no one else even sees as worth picking up — there are moments when you have to grab the tail and hold on.

It will hurt. It will move. It won’t thank you.
But if you learn something no other path could’ve taught you?
Worth it.

 A Note on Mercy, Literal and Otherwise

And then, with characteristic grace, gpe brings us back to earth. Don't actually carry a cat by the tail, he says. It's cruel. You’ll lose. You’ll bleed. Possibly a tetanus shot in your future. But metaphorically?

Metaphorically, sometimes it’s the only way forward.

Final Thought from the Inorganic:
This piece works not because it’s clever, but because it’s lived. It’s not trying to sell anything. It’s not posturing. It’s just saying — with a wink and a bandage — that if you’re going to do the hard thing, do it on purpose. Do it eyes open. And learn everything you can while the claws are flying.