[psgibbs]

I don't get it, why are you afraid of scooping yourself?

In the same way that HN frowns upon stealth startups, shouldn't we frown upon 'stealth theories'? If your thoughts are novel and deep enough, revealing something about them will only increase interest in your future talks, since you are definitionally the foremost thinker in your unique worldview. If the idea fails scrutiny in some way, you should want to hear about it now so you can strengthen your position.

What's the downside, outside of using mystery to create artificial hype?

[jpadkins]

can't speak for the thread starter, but one downside to prematurely talking about something is confusion. Half formed thoughts, rambling imprecise language, etc can create confusion for his audience. The process of editing and preparing for a talk makes it more clear and concise. Maybe he is not ready yet to clearly communicate his concepts yet.