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.
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 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.