... and (to mix metaphors yet again) it's breathing down my neck.
Every so often, I feel the need to publish a new entry in this blog without having any specific idea of what to write about. When that happens, I often go back to one of my unfinished draft entries, in the hope that it will inspire me. I know that in most cases, these drafts are still drafts because I was reaching too high at the time, and trying to write about things that are too far beyond my grasp (I always write about things that are beyond my grasp, but only a little bit, the idea being that writing about them will help me find out what I think). When I go back to the unfinished drafts it's almost as if I am secretly hoping (against all reasonable hope, obviously) that I have suddenly become much smarter, and will be able to quickly and easily resolve whatever issue that had stumped me the first time around.
I did the same before starting this entry, checked a few drafts, was mildly disappointed and slightly irritated to find none of the issues had magically resolved themselves, and then tried another one of those desperate tricks you resort to when nothing else works: statistics. I do so because I am told that you can prove or disprove anything with statistics. (Example: if you want to prove that birthdays are good for your health, you could use statistics, because they show, without the slightest shadow of doubt, that people that have more birthdays live longer.)
What I discovered that this blog currently has 147 published entries (of which a handful are trivial, and shouldn't count) and 44 drafts. So the ratio between what I have "resolved"(to my own satisfaction, at least) and what I have not is approximately 3 to 1. Of course the drafts are really only the tip of a vast iceberg of ignorance (I have several thousands of notes that will probably never be upgraded, and make it into a draft, and possibly many more random doubts and worries that will never even make it to a note). But even so, I feel much better.
Every so often, I feel the need to publish a new entry in this blog without having any specific idea of what to write about. When that happens, I often go back to one of my unfinished draft entries, in the hope that it will inspire me. I know that in most cases, these drafts are still drafts because I was reaching too high at the time, and trying to write about things that are too far beyond my grasp (I always write about things that are beyond my grasp, but only a little bit, the idea being that writing about them will help me find out what I think). When I go back to the unfinished drafts it's almost as if I am secretly hoping (against all reasonable hope, obviously) that I have suddenly become much smarter, and will be able to quickly and easily resolve whatever issue that had stumped me the first time around.
I did the same before starting this entry, checked a few drafts, was mildly disappointed and slightly irritated to find none of the issues had magically resolved themselves, and then tried another one of those desperate tricks you resort to when nothing else works: statistics. I do so because I am told that you can prove or disprove anything with statistics. (Example: if you want to prove that birthdays are good for your health, you could use statistics, because they show, without the slightest shadow of doubt, that people that have more birthdays live longer.)
What I discovered that this blog currently has 147 published entries (of which a handful are trivial, and shouldn't count) and 44 drafts. So the ratio between what I have "resolved"(to my own satisfaction, at least) and what I have not is approximately 3 to 1. Of course the drafts are really only the tip of a vast iceberg of ignorance (I have several thousands of notes that will probably never be upgraded, and make it into a draft, and possibly many more random doubts and worries that will never even make it to a note). But even so, I feel much better.
