[TedDoesntTalk]

I just checked my blog. 367 posts. But it’s private with a protected login. It’s written for an audience of one: my son when he’s an adult. Maybe it’s also written for me.

I contend that the best writing and the easiest commitment to regular writing is to write for yourself. Always.

[drdebug]

Do not forget to print it and put it in a binder, otherwise he might never know about it.

[jotm]

Publicly available but protected? Sorry, but that's just mean. Your son will likely never read all, or any, of it. But someone else's son might. If it wasn't login protected, that is.

[klez]

Why should they make something public if it was not written to be public? How is that mean?

[ponow]

Exactly. It's even worse than the belief that privacy is unnecessary unless you have something to hide, since it enslaves you to a positive obligation to informing others, and despite the risks. If you have something interesting to say regarding humans, then you have to judge that there doesn't exist someone sufficiently threatened by it to do you or your interests any harm, and thinking through that is both stressful and uncertain. The safest default assumption is privacy.

Just getting some of your thoughts down in writing is a first step, like a diary or journal. Maybe a few of those thoughts should be public soon, or maybe not. But getting them down helps your thinking and is useful.

Writing is not a public good by default, but merely a physical manifestation of thought, and thus private.

[TedDoesntTalk]

> you have to judge that there doesn't exist someone sufficiently threatened by it to do you or your interests any harm

There absolutely is someone who exists that would weaponize some of my posts against me. That's why it's private and will remain so, except for my son's eyes when he is older.

[ponow]

Good choice.