On Experiments
Some things are built to last.
Some things are built to test a question.
This section is about the second kind.
Experiments are where I put ideas that don’t yet deserve commitment — or maybe never will. They’re the sketches in the margins, the half-formed thoughts, the things I’m curious about but not convinced by.
They’re not startups.
They’re not products.
They’re not promises.
They’re attempts.
Why Experiment at All?
Because thinking in the abstract only gets you so far.
You can read about systems, incentives, attention, and behavior forever — but until you build something and put it into the world, you’re mostly guessing. Experiments turn theory into contact.
They answer questions like:
Does anyone care about this?
Does this idea survive contact with reality?
Do I still care once it exists?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Often it’s no.
Both are useful.
What Experiments Are (and Aren’t)
Experiments here are allowed to be:
- unfinished
- weird
- impractical
- overthought
- underbaked
They are not:
- optimized
- polished for scale
- obligated to succeed
If something grows beyond this space, it graduates.
If it doesn’t, that’s fine too.
Failure is data.
Abandonment is information.
Silence is a result.
Why Keep Them Public?
Because private experiments tend to multiply.
When nobody can see them, it’s easy to keep tinkering forever — adjusting, reworking, rationalizing. Public experiments, even small ones, introduce a kind of honesty.
Once something is visible:
- you stop pretending it’s perfect
- you stop hiding behind potential
- you learn faster
This site isn’t a portfolio of successes.
It’s a record of trying.
The Long View
Most experiments won’t go anywhere.
A few might evolve into projects.
One or two might become something real.
Many will simply teach me what not to do next.
That’s enough.
The point isn’t to extract value from everything.
The point is to stay curious without being reckless.
To explore without getting lost.
To build without burning out.
A Quiet Rule
If an experiment stops being interesting, it’s allowed to end.
No guilt.
No sunk cost.
No obligation to explain.
That rule alone has made building feel lighter than it has in years.