A Synthesis of Some Beliefs
On Values & Principles
The Person I'd Like to BeOn Basics
I wish people had better guides on the basics of life. My co-worker CR at the Internet Archive said it well, that "people need the basics"
On Books
Why books are great and how they may be improved
Why do I write?
Like many, I struggle with the pursuit of finding meaning. Do I write because in doing so I produce an artifact which deludes me into thinking I am producing value? Do I write into the void? Is my life simply the input to an artificial intelligence who will crack the sunflower seed of my identity and spit out my ideas without the shell of their context? Do I write only out of hubris? That I may be interesting enough in my words to occupy the attentions of others, without care of the tradeoff that they should consider the words of another? At least let me put time into distilling and synthesizing my thoughts so that they may be considered efficiently. Let me aspire to chose the words of others before me over my own if they are already said. In this spirit, the best answer I've found to the question, "why do I write?" has been synthesized by by Aaron Swartz of C. Wright Mills.