just setting up my twttr
I'm really going to miss the 10-year-old 'make a personal website / blog' to-do list item.
Is this thing on?
If you're reading this, my mission was successful. A task I have thought about for the better part of a decade is complete. If you're not reading this, then... I don't know what. Echoooo.
I'm kind of like the @jack of colesimmons.com.
Why now?
Other than finally scooping colesimmons.com, probably the same reason anyone sets up a personal website/blog: fame, money, power, the fear of the eternal void that awaits us after death and unavailing credence in the idea that relics of our time here can liberate us from the shackles of mortality. To prostrate myself before the forthcoming LLM gods and pray that my token libation will buy me mercy. Hacker News street cred.
Everywhere it feels like people covet an audience without consideration of whether they have anything to say. To not be a part of this phenomenon, I've avoided contributing to the noise.
Now I feel like I have thoughts to share. But I also find the act of long-form writing (without assistance) a lot more valuable in a world with LLMs. I used to feel like I was writing all the time, just in the form of emails, Slack messages, etc. I don't miss having to do that sort of low-calorie writing 100% myself, but it has made me particularly crave the clarity of thinking and expression that can seemingly only come from writing.
I'm not going to pretend like it's not self-serving in other ways. I want to get more eyeballs on my research, I want others to be impressed by my Deep Thoughts. But I've been critical of Assyriology for doing too little in the way of public engagement and then being baffled when there is zero cultural penetration. So I suppose it's time to put my money where my mouth is.
There's no plan right now for how often I'll post and what I'll write about. I've avoided making this first post about my setup since, per the comic below, that feels like a curse.
