Happy Friday Everyone,
I’d like to welcome all of my new followers, as I now have safely over 20 (closer to 30!). At this rate, I may break 75 at the end of the year. It’s my goal to hit 100, but if I don’t make that goal, it’s whatever.
As I’ve said before, I’m not posting for metrics or to make writing on substack a full time career.1 Having said that, it feels super validating when over 400 people read one of my posts, as they did this week. Thank you!
My goal for writing on substack is just to publish frequently enough to say I’m a writer and have something to point to when people ask what I write. Writing is fun and therapeutic to me, and I like having it part of my life. Maybe not every day of my life, but weekly or bi-weekly is nice.
Upcoming Changes to the Substack
Content
I’ve decided I have more interesting things to say about philosophy than anything else. I’m going to lean in to writing more about philosophy, specifically skepticism and philosophy of religion.
To be clear, I am not a trained philosopher or PhD, just a 31-year-old who got a BA in philosophy almost a decade ago and who has absorbed more philosophy post-graduating college than I did while actually studying philosophy. I won’t claim to be the smartest philosophy poster, but as a believer in the practical benefits of learning philosophy and implementing philosophical wisdom, I will try to invoke “normal guy ethos.”
Frequency and Length
My first post on substack was about my own personal rules about posting, and as you’ve noticed, I violated at least one of them (continuously!) recently. So, I’m going to chunk it - the rule on word limit. The idea behind limiting myself to 500 words was to keep a steady flow of ideas and posting, to not get bogged down in a post for too long, and to form a writing habit. I no longer think that’s necessary.
I also was trying to post twice a week, regularly on Tuesdays and Fridays. I’m going to stop that as well. Instead, I’m going to post just once a week, likely on Wednesdays, starting next week.
The reason why is because I’ve written most posts months in advance and no longer have that cushion. I’m a spree writer. This means I will go weeks (sometimes a month) without feeling the need to write, but when I catch the bug, I can have 5 or 6 or 7 posts ready in about 2 weeks time.
For a few months, that kept me balanced, but now I have no more posts queued. I have like 5 or 6 posts deep in the drafting phase, but the next 2 posts (on skepticism) after will probably take longer to write. I’m not confident I can get them done in 2-3 weeks.
But, if I reduce my load to one post per week, I think I’ll have plenty of time and be able to maintain that pace. What’s more, if I post in this manner, it gives me more freedom to do more “rapid response” posts, where I respond to something I see in the discourse on substack.
Anyway, I’m letting everyone know this because I think no one really talks about spree writing and hobbyist content strategy. Everyone’s trying to get big and rich and the advice usually leads to burn out. I don’t want any of that because the promise of fame and notoriety seems like an invitation for nonsense in the current media world. I also just generally like my office job, and I feel like being a writer would be too much pressure. So I want to model a better way (hobbyism!) that will lead more people to write.
Anyway, Some Facts About Me
I figured this is the reason most of you clicked on. I saw a couple substackers post these recently, and I assumed the number of facts was correlated with age. So here’s 31 facts about me.
I have two degrees, a BA (English-Philosophy double major, minor in religion) and a Master’s in Mass Communication.
I only minored in religion in college because I didn’t want to write a thesis. I’ve read as many books on religious studies and studied the Bible as much as any undergraduate though. If I had one more semester at undergrad or if I knew exactly what I wanted to study upon arriving to college, I would have easily triple majored.
I went to graduate school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. I don’t recommend going unless you are absolutely certain you want to do the thing you’re studying. Sub-literate people think college degrees are a scam, and they’re wrong, but there’s some reason to think master’s degrees are scammy.2
I’m getting married in October and psyched about it.
I’m learning the guitar. I took a class my senior year in high school but stopped playing early into my freshman year. I’m impressed with how my brain remembers some tabs about 13 years later. Now I’m learning via an app, and it’s crazy how this technology wasn’t available even a decade ago.
I co-parent a Chinchilla with my fianceé (she’s my fiancee’s but hey, we’re a family!). Her name is Margaux. My recommendation with Chinchillas is to not get one unless you are certain you can handle the responsibilities. Chinchillas aren’t like dogs or even cats; many of them don’t like to be held and they are very hard to catch. They sleep all day and they are really hard to catch when they get out of confinement (don’t take them outside!). I don’t think a Chinchilla is a pet for a small child, but if you’re an adult who wants to learn how to care for something that may not care for you back all the time, a chinchilla is great.
