[mschoeffler]

The benefits of thinking out loud are massive. So are the costs.

The only way to sharpen your ideas is to find other humans to talk about them with. The subject barely matters - you may be dead wrong or 100% correct, but you can only know once you test it with intelligent people. Plus, you build deep friendships when you're open. I can't tell you how well this has worked for me - better friends, clearer thinking.

The problem is obvious. We live in a judgmental time when it's easy to rub people wrong and lose friends - or even your job. So how do you stay safe?

Protect people (even friends) behind aliases on controversial topics - until you build up mutual respect and trust.

I want to show you what I'm talking about. I'm running a private beta for https://hiweave.com/. If you sign up for an invite, mention Hacker News (I'll put you guys in a group together).