Okay, posting like this - without fear of what others may think - feels better than any note-taking tool I've ever used. I love Obsidian. And Notion. And even my own DIY apps. But this here, this Twitter-thingy. Wow. What a thrill.

@signulll Found it!

I understand we have vocabulary, like NKS, that helps us understand and wonder that complex behavior can absolutely emerge from simple rules. For example Rule 11: t.co/jGocYRI8RH

Now, what about the opposite, converging, direction?

What do we call when things start messy and chaotic and, through say human intervention, end up ordered and genuine?

Yesterday, while preparing the AppStore submission for Pudding, I wanted to illustrate the gradual decrease of chaos towards a final, ordered result. I imagined what process Shakespeare may have gone through from first draft to the final "To be, or not to be, that is the question:"

And it's kind of a converging and messy process that starts with a lot of real-world noise ("Overheard on broadway: The cat is both alive or dead. WTF?") and then, by whittling and caring and putting in the time, gets cleaned and refined to its essence.

Does anyone know what vocabulary or research or models exist around this type of process?

What do we call the mess that we start with? What do we call the mess we make while trying to make it cleaner?

I have so many questions.

Hey Greg! What's been triggering me is definitely 2), 3) and 8).

Yet, against those odds, Twitter feels completely fresh and, you know, "real" again.

On a whim I decided to question what Twitter means to me two days ago.

I basically said to myself

"Okay, this place is kind of a shit-show. I can't change the bots, the grifters, the slop machines. So, what if I used it in another way? What if I use it to my pleasure and whims? What if, from now on, I treat it as my (somewhat) unfiltered notebook? What if I share what's on my mind without much editing or concern or fear of what others may think? What if, instead of down-regulating myself, I assume we're all adults here? If you don't like my stuff, please unfollow right away."

This is probably so obvious to you but I feel like I just discovered this whole new liberty and, dang, I haven't felt this alive in years! Honestly, it feels as electrifying as walking down a street in Manhattan on a early-June afternoon. Totally unexpected.

"The Law of Two Feet"

While I take the liberty to ramble freely here, please always feel free to unfollow me at any time. No need to explain. I do I and you do you!

If my ramblings are just not what you need right now, PLEASE unfollow me immediately! Really. No hard feelings at all.

I've intentionally unfollowed (and then re-followed later) quiet a few authors here on Twitter in the past 6 months.

"Breaking up" with people, even for good reasons, can be hard or may even feel taboo.

I'm here to say to you: "No." is a complete sentence and is always, always, always an option.

I learned about this "law" when I participated in and co-organized BarCamps in the early 2000s.

"The Law of Two Feet" was, as far as I remember, the inoffical 10th rule of BarCamp:

All participants are responsible for their own experience and learning. If you find yourself in a session where you cannot contribute or learn anything, you may leave the room and switch to another session that is more interesting to you or initiate a spontaneous discussion outside of the sessions.

PS: If you haven't seen the other 9 rules, here's a quick reminder from web.archive.org/web/2008041300…

The Rules of Bar Camp

• 1st Rule: You do talk about Bar Camp.
• 2nd Rule: You do blog about Bar Camp.
• 3rd Rule: If you want to present, you must write your topic and name in a presentation slot.
• 4th Rule: Only three word intros.
• 5th Rule: As many presentations at a time as facilities allow for.
• 6th Rule: No pre-scheduled presentations, no tourists.
• 7th Rule: Presentations will go on as long as they have to or until they run into another presentation slot.
• 8th Rule: Presentations promoting specific comercial products or companies are discouraged.
• 9th Rule: If this is your first time at BarCamp, you HAVE to present. (Ok, you don't really HAVE to, but try to find someone to present with, or at least ask questions and be an interactive participant.)

I'm loving it. After a day of posting practically anything that comes to my mind. Publicly. On Twitter. With almost no filter. Feels crazy liberating and energizing.

Is this what people do here? Is that what Twitter was all along??

PS: Here's the missing playback slide:

So far, my personal Discworld sub-series ranking:

1. Death (by far)
2. Witches
3. Stand-alone
4. City Watch
5. Wizards

Ooohhhh, that totally reminds me of the headmap manifesto's opening shot "there are notes in boxes that are empty".

This is all, of course, directly related to...
a.) me wanting a way to show my writing was, for better or worse, written by me and not AI
b.) the amount of AI work-slop that's started to land on my plate and for which I need some kind of filter soon

I gotta thank my friend Tobi Eichenwald who had to poke me a few times to take the assessment.

Actually that is because I'm planning to follow up on those notes with myself using the replies. I did that yesterday on some old tweets of mine and that felt surprisingly good and useful.