I live in the DMV (Arlington specifically). I moved here in 2021, but my family is probably moving next year out west, closer to my fiancee’s family. I love this city, but it’s just not realistic to set roots here unless you’re either rich or willing to tolerate living in apartments for the rest of your life and spending an inordinate amount of your (admittedly higher than average!) income on rent.
I work in the NGO/political advocacy sector. It’s not hard to figure out where by googling my name and some of the information I’ve freely given.3 Please don’t dox me, I’m just a random, harmless chinchilla dad.
Ironically, even though I work in the NGO space, I am not an effective altruist.
I work with email advocacy for my organization, but I do a lot of other project management-ish stuff.
I see myself working here for at least four more years (thank goodness I can work remote). I want to collect that sweet sweet Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) in early 2029 (so long as it doesn’t get killed). I’m more than half way there!
Though my career so far has been politics adjacent, and I have strong political opinions,4 I don’t see myself working in this industry for the rest of my life. It’s mainly because I’m a boring moderate and hates most political discourse because it’s dominated by the worst people on both sides (even if I think one sides ideas and goals are better).
I’m a little bit of a snobby elitist when it comes to politics (you could probably put that together if you read my post on sub-literacy). I don’t really feel bad about it because I’m not running for office, and I never will! Being an elitist about something is a valid psychological defense mechanism when you know a lot about it, have no control over its outcome, and constantly see people less informed/reasonable make reckless decisions.
Some philosophical labels that describe me: skeptic, liberal, capitalist, humanist, pluralist, and pragmatist.
I’m definitely an atheist too, but I don’t like the label because when people hear it, it’s thought-terminating. I see nothing wrong with the label, but other people often can’t see past it, so I don’t really go by it. What’s more, It’s more interesting to talk about philosophy from a skeptical perspective than from an atheist one, not because an atheist one is incorrect or much different from skepticism, but because skepticism fuels more curiosity.
This is a funny dynamic because my parents are Methodist preachers. I don’t talk to them about God’s existence or lack thereof because it’s a little boring and I just don’t want them worrying about me.5
I like talking about the Bible and the Christian tradition, even if I don’t agree or associate with either. I like asking questions like “Given that the Bible sanctioned slavery, but the Christian tradition evolved to condemn it, what can this say about other problematic Christian beliefs (homophobia, Hell, etc.)?”
Thinkers that have influenced my thinking the most: David Hume, Richard Rorty, Epicurus, Susan Wolf (Moral Saints changed my life), radical theologian Peter Rollins, and now probably Pyrrho of Ellis. I try not to idolize thinkers, and many of my influences I sort of internalize and forget, but those are some who come to mind.
I was sympathetic to the continental philosophical tradition in college (post-structuralism and all that), but as I age, I think it’s mostly garbage or garbage-adjacent.6
I don’t think I’m smart enough to do serious analytic philosophy. I’ve been attracted to pragmatic philosophy because it’s a nice balance between the positives of continental philosophy and analytic. What’s more, I’m also interested in reading bits about the history of philosophy and all the ways we’ve been wrong in the past.
I was initiated in a fraternity in college (Pi Kappa Phi), and it was the best decision of my life.
I read a lot. I’ve already read about 25 books this year (that’s admittedly a fast pace for me and many of those books were short) and probably DNFed more than a half dozen.
For about 5 or 6 years I averaged reading about 60 books per year . I can’t maintain that pace anymore, just because I have more things going on in life (wedding planning, guitar, writing, running, watching true crime with my fiancée, just chillin with the chinchilla), and I usually can’t find 60 books in a year worthy of my attention.
I’m currently reading Joe Abercrombie’s Age of Madness series. I’m on the second book.7 I think Abercrombie is the best fantasy author of this generation, but you really have to understand what he’s trying to do to appreciate him. You may even have to listen to the audiobook to “get it.8” His world is gruesome but also hilarious. His prose is both deep, dark, and comedic at times. It’s a nice balance of world-building, prose, and character that other contemporaries (like Sanderson) don’t really match.
I went through a phase over the last couple of years where I read a lot of fantasy books. I got tired of it because some of the popular stuff isn’t that good, and the series that were good have diminished in quality (like Stormlight).
