The Fitzgerald Principle
First-rate intelligence through productive tensions: My operating system for pioneering human-AI collaboration
My Intellectual Operating System
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
This is my operating system for everything:
Immediate practical value AND long-term civilizational contribution
Personal family focus AND public knowledge building
Business success AND philosophical advancement
These aren't contradictions to resolve—they're the productive tensions that create value in the AI era.
The Meta-Mission
“My children will inherit a world co-inhabited by a new form of intelligence. My mission is to pioneer and model the wisdom needed to thrive in this collaboration.”
This mission embodies the Fitzgerald Principle perfectly: demonstrating how uniquely human qualities—like purpose-driven creativity, moral agency, and even the profound understanding of our own mortality—remain our greatest assets while building practical AI systems today.
Triangle Foundation
The Fitzgerald Principle applied to life design: three forces in productive tension.
Self-Discovery
Understanding and working with my nature (ADHD patterns, embodied wisdom, moral agency).
Family Generation
Building legacy and modeling adaptive strategies for a world co-inhabited by AI.
Wealth Generation
Creating multiple, resilient revenue streams to fund this exploration.
Fitzgerald Principle Applied: Each point creates productive tension with the others. No single point can stand alone.
Truth-Seeking Framework
As a parent navigating an AI-integrated childhood, the real question isn't "how do my kids use AI safely?" It's: How do we seek truth when AI hallucinates confidently and information moves faster than human verification?
For My Kids: The Three-Question Protocol
Three simple questions for any claim—from AI outputs to playground rumors:
1. Who said it?
(Source quality: Is it someone who studies this? How do they make money?)
2. How do they know?
(Evidence check: Can they show proof? Do others say the same thing?)
3. What if they're wrong?
(Falsifiability: How could we test it? What would prove it false?)
Collaborator Model
Where others see replacement, I design for complementarity.
Four Guiding Principles
Wisdom is the Human Edge
My value lies where knowledge ends and wisdom begins: applied experience, judgment under uncertainty, moral agency.
Embrace Beginner's Humility
I approach this uncharted territory with accumulated wisdom and the humility of a novice. We are all new here.
Architect for Collaboration
The goal isn't just automation, but creating systems where human and AI capabilities are complementary.
Our Mortality is Our Meaning
The finite nature of human life gives our creativity and decisions a depth immortal systems cannot replicate.
Techno-Optimists
“AI will replace everything!”
Human-Centric
“We must protect human jobs!”
Collaborator Model
“Design for complementarity”
Practice Examples
The Fitzgerald Principle isn't just philosophy—it's a working methodology tested across real projects. Here's how holding opposing ideas in productive tension creates actual value:
This Portfolio Website
Opposing Forces: Simple, clean surface ↔ Rich technical depth and philosophy scoring
Productive Tension: Automated philosophy validation scripts score design decisions against the Fitzgerald Principle. The tension between "keep it simple" and "show technical depth" creates better outcomes than choosing either extreme.
Mortality as Competitive Advantage
Opposing Forces: Human mortality (finite time) ↔ AI immortality (infinite processing)
Productive Tension: Our awareness of death creates urgency and meaning that immortal systems cannot replicate. This "limitation" is actually our greatest asset for creative decision-making and long-term thinking. Building for my children's future matters precisely because it's finite.
Visit the Laboratory to see these experiments in detail.
What I'm Building
Living Laboratories
- • Human-AI Collaboration Models
- • Financial Antifragility Systems
- • Metacognitive Frameworks
- • Legacy Wisdom Documentation
For the Next Generation
- • Patterns for human judgment
- • Complementarity architectures
- • Meaning-making frameworks
- • Thriving strategies for AI cohabitation