drscott | Real World meets LJSpace

A friend of mine came up at square dancing and said, "You know, I saw your blog!" I said okay, so what? He said "Well, you were so... revealing!"

Hmm. There's nothing I put up here that I wouldn't happily recount to most of my friends and acquaintances, if there were time and places for that much discussion. If you publish truthful accounts of what has or is happening to you, it is only embarrassing if you have to admit something you're ashamed of. I'm ashamed of very little, and I certainly wouldn't put those stories here.

I do worry a bit about people who discuss their jobs and politics when they still depend on the goodwill of others for their livelihoods. Corporate life being full of cutthroat and petty politics, giving those who might want to hurt you for their own advantage ammunition to do so seems unwise. But privacy per se is really overrated -- what we want is to be more open with people who wish us well, and keep from those who wish us ill any more information about us than is necessary.

The other problem that's come up is that people I mention will sometimes get in a huff over the slightest author's license taken. It's often better for purposes of storytelling to simplify some details and not get bogged down in legalistic perfection. I have a point of view about things, and I'm not above emphasizing some details over others to make my point. So sue me.