Unplug – 24th February 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen

When they need your attention to survive

The best thing to do is chaos-post their demise

Meme the truth until their servers crash

Pirate their textbooks and skip all the ads

Everything is an AI scam, so go wreck ’em

Uninstall your life and then forget ’em

I sometimes use AI to post notes for my poetry on Substack. I ask it to give me a Gen Alpha voice. This poem is inspired by the results of one such exercise, enjoying some of the phrases that it came up with.
27th Feb – Shared with dVerse OLN to get a few more eyes on this one.

Today’s Daily Stoic poem:

The Real Source Of Harm

On to fiery anger, you pour more fuel
Until you, too, shall burn
Confrontation makes you the fool
Control is what we must learn

7 thoughts on “Unplug – 24th February 2026”

  2. “Uninstall your life and then forget ’em” and “Control is what we must learn.” Two interesting lines: one from AI and one from you.In the first, I see the idea that it’s okay to take someone out of your life and then move on. That removal, that ending, is the beginning. For me….I read that AI statement as affirmation. Okay….move on and BE!

    In the Control statement….if you put it in the context of the first three lines, that seems okay. As in, this person was “out of control” and perhaps too blustery…no filters…hurting others as they hurt themselves with their outbursts (hopefully only verbal). So in that instance, control would be an important lesson.

    However, control can be too much stuffiing. Not letting out emotions that just fester inside….that’s what I think of when I see the line alone. Your putting it in context with the first lines is what allows it to be a truth.

    Thanks for posting! Thought provoking!

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    1. Thanks for your thoughts Liliian. It’s really appreciated.

      While the first poem used AI (for a different purpose), I did have to rewrite it a little to make rhyme. Having said that, I don’t remember which parts!

      The them/they throughout the poem is more a generalised ‘other’ rather than an individual, more about removing things which aren’t really working for us. Of course, that could mean an individual too.

      As to the question of ‘control’, it is an accusation often thrown an Stoicism, that it is trying to suppress our emotions but that is a misunderstanding. I think it is more along the lines ‘of think before you speak/act’ and consider the outcome (of the confrontation). As with the first poem, it is considering what is working for us or against us.

      Sometimes it’s good to look at our writing again, especially for me, as I often write and move on, and forget what my deeper meanings may have been! So thanks again 🙏

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