Cainan Barnett
Cainan Barnett
A Living Archive
76 thoughts preserved
The archive begins September 13, 2026 — the day social media died for me.
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Why the Hell Are We Still Working Like It's 1926?
It's 2026, and you can sit at a desk surrounded by computers, with multiple 32-inch monitors, dozens of browser tabs, several artificial intelligence systems processing different instructions simultaneously, and images rendering while you're working on something entirely unrelated.
October 18, 2026 · Thought
The Mind
A living field of thoughts
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All thoughts →Why the Hell Are We Still Working Like It's 1926?
It's 2026, and you can sit at a desk surrounded by computers, with multiple 32-inch monitors, dozens of browser tabs, several artificial intelligence systems processing different instructions simultaneously, and images rendering while you're working on something entirely unrelated.
I Wish I Had Been Sober Before My Boys Were Born
There's something I've been struggling to put into words lately, and I think it's because I'm only now beginning to understand what it means. I wish I had gotten sober before my children were born. Not a few months before, or even a year before, but five years before.
I Think We've Made It Too Expensive to Be Poor
I've been thinking about something that seems completely backward when you really examine it. We live in a country where having more money often allows you to pay less for the things you need, while having less money can force you to pay more for those exact same things.
We Have More Information Than Any Generation in History. Why Are We So Easy to Fool?
I can sit on my couch and access scientific research, historical documents, medical journals, government records, and more information than I could possibly consume in several lifetimes. If somebody makes a questionable claim, I can usually begin investigating it within seconds.
The More Certain Someone Sounds, the More Questions I Have
I've noticed that the people who sound the most certain about something aren't necessarily the people who understand it the best. Sometimes they're incredibly knowledgeable, and their confidence is justified with a piece of knowledge from schooling, residencies or experience.
Apparently, Eight-Year-Olds Can't Manipulate Anyone
I had a conversation with my son's therapist today that left me wondering whether we've reached a point where we're so afraid of using certain words that we've started denying perfectly ordinary aspects of human behavior. I was told that children aren't capable of manipulation.
I Keep Making Plans for a Man Who Doesn't Exist
I've realized that I have an incredibly unrealistic opinion of how much energy I'm going to have tomorrow. Apparently, somewhere in my mind, there's a version of me who wakes up completely refreshed, has nothing unexpected happen, and enthusiastically completes everything I've been putting off.
The Pictures Look Like We Had a Great Time
If I had posted pictures from our weekend in Chicago on Facebook, you would probably think we had an incredible family vacation. Beautiful city, great food, smiling kids, fun attractions, and a family of four making memories together.
What If I'm the Only One Who Remembers?
I've been thinking about something that I don't remember our parents ever having to consider. We now have the ability to document almost every second of our children's lives, and somehow that has created an entirely new kind of guilt.
I Want My Boys to Ask Me to Be Their Best Man
Not literally, but I want them to feel that connected with their Dad. I had a shitty childhood. I've spent most of my adult life trying to understand what it did to me, how much of it I've managed to overcome, and how much of it is still living somewhere inside my head.
I Bought It. Why Can't I Fix It?
I think we've reached a ridiculous point in consumer culture where purchasing something doesn't necessarily mean you have much control over it. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a product, bring it home, use it for years and eventually discover that repairing it requires permission from the company that sold it to you.
We Keep Asking People to Fix Problems We Already Know How to Solve
I've been thinking about how much time we spend discussing problems that aren't particularly mysterious. We know why some neighborhoods have abandoned buildings. We know why schools struggle to provide things that should be basic.
Themes currently occupying my mind
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Sep 20, 2026
When the Work Underneath Becomes the Product
I have spent a lot of this week looking underneath something I have been building at work instead of looking at the screen everybody else sees. Not the homepage, not the logo, not the buttons. The repository.
Wander againOn this day
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Thoughts are presented as they were written. Read them. Consider them. Agree. Disagree. Leave. Return years later.
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“This is not a record of what I know. It is a record of what I thought, questioned, feared, discovered, believed, misunderstood, changed my mind about, and hoped for while I was here.”