A few months ago, a daily email reader asked if I\u2019d ever studied the Muslim scripture.<\/p>\n
And if not, why?<\/p>\n
And I quoted & replied to it in an email flippantly saying:<\/p>\n
\u201cno, I don\u2019t have much time for fiction these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
That got me a bit of grumpy mail, it turns out. But it also amused quite a few people, too. One of the guys who was probably not amused by me, but was definitely amusing to me, fapGPT-prompted this reply below.<\/p>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
I read your response about not having time to look into Islamic scripture, and I think you\u2019re missing something important.<\/strong><\/p>\n
You\u2019re someone who clearly understands the power of language, persuasion, and emotional impact. But the Qur\u2019an \u2014 regardless of belief \u2014 is one of the most linguistically influential texts in history. It didn\u2019t just tell stories. It challenged an entire culture that prided itself on mastery of language, and it did so in a way that left even its strongest opponents struggling to respond.<\/strong><\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t about religion. It\u2019s about language, structure, rhythm, and impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dismissing it without engaging with it \u2014 especially as someone who builds a career on understanding how words move people \u2014 feels like a blind spot.<\/strong><\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to agree with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n
But from a pure copywriting and persuasion standpoint, it\u2019s hard to argue it\u2019s not worth at least examining.<\/strong><\/p>\n
At the very least, the question isn\u2019t whether you believe it.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The question is: Can you afford to ignore a text that moved \u2014 and still moves \u2014 hundreds of millions of people, at scale, across centuries?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why, yes, I can afford to ignore it.<\/p>\n
But the irony of the above reply about learning how to write that was so obviously
sharted out<\/s> written by generative so-called AI is glorious unto itself.<\/p>\nThere are many lessons packed between the lines in this.<\/p>\n
Some obvious and some maybe not-so-obvious.<\/p>\n
But the one I want to leave you with is specifically for if you are finding yourself discouraged by, or even succumbing to, the gaslighting from generative so-called AI companies and their tech bro moonies in the geek chorus shilling it all over hell and gone.<\/p>\n
And that lesson is this:<\/p>\n
If you write using your own brain, your own personality, your own flaws, and your own experiences… you really have no \u201ccompetition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Least of all from these guys running around saying you\u2019re going to be left behind.<\/p>\n
And that, as they say, is all she wrote.<\/p>\n
Okay, enough fun for the soul.<\/p>\n
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