What's the motivation behind starting a personal site like this one?

The main reason

I just want to think better, and I'm convinced writing regularly is the best way to do it.

But is writing publicly a good idea?

I was initially in two minds about this.

Pros

  • The stakes are too low if I just write privately. If you know that people can read your stuff, and your name is on your website, then you better write stuff you're proud of! (Or at the very least, stuff you're not ashamed of.)
  • Occasionally, I do want to share my thoughts with my friends. I can now just share a link.

Cons

  • I don't really want to post my private life online.
  • What if people don't like what I say? Or just plain don't like me?

Mitigations

  1. Don't write about private stuff. It's that easy!
  2. If people don't like what I say, then that's too bad! But also, who really cares about some random dude blogging on the internet?