I think it’s time we talk about something uncomfortable. Over the last decade, social media has fundamentally changed how people experience reality. Social Media Algorithms reward agreement and then communities form around those shared views. Dissent gets filtered out. Over time, you stop hearing actual criticism - not because you’re right, but because you’ve essentially curated it away. That certainly feels good in the short term. You feel validated. All the time. You start to believe that you're special because you surround yourself with people that tell you that you are and you're telling them that they are. And you're all one happy fucking family full of very special people. But that creates a dangerous illusion: That your bubble represents the actual world out there. And then you get the reality check: You ship a product, you release a film, you launch a game... and suddenly you're not being pampered anymore. And it feels shocking - almost offensive - because how could you have been wrong after you've been told you're right so many times, over and over again? But what you're experiencing is not malice. It's insulation. The actual truth is: Growth requires friction. It requires being told you’re wrong. It requires being humbled. And it's no goddamn fun, but you'll be better for it afterwards. I also learned that the hard way: When I went to art school, I thought I was talented. I’d been told so my whole life cause I was drawing and painting pretty pictures that looked nice. Then I got there and realized that “pretty” isn’t the same as meaningful. I got my work torn apart, work that I had labored over. My tutors ripped into me because I didn't respect them enough to actually think through my work. And... they were right. That was painful. But it was the lesson I needed at the time. The same thing happens in game development right now. Because people form these bubbles, they think they've nailed it. But then players tell them otherwise. What matters is how you react then: Either retreat into defensiveness and keep making the same mistakes or actually listen and be willing to learn. Life is short, folks. Being humbled might be uncomfortable for a while. But usually you then get to look back at some point and understand that this was the moment you started to learn something new.