What I choose to make public

→

In general, I try to make a note public unless I have a good reason not to. This makes it easier default to more transparency and reduce the inhibition to pushing an idea out into the public.

→

Reasons for not publishing a given note

→

My privacy

→

I will occasionally publish ideas related to my projects, but I will want to keep some of that information private for the sake of those projects. Interestingly, I don’t think it’s usually an issue of wanting to keep good ideas to myself, but rather a feeling that revealing the rough thought process behind projects may risk compromising future collaborations. In fact, I hope to eventually release more project ideas into the wild with the hope that others could find them interesting and take them.

→

Privacy of others

→

I feel much less comfortable publishing notes that mention or relate to other people. Perhaps I could publish them with names redacted, but ideally I would get permission from the relevant parties before making those thoughts accessible on the internet. This also applies to notes from private meetings or groups that are not open attendance.

→

Embarrassment

→

Embarrassment is the concern I try to push against the most. If it’s truly only because of embarrassment that I am withholding publishing a thought, then I really should just add a disclaimer that can subdue some of my embarrassment and still move forward. This is one of the purposes of adding epistemic labels to my notes.

→

It is also not always easy to predict what will be embarrassing in the future, and that is a risk I am willing to take for the benefit of publishing my thoughts. That which the truth nourishes should thrive, regardless of embarrassment. Easier said than done, of course.

→