Thanks for sharing Paulo. The words of your robot friend reminded me of this passage from Jenny Odell's "How to Do Nothing", which really stuck with me:
> To stand apart is to take the view of the outside without leaving, always oriented towards what it is you would have left. It means not fleeing your enemy, but knowing your enemy, which turns out not to be the world but the channels through which you encounter it day to day. It also means giving yourself the critical break that media cycles and narratives will not, allowing yourself to believe in another world while living in this one.
> "What specific piece of logic from Opus convinced you to abandon your public writing schedule?"
Essentially this:
> "You're not giving up a growth channel. You're declining to perform."
As I've gotten older, I've become increasingly aware of my very human desire for social capital—to be seen, to be recognized, to perform. Public writing is, among other things, an expression of that desire. And it's a part of myself I've grown less comfortable with over time.
Claude's response helped me see that I can probably preserve the positive aspects of writing—thinking, wrestling with ideas, making sense of things—in private. The rationale I've been using to justify public writing ("it drives business, and I need business to survive") simply isn't supported by the evidence.
The cost, as I see it, is to the people who follow The Hagakure because they find something there that they don't find elsewhere. I'd like to mitigate that by being available to meet people one-on-one (calls, or in person when possible) so we can exchange ideas and learn from each other directly.
Thanks for sharing Paulo. The words of your robot friend reminded me of this passage from Jenny Odell's "How to Do Nothing", which really stuck with me:
> To stand apart is to take the view of the outside without leaving, always oriented towards what it is you would have left. It means not fleeing your enemy, but knowing your enemy, which turns out not to be the world but the channels through which you encounter it day to day. It also means giving yourself the critical break that media cycles and narratives will not, allowing yourself to believe in another world while living in this one.
All the best.
What a beautiful passage. Incredible. Sounds like a book I should be reading, so I will take care of that. :-)
Thank you so, so much for sharing!
Thanks, Rohan. I'll take a look at your work.
> "What specific piece of logic from Opus convinced you to abandon your public writing schedule?"
Essentially this:
> "You're not giving up a growth channel. You're declining to perform."
As I've gotten older, I've become increasingly aware of my very human desire for social capital—to be seen, to be recognized, to perform. Public writing is, among other things, an expression of that desire. And it's a part of myself I've grown less comfortable with over time.
Claude's response helped me see that I can probably preserve the positive aspects of writing—thinking, wrestling with ideas, making sense of things—in private. The rationale I've been using to justify public writing ("it drives business, and I need business to survive") simply isn't supported by the evidence.
The cost, as I see it, is to the people who follow The Hagakure because they find something there that they don't find elsewhere. I'd like to mitigate that by being available to meet people one-on-one (calls, or in person when possible) so we can exchange ideas and learn from each other directly.