The Return: A New Book for Online Readers

The Future We Were Promised Never Arrived. Here’s Why.

Hi Everyone,

First off, thanks so much for taking this journey with me. We’re a small group, but we’re growing! To show my appreciation, I want to give you something special—an exclusive look at a book as it comes to life.

Most of us grew up with the idea that history moves forward in a straight line—toward progress, innovation, and a better future. Silicon Valley has spent decades selling us a version of that story, insisting that exponential growth in technology will lift us into an age of abundance. But what if that’s not what’s happening at all?

What if, instead of racing into the future, we’ve been looping back—returning to the past in ways we barely recognize?

This is the central idea of The Return, a book I’m writing for you—my online readers. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be rolling out expanded chapters and inviting you into the process. You’ll get to see an entire book take shape in real time, something you might have otherwise discovered years later on Amazon or in a bookstore.

Since we’re in The AI Author’s Playbook, this will also be a space to explore ideas around AI-assisted nonfiction writing. I’ll share insights and pro tips on how AI can be used as a research tool, a brainstorming partner, or even a way to refine arguments—but I won’t be breaking down the full process step by step. Writing is still a deeply human craft, and I want to inspire writers to drive their process, however idiosyncratically. Writing comes out of your dreams and ideas, not a technology. But the best writers use technology in different ways, so I’ll be discussing a toolset that’s centered on our latest AI, the LLM. Our goal is the best writing in the world. That’s what I tell myself and that’s what I hope for all of you.

The journey begins with Chapter 1: Vico’s World, which explores the forgotten insights of 18th-century philosopher Giambattista Vico. While modern techno-optimists promised us infinite progress, Vico believed history follows a cycle—rising, falling, and returning, but always with a new twist.

We’re going to flesh out this summary into a full chapter, and you’ll be among the first to see it unfold. Below, I’ve pasted the original chapter summary for Vico’s World—our starting point for the full chapter expansion.