TrueLife - Don Quixote - Windmills & Algorithms

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USIn a world besieged by the relentless march of AI, where algorithms whisper promises of utopia or apocalypse, one timeless tale rises from the dust of centuries to mirror our chaotic present: Don Quixote. Join host [Your Name] in the premiere episode of [Podcast Name], “The Knight of the Sorrowful Algorithm,” as we embark on a quixotic quest through Cervantes’ masterpiece—a story of a man whose brain “dried up” from devouring too many fantastical romances, only to armor up and charge into a reality that mocked his dreams.But this isn’t just dusty literature. It’s us. Right now. Scrolling through endless feeds of AI doomsayers and saviors: “Your job is obsolete!” “Embrace the disruption!” “AGI will save—or end—humanity!” We’re all Don Quixote, lost in a whirlwind of narratives that blur truth and fiction, leaving us paralyzed by questions: Is adaptation surrender? Is optimism naivety? And who are the true mad knights of our age—the artists defying generative machines, the workers reclaiming their humanity, or those daring to pursue passion in a profit-obsessed empire?Delve into the heart of the madness: Why Don Quixote chose delusion over despair, and why “sanity”—accepting a world ruled by efficiency, oligarchs, and obsolescence—might be the deadliest illusion of all. In a finale that shatters illusions, discover how renouncing the quest led to his demise… and what that means for us tilting at digital windmills.Epic, introspective, and urgently relevant, this episode challenges you to ask: In the AI era, is going a little mad the only way to stay truly alive? Tune in, saddle up your Rocinante, and ride into the fray. Next up: “Sancho Panza and the Gig Economy”—the everyman’s gamble on a madman’s promise. One on One Video call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_US🔥 Save $2,000: Master Plant Medicines from Home (Ayahuasca, Psilocybin, San Pedro & Cannabis)Transform Your Mental Health & Consciousness with Blue Morpho’s Proven Courses:https://bluemorpho.org/plant-medicine-training/george/?ref=george🚨🚨Curious about the future of psychedelics? Imagine if Alan Watts started a secret society with Ram Dass and Hunter S. Thompson… now open the door. Use Promocode TRUELIFE for Get 25% off monthly or 30% off the annual plan For the first yearhttps://www.district216.com/Legal Disclaimer / Release of Liability for Podcast:This  content  is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this transmission constitutes legal, financial, or professional advice. I am not your lawyer, financial advisor, or telling you what to do.This podcast documents historical events, analyzes publicly available information, and explores hypothetical scenarios. Any actions discussed are presented as educational examples of how systems work—not as instructions or recommendations.You are solely responsible for your own decisions and actions. Any application of information presented here is at your own risk. I assume no liability for consequences of actions you choose to take.By continuing to listen, you acknowledge that this content is educational commentary, that you’re responsible for researching applicable laws in your jurisdiction, and that you’ll consult appropriate professionals before taking any action that could affect your legal, financial, or personal situation.

George Monty, True Life Podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the True Life podcast. I hope you're all having a beautiful day. Hope the sun is shining. I hope the birds are singing. I hope the wind is at your back. I have been rereading a book. Everybody should check out.

Most of you may have read it. Some of you haven't read it. But it's called Don Quixote, the man from LaManchette. It was written in 1605. by Miguel Cervantes. And as I'm reading this book, I can't help but think about how many parallels

are in today's world that are happening right now, particularly with AI. For those that don't know, Donkey Odie is a book about this guy in his 50s, who just happens to be pretty much my age,

and he is fed up with all the bullshit, the corruption, the meaninglessness of life, this idea that your value only comes from production. Maybe he's having a midlife crisis, or maybe he's just fed up with all of it. And so he starts turning inward,

and he starts reading all these books. And the books he likes to read are on chivalry, are on knights and quests, and killing giants and saving maidens, and all of these sort of fantasies about living a meaningful life. He reads so many books about knights and killing giants and all of this just incredible fantasy that he loses his grip on reality

and people start getting worried about him. They wall off his library so he can't read any more books. And they come to him and they're like, you are losing your mind, man. What are you doing? This is not reality. You are not a knight. But he just makes a decision one day.

Like he's just had enough. And so he makes a decision to say, fuck it. I'm a knight. I'm going to go out. I'm going to go on these quests. I'm going to kill some giants. I'm going to save some maidens. I'm going to do some noble things in this world.

And I don't really care what anybody has to say about it. That's sort of the setup for the book. Now here's the tie. to the world of AI that I see. This guy, Don Quixote, lost his mind because he was reading so much and he believed it. And isn't that what's happening right now in the world of AI? I want you to think about anybody listening to this right now, think about the last time you read something about AI and felt certain about it.

