Ben Cuan

I know that sometimes, persistence is not a virtue. I would trade my other abilities to be an exceptional songwriter. I gave it a serious enough try to know that I don’t have the knack, for years, and I’m not interested in being publicly mediocre at the performing arts. My life is incalculably better for having let the dream go.

we’re going to look back at how we designed the world around computers with the same regret that we look at how we’ve designed cities around cars

The timeline isn’t settled.

The @-mention isn’t settled.

Nothing is settled. It’s 2003 again!

By making clear and sharp claims, I reveal my understanding so that I—or the person I’m writing to—can see the state of my knowledge and direct their feedback to the point where it will help my thinking improve.

This is valuable to do even in areas where you know way too little to “warrant” an opinion.

In a city where it's hard to distinguish the months from the seasons, it's easy to slip into the mentality that there will always be time. After all, time seems to be suspended in the balance.