Today, I found this free programming books via Twitter. I started reading random chapters in 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know. Not only did I not know any of things, I couldn’t even understand some of the chapters. Yes, yes, I’m announcing my ignorance to the world. I, however, like to think of it announcing to the world that I’m busy learning things.

In other news, I am pondering quitting Twitter. Well, I’d stop updating, but I’d probably still troll it for interesting content. Using Twitter has morphed my humor into staccato hits. I’ll spit out quick one-liners while my capacity for set-up/punchline is eroding. My comics are becoming tweets.

My blog posts are becoming tweet-ish too! I’ll often post one or two lines instead of sitting down and thinking. Not all writing is equal. Just as the typewriter changed Nietzsche, Twitter is changing me. Funnily enough, it’s also pushing me to a punchier, more aphoristic style. On first glance, this may not be entirely a bad thing because it may be more in line with my natural writing style. My original tweets were private post-it notes. I’d write my philosophical bites on post-its and often return to the same themes in my writing. I guess the problem occurs when the quick hit crowds out other types of thought. Working 8 hours limits the time and energy (the latter is more important, I think) I have to do things, and Twitter sucks up brain power. I don’t have enough brain power to take the time to pause and think more deeply and tweet, do I? Maybe I would if I didn’t have a billion other projects that I want to actually start.

Sitting in the back of my mind has been the problem of the internet sapping my attention. Sophrosyne is the goddess of “moderation, self-control, temperance, restraint, and discretion.” Unfortunately, I think her powers are weak. Humans have a very limited amount of self-control, and it’s better to use cleverness to trick ourselves into doing what we should do. So, now I’m thinking the issue with Twitter is that it’s easier to tweet than to blog. This seduces me into tweeting at the expense of better blogging. It may be better to cut Twitter out of my life. I’ll ponder this some more.