I find Simon’s blog and TILs to be some of the highest signal to noise content on the internet. I’ve picked up an incredible number of useful tips and tricks. Many of them I would not have found if he did not share things as soon as he discovered something that felt “obvious.” I also love how he documents small snippets and gists of code that are easy to link to and cross-reference. Wish I did more of that myself.
> Many of them I would not have found if he did not share things as soon as he discovered something
You don’t know that. For all you know, your life would’ve been richer if you’ve read those thoughts after they’ve been left to stew for longer. For all you know, if that happened you would’ve said “most” instead of “many”. Or maybe not, no one can say for sure until it happens
> that felt “obvious.”
It’s not about feeling obvious. There is value in exploring obvious concepts when you’ve thought about them for longer, maybe researched what others before you had to say on the matter, and you can highlight and improve on all of that. Everyone benefits from a thoughtful approach.
> I’ve picked up an incredible number of useful tips and tricks. (…) I also love how he documents small snippets and gists of code that are easy to link to and cross-reference.
That is (I think clearly, but I may be wrong) not what I’m talking about. A code snippet is very far removed in meaning from a human insight. What I wrote doesn’t just concern Simon’s readers, but Simon as a person. Being constantly “on” isn’t good, it leads to exhaustion (as reported), which leads to burnout. While my first paragraph in the previous comment was a criticism, it was merely an introduction to the rest of the post which was given in empathy. I want us all to do and be better.
> There is value in exploring obvious concepts when you’ve thought about them for longer, maybe researched what others before you had to say on the matter, and you can highlight and improve on all of that.
Respectfully, I think you are wholly missing the point. Running a link along and adding commentary to what other people have written is just social media, it is not at all the same thing as reflecting on a concept thoroughly. We’re discussing two different concepts.
I have a link blog which is links plus commentary. Each post takes 10-30 minutes to write. They're exactly like social media, though I try to add something new rather than just broadcast other people's content. https://simonwillison.net/blogmarks/
I recently added "notes" which are effectively my link blog without a link. Very social media! I use those for content that doesn't deserve more than a couple of paragraphs: https://simonwillison.net/notes/
And then there are "entries". That's my long form content, each taking one to several hours (or occasionally more, eg ny annual LLM roundups). Those are the pieces of long-form writing where I aim to "reflect on a concept thoroughly": https://simonwillison.net/entries/
