One of the biggest advantages of openness -- in research, in personal thinking, and life broadly -- is that it prevents evaporation.
Many of my thoughts and experiences have been lost or become illegible over time. The things I shared publicly remain.
Many of my thoughts and experiences have been lost or become illegible over time. The things I shared publicly remain.
I think a few things drive this:
(1) Sharing publicly enforces a degree of hygiene in organizing and explaining things. This is useful to my future self.
(2) We have good mechanisms for preserving and searching public data.
(3) I can access it anywhere without authentication.
(1) Sharing publicly enforces a degree of hygiene in organizing and explaining things. This is useful to my future self.
(2) We have good mechanisms for preserving and searching public data.
(3) I can access it anywhere without authentication.
This feels especially tangible in research, where the moment of publication kind of locks your contribution in place. Sometimes my research doesn't feel real until I publish. Probably too many half-finished projects that died.
