I’m a private person, and despite devouring content and updating a good many priors courtesy of the blogs I’ve read over the past 15 years, I’ve never been able to persuade myself to write publicly.
Overcoming my in-built hesitation took three prods in quick succession.
Well, the first prod has truthfully been more of a steady internal pressure. I care deeply about longtermism, and a lot of the contemporary writing is thoughtful, inspiring, and pointing in what I think are largely correct directions. But there are, to my eye, a handful of lacunae—some of content, others of attitude—usually in the most practical arenas. I am a farmkid, and I am driven by internal agency. “If I would bite the bullet and contribute what I’m writing to the discourse, I could discover if-and-what the others think of these blind spots. I could even help to fill them.”
I sustained an acute prod about a month ago, when I gave a talk in SF. To an audience interested in generational knowledge transfer, my topic was “Succession in Family Farms.” My planned talk was eventually given and well-received, but we had an impromptu Q&A session for nearly 15 minutes between the intro and any discussion of succession. Every attendee asked at least one question—and it was clear that my coastal peers have a lot of curiosity about, but no source of information for what exactly goes on in flyover country.
(These may not seem connected yet. But the attitudes instilled by the facts of agriculture, and the facts of agriculture themselves, are the common thread I see in the lacunae of current longtermism discourse.)
The final prod was the announcement of Effective Ideas’ Blog Prize. I guess it’s a little cringe to admit I’d write for cash, but I have a pet project that would come to fruition more quickly if I had more capital. And if they’re kind enough to offer prize money for the sharing of thoughts, it’s at least honest of me to let them know that their investment is having an effect. Here’s to my contributions being positive!