The fear of being left behind.

Translated from the original Spanish article.

Please don't make me use the word FOMO. I'd rather stick with Fear, in general. The kind that is a great engine and also a great paralyzer in our lives. And, in every case, an impertinent little devil we share our pillow with.

If only it were just in advertising and sales that we exploit other people's fear, trying to hit the right nerve. But I'm afraid that's small potatoes compared with, say, the political weaponization of social narratives.

Well, what can I tell you.

Lately it's the great leitmotif of social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn. Used subtly, and sometimes with no subtlety whatsoever, in posts along the lines of: “AI just changed the rules of the game in [insert category of choice].”

How frightening! All we're missing out on; the world is in utter revolution and we haven't a clue. How could we? It's impossible to navigate the unfathomable sea of tech news.

In my case, finding myself at some point of the compass far out at sea in that world of AI, I can ease your fear right away: when you scratch the surface of all those sensationalist posts, there's little behind them.

In any case, dear companions, AI may be new, but that fear is not. It's an ancestral fear, one of those irrational, groundless fears that torment us without ever materializing into anything concrete. And it isn't going away.

But the wretched little devil can be dealt with.

To begin with, it's wise to tune out all the noise. But even more so, not to let yourself fall into paralysis. Enjoy, without hurry and without demanding results, exploring and getting to know the new things the world has to offer us—in this case, AI. Do it in whatever way and at whatever pace you see fit, one not dictated by some stranger on a social network. Nor by any acquaintance, for that matter. But above all, one not dictated by the little devil of fear.

If we use as fuel our fears and external results—compared ones, of course—which lie beyond our control, we're bound to burn out. Because it's not a fuel we can replenish.

As I once read someone put it: “he who walks because he likes walking will go further than he who walks because he likes the destination.”