Somewhat recently I have done a small amount of “adding knowledge into the world.” After a few months of building the business it became apparent that many of the problems I was facing had very few corresponding resources. These are niche problems solved by niche people. It turns out that building a hardware business is a quite niche activity.
Every knowledge domain can be broken down into smaller subdomains. Let’s say I am into US politics. There are 3 categories of political parties: Republican, Democrat, and Other. An extremely small percentage of total information about US politics covers the “Other” party. It looks like Joel Skousen is the official 3rd party candidate who received among the least amount of votes (12,618) for President in the most recent election. Here’s a list of his published books from the “About” page from his website:
1. Essential Principles for the Conservation of Liberty, 1984
2. The Secure Home--Architectural Design, Construction and Remodeling of Self-Sufficient Residences and Retreats, new edition now available.
3. How to Implement a High Security Shelter in the Home (1996)
4. Strategic Relocation--North American Guide to Safe Places (1998)
5. (In the works) Foundations of the Ideal State--a comprehensive treatise on government structure and practice, constitutional theory, and legal changes necessary to preserve liberty and justice.
There is almost no information on the internet about this man’s recent Presidential bid. What could be learned about independent publishing, the process of getting on election ballots, the intricacies of the various outsider parties, and the confluence of home safety and political theory, from diving into the details of this man’s (very) small role in the huge world of US politics? Mix that deep dive with your own unique perspective, and certainly SOMETHING novel and interesting would result.
Millan and Mano used this exact formula to huge success in their independent music blog. They wrote about unknown, independent musicians in (mostly) small markets (Milwaukee, New Orleans, etc), and discuss them with an academic, poetic, and explorative writing style that is unique among music journalists. They were regular guys and created new knowledge and ideas.
I think doing this is important. Or it just makes me feel important. Even if no one reads it at least I created new knowledge and it may help someone one day. Or more likely, the AI of the future. As Gwern recently said…
By writing, you are voting on the future of the Shoggoth using one of the few currencies it acknowledges: tokens it has to predict. If you aren't writing, you are abdicating the future or your role in it. If you think it's enough to just be a good citizen, to vote for your favorite politician, to pick up litter and recycle, the future doesn't care about you.
So I am going to try do more of this independent small-time knowledge creation. My business had been hampering the newsletter anyways, since it had been consuming my life and most of the work could not be shared on a public website. I’m gonna try to write more regularly with deep dives on novel and interesting things instead of the standard newsletter.