I’m a runner. I ran cross country in high school (I wasn’t good), gave up running for a decade, but picked it back up in 2023. I am a little faster than I was 2 years ago, but I’m not naturally athletic,9 so I’m not very fast.
I run somewhere between 9 and 12 miles a week. At one point I was doing 15 and 18, but I can’t manage to do more. It just takes too much out of me, and overtraining really sucks.10 I’m trying to lift more too so 9-12 is a great balance. It’s easier to scale up to more mileage from there than to go from 0 to 9.
Though I’m a runner, I hate racing. It just makes me anxious, and again I’m not fast. In high school my best 5k time was somewhere around 21 or 22 minutes. Nowadays I can run one in 26 minutes. I hate it! I think I could commit myself to beating my high school time if I really wanted it (because I know how to train better), but it’s just not worth it to me, and I hate racing.
My favorite kind of run is between 3 and 6 miles in 30-40 degree weather. I just want my endorphins pumping. You’d be surprised how invincible you feel under these circumstances while also listening to metal covers to Mulan’s Make A Man Out of You. I don’t recommend anyone run in sub-20 degree weather. This past winter, I ran in 15 degree weather, but didn’t notice the wind chill made the temperature feel like 0. My hands went numb, even though I was wearing gloves. Not good!
I like Whiskey. Not to sound like an internet or skeptic cliche, but my favorite is probably Johnny Walker Black, though I’ll sip anything of decent quality (and anything of sub-decent quality). I don’t like luxury items, but as I tell my friends, if you want to gift me a luxury item that I will use and appreciate, get me some Johnny Walker Blue. I would cherish that.
I was born and raised in South Carolina.11 I’ve lived all over the state because my parents moved a lot due to their ministry. I moved away in 2021 and I’m never going back. I dislike the politics of that state generally. But red state abortion policies are also genuinely terrifying. I don’t want my future wife having a complication and doctors being unable to act because of the law. Outside of politics, the state doesn’t really have the jobs that match my skillset.
This substack isn’t monetized, and I don’t have plans of monetizing anytime soon, and if I did, I’m not sure what exactly I’d monetize. Ideally, I’d like a low thousand follower count, and to make a few hundred dollars a month
Don’t ask me for a citation, but I’ve read that colleges get more revenue from graduate degrees, those degrees often have less financial aid, a significant proportion of student debt comes from graduate degrees, and something like half of all master’s degrees are business and education.
Having said that, I have to give the disclaimer that none of my opinions expressed here or elsewhere reflect that of my employer. This is a mandatory policy of my workplace. I probably couldn’t have my employer in my profile on here and also post what I post about. I got in trouble on LinkedIn recently for saying orange man bad, for instance.
Not as strong as they used to be!
I think we both believe that if God exists and is everything Christianity teaches, Hell is probably bullshit. Sorry if that’s a little too mainline and liberal for you losers!
I don’t feel like Zizek has contributed anything good for humanity. You can summarize Foucault’s good in a couple paragraphs, but that’s about it. I could say more, but I don’t want to argue with anyone about this. I know people love these thinkers and I don’t want to take away their favorite toys. But I honestly just see them as unnecessarily esoteric gibberish, usually in service of giving tenured professors justification for unhinged political opinions that harm people indirectly (by helping Republicans win political office).
There are 9 books in the series, divided into 2 trilogies and 3 one-off books, as well as a few short stories; the Age of Madness is the second trilogy. I’ve read the first trilogy, most of the short stories, and the one-offs.
Steven Pacey’s reading is <chef’s kiss>
I’m overweight and sometimes technically obese, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at me. I’m somewhat naturally “bigger” than people my height, for whatever reason.
In November 2023, I tried running 30 miles a week for a couple weeks in a row, and it sucked. I was just doing “zone 2 training” which is just running and then walking to keep your heart rate in a certain range. I couldn’t maintain that, and it turns out I was suffering from the symptoms of overtraining: No libido, no energy to do anything, just sort of lying around, I was probably grumpy and depressed too. I do not recommend!
I would list all of the places I’ve lived, but then I realize that’s a good password security question, so I won’t
We have a lot in common, except I'm about 30 years older than you. I accidentally retired earlier this year, and I submitted my very last assignment for my philosophy degree just yesterday. (one more class on Greek Myths before I graduate),
So I have a lot of time on my hands now. I'll be learning guitar and blogging a lot about my philosophy addiction. I also love whisky. Not chinchillas though.