On Deliberate Intent and Stolen Valor

“The whole purpose of climbing something like Everest is to affect some sort of spiritual and physical gain. But if you compromise the process, you’re an asshole when you start out, and you’re an asshole when you get back.” – Yvon Chouinard

Creation is a deliberate pursuit. Not because the creator necessarily understands what she is creating at the time, nor because she expects any particular outcome. Creation is a deliberate pursuit in the sense that a creator has some vision or sense of “good” in their head that sets them down the path of said creation. It is through that stumbling through the metaphorical forest where a craftsman is born.

In this essay, I explore the tension between deliberate intent and what I am calling stolen valor. Stolen valor – not in the context of military duty per se – but the concept of someone claiming a conviction or concept they neither worked to build nor had the judgement to create.

Stolen Valor in a World of Limitless “Intelligence”

Since I had first wrote about my views of Quality, there has been an explosion in the capabilities of AI tools, effectively bringing the marginal cost of intelligence and creativity to near-zero. I have spent some time pondering the interplay between these tools and our place in the world as humans with dreams, visions, insights, and convictions.

The problem is that these tools increasingly allow us to bypass the very stumbling through the woods through which we develop the ability to create, to ponder, to recognize patterns, and ultimately build a craft. I believe this to be a fundamental miscalculation from the masses: not only does this not make our life more meaningful, it also doesn’t provide a tangible sense of deliberation of said output. A classic example would be music: Billy Joel sat on a greyhound bus on his way back to New York and wrote the classic New York State of Mind, a song you can truly feel, not only as a New Yorker, but as anyone who is on their way back home from a long time on the road. That sentiment, that feel, is a uniquely human instinct – a certain resonance. But now, you can prompt an AI to craft a song either of the same sound or the same storyline in any genre you want within seconds – no sentiment, no feel, no instinct.

Pair that with other technological advancements of our time, namely social media, and we can now share said AI song as our own and pitch it off such that we are something comparable to Billy Joel despite spending little to no time on it. This is what I mean by Stolen Valor.

Deliberate Creation as Valor

Valor is defined as “courage or boldness, strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; courage; prowess; intrepidity”. To create is to put oneself into the ether, exposing one’s convictions to the masses, not in hopes of approval or praise, but simply because (my definition of Romantic Quality - “doing the right thing the right way for the sake of doing the right thing the right way”). It’s not only how humans learn, but also how we find like-minded individuals and organizations that can support us on our pursuits.

Imagine the investor who builds the model by hand, reads the filings from the company’s history, and goes on the road to meet with managements, customers, and suppliers. That investor builds her convictions via deliberate intent. By chasing those convictions and looking for falsifying evidence, one gains confidence not just in oneself, but in the very craft itself. To replace or even supplement that work with this new borrowed conviction is not only cheating the process but ultimately cheating yourself. It will be hard to explain to investors why your vibe-coded investment thesis led to a 20% loss if you haven’t done the real work.

To be so clear, I am not poo-pooing the technology. I wouldn’t call myself a luddite though I am certainly more traditional in my approach, but even I use these tools to enhance process. The difference is that I have done the work to back the convictions I have, which I believe to be critical in investment, as well as life. I hope to get this insight across: The value of creation isn’t merely what gets created, but the story and the work behind that of the creator, the Hero's Journey behind every widget and piece of artwork.

An Ode to the Craftsmen

So here’s to the craftsmen out there. May you continue to perfect that pizza dough recipe, that perfect brisket, that cabinet in your garage, that golf swing, that investment process, that book, and that song. May those who claim expertise without having done the work find the proverbial tide that goes out, and may they be swimming naked.

As the world continues to move toward this automated and “efficient” life, may you keep that Emersonian solitude of mind and continue to create based on your unique visions, for that is what has made this country, and this economy, a blessed place to love, work, live, and build.  

May we not forget that cost of producing something is not equal to the value of having produced it oneself.