Why and how to write things on the Internet(benkuhn.net)
benkuhn.net
Why and how to write things on the Internet
https://www.benkuhn.net/writing/
9 comments
> it changes a dialogue of unequal capacity face to face, of fast speakers and slow thinkers, into one of more considered writing.
This is why I value async communication in companies so much. I'm not a fast speaker, I'm a slow thinker and often need to ruminate on things before I can respond. But once I put my thoughts into words it's often 10x better than anything I could have said verbally in a conversation.
As an added benefit, writing is not nearly as ephemeral as "meetings". I can't count the number of times I've asked for meeting recordings only to learn no one bothered to record it. Even if it was recorded, basically no one shares their notes.
It's gotten to the point within my own company I'm developing a bot to join all meetings and transcribe the conversation.
This is why I value async communication in companies so much. I'm not a fast speaker, I'm a slow thinker and often need to ruminate on things before I can respond. But once I put my thoughts into words it's often 10x better than anything I could have said verbally in a conversation.
As an added benefit, writing is not nearly as ephemeral as "meetings". I can't count the number of times I've asked for meeting recordings only to learn no one bothered to record it. Even if it was recorded, basically no one shares their notes.
It's gotten to the point within my own company I'm developing a bot to join all meetings and transcribe the conversation.
> It's gotten to the point within my own company I'm developing a bot to join all meetings and transcribe the conversation.
Zoom has this feature btw. Teams probably does too.
Zoom has this feature btw. Teams probably does too.
> I don't have an answer but I do think "it's cathartic" is part of things
I write because the thoughts need to get out of my head. I can’t not write.
I publish because getting feedback on my writing (both implicit and explicit) helps me understand how to phrase things for maximum impact. It’s also a great way to do Hamming’s open door idea from that famous essay.
Having tested ways of expressing ideas has been great in all sorts of contexts. People think I’m super quick on my feet and able to grok things quickly, but really I’ve just put in the reps, pre-chewed their arguments and concerns, and developed ways to express my insights in ways that land.
As that anecdote attributed to Churchill goes: “What are you doing? We have to go!” … “One sec, just preparing my off the cuff remarks”
Plus it turns out publishing is great for increasing your luck surface area. I wouldn’t be here without my blog.
I write because the thoughts need to get out of my head. I can’t not write.
I publish because getting feedback on my writing (both implicit and explicit) helps me understand how to phrase things for maximum impact. It’s also a great way to do Hamming’s open door idea from that famous essay.
Having tested ways of expressing ideas has been great in all sorts of contexts. People think I’m super quick on my feet and able to grok things quickly, but really I’ve just put in the reps, pre-chewed their arguments and concerns, and developed ways to express my insights in ways that land.
As that anecdote attributed to Churchill goes: “What are you doing? We have to go!” … “One sec, just preparing my off the cuff remarks”
Plus it turns out publishing is great for increasing your luck surface area. I wouldn’t be here without my blog.
> Privacy is a wall it's almost impossible to replace, once breached.
That's not how walls work. Maybe you're thinking of your home and cops or vampires!
That's not how walls work. Maybe you're thinking of your home and cops or vampires!
See, if it was my blog I'd have the dilemma to delete or keep this.
Of the types of walls which exist, concrete (hah) and metaphorical, the concrete ones can generally be replaced. Privacy breach is a wall of a kind which is less easy to replace. Does that mean "it's not a wall" ? well.. maybe.
Or maybe not. Metaphors and Analogies suck.
Of the types of walls which exist, concrete (hah) and metaphorical, the concrete ones can generally be replaced. Privacy breach is a wall of a kind which is less easy to replace. Does that mean "it's not a wall" ? well.. maybe.
Or maybe not. Metaphors and Analogies suck.
[deleted]
I don't have an answer but I do think "it's cathartic" is part of things. Being able to make a position clear in writing to others is beneficial, it changes a dialogue of unequal capacity face to face, of fast speakers and slow thinkers, into one of more considered writing. And, you can chose to filter or not, you can decide to remove the comments which are intolerable, or even just disagreeable (or not: sometimes, making it plain other people don't agree is the whole point)
I value other people's writing online immensely. I'd like to be part of the community who do it out of core drive, desire, but I am mindful I have people in my life who are very oppositional. To them, it has significantly less value, or even negative value. Primarily, to loss of privacy.
Privacy is a wall it's almost impossible to replace, once breached.
[1: I'm not here to spruik my blog. I am part of a team doing this as well as podcasting. We're reasonably successful in terms of readership, listership and referral/linkage.]