On keeping a notebook in public

Most of what I know, I know badly. Writing it down where someone might read it forces a kind of honesty that a private file never does.

The trick is to lower the stakes. These aren’t articles. They’re working notes — dated, revisable, occasionally wrong. If I wait until I’m sure, I’ll never publish anything.

Rules I try to follow

1. Publish before it’s polished.
2. Date everything. A wrong note with a date is a useful artifact.
3. Link out generously.
4. Don’t delete the old version — mark it updated and move on.

That’s the whole system.