A Revamp

Simon Willison has been inspiring me lately.

It’s been nearly three years since I posted on this blog. Simon Willison posts to his blog every single day. I can do that, right?

I once heard a quote. It was something like… “In order to think, you need to write.” I don’t remember what it actually was, but the point stands. Writing is the best way to get to the bottom of your thoughts, and this is something I’d like to be better about doing.

So I Googled and found the real quote by Joan Didion.

I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking.
-- Joan Didion

It captures exactly how I’m feeling. I don’t know if it’s because of AI or what, but lately I’ve been having a hard time articulating what I’m thinking, especially when it comes to technical concepts or complex topics. I read recently that we live in a post-literate society. I find this terrifying, not only because I see the effects of this in myself through a short attention span and endless doomscrolling, but because this issue deeply shapes our culture. It has cascading effects that we’re probably not even able to imagine right now.

I also feel the landscape of my work (software engineering) changing rapidly in a way that makes me fairly uncomfortable. How can I stay relevant so I can stay employed? It used to be that my path forward was clearly defined.

I’d study economics and math, become a data analyst, and over time work my way into data science. Then, I’d make the switch to software engineering. Perfect. I’ve made it and can remain here comfortably.

Not so. Now it’s hard to conceive of what software engineering will look like in a year, let alone three to six months from now. So what’s my path forward? I don’t know but I want to find out.

Anyways, that’s all for now. Writing every day should help me improve in this general area and I look forward to it.