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Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

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Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#71

Post by throw458 »

throw456 wrote: post #13
staktrace wrote: post #8

I've found that one of the more subtle cons to thinking in public is that you become more attached to the opinion you have expressed. I'm not sure if that's because you are forced to defend it more vigorously or just because it's "written down". But I do find that I'm less likely to change my mind on a particular topic after blogging about it.

This is why I comment only using throwaway accounts on all the forums I use. I feel like I'm much less likely to get attached to an opinion if it's wedded only to an ephemeral identity that I will probably forget about entirely within a short timeframe. I also much prefer the dynamic of having anonymous conversations with strangers.

I heartily agree about preferring anonymous conversations.

Though for the first point, personally, I view being “attached” to a particular idea as more of an external problem than internal. An alias lets me consider other ideas or play devil’s advocate or perhaps more importantly, write with less revision than I might require of my public persona, which can be the difference between making a post or deleting another imperfect draft.

I can understand the appeal for a forum operator to lock functionality behind reputation-based systems which dissuade temporary aliases to reduce spam, but I think it is vitally important to have anonymous spaces for conversation.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#72

Post by kelnos »

The biggest con to thinking in public is that your words will be there for anyone to see. Some of the people who see it will have very little context about who you are and what you are talking about, and will inevitably misinterpret (possibly intentionally) what you say, and get upset with you for it.

You may not care about this. Certainly, worrying about what random strangers think about you is a waste of time. But unfortunately, things you say online can affect your real life in surprising, unexpected ways sometimes.

Something today that you think is completely innocuous might be a hot-button issue tomorrow.

I mostly stopped participating in social media years ago, but I still comment in a few places like HN. Sometimes I do worry that something I say will come back to haunt me later. This is never an issue if you think in private.

Now, because you asked for pros, a potentially big benefit of thinking in public is that you can get feedback from a wide variety of people, especially those who have different upbringings, experiences, and values, and their perspective can be valuable, depending on what you're thinking/talking about. Does that outweigh the con I mentioned? Up to each individual to decide for themselves.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#73

Post by spritefs »

What's the point of private thinking if it isn't going to find some kind of public manifestation? (whether that's in the form of words, action, or deliberately refraining from the two)

All private thinking really is is the digestion/preparation of the things in public. It's like the morning after a party when you're trying to remember all the stuff that happened, or writing a script before a speech

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#74

Post by xwkd »

nicbou wrote: post #63
virissimo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No self-censorship. This is a very common belief, but I don't think it's strictly true. Sometimes people inadvertently speak what they're thinking, so an even surer way to prevent being punished for your ideas is to prevent yourself from even thinking them in the first place. It's a kind of defense-in-depth against wrongthink punishment and one I think most people understand intuitively.

You can’t prevent yourself from speaking in your sleep. That’s how they get you.

I’ve found this to be profoundly true. I’m embarrassed by the number of times I’ve been taught by a dream what I fail to express in words.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#75

Post by philwelch »

tlb wrote: post #2

There are quite a few things that are probably true, but you can't say publicly without attracting a lot of unwanted angry attention. If your line of thinking approaches any of these topics, it makes it difficult to think through the issue in public.

Even worse, the criteria for what you can't say publicly without attracting a lot of unwanted angry attention changes over time. So you're not even safe avoiding the controversies of the day; you also have to try and predict the controversies of tomorrow.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#76

Post by s1artibartfast »

hugs_vs_toph wrote: post #27
blowski wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of my HN comments will simultaneously have only very critical replies and lots of upvotes. It’s hard to interpret that.

It means you are popular with the plebs while smart people disagree with you.

Possible, but not necessarily. Commenters aren't always more patrician or knowledgeable, just more motivated.

Examples of vocal minorities abound.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#77

Post by morsecodist »

I am not really an expert but I have been thinking about this lately as well. I have done some light blogging and posting online and I have been considering doing more.

A few things that are giving me pause doing public thinking (cons):

- Time: turning a stream of consciousness to something I am comfortable sharing takes way longer than I would expect. I even spend longer than I should making forum posts.

- The internet is forever: when you post something publicly it is there forever. You may change your mind and look inconsistent (I would argue that changing your mind is good but people do get criticism for this kind of thing). Circumstances could also change making you look foolish. This is more of an issue if you become well known or delve into controversial topics.

Some reasons I am considering it (pros):

- Fun: going back and forth on ideas with others can be way more satisfying than thinking alone.

- Holding your thoughts to a higher standard: all of that extra time does result in better thinking. I have even done the exercise of writing out potential blog posts I never share because it forces you to be rigorous and consistent. When you are reading back your own thoughts it is harder to trick yourself. Sharing publicly them gives you access to even more scrutiny. If you are wrong you will find out pretty quickly.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#78

Post by honkler »

andirk wrote: post #43
tlb wrote: post #2

There are quite a few things that are probably true, but you can't say publicly without attracting a lot of unwanted angry attention. If your line of thinking approaches any of these topics, it makes it difficult to think through the issue in public.

This is where a lot of voices on Twitter feel they're being marginalized because their hate speech isn't accepted which is odd to them because in private, it is accepted. Similarly, saying "Joe Rogan" in certain holier-than-thou circles will get you banished. Point is that public discourse is often policed by the most offensive and the most sensitive, but still speak your mind, and always with respect to those in the…

speech i dont like is hate speech

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#79

Post by sandkoan »

xwkd wrote: post #74
nicbou wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t prevent yourself from speaking in your sleep. That’s how they get you.

I’ve found this to be profoundly true. I’m embarrassed by the number of times I’ve been taught by a dream what I fail to express in words.

There might be a reason for that: https://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/the-kekul-problem.

Re: Ask HN: Pros and cons of thinking in public vs. in private?

#80

Post by rainsford »

tlb wrote: post #2

There are quite a few things that are probably true, but you can't say publicly without attracting a lot of unwanted angry attention. If your line of thinking approaches any of these topics, it makes it difficult to think through the issue in public.

Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but getting a lot of angry feedback from what you consider to be axiomatic truths seems like a useful benefit to thinking in public. Lots of topics might attract the occasional troll or disagreement from certain corners, but when your thinking regularly draws the kind of widespread condemnation I suspect you're talking about, a reasonable person might consider how "probably true" their thinking really is.

A good example could be that Googler from a few years ago who seemed amazed at the blowback he got from publicly posting that he thought women were genetically inferior as software engineers. Had he been as smart as he thought he was, that could have been a great opportunity for self reflection that would not have been available without that public airing of his thoughts.

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