You can't remember, can you? Neither can I. It's because it's so much fucking bullshit out there It's so out of control Here's some of the headlines out there people are talking about I just got replaced by chat GPT And here's my 10-step plan to stay relevant

AGI is two years away And everything you know is about to be obsolete All software will be written by Claude in six months AI will cure cancer in poverty And solve climate change AI will eliminate 80% of jobs and society will collapse. Learn to code.

No, wait, don't learn the code. AI does that now. Learn prompting engineering. No, wait, don't do that. Embrace the disruption. Be grateful for the opportunity to reinvent yourself. And here's the thing.

Some of these might be true. Some are definitely bullshit. Some are half true. Some are marketing. Some are panic. And a lot of them are propaganda. But we are consuming all of them. All at once.

contradicting each other. And just like Don Quixote, our brains are having a very difficult time making sense of exactly what's happened out there. You know what I hear constantly? It's confusion. Not about the technology itself, but about the stories.

Is my job safe? Is anyone's job safe? Should I be terrified? Should I be excited? Am I adapting fast enough? Am I a ludite if I'm skeptical? Am I naive if I'm optimistic? Like we are all Don Quixote now.

We're reading so many stories. We can't see reality clearly anymore. But here's what makes Don Quixote interesting. He doesn't go mad by accident. He chooses it. Servantes makes this clear. He says that Don Quixote looks at the world around him, corrupt officials, meaningless bureaucracy,

people just grinding through existence. And he says, no, I refuse to accept this. as all there is. And that's why he decides to live a life of honor, of justice, of noble quests, in a world that he thinks is real, even though it isn't, even though everyone will mock him, even though he'll look ridiculous. He chooses delusion over accepting reality. And I keep asking myself, who are the Don Quixote's in the age of AI? Who is looking? Who is looking at looking at this world where your worth is your productivity, where meaning comes from consumption, where oligarchs rig the game and tell you to adopt or die, and saying, I refuse.

Is it the artist who keeps creating even though AI can generate good enough content for free? Is it the worker who insists they're a human being, not a resource to be optimized? Is it the person who left their corporate job to do something meaningful, took the pay cut, and everyone thought they were crazy? I've spoken to hundreds of people on my podcast, many I've talked to who are pursuing passion without credentials, without permission, without a profit motive. Are these people delusional?

Or are they the sanest people in the room? Because here's what society tells us is sane. except that AI will replace jobs, adapt or perish. Accept that meaning comes from what you buy, not what you do. Except that you're not smart enough, not credentialed enough, not connected enough. Except that efficiency is God and your value is measured in productivity. Except that oligarchs rule and there's nothing you can do about it. That's reality.

That's being reasonable. That's growing up. But what if accepting that reality is the real madness? Here's something most people don't know about Don Quixote. At the end of the novel, after this thousand-page tome, all these adventures, Don Quixote gets cured. His friends, his family, they stage an intervention. They defeat him in battle.

They force him to give up his quest. And he does. He comes home. he admits that he was delusional. He renounces night errantry, and he becomes sane again. He sees reality clearly, and then he immediately dies, not from injury, not from old age. He dies because the delusion was the only thing keeping him alive.

Servantes' message is crystal clear. Sanity killed him. The moment he accepted reality as it was. corrupt, meaningless, hopeless, his spirit died. And not long after his body followed. The madness, the insistence on meaning, on honor, on noble quests. That's what kept him breathing. That's what kept him alive.

So here we are. AI is real. Job displacement is real. The oligarchs consolidating power is real. and the sane voices out there are telling you to accept it, adapt, upskill, pivot,

find meaning elsewhere, be realistic. But I keep thinking about Don Quixote. What if being realistic is death? What if the only way to stay alive, spiritually, creatively, humanly alive, is to go a little mad, to go a little crazy,

to insist that your work should have meaning even when the algorithm says it doesn't. To tilt it windmills. Even when everyone says they're just windmills. To keep creating, organizing, demanding, building, even when the realistic people tell you it's hopeless. Don Quixote had a choice. Accept the corrupt, meaningless world as it is.

Or live as if honor and justice still matter. even if everyone thinks you're insane. We have that same choice. The madness of delusion or the madness of acceptance. Which one will you choose? Which one will you lean into? Next episode is going to be Sancho Panza and the gig economy. What happens when the every man follows, the madman,

because he's been promised an island? Thanks for hanging out with me today, guys. I appreciate it.